strictlysupreme Chapter 583: Corruption but not perversion of law
Chapter 583: Corruption but not perversion of law
"My death may happen tonight, and your destruction will certainly not be far away!"
Sun Zhongmou gritted his teeth and looked around at the people around him, as if he wanted to remember all of them in his mind.
"If my death, Sun Zhongmou, can awaken the greed of countless people in this world, then my death will be worthy!"
"Everything is good in this world, but the best thing is a person's endless greed!"
"Only with greed will more and better things fall into your hands!"
"I, Sun Zhongmou, have embezzled 100,000 taels of silver. This is just one year's share. Next year, I will get another 100,000 taels of silver. The year after, I will get another 100,000 taels of silver. Every year, I will get 100,000 taels of silver!"
"The annual salary of a governor of a higher state is only 200 taels of silver. I, Sun Zhongmou, earn 100,000 taels of silver a year!"
Sun Zhongmou roared, as if to show off his financial strength.
Lu Dayou couldn't listen any more, and said calmly: "My master's suggestion of a name for the restaurant is worth two thousand taels of silver."
Sun Zhongmou was stunned.
Take less?
Two thousand taels?
Are you just suggesting a name for the restaurant?
Others can earn two thousand taels just by writing a few words, and there is no danger at all. But he risked the execution of his entire clan to take Yuan Qi's tribute, which was only one hundred thousand taels a year.
"Ignorant and stupid!" Lu Dayou sneered.
"Humph, that's how you high-ranking officials make money. This is how we make money, and we have to risk being beheaded!" Sun Zhongmou stiffened his neck.
"We are all greedy, but we won't directly harm the people."
Li Cunxi yawned.
"Let's go on. I'm a little tired. Let's just drink and relax."
Shen Tao and Xiao Bao carried Sun Zhongmou and walked out at high strides.
"Li Cunxi, Li Cunxi!"
"You can't kill them all, you can't kill them all!"
"There are countless corrupt officials in Yangzhou. Even if you were to chop off their heads one by one, it would take you three days and three nights!"
"What's more, Prince Ying Yuanqi is the most trusted minister of His Majesty. You can't touch him. I advise you to follow us. You also join in and make a fortune in harmony!!!"
Sun Zhongmou struggled desperately, but it was still ineffective. He was dragged out and soon stopped moving.
Li Cunxi lay on his side, yawning continuously.
"It's funny."
"Send someone to catch up with the Qianniu Guards who reported the news, and have them capture Sun Zhongmou's entire clan."
"If His Majesty knew that I, the head of the government, had openly bribed him in public, how would I, Li Cunxi, deal with it?"
"It would be better to kill them all and be done with it."
Hu Jinghui forced a smile and gave a thumbs up.
“Cunxi, you are so kind!”
For Hu Jinghui, the number of people killed by Li Cunxi in exterminating the three clans of Sun Zhongmou might not be as many as the number he killed half an hour ago.
If it were him, let alone the three clans, if it really came to the point of tarnishing his reputation, he would definitely kill them all.
Lu Dayou also nodded hurriedly.
They just treat human lives as worthless. These Yangzhou officials and soldiers treat the lives of ordinary people as worthless, so they have no choice but to treat the lives of officials' entire families as worthless.
It's just a different group of people dying.
Someone has to die.
Li Cunxi scooped himself a glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.
"As soon as the day breaks, we will be able to welcome a brand new Yangzhou."
"Now, we are only missing Minister Feng and Doctor Li. After they come back, we will go and provoke Yuan Qi."
"If Yuan Qi turns hostile to us right away and fights us to death, that would be the best."
"If he continues to be a coward, I have other ways to kill this old bastard."
Li Cunxi had already seen the dawn of victory and was in a good mood, so he drank a few more glasses.
Then, he remembered the greed in Lu Dayou's eyes when he saw Sun Zhongmou's property, and glanced at Lu Dayou who had already opened "The Analects of Confucius".
"Dayou, you are also going to get married, so you must be short of money."
"Go to my house after you return and ask Ma Rong to give you two hundred thousand taels of silver to use."
"When we get married in the future, I will prepare a betrothal gift for you, and you can send it to the girl's house to show your love."
Lu Dayou became more energetic and said:
"Silver is naturally in short supply."
"After all, who would complain that they have too much silver?"
"Since I was promoted, many officials have sent gold and silver to my house, and some have even set their sights on my sister."
"No, I'm still saving up for my dowry and betrothal gifts."
Lu Dayou received a lot of bribes. After all, he took the money but did not do the job. At most, he was corrupt but did not break the law.
If he really reported it to Wu Zetian, at most she would just scold him, and no one would do anything to him.
Besides, Lu Dayou is already in his thirties, not much older than Li Yuanfang, yet he hasn’t found a wife and his sister isn’t married either.
In this era, everyone would be anxious.
Therefore, it is understandable that Lu Dayou desires money.
"I'll have A-Tai send it to you later. You've been with me for several years, so you can't be careless about getting married or marrying off a girl."
"I don't know how much bribes A'tai and Xuguzi have received in the capital in the past few years, but they must have been able to give a lot, which is also a small token of my appreciation."
As soon as Li Cunxi mentioned Qiao Tai and Xu Guzi, he suddenly felt a headache.
When he was a low-ranking official with little influence, officials gave him gifts, and it was Qiao Tai and Xu Guzi who accepted them.
Later, his official position became higher and higher, and Qiao Tai and Xu Guzi, who stayed in the capital, received more and more.
He had asked the three Snake Spirit followers in the mansion to do an accounting before, and it was probably about several million taels of silver, but Li Cunxi had never asked about the exact amount.
This is the benefit of being a high-ranking official in Luoyang. As long as you want to make money, there will naturally be people who will give it to you with a coquettish face.
Honest officials cannot afford to give much money, but corrupt officials have plenty of money to give them.
With this thought in mind, Li Cunxi said:
"Brother Dayou, I still say the same thing. It is reasonable for you to accept bribes. After all, you are a counselor, and it is harmless to accept bribes."
"Only one sentence."
"We accept bribes but do not do our work, and we take bribes but do not pervert the law."
"You must remember this clearly."
"If you take bribes, people will at most accuse you of being greedy, but if you don't do things for them, people won't be able to sue you for violating the law."
"If we give people something to say about us, we will be accused of being greedy."
Lu Dayou cupped his hands and agreed.
I don't know who started this precedent of taking bribes and not doing anything, but now Li Cunxi has copied it directly.
"Well, everyone has been busy all night, so take a rest now."
"We still have things to do tomorrow."
Li Cunxi was really sleepy, so he got up and went back to a small room, covered himself with a quilt and fell into a deep sleep.
Lu Dayou and Hu Jinghui also found a place to sleep and waited for dawn.
Three people fell asleep, but many people couldn't sleep tonight.
In Yangzhou city, all officials under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office were taken away by the imperial guards, and their final destination was the Governor's Office.
Inside the prison of the governor's mansion, Cui Liang and Wu Wendeng were trembling with fear, holding their buttocks and not daring to sleep, their eyes constantly scanning the burly men around them.
In Tiexian Temple, Yun Gu sat on the roof, struggling between her conscience and her conscience.