I support the army through farming and business.

Chapter 231 Audit
Upon hearing the Crown Prince mention Prince An and the Mu family, Emperor Sheng'an sneered inwardly, "I am aware of this matter, and I will arrange for a thorough investigation. You do not need to interfere. Kneel down and take your leave."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I take my leave!" The Crown Prince took three steps back, turned and left the Imperial Study. Once outside the palace, he sent a messenger to deliver a message: "Tell the Zhang family to prepare to sacrifice the pawn to save the king."

The attendant hurriedly went to the Zhang family to deliver the order.

Upon receiving the message from the Crown Prince, Grand Tutor Zhang aged more than ten years in an instant, but still respectfully accepted it.

The eldest son of the Zhang family, Zhang Hengzhi, was furious. "Grandfather, what does the Crown Prince mean by this? Our Zhang family is for him!"

"Shut up! Who do you think you are, daring to speak ill of the Crown Prince!" Master Zhang scolded. "It's fine if you want to die, but don't drag the Crown Princess and the Zhang family into it!"

Zhang Hengzhi was unconvinced and was about to speak again when Grand Tutor Zhang suddenly shouted, "Shut up!"

"What time is it now? A huge thunderbolt is about to strike the Zhang family, and you are still making a fuss!" Grand Tutor Zhang said wearily, "The most important thing now is how to protect the Zhang family."

Just as the Zhang family was racking their brains for a solution, hundreds of officials from the Ministry of Revenue and students from the Imperial Academy were checking account books in the Imperial Study, the sound of abacus beads clashing deafeningly loud.

Standing to the side, Eunuch Zhou directed the junior eunuchs to carry out boxes of account books that had been checked, and to bring in boxes of account books that had just been transported into the palace.

Although the weather was still warm in September, a brazier was already burning in the Imperial Study, and Eunuch Zhou was sweating profusely from his forehead.

The next morning, everyone breathed a sigh of relief after finally finishing the accounts. The Minister of Revenue hurriedly reported, "Your Majesty, according to the account books, a total of 7.83 million taels of silver were spent on military expenses in the Northwest, Northeast, and Southwest in the 20th, 22nd, 23rd, and 27th years of the Kangzhi reign."

"Among them, the Southwest military expenses were fully supplied, the Northeast military expenses were 2.7 million taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue, but only 2.3 million taels of silver from the Ministry of War's accounts, and the Northwest military expenses were 3.5 million taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue, but only 2.4 million taels of silver from the Ministry of War's accounts," the Minister of Revenue silently wiped his sweat.

"Outrageous!" Emperor Sheng'an smashed his teacup. "Where did the silver go? No wonder the border was always so unstable those years. The soldiers were starving and freezing, how could they have the strength to fight the enemy!"

It was also thanks to General Song and the Protectorate General's Mansion who were stationed in the Northwest; if it had been anyone else, the Turks would have already breached the city!

"Guards! Order the Minister of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to handle this case, and immediately imprison the relevant Ministry of War officials! Anyone who disobeys, order the Imperial Guards to imprison them in the Imperial Jail!" Emperor Sheng'an paced back and forth in his study. "And Cao Yang! No matter what his mental state is like, we must find out all those who have embezzled!"

"Yes!" Eunuch Zhou hurriedly went to deliver the decree.

For a time, everyone in Luoyang was in a state of panic, not knowing when the Imperial Guards and the Five City Garrison would come to confiscate their homes.

Half a month later, under the care of the imperial physician, Cao Yang, who had been in a coma for a long time, finally regained consciousness for a moment. However, instead of revealing the mastermind behind the incident, he almost killed the first informant, Dusun, with a knife.

Fortunately, a young imperial physician reacted quickly and pulled Cao Ming away, so the knife only cut his shoulder; otherwise, Cao Ming would have been decapitated.

Unfortunately, after Cao Yang went mad, he took his own life.

Emperor Sheng'an was furious and ordered his men to intensify their investigation of other officials. However, everyone pinned the blame on the already deceased Cao Yang. The Minister of Justice also felt that it was best to stop there, otherwise, if the investigation continued, the remaining half of the officials would also be imprisoned.

Since the seized silver has already far exceeded 1.5 million taels, everyone should stop now to avoid a lose-lose situation.

Emperor Sheng'an had no choice but to accept the results reported by the Minister of Justice. However, all the officials found to be involved in corruption were sentenced to death, and their families and even clansmen were implicated.

As for the Cao family, they were exiled to Lingnan because they were the first to report the crime and were meritorious for upholding justice even at the cost of their own family. In addition, Prince An and the Mu family provided them with full protection. They were never allowed to return to the capital or take the imperial examinations again.

However, Prince An and the Mu family were not satisfied with this result. "Your Majesty, the guilty minister Cao Yang deserves to die, but the person who recommended Cao Yang was also a poor judge of character."

Emperor Sheng'an felt as if he had been insulted to his face and was furious. He could reflect on his own actions, but that did not mean he could allow his subjects to insult him!

Just as Emperor Sheng'an was about to swear, Prince An changed the subject, saying, "This subject Cao Yang is the prized student of Grand Tutor Zhang. Grand Tutor Zhang even wanted to marry his daughter to him. Such a teacher-student relationship, if you say that Grand Tutor Zhang was completely unaware of Cao Yang's actions, I absolutely do not believe it!"

"?" With a scapegoat in hand, Emperor Sheng'an sat firmly on the dragon throne and glanced at the aged but still spirited Grand Tutor Zhang below him.

Grand Tutor Zhang knelt tremblingly at the foot of the steps, "This old minister is ashamed. I actually taught this villain as if he were my own son. This old minister failed to judge people. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Emperor Sheng'an nodded in satisfaction at Grand Tutor Zhang's sensibility, "Grand Tutor Zhang's poor judgment of character has led Cao Yang to commit such a serious crime. It is evident that Grand Tutor Zhang is getting old. In that case, Grand Tutor, you should retire and live out your days."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Grand Tutor Zhang shakily removed his hat and placed it on the floor tiles, then turned and walked away from the main hall step by step.

After the court session ended, Prince An, who hadn't visited for a long time to avoid suspicion, reappeared at the Mu residence. "Uncle," he said, "His Majesty's handling of the case so lightly, with such a high-handed approach, has completely failed to achieve the desired effect!"

Grand Secretary Mu lay back in his rocking chair reading a book. "Why didn't it reach that goal? Didn't the Zhang family fall from grace?"

The Zhang family only had one tutor, Grand Tutor Zhang, struggling to keep things afloat; the rest of his descendants were not a threat.

The Mu family wasn't the only one to suffer from the lack of a successor; the Zhang family also endured it.

"What's the use of the Zhang family falling? As long as the Zhang family's daughter is the Crown Princess, the Zhang family will rise again sooner or later if the Crown Prince ascends the throne!" Just like the Mu family.

Grand Secretary Mu put down his book. "Does Your Highness really think that a mere 1.5 million taels of silver can bring down the Crown Prince?"

In Emperor Sheng'an's heart, neither 1.5 million taels of silver nor 15 million taels of silver was as important as the fact that he had been deceived and kept in the dark!

“Of course not!” Prince An knew in his heart, “But it was because of this deficit of 1.5 million taels that Wuwei City was destroyed, the old general died in battle, and only one in ten of the people of Wuwei survived.”

Grand Secretary Mu personally poured tea, saying, "Since Your Highness knows that this game of chess is not over yet, why are you in such a hurry?"

Prince An picked up his teacup and drank it all in one gulp. "Uncle means..."

"A person who misjudges character and engages in corruption and bribery may not be able to bring down a crown prince, but he can easily betray the country and collude with the enemy."

Treason? Prince An's eyes widened.

"Uncle says the Crown Prince is a traitor? Uncle, do you have any evidence?"

Grand Secretary Mu's expression remained indifferent. "As Your Highness said, if there were no deficit, how could Wuwei City have been breached?"

"Who else but the embezzlers could know where that 1.5 million taels of silver went?" Grand Secretary Mu laughed. "Now that Cao Yang is dead, isn't its whereabouts up to us?"

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