317: Chapter 317 Patrol Division

As the news of Chen Hu accepting the abdication of Emperor Jingren spread.

This news gradually reached the neighboring Great Xia Kingdom and the ears of the Emperor of Xia.

Great Xia Kingdom had long been eyeing Great Yong Kingdom like a tiger stalking its prey.

Upon learning this news, they could no longer restrain themselves.

Emperor Xia Wuji of Xia immediately summoned his key ministers to discuss the matter.

The Secretariat.

Although he was over fifty years old, Emperor Xia looked to be only in his early thirties.

After waving his hand to decline the formalities from the group of important ministers, he asked in a deep voice, "Are you all aware of the matter regarding Emperor Jingren abdicating to Chen Hu?"

The ministers all nodded.

"Our dynasty has been plotting against Great Yong Kingdom for a long time, yet unexpectedly, a rebel has swooped in to reap the rewards. What do you all think our Great Xia Kingdom should do in response?" Emperor Xia asked again.

Prime Minister Hu Ju advised, "Your Majesty, as far as this old subject knows, that Chen Hu was originally just a rebel leader, but there are rumors that he is a Hunyuan Martial Saint, which is why Emperor Jingren had no choice but to abdicate the throne. Therefore, we should not act rashly. After all, if we anger him and he breaks into the imperial palace to commit assassination, the consequences would be...!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xia's heart sank, and a great sense of wariness grew within him. "Order people to investigate. Spare no cost to find out whether that Chen Hu is truly a Hunyuan Martial Saint!"

"As you command!" Hu Ju accepted the order. "This old subject will have the Heavenly Mystery Sect investigate this matter with full effort!"

Emperor Xia frowned slightly. "Relying solely on the Heavenly Mystery Sect to investigate this matter clearly will be difficult. It would be better to send a Gang-Refining Expert to test him out!"

Saying this.

Emperor Xia's gaze swept over the ministers below.

Feeling Emperor Xia's gaze, the ministers present were all inwardly groaning. It was obvious that Emperor Xia wanted to utilize the Gang-Refining Experts from their own families.

But how difficult is it to cultivate a Gang-Refining Expert?

If Chen Hu is truly a Hunyuan Martial Saint, the Gang-Refining Experts they send to assassinate him would likely never return.

However, Emperor Xia Wuji was the second emperor of Great Xia, and his control over the imperial court and the entire nation was extremely strong; these ministers dared not disobey his orders at all.

Otherwise, given this Your Majesty's methods, he could easily find a reason to dismiss them from their posts and confiscate their family assets.

Thus, Hu Ju braced himself and stated that their Hu Family could provide one individual in the Liangang Realm.

Seeing that even the Prime Minister, Hu Ju, had made a statement, the military nobility could not feign ignorance. Duke Chen immediately stated that their family could also dispatch one individual in the Liangang Realm.

"Very well, just send two individuals in the Liangang Realm to test that Chen Hu!"

Emperor Xia nodded in satisfaction.

He only wanted to weaken the strength of his ministers, but he didn't want to weaken it too much.

Besides, as the Emperor, he could call upon the Liangang Realm experts in his subjects' households whenever he wished.

If the losses were too great, it would also be a loss for Great Xia Kingdom.

After the small court meeting dispersed.

Hu Ju and Duke Chen found a place to discuss the matter.

They ultimately decided that each of their families would send one Liangang Realm expert at the Middle Stage to test Chen Hu.

As for the Late Stage of Gang Refining, they were reluctant to part with them.

Actually, they were reluctant to part with the Middle Stage experts as well.

But fearing that Emperor Xia would think they were trying to fool him, they sent them out unwillingly.

At noon.

Chen Hu pulled up the System interface.

His gaze fell on the number of followers.

Late last night, the number of followers was 438 million.

By now, it had actually increased by over 200 million.

Reaching 658 million.

By late tonight, there should be no problem breaking through 800 million.

It seems his move to implement the tax exemption policy was the right one.

He decided that once the growth in the number of followers slowed down.

He could then implement the second and third steps of his plan.

For the second step, he planned to clean up the corrupt officials.

Among the current officials, finding an honest one was truly too difficult.

And the biggest source for these officials to make money was by manipulating taxes.

Now that he had exempted all commoners and farmers nationwide from taxes, these corrupt officials might not obey his imperial edict, but instead comply in public while opposing him in private.

Therefore, he planned to assemble a group of Inspection Envoys.

In any case, he had the flying dragon boat, this top-tier Soul Weapon.

Although Great Yong had a vast territory, the flying dragon boat could travel 3,000 li in one hour.

It would not be difficult to deploy the Inspection Envoys to all parts of the country.

Thinking of this.

Chen Hu stepped out and arrived at the National Preceptors Manor.

A figure flashed.

The National Preceptor appeared before Chen Hu and bowed slightly, "Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"National Preceptor, no need for such formalities, please rise!" Chen Hu raised his hand in a gesture of support.

Before long.

Inside a pavilion at the National Preceptors Manor.

Chen Hu held the tea brewed by Shangguan Lingnan, took a sip, and said, "National Preceptor, there is a matter I would like to entrust to you!"

Upon hearing this, the National Preceptor instinctively wanted to refuse.

Chen Hu continued, "National Preceptor, don't be in such a hurry to refuse. There is compensation, you know—Attribute Essence Stones!"

Hearing that Chen Hu was willing to use Attribute Essence Stones as compensation.

The National Preceptor immediately swallowed back her words of refusal.

If she wanted to achieve the Hunyuan Martial Saint level, she could not do without Attribute Essence Stones.

Then.

Chen Hu brought up his idea.

Upon hearing Chen Hu's idea of establishing the Inspection Bureau, the National Preceptor asked, "What is the compensation?"

Chen Hu said, "One Attribute Essence Stone per year!"

The National Preceptor bargained, "Five!"

"Two!"

"Four!"

"Three at most!" Chen Hu said in a deep voice.

The National Preceptor was silent for a moment, "Fine, I agree!"

In fact, for Chen Hu, Attribute Essence Stones were nothing; their price in the System Mall was not expensive either.

The next moment.

Three Attribute Essence Stones appeared in Chen Hu's hand, which he handed to the National Preceptor, "This is the Attribute Essence Stone payment paid to you in advance!"

"Then many thanks, Your Majesty!"

A smile appeared on the cold face beneath the National Preceptor's mask.

Next, Chen Hu took out the flying dragon boat and handed it to the National Preceptor, "By the way, this is a top-tier Soul Weapon, a flight-type one. Its flight speed can reach 3,000 kilometers per hour. After you refine it, National Preceptor, it can become the transport tool for your Inspection Bureau, allowing you to quickly transport the Inspection Envoys under your command to all parts of the country!"

The National Preceptor's eyes lit up, and she took the flying dragon boat.

Then Chen Hu stuffed some Essence Stones into the National Preceptor's hands to serve as fuel, and left the National Preceptors Manor.

Returning to the Imperial Study, Chen Hu ordered someone to draft an imperial edict to establish the Inspection Bureau, with the National Preceptor serving as the first Bureau Chief.

Chen Hu designated the Inspection Bureau as a second-rank institution.

And officials outside the capital, even high-ranking regional officials like Governors, were only third-rank officials.

Therefore, the Inspection Bureau had the authority to investigate all officials outside the capital.

Of course, the Inspection Envoys could only collect evidence.

But to make arrests, they had to rely on the Brocade Guard.

Otherwise, the power of the Inspection Bureau would be too great.

It must be said that the National Preceptor was a straightforward person.

After receiving the benefits, she was quite efficient in handling matters.

After Chen Hu's imperial edict was issued, she immediately began to assemble the Inspection Bureau.

When the time arrived at dusk.

The National Preceptor had already selected over 500 people to join the Inspection Bureau.

In terms of money and resources, Chen Hu was not stingy; he directly allocated 10 million taels of silver and 5 million taels worth of cultivation resources to the Inspection Bureau.

Unexpectedly, just after this imperial edict was issued.

The Minister of Revenue came to Chen Hu to complain.

Saying that there was not much silver left in the national treasury, and the remaining silver was only enough to pay the salaries of officials for the next month; there was simply no way to allocate so much funding to the Inspection Bureau.

"The autumn tax collection was only just completed, yet you say the national treasury has no money. Where did all the silver go?"

Chen Hu stared coldly at the Minister of Revenue.

The Minister of Revenue immediately knelt and said, "Your Majesty, the silver from the autumn tax was 30% less than last year. After it was collected, it was used to pay the military expenses that had been in arrears for three months, and also...!"

After listening to the itemized expenses listed by the Minister of Revenue.

Chen Hu knew that while these expenses seemed normal, there were definitely many officials lining their own pockets.

It just so happened that the Inspection Bureau had just been established; let them start by investigating the officials in the capital.