Zhao Hong waved his hand, "Bring him in!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Huang, with a bow, retreated and soon led Shen Fa, dressed in a python robe, into the hall: "Minister Shen Fa pays respects to Your Majesty, my Emperor..."
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"Enough of the pleasantries!"
Zhao Hong impatiently interrupted him, "Is there a problem with the accounts at Han Jia Granary?"
Shen Fa responded, "Your Majesty, there’s no problem with the inflow and outflow records of the Han Jia Granary..."
Zhao Hong frowned, "I knew it wouldn’t be so simple..."
Shen Fa continued, "But, Your Majesty, the records of grain inflows and outflows I obtained from the various camps of the imperial guards have significant issues!"
Zhao Hong, looking down at Shen Fa with a stern expression, spoke softly, "Who taught you to speak like this?"
Shen Fa, no longer daring to breathe heavily, directly stated, "I report to Your Majesty, last year the imperial guards’ twenty-six battalions were allocated a total of 1.89 million, which matches the figures in the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue and the Han Jia Granary. However, the records I obtained from the twenty-six battalions show the amount to be... 1.08 million surplus Shi."
Upon hearing this figure, Zhao Hong’s eyes abruptly widened, and his lips trembled as he exclaimed fiercely, "1.8 million, and they embezzled 800,000?"
He knew this pack of wolves were greedy, but he hadn’t realized they were this greedy!
Shen Fa paused briefly then strenuously explained, "The grain standard for the imperial guards has always been the highest among all national troops, allocated at a wartime standard of 2.4 Shi per person per day. However, the imperial guards’ twenty-six battalions haven’t left the capital for battle for many years, and the actual daily training allotment could be half the allocation. Moreover, with escalating exploitation within the military, of the 2.4 Shi allocated on the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue, only 0.7 Shi actually reaches the soldiers’ mouths, already indicating the officer’s affection for his troops... this is why the late emperor established the capital garrison."
Coming from a military family, he had never even mentioned these words to Emperor Xiping... of course, Emperor Xiping was aware of it and didn’t need him to say it.
Zhao Hong trembled, his face flushed.
"But the current problem isn’t the Ministry of Revenue being corrupt, they have always been corrupt. In the past, they simply embezzled money, and that part of the inflated figures, they sold off, turning it into Silver Tael."
"However, from what I discovered, no grain has flowed out from the Ministry of Revenue in the past two years..."
"If the accounts of the Han Jia Granary are correct and no grain has flowed out from the Ministry of Revenue, where did that part of the embezzlement go? Surely it couldn’t still be hidden in the Han Jia Granary, waiting for Your Majesty to investigate?"
"And this is just the inflated grain figures for the imperial guards. Traditionally, whatever grain passes through the hands of the Ministry of Revenue, they retain a portion, including the grain allocated to the frontier troops and for disaster relief... Although because of Lu Ting, they might not dare to skim off so much, they surely retained some portion."
"Accumulating day by day, this imaginary surplus has become enormous."
"According to my judgment, there would definitely be a huge discrepancy between the accounts and actual goods entering and exiting the Han Jia Granary. A significant portion of the grain might not even reach the capital but, deceived, it’s moved elsewhere."
"If I’m not mistaken, this portion of grain is still in their hands!"
In the past, he wouldn’t have been able to, nor dared to, investigate a case like this.
Investigating it would only send his own head to the chopping block, while the pack of wolves wouldn’t lose a single strand of hair.
But now...
They’ve overturned the table, and he, Shen Fa, was still supposed to follow their rules?
If it’s to be death, let it be death for all!
And Zhao Hong, listening to his report, was initially uncontrollable with anger, wishing he could immediately call those corrupt officials back, confiscate their properties, and execute them completely to quench his fury!
But as he listened further, his anger slightly abated; he slowly narrowed his eyes, wearing a smirk, nonchalantly said, "I understand now, that grain they’re using as capital for playing this game against me, aren’t they? Should I feel flattered that they value me so highly, having started their plans one or two years in advance, just waiting for me?"
In his mind, he even visualized the scene: those wolves, who had just fawned over him in fear, were behind his back laughing, embracing beautiful women, indulging in exotic delicacies, and joking about how long it would take for Zhao Hong to bow down.
Shen Fa dared not answer, only feeling that Zhao Hong’s slightly squinted, smirk-like cold demeanor seemed somewhat familiar...