bayedsolid Chapter 353 Compensation alone is not enough, more money is needed!
Chapter 353 Compensation alone is not enough, more money is needed!
"I think the main thing is to get the silver back from the treasury, and the rest can be forgiven."
Chu Ning said calmly, "Besides, my father once said that we should show mercy when we can. We can't really confiscate all their property and exterminate their clans, right?"
The family heads were stunned.
Chu Ning actually spoke well of himself?
The sun rises from the west?
However, this is a good thing for them and they must seize it.
A family head licked his face and said loudly: "Your Highness the King of Chu is very generous, we will remember it in our hearts!"
"It was not our wish to embezzle the treasury silver, but we were forced by the Huangfu family, so our Zhao family had no choice but to comply."
"My Liu family was also forced to do this. This treasury silver did not belong to my Liu family in the first place. It is only right that we return it to Your Majesty now."
"Yes, yes, yes. We were all forced by the Huangfu family. We are willing to return all the treasury silver."
If you can use the money to buy the lives of your family, you can make a comeback in the future.
You can earn money again if you lose it, but if you lose your life, you lose everything.
Everyone was not stupid. Although they didn't understand why Chu Ning would speak for them, they immediately pushed the responsibility onto the Huangfu family.
Now that the five major families are in trouble, everyone is pushing the blame on Huangfu Gao and others so that they can survive.
As for the silver, just pay it and consider it as a way to ward off disaster.
Chu Ning looked at the people who were trying to shirk their responsibilities, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face. He turned to look at the emperor and bowed:
"Father, since they are willing to change their ways, why not give them a chance? After all, they have made contributions to our Great Chu Dynasty."
The emperor looked at Chu Ning deeply and said, "You are responsible for this matter. Since you plead for them, I will give you face.
Get up, everyone. As long as you return the silver in full, I will forgive you for what happened!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The family heads breathed a sigh of relief.
Only with the emperor's guarantee could they hand over the money with peace of mind.
Unexpectedly, at this time, Chu Ning said in a deep voice: "This matter is of great importance. I hope you will write down the amount of silver they have embezzled so that it will be convenient for subsequent verification."
The emperor thought it made sense and immediately ordered: "Come here, bring writing materials."
As long as these people write down the amount of silver, the Ministry of Revenue can count it when they hand it over.
The family heads had no reason to refuse, so they could only write it anyway.
Many maids brought pens, ink, paper and inkstones. Although the heads of the households were reluctant, they looked at each other and picked up their brushes to start writing.
Chu Ning looked curious and came up behind a family head.
The man first wrote down the family name and then began to write the amount of silver.
But at this moment, Chu Ning suddenly said, "You have been embezzling treasury funds for a while, right?"
The family heads who were about to start writing were stunned and turned around to look.
Amid the surprised looks of the crowd, Chu Ning said calmly: "With so much money, even if I lend it to others, there will be interest.
This prince hopes that you will think carefully about the quantity before writing it down. If you write too little, and the emperor is not satisfied, then this prince will not be able to protect you."
Everyone understood this time.
This guy wants to collect more money under the guise of asking for interest.
The emperor also reacted.
Good boy, you have a way to make money.
The emperor glared and pretended to be angry, saying in a cold voice: "Whoever dares to give less will be confiscated and his entire family exterminated. No, I will exterminate all nine generations of his family!"
The extermination of the five major families gave the emperor a taste of sweetness, and he started by exterminating the entire clan.
The family heads were shocked and looked embarrassed.
This kid Chu Ning wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to extort money. If he gave too much money, the family would suffer a great loss. If he gave too little, the emperor would be dissatisfied.
For a moment, the family heads looked at each other, and no one knew how much silver to give.
The emperor frowned.
This cannot continue.
He glanced at Chu Ning and signaled Chu Ning to speak.
It was you who caused this trouble. Now people don't know how much they have to write about it. Don't you have to tell me the number?
Chu Ning grinned and chuckled, "Father, please don't scare the heads of the families. If something bad happens to them, we'll have to find a Feng Shui treasure to bury them."
Burial?
The family heads reacted.
The King of Chu wants all the noble families to give the money for building the emperor's mausoleum.
The amount written down this time, in addition to the silver originally misappropriated from the treasury, should be enough to build the emperor's mausoleum.
A family head responded and said in a deep voice: "King Chu's words make sense, but the amount of silver is huge, and we may remember it wrongly. Please allow us to discuss it for a moment."
The mausoleum built by the emperor is too huge. It is impossible for one family to pay for so much money. Of course, they have to discuss it together.
Chu Ning laughed: "Of course, please feel free to discuss it."
As he said this, he turned to look at Zhao Ming: "Please ask Manager Zhao to prepare some tea for us."
Zhao Ming responded and immediately asked the maid to bring tea.
The emperor sat on the main seat with a satisfied look on his face, looking at the heads of the families who were constantly discussing, and his heart was extremely excited.
This kid Chu Ning is really capable. Not only did he get back the misappropriated treasury silver, he also got money for me to build the mausoleum.
After this incident, I have to find a way to reward him!
At this moment, the prince had a gloomy face and ignored the fragrant tea brought by the maid.
Chu Ning and Ling Haoran sat on the chairs brought by the maid and slowly sipped the fragrant tea.
Soon, the family heads finished their discussion and they jointly recommended the head of the Huang family to speak out.
"Your Majesty, we have concluded our discussion. We feel guilty about misappropriating the treasury silver and are willing to pay more silver."
The emperor pretended to be pleased: "I am very happy that Master Huang has this intention."
He waved his hand, signaling everyone that they could start writing.
Soon, the family heads who had discussed it wrote down the amount of silver.
After drinking tea, Chu Ning took the documents written by everyone and looked at them for a few times, showing satisfaction: "Everyone is very sincere, the matter of misappropriation of treasury silver ends here!"
The family heads breathed a sigh of relief, and then the Huang family's patriarch bowed and saluted: "In that case, I will go back and get the silver."
After that, everyone bowed and prepared to leave.
But at this moment, Chu Ning suddenly said, "Wait, I have only mentioned the misappropriation of treasury silver, but I have not mentioned the burning of refined salt and the assassination of me!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the hall suddenly became extremely quiet.
No one expected that Chu Ning would actually settle the score later.
Patriarch Huang suddenly became nervous.
"Your Highness, Prince Chu, how are you going to deal with these two matters?"
Chu Ning narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice: "Burning the refined salt is a simple matter. If you pay some silver, I can let you go.
But you must hand over the mastermind behind the assassination of this king!"
This left the family heads dumbfounded.
And more money!
Even the emperor couldn't bear to watch it anymore. He held his forehead and looked as if he saw nothing.
Patriarch Huang laughed awkwardly, "Your Highness, we are willing to compensate you for the burning of your refined salt, but we cannot hand over the person who assassinated you."
Chu Ning frowned: "Are you trying to protect the murderer?"
Patriarch Huang waved his hands quickly: "No, no, no, Your Highness, don't misunderstand, we don't want to cover up for them, but they are gone."
"They?" Chu Ning's face was filled with murderous intent: "Who are they?"
"The Eight Great Families of Bingzhou!"
Sure enough it was them!
Chu Ning sneered: "Where are they?"
Patriarch Huang quickly explained: "After learning that you had wiped out the five major families, they left the city immediately. We don't know where they went."
Chu Ning made a prompt decision, turned around and saluted: "Father, I will take people to chase him!"