Chapter 135: The Little Matter of Stealing the National Treasury
After Yan Shixu finished explaining King Wu's life-saving grace to the mother and son of the Wen family, King Wu was still a little confused.
So many years have passed, who can still remember something that happened so long ago?
The Wen family really values friendship and loyalty.
Chen Mu, who was standing by, thought for a moment and remembered that this was indeed the case.
"Your Highness, when the plague rioted in the south, you were ordered to go south to quell the rebellion. When you passed through Luohe Town in Mizhou, you happened to encounter a mother and her two children who were cornered by bandits."
"You fired five arrows at once, killing the five bandits instantly. Then you ordered your subordinates to send the mother and her two children back home, and you yourself left with your army. It took me two days to catch up with you..."
King Wu raised an eyebrow. "Five arrows fired simultaneously, killing him instantly? Was I really that awesome back then?"
Chen Mu didn't want to talk.
King Wu seemed to have recalled something and asked Yan Shixu, "Whose family did you say those three mother and son belong to?"
During the banquet, he replied, "The Minister of Revenue, Wen Tingkuan."
King Wu suddenly realized, "No wonder a few days ago, whenever I opposed the decisions of that bastard Prince Yu, there was always someone named Wen who came out to agree with me. So it was him."
Although Yan Shixu did not attend the morning court these days, he was well aware of everything that happened during the morning court.
He nodded: "That's him."
King Wu's eyes lit up.
He pulled Chen Mu to the corner, a little excited.
"Since I saved his wife, daughter, and son, wouldn't it be unreasonable for me to ask him to help me steal tens or even hundreds of thousands of taels of gold from the national treasury?"
The corners of Chen Mu's mouth twitched wildly. Gold?
He hurriedly suppressed King Wu's fantasy in time.
"Your Highness, you caused such a big commotion last time you stole from the national treasury. The Ministry of Revenue is now watching you like a thief."
Worried that he couldn't persuade anyone, he continued to increase his intensity.
"Think about it again. Although Wen Tingkuan is the Minister of Revenue, he can't just take the money from the national treasury."
"Every expenditure must be verified by the Ministry of Revenue, recorded by the Imperial Household Department, and monitored by the Censorate..."
"If there's even the slightest misstep, the imperial desk will be piled high with impeachment memorials the next day."
King Wu stroked his chin, his eyes rolling. "What if... instead of using the national treasury, we take some other approach?"
Chen Mu's face was full of vigilance: "What method?"
King Wu chuckled. "Isn't Wen Tingkuan in charge of household registration and taxes? Ask him to tinker with my accounts. For example... reduce Youzhou's tax by a few hundred thousand taels this year, and I'll make up the rest myself. Wouldn't that be like taking money from the national treasury in disguise?"
Chen Mu: "..."
He took a deep breath and pounced on his fantasy again: "Your Highness, what you're doing is equivalent to having Minister Wen falsify the Ministry of Revenue's general ledger. If discovered, the consequences could be exile at best, or even execution of the entire family..."
King Wu was anxious. "How could such a small matter as stealing from the national treasury have such serious consequences? What should we do? Before I came to the capital, I promised all the soldiers that I would improve their food after returning to Youzhou. Now that I can't get the silver, where will I put my face?"
Chen Mu thought for a moment and replied seriously, "It's not a big deal. Your Highness, this is not the first time you've issued a short position."
King Wu's face flushed, and he stiffened his neck and said angrily, "Bullshit! When did I ever write a short position?!"
Chen Mu reminded him quietly, "At the end of last year, you promised to give each of the soldiers in the northern border ten taels of silver as a reward. In the end, you only managed to come up with thirty thousand taels out of your own pocket, and in the end, each person got one penny of silver..."
"Two years ago, you said that after we defeated the North Sea pirates, each of us would be rewarded with a piece of Shu brocade. But in the end, all we got was a torn fishing net taken from a pirate ship..."
"Two years ago, you said that within three years, you would help all the soldiers in the camp find wives. But even now, 99% of the soldiers in the camp are still bachelors..."
“…”
The more King Wu listened, the darker his face became. He covered Chen Mu's mouth with his hand and said, "You have such a good memory, why don't you take the imperial examination?!"
Chen Mu struggled to pry his hand away and said mysteriously, "Your Highness, I don't mean to expose your shortcomings. I just want to say that this matter needs a different approach."
King Wu's timid eyes lit up again: "What method?"
Chen Mu lowered his voice even more.
"Although Minister Wen cannot directly access the national treasury, he is in charge of the allocation of the 'Changping Granary'. This year, there is a drought in the north, and the court is about to allocate grain for disaster relief. Why don't we..."
King Wu's eyes lit up: "Should he report more losses?"
Chen Mu shook his head. "That's too obvious. Why not let him make a 'miscalculation' when allocating military rations to Youzhou and allocate a few tens of thousands of dan more? Military rations are always consumed in large quantities, so it's normal for the accounts to be a little unclear. Then we can sell the excess grain and exchange it for silver. Then we can use this silver to give the soldiers an extra piece of meat at every meal."
King Wu almost clapped his hands and laughed out loud, "Brilliant! Food is not worth money. How could those nerds in the Censorate know how much the soldiers in the Northern Territory have eaten?"
Yan Shixu, Zhang Sicheng, and Yongtai, who were still standing in the side hall, said: "..."
Zhang Sicheng and Yongtai looked up at the ceiling in unison to indicate that they heard nothing.
A flock of crows flew past Yan Shixu's forehead.
He coughed lightly, reminding the two people who were discussing the "big plan" that he was still...
King Wu and Chen Mu straightened up at the same time, looking like they were just having a private conversation.
Yan Shixu's mouth twitched slightly, and he said bluntly: "Uncle Wu, if you just want to get some money, there is no need to go through such a big detour."
Upon hearing this, King Wu immediately came to Yan Shixu, his eyes sparkling, "My dear nephew, what good ideas do you have?"
Yan Shixu whispered something, and King Wu immediately clapped his thigh and laughed.
"Great, that works! Let's do it!"
The other three people present silently lit a candle for Prince Yu...
Wait for the sun to set.
Prince Yu and his wife hurried back to the capital with the imperial guards.
All the palace people saw him almost crawling out of the carriage, and then he ran all the way to the Cining Palace.
The Queen Mother was having dinner at this time and looked not very energetic.
Just after taking a sip of soup, I heard extremely anxious shouts coming from outside.
Immediately afterwards, a figure like a cannonball rushed into the palace.
"Mother, is my second brother really..." dead?
Prince Yu was choked up and couldn't utter the last three words.
The Queen Mother put down her bowl and chopsticks, her eyes fell on his face and she looked at him for a long time.
Prince Yu was startled and asked softly, "Mother, what's wrong with you?"
The Queen Mother sighed deeply, somewhat sadly: "Your second brother is gone."
Prince Yu's heart was pounding, and he almost collapsed from grief.
He cried, "My eldest brother just left, and my second brother left right after him. How could God be so cruel?"
He beat his chest in great pain.
Princess Yu was also silently shedding tears.
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