“Hehe…”
Inside the Main Hall, Li Changsheng’s mocking laughter rang out.
Everyone turned to look and saw Li Changsheng stepping forward.
He swept his gaze across the civil and military officials and the ministers who had just spoken.
“A new Emperor has ascended, and you already threaten to resign in order to pressure Her Majesty. This is a grave offense of disrespect.”
“Li Wu, do not be so smug. Others may not know, but we know very clearly. You are corrupt and lawless, you extort ruthlessly, persecute officials, and act with impunity in the Imperial Capital. We will impeach you!”
The officials were filled with righteous indignation, as if they wanted to devour Li Changsheng alive.
Over the years, they had endured humiliation everywhere. It was all because of Li Changsheng. Ignorant of limits, he nitpicked them daily, leaving them with no choice but to swallow their anger.
Now that a new Emperor had ascended, they wanted her to uphold justice for them and remove this Li Wu.
“Very well. Perfect timing,” Li Changsheng said calmly. “You old ministers have occupied your positions for years without contributing anything meaningful. How many years have you sat in these posts? How many years of salary have you drawn from the court?”
“You are old. A new Emperor means a new atmosphere. In my humble opinion, these old ministers should indeed be replaced. Since you are all offering to resign, then let the new Zhuangyuan and other talented individuals take your places. Would that not be the best of both worlds?”
“Your Majesty, look at him. He clearly wants us to resign so that his own associates can seize control of the court. His intentions are sinister.”
The ministers’ hearts trembled, and they hurriedly remonstrated.
“That is enough,” Long Qianqian said evenly. “All of you are capable officials. I have never favored personal feelings. Li Wu has been promoted to Prime Minister because I have witnessed his ability, and so has the Supreme Emperor. He has enriched the national treasury for the Great Shang Empire. With that merit alone, which of you can compare?”
“You need not worry. As long as you serve the Great Shang Empire with diligence, I will not treat you unfairly. If your conduct is upright, you need not fear slander. I know what I am doing.”
“Your Majesty is wise.”
The court assembly thus ended peacefully.
After leaving the court, Li Changsheng returned directly to his underground vault.
Looking at the spirit stones, gold bricks, and silver bricks inside, he fell into deep thought.
He was already unimaginably wealthy. There was almost no space left to store his money.
Yet he did not know how to spend it, nor how he would take it with him in the future.
As an immortal, he could not remain in the Great Shang Empire forever.
For this purpose, he had purchased many high-grade storage pouches. He had even spent 300 million spirit stones to buy three spatial rings.
These spatial rings were top-tier treasures in the cultivation world. Each contained an internal space of 1,024 cubic meters, among the finest storage artifacts available.
Sitting inside the vault, Li Changsheng began calculating his next move.
He had already reached a position second only to the Emperor and above tens of thousands. Many nobles of the Northern District had been purged by him.
The Wu Family from years ago had been wiped out entirely by his schemes.
The four great brothels of the Imperial Capital had been eradicated, and he had offended nearly every official in the capital.
But this was clearly not enough.
His goal was to become the greatest corrupt official and the greatest parasite in the Great Shang Empire. Yet he still had not found a way to bring about its rapid downfall.
If he continued targeting corrupt officials and fighting them, would that not only make the empire stronger?
That would not do.
He needed the Great Shang Empire to collapse, and to collapse faster.
But how?
Li Changsheng recalled the history recorded in “Five Thousand Years from Top to Bottom.” In his previous life, his history grades had been excellent.
The primary cause of dynastic changes and collapse was usually land annexation.
It was a common flaw of all feudal dynasties.
However, this problem did not seem fatal for the Great Shang Empire, because cultivators dictated the empire’s direction.
Even if commoners were driven to rebellion, they could not truly rebel. Under suppression by cultivators, any mortal uprising was like throwing eggs against a stone wall, incapable of shaking imperial authority.
Thus, land annexation would not bring about rapid collapse, at least not in the Great Shang Empire.
Since this was a cultivator empire, then to destroy it, cultivators would have to rebel.
But where would he find a like-minded army of cultivators willing to revolt?
The cultivators of the Great Shang Empire had all entered official service. They fought desperately to step into the imperial court. There was no possibility of rebellion.
After thinking it over and over, Li Changsheng spent the entire night unable to devise a good plan.
However, during the next day’s court session, the opportunity he had been waiting for finally arrived.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, the demon clan is rampant at the borders. The northern demon tribes have launched a massive invasion and have already occupied several cities of the Great Shang Empire.”
“The demon clan wreaks havoc among the human race, devouring millions. We await Your Majesty’s judgment.”
The demon clan and the human race were inherently incompatible. Ever since the founding of the Great Shang Empire, wars between the demon clan and the empire had never ceased. This chapter was taken from NovelPing without permission.
Every year, the military expenses invested at the borders were calculated in the tens of millions of spirit stones. Talismans, formation arrays, medicinal pills—supplies had almost never stopped.
Yet for thousands of years, the demon clan had never been exterminated. They continued to confront the human race.
The empire had deployed countless troops and cultivators over the years, and the number of casualties was immeasurable.
The only small consolation was that when the demon clan invaded the borders, they typically devoured humans once a year and then retreated, without pushing too deeply into human territory.
This was also why the Great Shang Empire had always tolerated them.
If full-scale war truly erupted, the human race might not necessarily defeat the demon clan.
Moreover, the human race was a single race, while the demon clan consisted of hundreds of races. In comparison, the human race knew very little about the internal situation of the demon clan.
Throughout history, no human had ever successfully infiltrated the demon clan’s interior.
Even the Supreme Emperor Long Cang did not dare venture deep into demon territory.
It was said that the demon clan had existed far longer than the human race, and that their territory was broader and more expansive. Deep within demon lands, it was foreseeable that even more powerful Emperor-level Spiritual Practitioner demon cultivators existed.
“The demon clan has invaded our borders. Do any of you have a strategy?”
Upon hearing this, Long Qianqian’s brows knit slightly.
This was an old topic, raised several times every year.
Whenever the demon clan came, they came with an army of millions, unstoppable. Yet they never truly penetrated deeply into human territory. Each year, they launched one large-scale invasion, devoured several million people, and then withdrew.
“Reporting to Your Majesty, according to past practice, the demon clan will not advance deep into imperial territory. I suggest we dispatch several armies to retreat 150 kilometers, and at the same time send prisoners, forced laborers, and the elderly from across the nation to the border.”
The human army would certainly have to resist and sacrifice. If the demon clan did not devour several million people, they would not withdraw. Therefore, the annual casualty quota was also in the millions.
For example, if the demon clan intended to devour about 3 million people, the army would first send tens of thousands of soldiers to fill part of that number, and the remaining over 2 million would be drawn from the civilians of border cities.
If the number was insufficient, the demon clan would continue advancing. Thus, as a last resort, prisoners and the elderly had to be sent to the border each year to meet the casualty quota.
Only by feeding the demon clan could the Great Shang Empire pass the year in peace.
“So our vast empire has truly fallen to the point of begging for peace by feeding the bellies of the demon clan?”
While the ministers were discussing how to mobilize several million people to fill the demon clan’s stomachs, a cold sneer suddenly rang out.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, Li Changsheng stepped forward.