Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Inside the Governor's Palace, a meeting was formally convened to discuss the selection of a scapegoat.

More than seventy local aristocratic officials gathered and began a thrilling dispute.

Zheng Bisheng smiled obsequiously: "Gentlemen, you are all aware of the imperial decree. If the Suzhou Prefecture doesn't provide an explanation, this matter will likely not end well."

Everyone here is a person of importance, and everyone knows perfectly well what they've been doing, so there's no need for me to remind them.

In short, according to the Duke of Zhenguo's wishes, Suzhou Prefecture must shed blood this time before he will stop. I had no choice but to resort to this drastic measure.

As soon as he finished speaking, an official from the local agricultural science department sitting on the left immediately stood up.

"Your Excellency, I, Tang Ren, have not been involved in the salt tax matter. Why must I be dragged into this?"

Another official immediately chimed in, "That's right, what does this have to do with us? I'm just in charge of the city government, why should I take the blame?"

In an instant, the entire meeting room erupted in noise as officials tried to distance themselves from the situation, portraying themselves as pure and innocent.

Seeing his father's face growing increasingly dark, Zheng Xiaoru slammed his fist on the table and stood up abruptly.

"Enough! Stop arguing! In short, this matter must be handled by my father! Anyone who dares to disobey is trying to provoke the Zheng family into a rage, isn't that right?"

"Rough~"

Upon hearing this, Ma Guocheng immediately slammed his hand on the table, and as soon as the national essence rang out, he stood up and pointed at Zheng Xiaoru.

"What the hell are you yelling about? Today we're all sitting here discussing who should go and die. Since it's not you, surnamed Zheng, who's going to die, it doesn't matter, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xiaoru was furious: "Ma Guocheng, you servant, you got to where you are today because you served my father well back then!"

"Without the Zheng family, you wouldn't even have this sixth-rank official position in the Suzhou Military Command! Who gave you the audacity to yell at me like that!"

Ma Guocheng snorted coldly: "I got to my current position by serving your father, after all."

That's a hundred times better than you, a good-for-nothing who rose to power through your father's connections and only became a fourth-rank patrol officer.

"By seniority, you should call me, Ma Guocheng, 'Uncle,' you're a real disrespectful bastard!"

"Ma Guocheng! I'll curse your ancestors!"

Zheng Xiaoru's face flushed instantly, and in anger, he grabbed a teacup and threw it at Ma Guocheng.

"You dare hit me? I'll fight you to the death today!"

Ma Guocheng dodged to the side, then immediately rolled up his sleeves, gritting his teeth as he prepared to rush over.

"Okay, okay, stop making trouble."

"Guocheng, we fought together all this time, it's not that serious, it really isn't."

"Young Master Zheng, everyone is in a bad mood right now, so please say less."

Seeing that a duel was inevitable, the other officials immediately stepped forward and separated the two.

Zheng Bisheng was too lazy to care anymore. He leaned back in his chair with an indifferent expression, watching this ridiculous farce unfold.

After the two sides finally separated, he slowly spoke: "Go ahead and make a scene, why aren't you making a scene anymore? Keep going, keep making a scene that's causing a huge uproar."

"It's become known throughout the land, and the entire court is laughing at our Suzhou Prefecture!"

"I called you here today to resolve a problem, not to start a fight!"

"Have you all quieted down yet? If you're quiet, then we can continue the meeting."

Under Zheng Bisheng's low voice, everyone finally calmed down.

"Since we can't get to a conclusion, let's do this."

Zheng Bisheng felt that continuing would only make the situation more and more complicated, so he decided to make a final decision.

"As usual, we'll draw lots. Whoever draws the one with the red dot will take the blame. There are seventeen spots in total. That should be enough to give the court an explanation."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shouchang stood up and said, "Since the Minister has made this decision, we have nothing more to say. Let's all stop arguing and think about our own people."

After he said that, everyone stopped arguing and making a fuss.

Soon a square wooden box was placed on the conference table.

Zheng Bisheng picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and nodded: "Then let's begin. Don't worry, whoever draws the first draw, I will protect your clansmen with my life. Who wants to go first?"

After a brief silence, Yuan Shouchang was the first to get up.

"I'll go first."

Zheng Bisheng closed his eyes briefly, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Just as Yuan Shouchang reached into the wooden box, the tightly closed gate of the Governor's Mansion was suddenly kicked open.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of rifle fire echoed outside the hall.

"what happened?"

Zheng Bisheng's eyelids twitched, and he glanced at Zheng Xiaoru.

Zheng Xiaoru immediately understood and left his seat to walk outside.

Before he could even step out of the hall, a row of gun barrels were already pointed at him.

"Don't move, stay still!"

A group of Jingwei Division members, armed with 98K rifles and fully loaded, strode into the hall and quickly took control of the venue.

"What are you trying to do? This is the Governor's Mansion!"

Zheng Bisheng stood up and questioned him.

Upon hearing this, Wang Rui walked directly up to him.

Meeting those gloomy eyes, Zheng Bisheng felt a sudden, inexplicable panic.

Bang~

The next second, Wang Rui slammed the butt of his gun into Zheng Bisheng's face.

"father!"

"be honest!"

When Zheng Xiaoru saw his father being beaten, he wanted to rush over.

But the next moment, the Jingwei Division behind him lifted him up from behind, quickly tied his hands behind his back, and pressed him to the ground.

"hiss--"

Zheng Bisheng covered his swollen and bleeding cheek, and gasped for breath.

Who are you people?!

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Lang calmly walked into the hall.

"Oh ho, they're all here? That's great, I don't have to make these trips again and again."

When he walked up to Zheng Bisheng, the smile on his face vanished.

"Zheng Bisheng, do you know your crime!"

Zheng Bisheng's heart tightened, and he hurriedly said, "This humble official does not know, Duke Zhenguo, what are you trying to do? Do you intend to rebel?"

"Heh, still being stubborn even when death is imminent!"

Shen Lang chuckled and patted his head, then forcefully flung off the black veil on his head.

Then he turned to face the trembling officials before him, took out an imperial edict from his robes, and began to read it aloud in front of everyone.

"An investigation revealed that officials in Suzhou, Mingzhou, and Ningzhou colluded to embezzle tax revenue and sell government-owned salt for many years, amounting to over 100 million taels."

According to statistics from the Jingwei Bureau and the Ministry of Revenue, officials and their clansmen in the three regions had seized more than 13 million mu of farmland, leaving millions of households without land registration.

Former Inspector General Liu Wu, current Inspector General Shen Lang, after extensive investigation...

It has been confirmed that the culprits in both cases are Zheng Bisheng, the Governor-General of Suzhou; Ma Zhiyuan, the Prefect of Ningzhou; and Yang Maocai, the Governor-General of Mingzhou.

The remaining officials involved in the case have also been identified and brought to Beijing for joint trial. If any obstruction occurs, the current Inspector General, Shen Lang, can decide their fate at his own discretion.

Closing the imperial scroll, Shen Lang expressionlessly raised his hand: "Take them all!"

The Jingwei Division acted immediately, arresting all the officials present.

After hearing all this, Zheng Bisheng finally realized that he had fallen for Shen Lang's scheme, and was immediately enraged: "You, Shen Lang! I never expected to be tricked by you, but you have no right to convict me!"

"The Suzhou garrison is entirely composed of my men. If you dare to touch me, aren't you afraid that the Suzhou garrison will wreak havoc on Suzhou Prefecture? Can you bear the consequences?"

Shen Lang sneered: "I forgot to tell you, the Suzhou camp's troops took control of various parts of Suzhou Prefecture this morning, and are currently searching the homes of several officials for evidence."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Bisheng's pupils shrank immediately: "Impressive! I never imagined that my lifelong reputation would be ruined by you."

Fortunately, I had a backup plan. I sent men to the Mingzhou camp early on to gather troops. You want to punish me? I'm afraid you can't bear the consequences."

"Hahaha."

Shen Lang couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing this.

"Then I have to thank you, Minister Zheng. If it weren't for the letter you sent out, I really wouldn't know how to quickly resolve the issues in Ming and Ning prefectures."

"What, you..."

Zheng Bisheng was utterly shocked upon hearing this.

"How ruthless! You predicted all of this?"

"It's a real pity that the gentry of Ming and Ning will follow in your footsteps because of your cleverness."

Originally, the plan was only to deal with Suzhou, but now the entire Jiangnan officialdom can be swept up in one fell swoop.

"Shen Lang! You devil! Even if I die, I will never let you go!"

After figuring out Shen Lang's plan, Zheng Bisheng went berserk and wanted to tear him apart.

But soon, Wang Rui subdued him with a backhand grappling move.

"Take them all!"

At the order, the officials immediately began to wail as if they were in the midst of a deathbed.

"Duke Zhenguo, you promised me, you promised me that as long as I cooperate with you, you won't make things difficult for me!"

Yuan Shouchang loudly begged Shen Lang for mercy.

However, Shen Lang didn't even look up. He simply took out a nail file and slowly began to groom his fingers.

From the very beginning, he had no intention of letting these parasites go. Now that the Suzhou camp has been rectified, there is no need to continue the charade.