supreme deity

Chapter 681: The Surprised Grand Astronomical Master
According to Lin Rui, he actually wanted to review it, calculate the accounts clearly, and find out why the transaction volume and tax amount were so high, more than double his expectations.

However, both Yu Huaxuan and Han Baxian advocated returning to Luojing City as soon as possible to report the matter to the gods.

Even the chief steward of the inner court was impatient and wanted to return to Beijing as soon as possible.

Lin Rui had no choice but to do as they wished and ordered each accounting office to prepare copies of the account books and move them onto Yu Huaxuan's Eight Dragon Flying Chariot.

However, just as he finished instructing everyone and walked out of the lobby, he found Fei Yunlai, wearing a seventh-rank official robe, kneeling beside the road in front of him with an OTZ, frustrated, bent forward posture.

——This guy also holds an official position in the Governor’s Office of the Great Song Star Port.

After Lin Rui was appointed Minister of Commerce and Governor of Star Port, the imperial cabinet, after discussion, gave him a staff of nearly 7000 officials, including 180 "interpreters" and "trade advisors."

In line with the principle of keeping wealth within the family, he appointed Fei Yunlai as a seventh-rank "Chief Interpreter" in the Governor's Office, so that this poor guy could receive an extra salary.

But what's wrong with this guy? He looks like his parents have died.

Lin Rui looked at Wang Tianwu next to him with a questioning look in his eyes.

Wang Tianwu suppressed his laughter and said with a wink, "Old Fei is gambling again. He borrowed money and placed a large bet at an underground gambling house in Luojing, betting 80 billion on your one move to win."

Lin Rui was stunned when he heard this: "Didn't he have good vision this time? Since he won, why is he still like this?"

"The gambling table was smashed by someone. It seems to be the work of King Kou Xuan."

Wang Tianwu couldn't help it. He sneered, gloating: "The dealer said that all the money was taken away by King Kou Xuan. He can't pay out the money, not a single cent. He can only return one-third of the principal."

Lin Rui immediately looked at Fei Yunlai with some sympathy, but he immediately raised his eyebrows: "King Kou Xuan's gambling behavior is indeed a bit poor, but he is not to the point of robbing people's money. This dealer is not very reliable. Hmm~ Anyone who dares to take King Kou Xuan's bet is probably not a serious dealer.

"Old Fei, take my warrant and select two Ninth Realm cultivators, four Eighth Realm cultivators, and eight teams of Dragon Transformers from the 'Port Control Division'. Bring back all the people from that banker and torture them until they pay Old Fei the money he owes you."

The 'Port Defense Office' is a newly established agency of the Imperial City Office of the Great Song Dynasty, and currently obeys the dispatch of Lin Rui, the Governor of the Star Port.

The imperial court attached great importance to Xingang, so it placed many experts in the "Port Defense Office".

However, Lin Rui estimated that once this account book was submitted, the court's attention would be raised to a higher level.

Lin Rui casually wrote a warrant and threw it to Fei Yunlai: "Old Wang, Hengdao, you guys should go help him too! Shit, he's scammed our family out of money."

Fei Yunlai's face flushed, and he felt both ashamed and grateful.

These 80 billion federal coins are not a small amount of money for him, it is almost a year's salary.

Wang Tianwu's face fell, thinking that Fei Yunlai lost money, how could he still have his own business?
Also, from what the boss said, he wanted the dealer to pay out the money that Yunlai should have paid. Wouldn’t that make Lao Fei rich?

Wang Tianwu was very unhappy, but then he remembered that Lao Fei still owed his boss hundreds of billions, and he suddenly understood.

Lin Rui was too lazy to pay attention to this pair of oxen and horses. He took Xian Yuyan and Shangguan Tianyi out and boarded Yuhuaxuan's flying chariot.

Ji Xueying was supposed to be there, but she wanted to stay with Han Xianer for a few days to allow her to adapt.

Ji Xueying has a pure temperament, and others can tell at first sight that she is a good girl who is honest and kind. She is also petite and lovable, making it easy for her to gain the favor of others. She is the best candidate to comfort Han Xianer.

What Lin Rui didn't know was that at this moment, in the Divine Palace above Luojing City, the Grand Astrologer of the Divine Palace had already received the 300,000-mile flying letter sent by Han Baxian.

Han Baxian said that he would return to the Divine Palace as soon as possible to report in person, but he had already sent a letter in advance to inform the Divine Palace's Grand Astrologer of the result.

The Grand Astronomical Master looked at the figures on the flying book and was momentarily dazed. "Forty-eight million two hundred thousand taels of divine gold! That's four hundred and eight hundred million two hundred thousand taels of demonic silver?"

There were still some leftovers, but the Grand Astrologer was too lazy to count them.

He stared blankly at the sky ahead, then sighed, "Lucky!"

The former Grand Astronomical Master actually didn’t care much about the tax amount of the Song Dynasty.
Whether the Song Dynasty was in a good or bad state, it actually had little to do with the gods in the shrine.

If the Song Dynasty declines and the imperial court becomes too corrupt, then another dynasty will rule the country. What harm will it do to the Temple of God?
The more dirty things the Song Dynasty royal family does, the more justified it will be for God to eliminate the emperors of the Song Dynasty and change the world in the future!
Even if the armies of the Three Gods of Purgatory invade the surface at the end of the dynasty, they can still use human lives to consume them.

The three gods of purgatory can control demons, and so can the gods above them. The temple has a large number of methods to stimulate and sacrifice demons. Within a few days, it can mobilize tens of millions of demon armies on the surface to fight against purgatory.

They just need to ensure that there are enough people to keep the sky from falling. Even if the Song Dynasty is in chaos, there are still the other four continents.

When Purgatory is exhausted, the God can take action and suppress it in one fell swoop.

However, the situation of the Purgatory Demon Tide this time is very wrong. The arrival of those extraterritorial demons has brought great changes.

Both the Three Gods of Purgatory and the Demonic Army of Purgatory are far more powerful than they were decades ago.

The three gods will stop at nothing to reach the surface and will accept anything that can increase their strength.

Therefore, Purgatory's acceptance of demonic things is much higher than that on the surface, much higher!
The Grand Astronomical Master also sensed the will of the gods, who would not allow the Song Dynasty to collapse!
This may be related to the expansion of the sky. In the Tianji world, the sky will expand to all the major demon homelands in two or three hundred years at most.

But once war breaks out and the population of the Tianji world decreases, the sky will inevitably shrink significantly.

It could also be related to the source. Since the middle of last year, the Grand Astronomical Master has clearly sensed the source's pull gradually increasing, potentially further forcing the Three Gods of Purgatory to invade the surface. Consequently, over the past year, the Divine Palace has been working with unprecedented diligence, urging the Great Song Divine Envoy and the Cabinet to prepare for war.

However, a three-foot-thick ice does not form overnight. How can the problems accumulated in the Song Dynasty for thousands of years be rectified in a short time?

Therefore, the unexpected wealth that Lin Hao brought to the court is extremely precious.

The Great Astronomical Master thought that this boy was worthy of his support and the attention of the gods.

He and the gods knew that this boy was very problematic and was hiding a big secret. He might even be a demon from outside the domain.

However, Lin Hao's attack on the extraterritorial demons and the demon cult was real, and the public security near Luojing also improved a lot.

Now, compared with the money this boy brings to the court, this small problem of identity is nothing.

In the eyes of the gods, all those below the demigod level are like ants, even the 'immortals' are no exception.

Even the so-called "outside demons" will sooner or later become His subjects and His lambs.

The only enemies of God are those in the abyss, and a few gods who have used unique methods to transcend the sky.

The divine aura actually encompasses all the heavens and swallows up all the realms! How could He ever truly be vigilant against the demons?
The Grand Astrologer then stood up and walked towards the Shenxiao Palace.

Today, Yuhuaxuan and Lin Hao must go to the Shenxiao Palace to report. The consciousness of the gods will definitely awaken and descend, so the Grand Astrologer must make preparations in advance.

Just as the Grand Astrologer ordered many priests to clean the temple and light the sacred incense favored by the Eastern Abyss, the Emperor, the First Divine Envoy, and Luo Wangshu also arrived one after another.

The Grand Astronomical Master turned around and glanced at the three of them. "Do you all know the tax amount for Star Harbor today?"

He clasped his hands behind his back and sighed, "Four and a half billion taels of demonic silver! That's equivalent to 25% of the Song Dynasty's land tax and 15% of the capitation tax. I remember the gods previously instructed the court to prepare six months' worth of military supplies? This shortfall in military expenditure is also tens of billions, right? This shows the loyalty of the Marquis Zhenguo, and his dedication to his work!"

The First Divine Envoy and Luo Wangshu looked at each other and remained silent.

The emperor frowned slightly, with a complicated expression.

He could tell that the Grand Astrologer's tone was very strange.

Ding Tax is also known as poll tax. There are currently 620 billion registered male adults in the Song Dynasty. Each person should pay one or two taels of magic silver every year. It is also the main tax in the Song Dynasty.
However, not every male adult could afford to pay, and the imperial court could only collect about half of the money each year.

As for the land tax, at the beginning of the Song Dynasty, 290 billion taels of magic silver were collected annually. However, after the founding of the country, the amount of farmland increased more than fivefold, yet the amount of land tax decreased to 192 billion taels of magic silver.

——This is the result of their recent efforts to check the land.

The revenue of the Song Star Port on the first day reached 4.8 billion taels of magic silver. Combined with the revenue from the previous land and license sales, it has exceeded 10 billion taels.

Although this is the first day and the first trade, and the Demonic side is showing some support, it cannot be counted. However, even if the daily trade income in the future is only one thirtieth of today's, it will still be a terrifying number.

What the emperor cared more about was the implicit irony in the words of the Grand Astronomical Master.

At the beginning of the founding of the country, those local tyrants did not have the courage to disobey the gods and occupy land and evade taxes.

However, starting from Emperor Taizong, the Song Dynasty began to tamper with taxes and land to cultivate the royal family's private power, and the practice gradually evolved to this point, spreading from top to bottom.

In fact, Taizong and Renzong only wanted to conceal a small part of the land tax to support the real "Emperor's personal army", but as they acted, a large number of people collapsed.

In the eyes of those aristocratic families, if the emperor did it, why couldn't they? Even if the gods wanted to hold someone accountable, they should first hold the emperor accountable.

When Purgatory raised its army this time, the emperor and the gods' envoys checked the military equipment and granaries, sorted out the taxes in various places, and beheaded more than 3000 people before recovering more than 20 billion taels of magic silver.

But they didn't actually touch the real tough bones, they only targeted the small people who were pushed out as scapegoats.

The emperor just happened to learn recently that his two ancestors had made some movements in Purgatory, which made him hesitant and at a loss as to what to do.

Therefore, the profits from the star port made the emperor feel extremely complicated, and he didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

The Grand Astronomical Master's expression changed as he looked up at the sky. He then waved his sleeves and said, "The God has awakened. Let's wait for God's judgment."

At this time, Lin Rui had also arrived in Luojing.

The star port was less than 10,000 miles away from Luojing. Yu Huaxuan's flying chariot turned into light and rushed there quickly. In just 200 breaths, it had crossed halfway and spanned a distance of 10,000 miles.

After the eight-dragon flying chariot entered the capital, it went straight to the palace and stopped in front of the Shenxiao Palace.

Just as they got off the chariot, they heard the sound of a bell from the Shenxiao Palace. An incomparably brilliant and vast divine thought descended from the sky and reached the palace. The majestic and vast divine power swept over and impacted the entire palace in an instant.

Lin Rui and the others all looked serious, realizing that the Abyss of the East had arrived.

Yu Huaxuan's face was even more solemn and dignified. He led everyone to hurriedly climb the steps of the Shenxiao Palace and walked into the palace.

(End of this chapter)