In a short while, the Brocade Guard finished their count and reported, "Reporting to the Second Minister, the money has all been counted."
"How much in total?"
"Reporting, sir, the silver totals one hundred and fifty-eight thousand taels, gold three thousand taels, five boxes of jewelry, and twenty sets of calligraphy and paintings."
Chu Chen silently calculated. The gold to silver ratio was one to ten, so three thousand taels of gold equaled thirty thousand taels of silver. The jewelry and paintings were difficult to estimate, but just the cash alone amounted to one hundred and eighty-eight thousand taels.
"Hiss~ This is just a clean official with little opportunity for illicit gains, and he managed to embezzle up to two hundred thousand. Then, for those positions with ample opportunities, what extent of embezzlement would they reach?"
"If I, Chu Chen, hadn't appeared in this Yun Yue Kingdom, wouldn't it be doomed?"
Two hundred thousand taels. A household of five, with a monthly income of less than two taels of silver. The monthly salary of ordinary county soldiers was only one tael of silver.
This was equivalent to a household of five saving for one hundred thousand months, approximately eight thousand three hundred years, and that without eating or drinking!
Chu Chen was extremely displeased and angrily shouted, "Send a few people to get boxes, pack everything, label them, register them, and send them to His Majesty!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Damn it, I, a First Rank Second Minister, with a monthly salary of only ninety-five taels, not counting other subsidies and benefits, and he, with a monthly salary of eighty taels, used what means to embezzle so much?"
"The蛀虫 (zhu虫 -蛀虫, meaning parasites or corrupt officials) of Yun Yue Kingdom, the scourge of the herd! Scum! Ptooey!"
Chu Chen cursed angrily in his heart.
Leaving the matter to the Brocade Guard, Chu Chen emerged from the cellar.
At this moment, the noblewoman, who had been revived by the doctor who examined her, had already regained consciousness after being pinched on the philtrum.
She happened to see Chu Chen, whose face was filled with anger and indignation.
"What are you looking at?"
Chu Chen snapped unhappily.
The noblewoman, scared, quickly averted her gaze, not daring to look again.
"Someone! Go to the Five Cities Military Command and summon people. Surround the entire Zhang mansion. Without my command, not even a single rat from the Zhang household is allowed to leave!"
"Yes, sir!"
Chu Chen's shouting caused the noblewoman, who had just woken up, to faint again.
When the Five Cities Military Command arrived and helped to seal off the Zhang mansion, Chu Chen gave instructions to the Brocade Guard, ensuring they kept a close eye on the Zhang family members within the mansion. Then, he took the registration book and several carriages to the imperial palace.
In the Imperial Study.
The Empress sat on the dragon throne, her body trembling with rage as she looked at the registration book in her hand.
"Scoundrels! A mere clean-living Censor official, yet so greedy!"
"Embezzling one hundred and eighty thousand taels, not even counting the value of the jewelry and paintings! He deserves to die!"
"Chen Yuanliang, Chen Yuanliang, I truly wish I could drag you out from the underworld to question you properly. Is this how you help me govern the court? Even if you wanted to rebel, to invite the Qin invasion, wouldn't these people become an obstacle to you and Qin?"
"Simply... simply lawless!"
The Empress could no longer maintain her dignity, her voice hoarse with anger, her emotions extremely agitated.
After Chen Yuanliang's rebellion, the Empress finally realized how incompetent her beloved officials were. Even though she had psychological preparation for their corruption, she never imagined it would be this terrifying.
No wonder the Empress felt that despite holding court daily and striving for good governance for over a decade, the national strength of Yun Yue Kingdom was still slowly declining.
This wasn't a decline; it was an act of national destruction!
Fortunately, there was Chu Chen, and fortunately, she had agreed to the establishment of the Brocade Guard. Otherwise, who knew how long she would have been deceived!
The Censorate monitored officials and reported on events. It inherently possessed some of the powers of the Brocade Guard. If such a department had become this rotten, one could imagine how bad other departments were.
After scolding intermittently for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the Empress's throat was dry. She picked up her teacup and drank deeply.
A moment later, she put down the teacup and sighed, returning to her dragon throne.
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. With my Brocade Guard from now on, such incidents will absolutely not happen again."
Chu Chen said cautiously.
The Empress's extreme rage had, to be honest, startled him.
The 'tigress' truly lived up to her name. When her anger flared, her scolding was terrifying.
"Alas, this is all my fault. I trusted Chen Yuanliang as Prime Minister for over twenty years, leading to the current state of Yun Yue Kingdom. I foolishly thought myself a wise ruler, but I never imagined I was a foolish ruler as recorded in history books!"
The Empress covered her face with her hands in remorse.
"This is not entirely Your Majesty's fault. If anyone is to blame, it is the cunning schemes of Qin and Chen Yuanliang's extreme patience and deception."
Chu Chen tried to defend the Empress's faults slightly, attempting to smooth things over.
"Forget it. It has already happened. Such scolding is useless."
The Empress waved her hand, trying her best to calm herself.
Then, she opened her eyes, looked at Chu Chen, and said, "Chu Chen, can I trust you?"
"Naturally," Chu Chen replied without hesitation, meeting the Empress's gaze.
The Empress nodded, her expression stern. "That's good. Chu Chen!"
"Your subject is here!"
"I know the Brocade Guard currently has less than a hundred people. I order you to quickly fill the ranks of the Brocade Guard and keep a close watch on the court and beyond! We absolutely cannot let these scoundrels deceive and mislead me again!"
"Your subject obeys the decree!"
"Also, have Zhang Guojin's mansion searched. I will issue you an imperial edict later. Furthermore, you will dispatch the Brocade Guard to supervise the subsequent approvals of the Court of State Ceremonial. We must cut off any possibility of collusion between officials and ensure Zhang Guojin is brought to justice!"
"Your subject obeys the decree!"
"Go."
"Yes, sir!"
After leaving the imperial city, Chu Chen immediately relayed orders to the Five Cities Military Command, dispatching an additional thousand men to surround the Zhang mansion and block off the street.
Subsequently, Chu Chen arrived at the Zhang mansion only to find the Minister of Rites, Wu Sheng, standing at the entrance with over a hundred people, confronting the Five Cities Military Command.
He smiled in surprise and said, "Isn't this Lord Wu? What brings you here today?"
Wu Sheng turned his head and shouted angrily, "Chu Chen! How dare you arbitrarily seal off the mansion of a Third Rank official and forcibly enter to confiscate property! Do you know your crime?"
"Know my crime? What crime do I know? It is you who are guilty, it is Lord Zhang, not I!"
"Even if you suspect Lord Zhang of guilt, you should have first requested instructions or ordered the Ministry of Justice to send people to investigate and review. Then, after the three judicial bodies have deliberated and passed judgment, only then can such action be taken."
"What you are doing now is neither in accordance with propriety nor law. How can you act so arrogantly? Even the previous Prime Ministers dared not act like this, let alone you, a mere Second Minister!"
Wu Sheng angrily attempted to reason.
But Chu Chen had no time for his babbling. He directly took out an imperial edict from his sleeve, held it up, and shouted, "Do you see this? This is an imperial edict. His Majesty has already decided to apprehend Zhang Guojin! I am acting on imperial orders!"
"Furthermore, what is my Brocade Guard department? It is specially authorized by His Majesty. Do you understand what 'special authorization' means? Whether you understand it or not, take your men and get lost immediately, otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"
"You dare!"
"Dare to obstruct me from commanding the Brocade Guard? Come, arrest them all!"
"What are you waiting for? Do you also want to personally understand what imperial authorization is? To execute first and report later!"