Climbing to the Top: A Reborn Queen's Journey-Chapter 503: Aftermath (4)
Jiang Yi kept wielding his pen, but unfortunately, the ink was limited, unable to capture Jiang Shaohua’s aggressive demeanor and Vice Minister Wang’s awkward dismay at this moment.
Vice Minister Ding, who had been silent all along, finally stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Reporting to the Commandery Princess, the Ministry of War’s accounts have always been in my custody. If the Commandery Princess wishes to see the accounts, I will fetch them immediately."
Jiang Shaohua made a sound of assent, looked at Vice Minister Ding, her voice much gentler: "Thank you, Vice Minister Ding." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞
Vice Minister Ding privately interacted with the Nanyang Prince Mansion, seldom revealing it openly, known to very few. At least, Vice Minister Wang was unaware of this.
Seeing Vice Minister Ding speak out to resolve the issue for him, Vice Minister Wang even felt a bit grateful in his heart.
This Jiang Shaohua, words as sharp as a knife, really hard to deal with.
Women and petty men are hard to raise. This phrase was not at all false.
Vice Minister Wang kept criticizing inwardly, yet didn’t dare utter a single extra word, fearing once more to bring fire upon himself.
Soon, Vice Minister Ding came over holding a stack of account books: "Here are all the account books from the Ministry of War for the past five years, every year’s military funding allocated from the Ministry of Revenue is recorded in them. Then distributed based on the number of soldiers in each army."
"However, the Ministry of War can only calculate an approximate military budget. The truly precise numbers are only known to the main generals of each army."
This is also one of the shortcomings of the Da Liang Army. Whether it’s the border army or the garrison, the main generals cannot avoid taking false salary and drinking soldier’s blood. The actual military strength and the numbers in the military books cannot possibly match. If a general only consumes one or two percent of the soldiers’ blood, it is considered he has a conscience.
Every year, the Ministry of War has to allocate military funds to dozens of armies with varying numbers of men, which is also a difficult task. For example, the Imperial Army, Brave Camp, Divine Martial Camp, and Divine Guard Camp in the Capital City must be prioritized to ensure sufficient military pay. For instance, the border army’s funds cannot be spared. As for the remaining garrisons, how much to deduct and give depends on the relationship between the garrison commanders and the Ministry of War.
Especially in recent years, the Da Liang National Treasury is empty, expenditures exceeding income. Military funds have been reduced repeatedly, and garrison military funds cannot be guaranteed at all. The Pingzhou rebellion arose precisely due to the embezzlement of military funds.
All these issues are known to the court officials, the Ministry of War, and the Emperor who is resting on the Dragon Couch. Even the Grand Empress Dowager Zheng and Empress Dowager Li know roughly.
What use is knowing? How should such a huge gap be filled?
Natural and man-made disasters and wars are endless in Da Liang, taxes decrease year by year, while places needing silver increase year by year, making it impossible to solve this fundamental problem.
Jiang Shaohua did not look at the account books from the previous four years, taking this year’s latest one and slowly began to read.
Vice Minister Ding remained fairly composed, and whenever the Commandery Princess questioned, he would immediately respond. No matter how many issues there were privately with the account books, at least they looked acceptable on the surface.
Vice Minister Wang gradually began to relax.
Before he could completely let out a breath, Jiang Shaohua turned her head again and asked, "Vice Minister Wang, this year’s accounts show that the military funding allocated to the border army has not been reduced, and even increased by ten percent. Why did Vice Minister Wang earlier claim ignorance?"
Feeling blatantly targeted, Vice Minister Wang was extremely angry but replied verbally, "Minister Ding and I each have our duties; the account books are under Minister Ding’s custody, and I am not the Commandery Princess, so how could I casually peruse them?"
Vice Minister Ding kept signaling with his eyes towards Vice Minister Wang.
But Vice Minister Wang, overwhelmed by anger, felt backed by Prime Minister Wang and was confident, unwilling to be critiqued endlessly by a teenage girl, said rigidly, "I have other duties to attend to, I take my leave for now."
Jiang Shaohua ignored Vice Minister Wang, and said to Jiang Yi, "Make a note that Vice Minister Wang, out of guilt and anger at my inquiry, made an excuse to leave."
Jiang Yi: "..."
Jiang Yi admired immensely in his heart, pen never stopping.
Vice Minister Wang was furious, almost bursting a vein: "What do you mean by saying this, Commandery Princess? When was I ever guilty and angry?"
Jiang Shaohua looked fixedly at Vice Minister Wang, her beautiful face shrouded in frost: "Vice Minister Wang, I am representing the Emperor to inspect the Ministry of War, and every word and deed must be reported to His Majesty. You refuse to cooperate, make excuses and delay, and express much dissatisfaction and denial. Are you displeased with me, or with His Majesty?"
Vice Minister Wang, at his wit’s end, angrily said, "I hold utmost loyalty to His Majesty, as clear as the sun and moon. The Commandery Princess is an emissary of the Emperor, but merely a representative to observe, am I to treat you as the Emperor, unable to speak truthfully?"
Vice Minister Ding, steady as a rock, got a bit anxious too, reached out to tug Vice Minister Wang’s sleeve, whispering urgently, "Vice Minister Wang, calm down, don’t be rash and offend the Commandery Princess!"
"How have I been rash?" Vice Minister Wang forcefully pulled back his sleeve, roared at Vice Minister Ding: "You’ve witnessed everything today. The Commandery Princess entered the Ministry of War, and every word was targeted at me, clearly wanting to find fault with me."
"I am a Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, a senior official of the third rank, why should I suffer such humiliation from her?"
"What’s the big deal about the Commandery Princess? Even Princess Bao Hua in the palace doesn’t act so arrogantly! Don’t pull me! I’m full of grievances, I must speak out!"
Vice Minister Wang, like a floodgate opening, abruptly turned around, eyes aflame: "Nanyang County Princess! Your status is equivalent to a Vassal King, so you should follow the rules of a Vassal King and stay quietly in your vassal territory. Coming to the Capital City, claiming to represent the Emperor, is overbearing!"
"The court has its regulations, and the Six Ministries have their procedures. You’re a teenage girl, no matter how intelligent, how much can you understand? What can you uncover by inspecting the Six Ministries?"
"It’s utterly absurd and laughable that the Emperor and the Grand Empress Dowager allow you to mess around like this!"
Vice Minister Wang, with spittle flying, spoke out freely.
Vice Minister Ding and others’ faces changed, hurriedly bowing to beg forgiveness.
Jiang Yi, as if watching a show, waited to see how Jiang Shaohua would handle the situation.
"Did you record everything Vice Minister Wang just said?" Jiang Shaohua didn’t rush to refute Vice Minister Wang but first asked Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi immediately lowered his head, writing swiftly, ears perked up.
Jiang Shaohua then said to Vice Minister Ding and others, "This matter has nothing to do with you, no need to apologize, rise."
Then leisurely looked at Vice Minister Wang: "Vice Minister Wang has many grievances against me, and in his words, he showed great disrespect towards His Majesty and the Grand Empress Dowager. Men, arrest Vice Minister Wang, send him to the Ministry of Justice, and charge him with gross disrespect. His disposition awaits my return to the palace to report to His Majesty, for His Majesty to decide."
Qin Hu and Meng Sanbao immediately stepped up and swiftly "arrested" Vice Minister Wang.
Vice Minister Wang, eyes blazing, about to curse, but Qin Hu acted even faster, reached out, and with a crisp sound, dislocated Vice Minister Wang’s jaw.
