Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 499: I gave you a chance, but it’s useless (Please subscribe!!)

In the clan's mansion.

Ouyang Lun sat in the first seat, holding a cup of hot tea in his hand and drinking it leisurely.

Below, the Minister of Works Shan Anren, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Tax Inspection Bureau Guo Zi, and several other officials stood in an orderly manner and reported to Ouyang Lun.

"My Lord, the new office of the Inspection Department is being repaired at an accelerated pace by our Ministry of Revenue. It will be completed in two months at most!"

Shan Anren from the Ministry of Industry said seriously.

The look he gave Ouyang Lun was full of respect and admiration.

Shan Anren was not an official of the Prince Consort's Party, but a neutral technical official. He basically did not participate in the court's party struggles, and was wholeheartedly focused on doing his job well. He was particularly obsessed with architecture.

The reason for respect and admiration for Ouyang Lun is mainly due to two reasons. One is that due to the rise of Ouyang Lun, there were projects everywhere in the Ming Dynasty. The status of the Ministry of Works was unprecedentedly improved, and technical officials like Shan Anren became more and more important. In addition, Ouyang Lun successively led the construction of the Great Wall, highways, high-rise buildings and other projects. Another point is that Ouyang Lun has taken down those officials who evaded taxes, accepted bribes, and were in office but did nothing.

Due to these factors, Shan Anren's admiration for Ouyang Lun reached its peak.

For matters like reporting on the construction of the government office today, as the Minister of Works, he could actually just send a head of the Ministry of Works to report. Even out of respect for Ouyang Lun, he could at most send an assistant minister of Works. However, Shan Anren chose to report to Ouyang Lun in person!
This shows Shan Anren's sincerity.

"Two months?" Ouyang Lun frowned. "Old Dan, this is a bit long."

Upon hearing this, Shan Anren immediately said, "My Lord, I will personally go to the site to supervise and coordinate within a month, and strive to complete the construction of the Inspection Office within a month!"

"One month?" For Ouyang Lun, one month was still too long, but he also knew that Shan Anren had already done his best in terms of time, so there was no need to ask for more. After thinking for a while, he said, "Old Shan, I have a way to shorten the construction period by half!"

"It can be shortened by half? It can be repaired in half a month?!" Shan Anren was stunned, "Your Highness, this is impossible!"

"The solution is this. First, let the Ministry of Revenue cooperate with several of the largest private construction companies in the Ming Dynasty. In recent years, construction companies like Evergrande have done many projects and have rich construction experience. You should not look down on private construction companies. They also have their advantages. As the Minister of Revenue, you should make good use of them. This will be of great benefit to you. To put it bluntly, they are your soldiers who are not in the establishment!"

"In war, who would complain about having too many soldiers?"

After hearing what Ouyang Lun said, Shan Anren suddenly understood and bowed to Ouyang Lun, "Thank you for your reminder, my lord. I understand!"

"After I go down, I will immediately go to communicate with the private construction company."

"But even if private builders join in, it will be difficult to complete the new government office within half a month!"

Ouyang Lun nodded. "You are right. It is not enough to just rely on the number of people. But I just need to make good use of the number of people. When you built buildings before, you started from laying the foundation and setting up the framework, and then built them layer by layer!"

"And each process is completed before moving on to the next one. So my suggestion is that you can set up the framework while you are laying the foundation, and you can proceed to the next step while you are setting up the framework!"

"Even some things like walls, doors, windows, and carvings can be made in advance and installed directly on site. This is called prefabrication!"

"If you do it according to my instructions, the time can be controlled within half a month, there will be no problem!"

Hearing this, Shan Anren couldn't help but sigh: "My Lord, I think the position of Minister of Works should be held by you!"

"Don't flatter me, Old Shan. I'm just giving you some suggestions. Don't be ridiculous. I have no interest in you as the Minister of Works." Ouyang Lun waved his hands repeatedly.

"My Lord, I am not kidding. With your architectural accomplishments, you are fully qualified to be the Minister of Works. If you were in charge of the Ministry of Works, it would definitely become the most important government office in the Ming Dynasty!" Shan Anren became more and more excited as he spoke, and continued, "Besides, you are also the Minister of Revenue now, so it would be perfect for you to be the Minister of Works. I am willing to be your deputy like Lord Guo Ziguo!"

After saying that, Shan Anren shook his head and said, "No, no, it's really a waste of talent for you to be the Minister of the Ministry of Works! With your ability and achievements, you can already enter the cabinet and become a cabinet minister!"

Looking at Shan Anren almost talking to himself, Ouyang Lun didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Okay, Old Dan, you can repair my yamen first. I'm not the Minister of Revenue, nor the Minister of Works, and I don't want to join the cabinet. I'm now the commander-in-chief of the Tax Inspection Bureau of the Ming Dynasty. If you really want to do good for me, then don't evade taxes and pay them on time. Otherwise, when the Tax Inspection Bureau finds out you, it will be very difficult for me to deal with you!" Ouyang Lun said.

Please rest assured, my Lord, since the tax law came into being, I have never evaded taxes!" Shan Anren patted his chest and said.

"In that case, let's do as we just discussed." Ouyang Lun nodded.

"Yes, I'll take my leave!" Shan Anren knew that Ouyang Lun still had something to discuss with Guo Zi, so he tactfully asked to leave.

After Shan Anren left, Ouyang Lun turned to look at Guo Zi, "Tell me, what's going on with the Inspection Department and the Ministry of Revenue recently!"

"To answer your question, since the public trial was held, those who dared to evade taxes have been severely deterred. In addition, my Inspection Department has also taken this opportunity to become famous. Now people outside put our Inspection Department on par with the Royal Guards!"

"But we are not proud. Instead, we follow your instructions and steadily investigate various taxes to catch those who evade and evade taxes! I believe that it won't be long before we can make it so that even thieves who steal things and bandits who rob people have to pay taxes!"

Guo Zi became more and more excited as he spoke.

"Yeah." Ouyang Lun nodded calmly. He was not too happy about the achievements made by the Tax Inspection Bureau. He seemed to take it for granted.

There is a reason why Ouyang Lun behaved like this.

The Tax Inspection Department is mainly composed of two parts, one part is the original team that Ouyang Lun brought from the Ministry of Revenue, and the other part is the Wolf Guard!

That’s right, Ouyang Lun merged the Wolf Guard into the Tax Inspection Department!
In the past, although the Wolf Guards were well-known in the industry, they could not appear in public. Now, with the help of the Tax Inspection Bureau, they can appear openly anywhere in the Ming Dynasty.

The combat effectiveness and intelligence of the Wolf Guards, coupled with the professionals of the Ministry of Revenue led by Guo Zi, make it easy to find out who is evading taxes.

"Old Guo, you know me. I don't like to be in charge of things, so I will leave the Inspection Department to you and Heilang. You work in the open and Heilang works in the dark. You need to cooperate with each other to complete the mission of the Tax Inspection Department!" Ouyang Lun said lazily.

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

One was from Guo Zi, and the other came from the darkness.

"Sir, the Ministry of Revenue is not doing well recently! Should we find a way to take it back from the Huaixi Party?" Guo Zi said. "The Ministry of Revenue is not doing well? That shouldn't be the case. The Inspection Department has arrested so many officials who evaded taxes, and a lot of tax silver has been recovered. Moreover, after the public trial, tax revenue should increase. How can there still be problems with the Ministry of Revenue when it has collected more money?"

"Li Shanchang is not such a waste, right?"

Ouyang Lun asked with some doubt.

"Sir, Li Shanchang is indeed quite capable. He tried his best to mobilize people, and he also lived and ate at the Ministry of Revenue. He has sorted out the Ministry of Revenue's accounts by 50% to 60%. In addition, with the recent increase in tax revenue, the Ministry of Revenue's situation has indeed improved. It can be said that as long as Li Shanchang is given more time, the Ministry of Revenue's problems may really be solved by him!"

"But the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue cannot be handled by one person alone. Li Shanchang is capable and hardworking enough, but the teammates he met are just idiots!"

"In order to reopen construction sites across the Ming Dynasty that were short of funds, Li Shanchang asked his subordinates to increase support for construction projects in various places and give priority to investing the Ministry of Revenue's money. As a result, his subordinates lied about the projects and put the Ministry of Revenue's money into their own pockets. On the other hand, they imposed heavy taxes on the construction sites. The extra taxes were not turned over to the national treasury, but were issued in the name of supporting construction projects. After all these operations, both the money invested by the Ministry of Revenue and the money collected from the heavy taxes all fell into the hands of these corrupt officials!"

"So much so that the court's money is still decreasing, just at a slower rate than before, but the scale of tax silver loss is getting bigger and bigger! I guess Li Shanchang hasn't realized this yet. He still thinks his measures are working."

"Sir, these memorials all record the latest situation of the Ministry of Revenue."

After saying that, Guo Zi took out a few memorial books and handed them to Ouyang Lun.

Hearing this, Ouyang Lun shook his head. "This Li Shanchang really has a short memory! Last time, he failed to control his subordinates in the four southern provinces, which led to their manipulation of the stock market, enclosure of land, and seizure of construction projects, and then subcontracting them layer by layer!"

"He's going to fall into the same pit again this time!"

Then he flipped through the memorials and said, "Old Guo, please continue. I believe Li Shanchang has more problems than just these."

"Master, you are right. Not only are there problems with the Ministry of Revenue's projects in various places, but even the state-owned enterprises that used to be very profitable are starting to lose money and need the Ministry of Revenue to pay for their maintenance!"

Ouyang Lun's mouth twitched, "I gave them a chance, but I didn't expect them to be so useless!"

"Anymore?"

"Also, regarding local newspapers and periodicals, your original suggestion was to issue newspaper management regulations and strictly monitor newspapers and periodicals at all levels. Originally, this was handled by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites, but with Li Shanchang taking over the Ministry of Revenue, the matter was shelved. When the Ministry of Rites saw that the Ministry of Revenue was not doing anything about it, they also shelved it. As a result, tabloids are now rampant, which has seriously affected the normal operation of the newspaper industry. The advertising situation, which was originally very good, has also been greatly reduced."

Ouyang Lun frowned, "Is Li Shanchang so stupid? Doesn't he know how much money can be made from newspaper advertising?! Why does he choose to take a detour when there is easy money to be made? Is it true that as people get older, their IQ also decreases?"

"Master, I have also inquired about this matter. I heard that an official under Li Shanchang said that this advertisement is your political achievement. If you continue to promote it, others will only think that you are so great and he, Li Shanchang, can only learn from you! In addition, I also heard that the content of many tabloids is fiercely criticizing you, so they really turn a blind eye to it." Guo Zi answered truthfully.

"Stupid teammates are harmful!" Ouyang Lun sighed.

"Master, what should we do next? If it were up to me, I would take people to arrest all the people in the Ministry of Revenue, even Li Shanchang, and then let our own people take control of the Ministry of Revenue. I can't say anything else, but if we take control of the Ministry of Revenue ourselves, everything will be back on track within half a month!" Guo Zi said, patting his chest.

"We have to do it ourselves again? Aren't you tired?" Ouyang Lun rolled his eyes at Guo Zi. "What is the purpose of establishing the Inspection Department? Isn't it to give the brothers a higher status and a more relaxed life? We have already fought enough in the front lines. From now on, we have to be the inspection team. If anyone doesn't work hard, you can go up and give them two whips. Doesn't that feel good?"

"Great!" Upon hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Guo Zi's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly.

"That's great. Now we should treat Li Shanchang and his men as cattle and horses. We have to tame them and make them do things according to our rules!" Ouyang Lun said with a smile.

"Master, you have a broad mind. We will do whatever you do!" Guo Zi said excitedly.

"Okay, okay. Since Li Shanchang and the others have so many questions, let's solve them one by one. Don't be anxious and be patient. A tamer must be more patient than the beast to be successful in his patrol!" Ouyang Lun said slowly.

"All of you come closer, now let's arrange the tasks."

"Yes!"

Guo Zi and others immediately surrounded them.

"You guys do this and that next"

"Then do this and that"

"After finishing all this, I believe Li Shanchang will become an excellent Minister of Revenue."

"understand?"

"I understand!" Guo Zi and others responded in unison with light in their eyes.

"Very good, I have told you everything I should tell you, so hurry up and do it. I still say the same thing, don't disturb me unless it is absolutely necessary!" Ouyang Lun warned.

"Yes!"

Hubu Yamen.

Li Shanchang sat in the main seat, his face quite calm, and smiled: "Everyone has worked hard recently. With our tireless efforts, the situation of the Ministry of Revenue has finally improved. As long as we persist, the problems of the Ministry of Revenue will be solved!"

When other officials from the Ministry of Revenue heard this, they all complimented him.

"I have said it before, ten Ouyang Luns are no match for our Lord when it comes to governing a country!"

"That's right, Ouyang Lun was just lucky!"

"Once we have completely resolved the Ministry of Revenue issue, we can then settle accounts with Ouyang Lun!"

"Ouyang Lun arrested so many of us to stop us from solving the Ministry of Revenue problem. We must avenge him!"

"Lord, those brothers who were executed in public died so unjustly. You must avenge them!"

(End of this chapter)