196: Chapter 196 A petty person sees everyone as a petty person!

The four words "private treasury" instantly ignited the entire room.

Indeed, the profit margin of the star crystal mine was truly immense, easily reaching over one hundred billion a year.

This was a significantly large sum of money, and it was hard to guarantee that Li Mo wouldn't develop ulterior motives.

However, facing Wang Jianbang's skepticism, Zhao Zhenyuan directly stated the reason.

Zhao Zhenyuan first scanned the people present, then said, "Everyone, this star crystal mine was meant to be a reward for Li Mo from the start!"

"In the Battle of Qiyuan Mountains, if not for Li Mo, I wouldn't have had even a one in ten thousand chance of leading The Military to victory! Doesn't he deserve such a reward?"

Zhao Zhenyuan did not shy away from this at all; the star crystal mine in the Misibi Mountain Region was indeed a reward for Li Mo's meritorious service, a fact that was indisputable and needed no concealment!

Since the beginning of the New Calendar, the nation's rewards for soldiers with meritorious service had actually been far too few!

Take, for example, the well-known war hero Xu Zhou, whose deeds were recorded in textbooks. Once, during a battle against the Baiou Empire, he not only relied on his Liangyi Realm strength to slay three Sanhe Realm experts.

In the end, when the troops were retreating, he risked his life to block the muzzle of the Baiou Empire's cannon with his own body! He unfortunately sacrificed himself!

Yet, for such a great hero, the treatment he received was merely a so-called heroic title and a mere five hundred thousand in pension.

Nowadays, the tuition fees for Martial Arts University are astronomical. If not for someone in The Military organizing a fundraiser, the descendants of such a war hero might not even be able to attend Martial Arts University.

While it is true that the high fees of Martial Arts University are a factor, Martial Artists naturally require funds to Cultivate, and various cultivation resources are included in the tuition, so one cannot solely blame Martial Arts University.

The more important reason is that the nation did not treat this war hero well!

If the citizens knew that the descendants of a war hero recorded in textbooks were living like this, who knows how angry they would be!

The Military possessing financial power is only right.

In Zhao Zhenyuan's view, this would also reduce the current fiscal pressure, making it a win-win situation.

He wasn't asking for The Military to be completely independent or to commit treason.

"A reward?" Wang Jianbang sneered at this moment.

"What kind of merit deserves such a reward? Marshal Zhao, there are only six star crystal mines in the entire country! This is the lifeline of the nation; how can you expect us to feel at ease handing this lifeline over to a private individual!!"

"Furthermore, Marshal Zhao! We know exactly what you are planning! If something goes wrong, and after we let The Military possess financial power, what if you rebel and wreak havoc on the capital again?"

"The Royal Capital Imperial Guard certainly couldn't stop hundreds of thousands of troops, right?"

Having said this, Wang Jianbang finally laid the matter out clearly.

The government's stance was very simple: they would absolutely not allow Li Mo to possess autonomy over the Misibi Mountain Region, nor would they hand over such a large territory to Li Mo as a reward.

A unified Great Xia does not need warlords!

The atmosphere in the room instantly turned cold. Zhao Zhenyuan clenched his fists, his face filled with anger, and he even unleashed an Aura of a Martial God, frightening the government officials present until they trembled.

Zhao Zhenyuan had anticipated resistance, but he hadn't expected it to be this great.

Aside from Commissioner Liu Quan and the faction he led, almost the entire government was against them.

Even the good-tempered Zhao Zhenyuan felt an urge to silence them at this moment.

However, he could not act. Never mind killing someone, even if he harmed a single government official, it would confirm that The Military would commit treason in the future, or even engage in rebellion!

At this moment, the Royal Capital Imperial Guard surrounding the Congress Hall were also prepared; if Zhao Zhenyuan made a move, the entire Congress Hall would immediately become a battlefield!

After a long while, Zhao Zhenyuan suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, I will not back down! Li Mo must enter the Misibi Mountain Region and possess autonomy over the Misibi Mountain Region! Otherwise, just remove me from my position as Marshal!"

Zhao Zhenyuan had also played his trump card. He had just led the troops to a victory, and a rare, great victory at that. If the government dared to remove him at such a critical juncture, they would likely be condemned by everyone immediately.

Furthermore, currently, no one in the entire military besides Zhao Zhenyuan could sit in this position!

At this moment, Wang Jianbang slammed the table and said in a deep voice, "Zhao Zhenyuan, do you really intend to do this? Do you really think we wouldn't dare to remove you from your post?"

Zhao Zhenyuan didn't care at all; instead, he laughed and said, "Removing me is perfect! Do you think I want to take on this mess? I only wanted to be an idle general in the first place! I was pushed into this position by you! What does it matter if you remove me?"

Seeing that Zhao Zhenyuan truly didn't care about being removed from his post, the government officials became somewhat panicked; Great Xia's millions of troops could not go a single day without a leader.

The Baiou Empire and the Black Earth Tribe had long been eyeing them covetously. I fear that as soon as the news of Zhao Zhenyuan's removal spread, those resource lands abroad would immediately be snatched away by the other two countries!

But the government did not want to concede either; they would not allow Li Mo to establish a private army!

At this moment, Li Mo finally stepped forward.

"Everyone, I, Li Mo, am not a person who loves wealth! You do not need to speculate about me!"

"After I garrison the Misibi Mountain Region, although I may possess the management rights for the Misibi Mountain Region, I will make all of the Misibi Mountain Region's finances public and transparent. You will all know every single cent of income I receive from the Misibi Mountain Region, as well as every single expenditure! I had planned this all along!"

"I am a soldier! I will not be like certain people who secretly use their power to amass wealth for themselves!"

To say that one would not be tempted by the enormous wealth generated by a star crystal mine would certainly be a lie.

But Li Mo also understood that this was property belonging to The Military.

He could not possibly claim the property of an entire military as his own.

Moreover, he was indeed not a greedy person; his goal was not to become the world's richest person.

The reason he agreed to Zhao Zhenyuan's request to garrison the Misibi Mountain Region was that Zhao Zhenyuan had sincerely explained The Military's predicament, and he did not want to be choked by the government anymore.

Moreover, the true benefit brought by the management rights of the star crystal mine was the massive network of connections it would bring to Li Mo.

Because even the Martial God Family needed things like star crystals to maintain their Family operations, it could be foreseen that, going forward, all Martial Gods in Great Xia would have to be on good terms with Li Mo.

In the era of Martial Artists, it is ultimately the strong who are respected, not the wealthy.

Li Mo only needed to ensure that the money brought in by the Misibi Mountain Region could truly be used for military construction or the nation's economic development.

As soon as these words were spoken, it was another slap in the face to all the government officials present.

Their opposition to Li Mo garrisoning the area was, from the very beginning, judging a gentleman with a petty mind. They stubbornly believed that Li Mo would inevitably line his own pockets, and that before such a sum of wealth, no one could maintain their integrity.