bookrandom Chapter 341 Either pay the money or pay the life!
Chapter 341 Either pay the money or pay the life!
Chu Ning's words shocked everyone.
It was unexpected that he asked for money so directly.
I thought Chu Ning would appeal to their emotions, reason with them, and persuade them with the interests of their country and family.
At that time, they could use the food and military pay they had donated as a shield.
Unexpectedly, Chu Ning didn't even mention this matter and directly asked them to pay back the money.
Huangfu Gao, the head of the noble family, looked cold and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness the King of Chu, this is not right. When have we ever taken money from the royal family?"
This kind of thing cannot be admitted even to death.
The heads of other noble families reacted and agreed: "Yes, what do you mean you took the silver? Why?"
"Your Highness the Prince of Chu wants us to hand over the silver with just empty words. Is there such a good thing in the world?"
"Not only did our noble family not take any money from the royal family, but we have donated a lot of money and food to the royal family over the years. Even if we have to pay it back, it should be the royal family that pays it back to us."
"That's right, Your Highness the Prince of Chu, please don't confuse right and wrong!"
The more they spoke, the louder they became, as if only this could calm their restless hearts.
Chu Ning did not give up because of the other party's large numbers. Instead, he took a sip of the teacup slowly.
Despite the continuous rebuttals from the heads of the noble families, Chu Ning just drank his tea leisurely as if nothing had happened.
Until everyone realized something was wrong, they all quieted down after Huangfu Gao waved his hand to signal them to do so.
At this time, Chu Ning put down the teacup in his hand and chuckled, "You want evidence, right?"
"Ran Ming, show them the evidence!"
Ran Ming outside the hall waved his right hand, and two guards came in with a stack of confessions.
"These are the confessions of the Ministry of Revenue officials. Would you like to take a look?" Chu Ning said slowly and calmly without any hurry.
Huangfu Gao snorted coldly, picked up a confession and took a look at it, then his face changed drastically and he tore the confession into pieces.
"Your Highness, this is just one-sided statement from the Ministry of Revenue officials. How can you trust it?"
Huangfu Gao said coldly: "Besides, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue are detained in the Ministry of Justice. Who knows if these confessions were not obtained through torture?"
"Besides, the confession of Lord Chen, the Minister of Revenue, is not among them. How can we accept these confessions?"
In a word, it is not to be admitted.
Once admitted, that much silver would have to be handed over.
As long as they don't admit it, Chu Ning has no reason to ask them for money.
Moreover, Chen Guowei did not confess. As long as he was still holding on, they had reason to doubt his confession.
Since the highest-ranking official in the Ministry of Revenue did not confess, the confessions of the lower-level officials naturally could not be trusted.
After all, the misappropriation of treasury funds was initiated by Chen Guowei. As long as Chen Guowei did not give in, they would refuse to admit it.
Chu Ning was not surprised by this. He grinned and chuckled, "So you are waiting for Master Chen!"
"Ran Ming, bring Master Chen in!"
Amid everyone's surprised gazes, Ran Ming came in holding a cloth bag.
With every step, blood would seep out of the wrapping cloth. The pungent smell of blood made the pampered people from the aristocratic family take a few steps back, covering their mouths and noses with their hands, revealing expressions of disgust at the smoke.
At this moment, Ran Ming threw the cloth in his hand to the ground, and a square human head rolled out from it.
"Gudong~"
The head rolled on the ground and stopped right in front of Huangfu Gao. The pair of wide-open eyes met Huangfu Gao's gaze.
"Ah... this... this is the head of Master Chen!"
Huangfu Gao's face changed drastically, and he took several steps back with a trembling body, frightening the others behind him so much that they hurried forward to support him.
Everyone was shocked and angry. No one expected that Chu Ning would actually kill the Minister of Revenue Chen Guowei.
This is the Minister of Revenue, one of the Six Ministries, and a loyal minister of the Great Chu.
The frightened crowd stared at Chu Ning in disbelief, feeling confused and uncertain.
Chu Ning is so lawless, will he take this opportunity to kill me?
All the wealthy and powerful families have gathered here today. If they all die here, Chu Ning can take advantage of the opportunity and sneak in.
Huangfu Gao noticed the reaction of the crowd, and his face immediately darkened. He stared at Chu Ning and said, "You... you dared to kill an important official of the imperial court without authorization!"
Chu Ning definitely did not report Chen Guowei's death to the emperor in advance, otherwise they would not have had any information about it at all.
Killing the Minister of Revenue without telling the emperor is a capital crime!
Chu Ning laughed loudly, took out a jade pendant, and said loudly: "My father gave me the jade pendant, which gives me the power to execute first and report later!
This time, I will definitely recover the misappropriated treasury silver for my father. If anyone disobeys, Chen Guowei will be like you."
This statement was tantamount to an ultimatum.
Either pay the money or pay the life!
Everyone's face changed drastically and they were shocked. No one expected that Chu Ning would have such a thundering method.
Is Chu Ning really not afraid of completely offending the aristocratic families and having no one support the royal family in the future?
You have to know that the current Chu Dynasty is facing internal and external troubles. Without the support of their aristocratic families, how can such a huge dynasty be maintained?
But the most frightened one was Huangfu Gao.
This kid Chu Ning really dares to take action.
If you don't make your position clear, there is no guarantee that other families will not compromise.
Not all noble families have the courage to go against the royal family!
Thinking of this, Huangfu Gao made a prompt decision, stared at Chu Ning, tapped the tiger-head crutch in his hand, and shouted loudly:
"Your Highness, Prince of Chu, even if you have the power to execute first and report later, you cannot execute a high-ranking official without authorization. Moreover, Lord Chen is also involved in the misappropriation of treasury silver. If he dies, the matter will be even more impossible to handle."
All the people who embezzled the money are dead, and you still want us to hand over the money?
Go dream!
The other people from the noble families finally reacted after hearing what was said.
Yes, Chen Guowei is dead, and no one has pointed out me, so what is there to be afraid of?
Even if there were confessions from the Ministry of Revenue officials, the court would not be able to conclude that they had embezzled treasury silver.
Suddenly, everyone's morale rose and the panic-stricken look on their faces disappeared.
Chu Ning was not surprised and chuckled, "Old Patriarch Huangfu doesn't need to worry about Chen Guowei's death, but think about how much silver your Huangfu family has to pay back.
This king will give you three days. If you do not return the silver, you will bear all the consequences yourself."
Huangfu Gao narrowed his eyes and said, "You don't have to wait three days. I can tell you right now. We didn't take the silver from the treasury, so how can we return it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd suddenly stepped forward and bowed to Chu Ning:
"Your Highness, the King of Chu, my Ling family is willing to pay one million taels of silver!"
Everyone was stunned and turned to look at the person who spoke.
The man was wearing a blue satin gown, had a thin figure, and looked somewhat similar to the Minister of Justice Ling Haoran.
Huangfu Gao's face changed drastically: "Ling! Li! Xuan! Do you know what you are talking about?"
Ling Lixuan said calmly: "Old Patriarch Huangfu, this is the choice of our Ling family. I cannot decide it alone. Please understand."
Chu Ning laughed loudly: "Very good, as long as the Ling family pays one million taels within three days, the past will be forgiven!"
After saying this, Chu Ning looked at the other family heads with a playful look on his face: "Everyone, it's time for you to make a choice!"
The arrangements have been made, and now it depends on whether these people will be affected.