Chapter 75 Your Majesty misses him.
The funeral for Old Mrs. Lin finally ended in an indescribable atmosphere.
It is indeed sad, after all, the old man has passed away.
But to say they were completely immersed in grief, the shocking scenes of the imperial edict arriving, the imperial envoy's guards standing at the door, and the county magistrate being thrown into prison were too overwhelming, leaving the Lin family and the entire town in a daze of "Who am I? Where am I? My home/Our town has produced an extraordinary person."
Lin Yan's knees were almost numb from kneeling. He finally managed to get through all the ceremonies and send his great-grandmother's coffin into the Lin family ancestral grave. The first thing he did after returning to the old house was not to rest, but to rub his sore waist and legs and stare intently at Chen Boyuan, who was being closely guarded by Jin Jiu and his men.
"Has my cousin Lin Cong arrived yet?" Lin Yan asked Jin Jiu, who was standing beside him.
"They are already waiting in the side hall," Jin Jiu said succinctly.
Lin Yan nodded, and walked towards the side hall with a limp but also with a "troublemaking" air about him.
In the side hall sat a young man who looked somewhat thin but had exceptionally clear eyes. He was Lin Cong, Lin Yan's cousin who could spot discrepancies in the accounts at a glance when distributing supplies.
When Lin Cong saw Lin Yan enter, he quickly stood up, appearing somewhat reserved: "Brother Yan... uh, Lord Lin."
"We're family, there are no outsiders here, just call me Brother Yan." Lin Yan waved his hand, plopped down opposite him, and got straight to the point, "Brother Cong, I've troubled you to come here this time because I need your help with something important."
Lin Cong wasn't stupid: "Is it because of Chen Boyuan's case?"
“That’s right.” Lin Yan sneered. “That guy dared to embezzle most of the disaster relief funds. I don’t believe last year was the first time he’d taken such a thing. Now that he’s done it, we’ll investigate him thoroughly.”
Lin Cong's eyes lit up the moment he heard that the accounts needed to be checked, as if someone who hadn't eaten for three days was seeing a Manchu Han Imperial Feast: "Where are the account books?"
Lin Yan liked his spirited demeanor: "I've almost emptied the state government's warehouses! Since Chen Boyuan took office in Luozhou, all the money and tax records, as well as the project allocation records, are piled up there."
He led Lin Cong to a large warehouse that had been temporarily requisitioned. The moment he pushed open the door, dust flew up, and Lin Yan was choked and sneezed several times.
Inside, there were baskets and stacks of various booklets, some made of bamboo slips and others of paper, in varying conditions, piled up like small mountains. Several temporarily transferred clerks were staring blankly at the mess of labels with worried expressions.
Lin Yan pointed to this "ocean of knowledge" and "graveyard of corruption," and said to Lin Cong, "Look! This is all yours!"
Lin Cong was not frightened at all. Instead, his face lit up with an almost pious light, as if an artist had seen a peerless gem. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Leave it to me. In ten days at most, I will find out what color his underwear is!"
Lin Yan: "..." It's not that serious. I'm not interested in what color Chen Boyuan's underwear is, and Xiao Che won't be either.
Lin Yan provided Lin Cong with the accountant he had specifically requested, and then handed over the pile of account books to Lin Cong.
Lin Cong plunged into the pile of account books and quickly formulated an audit plan: to check the tax accounts of the prefecture and county, compare them with the Yellow Register and Fish Scale Register archived by the Ministry of Revenue, and focus on investigating the additional tax on fire loss, false reporting of disaster relief for tax reduction, and concealment of income...
He was like a ruthless accounting machine, his fingers flying across the abacus, muttering to himself, occasionally uttering phrases like "This is not right" or "The difference is three hundred taels."
Lin Yan nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. Leave professional matters to professionals."
He himself was not idle either. He led the imperial guards assigned to him by Xiao Che and marched in a grand manner toward the official granaries and silver treasuries of Luozhou.
The minor official guarding the warehouse was so frightened that his legs went weak and he could barely hold the key.
"Open the door! The imperial envoy is handling a case and taking inventory!" Jin Jiu's voice was menacing, as if he were threatening someone.
As soon as the warehouse door opened, a pungent smell of stale rice mixed with mold wafted out.
Lin Yan covered his nose and walked in. He saw that the grain inside was piled up quite full, but when he grabbed a handful of rice, his brows furrowed: "This rice is dark in color and the grains are not plump. Is it inferior quality being passed off as superior?"
The guard captain was an honest man; he simply punctured a sack, and more grains of rice of poor quality flowed out.
"Write it down." Lin Yan said expressionlessly.
Next, the silver vault was inventoried.
The books show that there are 50,000 taels of silver in stock.
But when they opened the silver box, there was indeed plenty of silver, but when they weighed it, it was a full eight thousand taels short!
The warehouse official knelt down with a thud, cold sweat pouring down his face: "My lord, my lord, please see the truth! This, this might be... the scales are broken..."
Lin Yan laughed in anger: "A shortfall is a shortfall, a deficit is a deficit, seal it up! Take all the accounts with you!"
While he was conducting an on-site inventory, Lin Cong and his accounting team were frantically producing data, with the two sides constantly comparing their information.
“Brother Cong, the Xicang account shows that there should be 1,000 shi of new rice, but there are only 600 shi of old rice in reality.”
"I checked their records and found that they reported a loss of 200 shi (a unit of dry measure) of rats in March. Are these rats some kind of supernatural beings?"
"The actual amount in the treasury is eight thousand taels less than the amount recorded in the books."
“That matches up. I was wondering about the expenditure of 10,000 taels for the renovation of the government office at the end of last year, but the project records were vague. It seems that the money was misappropriated under a pretext.”
The more Lin Yan investigated, the angrier he became. Good heavens, Chen Boyuan's greed was utterly devoid of any skill; taking advantage of the fact that the emperor was far away, he did whatever he pleased.
Moreover, Luozhou is not exactly a remote and inaccessible region.
While Lin Yan was busy with work, his father Lin Chengji was not idle either.
Lin Yan didn't hold back and assigned his father, a seasoned veteran of the Ministry of Works, to the task: "Father, you're very experienced. Help me out by checking if there have been any water conservancy, city defense, or government office construction projects in Luozhou in recent years. See if there's any shady business in the accounts, such as overstating costs, cutting corners, or embezzlement. You'll be able to spot it all in one look."
Lin Chengji was still grieving the passing of his grandmother when his son conscripted him. Upon hearing that the investigation was about corruption in construction projects, his professional instincts as a Ministry of Works official were instantly activated.
"Leave it to Dad." Lin Chengji rolled up his sleeves and joined the battle, studying the engineering drawings and procurement lists.
"The stones used in this dam are of the wrong grade, but the price quoted is that of top-grade stone."
"The amount of fir wood purchased is enough to rebuild half of the county government office. Where did the wood go? Did it fly away?"
For a time, the entire officialdom of Luozhou was in a state of panic.
The news that Magistrate Chen Boyuan had been arrested and investigated by Imperial Commissioner Lin Yan spread like wildfire throughout the streets and alleys of Luozhou.
The people clapped and cheered, spreading the news far and wide: "The corrupt official has been arrested!"
"Serves him right! He withheld our relief food!"
"I've heard that Lord Lin is quite young, and he's a high-ranking official from the capital! He was sent by His Majesty!"
"You don't know this, do you? Lord Lin is from Luozhou!"
The officials in the Luozhou government office who were close to Chen Boyuan or had some connection with him were all terrified, unable to eat or sleep, fearing that the imperial envoy's guards would kick down their doors at any moment.
Lin Yan only ordered the imperial guards to keep an eye on these people, and didn't have time to investigate them one by one. However, he thoroughly investigated Chen Boyuan, and those who should be caught would not escape.
He is very busy, really busy.
During the day, Lin Yan was either taking inventory in the warehouse, reviewing the latest audit reports sent by Lin Cong and his team, or listening to his father analyze which project had been exposed and exploited.
In the evening, he also had to write a work report and send it to Xiao Che through the Golden Shadow Guard's fast track.
It is necessary to ensure that His Majesty the Emperor has real-time control over the situation in Luozhou.
[Your Majesty, I have also discovered that Chen Boyuan falsely reported reductions in silkworm tax, embezzling 1,500 taels of silver. The evidence is conclusive.]
[Your Majesty, the rats in the official granary of Luozhou may really be sentient; their annual loss rate is significantly higher than that of the neighboring county.]
[Your Majesty, my father is still as sharp as ever! He spotted the wrong material for the bridge in the south of the city at a glance, saving at least three thousand taels in material and labor costs. That bastard Chen Boyuan is really greedy!]
Xiao Che looked at these daily secret reports that arrived on time, feeling both amused and annoyed.
What's infuriating is the lawlessness of the officials below, while what's amusing is that Lin Yan seems to be thoroughly enjoying his investigation.
Has Chen Boyuan lost his mind? He's so careless with the accounting; does he think no one will investigate?
[Tsk tsk, this excuse is worse than what a storyteller would come up with.]
[Ugh, so many ledgers! My eyes are going to go blind! Your Majesty, my eyes are so tired!]
Xiao Che carefully organized and put away all the secret reports sent back by Lin Yan, pondering in his heart what reward he should give Lin Yan for his meritorious service this time.
If they still give us something, it always feels like it's not enough.
He wanted to promote Lin Yan to a higher rank, from a fifth-rank Hanlin Academician.
The investigation was in full swing. Lin Cong, a true mathematical genius, led his accounting team in a day-and-night battle, uncovering Chen Boyuan's entire secrets.
Embezzling disaster relief funds is just the tip of the iceberg. Various methods have emerged, such as imposing additional fire loss taxes, concealing land income, reselling grain stored in official granaries, and falsely reporting project expenses. The amount of money involved is frighteningly large.
As the evidence piled up, Lin Yan looked at the final compiled data and felt shocked.
He finally understood where Huanhuan's saying "A clean county magistrate for three years can amass 100,000 taels of silver" came from. If you want to embezzle, there are indeed many ways to do so.
...
When Lin Cong found Lin Yan carrying a thick summary booklet filled with densely packed numbers, his steps were unsteady, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.
"Brother Yan, I've calculated it! I've figured it out!" Lin Cong's voice was hoarse from excessive excitement and lack of sleep. "It's all here! From the time Chen Boyuan took office in Luozhou County until now, five years, seven months, and three days, he has embezzled a total of various silver and material goods equivalent to silver..."
He took a deep breath and announced a number: "Eighty-nine thousand six hundred and forty-two taels and seven mace!"
Lin Yan was drinking water when he heard this and spat it out.
"How much?!" He snatched the booklet and quickly flipped through it.
Good heavens! That's really good heavens!
Is Chen Boyuan some kind of glutton? He can devour so much!
In the secret report Lin Yan wrote to Xiao Che that day, he devoted a very long section to complaining.
[Your Majesty! Over 89,000 taels! A full 89,000 taels! Has Chen Boyuan been treating Luozhou like his own personal bank?!]
How dare he do that! That's enough to buy so many cows! Enough to build so many roads!
[I'm so angry! Now I think every dog I see on the street is being skimped on its food by Chen Boyuan!]
After writing the secret report, Lin Yan then formally wrote the case's closing report.
He meticulously listed all of Chen Boyuan's crimes: embezzling disaster relief funds, imposing additional taxes, falsely reporting tax reductions, reselling official grain, corruption in engineering projects... Each item was accompanied by solid evidence and the amount involved, presented in a clear and organized manner with substantial data.
After finishing writing, Lin Yan blew the ink dry, then sealed the weighty memorial and the thick ledger together and handed them to the captain of the guard.
"Six hundred li urgent dispatch, delivered directly to the Emperor."
Over the next few days, Lin Yan continued to stabilize the situation in Luozhou, urging the county magistrate to temporarily assume government duties, while awaiting the final decision from the capital.
I wonder how His Majesty will judge Chen Boyuan.
February 15th passed in the blink of an eye, and the imperial edict from the capital arrived.
This time the procession was even larger than the last. The messenger was a palace eunuch in a scarlet robe, slightly younger than Li Defu. Lin Yan had never seen him before. He had a solemn expression and was followed by officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, as well as a squad of menacing imperial guards.
"By the grace of Heaven, the imperial edict reads: Chen Boyuan, the magistrate of Luozhou County, is guilty of corruption, perverting the law, harming the country and its people. His crimes are irrefutable, and his misdeeds are numerous. He is hereby stripped of all his titles and official positions, sentenced to immediate execution, his entire family property confiscated, and his three clans exiled three thousand li away, with no possibility of pardon. All other officials involved in the case shall be severely punished according to the law by Imperial Envoy Lin Yan, together with officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, without leniency. The confiscated silver, as Lin Yan has proposed, shall be used first to make up for the deficit in Luozhou and to provide relief to the victimized people. This is the imperial decree—"
Lin Yan felt a great weight lifted from his heart and shouted, "Your Majesty is wise! Long live the Emperor!"
The verdict was even harsher than he had imagined, showing that His Majesty was truly enraged.
Officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review stepped forward to take over from Lin Yan and began busily handling the follow-up matters: verifying the crimes of other officials involved in the case, and taking inventory of the confiscated property...
Seeing the corrupt officials who had once acted arrogantly and domineeringly receive their just deserts, and seeing the confiscated gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, and paintings carried out of the Chen residence box by box, the people of Luozhou clapped and cheered, shouting "Upright and just official!" and "Long live the Emperor!"
Lin Yan stood at the entrance of the county government office, looking at everything before him, and let out a long sigh of relief.
The fatigue from the past few days seems to have lessened considerably.
Although the process was exhausting, the result was very satisfying.
It feels really good to rid the people of a scourge.
Now that this matter is settled, the family should return to the capital. It's been more than a month since they left the capital.
Your Majesty, I miss him.
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