Chapter 184

Chapter 184

Being stared at by so many people, Meng Shuping grew nervous. "Why are they all staring at me? They wouldn’t actually plan to jump me after court, would they? Assault is against the law, you know!"

"And it’s not like it's my fault—they should take it out on their own clansmen. What’s the point of taking it out on me? It’s not like I told their clansmen to default on taxes. Are they just looking for someone to blame?"

"But then again, what if I set a trap and deliberately egged them on to hit me? Would anyone actually fall for it? Kind of makes me want to give it a try!"

Hearing this, several officials grew even angrier. Although Meng Shuping wasn’t the one who made their clansmen default on taxes, he was not only slacking off on the job himself but also pushing the blame on them, all while claiming it was an opportunity for them. How shameless!

Emperor Qianyou's lip twitched. If not for appearances, the others would probably have already rushed over to beat him up.

Although Meng Shuping wasn’t afraid of others attacking him, he was genuinely worried about being surrounded and criticized by other officials—the pressure would be too much. So as soon as the morning court session ended, he quickly made a quick getaway and was long gone.

Several other officials, fuming, were about to confront Meng Shuping when they realized he had already vanished. Remembering that the Earl of Anyang was also present, they turned their accusatory gazes toward Meng Houliang. "Earl of Anyang! This is the wonderful grandson you raised!"

Meng Houliang feigned innocence. "My apologies, but this grandson was lost since childhood. I didn’t raise him."

The speaker was momentarily speechless. After a pause, he said angrily, "Then can’t you get him under control? Look at how much trouble he’s causing us!"

"Earl of Anyang, what exactly have we done to offend him? Why is he screwing us over like this?"

"Exactly! When you go back, you need to have a serious talk with your grandson. He should act more decently! I don’t want to be angered to death by him so soon!"

"Hmph! Usually, it’s my own grandson who annoys me the most, but compared to yours, my grandson is practically an absolute saint! Tell me, is he your grandson or mine?"

Meng Houliang acted humble but was clearly proud. "Ah, I would like to discipline him, but he’s already achieved the position of Director of the Board of Revenue at such a young age. Young people are often cocky and stubborn—I’m afraid the more I try to control him, the more he’ll rebel against me."

His words only made the other officials angrier. What was Meng Houliang implying? Showing off his grandson's achievements? Just because he became a Director of the Board of Revenue in his teens? What was there to be proud of?

Well, a few officials thought with envy and jealousy, it was indeed something to be proud of. Why didn’t they have such a talented descendant? If they did, even if he offended as many people as Meng Shuping, it would still be worth it!

Thinking this, their tones grew even more resentful. Meng Houliang put up with their complaining until they were all talked out. He thought wearily, who knew how many more times something like this would happen?

But then he remembered he still had to face the accusations from his own clansmen and sighed again. Ah, having such a grandson was both a pain and a pleasure.

After returning to the Board of Revenue, Meng Shuping once again began organizing the information on those who had defaulted on taxes. He had already compiled a register earlier, but now, to make it easier for his colleagues to collect taxes from their clansmen, he specifically created separate booklets for each official, detailing the tax defaults of their respective clans. This way, the results of each official’s tax collection efforts would be clear.

Once everything was organized, he had the booklets delivered to the homes of the court officials. He was very grateful to have someone to run errands for him—if he had gone himself, he might have been pushed out.

After completing this task, he returned to the Earl’s estate. However, as soon as he arrived, he was summoned to Meng Houliang’s study. Meng Shuping asked nervously, "Grandfather, you wanted to see me?"

"Yikes... is this about collecting taxes from the clansmen? Grandfather must be in a difficult position, right? But it’s fine—I’ll be the bad guy. It’s not like I have any personal ties with them anyway."

Meng Houliang nodded and said earnestly, "Ping Geer, in the future, try not to make such a big scene. Do you know how long I was surrounded and criticized by our colleagues at court?"

Meng Shuping hadn’t expected Meng Houliang to bring this up. Feeling guilty, he laughed awkwardly. "Heh, I'll do my best. But next time, Grandfather, you should try to run faster too."

"It’s not like I wanted to be caught, but how could I control the situation? What if they blamed me? Hehehe, good thing I ran fast, or I would have been the one surrounded!"

Meng Houliang sighed helplessly. "Alright, but regarding the tax defaults, how much do our Meng clan members owe?"

Meng Shuping thought for a moment. "Not too much, but not too little either."

Knowing Meng Shuping’s temperament, Meng Houliang understood that if the taxes couldn’t be collected, Meng Shuping wouldn’t go easy on them. After some thought, he said, "Here's an idea—I’ll write a letter to the clan urging them to pay their taxes. Let’s see how much they can pay first."

Although Ping Geer was doing well at court, it was uncertain how many clansmen would listen to him. By writing the letter himself, Meng Houliang could give them an out. If some still refused to pay after his letter, then Meng Shuping wouldn’t be to blame for not going easy on them.

Meng Shuping quickly said, "Thank you, Grandfather!"

"Grandfather is so understanding and fair! I knew he would stand by me. Restraining the clansmen is a good thing—it prevents them from taking advantage of your position to bully others, which would only harm us in the end."

Meng Houliang smiled. Indeed, his cooperation with Meng Shuping was partly to prevent the clansmen from becoming too arrogant and causing unfixable problems.

After all, although their Earl’s residence was currently prominent, if they ever ended up on the losing side, these issues could be used against them.

A few days later, Hong Da’s case was concluded, and he was sentenced to death. Meanwhile, officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Military Hall Department, and the Censorate went to Hong Da’s clan territory and arrested his clansmen for trial.

The locals, seeing the powerful Hong family collapse so suddenly, were both schadenfreude and curious. "Serves them right! You reap what you sow!"

"What exactly did they do? I heard someone in their family was a high-ranking official in the capital. How dare anyone arrest them?"

"You don’t know? It’s obvious—their backer has fallen, so they've lost their protection!"

A Military Hall Department official announced loudly, as instructed, "Let this be a lesson! This is the consequence of deceiving the emperor and defaulting on taxes!"

"Defaulting on taxes? Is it that serious? Good thing we’ve been paying ours honestly!"

"What you owe is peanuts! They defaulted on a huge amount—that’s why they’re being punished. I heard they’re being exiled!"

Some local influential families sent people to investigate. Upon learning that the Hong family was arrested for deceiving the emperor and tax evasion, they were shocked. What did the court mean by this? Were the consequences for tax default really so severe? It hadn’t been a problem before, had it?

After some thought, they reassured themselves. It must not be because of tax evasion—probably because of the deception.

However, it wasn’t long before they learned from the newly appointed prefect, Shi Yue, that it was indeed because of tax defaults.

Some, worried about being implicated, hurried to gather the taxes they owed. Others, however, blew it off. Perhaps this was just Shi Yue’s scheme? Officials were cunning—who knew if this was just a trick to scare people into paying.

But Shi Yue had no intention of cutting them slack. Determined to return to the capital as soon as possible, he exerted all his efforts. Once the deadline arrived, he sent people to arrest those who hadn’t paid their taxes in full.

Under his forceful pressure, it didn’t take long for the local taxes to be paid gradually. After all, with the most powerful local faction gone, the others couldn't put up a fight.

As for Meng Shuping, after Meng Houliang wrote to the clan, some clansmen paid their overdue taxes. However, others still didn’t believe Meng Houliang would take action against them. Weren’t they all part of the same clan? How could he possibly harm them?

During the morning court session that day, Emperor Qianyou inquired about the tax collection progress. Meng Shuping quickly summarized the situation and also listed the three families with the highest tax defaults and the three officials with the least effective collection efforts.

The officials named by Meng Shuping felt mortified. One of them said with a grim expression, "So did Director Meng manage to collect the taxes from his own clansmen? Didn’t Director Meng claim he could do it?"

Mentioning this, Meng Shuping grew upset. He said indignantly, "Actually, no."

"Speaking of this, it makes me angry! When I urged them to pay taxes, they actually said I was a con artist and said they didn’t know who I was! How infuriating! I may fly under the radar, but I do exist, right? They're just clueless!"

"Pfft!" The Minister of Revenue and others shook with laughter. Hahaha, they had considered that Meng Shuping might fail to collect the taxes, but they never expected it would be for this reason. Indeed, anything was possible when it came to Meng Shuping.

Emperor Qianyou also struggled to hold back his laughter. Some officials had been preparing to mock Meng Shuping, but upon hearing this, their prepared remarks nearly vanished.

After a long pause, one official finally managed to sternly say, "Then Director Meng should focus on collecting taxes from his own clansmen before criticizing others!"

Meng Shuping grew even angrier. He immediately turned to Emperor Qianyou and said, "Your Majesty, I request permission to personally go and collect the taxes, and also inspect the tax repayment situation in that area."

"They not only defaulted on taxes but also disrespected me? Just wait—I’ll show them what's what!"

Emperor Qianyou nearly laughed out loud. Suppressing his laughter, he said, "Granted!"