Warlords: I just made a little fortune, but I didn’t build a country.

In early March, due to the Two Lakes Incident, the Qin Empire entered a six-month period of major review.

During this period, Qin Lin made a statement internally that anyone who had done anything harmful to the people or accepted bribes or abused the law would be given a lenient sentence if he confessed voluntarily. However, if the case was investigated by the Intelligence Department, he would be severely punished regardless of whether he had embezzled one dollar or one million dollars.

This news spread internally, and all of a sudden, the documents of voluntary payment piled up like a mountain. Qin Lin was furious and wanted to skin these people alive.

"Investigate according to this document. If what they say is the same as what they investigated, their property will be confiscated. As for their positions, they will be judged according to the crimes they committed. They will be demoted to the lowest rank, demoted to a lower rank, or sent to prison. You, the Ninth Division, will conduct the trial and investigation together with the judicial department."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

......

After a six-month investigation, the officialdom of the Qin Empire was completely transformed from dirty water to clean water. In addition, it was very thorough, because during this six months, as many as 8 officials were investigated, from ministerial officials to village heads. In the comprehensive investigation, corrupt officials were beheaded with machetes in front of local officials and people, and there were also tortures such as skinning and lighting lamps.

Of course, those who are likely to be tortured are corrupt officials who have committed heinous crimes, such as oppressing the people, keeping women in captivity, and illegally raising funds. As long as they have all three of these, they will be tortured.

And it is precisely because of the major review in the past six months that everyone knows that a new department has emerged within the empire, called Jinyi, which reports directly to the emperor and is under the personal jurisdiction of His Majesty, supervising all officials.

With such a sword hanging over your head, who would dare to commit a crime?

"His Majesty."

In the General Office of the Holy Palace, Wu Bei was reporting on the achievements of the Ninth Jinyi Division in the past six months, including the officials arrested and the illegal materials seized, etc. Also listening in were the eight ministers of the Cabinet.

"It seems that we old guys have to go out for a walk. The world has changed."

Ji Deyuan was the first to speak, "I thought that the situation in my Great Qin Empire was good and prosperous, but I didn't expect that there would be so many corrupt officials behind the scenes."

"I took the lead in making a self-examination. I did not find any anomalies in the application of funds by various departments. I fined myself one year's salary and went to the local area to take a look."

For Ji Deyuan, the cabinet minister in charge of the economy, he fell into deep thought as he looked at the 890 billion yuan in funds that were returned six months after the purge.

Because the returned 890 billion funds will not be used for the construction of the empire, but will go into the pockets of corrupt officials.

For example, the Ministry of Transport needs 1000 million to build a highway, but after allocating 1000 million, the maximum amount of funds that can be obtained is only 100 million. Everyone from top to bottom has to embezzle some money and put it into their own pockets. This is why the maintenance and construction costs of highways are increasing every year, because everyone's appetite is getting bigger and bigger. Also, there is a lot of water in road construction.

It is difficult to know the ins and outs of the place without going there to inspect or walk around, so since Ji Deyuan took the initiative to apply, Qin Lin naturally wouldn't say much. It would indeed be of great benefit to go there to understand more.

“In total,” Wu Bei continued, “the amount of illegal funds seized was as high as 501 billion.”

"You, the Ninth Department, have worked hard this time," Qin Lin said, "I will ask the Ministry of Finance to allocate 100 million yuan to reward you, the Ninth Department."

Qin Lin had used the loyalty review function of the technology tree to investigate the members of the Ninth Department, and they were all 100% loyal to him. Even if some of them were not 100%, they were still more than 90%. That was why Qin Lin dared to hand over all matters to the Ninth Department, because they had a country and faith in their hearts. It was a kind of patriotic faith and loyalty to the emperor that the Intelligence Bureau had cultivated in them since childhood. The Intelligence Department did a very good job in this regard.

"I'm on behalf of the Ninth Office. Thank you, Your Majesty."

After the report, the ministers left. Qin Lin was also thinking in the office, thinking about how to use the money.

According to calculations by the Ministry of Finance, there is still 1900 billion in the national treasury, including 501 billion in illegal funds, 890 billion in returned funds, and the funds originally in the national treasury, which adds up to 1900 billion star coins.

As for the operation of the country and the financial funds needed by various departments, they have all been allocated, so there is absolutely no place to spend the 1900 billion yuan.

For example, the Ministry of Education took away 80 billion yuan, which is enough for the development of the Ministry of Education this year, and there may even be some surplus. The Ministry of Transport was supposed to take away 200 billion yuan, but 140 billion yuan was returned, leaving 60 billion yuan, which is also enough. The funds for urban construction, etc. are all sufficient to cover the fiscal expenditure for the whole year.

So Qin Lin was having a headache about how to spend the 1900 billion, because the various departments of the Qin Empire could not possibly afford the 1900 billion.

The five major research institutes take away tens of billions of dollars in R&D funds, and each department has sufficient R&D funds and does not need them. Also, the shipyard takes away 30 billion yuan each year, which is enough for the construction of warships and does not need any extra funds. So after much deliberation, Qin Lin plans to increase the soldiers' salaries first.

After every major military reform, there should be changes in the soldiers' salaries and ranks. It just so happens that the third major military reform did not increase the soldiers' salaries, and today there is so much money in hand that it is just right to improve the soldiers' treatment.

After all, nowadays an ordinary worker in the Great Qin Empire can get a monthly salary of twenty-seven or twenty-eight yuan, and skilled workers can even get more, so how can the salary of a soldier who defends the country be too low?

You know, the average military salary of a soldier is about 25 yuan now. Based on five million soldiers, the annual military expenditure is only 15 billion yuan. So this time, Qin Lin plans to increase the soldiers' salary and benefits.

"Call the six top military officials over here."

After Qin Lin's order was conveyed, the secretary-general quickly called over the six major military officials.

"Your Majesty, you are looking for us?"

"Everyone, sit down and talk," Qin Lin said to the six military officials, "I called you here today because I want to tell you that I plan to increase the soldiers' salaries."

"This is good."

Deng Wenzhong said, "This year our military received 200 billion in military expenditures. To be honest, in peacetime, our military really cannot spend this 200 billion, so we also have this plan to improve the treatment of soldiers."

"That's exactly what we were thinking."

Qin Lin smiled and said, "Taking advantage of this military reform, we can put this matter on the agenda. I called you here today to discuss and come up with the best plan."