Chapter 183

Chapter 183

Meng Shuping was taken aback, then quickly stepped forward. "Your Majesty, I believe this matter requires the collective effort and cooperation of all our colleagues."

"Why does he always ask me? This makes me a total target! What if they think I'm too favored and blocking their paths? They’re totally going to try to take me down. Ugh, seriously, can't I just fly under the radar? I don’t want to become a pawn in these political games!"

"And can others please come up with more ideas too? It makes them look so incompetent if I'm always the one with ideas!"

The Minister of Revenue and others exchanged helpless glances at Meng Shuping. Others might want to suppress him, but could they actually do it? Besides, if the Emperor wanted to call on him, what did it have to do with them?

However, some officials took issue with Meng Shuping’s words. The Minister of Personnel looked at him and said, "Collective effort? Director Meng, are you suggesting that all colleagues help you collect taxes? That’s utterly ridiculous. Do you think everyone has nothing else to do but clean up the mess for the Ministry of Revenue?"

Other officials also piled on, mocking him, "Exactly! Tax collection is the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue. Why should we get dragged into this? If that’s the case, when we’re busy, can you come help us too?"

"I know Director Meng is new and trying to make a splash, but you can’t expect all of us to get roped into his busywork!"

Being targeted by so many, Meng Shuping felt nervous but also somewhat exasperated. He braced himself and said, "What do you mean, 'help me collect taxes'? The taxes aren’t for me—they’re for the court! If you don’t want to participate, then don't come crying to the Revenue Ministry later for funds."

"When it’s time to ask for money, you’re first in line with your hand out. But do you ever think about where that money comes from? Without the Ministry of Revenue, where would your funding come from? If you don’t want to cooperate, then let’s all stop drawing salaries!"

"Besides, even if you want to oppose, at least let me finish speaking. Why the rush? Oh, I get it! They don’t want to do extra work either, just like me! But come on, as pillars of the court, how can they be as lazy as I am? If everyone’s like that, who’s going to get things done for the court?"

The Minister of Personnel was dumbstruck, then sputtered, and finally found it unbelievable. Does this kid have no shame? He could be lazy, but other officials couldn’t? Who wouldn’t want to have a cushy official post?

And what was he saying? They were all getting on in years—how could they be expected to do more work? If they handled all the tasks, what would the younger officials do? Shouldn’t the younger generation take on more responsibilities?

He immediately retorted, "Director Meng, although we all serve the court, each official has their own duties. How can we go around doing each other's jobs? That would be a complete mess!"

"Exactly! Let each handle their own responsibilities. Otherwise, why have different official positions?"

Meng Shuping glanced at the Minister of Personnel. "I’m not asking you to take on random tasks. Can you let me finish speaking?"

"It’s so rude to interrupt like this! Aren’t you a high-ranking court official? Shouldn’t you show some respect for others?"

Put in his place by Meng Shuping, the Minister of Personnel felt slightly embarrassed and clammed up. But he was curious to hear what suggestion Meng Shuping would propose.

Emperor Qianyou asked Meng Shuping, "Beloved Minister Meng, please elaborate on how this should be done."

Meng Shuping explained, "Your Majesty, what I mean is that the local influential families dare to default on taxes because they rely on the influence of our colleagues in the court. However, I believe not every colleague is aware of what their clansmen are doing, unlike General Hong. So, I request Your Majesty to give our court colleagues an opportunity to investigate and urge their own clansmen to pay taxes."

"Moreover, this is their responsibility. If even the clansmen of our colleagues pay their taxes, other local forces will surely cooperate when they hear about it."

"Heh, after serving as an official for so long, I’ve actually learned to speak diplomatically. Seriously, I’ve phrased it so politely—they shouldn’t push their luck, right? Surely no one actually thinks I’m asking for their help? I’m giving them a chance to keep their positions! If they can’t even collect taxes from their own families, isn’t that deliberately opposing the court?"

The Minister of Revenue’s eyes lit up. "Your Majesty, I think this plan is feasible! If they can’t collect taxes from others, they can’t possibly fail to collect from their own clansmen, right? And this can also be included in the performance evaluations of court officials. Anyone who doesn’t put in effort clearly has no intention of serving the court!"

Hearing this, many officials became uneasy. They rushed to oppose, "Lord Chen, you are mistaken! How can tax collection be tied to performance evaluations? The two are completely unrelated!"

"Helping the Ministry of Revenue collect taxes is a favor, not an obligation. Isn’t it too much to say something like that?"

"We are more than willing to serve the court diligently, but that doesn’t mean you can trap us like this. Besides, our primary duties aren’t tax collection—how can the two be mixed?"

"We’re already exhausted from handling our own tasks every day. If you add this on top, how can we focus on our duties? What if we fail to collect taxes and also mess up our own work? Wouldn’t that betray the Emperor’s trust?"

Seeing how strongly they opposed, Meng Shuping found himself thinking, "Is it because they don’t plan to take it seriously or know they can’t succeed, which is why they’re so resistant? But honestly, if someone suddenly threatened to deduct my salary, I’d panic too."

The Minister of Revenue said calmly, "Colleagues, since your clansmen enjoy the glory and privileges you bring them, shouldn’t you be responsible if they do anything harmful to the court? So, what’s wrong with including tax collection in your performance evaluations?"

Meng Shuping thought to himself, "That does make sense. Wait, doesn’t that mean our colleagues are the ones losing out? Others enjoy the benefits, while they take the blame—is that it?"

A few ministers stiffened. They felt there was some truth to it. Was something off here?

Then another official said, "Your Majesty, Director Meng’s idea has some merit, but isn't it too demanding? If we push too hard, it might strain relations with our clansmen. If that happens, will we even be able to return home in the future?"

Although they served as court officials, clan influence was still powerful. Strained relations with clansmen were never ideal. Besides, who would want to take on such a thankless and exhausting task?

Meng Shuping couldn't help but rant, "Then just don’t go back! Let’s all go down together! Seriously, if he’s going to be punished for failing to collect taxes, why worry about what his clansmen think? Besides, if his clansmen don’t care about him being punished, why should he care about them? Is he willingly letting them suck him dry? Better to cut ties early!"

"Actually, I’m doing him a favor by helping him see his clansmen’s true colors. Then he won’t be fooled into being their cash cow anymore! What’s the point?"

The speaking official was stunned. He felt Meng Shuping made sense. If his clansmen didn’t consider his situation and only used him for benefits, why should he care whether they paid taxes or not?

Several officials fell silent. After a long pause, one said weakly, "Even as court officials, we can’t possibly make every clansman obey us. Isn’t it unreasonable to include tax collection in our performance evaluations?"

The Minister of Revenue said, "Then just cut ties with them. If they don’t care whether you’re punished, severing relations would naturally absolve you of responsibility."

Meng Shuping chimed in, "Exactly! Besides our court colleagues, those local influential families—if anyone still defaults, revoke their titles if they have them, and fine those without titles on top of requiring tax payment. If they can’t pay the fines, just imprison them! Sentence them based on the amount owed—just collect whatever they can pay!"

The Minister of Revenue glanced helplessly at Meng Shuping. If he had ideas, he should voice them. So he asked, "Director Meng, do you have anything to add?"

Thus, Meng Shuping repeated what he had been thinking. As soon as he finished, the Minister of Revenue said happily, "Precisely! First, publicize the consequences of defaulting. Then, have our colleagues urge payment. If they still ignore it after three warnings, there’s no need to give more chances. This way, no one can say executing them is too violent, right?"

But as soon as he finished, he heard Meng Shuping’s voice again, "But I still think it’s bloody! What’s so good about killing? Can’t they just cooperate obediently? Do they have to bring about their own doom?"

The Minister of Revenue was amused. Although it was somewhat bloody, such measures were sometimes necessary to deter others. Otherwise, those people wouldn’t fear anything. Meng Shuping was excellent in other aspects, but he fell short in this regard. Still, his innocent heart wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Finding themselves unable to refute, one official snorted coldly, "Since Director Meng proposed this, I assume you can collect taxes from your own clansmen too? If Director Meng can do it, we won’t have any objections!"

Meng Shuping replied readily, "Sure!"

"Director Meng, don’t…" The official paused mid-sentence, realizing Meng Shuping had agreed. He froze for a moment before saying stiffly, "...Then I’ll be waiting!"

Meng Shuping was quite pleased. "Did he think I’d struggle with this? Please, I’m not even close with those clansmen! There’s no personal relationship to consider!"

"Besides, defaulting on taxes is wrong in the first place. Why would I have any psychological burden?"

Seeing no further objections, Emperor Qianyou made the decision directly. "Then it’s settled!"

Since the general strategy was already in place, Emperor Qianyou and the ministers began discussing specific plans. It didn’t take long for the details to be mostly worked out.

Meng Shuping breathed a sigh of relief. "Great! Finally offloaded this task. Otherwise, I’d be exhausted!"

Immediately, many officials glared angrily at Meng Shuping. He might be comfortable now, but did he have any idea how mentally drained they were?