The First Tyrant of Daxia

Liu Ziyi's expression changed drastically. Beating people to death is a form of torture. He and a group of kneeling ministers looked to Wang Wei for help.

Wang Wei's face looked ugly. Originally, he wanted to punish Concubine Xiao Shufei if possible, and let it go if not.

What was unexpected was that Qin Yun’s reaction was so strong that more than a dozen ministers had to be blamed.

If he stands up, he will get into trouble; if he doesn't stand up, he will lose people's support.

"Your Majesty, it is absolutely impossible!"

"Even if Lord Liu and his men made mistakes in their advice, it was for the good of the court. If you punish more than ten ministers so severely, I'm afraid they will not accept it!"

As soon as Wang Wei opened his mouth, more people started to speak up.

Prime Minister Lin Changshu and military commander Wang Ming took the lead and began to plead for Liu Ziyi and others.

But Qin Yun was uncharacteristically tough. He waved his hand and shouted at the imperial guards, "What are you waiting for? Do you want me to arrest them myself?"

The chief of the imperial guards, the imperial physician Chang Hong, was startled and immediately arrested the man.

For a moment, the hall was in an uproar, and all kinds of pleas for mercy were heard.

Xiao Jian was watching a show, but suddenly Qin Yun looked at him inexplicably. He was stunned for a long time, and then his eyes lit up before he reacted.

"Your Majesty, wait a minute!"

He waved his hand and said with a bow.

"Your Majesty, this is inappropriate!" Xiao Jian said righteously.

This made Wang Wei and others confused. Anyone could come forward to plead for him, but Xiao Jian was impossible!

Qin Yun played the good guy and said unhappily: "Xiao Jian, please step back. I am very angry now! You dare to slander my beloved concubine. No matter who comes to intercede, it will be useless. You will definitely be punished!"

"No, Your Majesty, we are advising you for the sake of the government!"

"Your Majesty, you can't do this to us. We know we are wrong."

Liu Ziyi was about to cry. His beard was half white and he was almost fifty years old. Thirty punishments would be like burying him directly.

"Your Majesty, calm down. Thirty lashes is a bit severe. It is better to just remember it for now and let Lord Liu and his men make meritorious contributions while serving their sentence."

Guo Ziyun frowned and stood up to plead for mercy. He was upright and spoke from his heart.

Lin Changshu echoed, "That's right, Your Majesty, why not let Lord Liu and his men make amends for their crimes? The court is in a state of turmoil right now, and we can't do without them."

Qin Yun deliberately showed a hint of hesitation, looked at Liu Ziyi and others, and said unhappily: "Humph, if it weren't for Lord Wang, Lord Lin and others pleading for you, you would have been waiting for your buttocks to be blasted!"

When Liu Ziyi and others heard this, they showed joy in their eyes at having survived the disaster.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you for your grace!"

More than a dozen people knelt down together.

The next second, Qin Yun continued, "I can waive your punishment, but it also depends on the sincerity of the dozen or so of you, to see if you truly repent!"

Sincerity?

Everyone was suspicious.

Following Qin Yun's line of sight, everyone saw the land deeds and banknotes scattered on the ground.

Wang Wei and others were the first to react. It turned out that His Majesty had gone through so much trouble just for money!

Wang Wei and Lin Changshu looked at each other with complicated expressions. Where did that ignorant and incompetent emperor go? Now he has learned to beat around the bush and use both kindness and force.

Liu Ziyi had reached this level in his career as an official, so he was no fool and immediately understood what Qin Yun meant.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to donate one hundred taels of silver to help with the disaster!"

The corner of Qin Yun's mouth twitched. One hundred taels of silver, do you think I'm a beggar?

Liu Ziyi said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to donate one thousand taels of silver and five stones of grain to help the disaster-stricken people in Guanzhong!"

In the Great Xia Dynasty, one stone of grain weighed about 120 kilograms. Five stones weighed about 600 kilograms, plus one thousand taels of silver, which was indeed a lot for a junior official of the Zongzheng clan.

But how could Qin Yun not know that these guys were extremely rich and would not be short of this little money? They just didn't dare to say too big a number for fear of arousing suspicion.

After everyone finished quoting their prices, they all looked at Qin Yun.

Qin Yun looked unmoved and said calmly, "It's just a drop in the bucket. It's too little."

He raised an eyebrow and glanced at everyone.

"Lord Wang, Lord Lin, and all the other ministers, what do you think? Isn't it too little? The famine in Guanzhong cannot be solved by just a little money and food."

Qin Yun’s meaning is very clear. Are you all just standing there watching and not paying any money?

The ministers in the court looked at each other in bewilderment.

Xiao Jian's ancestors were merchants, and he was the first to step forward and say, "Your Majesty, in the name of the Xiao family, I will donate 100,000 silver coins and 100 dan of grain to help Guanzhong!"

When Liu Ziyi and others heard this number, their faces turned dark, thinking, aren’t you just raising prices?

You have such high standards, what are our one thousand taels or one hundred taels? Is this a joke?

Wang Wei looked at Qin Yun and Xiao Jian with deep eyes. One was the king and the other was the minister, with a white face and a red face. It was obvious that he was going to take the opportunity to blackmail them.

Money is a small matter, he doesn't care about it. What he cares about is Qin Yun's transformation.

The emperor is afraid of powerful ministers, but why shouldn’t powerful ministers be afraid of the clever emperor?

"Your Majesty, I am willing to sell three properties and various land deeds, which are worth tens of thousands of taels, plus 100 dan of grain, to help Guanzhong."

Wang Wei forced a smile and then winked at Liu Ziyi and the others.

Liu Ziyi and others felt pain in their hearts, but there was nothing they could do. Since His Majesty did not want to punish them, they just paid the money honestly.

He said slowly, "Your Majesty, I am also willing to sell my house to raise several thousand taels of silver and twenty shi of grain."

"And I am willing to sell my farm and land deeds to help Guanzhong."

"..."

Hundreds of ministers in the court offered to donate money, as if they were willing to give everything for the victims in Guanzhong.

But to put it bluntly, it was nothing more than responding to the call and helping Liu Ziyi and a dozen others to exonerate themselves.

This amount of money is a drop in the bucket for them!

After a long period of corruption, drawing salaries without doing any work, and sucking blood from the imperial court, they have all become wealthy people.

There are very few ministers whose money comes from clean sources.

For example, Guo Ziyun, this guy only donated twenty taels and was laughed at by others.

It’s not that he is stingy, but he really has no money. The monthly salary from the court is not much, and he only has this little money after living frugally.

Through this semi-extortion fundraising, Qin Yun also saw through many ministers in the court.

There are honest officials, but there are also many corrupt officials.

Everyone knows it, but no one points it out.

Soon, Eunuch Xi recorded everyone's fundraising data, wrote it on rice paper, and gave it to Qin Yun.

Overall, it was very good. The money was nearly 300,000 taels and the grain was nearly 2,000 shi, which could be said to be an astronomical figure.

It should be enough for disaster relief, and the court won't even have to use the limited 500,000 taels in the national treasury.

"Okay, Guo Ziyun, I give you two days to collect the funds, dispatch them accurately, and rush to help Guanzhong."

Guo Ziyun knelt down excitedly: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will definitely fulfill my mission! I thank Your Majesty on behalf of the people of Guanzhong!"

Qin Yun waved his hand and looked at Xiao Jian again: "Xiao Jian, when can the left camp be moved and the sword be aimed at Cangshan?"

Xiao Jian clasped his fists, his heroic face showing a hint of confidence: "Within two days, the Left Camp can mobilize more than 15,000 soldiers to set off!"

"It will take five days to reach Cangshan via Jiannan Road. It will only take me three days to quell the rebellion. I guarantee that I can send a victory report to the imperial capital within half a month!"

Qin Yun smiled, feeling very relieved.

His eyes couldn't help but sweep over Wang Wei and others.

Wang Wei surprisingly did not stand up to stop Xiao Jian from being appointed as the commander-in-chief of the bandit suppression campaign. Even though Wang Ming was unwilling and kept signaling him with his eyes, he did not move.