Chapter 386
Chapter 386: Fan Jian’s Sword
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The investigation of the Ministry of Revenue continued . With the expansion of the battle lines and an increase in the number of people invested from each department, they finally found some traces they could use .
The investigating unit finally felt at ease . They figured that no matter how many problems this loose thread could pull out, as long as they had a good start, then they would have broken through the flawless image of the Ministry of Revenue under Minister Fan .
The first problem found was in the money for winter jackets sent to Cangzhou in the fourth year of the Qing calendar . The amount was not very big . However, following this thread, it was like rolling a snowball . The shortfall that the Ministry of Revenue elders had hidden behind layers and layers became bigger and bigger . Gradually it lay exposed in front of the shocked eyes of the investigating officials .
The Crown Prince and the Minister of Administration, Yan Hangshu, were overjoyed . They completely ignored Hu the Scholar's requests to be careful and ordered their subordinate officials to dig deeper . From the county to the capital, they dug up this complicated line from the very roots . Gradually, the evidence they held in their hands closed in on Jingdou, which was to say, it closed in on the high-level officials in the Ministry of Revenue who could truly sign off on these things .
The left and right assistant ministers who had been responsible for aiding the investigation in the Ministry of Revenue also began to feel alarmed and scared . This winter jacket account had originally had a plan, and they had once checked this project . They could never have expected that behind the mere hundred thousand liang for winter jackets, so many things could be pulled out .
No matter whether it was the court or merchants who did creative accounting, the most common method was to take a big shortfall and break it into countless trivial fragments, then scatter them among giant projects like salt in a snowstorm and water in a flood, to disappear without a trace .
No one had expected that the burden scattered out from the winter jackets had not been spread properly . On the contrary, it had given the game away .
The left and right assistant ministers waited in the Ministry of Revenue yamen for a whole night with ashen faces . When they left their posts that day, they decided that regardless of the comments, they had to go to the manor of the Minister to ask for some ideas . Unfortunately, the Crown Prince coldly sent orders that before this matter was cleared up, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were not to leave without permission . At the same time, he had the Overwatch Council and a few trusted aides keep an eye on the two assistant ministers .
Ever since Fan Jian had entered official service, he had always worked in the Ministry of Revenue . Regardless of how the name of the Ministry of Revenue changed before and after the new policies, and no matter how the people and situation changed in the court, he had started as a lowly zhan . Nine years ago, he was already the left assistant minister . At that time, the Minister of Revenue was old and sick at home . The Emperor greatly favored Fan Jian but also did not want to bypass ranks in his promotion . So, he had forced that old and sick Minister of Revenue to remain in his post and did not allow other powers to place people in . From then, he made it possible for Fan Jian to lead the entire Ministry of Revenue from the position of assistant minister .
Time flashed, and nine years had already passed . In those years, the Qing Emperor had favored the Fan manor heavily, and Fan Jian had also used those years to make the entire Ministry of Revenue into an interest group like one solid piece of metal . A very quiet and inconspicuous interest group .
When the Ministry of Revenue investigation started, all the officials in the Ministry of Revenue looked up to watch their minister . They knew that as long as he did not fall, nothing much would happen to them . But today, the Ministry of Revenue seemed to have sunk into danger, and the left assistant minister was unable to enter the Fan manor . For the moment, the Ministry of Revenue officials felt fear and great unease .
…
…
The left assistant minister could not come, but Fan Jian had run the Ministry of Revenue for a long time . He knew everything there was to know about the tense situation of the past two days . That very night he knew the Crown Prince and officials investigating had already found a fatal weapon in the Ministry of Revenue—the winter jackets of the northern soldiers .
"This won't be able to move me . " Fan Jian sat in his study drinking winter cherry . He narrowed his eyes and said, "No matter who goes to Cangzhou to inspect it, the jackets on those soldiers' bodies are all of superior quality . No matter how bad I am, I would not make an issue on the bitter cold of Northern soldiers . "
Today, he was not talking to a picture . The person sitting across from him was alive, a protégé of the Fan manor who had always received Fan Jian's deep appreciation: Sir Zheng Tuo .
When Fan Xian punched the official in Jingdou, the person handling the matter was Sir Zheng Tuo . He was also a veteran official of the Ministry of Revenue . Since he handled matters well, Fan Jian decided to have him leave the Ministry of Revenue and had him use the particularly useful identity as a protégé to work for him .
Zheng Tuo thought for a bit and frowned . "Those winter jackets from that year, not only were they not of inferior quality, on the contrary, even their workmanship was done very carefully . We were very particular about the material . The cotton filling came from the palace treasury workshops, and the cotton cloth used was first-rate productions from the palace treasury . Some of the other accessories had broken the roles and used goods from Dongyi . They can't say much about you on this point…but…"
He began to speak and then stopped .
Fan Jian smiled and said, "You've been with me all these years, so you should know that I do things carefully . However, when analyzing the situation, I'm not afraid to think of the worst possible angle . "
Zheng Tuo gave a pained smile and said, "However, because the material used for that batch of winter jackets was very good, when the Ministry of Revenue discussed the price, it was set slightly higher . The money taken from the national treasury…seems to have been a bit too much . "
"Speak more straightforwardly . "
"Yes, master," Zheng Tuo said . "The Ministry of Revenue took a lot of silver from that batch of winter jackets, and later it was used to fill in other areas . "
"Correct . " Fan Jian spoke without expression . "A lot of silver was indeed taken from this batch of winter jackets . That was because that month's official salaries almost couldn't be paid . The Emperor did not know of this situation, and I couldn't bear to have this matter bother the Emperor . At that time, the silver sent from the palace treasury had not arrived, and we also had to prepare the rewards for the second year of the western expedition army . The Ministry had no other choice other than to take some money from this batch of winter jackets . "
He waved his hand and smiled . "However, this amount of silver was not very big; it didn't manage to fill all the other places . "
"Yes," Zheng Tuo's face was full of worry as he spoke . "The winter jackets is just one thing . This time the court is investigating the Ministry of Revenue . They'll only find more and more things like this as they look . If all these incidences of moving silver to fill in deficits are gathered in Jingdou, I'm afraid…they'll eventually point to the batch of silver the Ministry moved last to Jiangnan . "
Fan Jian sighed and shook his head . "It can't be helped . In reality, the silver moved to Jiangnan this time was mostly for the matter of the palace treasury opening bid . This actually has little to do with An Zhi . I am the Minister of Revenue, so I also want the palace treasury's income to be a bit better . If the court doesn't use money to challenge the Ming family, how would the Ming family be willing to pay so much silver?"
He lowered his head and said quietly, "Actually, at the very beginning of this batch of silver being moved, I had gone to the Palace and told the Emperor .
The study was deathly silent . Zhang Tuo was shocked and speechless . He couldn't talk for a moment . The excuse for investigating the Ministry of Revenue was because the Ministry of Revenue had secretly moved national finds to Jiangnan to make a profit . The movement of this large cache of silver was actually known by the Palace .
Fan Jian very determinedly shook his head . "His Majesty has his own difficulties…if it gets out that the court brought calamity to the wealthy merchant family, the Ming family, the court's reputation would be too ugly . However, everyone in the court is now guessing about that matter . The Emperor had to, however unwillingly, investigate a bit . "
He sighed and said, "Since it is so, how can we make it public?"
"Then what do we do?" Zheng Tuo said, appalled . The meaning of his words were clear . Since it was the Emperor who had directed the matter, was this only to settle the discussions force Minister Fan to be the scapegoat?
Fan Jian said calmly, "As an official, of course, I have to help the Emperor with his worries and concerns . The Ministry of Revenue's move in transferring the silver was too big this time . Eventually, it could not be hidden . If, in the end, the Ministry is still found guilty, I'll have no choice but to stand before the Emperor and resolve this matter . "
The methods with which the court used to defeat the Ming family were very dishonorable, furthermore, behind the Ming family were countless court officials who acted as their supporters . For the sake of the stability of the Qing court, the specifics of these kinds of methods and the Emperor's implicit consent could not be announced to the court .
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