Prime Minister

Chapter 12 012 [After Parting]

Night falls at the Xue residence.

The blue bricks and gray tiles were bathed in the inky darkness of the night, and a sliver of light peeked out from the study in the east courtyard.

Xue Huai rested his elbow on his desk, where a file lay open. It was a copy of old Ministry of Works documents that Xue Minglun had given him.

Because of the tight schedule, this file is only a small part of the old archives, mainly focusing on Gu Heng's impeachment of Xue Mingzhang.

The night was quiet, without the chirping of insects, except for the rustling sound of paper turning.

As Xue Minglun said, the clues discovered by Gu Heng focused on two aspects. One was that during the construction of the river embankment in Yangzhou, the amount of stone used was 30% less than the original plan. Xue Mingzhang explained to the Ministry of Works officials that the stone was reduced by 30% to save manpower, and he also documented this in writing for record-keeping.

There are more than ten related records, such as "On the 23rd day of the third month of the eighth year of Taihe, Li Zhong, the river official, inspected the new embankment of Erli Gate: the actual number of paved stones was 17,000 dan, which was 2,100 dan less than the approved number."

For example, "On the 17th day of the sixth month of the eighth year of Taihe, the Imperial Censor Wang Xiao reported that the dike in the Guazhou section of Yangzhou was three feet thinner than the standard of the Ministry of Works, which was suspected to be due to shoddy workmanship."

A strange feeling welled up in Xue Huai's heart.

Building dikes would certainly require conscripting labor and depleting the people's strength, but it was a necessary task. Otherwise, if floods struck, countless families would be displaced, just like the tragic situation in many parts of southern China this summer.

Xue Mingzhang has always been diligent in his duties and loves the people. If he were to be considerate of the people's plight and slightly reduce the intensity and duration of their labor, it would seem like an understandable decision.

The problem is that he should have been aware of the consequences of cutting corners. Given his skill and determination in dealing with the Yangzhou salt merchants back then, he wouldn't have been so careless in such an important matter.

Many things in this world seem ordinary, but in reality, they weigh a ton.

Perhaps Xue Mingzhang did not act out of personal motives, but the premise is that there were no problems with the river embankment. Otherwise, as is the case now, even though he has been dead for six years, he will still be attacked and impeached by people who will seize on his flaws. No matter what his original intention was, those people want him to bear the consequences of this disaster.

At this moment, Xue Huai was unable to make a clear judgment; the scales in his heart were swaying back and forth.

While Xue Mingzhang's reduction of stone materials might be seen as a consideration for the people, Gu Heng's other impeachment was much more troublesome. After careful verification, he discovered significant discrepancies between the account books of the Jiangsu Waterway Bureau and the Yangzhou Prefecture.

The construction of the river embankment in Yangzhou was overseen by the Yangzhou government, with Xue Mingzhang in charge of the overall management and the river management department providing assistance.

Xue Huai frowned as he looked at the relevant records on the paper, and couldn't help but raise his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

On the ninth day of the seventh month of the eighth year of Taihe, Zhou Yunwen, the River Conservancy Official, reported: Yangzhou Prefecture originally planned to purchase 80,000 dan of bluestone, but later changed to purchasing 120,000 dan of cheap stone.

"On the 13th day of the seventh month of the eighth year of Taihe, Jiangdu County submitted a secret report: by order of the Prefect, we urgently need to purchase 3,000 shi of glutinous rice, which is more than 40% higher than the market price."

"On the 17th day of the eighth month of the eighth year of Taihe, merchant Li Maode donated 5,000 cedar logs to offset the tax on river construction, which was valued at three times the price of supermarket noodles."

The candle wax burst open with a "pop," sending a chill down Xue Huai's spine.

Substituting inferior goods for superior ones, abusing public office for private gain, buying high and selling low...

These things are not unusual and are common in officialdom, but it is unbelievable that they happened to Xue Mingzhang.

Could it be that the seemingly honest and upright man in my memory was actually a corrupt official who ruthlessly plundered the people's wealth?

The night breeze blew in through the window, but it couldn't dispel the weariness in Xue Huai's heart.

He originally thought that as long as he changed his way of doing things as soon as possible, stopped making enemies everywhere, and tried to be more low-key and composed, relying on the legacy left by Xue Mingzhang and the care of his mentor Shen Wang, he could at least live a relatively stable life in this world.

However, the situation was far more complex and dangerous than he had anticipated.

Once Xue Mingzhang's crimes are proven, even though he has been dead for six years, he will still not escape being held accountable.

Only in this way can the officials who have been living in fear for the past few months feel at ease, can the emperor's anger be appeased, and can the people who have been separated from their loved ones by the flood receive an explanation.

Most importantly, the Xue family has never had a spendthrift son in several generations, and the wealth accumulated by their ancestors is considerable. The emperor only needs to issue an imperial edict to confiscate their property, and the confiscated gold and silver will be enough to make the Minister of Revenue overjoyed and greatly relieve the pressure on the court.

Xue Huai's fate will definitely be terrible.

Regardless of whether he will be held responsible for the disappearance of the Hanlin Academy files, the saying "the son pays for the father's debts" is not a joke in this era. Since Xue Mingzhang has passed away, Xue Huai should atone for the sins he committed.

His best fate would be to be dismissed from his post and live in constant fear in the shadows.

"Huai'er".

A gentle voice roused Xue Huai from his reverie.

He turned his head and saw Cui Shi personally carrying a tray into the study, saying, "Don't overwork yourself, come and try the chicken soup your mother made for you." Xue Huai quickly got up to take it, and said apologetically, "Mother, you've worked hard."

"It's nothing."

After Cui sat down, she looked at Xue Huai's face and said with concern, "You rushed to the Hanlin Academy today, and after you came back, you only ate a few bites of food before rushing into your study. How can you take care of your health like this? Listen to me, drink this bowl of soup first."

The mushroom and chicken soup in the celadon bowl was steaming. Xue Huai scooped up a spoonful of the soup and found a few dark brown jujube seeds at the bottom of the bowl.

Madam Cui explained softly, "You haven't been sleeping well these past few days, so I had someone prepare this calming remedy for you."

Xue Huai felt a warmth in his heart and stopped talking, focusing intently on drinking the chicken soup.

A moment later, Madam Cui watched Xue Huai finish the chicken soup, then glanced at the papers on the table not far away and hesitated before asking, "Huai'er, I heard that someone in court impeached your father today. Is this true or false?"

Xue Huai had no intention of deliberately concealing it, and besides, it was impossible to hide this matter. Gu Heng's impeachment would spread throughout the high-ranking families in the capital in just one or two days.

He nodded and said, "Mother, that is indeed true."

Madam Cui frowned and asked again, "Is this why you rushed to the Hanlin Academy?"

"Yes and no."

Xue Huai carefully chose his words and recounted the two events from beginning to end, including the details of being invited to meet Xue Minglun on his way back to the mansion this afternoon.

Madam Cui listened quietly, her thin face showing no obvious anger, only a touch of desolation.

A few sparks suddenly burst forth in the candlelight, making the silver strands in her hair stand out even more.

After a long silence, Madam Cui gazed into Xue Huai's eyes and asked, "Huai'er, are you doubting your father?"

Xue Huai did not hesitate and said solemnly, "Mother, I absolutely do not believe that Father would do such a thing."

A hint of relief flashed in Cui's eyes, but it was quickly followed by a surge of sorrow.

For six long years, she both missed her deceased husband constantly and couldn't bear to think of him all the time.

Especially those years of mutual support, both beautiful and painful, for her it would be best to seal those memories away, so as to avoid countless midnights with tears soaking her pillow.

But now she has no choice but to open that gate.

She didn't really understand the national and family affairs that men talked about, but she did understand how dangerous this matter was. If those traitors succeeded, not only would her deceased husband's reputation be ruined, but her only son would also fall into the abyss.

Therefore, she tried to calm herself down and slowly said, "Huai'er, do you know why your father petitioned the court to rebuild and reinforce the river embankment in southern Yangzhou?"

Xue Huai replied, "Mother, I was young then and I don't remember many things."

"Yes."

Madam Cui raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye with a handkerchief and said softly, "In the fifth year of Taihe, our family went to Yangzhou with your father to take up his post. You were only five years old then, a time of innocent ignorance. We stayed in Yangzhou for four years, and your father hardly had a single day of peace, constantly on the move. For the first two years, he also served as the Salt Commissioner, and he almost exhausted himself trying to deal with those vicious salt merchants. After finally finishing that job, I thought he could finally stop and rest, but unexpectedly, in the summer of the seventh year of Taihe, a flood suddenly struck."

Xue Huai immediately understood, but he did not interrupt Cui Shi.

"He witnessed many people being swept away by the flood, and their cries and wails kept echoing in his ears. But he had no time to feel sorrow or grief, because he was the prefect of Yangzhou, the official in charge of hundreds of thousands of people. During that time, he worked day and night to oversee the flood control efforts, and he lost a lot of weight and his complexion never improved. I remember one day at the end of July, the flood situation in Yizhen County became critical, and your father led three shifts of constables to take charge of the situation, but the dike along the river still breached."

Cui paused, her eyes reddening, "He almost died there."

How could such a person covet gold and silver?

Although the passage of time can change a person, Xue Mingzhang had just experienced a terrifying and near-death flood in the seventh year of Taihe. How could he have embezzled funds when building flood control dikes the following year?

Cui said sadly, “I still remember clearly that when your father came back that time, he didn’t say a word and sat alone in the study for a long time. I was worried and advised him to rest early, but he told me that the stones used to plug the breach were very heavy, and the sandbags were also very heavy. He gritted his teeth and carried them a few times, but his shoulders hurt so much that he couldn’t bear it. But no matter how heavy these things were, they were not as heavy as... not as heavy as the corpses of the people, which were too heavy for him to lift at all.”

"That night he still didn't sleep and kept writing memorials. I know he didn't want those tragedies of families being torn apart and people dying to happen again. He would do everything in his power to build the river embankment for the people of Yangzhou, even if it cost him everything."

"But he certainly couldn't have imagined that ten years later, someone in the court would impeach him, accusing him of building the dike for personal gain..."

Madam Cui smiled sadly and said, word by word, "Huai'er, tell me, is there anything more absurd and laughable than this in this world?"

(End of this chapter)