The naughty and cowardly little crybaby sold himself out

Chapter 219: Is Wang Chai so important?

Perhaps the Ministry of Industry had been controlled by Jing Muhao a long time ago.

Once the price is set at that level, even if the next prince takes office, it will only be controlled in this range.

The inspectors who rotate once a year don’t have enough time to verify each one, and they can easily be fooled by the people under them. After all, it’s okay as long as the results are close enough.

A series of evidence was thrown out, and there were people kneeling on the floor in the Golden Throne Hall. The Minister of Works, who usually had the least presence among the six ministries, was trembling constantly and wiping the sweat from his forehead again and again.

What's even more incredible is that several princes were more or less implicated, especially the Third Prince, who was blamed for a bunch of things that he didn't even know where to start.

Jing Muyang frowned. Even he had an account to pay. The account he reported was the money he spent on decorating the palace and purchasing household items for his wedding. But it was clearly all his own money. When did he ask the Ministry of Works to report it to the Ministry of Revenue for reimbursement?

Jing Muyang checked his own accounts and found that they were the same as those reported by the Ministry of Industry.

This method is really clever. The accounts are true. He got the money from him and then went back to the Ministry of Revenue to get the silver. The key point is that the Ministry of Revenue also went to his house to check the bills, and they all match.

Actually, the expenses needed for the prince's wedding would have been paid by the Ministry of Revenue. Especially since Jing Muyang was reborn and was the youngest son, the emperor was even more pleased to allocate a large sum of money. It was Chu Jian who suggested to Jing Muyang not to be too extravagant and to spend less of the taxpayers' money, as that money should be used for the people.

But the royal family also has its own system. In order to balance the two ends, Jing Muyang halved the money allocated by the emperor and included it all in Chujian's dowry, which Chujian could not see. At the same time, he paid for the renovation of the palace and the purchase of household items out of his own pocket, which Chujian could see.

This not only preserved the emperor's kindness and the royal dignity, but also protected the sensitive and uneasy heart of Chu Jian.

He always thought he was doing well, but in the end, someone with ulterior motives took advantage of him.

The Ministry of Works actually submitted the reimbursement account, which matched that of Prince Zhan's Mansion. The key point was that the amount reported by the Ministry of Works was not much, and it did not report all of Jing Muyang's expenses, but only a small part of it.

This money should have been paid by the Ministry of Revenue. Although Jing Muyang had made a request, since the Ministry of Works had reported it and it was within the emperor's funding range, it could be regarded as money that Prince Zhan's Mansion had missed. His Ministry of Revenue would not ask any more questions, nor would it dare to ask any more questions.

They couldn't go and question Jing Muyang why he came to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for money when he clearly said he would pay for it himself. They didn't have the courage to do that.

Of course, the Ministry of Revenue did not expect the Ministry of Works to be so bold. Although the account of Prince Zhan's Mansion was the smallest, it was still a small act.

The emperor looked at the evidence handed to him, a thick stack of account books, almost every page of which had special notes in red pen. These were all problematic amounts.

The marked price of each item is not much different from the original price, but in the entire country, even if the unit price differs by only one cent, the final difference may be tens of thousands of taels.

The emperor covered his forehead with his hands, his head hurt so much.

By the way, why didn’t Jing Muyang find out last year?

In fact, that was not the case. He was almost about to find out, but the emperor ordered him not to investigate further.

Of course, the emperor at that time was only worried that the more he investigated, the more it would involve too many people, and that it would damage the interests of the aristocratic families too much and he would not be able to make amends.

Not to mention that those aristocratic families are already deeply involved with the imperial court. If everyone in the court is purged, how can he, the emperor alone, govern the country?

Besides, the occasional manipulation of the six ministries was within the range that the emperor could tolerate. It was considered as giving benefits to the aristocratic families so that they could also make some money and serve the court wholeheartedly.

I just didn’t expect that Jing Muhao got the lion’s share. When did he take advantage of this loophole?

If he had just taken advantage of the loophole in which the emperor tacitly promised him a small profit, he wouldn't have been so troubled. The key point was that Jing Muhao took advantage of this loophole to create a project out of nothing, and the unit price kept rising.

"Father, I really didn't embezzle so much money..." The third prince knelt on the ground and cried out for justice.

Last year, Jing Muyang found him out of embezzling several million taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue. He always felt that he didn't embezzle that much, after all, he didn't get much in his hands.

But there was indeed a huge amount missing from the account book, all of which was recorded in his head and passed through his hands. He usually spent money lavishly, thinking that he had spent it himself. Now that he thinks about it, there was probably not that much money at all.

"Father, I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't do any of this. I don't know what happened..." The Sixth Prince also hurriedly explained.

None of the ministers kneeling in the hall cried out for injustice. This matter was too big and no one could completely escape responsibility, including the emperor.

The emperor was so embarrassed. What could he do? Except for the projects that Jing Muhao came up with out of nowhere, the emperor had to bear the consequences for all the others. Who made him allow such loopholes to exist?

If we investigate further, so many people will be mobilized, and I'm afraid all the old and rotten grain will be dug out!

How can the whole imperial court look good? I'm afraid it will be laughed at by the people of the world!

But one thing is for another, where did Jing Muhao spend all the money he made? His Fifth Prince's Mansion was notoriously poor.

"Minister Min of the Ministry of Industry, I want to ask you, did all this money really go to Xiaowu?"

"Reply...Reply to Your Majesty, a small part is...yes...yes, but...the majority is...in...in...in the hands of Miss Wang...Wang Chai, yes...yes, Miss Wang Chai." Minister Min stammered as he spoke.

"Miss Wang Chai?" The emperor was very dissatisfied.

Wang Chai is just an orphan. She has no status in the Fifth Prince's Mansion and is nothing. How could she have such a great weight in Jing Muhao's eyes?

"Yes, your humble servant...your humble servant..." Minister Min took a deep breath, "Your humble servant is only in charge of the accounts in the capital. There are not many accounts in the capital. Your humble servant reconciles the accounts with Miss Wang Chai once a month, and then collects the money and gives it to her. I don't know how she manages it afterwards."

"The capital's debt is not high? One hundred thousand taels almost every month. Is that not a small amount?! Queen Lingyin's monthly silver is only one thousand taels! You tell me that one hundred thousand taels is not a small amount?" The emperor was so angry that he was about to die. It is conceivable how much money Jing Muhao had embezzled outside the capital.

"Your Majesty, please spare my life, Your Majesty, please spare my life. It was the Fifth Prince who threatened and forced me. I dared not disobey. If it were to be exposed, my whole family would die. Please, Your Majesty, please look into this matter..." Minister Min cried and begged for mercy.

"Your Majesty, we were all coerced by the Fifth Prince. A few years ago, Minister Gong was killed because he failed to win over the prince. And last year, Chief Zhou almost did something bad because he couldn't withstand the pressure from His Royal Highness the Prince of War. He was also killed afterwards. We were afraid and had no choice but to collude with the Fifth Prince. Please, Your Majesty, please look into this matter!"

The people kneeling behind Minister Min also kowtowed and begged for mercy.

**