Chapter Twenty: The Case of the Blank Imperial Seals
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The moment the refined salt, sweet potatoes, and potatoes appeared, every civil and military official in the entire court understood why His Majesty had gone to such lengths to carry the Grandson of the Emperor to court with him.
For these three things alone, His Majesty would have carried even a seven-year-old Grandson of the Emperor to the palace—indeed, even a brawny man weighing more than two hundred pounds!
Any one of them, taken by itself, was enough to bring blessings to the common people.
At the same time, Li Shanchang was plagued by a question he could not solve no matter how much he pondered it.
“May this old minister ask Your Majesty why the grain was not sent through the Ministry of Revenue to the local officials, who could then distribute it through the local administrations?”
Normally, that was how disaster relief was handled.
By bypassing the local authorities, did this not imply that the imperial court itself did not trust them?
How would the local administrations govern the people in the future?
And would the people still place their faith in them?
“This was all arranged by Xiongying. He specifically instructed that the supplies must be handed directly to the disaster victims!”
At the time, Zhu Yuanzhang had been completely absorbed in the abundance of the harvest and had not thought to ask any further questions.
Now that he considered it, even he could not help but feel curious.
In an instant, every eye in the court turned toward Zhu Xiongying.
As for the boy himself, he was holding the imperial jade seal from atop the dragon desk and stamping it onto blank sheets of paper.
Whenever the seal lacked ink, he even knew to blow on it with his mouth. He was having the time of his life!
Seeing this, many of the ministers shook their heads helplessly.
No matter how clever the Grandson of the Emperor was, he was still a child after all.
He was still so fond of playing!
“May I ask Your Highness why the relief grain was not sent through the Ministry of Revenue to the local authorities?”
To elicit a response, Li Shanchang cupped his hands in salute, raised his voice, and asked again.
The little fellow acted as though he had not heard him. He blew on the side of the seal bearing the characters, aligned it with the blank paper, and pressed down hard with both small hands, completing the impression.
Then he picked up the paper bearing the imperial seal, ran down the steps, lifted his head, and asked, “Would you like me to give this paper to you?”
When Li Shanchang saw the imperial seal on it, he waved his hands repeatedly, cold sweat pouring down his face.
“No, no, no! This old minister would never dare! Never dare!”
Once the imperial jade seal had been stamped onto the paper, anything written upon it would represent His Majesty’s decree.
Even if he had been given another head, he would never have dared do such a thing!
The little fellow pouted and surveyed the assembled ministers.
After selecting his target, he hopped over to Duke of Song Feng Sheng, grinned broadly, and said, “Then how about I give it to you?”
“This old minister would never dare! Never dare!”
Feng Sheng had already lowered his head while the boy was searching for a target, afraid of being chosen. Yet he had still failed to escape.
Zhu Xiongying immediately fixed his eyes on someone else.
Earlier, when Li Shanchang had learned that a large quantity of grain was being sent to Henan Prefecture, he had exchanged glances with this man. He supposed the man must be from the Ministry of Revenue.
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Shuffling along on his little feet, the boy ran up to Yang Siyi and asked in a childish voice, “Are you from the Ministry of Revenue?”
Yang Siyi trembled from head to toe. He cupped his hands and replied, “In answer to Your Highness, this old minister is Yang Siyi, Minister of Revenue!”
The little fellow broke into a grin and stuffed the blank sheet bearing the imperial seal into his hands.
“Then this is perfect for you!”
Yang Siyi held it as though it were a red-hot coal.
He dared not keep it.
He dared not throw it away either!
He could only cast a pleading glance toward Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao did him the favor of responding. Keeping a stern face, he scolded, “Xiongying, do not make trouble in the main hall!”
“Father, I am not making trouble! This is something their Ministry of Revenue is best at using!” the little fellow said with complete seriousness.
“Your Highness, please stop joking with this old minister! This... this... even if Your Highness gave me a hundred times the courage, I still would not dare!”
Yang Siyi’s face had gone pale with fright.
His hands, holding the white paper marked with the imperial seal, trembled uncontrollably.
Zhu Xiongying’s expression abruptly turned solemn.
The sparkling light in his eyes suddenly sharpened into something fierce.
“Just because you do not dare does not mean the people beneath you do not dare!”
Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to understand something. He immediately asked, “Grandson, explain it more clearly.”
Zhu Xiongying cupped his little hands, his face grave as he asked, “Grandfather, does every county in Great Ming have to submit its grain, money, and financial accounts to the Ministry of Revenue every year?”
“That is correct. Every figure must be accurate to the smallest detail before the accounts can be settled. If anything does not match, the entire document must be rejected, stamped again, and resubmitted!”
Zhu Yuanzhang was still very proud of this system.
Only in this way could corruption be avoided as much as possible.
“Hmph, hmph...”
Zhu Xiongying gave two cold snorts and said with ringing clarity, “Unfortunately, the people in the Ministry of Revenue and the local administrations stamp their seals on blank documents in advance to reduce their workload. Once the documents arrive for verification, they simply fill in the figures!”
Ding! Congratulations, host. You have exposed the Blank Seal Case ahead of time, striking terror into the entire court. Reward: three additional years of life!
Ding! Congratulations, host. You have exposed the Blank Seal Case ahead of time, striking terror into the entire court. Reward: one life-extending pill!
Ding! Congratulations, host. You have exposed the Blank Seal Case ahead of time, striking terror into the entire court. Reward: Strength +30!
Ding! Congratulations, host. You have exposed the Blank Seal Case ahead of time, striking terror into the entire court. Reward: Charisma +10!
Ding! Congratulations, host. You have exposed the Blank Seal Case ahead of time, striking terror into the entire court. Reward: three months of life, two months...
The moment his words ended, the mechanical voice announcing the rewards in his mind showed no sign of stopping.
As for the great hall, it was deathly silent. One could hear a pin drop.
Everyone stared at him in disbelief, their eyes fixed upon him.
Even Zhu Yuanzhang was no exception!
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At that moment, more than anything, he hoped to see the boy bare his white teeth and tell him that he had only been joking.
But the little fellow’s next words completely shattered that hope.
“Grandfather, tell me yourself. With the Ministry of Revenue, the provincial administrations, and the local officials joining forces to embezzle funds and deceive the Emperor, how am I supposed to trust them? That grain is being sent to disaster-stricken regions to save the lives of the people!”
“Good heavens...”
The moment his words fell, the entire court erupted.
“What? The Ministry of Revenue actually dares to stamp seals in advance?”
“My goodness! No wonder His Highness stuffed that piece of paper bearing the blank imperial seal into Yang Siyi’s hands. So there was a deeper meaning behind it!”
“So the Grandson of the Emperor was not making trouble at all. He was giving us a hint! We were simply too foolish to understand it!”
“It is over! The Ministry of Revenue is finished!”
“Of course it is! They actually dared to embezzle funds right under His Majesty’s nose. Are they tired of living?”
The sudden revelation of such a grave matter left every civil and military official trembling with fear.
Given the temperament of the Emperor above them, perhaps the entire Ministry of Revenue would not be wiped out—but it would come close!
When the Emperor flew into a rage, rivers of blood could flow for a thousand miles!
As Minister of Revenue, Yang Siyi was initially astonished by what he heard, and even somewhat furious.
Yet the more he listened, the more horrified he became.
In the end, his legs gave way, and he fell to his knees in the middle of the great hall.
He was not alone. Every official from the Ministry of Revenue collapsed to the floor.
Some of them had been directly involved.
What they had done was exactly as the Grandson of the Emperor had described.
Now that their crimes had been exposed, there was no chance they would keep their heads!
Even those in the Ministry of Revenue who had played no part in the affair would certainly be implicated simply because they belonged to the same ministry.
“Bang!”
Just as they trembled helplessly, uncertain what sort of imperial thunderstorm was about to descend, Zhu Yuanzhang slammed his fist onto the dragon desk with a deafening crash.
Even the memorials on the desk shook.
“Your Majesty, please calm your anger!”
The civil and military officials all dropped to their knees.
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