Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: The Dust Settles

“Zhao Fan, what else do you have to say for yourself?”

“This subject… this subject…”

Zhao Fan and the Vice Minister of Revenue knelt in the great hall, their legs trembling beneath them.

Never in his wildest dreams had Zhao Fan imagined that in a mere four days, Cang Chuli would actually sort through every rotten account the Ministry of Revenue had kept over the past two years!

How was that possible?!

Those ledgers were impossible for anyone outside the profession to understand. Even if everyone in the Ministry of Revenue worked on them together, it would take at least ten days to half a month.

How could they possibly have untangled everything so quickly?!

“Emperor! This subject has been wronged! General Cang must be harboring some grudge against this old minister, which is why he has handled this matter so perfunctorily!”

Zhao Fan ventured cautiously.

“Perfunctorily? This official finds that the accounts General Cang copied out after completing his investigation are exceptionally clear and easy to understand.”

Li Zhi had spent two days interrogating the military laborer who had escorted the grain and supplies. By now, the man had confessed nearly everything he needed to confess. He was only an ordinary army porter-how stubborn could he really be?

All they had been waiting for was Cang Chuli to finish organizing the ledgers and submit the final, decisive evidence.

During that time alone, Li Zhi had already dealt with two separate assassination attempts targeting the porter.

He had been sweating bullets, thinking he would have to wait at least ten days to half a month.

And if things dragged on any longer, he truly was not confident he could keep that porter alive.

He never expected Cang Chuli to give him such a tremendous surprise.

In just four days, he had completed all the work and even arranged it into tables so clear that anyone could understand them at a glance.

Li Zhi looked down at the table in his hands.

To think there was such a simple method of bookkeeping in this world. It did not even require flipping back and forth through pages.

One look was enough for everything to be clear.

If something this useful could be promoted widely, Huaxia would benefit without end.

“General Cang’s method is extraordinarily convenient! Emperor, this subject suggests that this method be promoted throughout the realm!”

Dongfang Wei raised a hand toward Li Zhi, cutting him off.

“We will discuss that matter later. I have already ordered the Zhenbei Army to try this method first. If it proves feasible, we will then use it in the court.

“Since Minister Zhao refuses to admit guilt, Li Zhi, let Minister Zhao see the accounts. As it happens, I have a few questions for him.”

Li Zhi acknowledged the order and placed the account book in his hands before Zhao Fan.

To preserve the originals, Cang Chuli had Mo Qing and Mo Bai copy the final general ledger three times.

One copy was with the Emperor, one with him, and the last had been given to Li Zhi, who was presiding over the trial.

Zhao Fan lifted his head slightly and looked at the ledger before him.

With just one glance, he froze.

He had not risen to the position of Minister of Revenue by luck. He had genuine talent and learning.

It would be no exaggeration to say that the Ministry of Revenue gathered the greatest talents in calculation from all under heaven. And for Zhao Fan to become the foremost man in the Ministry of Revenue meant he was the best among them.

Money and grain, corvée labor, military supplies-each had its own accounts, and each type of ledger was different. Every kind of account book under heaven passed through his hands.

That was why, at the very first glance, he recognized the value of the table before him.

A few horizontal and vertical lines, black ink on white paper.

It displayed the current state of the Ministry of Revenue with absolute clarity, leaving him no room to drag the conversation elsewhere or bluff his way through.

Originally, he had only been furious that Cang Chuli had finished so quickly, leaving him and the Left Prime Minister with no time to arrange a second ledger swap.

But Zhao Fan had confidence in himself. No matter who came, as long as they argued accounts with him, they would never be able to beat him. After all, he was the professional.

Until he saw the ledger before him.

Only then did he realize that this time, he was likely in grave danger.

“Minister Zhao, since you claim you have been wronged, then explain this to me.”

“What is going on with these shipments of grain and supplies transferred one after another to the Southern Frontier? Judging by the frequency and total amount of these transfers, did some war break out in the Southern Frontier that I know nothing about?”

Zhao Fan’s face turned deathly pale. His lips moved for a long while, but no sound came out. How could he dare answer that?

“Or did you and Lin Feng collude with each other? Sending over so much grain-is it for rebellion?!”

“This subject would not dare!”

“You would not dare? What is there that you would not dare to do? According to this ledger, you and the Vice Minister of Revenue privately transferred grain from the national treasury several times.

“What? Did I not pay you your salary? Were you starving?”
“Are my officials now helping themselves to food from my granaries?”

Dongfang Wei roared.

Zhao Fan collapsed in the hall. This time, there was no escaping it.

“Vermin! Vermin, the lot of you! To think I have been keeping a nest of rats in my court! Even I can hardly bear to look at these rotten accounts.

“And you still tried to frame someone else. Every one of these orders-which one was not issued by you, Zhao Fan, Minister of Revenue?

“Is the Huaxia Kingdom treasury something petty men like you may run as your own private estate?

“Money only goes out and never comes in. You even imposed local taxes in private. Zhao Fan, shall I give you this dragon throne to sit on as well?”

At those words, all the civil and military officials were terrified and dropped to their knees.

“Please calm your anger, Your Majesty!”

“This minister would never harbor such intent, Emperor!”

“Convicted minister Zhao Fan! For privately withholding and embezzling military supplies meant for the Zhenbei Army, taking bribes and perverting the law, imposing taxes in private, framing others, and transferring grain from the national granaries without authorization-multiple crimes shall be punished together.

“Within nine degrees of kinship of the Zhao Family, all legitimate-line males shall be beheaded in public three days from now! Their heads will be sent to the Northern Frontier as an offering to the battle flags of my Zhenbei Army!”

“The Emperor is wise!” Cang Chuli knelt and cried out.

“As for the rest of the household, regardless of age or sex, they are to be exiled to the northern border! Since they claim not to know, then let them go see for themselves what kind of lives the people of the north and my soldiers are living!”

Dongfang Wei spoke in fury, then turned to the Vice Minister of Revenue.

“Vice Minister of Revenue Sun Jian, you knew and failed to report it, aiding a tyrant in his crimes! For taking bribes and perverting the law, framing others, and privately transferring grain from the national granaries, you are sentenced to be beheaded in public alongside Zhao Fan three days from now! All within nine degrees of kinship, regardless of sex, are to be exiled to the northern border!”

When Zhao Fan heard this, his eyes rolled back. Without making a sound, he fainted on the spot.

Sun Jian wanted to faint too, but with tears and snot streaming down his face and his legs turned to jelly, he remained painfully conscious. He could only force himself to answer, “Convicted minister Sun Jian obeys the decree. Thank you, Emperor, for your mercy.”

At the very least, his legitimate line had been spared.

“Mu Yan of the Ministry of Revenue removed Ministry of Revenue documents from the office. However, in consideration of his diligence and sense of responsibility, he is fined half a year’s salary.

“For now, the Ministry of Revenue has no minister. As we are at the end of the autumn harvest, Mu Yan is hereby ordered to temporarily serve as Vice Minister of Revenue and preside over the completion of the autumn harvest.

“He will also calculate the taxes Zhao Fan extracted in private and return them to the people.

“All others are fined one year’s salary. Reflect on your failures, and let this serve as a warning to the rest!”

Grand Secretary Li understood at once. An open punishment, but a promotion in secret.

Just wait. If the matter of the taxes was handled well, that “temporary” position might very well become permanent.

“Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review Li Zhi!”

“This minister is here!”

“Go confiscate the estates of those two rats for me! I want to see just how much they stole behind my back!”

“This minister accepts the decree!”

“Minister Chen of the Ministry of War, transmit my decree. Summon General of Agile Cavalry Lin Feng to the capital for an audience. He may bring fifty personal guards with him.”

“This minister accepts the decree.”

“The General of the Northern Pacification has rendered meritorious service in this investigation! He is awarded one thousand taels of gold, two jade ruyi scepters, and one hundred pearls from the South Sea.

“Before the new year, the Zhenbei Army is permitted an additional allocation of ten thousand dan of grain. Cotton, cloth, and medicinal supplies are each to be doubled.

“Let it soothe the hearts of my soldiers!”

“This minister accepts the decree! Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Cang Chuli accepted the imperial order.

The remaining civil and military officials called out in unison, “The Emperor is wise!”

“Long live our Emperor! Long live, long live, long live forever!”

When Mu Yan walked out of the prison, he still could hardly believe it.

He had been locked up the entire time and had no idea what had happened.

Given his superior’s usual way of doing things, he had thought he was most likely doomed this time.

He had only hoped that his brothers at home would not act rashly, that they would live well. It would not matter even if they could not avenge him.

Who would have thought that after only a few days, he would actually be released-and the eunuch who came to deliver the decree even congratulated him on his promotion?

At the time, he had still been wearing prisoner’s clothes in the dungeon. He had not even had any money to give as a reward.

Mu Yan looked up at the clear blue sky for the first time in what felt like forever and thought, This can’t be a dream, can it?

Only when he saw the person standing in the distance did he confirm that it was real.

A rusty smile tugged at the corners of his unshaven mouth.

His proud little brother would never cry this ugly in a dream, and his voice would not be so loud it sounded as if Mu Yan had died.