Hot flashes

The next morning, Zhou Heng went to the Hanlin Academy.

He didn't go to his duty room, but went straight into the library. The Hanlin Academy's library had seven rooms, filled to the brim with classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections; there were dozens of commentaries on the Analects alone. He stood there, looking at the spines of those books, for a long time.

He could borrow and flip through these books at will. But the peasant children of Jiangling had never seen what a book looked like in their entire lives.

When Zhou Heng came out of the library, Chen Shen came to greet him.

"Young master, the Ministry of Personnel has sent over some documents."

Zhou Heng nodded and walked towards the duty room.

He suddenly stopped halfway there.

"Chen Shen".

"exist."

How many bookstores are there in the capital?

Chen Shen paused for a moment, then thought for a moment and said, "There are seven or eight large ones, and countless small ones. On that street in the south of the city, there are more than a dozen bookstores alone."

Zhou Heng nodded.

"Anything else?"

Chen Shen didn't understand what he wanted to ask, and tentatively said, "There are also... there are some book copying shops that specialize in copying books for people. Some poor scholars who can't afford to buy books go there to borrow and copy them."

Zhou Heng's eyes lit up.

"A shop for copying books?"

Chen Shen nodded.

Zhou Heng stood there, thinking for a long time.

That night, Zhou Heng returned to Qianqing Palace, where Xiao Jue was reviewing memorials.

He sat down beside him without saying a word.

After Xiao Jue finished approving one of the papers, he looked up at him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Zhou Heng shook his head, then nodded.

Xiao Jue put down his pen.

"Speak."

Zhou Heng remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"I want to start a school."

Xiao Jue looked at him.

Zhou Heng continued, "They weren't private schools, but government-run schools. Every county had one, then the prefecture, then the province. This ensured that children from poor families also had a place to study."

Xiao Jue remained silent.

Zhou Heng said, "Just reading books isn't enough. What we need to teach can't just be the Four Books and Five Classics. We need to teach mathematics, geography, and things that are truly useful. We need to teach them so that they can understand account books, calculate land acreage, and know how vast the world is."

Xiao Jue remained silent.

Zhou Heng looked at him.

"What...do you think?"

Xiao Jue stared at him for a long time.

Then he spoke.

"That's a great idea."

Zhou Heng's heart skipped a beat.

"But the imperial court has no money."

That shot missed.

Zhou Heng opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

Xiao Jue looked at him with a deep gaze.

Do you know how much it costs to start a school?

Zhou Heng shook his head.

Xiao Jue said, "When I ascended the throne, I had someone calculate it. A county school, hiring teachers, building buildings, buying books, and providing food and lodging, would cost at least two thousand taels a year. There are more than a thousand counties in the country, can you calculate how much that would cost?"

Zhou Heng remained silent.

Xiao Jue did not wait for his reply.

"Two million taels," he said. "Two million taels a year. The national treasury can only collect eight million taels in taxes a year now."

Zhou Heng's heart sank.

Xiao Jue looked at his drooping eyebrows and eyes, then suddenly reached out and pulled him into his arms.

Zhou Heng pressed his face against his chest, without saying a word.

Xiao Jue's hand landed on his back, stroking it gently.

"Aheng," he called his name.

Zhou Heng gave a muffled "hmm".

Xiao Jue lowered his head and whispered something in his ear.

Zhou Heng suddenly raised his head and looked at him.

Xiao Jue's eyes were calm, as calm as a bottomless pool of water.

Zhou Heng's voice was a little dry: "You...you mean..."

Xiao Jue nodded.

early morning.

Xiao Jue sat on the throne and waited for everyone to stand before speaking.

"I went through several memorials last night."

The court fell silent.

Xiao Jue's gaze swept across the faces of those people one by one.

"I had the Ministry of Revenue's accounts re-audited. The results were quite interesting."

He picked up a folded book from the table and unfolded it.

"Last year, the Jiangnan Circuit reported water conservancy expenditures of 370,000 taels. However, the Ministry of Works' records show only 210,000 taels allocated. Where did the 160,000 taels go?"

No one speaks.

Xiao Jue picked up another one.

"Two years ago, Shandong reported a disaster, saying that the Yellow River had breached its banks, inundating three counties. The imperial court allocated 100,000 taels of silver for disaster relief. However, the local people only received one peck of rice per person. 100,000 taels of silver for just one peck of rice?"

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a nail.

"I ordered an investigation. The results showed that of the 100,000 taels, 50,000 taels went into the private treasury of the Shandong Provincial Treasurer, 30,000 taels went into the pocket of the River Conservancy Governor, and the remaining 20,000 taels were distributed among his subordinates."

The court was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Xiao Jue put the folding book down.

"I didn't investigate these matters before because I was busy. Busy with war, busy with my ascension to the throne." He paused, "But now, I have the time."

He stood up, walked down the steps, and stepped towards those people.

"From today onwards, the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, and the Court of Judicial Review will conduct a joint trial. The accounts of each circuit, prefecture, and county will be examined one by one. Whoever is found guilty will be dealt with according to the law."

No one dared to speak.

Xiao Jue's gaze swept across the faces of those people one by one.

"I'm giving you three days," he said. "Those who confess within three days will be treated leniently. Those found out after three days—"

He paused.

"Confiscating property."

Those two words fell like two stones hitting water.

The imperial court was deathly silent.

September 6th, the three-day deadline has passed.

Seventeen people voluntarily confessed. None of them held high official positions, and none had embezzled much; the largest amount confessed was eight thousand taels. Xiao Jue reviewed the list and wrote four words: "Punish them according to the law."

The rest, no one explained.

On the seventh day of the ninth month, the first batch of results from the joint trial by the three judicial departments were released.

The first person to be investigated was the Shandong Provincial Governor, surnamed Zhou, a former official of the previous dynasty.

When Xiao Jue ascended the throne, he was the first to submit a letter of surrender, the first to pledge allegiance, and the first to express his loyalty. Over the years, he has made great strides in Shandong, reporting good news and abundant harvests year after year.

The results of the investigation were astonishing.

During his five years in office, he embezzled 400,000 taels of silver. He alone pocketed 50,000 taels of the disaster relief funds allocated when the Yellow River breached its banks.

If the prefectures and counties below him sent him gifts, and the gifts were too few, he would find an excuse to transfer them away. If they didn't send any gifts at all, he would have someone impeach them.

On the day his house was raided, the silver carried out of his residence filled more than a hundred boxes. The antiques, paintings, silks, fabrics, and land deeds also filled three entire storerooms.