Prime Minister.

Chapter 37 (037) [The Wind Rises]

Ministry of Works.

When the officials from the investigation department arrived, the atmosphere here wasn't actually tense.

Perhaps it was because the harmonious scene a few days ago left a deep impression on the Ministry of Works officials, especially the officials of the Water Conservancy Bureau. They only accepted one routine questioning, and not a single one of them was taken away. This gave rise to a certain fantasy in their minds—perhaps the investigation department did not want to make a big fuss and would eventually place all the responsibility for this summer's floods on Gu Heng, who had brought it upon himself.

Mu Huaixin, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, is on duty today. With Xue Minglun absent, he naturally takes the lead here.

"Greetings, Imperial Envoy Shen. Minister Xue and Vice Minister Li are on business at the Cabinet today and are not in the yamen at the moment."

Mu Huaixin stepped forward to pay his respects. Although the two were of the same rank, Shen Wang's status as an imperial envoy made him dare not be careless.

Shen Wang nodded in acknowledgment, then calmly said, "It's alright. Minister Mu, I'm here today because of the Ministry of Works' corruption case. I request that Minister Mu immediately summon the directors, assistant directors, clerks, and ambassadors from all departments and bureaus."

Mu Huaixin's throat bobbed, realizing that something big was probably going to happen today. However, since the other party was carrying out an imperial order, he had no right to refuse or decline. He could only immediately go and gather everyone.

Before long, apart from five or six officials who were not in the yamen, the rest gathered in the courtyard outside the main hall of the Ministry of Works.

Shen Wang stood on the steps, looking at the uneasy-looking officials from the Ministry of Works, and nodded to Xue Huai, who was standing beside him.

Xue Huai stepped forward and called out loudly, "Where is Qi Huan, the Assistant Director of the Water Conservancy Bureau?"

An official in his forties stepped forward from the crowd and solemnly replied, "Your humble servant is here."

Xue Huai held a thick file in both hands, opened two pages and said, "In the winter of the sixteenth year of Taihe, the Ministry of Works submitted a work order for dredging the Yongding River, which reported a cost of 74,215 taels of silver. This matter was handled by Qi Huan, the Assistant Director of the Water Conservancy Department. Is that correct?"

Qi Huan suppressed his fear and said, "It is true."

Xue Huai's eyes were cold and stern as he said in a deep voice, "The accounts of the Water Conservancy Bureau clearly state the detailed allocation of these 70,000 taels, of which 51,900 taels are for the laborers' wages. However, the actual wages paid to the laborers are less than 20,000 taels. Master Qi, how do you explain this?"

"Absolutely impossible!"

Qi Huan's hands trembled slightly. He didn't dare to look at Shen Wang and Mu Huaixin. His face was slightly red as he said, "Editor Xue, the accounts of the Water Conservancy Bureau are clearly listed. Every item of income and expenditure is clearly traceable. How can there be any talk of a shortage of wages for the laborers?"

"The Water Conservancy Bureau's accounts are indeed impeccable, but Master Qi should be familiar with both the public and private sets of accounts, right?"

Xue Huai paused slightly, glanced at the other Ministry of Works officials, and said sternly, "I might as well tell Master Qi that on the way here with the Imperial Envoy, the Imperial Envoy dispatched a captain from the Jing'an Division to your home. According to Gu Heng, the former director of the Water Conservancy Division, you hid the real account books in a secret compartment in your bedroom. Is that true?"

Qi Huan felt a sudden explosion in his mind, and his body could barely stand up.

The reason he has been able to maintain a semblance of calm these days is that the account books taken away by the investigation office are so flawless that even senior officials from the Ministry of Revenue could not find any flaws when they came forward to investigate. The officials from various ministries in the investigation office are certainly even weaker.

Those ledgers were carefully crafted lies; every transaction seemed to be traceable, but in reality, they had been manipulated in secret.

The truth is hidden in another set of ledgers. As for why Qi Huan didn't destroy the real ledger, the reason is simple: it was his lifeline, and the ledger clearly recorded the whereabouts of every penny.

Once Qi Huan is investigated, those involved in that line of work will have to protect his life, or at least his family, otherwise his handing over the ledgers will implicate a whole bunch of people.

Qi Huan just couldn't understand one thing: how did Gu Heng know where he hid the ledger?

"It's over... it's over..."

Qi Huan muttered to himself, and under Xue Huai's sharp gaze, he finally collapsed to the ground, unable to hold on any longer.

"Take this person back to the investigation office for thorough interrogation."

Xue Huai watched as the captain of the Jing'an Division stepped forward, dragging Qi Huan away. Then, he looked at the other officials of the Dushui Division, his voice filled with murderous intent.

"Zheng Jing, the head of the Water Conservancy Department..."

"Chen Guan, the Chief Clerk of the Water Conservancy Bureau..."

"Liu Dingshan, Chief Clerk of the Water Conservancy Bureau..."

To the Ministry of Works officials at that moment, the voice of this Hanlin Academy compiler sounded like that of a demon from the deepest hell; every name he called out meant that a colleague would be caught.

In just over a quarter of an hour, the officials of the Water Conservancy Bureau were taken away one by one, until only a few remained, standing there pale-faced and trembling.

This is, after all, the Ministry of Works under the emperor's nose. Even an imperial envoy cannot act arbitrarily. However, the investigation department came prepared today. Before the offending official was taken away, Xue Huai would announce at least one of the official's crimes.

Mu Huaixin was horrified. These detailed charges could not have been uncovered from those dozen or so boxes of meticulously fabricated files. Therefore, there was only one answer. He turned to look at the silent imperial envoy beside him. This person must have been secretly collecting relevant evidence long ago. With the addition of the confession provided by Gu Heng, he had brought down the entire Dushui Division today.

He just couldn't understand why, since Shen Wang had made preparations in advance, he didn't just take action that day instead of wasting these past few days.

The only thing that could put Mu Huaixin at ease was that the investigation of the Water Conservancy Bureau was within Xue Minglun's and his expectations. As long as it stopped there, Shen Wang should be able to report back to the Emperor.

He coughed lightly, intending to invite Shen Wang to sit in the duty room for a while, but before he could speak, Shen Wang said, "Where are the Assistant Director and Assistant Director of the Agricultural Development Office?"

Mu Huaixin was stunned.

Kong Shao, the secretary of the Agricultural Reclamation Department, and Jia Fan, the assistant secretary, both felt a jolt in their hearts and quickly stepped forward to respond. Xue Huai glanced at the two men, flipped through the dossier in his hand, stopped at a certain page, and said, "Gentlemen, the Agricultural Reclamation Department is in charge of the reclamation of official land, military farmland, and tax collection. However, someone has accused you of reselling official land for personal gain over the past five years, turning fertile land into wasteland for sale. Is this true?"

Kong Shao said urgently, "Absolutely not! This must be a frame-up—"

"Whether it is or not, we can find out by checking."

Today, Xue Huai appeared unusually assertive, directly interrupting the other party and saying in a deep voice, "Guards, take Physician Kong and Master Jia back to the investigation office for questioning."

Kong Shao wanted to argue, but Jia Fan didn't struggle. He just looked coldly at Xue Huai, thinking to himself, "You fool, you really don't know what's good for you. Do you know who will be implicated if this matter is investigated? I don't believe you dare to provoke that prince!"

At this point, Mu Huaixin knew he could no longer remain silent.

Since the Emperor has ordered a thorough investigation, those abandoned agents of the Water Conservancy Bureau obviously cannot be saved. It's just a matter of how long they can delay. But now even the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau cannot be spared. What exactly is Shen Wang planning to do?
"Imperial Envoy Shen, isn't there some misunderstanding here?"

Mu Huaixin leaned closer and lowered his voice, saying, "Even if Physician Kong and his ilk had the audacity to do so, they wouldn't dare to sell official land privately."

Shen Wang dusted off his sleeves and said calmly, "Is Minister Mu going to vouch for them?"

Mu Huaixin was speechless. How could he dare to guarantee it?
"That was not my intention. But as you see, Imperial Envoy Shen, it is currently the year-end audit season, and the Water Conservancy Bureau is almost paralyzed. Furthermore, you have taken away the Assistant Director and Assistant Director of the Land Reclamation Bureau, making the Ministry of Works even more short-handed..."

Mu Huaixin spoke in a low voice, saying that he just wanted to stall until Xue Minglun returned to take charge.

Shen Wang narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a measured tone, "It's alright to delay the year-end audit a little. The most important thing now is to complete the task assigned by His Majesty. Does Minister Mu agree?"

Mu Huaixin opened his mouth, then said dejectedly, "Yes."

At this moment, Xue Huai read out three more names: an assistant director of the Construction Department and two principal officers of the Forestry Department. After publicly reading out their crimes, he ordered the captains of the Jing'an Department to arrest and take them away.

At this point, all four core departments of the Ministry of Works had personnel investigated and prosecuted.

Mu Huaixin watched this scene, feeling his mind go blank, yet he was helpless.

Shen Wang did not stop there. He looked at Mu Huaixin and said, "Minister Mu, the duty rooms of these officials involved in the case, as well as the relevant files, need to be searched. Can you make arrangements for that?"

Mu Huaixin felt extremely frustrated and flustered, but could he possibly say no?

With the permission of this Vice Minister, young officials such as Xue Huai, Yuan Cheng, Fang Jiming, Chen Zhi, and Ge Cunyi immediately set to work with their clerks.

Compared to the last time, they finally achieved some success today through a surprise attack.

Half an hour later, the expressions of the two groups of people were in stark contrast.

The officials of the Ministry of Works were filled with anxiety, while everyone in the investigation department was excited.

Just as things were about to come to a close, a commotion arose outside the Ministry of Works. Soon after, Minister of Works Xue Minglun and Vice Minister Li Zan arrived late.

Upon seeing his savior, Mu Huaixin quickly stepped forward and briefly explained to Xue Minglun what had happened.

Shen Wang watched as Xue Minglun approached, then stepped down the steps and calmly looked at him.

Xue Minglun's expression was unfriendly, and he went straight to the point, questioning, "Imperial Envoy Shen, His Majesty ordered you to thoroughly investigate the Water Conservancy Bureau. Why have other officials from the Ministry of Works been implicated for no reason?"

"It wasn't without reason."

Shen Wang showed no smugness; on the contrary, he felt a little regretful that Xue Minglun had arrived too late. “The Investigation Department does everything on the evidence. Just now, Editor Xue read out the evidence of the crimes the relevant officials were suspected of. If Minister Xue has any questions, this Imperial Envoy can have him read it again.”

Xue Minglun looked at Xue Huai, who was standing behind Shen Wang, and that look contained an unimaginable complexity.

Seemingly puzzled, seemingly disappointed.

Xue Huai pursed his lips and stood tall and solemn.

Xue Minglun withdrew his gaze and said to Shen Wang, "Your Excellency, regarding your arbitrary arrests and disruption of the Ministry of Works' daily operations today, I will submit a memorial to His Majesty tomorrow, impeaching you!"

"Please."

Shen Wang's answer was simple; after speaking, he strode forward.

Officials from the investigation department followed suit.

Xue Huai did the same, but as he passed by Xue Minglun, he heard the Minister whisper.

The voice was very low, only the two of them could hear it.

"Jing Che, you have disappointed me greatly."

Xue Huai showed no emotion on his face. He followed Shen Wang's steps and walked forward firmly and steadily.

(End of this chapter)