My version of Heavenly Dao is too old, so it's full of bugs.

Chapter 290: Let the Thunder Department investigate the Finance Department, and let the Finance Department investigate the Thunder Department!
Upon learning of Li Wei's situation, the Supreme Emperor Haotian was furious and immediately convened the annual assembly of all gods ahead of schedule.

It is worth mentioning that this is the third time this year that the Divine Assembly has been held ahead of schedule, and the previous two times were also related to Li Wei, namely before the collapse of the Dragon Transformation Realm and after the return of the gods in the 7.19 version update of Heavenly Dao.

Every time the morning assembly was convened ahead of schedule, something significant happened.

Therefore, even the most oblivious gods had long since learned about the Heavenly City Wall through various connections, discovering that Li Wei had almost been killed in the Ministry of Finance's prison and that the Heavenly City Wall had suddenly sunk.

The rain is coming.

As the gods sped toward the Lingxiao Palace, they also continuously surveyed the surrounding area, preparing for any eventuality.

But I didn’t expect it.

They underestimated the seriousness of the situation.

After the gods entered and the Heavenly Emperor arrived, before the Curtain-Lifting General could announce the start of the court assembly...
As a result, Zhang Tianjun, who had just been added to the blacklist of dishonest officials, immediately jumped out and accused the Ministry of Finance of having traitors and demanding a thorough investigation.

Of all the departments in Heaven, only the Thunder Department has the ability to conduct a thorough investigation. Therefore, Zhang Tianjun suggested that the Thunder Department temporarily detain all the Gods of Wealth and carry out a thorough virus and pest check on the Finance Department system and the Heavenly Market Enclosure.

There's no way the gods of wealth would agree to that!

They knew all too well the methods of the Thunder Department.

The so-called investigation was a pretense; the real purpose was to seize power!

The Raibu's battle maniacs clearly want to take this opportunity to interfere with the Finance Department's financial power, and may even want to take the opportunity to invade the Finance Department's major systems. When the Heavenly City Wall is handed over to them, who knows how many monitoring programs will be inserted into it, turning it into the Raibu's backyard.

Therefore, Bi Gan Zhenjun, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Finance and known as the selfless God of Wealth, immediately voiced his strong opposition and asked the Jade Emperor to hand the matter over to their Ministry of Finance for investigation.

Bi Gan Zhenjun is simply dreaming!
The Supreme Heavenly Emperor was more than happy for the Ministry of Finance to suffer. It would be good enough if they didn't sow discord at this time. How could they let them off so easily?

[Although Li Wei is my confidant, I am not showing him any favoritism this time. Rather, the problems exposed in your Ministry of Finance are far too serious, even affecting the Three Enclosures of Heaven. Therefore, it is impossible for you to investigate on your own! Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable!]

[Your subject is here!]

This matter will be handled by your Thunder Department.

Before the Heavenly Emperor could finish speaking,

Minister of Finance, Zhao Gongming, the True Lord of the Golden Dragon Ruyi Zhengyi Dragon Tiger Mysterious Altar, stepped forward and bowed to interrupt:

"Your Majesty, please wait! Although I am the Minister of Finance, I am also the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Thunder. Why not entrust this matter to me? I guarantee I will not show favoritism!"

I will never show favoritism!

Who doesn't know that you, the senior disciple of the outer sect of the Jie Sect, are notoriously protective of your own?

Just as the many Thunder Gods were about to object, Zhao Gongming spoke up again: "If the Thunder Department agrees, I am willing to resign from my position as Deputy Minister of the Thunder Department and relinquish my power to control clouds and rain!"

This statement came out.

The gods of the Thunder Department were immediately delighted.

Even the Supreme Emperor of Heaven couldn't help but let a glint flash in his eyes, but he still laughed and said, "My dear minister, you have performed your duties admirably. Let's not mention resignation again."

Zhao Gongming insisted: "The Ministry of Finance has suffered such a major incident, and I am inextricably linked to it. After all, in recent years I have devoted most of my energy to the Ministry of Thunder, and thus neglected the management of the Ministry of Finance. I have failed in my duty and made a mistake, and I must give everyone an explanation!"

The Supreme Emperor coughed and said, "Since that's the case, then I have no choice but to reluctantly agree to your request, my dear minister."

But unexpectedly, the Heavenly Venerable of Universal Transformation and Responding to the Origin of Thunder spoke up in opposition:

[Your Majesty, it's best to retain Zhao Zhenjun's position. After all, everyone has worked hard to get used to each other. If someone else takes over, it will take decades or even centuries just to become familiar with the Cloud and Rain System, which will affect the well-being of all the people.]

Zhao Gongming at least had a moral compass, but if this position were occupied by someone from the Heavenly Emperor's faction, then the people of the world would be in trouble.

Moreover, Zhao Gongming and he were old friends who had participated in the Investiture of the Gods, and they must have had some private relationship. Even if they were to fight for power, they wouldn't go too far.

But if it were someone from the Heavenly Emperor's faction, then the Thunder Department would never have a peaceful day again!
Zhao Gongming's move of feigning retreat to advance was truly ruthless. He intended to sever the arteries of the Thunder Department to bleed them, thereby diverting the Heavenly Emperor's attention to deal with the Thunder Department.

Therefore, the Heavenly Venerable of Universal Transformation will never fall for the trap!

But Zhao Gongming persisted, insisting that he must step down.

The next moment, over a hundred deities in the imperial court jointly accused Zhao Gongming of abusing his power, having an immoral private life, and seducing the fairy of Yaochi, among other crimes.

Moreover, all the evidence is complete!
There's even a high-definition video of Zhao Gongming and the Fairy of Yaochi returning to their grotto after drinking together!
Are you sure this isn't staged?

Do you, the dignified Golden Dragon Ruyi Zhengyi Longhu Xuantan Zhenjun, have any shame at all?

sorry!
I do not want!
Regardless of what Zhao Gongming was like in the past, after seven versions of power struggles, he has been permanently changed by divine authority.

Faced with such crude and flawed evidence, He could still feign surprise and say: "I never imagined I had unintentionally committed so many grave errors. I beg Your Majesty to dismiss me from my position as Deputy Minister of the Thunder Department!"

The more than one hundred deities who attended to Him also bowed in unison: "Your Majesty, we request that you dismiss Senior Brother Zhao from his position as Deputy Minister of the Thunder Department!"

For a moment, it was impossible to tell whether these guys were there to help Him or to criticize Him!
But this is the kind of prestige a senior disciple of the outer sect of the Jie Sect has.

In the Lingxiao Palace, one call is met with a hundred responses!
The Heavenly Emperor felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't help but sneer inwardly: Are these people my "loyal subjects"? They are far too loyal!

However, He showed no sign of distress, simply saying, "Since so many people feel that you are unsuitable, then step down. This way, you can focus on your work in the Ministry of Finance."

Zhao Gongming immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

It took the Ministry of Finance several versions of time to gradually wrest the position of deputy minister from the Ministry of Thunder. Zhao Gongming was even willing to lower himself to serve as an assistant deity to the Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Thunder and Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable, all for the sake of gaining power in the Ministry of Thunder. However, as a result, the Ministry of Finance's power expanded too much, becoming too powerful to control, and making it the primary political target of the Supreme Emperor.

However, something happened in the Dragon Transformation Realm, and that's how the previous generation of True Monarch Zhaoli died.

If this continues, something terrible is bound to happen!
Therefore, Zhao Gongming chose to retreat in order to advance.

Although the Ministry of Finance will lose some of the power of the Thunder Department as a result, it can temporarily extricate itself from this political vortex, preserve the Ministry of Finance's core base and the core of the gods, and also put the Thunder Department at the forefront to draw the fire of the Jade Emperor.

After all, that's the authority of the deputy minister of the Thunder Department. Wouldn't Shang Hao have to fight desperately against the Thunder Department?
When two tigers fight, one of them will surely be injured.

If they remain uninvolved, they might actually benefit from the situation.

Just as Zhao Gongming was thinking this,
The Supreme Emperor suddenly declared: "Minister Zhao may resign, but an independent investigation of the Ministry of Finance is not permitted!"

[After all, the Ministry of Finance is the core of the Heavenly Court, and absolutely cannot be compromised. To prevent Minister Zhao from showing favoritism—of course, I absolutely trust Minister Zhao! But in such matters, one must avoid suspicion—I suggest that Minister Zhao select a group of people from the Thunder Department to investigate! What do you think, Heavenly Venerable Puhua?]

Puhua Tianzun felt like laughing!

Especially after seeing Zhao Gongming freeze in surprise, I wanted to laugh even more.

You didn't expect this, did you? His Majesty's ambition is even greater than you imagined. A mere deputy ministerial position in the Thunder Department is far from enough to satisfy him. You, Old Zhao, have really shot yourself in the foot this time!

With a smile, Puhua Tianzun said, "Your humble servant will immediately select a group of capable thunder gods to assist Zhao Zhenjun in investigating the case. I believe Zhao Zhenjun will not protect the criminals, right?"

Zhao Gongming took a deep breath to suppress his anger. Although the Lei Department was still investigating the case, at least He was leading the team, which would at least minimize the losses.

But passively taking a beating is not his style.
So Zhao Gongming suddenly challenged: "Since Your Majesty has said so, I naturally have no objection. However, I have another matter to report to Your Majesty today!"

Shang Hao leaned back on the Heavenly Emperor's throne, resting his chin on one hand, and said with great interest: "Speak."

Zhao Gongming took a deep breath: "During its review of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry discovered that the first six versions of the Ministry of Finance, spanning over 60,000 years, contained extensive financial and data fabrication."

For example, a pack of ordinary divine official uniform buttons would only cost around 1 million in the lower realms, but in the Thunder Department it would cost 1 million low-grade spirit stones—a price increase of more than a hundredfold!

[There's also this batch of Immortal Network routers. Each one is only worth a little over two hundred top-grade spirit stones on the market, but the Thunder Department bought them for over twenty thousand top-grade spirit stones—a price increase of over a hundred times.]

[And then there's the immortal goat, worth a million spirit stones, that produces milk exclusively for the immortals; the divine weapon annihilation bomb, worth trillions but unable to be fired; and the Thunder Department's divine official, who's been dead for over 30,000 years but still lives off his retirement.]

[And so on, and many more!]

Therefore, I believe that there is serious corruption within the Thunder Department, and I request Your Majesty to order a thorough investigation!

Watching this dog-eat-dog drama unfold, Shang Hao inwardly burst into laughter, but his expression was one of utter fury: "Minister Zhao, do not speak such nonsense!! Our Heavenly Court, as the ruler of the world, with its ever-present light, how could such a thing happen?!"

[Your Majesty's words are entirely true. If you do not believe me, simply send someone to investigate!]

Shang Hao straightened up, his face serious, and asked, "Does the Heavenly Venerable have anything to say?"

The Heavenly Venerable of Universal Transformation and Responding Thunder of the Nine Heavens remained unmoved: "These are all slanders. Our Thunder Department is majestic and dignified; such a thing would never happen! If it did, I would be the first to punish Him!"

"Good! Good, good, good!!" Emperor Shanghao turned to Zhao Gongming: "Then let the Ministry of Finance send a group of people to investigate the accounts of the Ministry of Thunder."

Let the Ministry of Thunder investigate the Ministry of Finance, and let the Ministry of Finance investigate the Ministry of Thunder!
This is going to be interesting!
The Supreme Emperor of Heaven announced the end of the court session, and the gods left the Lingxiao Palace. However, they found that Zhao Gongming and the Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable had somehow come together. They walked further and further away, faster and faster, and then suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight!

With a loud bang!!!
A loud explosion suddenly came from the heavens!
The gods of Heaven were immediately dumbfounded, and even the Supreme Emperor of Heaven was stunned.

Could they have started fighting?
Shanghao immediately summoned the two great gods, Qianli and Shunfeng, and ordered them to activate the Heavenly Court's observation system to observe the great battle between Zhao Gongming and the Heavenly Venerable of Universal Thunder and Lightning.

However, the two ministers' combat power was truly terrifying. The detection system was pulverized into dust by the aftershocks of the law's killing move as soon as it got close.

But this very fact shows that the two of them have really gotten into a fight.

If we kill one of them... tsk tsk tsk!
The Heavenly Emperor was itching to see it, his heart was pounding like a cat's claws.

[His Majesty is probably cursing us to die right now, isn't he?]

Amidst the storm created by the clash of countless deadly moves, Zhao Gongming remained unmoved, boiling water to brew tea.

The Heavenly Venerable of Universal Transformation and Responding to the Origin of Thunder sat opposite, a smile on his face: "Since His Majesty enjoys playing around, let's let Him have some fun this time. Otherwise, how can we expect Him to serve us properly in the future?"

boom! !

A barrage of deadly attacks erupted from the two, colliding in the void and stirring up the winds and clouds, also obscuring their conversation.

As they spoke, they quickly exchanged a list.

These gods are too corrupt and outdated; let's clean them out this time. It's time for the Heavenly Court to have some fresh blood.

[Hahaha! I've long disliked these wicked guys who lie on their laurels and commit countless evils. This time, killing them is just right! But, brother, what about the Cleansing Life Orthodox Cult's Law System?]

The Heavenly Venerable of Universal Transformation and Responding to the Origin of Thunder paused for a moment, then suddenly said: "The Thunder Department and the Finance Department are not necessarily at odds; don't you hold the authority of both departments simultaneously?"

Zhao Gongming laughed heartily, picked up a teacup, and handed it to him: "Brother Daoist, have some tea!"

After they finished drinking, they both looked up at the Heavenly Court and remembered the battle they had lost.

Although countless years have passed, perhaps we have another chance to win.

Let's wait a little longer. We've already endured so many years, a little more time won't make a difference.

(End of this chapter)