Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

When Ren Yuan said he was going to Wang Wancang's house, Wang Wancang was dumbfounded.

No, Your Majesty, what are you doing?

Why do you want to come to my house?

My home, my home...

"What's wrong, Magistrate Wang? Are you afraid we'll see all those luxurious things in your house?"

Ren Yuan looked at Wang Wancang with a half-smile.

"No, no, it's just that my humble abode is rather unsophisticated, and I'm afraid it might offend Your Majesty..."

Wang Wancang's forehead was covered in sweat, and he was so nervous that he could barely speak.

"I won't delay, I'll go to your house!"

Ren Yuan looked at Wang Wancang and said decisively.

"Pfft!"

Wang Wancang immediately knelt down before Ren Yuan!

"Your Majesty, please don't go! Please don't go!"

Wang Wancang was scared, so he kowtowed to Ren Yuan!

There's no other way. If Ren Yuan goes to his house, then those things in his house are probably really doomed!

"Lord Wang, is there something shady in your home?"

Looking at Wang Wancang's appearance, Ren Yuan became even more certain of his thoughts.

Wang Wancang, you're not honest!

"Your Majesty, I was wrong! I did embezzle some things, but they were all small offenses. Liang Shijie, Liang Shijie, he's the big culprit! Spare me, spare me!"

Wang Wancang wept bitterly.

"Alright, stop crying. Tell me about the inventory situation in Daming Prefecture, and I'll see how you perform."

As soon as Ren Yuan said this, Wang Wancang immediately understood!

This king is giving himself a chance!

So he quickly said to Ren Yuan:

"Your Majesty, I'll talk, I'll talk! In the treasury, there are 285,327,673 guan of wine tax for the past two months!"

"Commercial tax: 107,212,320 guan!"

"There are also five hundred ordination certificates of various kinds from Daming Prefecture! They were converted into more than 27,000 strings of cash, and not a single penny has been touched! They are all in the treasury!"

"About six hundred thousand strings of cash? Are you kidding me?"

Ren Yuan looked at Wang Wancang with only one meaning in his eyes: You are not honest!

"A prestigious prefecture like Daming, one of the four capitals of the Song Dynasty, now only has about 600,000 strings of cash in its reserves. Who do you think would believe that?"

Ren Yuan's eyes were full of mockery.

"That's right, brother. If the Daming Prefecture's inventory is only this small, it can only mean that the Daming Prefecture's official is a huge corrupt official!"

After listening to what Wang Wancang and Ren Yuan said, Lu Zhishen also cast a disdainful look at Wang Wancang.

"Your Majesty, this is quite a lot..."

Wang Wancang still tried to struggle.

"Of the four capitals of the empire, Daming Prefecture is located in the north and is a vital town in Hebei, serving as the Song court's capital! If the court were to clash with the Liao Kingdom, all the funds and provisions for the front lines would have to be allocated from Daming Prefecture!"

"Moreover, within the territory of Daming Prefecture, there are numerous waterways. Every year, dredging these waterways and reinforcing the riverbanks requires money! If Daming Prefecture's treasury doesn't have more than a million strings of cash, it simply won't be enough! Wang Wancang! You're telling me that you only have a meager six hundred thousand strings of cash in treasury? Who are you trying to fool?!"

Upon hearing Ren Yuan's words, Wang Wancang's expression changed!

He truly hadn't expected that a powerful leader could be so knowledgeable about the situation in Daming Prefecture!

"Brother, this guy is dishonest, I'll get him pregnant!"

Lu Zhishen rolled up his sleeves, preparing to dig a hole in the government office and plant Wang Wancang in it!

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!"

Upon hearing that he was to be planted, Wang Wancang immediately collapsed!

He dared not hold back any longer and dropped everything!

"Actually, in the past two months, Daming Prefecture still had nearly four million strings of cash in its treasury, stored in another warehouse. However, Liang Shijie has already taken this money for himself and won't let me touch it at all!"

"Four million strings of cash? Is Daming Prefecture that rich?"

Ren Yuan was also shocked by this number. He thought that two million would be good enough, but he didn't expect it to be so much!

"Yes, that cash was from Daming Prefecture over the past two months, but Liang Shijie embezzled it all!"

"What does Liang Shijie want to do with so much money?"

Ren Yuan asked Wang Wancang.

"Liang Shijie said that the emperor recently wanted to build a new garden, a new palace, and purchase exotic flowers and plants, all of which required money!"

"However, this money cannot be drawn directly from the national treasury, so we have to ask others for help. Grand Tutor Cai asked Liang Shijie to find a way to handle this matter. This time, Liang Shijie plans to use the four million strings of cash, plus the family property of Master Lu, to present to the Emperor and make him happy."

"Ha, over seven million strings of cash? Just to let Zhao Ji build a garden? He really knows how to enjoy life!"

Ren Yuan let out a cold laugh.

"Actually, it's not that much. Liang Shijie told me privately that of the seven million strings of cash, three million were for Grand Tutor Cai, one million were for him (Liang Shijie), two hundred thousand were for me... and the rest were for the Emperor."

"Huo'er, so you've got some nerve. You even dared to divide the money meant for Zhao Ji among yourselves?"

Ren Yuan looked at Wang Wancang and thought, "I never expected that you, who seem so cautious, would dare to embezzle Zhao Ji's money."

"Just a little bit, really just a little bit."

Wang Wancang said.

"Take us to that warehouse, and I won't raid your house."

Ren Yuan stated directly that since there were over four million guan in inventory, then Wang Wancang's family was out of the question.

After all, the fact that Wang Wancang could calculate the taxes down to the exact amount of cash shows that he was indeed putting in the effort in government affairs.

As the saying goes, it's not that we're afraid of those who are capable, nor those who are greedy, nor those who are both capable and greedy; what we're afraid of is those who are both incapable and greedy.

Wang Wancang was somewhat capable, and under the influence of the overall official atmosphere of the Song Dynasty, he could be greedy.

If he weren't greedy, he wouldn't have been able to do so well with Liang Shijie!

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I will lead the way for you right away!"

Upon hearing Ren Yuan say that he wouldn't be held responsible, Wang Wancang immediately beamed with relief! He quickly offered to lead the way for Ren Yuan and the others!

"Wang Wancang, what is your purpose in becoming an official?"

On the way to the warehouse, Ren Yuan asked Wang Wancang.

"Your Majesty, back then, I also wholeheartedly wanted to serve my country. But the problem is, after I became an official, I found that those who had no ability but were particularly good at flattery were doing better than me! I'm not convinced! Why is that!"

"Why can't I, Wang Wancang, hold a high position like them? If I were in a high position, I certainly wouldn't do any worse than those people!"

"Who is born with a lowly fate! Who is born needing to flatter others!"

Wang Wancang seemed particularly excited when these things were mentioned!

However, Ren Yuan remained sneer in response to his words.

"So you resorted to any means necessary, just like them, to climb the ladder?"

"Wang Wancang, have you ever thought about this? When you did that, what difference was there between you and those people you used to look down on?"

"You've become one of them! Wang Wancang!"

"What face do you have now to shamelessly talk about those things from back then in front of me?"