Chapter 228 The Eve of the Storm.

Seeing that there had been no results for many days, the entire court was in an uproar.

With the help of the Northern Qi court, more ministers were linked together. They didn't know who was going to make things difficult for the Fan family, but they knew that the law could not hold everyone responsible.

As the battle line unfolds, more and more personnel are involved in each department, and the results are becoming more and more incredible!
“So clean!”

Like a virgin!

As the saying goes, if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. How much more so for the Ministry of Revenue, which is in charge of an entire country?

This result made the people who checked the accounts work even harder.

No one urged them to do so, and no one even had any emotion about holding them accountable. They only knew that there were no perfect accounts in this world. If there were, they would definitely be fake accounts! Unless Fan Jian was a saint!

The prince thought so, and even the grand secretary who accompanied him in supervision thought so too.

While he was impressed by Fan Jian's sophisticated accounting skills, he was even more determined to bring him down.

Fan Mansion.

Madam Liu brought a bowl of nightshade to Fan Jian's study, looked at her husband with some worry, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

"Don't worry, no matter what the outcome is, they can't touch me."

Drinking the nightshade in his hand, Fan Jian narrowed his eyes with a happy expression and gently comforted his wife beside him.

According to the time calculation, the accounts transported to Kyoto later should be able to give some gains to the auditors. How could a smart person like Fan Jian not know that making the accounts too clean is abnormal? If the accounts of various places are taken out separately, nothing can be found. It is very easy to smooth out the accounts, but the operation and transfer of the Ministry of Revenue always requires cooperation with many departments, and this process will naturally leave connections with the outside world.

The departments where the physical objects are located are controlled by others, and it is only a matter of time before the problems are discovered.

When they went through all the accounts and wanted to make sure the actual items matched the numbers, it would be impossible to do so using the methods that Fan Jian had left behind.

Fan Jian was absent-minded. He didn't get any benefits from the Ministry of Revenue, but it was true that there were problems with the accounts.

Just imagine, if Fan Jian had manipulated the Ministry of Revenue, how could Versace have thought of going out to do business just for a few silver coins in the first place?
Since Fan Jian joined the Ministry of Revenue, he started as a small secretary and worked his way up to his current position in nine years. With the grace of His Majesty, he never let any forces get involved and had already built the entire Ministry of Revenue into an ironclad interest group.

As some clues came to light, the officials of the investigation team finally smiled with relief.

Although it was only a small amount of money, it finally found the first problematic area.

The amount of silver and money sent to the border for winter military supplies in the fourth year of the Qingli period doesn't match!
The investigators followed the clues and used this as an excuse to trace the case from bottom to top, and soon found a loophole. Like a snowball, the number of cases grew larger and larger, and more and more officials were involved! Slowly, it even reached a shocking level!
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the newly appointed Minister of Personnel Yan Xingshu were overjoyed. They ignored the words of the steady Grand Secretary and ordered their men to dig desperately to uproot the black sheep in the Ministry of Revenue! Slowly, the intensity of the digging gradually increased to the top officials who really made the decisions in the Ministry of Revenue!
At first, the amount was not much. Under Fan Jian's accounting method, the gap of these silvers was integrated into some large projects, like a drop of water into the sea, leaving no trace. Only a few traces were revealed in the military supplies, which exposed the flaws.

Seeing this, the left and right assistant ministers who were still holding their posts in the Ministry of Revenue planned to find an opportunity to go to Fan's house to discuss countermeasures with Fan Jian. However, they did not expect that they had been placed under house arrest since the problem was discovered.

The prince ordered that until everything was settled, no one in the Ministry of Revenue was allowed to leave the office without permission.

In the study of Fan's house, a retainer was talking about the news from outside. "The winter coats of the fourth year of Qingli had sufficient materials, and the cotton cloth was all from the inner treasury." He frowned and continued, "But the final price of these winter coats was a bit high, and the silver used to trade goods from the treasury was also higher than the actual amount. These are what the Ministry of Revenue found out today!"

"I was trying to fill a hole. You know, even the salaries of officials in the capital were almost gone, and we had to prepare food and fodder for the army's westward expedition the following year. I had no choice but to do this. I withheld some of the silver from the winter coats sent to the border and used it elsewhere."

Fan Jian smiled and said, "Although I am short of money, I will not let the soldiers guarding the border wear poor quality winter coats!"

The retainer nodded, but his expression was still heavy. He advised: "Although the amount of money is not large, the officials who check the accounts will not let go of this credit. And no one knows what His Majesty will think. Even if I am helping you, it is still a sin after all."

He said with a worried look on his face: "This is what we have just found out. If we continue to investigate along this line, the money that was previously integrated into some major projects will make those accounts inconsistent. The more we investigate like this, the more we will find out. In the end, they will only find out the money that the department transferred to Jiangnan! Please make plans early!"

"The flood in the south came too suddenly this time." Fan Jian looked indifferent, as if he was not the one in urgent need. "If we allocate funds and transfer silver openly, we still don't know how much will be put into practice. We can only do this ourselves!"

"The second is the bidding for the Jiangnan Treasury!"

"Master, do you want to use the money to hedge against the Ming family?" the retainer asked in surprise.

"Not bad!"

Fan Jian shook his head, and finally couldn't help but sighed and said, "As the Minister of Revenue, even if it's not for An Zhi, I have to do this just to make the inner treasury more profitable! If I don't use money to hedge with the Ming family, how can they be willing to spend more money?"

Anzhi is Fan Xian's courtesy name. His surname is Fan, his given name is Xian, and his courtesy name is Anzhi.

"And, His Majesty also knows about this!"

After a moment, Fan Jian gave a jaw-dropping piece of information.

The retainers had already been so shocked that they were speechless. One must know that the main focus of the current investigation of the Ministry of Revenue was the failure of the Ministry of Revenue to transfer Yinjiang South. They did not expect that the inside story was so complicated that even the palace knew the news and participated in it!

The retainer seemed to be relieved and said, "If that's the case, the master should be safe and sound."

"I can do it but I can't say it!" Fan Jian looked in the direction of the imperial palace and shook his head firmly.

The lesson of Gong Dian was still before his eyes. Apart from this concern, Fan Jian thought more about the beautiful figure in his heart.

"Your Majesty also has his own difficulties. We cannot let Your Majesty take care of everything! The court secretly plotted against the local wealthy businessmen. This is too ugly. If this matter is made public, not only will the court be shaken and the emperor and his ministers will be alienated, but even the outside world will be in an uproar!"

Fan Jian values ​​the person in front of him very much. He is considered to be a capable assistant who has been with him for many years. Most of the big and small matters have been handled by him. What he said so much to him today also serves as a reminder.

"This matter is secret, but I don't know how the person who took the lead in reporting it got the news. Now everyone in the court and the public is speculating about this matter. Your Majesty is under pressure and has to order an investigation into the Ministry of Revenue. Under such circumstances, how can the truth be made public?"

　There will be another chapter later, and then the update time will resume in the early morning.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)