Neither Jing'an Hou nor Wang Changming expressed any opinions, so Hong Jinhai had to make the decision and said, "Then let's go back to Beijing first and report the current situation to the emperor."
The others had no objection, and the group immediately set off for the capital.
A few days later, in the capital, in the imperial palace.
Emperor Yongxing looked through the information recorded by Hong Jinhai and the other two during this period, his face gloomy.
Hong Jinhai reported from below: "Your Majesty, according to the visits of the three of us during this period, some places have issued pension silver every year, but the amount is wrong.
Some only received 50% of what should have been paid out, and some only 30%.
In some places, it is only issued once every one or two years, and the numbers vary greatly.
In some places, some people received it and some did not.
Also, some people on the Ministry of War’s list did not exist at all.
There are also cases where the person is already dead, but the list is still there..."
Emperor Yongxing tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart. He still thought that under his rule, the country was peaceful and the people were well-fed and well-clothed.
All officials in the court and across the country performed their duties conscientiously and served the emperor.
It turns out that everything is an illusion...
Everyone is fooling him...
This is just the pension for disabled veterans, what about other places? Is it the same?
Emperor Yongxing was silent for a long time, then he spoke slowly, his voice cold: "I have treated my ministers well, granted them high positions and generous salaries, and I thought they would be grateful, share my worries, and work for the welfare of the people..."
Emperor Yongxing's voice suddenly rose, "Is this how they share my worries and seek welfare for the people?"
Everyone in the imperial study knelt down and shouted in unison, "Your Majesty, calm down..."
"Calm down? How can you ask me to calm down?"
Emperor Yongxing's chest rose and fell sharply, but he quickly suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "Go and call Lord Wang, Duke Wei, Prime Minister Qin, Minister Wu, and Minister Yan."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The head eunuch immediately went outside the imperial study and asked the younger eunuch to pass someone over, "Hurry up, there is no time to waste. No matter what the masters are busy with, ask them to come over immediately."
"Yes." The young eunuch quickly responded and went downstairs to pass the message.
All the people who were summoned arrived in less than half a quarter of an hour, and when they entered the imperial study, they were all breathing heavily.
As soon as they entered the imperial study, they saw that Emperor Yongxing looked very bad. They all knelt down, held their breath, and dared not make a sound.
Among the people who came later, only Lord Wang and Minister Wu knew what was going on, but they didn't say anything.
Emperor Yongxing looked at the people below.
Except for Lord Wang, Marquis Jing'an and Duke Wei, the rest were promoted by him personally and were his most trusted ministers in the court.
Emperor Yongxing pointed to the information collected by Hong Jinhai and others on the dragon case and said, "My dear ministers, please take a look at this."
Afterwards, he asked Hong Jinhai to give a brief account of what they had found out to the people who came later.
After the others had finished watching and listening, Duke Wei was the first to get angry. "Damn it, these bastards, if I find out who did this, I will kill them myself..."
Emperor Yongxing had a dark face.
The other ministers seemed not to have heard anyone swearing in front of the emperor.
Who says Duke Wei is the father-in-law of Emperor Yongxing?
Duke Wei is the father of Concubine Ye, the favorite concubine of Emperor Yongxing, and also the biological father of Ye Hongyun.
Duke Wei raised his voice again: "Damn it, why are these people greedy for so much money? Are they planning to rebel?
Your Majesty, if you send me a message, I will lead the troops to quell the rebellion immediately."
Emperor Yongxing regretted calling Duke Wei.
But when Prime Minister Qin Bingrong heard what Duke Wei said, he began to think deeply.
Qin Bingrong then said, "Your Majesty, Duke Wei's words may not be unreasonable."
Everyone looked at Qin Bingrong.
Emperor Yongxing narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?"
Qin Bingrong said: "Your Majesty, according to the current accounts, more than one million taels of silver are allocated each year, but how much can actually be distributed to various places? It is estimated that it will be reduced by half.
How much money would this cost over a period of more than ten years?
This is just one type of payment, namely pension. What if the same is true for other grants?
How much silver does that add up to?
With so much money, would an average person dare to be so greedy?"
Qin Bingrong continued, "The disaster relief funds allocated every year also include funds for water conservancy construction in various places, such as building dams, dredging rivers, repairing water diversion channels, etc.
The imperial court allocates several million taels of silver every year. Has all of this money been put to good use?
If, I mean if, if it was also misappropriated or transferred, the imperial court would lose nearly two million taels of silver that year.
If this money is used to support the army...how many soldiers can be supported?"
Duke Wei immediately responded, "We have nearly 100,000 infantry, and 10,000 to 20,000 cavalry..."
When everyone heard this number, their hair stood on end.
There was a dangerous gleam in the eyes of Lord Wang and Lord Jing'an.
Emperor Yongxing looked straight at Qin Bingrong, who cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, this is just my assumption. I am used to thinking of the worst, so..."
Emperor Yongxing said: "If you don't think about the future, you will have worries in the near future. Qin Aiqing's assumption is not groundless."
Emperor Yongxing closed his eyes and pondered for a while, then asked: "Qin Aiqing, what do you think the probability of this happening is?"
Qin Bingrong replied: "Based on the current confidence, about 50%.
The main reason is that the amount of silver is huge and the time is too long.
If corruption only occurs occasionally, it can be said that someone is greedy and blinded by money.
But it's hard to say it wasn't premeditated after more than a decade of contact."
The expressions of the others became extremely serious.
It is true, there are corrupt officials. There are corrupt officials at all times, but they are only individuals.
The current situation is indeed too abnormal.
Emperor Yongxing then asked: "Then, my dear ministers, who do you think has this possibility?"
No one dared to answer this.
Qin Bingrong said: "Your Majesty, the most urgent task now is to find out where the silver has gone.
Or should we wait until we have clarified the matter before making any conclusion? What if I am just worrying too much?"
Emperor Yongxing nodded, "Then my dear ministers, what should we do next?"
Everyone looked at the Minister of Justice Yan Xiongxin again.
Solving this case is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice, so of course the Minister of Justice has to have the say.
Yan Xiongxin complained bitterly, how should this be investigated? Where should he start?
If it is true as Qin Bingrong said, the other party will definitely shrink back at the slightest sign of trouble.
At most, they will push some small fish and shrimp out to take the blame.
The worst thing is that if you alert the enemy, you might end up forcing them into a corner, and that would cause a big mess.
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