Chapter 227: Check the Ministry of Revenue.

Qing country, court meeting.

Today's court meeting was beyond everyone's expectations. Emperor Qing was the first to speak out and severely criticized Fan Jian, contrary to his usual practice. The Ministry of Revenue had been in his hands for nine years, but he had only been the head of the Shangshu for two years. The poor performance of the Ministry of Revenue in these two years had already made the civil and military officials in the court dissatisfied.

Rumors had been circulating long before, and yesterday, a group of ministers jointly wrote a letter. The implicit meaning of their words pointed directly at Fan Jian, saying that the deficit of the Ministry of Revenue over the years has already been very huge!

Emperor Qing saw that he could no longer suppress the situation, so he simply pushed the blame for the empty treasury onto Fan Jian.

The Minister of Revenue Fan Jian did not take any action. He just claimed to be sick and stayed indoors, leaving the officials of the Ministry of Revenue to bear the attacks from all the ministers in the court.

Afterwards, Emperor Qing gave the order, and the Supervisory Office carried it out, with the other three departments assisting and the Crown Prince supervising. A grand and luxurious lineup was set up to start the investigation of the Ministry of Revenue.

After the court session that day, hundreds of officials from various departments flocked into the Ministry of Revenue, and the scene became very lively for a while.

On weekdays, apart from the officials coming here to collect their salaries, it was never so lively. When the officials came with the imperial edict, Fan Jian was not there, and the entire Ministry of Revenue was leaderless. In the midst of the chaos, they finally cleared enough seats to accommodate so many officials from various departments.

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue were extremely nervous and gnashed their teeth.

This time, not only did the people from the Supervisory Council clean up the account books, they also kept moving various documents out in large boxes for subsequent inspection. Outside the government office, the Kyoto garrison also dispatched troops to surround the various treasury offices, claiming to be for protection. After the arrival of the Grand Secretary and the Crown Prince, the tense atmosphere became even more intense.

The situation was chaotic, with people taking advantage of the situation to take personal revenge from time to time.

Threats, scolding, and the prince's voice of consolation were heard continuously, echoing throughout the venue.

The officials of the Ministry of Revenue, regardless of their rank, were nervous but not panicked. Except for the left and right assistant ministers who came out to report on the various expenditures and account trends of the past two years on behalf of Fan Jian, the rest of the people were calm and kept silent. Even the officials who were on good terms with him did not say a word.

Some people even sneered.

When the officials of the Supervisory Council placed more than a dozen baskets of account books in the lobby of the designated location, the officials who were watching the Ministry of Revenue all looked embarrassed. The crown prince frowned and shouted loudly on the spot: "With so many account books, even if a professional accountant is here, how long will it take to finish checking them? Moreover, the other officials are slower in checking the accounts due to their different duties! How many people will it take to check every single one of them?"

"Click and don't be upset!" The left assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue said loudly: "The seven departments of the Ministry of Revenue correspond to the finances of the seven routes of the country. In addition to the three major warehouses, there are seven markets under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue. Outside, there is the Qingli Department corresponding to the canal project, and the departments and bureaus responsible for the operation, issuance, and casting of various silver shops. As for the government offices for salt, iron and water transport, they are far away in Hangzhou. According to a rough calculation, all the account books will be ten times more than today's."

"Alright!" The Crown Prince was startled. His ears were buzzing with what the Left Assistant Minister said. He waved his hand impatiently and interrupted him angrily, saying in surprise: "Just tell me how long it will take to sort out those account books!"

He was a little unsure, originally thinking that this was a good job to get a good resume. Not only could it deal a heavy blow to the Ministry of Revenue to which Fan Jian, the person behind Fan Xian, belonged, but it could also help him gain a lot of reputation in the court!
I just didn’t expect that this was a project that couldn’t be completed in such a short time!
It is foreseeable that he will be stuck in this mess for a long time in the future. No wonder the second brother didn't say a word when he heard about the investigation of the Ministry of Revenue!

The one who answered the Crown Prince's question was the Right Vice Minister. Just out of politeness, he forced a stiff smile and said, "It's easy in Kyoto, but the account books in other places will take at least 15 days at full speed, plus it will take at least ten days to clean up. If you want a preliminary result, it will take at least a month!" His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was almost fainted from anger. When had he ever suffered such anger before?

Although there was nothing wrong between the lines of the Right Assistant Minister's words, his tone was quite confrontational!
"It is His Majesty's order to investigate the Ministry of Revenue, so we should speed up our work! Otherwise, don't blame me for accusing you of pretending to obey the order but actually disobeying it!"

Facing the prince's angry rebuke, the right assistant minister remained unmoved and expressionless, saying, "Your Majesty's order is something I don't have the guts to disobey, but checking the accounts requires rules and time. If it's a targeted check, it won't take that long, but if you want to check every item in detail, there will be many problems! When should we start checking? Which department should we start checking? Or which sum of money is in or out? Otherwise, it would take several days to count just a few million taels of silver."

The prince looked at the right assistant minister coldly and remembered him deeply. While he was annoyed, he also thought that he would deal a heavy blow to this person after finding out the problem.

The Grand Secretary standing by saw all of this, and his opinion of the prince dropped by two points again.

Who is Fan Jian? Under his management, the Ministry of Revenue has long been as strong as a rock.

Ever since he came here today, he felt that the atmosphere here was different from the other six departments. Not only was Fan Jian's style unique, but even his subordinates dared to contradict the prince. It was really interesting.

"Your Highness, what you said makes sense." The Grand Secretary smiled and adjusted the atmosphere, saying, "Since we are checking the accounts, there must be a rule. But since Your Majesty is talking about a thorough check, no matter how long it takes or how many people are needed, we must check it in an orderly manner. But I still need your cooperation. I hope you will bear with me for delaying the normal operation of the Ministry of Revenue!"

The left and right assistant ministers looked at each other, bowed and said, "Your Excellency is right."

But when it comes to the prince, they all filter it out.

The prince was so angry that he planned to spend money to invite all kinds of professionals from various departments and his own palace to check the accounts! Looking at the account books scattered all over the floor and the officials who were busy working without any care, the prince couldn't help but think of Fan Xian's hateful face.

He has been in Jiangnan for some time. I wonder what means my aunt will use to deal with this man?
Thinking of this, the prince suddenly ordered, "Since it is the transfer of money from the Ministry of Revenue, so many eyes in the capital are watching. It would not be easy to do anything under their noses! What about the money transferred to Jiangnan and the border areas?"

The prince's words caused the entire place to fall silent.

There were some officials with sharp minds and deep scheming. They knew immediately that this was the prince's move to crack down on dissidents. Although it was deliberately targeted, they inferred that the prince's words were very likely the key.

They did not dare to doubt that Fan Jian would be so bold as to transfer silver from the national treasury to Jiangnan, but since the prince had doubts, it would be right to start checking the accounts of the Jiangnan Division.

Faced with those complicated numbers, it took nearly a month to check!
　What I posted these days are all my saved drafts.

　　My friend was getting married and I was away for two days. I just started writing again today, so it's a little late. Sorry for the delay!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)