"You black-hearted bastards, not only have you swallowed our pensions, but you’re also not sparing those of our deceased brothers. You’re not human! If I don’t have a way to live, don’t think you can either!" A rough and indignant voice shouted loudly.
Soon after, a clamor arose, accompanied by screams and curses.
Pension funds?
Yang Mengchen’s eyebrows furrowed tightly, it seemed this was not a common street disturbance, and having encountered it, she would not stand idly by. She glanced at Hai Tang.
Hai Tang immediately stepped out of the carriage to investigate and quickly returned. "Reporting to the princess, two individuals from the Ministry of War were chatting in the teahouse about the pension funds, and by chance, more than a dozen men overheard them. Those men were soldiers recently retired due to injuries, thus a conflict arose between the two groups."
"Aren’t the pension funds supposed to be distributed by the Ministry of War? How could it involve the Ministry of Revenue?" Yang Mengchen’s expression was cold and solemn.
Wende was in charge of the Ministry of Revenue’s affairs, and her fourth brother was an Officer of the Ministry of Revenue, while the affairs of the Ministry of War were under the responsibility of Prince Duan. Although Prince Duan was far away in Qinghe Prefecture, the Minister of War was his appointee.
Putting aside the conflict between Wende and Prince Duan, if this matter is not handled well, the impact on the Imperial Court would be extremely negative. The soldiers who bled and sacrificed on the front lines, yet the Imperial Court can’t even ensure the livelihood of the injured and their families— who would be willing to go to the front lines to protect the country in the future?
She never meddled in Wende’s public affairs, but that did not mean she was politically naive. If her conjectures were correct, this was definitely related to Prince Duan.
For his own self-interest, he actually embezzled the pension funds meant for the wounded and fallen soldiers. Prince Duan deserved death!
No wonder she was certain it was Prince Duan’s doing. Firstly, she understood Wende’s character, and secondly, Wende had been stationed at the border since he was ten years old, well aware of the hardships faced by the border soldiers. He would never obliterate his conscience by embezzling pension funds.
After a moment, Hai Tang came back and reported: "Princess, what happened was that the dozen or so injured soldiers went to a department under the Ministry of War to collect pension funds, but the officials from the Ministry of War said that the Ministry of Revenue hadn’t provided the funds and told them to go to the Ministry of Revenue;
the officials at the Ministry of Revenue said that the pension funds had already been issued to the Ministry of War and directed them there. Those injured soldiers didn’t get a single wen money and had to leave;
Unexpectedly, they stumbled upon two Ministry of War officials in a teahouse and overheard them discussing the pension funds. The injured soldiers, in a moment of outrage, started a commotion and even assaulted the two officials;
Someone hurriedly went to notify the Yamen Government Office of Jingzhao, so it’s likely that the officials from there will arrive soon."
Yang Chengning and Chu Dieyi had once spoken with Yang Mengchen about certain military matters.
In The Capital, there is a specific institution responsible for this matter, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. The injured soldiers and their families in The Capital have to collect their pensions from there.
As for the counties and prefectures, the military compiles the number of injured and the specific list of names, submits it to the Ministry of War for verification, and then the Ministry of Revenue issues the pension funds to the various prefectures, from where the funds are distributed to the towns and villages; then the injured soldiers or their families collect them from their respective towns or villages.
As they were speaking, a series of orderly footsteps approached from afar. It appeared that the people from the Yamen Government Office of Jingzhao had arrived.
Yang Mengchen lifted the carriage curtain and saw more than twenty soldiers from the Tidu Yamen Government Office in armor approaching, her eyebrows knitted tightly.
As far as she knew, general civil disputes were handled by the Yamen Government Office of Jingzhao. Only in the event of significant incidents or threats to the peace of The Capital would the Tidu Yamen Government Office take action, analogous to the modern-day police and SWAT.
Now, for a mere small dispute between injured soldiers and officials from the Ministry of War, the involvement of the Tidu Yamen Government Office indicated something fishy was going on. Who would believe otherwise? Certainly not Yang Mengchen.
However, Yang Mengchen decided to wait and see how things unfolded before determining whether to intervene. Thus, she let down the carriage curtain and stayed inside, quietly observing the situation.
Once the people from the Tidu Yamen Government Office arrived, the surrounding crowd and carriages gave way. Their carriage was located towards the edge, and so it did not attract attention.
The leader among the soldiers shouted loudly, "Tidu Yamen Government Office on official duty, all unrelated persons must withdraw!"
Yang Mengchen slightly lifted the carriage curtain and looked out to see more than a dozen robust men, as well as two men in tattered clothing, confronting each other.
The two men in tattered clothing were the Ministry of War officials Hai Tang had mentioned, and on seeing the leader, both of them displayed relief and joy on their faces. freёwebnovel-com
"Take all these troublemakers into custody and bring them away!" The leader approached, spoke briefly with the two men, then loudly ordered the soldiers he brought to arrest the more than a dozen injured soldiers.
Of course, those soldiers did not surrender without a fight, and a conflict arose between the two parties again.
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