World-Ending Demon Emperor
Chapter 953 - 443: Ransack the house and exterminate the clan! Kill! Kill! Kill!

Chapter 953: 443: Ransack the house and exterminate the clan! Kill! Kill! Kill!

Suo Lun met with the current master of Turing Count’s Mansion, Turing Chen!

"Turing Chen, what do you know about the Finance Minister Suofu?" asked Suo Lun.

His tone was casual, but his gaze closely watched every move of Turing Chen.

Behind Suofu was Yin Zhou, was the Dragon Temple.

Over the years, they had controlled the kingdom’s economic lifelines with astronomical amounts of Gold Coins, buying over a significant group of interest.

As a former top noble of Rage Wave Kingdom, Duke Turing Tuo certainly played a crucial role in it.

Now it all depended on how Turing Chen would answer. If he evaded the important and dwelled on the trivial, it would mean he had ulterior motives, still wishing to remain within this interest group and unwilling to truly serve Suo Lun.

If that were really the case, even if Turing Tuo had committed suicide, Suo Lun would not hesitate to completely eradicate the Turing family.

Turing Chen was plunged into a brief moment of hesitation and life-and-death decision.

In the past, blinded by love and jealousy, he did not appear very intelligent.

But due to the death of Turing Tuo, he seemed like a changed person, becoming very clear-headed and wise.

He instantly sensed the underlying meaning of Suo Lun’s question.

Thus, he faced a tough choice: to stand with Suo Lun or with the Yinzhou Interest Group.

Indeed, to Turing Chen’s eyes, calling it the Yinzhou Interest Group seemed more appropriate.

Even though Yin Zhou was just a front for the Dragon Temple, all the economic infiltrations over the past few years were carried out by Yin Zhou.

After almost half a minute, Turing Chen said, "Suofu is no simple man, he represents the Yinzhou Interest Group in Rage Wave Kingdom, and holds considerable weight in Hidden Yuan Association."

Suo Lun breathed a sigh of relief.

This statement from Turing Chen essentially saved his own life.

Suo Lun said, "This interest group has frighteningly penetrated and bought off the nobility of Rage Wave Kingdom over the past few years, your family must have been heavily targeted too!"

Turing Chen immediately knelt and said, "Yes, I am guilty."

Suo Lun asked, "How much did your family take?"

Turing Chen replied, "Not much cash, just a few hundred thousand Gold Coins. Plus shares in the capital’s Gold firm, roughly three hundred thousand Gold Coins. The biggest bribe was land, one hundred and thirty square miles of it."

"What?" Suo Lun exclaimed in shock.

Land? What authority did the Yinzhou Interest Group have to grant land?

Despite Turing Duo being a duke, he only had symbolic feudal lands, totaling just a few square miles, nothing compared to the vast thousands of square miles owned by other lords.

And yet, Turing Chen claimed that the Yinzhou Group gave Turing Duo a hundred and thirty square miles of land, which converted to thousands of square kilometers.

Turing Chen continued, "In the provinces and counties under the kingdom, the Yinzhou Group first let a vast number of farmers and landlords go bankrupt. Then, they colluded with the local counties and governor’s offices to buy up large tracts of land, which were eventually approved and signed off by Zhi Li. Eventually, these lands became the private property of the Yinzhou Interest Group, assigned to the kingdom’s top nobility as their hereditary lands."

"Ha ha... ha ha..." Suo Lun couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter.

Then he thought to ask, whether anyone in the cabinet, like the former Minister of Personnel Heimu, had looked into this.

Later, Suo Lun realized that as the transaction involved large tracts of land, the cabinet had no specific department responsible for this matter. The cabinet only had six ministries and no Ministry of Land.

Thus, as the regent, Zhi Li could make decisions unilaterally.

All of a sudden, Suo Lun said in pain, "I didn’t see Zhi Li as such an inept person, why would he be so foolish?"

Turing Chen replied, "His Highness Zhi Li has no solid foundation, he knows some actions are like drinking poison to quench thirst, yet he has to do them."

Suo Lun said, "Currently, the national treasury is short of over seven million Gold Coins, which is the equivalent of five years of taxes from the kingdom."

Turing Chen immediately knelt down and said, "I am willing to donate all my family’s assets and serve the kingdom."

Next, Turing Chen said, "Actually, the so-called deficit of the treasury is just the tip of the iceberg."

"I know, but this seven million deficit is the most lethal," said Suo Lun. "I’m informing you here, the infiltration of the Yinzhou Interest Group into the kingdom has only been a matter of a few years, so there’s still time to tackle it. I’d rather fight another civil war, lose hundreds of thousands, even millions of lives, just to uproot the Yinzhou Interest Group entirely."

Turing Chen bowed and said, "Yes, I am willing to follow my lord wholeheartedly."

Suo Lun said, "Good, in a moment I will deal with Suofu by eradicating his family, you and the Commander of the Imperial Guards Hei Ningqi will lead the team."

Turing Chen shuddered, personally capturing Suofu meant an irreversible conflict with the Yinzhou Interest Group, but at this point, he had no way out.

"Yes!" said Turing Chen.

...

The Finance Minister of Rage Wave Kingdom, Suofu, was merely a Viscount.

And this title was conferred after Zhi Li took over the administration, still without the King’s Jade Seal.

Thus, his residence in the capital was not large, merely a few acres.

But the splendor inside was beyond imagination, even exceeding Duke Turing’s Mansion and the Prime Minister Yan Wuji’s official residence.

"How so?" asked Fang Qingyi, the young master of Yin Zhou.

Suofu laughed, "Suo Lun was so scared his face turned white, sitting there completely dumbfounded. This man can fight wars, but is a mess at handling political affairs, just a political upstart who was all-powerful when he first took over the administration. But once he faced hardships, he knew the distress."

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