Many children, many blessings; a stunningly beautiful wife is given to you right from the start.

Lin Mo's fingers tapped lightly on the armrest of the dragon throne, producing a dull and rhythmic sound.

Hey.

Hey.

Hey.

Each strike resonated deeply in everyone's hearts.

The Grand Tutor knelt at the front, his inner lining of his court robes soaked with cold sweat.

What should we do if the national treasury is empty?

This is the first test for the new emperor upon his ascension to the throne.

It was also his only chance to decide whether he lived or died!

The Grand Tutor's mind was racing.

What is the new emperor most lacking after conquering the country?

They were not soldiers; a million-strong army had already submitted.

It wasn't power; he could decide a person's life or death with a single thought.

It's money! It's food!

It is the foundation for stabilizing the world!

Having figured this out, the Grand Tutor's will to survive was suddenly plucked.

He knew how to answer!

"Your Majesty!"

The Grand Tutor suddenly raised his head, his voice trembling violently with excitement.

"The empty treasury is due to the tyrannical and incompetent ruler Jie of Xia, who levied exorbitant taxes! It has nothing to do with us loyal ministers!"

He quickly cleaned himself up, then kowtowed heavily to the ground.

"This sinful subject...this sinful subject is willing to share Your Majesty's burdens!"

The Grand Tutor gritted his teeth, like a gambler who had staked everything, and shouted hoarsely.

"This humble subject is willing to donate all of my family's wealth—100,000 taels of gold, 1 million taels of silver, 10,000 acres of fertile land, and ten mansions—to Your Majesty to replenish the national treasury!"

His shout was like throwing a red-hot iron into a calm pan of oil.

The officials in the hall were instantly in an uproar.

So that's how it is!

So this is where the way out is!

This isn't a test; it's clearly the new emperor handing them a way out!

"Your Majesty! Even this humble subject is willing to donate!"

The Minister of Personnel scrambled forward on his knees, taking two steps, afraid of falling behind.

"This humble subject is willing to donate two hundred thousand taels of gold from my family fortune! I also have three fine estates outside the city, all of which I will offer to Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty! And me! This humble subject is willing to offer one hundred ancient paintings from the previous dynasty, passed down through my ancestors, and thirty luminous pearls!"

"Me! I still have Akhal-Teke horses from the Western Regions as tribute in my residence! Your Majesty, I'll bring them all to you!"

For a time, the Hall of Supreme Harmony was filled with the sounds of "donations" rising and falling.

These usually stingy misers are now scrambling to offer prices in order to save their own lives.

Everyone had red eyes as they recounted their most treasured possessions one by one, afraid that if they didn't mention enough, they would incur the wrath of the new emperor.

The entire Hall of Supreme Harmony, once a place of judgment and hell, was instantly transformed into a large-scale charity gala.

On the dragon throne, Lin Mo looked expressionlessly at the group of "loyal ministers" below who were behaving so disgracefully, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

He slowly raised his hand, and the hall fell silent once more.

Everyone held their breath, looking at the young emperor on the dragon throne who would decide their fate with a mixture of pleading and anticipation.

Lin Mo's gaze slowly swept over each face that was flushed with excitement and fear.

He waited until everyone had quoted their prices before slowly speaking.

"very good."

"My beloved ministers, your loyalty is commendable."

Upon hearing the words "commendable loyalty," many officials breathed a long sigh of relief.

I felt like I had just escaped death; my back was already soaked with cold sweat.

Become!

His life was saved!

The Grand Tutor was so excited that tears streamed down his face. As long as he could live, money was just an external thing, and there would be plenty of opportunities to get it back later!

However, Lin Mo's next words plunged their hearts, which had just settled down, back into an abyss.

"but,"

Lin Mo changed the subject.

"I have a bad memory."

"I don't remember any of the gold, silver, jewels, land, or antiques you just mentioned."

He paused, a playful smile curving his lips.

"How about this?"

Lin Mo snapped his fingers.

Outside the hall, Zhao Wu immediately led a squad of menacing imperial guards in.

What the Imperial Guards were holding were not swords and spears, but stacks of snow-white Xuan paper and the finest Huizhou ink.

"I will give you the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

Lin Mo pointed to the Xuan paper.

"Everyone, write down for me in detail all the assets under your name."

"Remember, all of them."

Lin Mo's tone became more forceful.

"From gold and silver fields to antiques and paintings, and even every copper coin you hide under your bed or in your cellar."

"Write everything down clearly for me."

The officials were stunned.

Write it down?

What does this mean?

Does the new emperor not trust them?

"After you finish writing, sign your names and press your fingerprints."

Lin Mo leaned back on the dragon throne, his posture languid, but his words made the temperature in the entire hall drop to freezing point.

"Then, I will send Commander Zhao to personally lead people to your residences, door to door, to help you 'verify' the information."

boom!

These words were like a thunderclap from the heavens, exploding directly in the minds of all the officials!

In an instant, everyone's face turned deathly pale!

Check?

This is hardly a verification!

This is clearly a death warrant!

Whose possessions are not shrouded in secrecy? Who doesn't have a few hidden compartments concealing treasures?

If I write too little...

Lin Mo seemed to see through their thoughts. He chuckled softly, a sound that was particularly jarring in the deathly silent hall.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you."

"If it were one of my men, and they found an extra copper coin in your residence..."

Lin Mo's gaze slowly swept over each terrified face below, and he spoke slowly and deliberately.

"I will exterminate your entire clan."

Dead silence.

A deathly silence so profound you could hear a pin drop.

Fear, like an invisible tide, instantly engulfed everyone.

They finally understood.

This is not a donation to save lives at all.

This is a deadly conspiracy!

Writing too little is a crime of deceiving the emperor, punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family.

If I write too much, I won't have that much money. It's still the same crime of deceiving the emperor, and it will result in the extermination of nine generations of my family!

Even if it's just the right amount, all the wealth that generations of his family have embezzled and plundered will be wiped out and handed over to others!

ruthless!

Too bad!

This new emperor's methods are more vicious than those of the devil!

"Let's begin."

Lin Mo waved his hand and didn't look at them again.

The incense burner was lit, and wisps of smoke rose into the air.

The officials, as if their souls had been ripped out, picked up paper and pen with ashen faces, their hands trembling so much they could barely hold the pen.

The Grand Tutor slumped to the ground, staring at the blank paper in front of him, feeling his vision blurring.

He's finished.

No one knew about the thirty chests of gold he hid in a secret room in his villa outside the city!

To write or not to write?

This is an unsolvable deadlock.

Time slipped away bit by bit in the deathly silence.

The incense stick burned shorter and shorter.

Finally, before the last piece of incense ash fell, everyone trembled as they handed over their "life-risking money."

Zhao Wu presented a thick stack of Xuan paper.

Lin Mo casually picked up the top one.

That belongs to the Grand Tutor.

The paper was covered with numbers, and the final total was an astronomical figure.

Lin Mo didn't even look closely.

He casually tossed the paper onto the imperial desk, his gaze once again falling on the trembling old man at the bottom of the steps.

He smiled.

That smile, in the Grand Tutor's eyes, was more terrifying than the most vicious curse in the world.

"Grand Tutor, this list you've written is excellent."

Lin Mo's voice carried a hint of approval.

Upon hearing this, the Grand Tutor's eyes instantly flashed with a hint of wild joy at surviving a calamity.

Could it be... that I made the right bet?

However, Lin Mo's next words plunged him into the deepest abyss.

"Unfortunately," Lin Mo's tone suddenly turned cold, like a knife chilled to ice, "it seems like something was missed in the writing."

The Grand Tutor suddenly looked up, his face filled with bewilderment and terror.

Did I forget to write it?

Impossible! He even wrote down the name of the gold hairpin his concubine hid in her pillow!

What else could be missing?

On the dragon throne, Lin Mo leaned forward slightly, looking down at him with a cruel smile on his lips.

"You've squandered your dog's life."