I am Master Maoshan

Chapter 2179: Difficult Problems
"Your Majesty, don't be nervous, relax a little," military advisor Chu Liuying reminded in a low voice.

"Okay, I get it"

Liu Jun sat down on the platinum throne, and the heavy throne made a creaking sound. He casually crossed his legs, tapping the gilded armrests with his fingers.

"The court meeting begins—" the white-haired etiquette officer shouted in a long voice, and the voice echoed under the dome. All the officials and generals knelt in unison, and the gold thread on their court robes shone brightly in the morning light.

The first person to come forward was the Minister of Agriculture of the Platinum Divine Realm. He held up a gilded memorial and said in a loud voice: "Thanks to the blessing of the Divine King, the weather has been good this year, and the grain output of each county has increased by 30% year-on-year."

"Stop." Liu Jun suddenly raised his hand, his nails scraping against the armrest, making a harsh sound. The hall suddenly became so quiet that one could hear a silver needle drop to the ground. "Next."

The Minister of Finance stepped out tremblingly: "God King, the treasury is full, tax revenue..."

"Next one." Liu Jun's voice was already icy.

Twelve ministers in a row were all singing praises. Liu Jun's knuckles had already struck a rhythm. He squinted his eyes, looking at these fat and big-eared officials, and suddenly remembered the intelligence he had collected yesterday, which included the information that a large number of civilians were suffering from the invasion of the black magic, and were so hungry that they had to chew tree bark.

"Enough!" Liu Jun slammed the table and stood up, shaking the screen behind the throne. A night-shining pearl fell to the ground with a "pop" and rolled to the feet of Prime Minister Jin Xuan.

There was a loud noise of people kneeling down in the hall, with officials' foreheads pressed against the white marble floor and the feathers on their crowns trembling.

"Old man Jin!" Liu Jun directly named the elder of three dynasties, "Say something useful. If I have to listen to this nonsense again." He sneered, "I will personally send you to farm!"

Prime Minister Jin Xuan slowly raised his head, his long white beard trembling slightly. He took a deep breath and took out a wrinkled secret memorial from his sleeve: "This old minister does have something to report."

Liu Jun narrowed his eyes, glanced at Prime Minister Jin Xuan, then sat back on the throne and tapped his fingers: "Speak."

"Three days ago, a plague broke out in the three major cities in the north, and more than 300,000 people were killed or injured. But the local officials concealed the truth and did not report it. Instead," the old man choked up, "they burned down the villages to prevent future troubles."

There was a sound of people sucking in cold air in the hall. Liu Jun's eyes turned completely cold, and he slowly stood up, with the gilded crown casting a shadow on his forehead.

"Good, very good." He said softly, each word seemed to be poisoned. "Is this the 'peaceful and prosperous times' you just reported?"

Liu Jun suddenly stood up and kicked over the imperial table in front of him. The golden utensils and jade cups were shattered to the ground, and the fine wine splashed on the officials' court robes.

"From now on, anyone who reports good news but not bad news will be asked to resign and go home to farm."

Liu Jun's voice was neither hurried nor slow, but it made the temperature of the entire hall drop suddenly. He looked around, his eyes like a knife, sweeping across the faces of every minister. Those faces that were usually high and mighty, now lowered their heads, not daring to look him in the eye.

The hall was eerily quiet; even breathing became cautious.

Liu Zhang, the Minister of Agriculture, stood at the front of the queue, his fat body trembling slightly. Just a moment ago, he was reporting this year's "great harvest" with great joy, claiming that the people "live and work in peace and contentment." At this moment, the cold sweat on his forehead had already slid down his cheeks, leaving dark marks on his expensive silk official uniform.

Liu Jun's fingers stopped in mid-air.

"Lord Liu." He pointed directly at the Minister of Agriculture, "You just said that the weather in Platinum Divine Realm is good this year, and the grain production has doubled?"

Liu Zhang's legs went weak and he almost fell to the ground. "Reply, report to the Divine King. This humble servant..."

"I want to hear the truth." Liu Jun's voice was still calm, but every word was weighty. "How many places in the 72 major cities of the Platinum Divine Realm are suffering from famine?"

The air in the hall seemed to freeze. Liu Zhang's face turned from red to white, and then from white to blue. His lips trembled and he could not utter a complete sentence.

Liu Jun stood up slowly, the gold thread on his royal robe gleaming coldly under the illumination of the pearls in the palace.

"Come here, take off his official uniform and hat, drag him out to parade through the streets, and chop him off directly at the city gate," Liu Jun said coldly.

Previously, Chu Liuying gave him a list of corrupt officials in the Palace of the God King in the Platinum Divine Realm, and Liu Zhang was at the top of the list.

Two golden-armored guards immediately stepped forward and removed Liu Zhang's official hat and belt in a swift motion. The once glorious Minister of Agriculture was dragged out of the hall like a puddle of mud, his pants soaked, and he kept shouting "God, spare my life."

Liu Jun returned to the throne and sat down, glancing at the remaining officials.

"Now, who is willing to tell me the true situation of the Platinum Divine Realm?" The effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys has been achieved, and the rest will probably confess soon.

The silence lasted for a dozen heartbeats.

Finally, the young official Lin Mo, who was standing in the back row, stood up. He was the new border inspector, and had only been in office for three months. "God, I have a memorial to submit."

Liu Jun nodded slightly, his eyes a little surprised. This young official was very inconspicuous and his position was very inconspicuous, but his courage was commendable.

Lin Mo took a deep breath and took out a memorial from his sleeve. "I have inspected several large cities in the northern border and found that 60% to 70% of the farmland is barren. There was a severe drought last year, and this spring we are invaded by the black demons. Although these black demons did not kill civilians, due to the influence of the demonic energy, the farmland is barren and the people can only eat tree bark and grass roots. There are even tragedies of cannibalism. The nobles in the major cities are indulgent and dissolute all day long, not caring about the lives of the people. Your Majesty, please punish them severely."

Following Lin Mo's report, more ministers began to speak out. The finance minister had to admit that the treasury had been in deficit for several years, and the military commander confessed that the border defense was useless.

Liu Jun listened to the reports one by one, his face becoming increasingly gloomy. His slender fingers tightened on the armrests of the throne, his knuckles turning white. The Platinum Divine Realm pieced together from these reports was not a bit different from the prosperous scene of his Skyfire Divine Realm.

"The country is in ruins and the people are living in misery." Liu Jun repeated these eight words in a low voice, suppressing his anger. "What a peaceful and prosperous world!"

Liu Jun stood up, his royal robe fluttering without wind. "The Divine King decrees that the Supervisory Council be established from today, with Lin Mo temporarily serving as the Director of the Supervisory Council. He will thoroughly investigate the true situation in each major city, and will have the power to execute first and report later. Anyone who deceives his superiors and subordinates and exploits the people will be severely punished!"

"The Divine King is wise!" The ministers responded in unison, but Liu Jun keenly noticed that the eyes of the Minister of Finance and others were flickering, and they obviously had ulterior motives.

After the court meeting, Liu Jun stood alone on the observatory behind the Palace of the God King, overlooking the platinum divine domain stretching for thousands of miles. The setting sun dyed the clouds blood-red, as if foreshadowing the coming storm.

"This Platinum Divine Realm is really full of troubles." Liu Jun whispered to himself, his brows furrowed, his eyes filled with some helplessness, and a hint of sadness on his face.

Liu Jun’s idea was very simple. Since he had sat in this position, he could not say that he was a wise ruler, but at least he could not let the people call him a tyrant.

At this time, military advisor Chu Liuying slowly walked over, and in a flash, he came to Liu Jun's side and whispered: "Your Majesty's measures today are too hasty. I know that you are eager to stabilize your regime and eliminate the treacherous officials, but such a high-profile move may cause unrest in the court and the country, which is not conducive to the stability of the situation."

Hearing this, Liu Jun sighed, turned around, and looked at Chu Liuying with deep eyes: "I don't want to be too anxious, but the Wasteland Divine Realm is about to take over the Cold Water Divine Realm. When they gather the power of the two major divine realms, we won't be able to stop them. With the current situation of the Platinum Divine Realm, with internal and external troubles, not only can it not help us, but it will also become a burden to the Skyfire Divine Realm. How can I not be anxious?"

Chu Liuying nodded slightly to show his understanding. But he still reminded: "Your Majesty, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. You have just become the Platinum God King, and your foundation is not stable. If you are too radical at this time, it may be counterproductive. It is better to think of a way to eliminate the treacherous ministers one by one, so as not to alert the enemy and gradually consolidate the regime."

Liu Jun was silent for a moment, weighing the pros and cons in his mind. He also knew that he had just ascended to the throne of God King, and it was indeed not appropriate to be too impulsive. But the key was that time was too tight, the Wasteland God Realm was pressing step by step, and the situation could not be delayed. If he dealt with these corrupt officials one by one, by the time he was done, the Wasteland God Realm might have already attacked his God King City.

"What you said makes sense," Liu Jun said slowly, with a hint of firmness in his voice, "but I can't let the Platinum Divine Domain be destroyed in my hands. I must take action as soon as possible, even if the means are drastic, to stabilize the situation in a short period of time. As for those corrupt officials, I have my own ways to deal with them."

Chu Liuying looked at Liu Jun's determined eyes and secretly admired him. He knew that although this young God King looked unserious, he had firm faith and determination in his heart.

"Your Majesty, how should we deal with the deficit in the national treasury?" Chu Liuying asked worriedly.

Although he was a wise and far-sighted military strategist, he could not help but feel powerless in the face of the severe situation where both the treasury and the treasure house were empty. Without sufficient resources, even if he wanted to provide disaster relief and boost morale, it would seem so pale and powerless.

Liu Jun frowned, pondered for a moment and said, "I will find a way to solve this. You are responsible for stabilizing the situation and don't cause too much unrest in God King City. The situation is sensitive now, and the slightest disturbance may trigger a chain reaction."

Chu Liuying felt relieved when he heard this. "Okay, Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will do my best to ensure that the situation is foolproof."

After Chu Liuying left, Liu Jun did not relax at all. He knew very well that to solve the problem of the treasury deficit, he had to start from the root, and Lin Mo, who had just been promoted by him to the president of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, was an important chess piece in his hand.

Soon, led by his attendants, Lin Mo, the new president of the Censorate, came before Liu Jun.

Lin Mo bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Liu Jun raised his hand slightly, signaling Lin Mo to excuse himself from the formalities, and then said bluntly: "No need to be polite, let's get to the point. I promoted you to this position for a reason. The Platinum God's Domain is full of termites. If it is not rectified, it will endanger the foundation of the God's Domain. As the king of a country, I have many inconveniences in my actions, but you are different. You are a newly promoted minister and don't have too many entanglements. You can just be my knife and help me eliminate these termites."

"I understand. I am willing to be a sharp blade in your majesty's hand to eliminate harm for the divine realm. However, there will inevitably be many obstacles in the process. I beg your majesty to give me enough support and trust." Lin Mo knew very clearly what role he was going to play, and he also knew that his knife would most likely be used up and thrown away, but he did not regret it.

Liu Jun nodded: "Don't worry, as long as you are loyal, I will fully support you. However, you must also remember that giving you power is not for you to indulge yourself. I hope you will not change your original intention."

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will not let you down," Lin Mo promised with a serious face.