Chapter 103
Thinking about where the gold came from, Tang Xiuyong kept wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Your Majesty, I have been reviewing the account books previously handled by Lord Liu these past few days, and there are some issues. Perhaps I can explain where that gold came from," Li Tianyou said, kneeling down and holding the account books.
"Please speak, Minister Li." Zhu Jingchen thought to himself, "This really has to be Li Tianyou."
The problem can be found simply by looking at the ledgers.
"Your Majesty, I noticed some discrepancies in the account books regarding the prices of grain and fodder, so I marked them. In addition, there have been significant discrepancies in the prices of rice and flour during disaster relief efforts in recent years," Li Tianyou said in a deep voice, handing the account books to Eunuch Liu.
If it were someone else, they might not notice these details, but who is Li Tianyou? He comes from a business background.
Li Tianyou could tell whether there were any problems with the contents of these ledgers with just one glance.
Because his family deals in those kinds of things, he knows the prices at a glance.
"Well done! Well done, Liu Zongcheng! Well done, Consort Liu!"
Zhu Jingchen was furious. He thought to himself, "How could a mere Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue embezzle such a large sum of money? In the vast Kingdom of Lanno, who knows how many such parasites there are?"
The national treasury is so poor that even rats don't want to dig holes there, but those corrupt officials are all rolling in money. Are there any like Liu Zongcheng, whose entire house is made of gold?
Tang Xiuyong was utterly despondent at this moment, and he also bore a significant responsibility for this matter.
Even if the money didn't reach his hands, the emperor probably wouldn't think that way.
It’s over!
At this moment, Tang Xiuyong had only one thought in his mind.
“Your Majesty, such a heinous act must be severely punished! Otherwise, how will outsiders view our Lanno Kingdom?” Xu Heming stepped forward and said, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect.
"Minister Xu is right!" Zhu Jingchen closed his eyes. If he didn't make an example of him this time, those court officials would probably think he was an easy-to-fool monarch.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty of this matter. I failed to discover Liu Zongcheng's wolfish ambitions sooner. But I really did not know that Liu Zongcheng was so audacious. He relied on Consort Liu's favor in the palace and had no respect for me at all!" Tang Xiuyong pleaded, kowtowing to the ground again and again.
He also felt a little regretful. He shouldn't have turned a blind eye to Liu Zongcheng's affairs because of his relationship with Consort Liu.
"Minister Li, what do you think of this matter?" Zhu Jingchen asked Li Tianyou.
Li Tianyou frowned upon hearing this. Tang Xiuyong was his superior, so he couldn't very well speak ill of him, could he?
Tang Xiuyong never expected that the Emperor would ask for the opinion of one of his subordinates on this matter. He looked at Li Tianyou with some hope, begging him to plead for him.
"Your Majesty, I believe that although Lord Tang failed to supervise this matter effectively, he has devoted himself to the court for many years. Even if he has not made any great contributions, he has certainly worked hard. Moreover, the court is currently making use of his talents, so why not let him make amends for his mistakes?" Li Tianyou thought for a moment and then said tactfully.
After all, since the Emperor discovered the problem through the Vice Minister of Revenue, the other six ministries will likely have to investigate as well.
At that time, Tang Xiuyong's role will become apparent.
"Since Minister Li has pleaded for you, I will spare your life this time. However, you may be spared the death penalty, but you cannot escape punishment. How could a mere Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue embezzle such a huge sum of money? I hope you will take the lead in investigating the accounts of the Six Ministries!"
As expected, Zhu Jingchen's idea was to check the accounts of the Six Ministries. Tang Xiuyong felt bitter after hearing Zhu Jingchen's words.
How could the accounts of the Six Ministries be so easily investigated?
This is a job that could offend people!
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