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

Chapter 515 I may not be able to protect you! (Please subscribe!!)
Li Shanchang's brows were deeply furrowed. He could say that he had witnessed Ouyang Lun's development step by step, from northern Zhili to the capital. At the beginning, Li Shanchang just felt that Ouyang Lun had potential, and never thought that Ouyang Lun could become his equal opponent.

By the time Li Shanchang realized that Ouyang Lun was becoming more and more threatening, it was already too late!

After several attacks in succession, not only did he fail to eliminate Ouyang Lun, but he also helped Ouyang Lun become even stronger. This dealt a heavy blow to Li Shanchang, who was quite proud of himself.

In addition to his advanced age, Li Shanchang always felt powerless facing the young Ouyang Lun. To be honest, even if Ouyang Lun did nothing now and just lived a stable life, he, Li Shanchang, would not be able to outlast Ouyang Lun and would be sent away by Ouyang Lun sooner or later.

Now that I think about it carefully, perhaps this is what Ouyang Lun thought from the beginning.

But Li Shanchang could not accept that he, a founding minister, would actually lose to a young junior. This would be a stain on him, Li Shanchang's life!
giggle-

Li Shanchang sat on the armchair, gripping the armrests with both hands, his nails almost embedded in the chair, which showed how angry Li Shanchang was at the moment!
"Whether it's tax exemption, tax refund, or so-called year-end bonus assessment, none of it is acceptable!"

"We Huaixi Party members must never leave our fate to others!"

Li Shanchang finally expressed his thoughts.

"The old prime minister is wise!"

Other Huaixi Party members in the hall also shouted in response.

They did not call Li Shanchang "Li Shangshu" like Lan Yu did, but the more intimate term "old prime minister", which also meant that the resourceful, eloquent and decisive old prime minister they missed was back!

The positive response from the Huaixi Party also restored Li Shanchang's confidence. He cleared his throat and continued, "Let's not talk about the previous things. Let's just talk about the tax reform bill promulgated by Ouyang Lun!"

"The two most important points of this tax reform are to exempt low-income people from tax and to increase taxes on high-income people. It doesn't matter whether you are a noble or a relative of the emperor! You all have to pay taxes!"

"To put it bluntly, Ouyang Lun is using our money to curry favor with the people. This is such a vicious trick!"

"We can't let Ouyang Lun continue like this."

Li Shanchang said in a calm tone.

"What the old prime minister said is absolutely right. If Ouyang Lun's tax reform is really implemented, the biggest loser will be our Huaixi Party. The income of many brothers and families will be halved! In the end, Ouyang Lun won't even have to do anything, we will be finished!"

"Old Prime Minister's current situation is like a decisive battle on the battlefield. We absolutely cannot tolerate it any longer!"

"We all follow the old prime minister's lead and rebuild the glory of our Huaixi Party. It is our duty!"

"The old prime minister must really take action! Otherwise, we are finished, and the entire Huaixi Party will fall apart in an instant!"

The Huaixi Party members at the scene spoke one after another, accusing Ouyang Lun and urging Li Shanchang to take comprehensive action against Ouyang Lun!
There was nothing they could do about it. Ouyang Lun's new strategy infringed upon the interests of these people. If Ouyang Lun succeeded, some of them would not be able to withstand it, which would cause unrest within the Huaixi Party and the entire Huaixi Party would be disbanded.

Therefore, whether for the sake of his own power and status, or to maintain the existence of the entire Huaixi Party, Ouyang Lun must be stopped!
At this time, a servant came in and said, "Master, a lot of officials suddenly came outside, and they all want to see you! They said they have something important to discuss with you!"

"A lot of officials?" Li Shanchang was stunned for a moment. "I don't remember calling anyone here? Who are they? What's the matter?"

"In reply to your question, sir, there are a lot of people, including officials and nobles at all levels. Almost all the dignitaries and nobles in the capital are here." The servant said hurriedly, "As for what happened, I asked a little bit, and it seems that the younger generations of these adults went to the Ministry of Revenue to protest against some new tax reform that the Ministry of Revenue withdrew from, but the Ministry of Revenue directly arrested their younger generations. They hope that you can help them!"

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the Huaixi Party members present suddenly lit up.

"Old Prime Minister, God is really creating opportunities for us!"

"Ouyang Lun is simply too crazy to dare to arrest people!"

"It just so happens that we have no reason to impeach Ouyang Lun. Now Ouyang Lun dares to arrest people in order to implement some new tax law. Will he dare to kill people next?!"

"Now we can say that except for Ouyang Lun and the Prince Consort's party, everyone else is on our side. Even if Your Majesty is partial to him this time, Ouyang Lun will definitely not be able to escape unscathed!"

"Old Prime Minister, you are now the real Minister of Revenue. Previously, Ouyang Lun was hindering the newly established Tax Inspection Department in every way. This time, we must get rid of this Tax Inspection Department!"

"Old Prime Minister, don't hesitate, let's do it!"

After hearing these words, Li Shanchang already had an idea in his mind.

brush!
Li Shanchang stood up from the armchair.

Swipe!

The other members of the Huaixi Party stood up and looked at Li Shanchang with serious expressions.

Li Shanchang's wrinkled face and slightly cloudy eyes exuded a powerful aura at this moment, scanning everyone present.

"There are two main reasons why I kept giving in to Ouyang Lun and the Prince Consort Party. One is your Majesty's favoritism, and the other is that some of you have dirty tricks. You should know better than me what happened to Wang Bi and others!"

"You shouted that you wanted me to lead you to deal with Ouyang Lun, so I have to ask you one thing, have you wiped your ass clean? Can you withstand the investigation of the Tax Inspection Department? Or if you are accused of confronting Ouyang Lun in court, I will have to kill my relatives for the sake of justice!"

"If you can do all of this, I will lead you into the palace immediately and report the people's will to His Majesty! Severely punish Ouyang Lun!"

Li Shanchang's words fell like a loud bell on the hearts of every Huaixi Party official present.

After the words were spoken, many people lowered their heads guiltily.

For a moment, the atmosphere at the scene became a little dull.

Seeing this, Song Guogong Feng Sheng stood up and said, "You are so stupid! Does the old prime minister really want you to die? The old prime minister wants your attitude!"

"Today is our decisive battle on the battlefield. Since it is a decisive battle, we must be determined to die. However, you are still afraid of this and that. Even if you go to find His Majesty, you will never succeed!"

"Besides, if we win this time, Ouyang Lun will definitely be taken down. Your little trouble is nothing. Who dares to deal with it? If we lose this time, even if you are innocent, who can be safe and sound? Will Ouyang Lun and the Prince Consort Party let you go?"

Feng Sheng's words made everyone present suddenly realize!
Lan Yu also stood up, "Damn it! I haven't been to the battlefield for a long time, and I almost lost my blood. In the Battle of Hongdu, I was not afraid of Chen Youliang's 300,000 troops. Today, I am even less afraid of him, Ouyang Lun!"

"Brothers, let's follow the old prime minister into the palace today and bring Ouyang Lun down!" With Lan Yu and Feng Sheng taking the lead, the eyes of the Huaixi Party members at the scene turned red and they shouted together!
"Take Ouyang Lun down from his horse!"

"Severely punish Ouyang Lun!"

"Considering death!"

Looking at the situation in front of him, Li Shanchang nodded with satisfaction, and he felt more confident. He immediately said, "If you all trust me, I will risk it all today!"

"Let's go! Follow me into the palace and tell on Ouyang Lun!"

"We must not allow Ouyang Lun to continue to cause trouble for the Ming Dynasty!"

"go!"

Li Shanchang was the first to walk out of the hall, followed by Lan Yu and Feng Sheng, who led a group of Huaixi party members. When they walked out of the Duke of Han's Mansion, the dignitaries who had been waiting outside for a long time immediately came to greet them.

"Old Prime Minister, you have to make the decision for us!"

"Ouyang Lun is so overbearing that he arrested our son and his junior!"

"If no one stands up to stop Ouyang Lun, I'm afraid our Ming Dynasty will be controlled by Ouyang Lun!"

Listen to these people crying.

Li Shanchang waved his hand and said, "Don't panic, I am here to make the decision for you all!"

"Ouyang Lun has committed atrocities and caused public outrage. You all must follow me into the palace!"

"Yes!"

Then Li Shanchang led the Huaixi Party members and a group of dignitaries, nearly a hundred people in total, and headed towards the palace in a mighty manner.

During this period, Li Shanchang looked back and saw so many people following him. Li Shanchang suddenly felt confident. Although he had carefully planned in the previous battles with Ouyang Lun, he failed in the end. After that, he kept thinking about the reasons for his failure. The two most important points were that he failed to win the support of others except the Huaixi Party, and the second was the favoritism of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang!
It is an unchangeable fact that Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang favors Ouyang Lun. After all, Ouyang Lun is Zhu Yuanzhang's son-in-law. After all, Ouyang Lun has indeed made a lot of money for the Ming Dynasty over the years, making Zhu Yuanzhang's life more comfortable and even giving him the idea of ​​creating the Hongwu prosperous era!

Even now, Li Shanchang could not think of any good idea to alienate the relationship between Ouyang Lun and Zhu Yuanzhang.

But it doesn't matter. Now, except for Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, Ouyang Lun and the prince consort's party, everyone else is on his side. If calculated based on public opinion, he, Li Shanchang, now controls at least 70% of public opinion!

Moreover, Ouyang Lun’s tax reform bill this time is too radical. In order to implement the new tax plan, Ouyang Lun also arrested so many people, all of whom are children of officials!
This was a godsend.

Under the strong public opinion, even if Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to favor Ouyang Lun, it would not be so easy!

Based on Li Shanchang's understanding of Zhu Yuanzhang, if the situation really reached a stalemate, Zhu Yuanzhang would most likely push Ouyang Lun to take the blame in order to appease the anger of the officials. This was already an old tactic of Zhu Yuanzhang.

In this way, Li Shanchang's goal was achieved.

Thinking of this, and thinking of the many officials following behind him, he now represented not only himself, but also the Huaixi Party, as well as other dignitaries and nobles who had been harmed for other reasons!

This time - the advantage is on me!
Ouyang Lun, you are doomed to lose!
Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Zhu Biao and Ouyang Lun were discussing with Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Ouyang Lun, I heard that Li Shanchang hasn't been on duty at the Ministry of Revenue for a long time?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Ouyang Lun meaningfully and asked.

"Father, I know this clearly. Minister Li was unwell and asked for leave to go back home to recuperate. I agree to this." Zhu Biao rushed to explain, "Father, are you worried about the Ministry of Revenue? If that's the case, then you don't have to worry!"

"After Minister Li returned home to recuperate, I not only went to the Ministry of Revenue to monitor it myself, but also transferred a number of talents who are good at math to the Ministry of Revenue. This will definitely not affect the tax collection and other year-end accounting of this year."

After hearing what Zhu Biao said, Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes at him in anger, "Biao'er, I haven't even asked you yet, why are you answering so enthusiastically?"

"Ouyang Lun, I want you to say it!"

"Your Majesty, I am now the commander of the Tax Inspection Bureau, not the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. If I interfere too much in the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue, I am afraid that people will gossip about me. But as far as I know, everything is running normally in the Ministry of Revenue and there is no problem." Ouyang Lun said lightly.

"Uh." Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry at Ouyang Lun's words that his eyes widened on the spot, "You bastard! You've already driven everyone back to the mansion, and arrested and dismissed Li Shanchang's people in the Ministry of Revenue. You're telling me at this time that it's inconvenient for you to be too involved?!"

"Hehe, so Your Majesty already knows everything! Then why did Your Majesty specifically ask me? I have nothing to say." Ouyang Lun spread his hands.

"You" Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Ouyang Lun, very angry.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. Your Majesty, please calm down. What my brother-in-law has done is to completely solve the problems of the Ministry of Revenue. And I know that the Ministry of Revenue is now back on track and the tax issue has been resolved. This can be regarded as the credit of my brother-in-law." Zhu Biao quickly acted as a peacemaker and stood between Ouyang Lun and Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Humph!" Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head and said unhappily, "Do you think I am willing to take care of these things?!"

"It would be fine if you didn't mention taxes, but I get angry when you mention this. I asked you to collect taxes for me, but why did you publish the tax reform in the newspaper? And it was on the front page of dozens of official newspapers!!"

"Your Majesty, you agree with this tax reform." Ouyang Lun continued calmly.

"I agree, but I didn't ask you to do it in such a high-profile way! You have to lay the groundwork for this kind of thing first, and then do it step by step!" Zhu Yuanzhang was very angry. "Your tax reform affects the interests of many dignitaries. Will they agree to it?"

"Your Majesty, haven't you always wanted to take action against them? I'm just making what you want happen. Are you afraid?" Ouyang Lun replied.

Forehead.
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned and speechless for a moment.

"No, what am I afraid of!!"

"But you are being too reckless and this will inevitably lead to a strong backlash!"

"If they really force me to abdicate, I may not be able to protect you!!"

(End of this chapter)