Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 263 Heinous Sins (2)

In an instant, the steamed bun got stuck in his throat.

Song Yan strained to stretch his neck, but the feeling of suffocation grew stronger. His eyes widened, and his face turned an odd red. Seeing that something was wrong, Luo Tianxuan quickly stood up, walked behind Song Yan, and patted him hard on the back. Then she picked up the soup, and Song Yan took a big gulp and swallowed it. Only then did he feel the intense pressure and suffocation in his throat gradually dissipate.

Huff, huff, huff.

He was breathing heavily, almost greedily.

Several breaths later, Song Yan finally returned to normal, and the flush on her face gradually faded.

Good heavens, I almost choked to death on a bite of steamed bun.

If he really died like that, he would probably make it into the top ten of the most shameful ways transmigrators die.

Luo Tianxuan also gave Song Yan a reproachful look: "Husband, don't be so anxious. It's just a little money. Why make such a fuss?"

Song Yan let out a heavy sigh.

A little money?
Is this a small amount of money?

This is 4,478,762 taels of silver.

As expected of a princess, her knowledge is truly beyond my reach.

Even though Song Yan had long guessed that he would make a fortune from this, he did not expect it to be so extravagant. Although he had obtained a lot of money from the Song family and the Japanese pirates, it was still insignificant compared to this sum of money.

Moreover, this amount only includes the assets of the Qian family, the 132 official families, the Huang family, and Xilin Academy; the one million taels that the Zhang family head explicitly pledged to donate has not yet been calculated.

The booklet meticulously recorded the sources of all the silver, with detailed data on the confiscated property from each official's home, and even listed the official's rank and annual salary for comparison.

At a glance, even the one who embezzled the least amount had six thousand taels of silver. Even if this official didn't eat, drink, or spend any money, it would probably take him decades to accumulate such wealth. Moreover, this only includes silver; antiques, paintings, gold and silver jewelry, and the like are not included. If all of these were included, it would take not only decades but even a hundred years of work to accumulate enough.

The one who embezzled the most was naturally Qian Yaozu.

The governor's mansion was raided, and a total of 130,000 taels of silver were confiscated.

It may not sound like an exaggeration, but it is actually quite a frightening number. You should know that Qian Yaozu's annual salary was more than 600 taels of silver... This salary level is actually quite high.

Of course, the real lion's share was still with the Huang family. The more than three million taels of silver was quite astonishing. However, considering that the Huang family had cultivated deep roots in Liaodong for a century, this figure became reasonable. As for how much wealth the Huang family had hidden away, that was an unknown number.

Suppressing his agitation, Song Yan pursed his lips and looked back at the scene.
"A total of 4,478,762 taels of silver was seized!"

"Gold: 15,500 taels."

"Gold jewelry: 132 pieces."

"Silver jewelry: seven chests."

"Pearls: Four boxes!"

"Various kinds of jade: twelve boxes."

"Ivory, coral, various calligraphy and paintings, suspected antiques, various books..."

The house raids were mostly carried out by the local guards. These guards were usually bullied by civil officials, so they probably wanted to tear the houses down. They likely didn't leave anything behind.

Unfortunately, the soldiers' knowledge was ultimately limited. They could recognize silver, gold, jewelry, and jade, but they couldn't judge the value of calligraphy, paintings, antiques, and books. So they simply piled all these things together. For example, there were seven carts of suspected antiques and twelve carts of various books.

If there were truly ancient and unique copies of the book that had survived from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, their value would probably be greater than all the gold, silver, jewelry, and jade combined.

My gaze swept over one number after another.

My heart is restless.

It was a kind of excitement that was completely uncontrollable.

At this moment, Song Yan could finally stand up and say with a clear conscience: I'm rich now.

Not to mention just the four thousand heavily armored soldiers under his command, even if he added the several thousand warhorses... and the twelve thousand soldiers in Pingyang City, he could afford to support them now.

Moreover, the confiscated gold and silver were only part of the wealth; in addition, thousands of bolts of silk and satin also represented a considerable fortune. It's important to understand that in that era, silk and satin were absolute hard currency, directly usable as money.

Finally, there was a large amount of grain, totaling over 600,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), of which 300,000 shi came from the Huang family, and the rest came from officials of all ranks.

At a time when countless people were freezing and starving to death every day, all the officials in Pingyang City, from top to bottom, had piles of silk, satin, grain, and charcoal in their homes.

They even want to take away the last bit of food that ordinary people have left, the grain they will plant next spring.

If Song Yan originally felt that the killings were too heavy, now... he only regrets that he has killed too few.

……

The nineteenth year of Ninghe.

Hall of Supreme Harmony.

This is where the officials of Ningguo held court, presumably to symbolize peace and tranquility. The year-end is approaching.

Even the Eastern Mausoleum exudes a slight chill.

Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, civil and military officials stood on both sides, their expressions solemn, making the atmosphere in the hall unusually oppressive.

A civil official stood in the middle of the court, bowing deeply, with a fine layer of sweat on his forehead.

This man's name was Lü Chentao, and he held the official position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

Having graduated from Xilin Academy, he was considered one of the most accomplished scholars there. Among the thousands of students at Xilin Academy, almost none held a higher position.

Just moments ago, after the eunuch shrieked, "Speak if you have something to say, otherwise the court is adjourned," Lü Chentao stepped forward and presented a report that sent chills down everyone's spines.

Just a few days ago, Song Yan, who had just been transferred to the position of magistrate of Xinhou County in Pingyang Prefecture, brazenly led his troops to attack Pingyang City and executed 133 officials, including Qian Yaozu.

The entire officialdom of Pingyang Prefecture was wiped out in a bloodbath, and even the relatives of these officials were not spared; each and every one of them was executed along with their entire family.

When the news broke, everyone was shocked. Even the Grand Secretary Yang Hetong, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat Fang De, and the two Grand Secretaries of the Secretariat all changed their expressions drastically, their eyes filled with unconcealed shock.

The Ningguo court adopted the system of three provinces and six ministries.

The Secretariat, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Chancellery were considered the highest decision-making bodies in the Ningguo court.

The Secretariat was headed by one Grand Secretary, the Department of State Affairs by one Grand Secretary, and the Chancellery had no Grand Chancellor, but rather two Chancellor Attendants.

In terms of official rank, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and the Grand Secretary are both of the second rank, while the Grand Secretary of the Chancellery is of the third rank, which is two ranks lower. However, the Chancellery has great actual power because it directly participates in central decision-making.

Among them, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat and the Grand Secretary were also called Prime Ministers, Chancellors, and the Attendants-in-Ordinary were also called Vice Prime Ministers!

The fact that the four most powerful prime ministers in the Ningguo court showed such shocked expressions shows just how sensational this news was. Immediately, a rustling sound arose throughout the court, with many people whispering among themselves.

In Ningguo, officials and soldiers who attacked county towns were considered to be committing treason, let alone prefectural towns.

As a seventh-rank county magistrate, executing a third-rank prefect was absolutely an act of insubordination and treason. What's more, this seventh-rank official even went so far as to massacre the entire officialdom of Pingyang City, with every official executed without exception.

The prefectural city had 15,000 soldiers under its command. How could a mere county magistrate have so many troops to conquer the prefectural city?
Unless they recruit soldiers privately.

Good heavens, this magistrate is really something else. He committed several capital offenses, punishable by confiscation of property and extermination of the entire clan. Does he really have a death wish?
Speaking of which, why does the name Song Yan sound so familiar?

Isn't this Princess Luo Yuheng's son-in-law?
Several months ago, he led the guards of the Princess's residence to kill tens of thousands of Japanese pirates, completely eliminating the Japanese pirate threat in the coastal areas of Ningguo. He even cut off the heads of Japanese pirates and built ten mounds of skulls. For this merit, His Majesty exceptionally granted him the title of Viscount of Ningping County and assigned him to serve as the magistrate of Xinhou County in Liaodong.

When this imperial decree was announced, many people felt that the relationship between His Majesty and the Princess was truly terrible.

Song Yan was able to quell the Japanese pirates and had made great contributions.

To leave behind the lines, "Becoming a marquis is not my wish, I only wish for calm seas," which have been passed down for thousands of years, is a testament to one's talent.

Such a person, instead of staying in Songzhou Prefecture, or even being transferred to Dongling City to enjoy a life of luxury, was instead thrown into that godforsaken place of Liaodong to suffer. It was clearly because of the Princess that he was implicated and retaliated against by His Majesty. At the time, I felt a little sorry for him, but who would have thought that Song Yan had only been transferred to Liaodong for a few months and had already done such a shocking thing.

This kid must be aiming for the heavens!

This time, it's over.

Even if the eldest princess and His Majesty were not on good terms, and even if the two siblings were loving and affectionate, under such a heinous crime, no one could save Song Yan's life.

That's what everyone thinks.

Even Fang De, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, had a furrowed brow.

He had heard about Song Yan's affairs from Fang Hai. In some respects, they should be considered to be in the same faction. However, even Fang De felt that Song Yan had gone too far this time.

Just when everyone thought Emperor Ninghe would be furious, the entire Taihe Palace was unusually calm.

Emperor Ninghe remained silent.

Having maintained the bowing posture for a long time, Lü Chentao felt his back and waist were starting to ache. He couldn't help but wonder, so he quietly looked up and saw that Emperor Ninghe's eyes were fixed on him.

For some reason, those eyes put immense pressure on Lü Chentao.

I was drenched in cold sweat, and my body was trembling uncontrollably.

Some time ago, Emperor Ninghe fell seriously ill. After recovering, he carried out a thorough purge of the palace without any attempt at concealment. Hundreds of eunuchs and palace maids in the palace were either beheaded or exiled.

Even some of the old eunuchs from the Yuan Jing Emperor's era were not spared.

His aura, however, grew increasingly terrifying.

This strange change caused many officials in the court to frown, vaguely sensing that things were not so simple.

Just as Lü Chentao was about to give up, Emperor Ninghe finally spoke slowly:
"Minister Lü, where is the memorial?"

(End of this chapter)