The embezzled money came from nothing more than military pay, disaster relief funds, and construction project funds. Let's start with military pay. The Dayan Dynasty's practice of underreporting and falsifying troop numbers was the same as other dynasties—it was an old tradition!
It was common for superiors to drink the blood of their soldiers, and there were also cases of embezzling supplies; there were many ways to make money. Let's not talk about the corruption in the Dayan Dynasty's army for now.
We're talking about how these people in the imperial court embezzled military funds.
Upon hearing this, Minister of War Huo Ying and Wei Shouyi, along with other military officers, silently wiped the cold sweat from their brows, having temporarily escaped a calamity.
Although it was bound to come out sooner or later, they were driven by wishful thinking, always hoping to delay it as long as possible.
But the people in the Ministry of Revenue began to feel uneasy; this was a trap set for them!
"Isn't this the same thing?"
It's not entirely the same thing. The army's corruption refers to the embezzlement of the portion they received, which is the silver allocated by the imperial court.
But master, do you think that whatever the court allocates, they can take just as much?
The emperor allocated 500,000 taels of silver, but they only received 300,000 taels, or even less. Where did all the money go?
Of course, they'll "lose" money along the way. Once the money arrives at its destination, that's all that's left. Take it or leave it. Do you think those military thugs would dare offend the "God of Wealth"?
Or, to put it another way, do you think Huo Ying dares to offend Dong Qianli, the Minister of Revenue?
Huo Ying: My Lord, what you say is true, but don't I, Huo Ying, a man of nine feet tall, have any pride?
Wei Shouyi and his fellow generals said: "My lord, if His Majesty can understand our predicament, what does it matter if you lose face?"
Huo Ying: You little brats, it's not that you're losing face, of course you're saying that!
Dong Qianli: I knew it, I knew it! In this round, the Divine Artifact was after me!
Yue Fuguang glanced at the two of them. She had seen Huo Ying's sword once before, and it was almost as tall as Dong Qianli's. Even Huo Ying had to give way to Dong Qianli.
The title "God of Wealth" isn't just for show; even the other ministers have to smile at him on the surface.
"Did Dong Qianli embezzle the money? He's the money bag for Dayan, so he's the prime suspect, right?"
Dong Qianli: Little Immortal Lord, don't slander someone's innocence! How can you call it stealing when it's just a matter of loss or damage!
Well, sometimes the losses are indeed too great, but he alone can't change this kind of extortion and bribery!
He wasn't innocent, but that wasn't the biggest part of what he embezzled. He only got a small share, a few tens of thousands of taels, the price of a set of glass teaware.
Most of the people in this court are like that; they're nothing special!
Dong Qianli was so moved that tears almost came to his eyes. "My Lord Artifact, you're such a kind person!"
This money is like a piece of fatty meat; everyone who handles it gets a piece of it, since everyone who sees it gets a share!
Some people, like Dong Qianli, would skim off the top, while others would cut off a piece of the fat and pocket it.
Emperor Mingxi: Not only Little Immortal Lord, but even the Divine Artifact Master should read some books! Is this how "everyone who sees it gets a share" is used?
That's all my money, my money!
The amounts allocated for disaster relief and construction projects are roughly the same. Leaving aside the disaster relief efforts, this year's snowstorm alone will enrich a group of corrupt officials.
Disaster relief funds? They're experts at this; it's not like they've done it once, twice, three, four, five, or six times already. They embezzle every year for disaster relief, making it easy for them to become as rich as Emperor Mingxi.
Not only has Emperor Mingxi been repeatedly dragged out and whipped, but he has also inexplicably become a unit of measurement: This is really enough!
Although they were skilled in their work, the number of people affected by this year's snow disaster exceeded their expectations. These people ate too much and almost got into trouble.
As a result, many people froze and starved to death, sparking a popular uprising and tolling the first toll on the death knell for the Dayan Dynasty!
Emperor Mingxi and his court officials were deeply shocked. Had the seeds of national ruin been sown so early?
They...they thought it would be in the next few years, when their...their emperor would get old and senile, but they never imagined it would start this year!
If he weren't so careful, he would have grabbed that giant rat and chopped him up right now!
"They almost messed up, but they didn't. Didn't the emperor investigate? How big of a popular uprising could it start shaking the very foundations of the country?"
Emperor Mingxi continued to perform normally, and after the peasant uprising, he purged and investigated corrupt officials. Those people abandoned their pawns to save the king, and put forward a few scapegoats to be executed.
He actually did exactly what was on the list they had given him and swiftly made his cuts.
Emperor Mingxi was very dissatisfied. What did he mean by "performing normally"? Don't think he couldn't understand that this was a sarcastic remark about his incompetence!
As for those who sounded the death knell, the civil uprising affected hundreds of thousands of people, causing countless deaths and injuries, but the biggest problem was that there were two people involved in this civil uprising.
After the uprising, the two men successfully escaped and each raised a force, establishing themselves in Liangzhou and Yizhou respectively.
In the early stages, they fought against the Dayan Dynasty for survival. Later, when the Dayan Kingdom was destroyed, they became two isolated armies fighting against foreign tribes to protect the last bit of territory of the Dayan Dynasty.
These people... until their deaths, only recognized themselves as people of Dayan, the last subjects of the dynasty that had once betrayed them.
They were not the Northern Li people, the Western Qiang people, nor the Liang people or the Wei people.
Oh, Liang and Wei were both short-lived dynasties established later, and they were two separatist regimes located near Liangzhou and Yizhou.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Mingxi felt a complex mix of emotions, never expecting that the last 'Dayan people' would be such a group.
Yue Fuguang felt a mix of emotions. Her knowledge and skills from her previous life gave her a greater sense of respect for these people than for others.
This can be considered a kind of martyrdom in another sense!
"So how are these people doing now?"
Emperor Mingxi quickly gave Huo Ying a wink. He was determined to find these people before they rebelled. They were all talented individuals who should serve the court instead of starting a rebellion.
He wanted to "nationalize" these people before they made any serious mistakes.
Xiao Ping is currently a clerk in Pingyang County, which is under the jurisdiction of Changping Prefecture in Liangzhou. He is at least a minor official. The reason why he participated in the peasant uprising and became a leader was purely due to the circumstances.
Their county magistrate, Cao Qingming, was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) with no background or connections. He spent more than a decade in the most remote county of Liangzhou Prefecture.
Although this magistrate of Cao County was of mediocre ability, he knew his shortcomings, so during his years in Pingyang County, he never gave orders that he didn't understand.
He boldly delegated authority to his capable subordinates, and was willing to use them as long as they could govern Pingyang County well.
Therefore, although Xiao Ping is young, he is very capable, and Cao Qingming trusts him very much.
During the snow disaster, eight-tenths of the imperial funds were allocated to Pingyang County. The starving people trusted the county magistrate to a certain extent because he had never exploited them in the past.
However, some people were unhappy that the starving people didn't cause any trouble. They infiltrated the starving people with their own people, not only sowing discord but also spreading rumors that the county magistrate and his officials had embezzled all the grain.
The disaster victims, who were initially skeptical, eventually had no choice but to believe as relief supplies dwindled. In the end, those people led the charge in storming the county government office, and some of them took the opportunity to kill the county magistrate and a number of officials while mixed in with the rioters.
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