Seeing Huang Xing stunned, He Tongping took out a stack of silver notes from his embrace.
"This is ten thousand taels, please accept it first, Grand Tutor! As long as the Grand Tutor agrees, I can immediately send someone to deliver another hundred thousand taels as a deposit, to show sincerity!"
Huang Xing asked, "What virtue and ability do I possess for the King of the South to bestow such a generous reward?"
"If the Grand Tutor can choose a master to serve in time, he will be a hero of his generation and can reach the highest official positions in the future. The King of the South's requirements are very simple: the Shenbi Bow, Chuangzi Crossbow, Zhuge Liannu, Modao... and all other military equipment and machinery manufacturing techniques of the Great Gan Kingdom, which must also be mastered by the Grand Tutor. As long as the Grand Tutor can provide reliable technology, that is sufficient."
Huang Xing smiled and said, "Lord He, please rest in my residence first."
He Tongping was both surprised and delighted, and immediately nodded in thanks.
Meanwhile, the Grand Tutor and Minister of Revenue, Gu Hong, also welcomed an old acquaintance, He Tonghui, and faced a similar temptation of ten million taels of silver.
Gu Hong, recovering from his shock, also asked He Tonghui to stay at his residence first and be entertained.
At the West Palace Villa, Liang Xiao and Xiao Qing were whispering sweet nothings in bed when Ning Xuejun suddenly rushed in with an urgent report: "Master, Prince Consort..."
This was Ning Xuejun's first time disturbing them, which startled the young couple into quickly dressing.
In the imperial study, Liang Xiao sat beside Xiao Qing, listening to the reports from Huang Xing and Gu Hong, his brow furrowed.
"Ten million taels of silver is no small sum. They are as arrogant as ever, believing that money can move mountains and seas, and that they simply haven't offered enough," Xiao Qing said with a smile.
"His Majesty is the chosen one of heaven and has shown us great kindness. How dare we betray him? For my Huang family, serving the emperor and receiving his emolument is paramount; wealth is secondary!" Huang Xing declared resolutely.
Gu Hong, standing beside them, echoed, "The Gu family is loyal to His Majesty, and to be recorded in history is enough!"
Xiao Qing smiled with satisfaction.
Wang Canghai explained, "The reason the two Lords have come to report urgently is that they are unsure whether to string them along or to send them to the authorities immediately..."
"How can we string them along? They are demanding tangible technology and intelligence. Providing fake technology is also unrealistic, and they will surely have various insatiable demands," Liang Xiao shook his head.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Xiao Qing smiled again, "This is a good thing. These four families have been hidden in Jiaozhou, operating behind the scenes, and have not dared to show their faces among the Jiaozhou rebels. I have never had a legitimate reason to punish them and silence public opinion. Now, they have walked right into our trap! You might as well pretend to agree and let them retrieve the hundred thousand taels of silver notes. The Shadow Guards will ensure they cannot escape the capital."
Huang Xing and Gu Hong readily agreed and returned home to inform their guests from the He family.
"After considering it with my family, a good bird chooses a tree to perch on. I pray Lord He will introduce me."
He Tongping and He Tonghui, brothers, received the news separately and were overjoyed. They immediately returned and, with their subordinates, delivered a chest full of hundred-tael silver notes.
Huang Xing looked at the silver notes being counted by He Tongping and smiled with satisfaction, "Take them down!"
With his command, the Shadow Guards, who had been hidden behind the screen, drew their swords and axes, apprehending the astonished He family members and sending them to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation.
He Tonghui was also captured by Gu Hong using a similar tactic.
After understanding the situation, Xiao Qing was overjoyed and immediately declared.
"The illicit gains shall be fully bestowed upon the two Lords as rewards!"
They were overwhelmed with gratitude but still insisted on refusing. It was only when Wang Canghai urged them that they each accepted the reward of one hundred and ten thousand taels of silver notes.
"The He, Dugu, Ouyang, and Gongyang clans of Jiaozhou colluded with the rebel King of the South, attempting to bribe our Grand Tutor and Grand Tutor. Their accomplices have been apprehended, and our army will surely crusade against them!"
After the imperial decree was spread through the Great Gan Daily, the people were all enraged.
The noble clans and powerful families that had once oppressed them had become like rats in the street through the detailed propaganda of the newspapers. However, because they had acted meticulously, even appearing righteous, the court had been unable to find any excuse to prosecute them.
The bribery incident was like a spark igniting a powder keg, thoroughly enraging the populace, and petitions poured in.
"Confiscate the property of the four families!"
Xiao Qing finally got his wish, with legitimate grounds. After understanding the situation, the officials expressed their support instead of fearing for themselves.
The total wealth of the four great noble families of the Great Gan Kingdom in the past absolutely exceeded one hundred million taels of silver, which Xiao Qing had long coveted.
After the war in Jiangnan ended, they would undoubtedly have a large sum of assets. Perhaps confiscating them would be enough to reward the Jiangnan soldiers and replenish the national treasury.
Without the bribery incident, even if Jiaozhou were captured one day, these families would still find ways to escape, and the Great Gan Kingdom might not be able to deal with them.
With the cooperation of the Shadow Guards, the Ministry of Justice uprooted all of the He family's confederates in the capital. The confiscated wealth totaled three hundred thousand taels, which was equally divided between the Huang and Gu families and announced nationwide.
"If any more of the four traitorous families attempt to bribe Great Gan officials, they are to be exposed. Upon verification, all confiscated wealth shall be rewarded to the exposers!"
He Anding, who was in charge of administrative affairs in Jiaozhou, received the carrier pigeon and immediately fainted from anger.
"That old villain is ungrateful! When the King of the South breaches the capital, their families will surely be annihilated!!"
Hannibal, standing beside him, frowned. "Ten million taels of silver couldn't move them? Was their sincerity not shown enough?"
He Anding explained, "My two uncles have always been cautious in their actions. This time, they acted as if they were sacrificing themselves, boldly heading to the capital, and surely showed sufficient sincerity. It's just that those two old villains were unprincipled and dared to expose them! But even if exposed, they would naturally deny it. Without written evidence, there would be no proof of guilt!"
Dugu Xiao said in a deep voice, "It must be Liang Xiao or that damned emperor. They didn't give them a chance to argue and were determined to make an example of them to crusade against our four families."
Hannibal merely nodded slightly, deep in thought, and saw no problem with bribing officials of an enemy nation.
The Tianri tribe once swept across the west, relying on spies planted in various countries and bribed dignitaries...
From then on, the four great families never dared to risk bribing Great Gan officials again and were definitively designated as rebels to be conquered by the Great Gan Kingdom.
Upon returning to Liaodong with his cavalry, Nie Yuan immediately mobilized all three thousand cavalry in Liaodong and marched towards Langcheng, the former Xianbei capital, five hundred miles away.
As Liang Xiao had predicted, the King of the Xianbei had indeed not returned to Langcheng. Most of the people there had received wind of the news and fled north of the desert in advance, leaving behind only over a hundred thousand old, weak, and young.
Nie Yuan did not give up and pursued them, capturing nearly another hundred thousand. The total captured reached two hundred and ten thousand, with over a million cattle and sheep, and nearly fifty thousand warhorses, all of which were brought back to Liaodong!
The gold from the desert finally arrived in Yanzhou in batches, and under the personal escort of Ding Wuyi, it was delivered to the capital.
Xiao Qing's generous rewards, jointly issued by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, declared the matter settled, and everyone was overjoyed!
In Liaodong, Xiangping, Counselor Mo Hongming looked at the intelligence report and map on his desk, his face filled with shock.
The Stealth Wolf Guards who rushed back to report whispered, "Counselor, our army roamed and investigated the area around the Taiji Kingdom. All we saw were white bones. We can confirm: the Taiji Kingdom has likely been destroyed, and even if there are survivors, they are likely women taken by the Izumo Kingdom to serve as military prostitutes and food..."