Shanyin Mansion, in the warehouse.
Di Zhiyuan, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple, was staring at the box in front of him in a daze. What was piled in front of him were the boxes that had previously contained salary, and there were thousands of them.
After several days of interrogation, Di Zhiyuan got a lot of information.
For example, Cheng Lixue, the leading general in charge of escorting the money, saw the silver before the seal was affixed. Although he did not check it carefully, it was definitely not stone bricks and sand at that time.
After experiencing the Yinbing Passage incident, the Liberation Army discovered that their wages were missing only after they arrived in Songyang County.
Although Cheng Lixue is not a Yin Cao who specializes in dealing with silver, he should be able to distinguish between silver ingots and stone bricks.
Di Zhiyuan looked at these boxes again. Although they had been soaked by rain and transported for a long distance, even though they were bumped on the road, these boxes were too badly damaged!
Di Zhiyuan squatted on the ground. The patent leather on it had fallen off, and the tops of the silver boxes were covered with cracks. Then Di Zhiyuan discovered that this was not an accidental phenomenon, but that the tops of each box were covered with cracks. , and there are also small cracks on the sides of the box.
If there are two of them, it is reasonable. After all, the box may be damaged over time, but it is impossible for every box to be damaged. How can a box of this quality be used to transport payment? !
Such a box will seep water during heavy rain, and the silver in the box will be soaked in the water.
There must be something wrong with this batch of boxes!
"Here comes! Immediately take my officer's order arrow and send word to Yin Cao from Yuezhou Governor's Office to come see him!" Di Zhiyuan immediately stood up and said to the policeman on duty outside the door.
"yes!'
The arresters from Dali Temple immediately filed out, and two-quarters of an hour later, they brought Yin Cao from Yuezhou Governor's Office to the warehouse. "My subordinate Wang Yincao of Yuezhou Prefecture has met Mr. Di!"
Naturally, Cheng Lixue and Qinglong, who were responsible for escorting the money, were most responsible for the loss of money.
Although Wang Li has not yet been held accountable, if the case becomes difficult to solve in the future and the court pursues accountability, he, as the Yincao of Yuezhou Governor's Office, will definitely be on the court's list of liquidators.
These days, Wang Li was not eating well and sleeping restlessly. When he heard the summons from Dali Temple Prime Minister and Yuezhou Deputy Inspector Di Zhiyuan, who was responsible for the case, Wang Li immediately followed the police officers.
"Wang Yincao, you are in charge of the treasury of Yuezhou Governor's Mansion, right?"
"It's the official job!"
Di Zhiyuan nodded, "Wang Yincao, I have something to ask you! I hope Wang Yincao will give you some advice!"
"Sir, please tell me. I will tell you everything I know!"
The Prime Minister of Dali Temple was originally two ranks higher than Yuezhou Yincao, and Di Zhiyuan was currently the deputy envoy of the Yuezhou Capital Inspector sent by the imperial court. The Yuezhou Capital Inspector was Li Xunhuan.
Therefore, Wang Yincao was respectful in front of Di Zhiyuan and did not dare to be disrespectful in the slightest.
"Wang Yincao, I want to know whether the boxes used to transport the salary to the Shenwu Army were brought by the Shenwu Army or provided by the Yuezhou Bank!"
Upon hearing Di Zhiyuan's question, Yincao Wangli's expression changed obviously!
"...Sir, these silver boxes...are all provided by Yuezhou Bank!"
"oh?!'
What kind of person is Di Zhiyuan? When he was serving as a legal officer in Bingzhou, he was known as a great detective. After entering Dali Temple, he was exposed to various major and strange cases.
I also analyzed and exchanged micro-expression studies with Yang Qingyuan during the interrogation, and I could tell at a glance that Yin Cao had something up his sleeve.
It seems that there is indeed something wrong with these silver boxes containing paychecks!
Di Zhiyuan did not ask further questions, but under the gaze of Di Zhiyuan, King Yin Cao couldn't stand it any longer!
"Excuse me, sir! I really didn't use these boxes on purpose! I was entrusted by others and had no choice but to use these boxes!" Wang Li said while kneeling on the ground. The poor quality of the silver boxes used was not a big deal at first. !
But at this time, this is the basis for being punished
"Tell me carefully. If there is any untruth, I will hand you over to the Metropolitan Procuratorate immediately!"
"yes!"
King Yincao stood up tremblingly, and then said, "Master Di may not know that these silver boxes were actually made with money from the Yuezhou Bank. Originally, the previous boxes could be used to transfer silver in the state, but this The treasury silver was shipped to the Shenwu Army, so the Yuezhou Bank specially made a batch of new silver boxes!"
"Your Excellency may also know that a silver box like this is not a valuable item, and it is not difficult to make. Therefore, it is usually made by craftsmen designated by the Yuezhou Bank. After receiving the operation order that day, the official I planned to find some carpenters to make these silver boxes as usual, but Li Da, the treasurer in charge of the Yuezhou Bank, found me!"
Di Zhiyuan had already guessed what was going on.
"He invited Xiaguan to have a drink. One of Li's sisters married a carpenter, but the family's business was sluggish. He hoped that Xiaguan could hand over the production of these silver boxes to his brother-in-law. By giving us Yuezhou Silver Ku made the silver box to increase his reputation! Li Zhangku and Xiaguan worked together, and besides, the making of the silver box was not important, so after thinking about it, Xiaguan handed over the job to Li Zhangku's brother-in-law. '
Di Zhiyuan smiled when he heard this and only asked, "How much money did you receive from him!?"
Wang Li, who had just stood up, knelt on the ground again, "My lord, the official was also confused for a moment. Zhangku Li gave the villain ten taels of silver as a mediation, and the official agreed to hand over the carpentry work to him!"
The purchasing power of twelve taels of grain silver is equivalent to 12,000 yuan.
To be honest, these ten taels are a lot less, but they are really not much! For ordinary people, ten taels is indeed not a small amount, but for Wang Li, the head of the Yuezhou Finance Department, it is really not a big amount.
According to the criminal law of later generations, those who accept bribes in relatively large amounts shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined. The larger amount here is limited to NT$30,000.
Putting aside various special circumstances, accepting a bribe of 12,000 yuan, although it meets the standards for filing a case, if the suspect has a good attitude of pleading guilty and actively returns the stolen goods, the final result will most likely be based on guilt without prosecution. . (ps: Almost no one has been investigated for embezzling 10,000 yuan.)
In today's Great Zhou Dynasty, this cannot actually be regarded as corruption.
During the Taizu period, anyone who embezzled more than twenty taels of silver would be immediately beheaded!
However, after I ascended the throne, I felt that the official salaries were low, so I raised them a lot. At the same time, I also felt that the laws enacted by Taizu were too strict, making it impossible for the officials to live. So this was revised
Twenty taels of silver with corruption patterns and thirty taels of staff; one hundred taels of silver with corruption patterns will flow for three thousand miles; those with more than five hundred taels of silver with corruption patterns will be executed without mercy!
The starting point for punishment for corruption has been significantly relaxed. Even Yin Cao Wangli's ten taels of silver did not even reach the starting point for corruption.
Yang Qingyuan and Di Zhiyuan also discussed this issue. Yang Qingyuan's final conclusion is: "Today's greed is so strong that it can't be removed from people's hearts. The salary is too small to support their families.
Scholars of the Great Zhou Dynasty lived in poverty for ten years and were named on the gold medal list. If they excel in their studies, they will become officials.
After going through various examinations and selections, I finally got the qualifications to be an official. I thought that even if I couldn't make a fortune, I would still be able to live comfortably, but I didn't expect that my life would be in straits.
It doesn't matter if your family is rich, but if you come from a poor family in Guizhou, you really can't make it.
Those who have a high level of self-morality are considered to be poor. Anyone whose thoughts are a little wavering will naturally find ways to be greedy.
Yang Qingyuan once said that if you want to eliminate people who have committed corruption in Dazhou, and you say that everyone has committed corruption, then you will definitely wrongly accuse good people.
But how to arrest every other official? There must be only one who is let go and no one who is wrongly arrested.
The root cause is that the salary is not enough to support a family, let alone live a decent life.
In Maslow's needs theory, the most basic one is physiological security, that is, food, clothing, housing and transportation.
As the scholar-bureaucrat class in the Great Zhou Dynasty, they had to struggle to support even the most basic survival. How can we expect them to realize their original values?!
That's why Dazhou had all kinds of ways to make money, such as breaking color and burning flowers, and kicking dendrobium with its tip, so the court turned a blind eye.
Therefore, corruption cannot be eradicated by the deterrence of severe punishments and laws alone!
Di Zhiyuan looked at Yincao Wangli's trousers. They were covered by his official robe when he stood up, but now they were exposed when he knelt down. The dignified Yincao Wangli, a seventh-rank official in the imperial court, actually had a patch on his trousers.
Today, Di Zhiyuan called Wang Li of Yincao to come. The incident happened suddenly. Wang Li could not have known about it beforehand. Since the field police officers from Dali Temple brought him here, he must not have had time to change clothes, so this should be his usual routine. Dress attire.
"Master Wang, please get up first! These ten taels of silver are not yet the starting point of my Da Zhou Law. I will not punish you right now. However, I will tell the truth to the deposed envoy and the inspector about this matter." Report! It is up to the two adults to decide whether to punish or not!" "Thank you, Mr. Di, for being considerate of your subordinates! I am so grateful that I shed tears of gratitude!"
"You keep talking about the cash box!'
"Yes!" Wang Li then stood up and continued, "After the official accepted the silver pattern, he handed over the making of the silver box to Li Zhangkui's brother-in-law. Not only did the price of the silver box made by his brother-in-law not increase, but the price was lower than that of the silver box. On the contrary, it is 50% lower than before! Now the official is relieved!'
"Then after these boxes were made, did you check and accept them?!"
Di Zhiyuan continued to ask
"The official inspected it, but although the wood used at that time was not of good quality as usual, for the Yuezhou Bank, it was a disposable silver box after all. After it was transported to the Shenwu Army in the south and distributed, these The silver box is useless, so I think it doesn't need to be too durable."
When Di Zhiyuan heard this, he actually agreed with this statement. For Yuezhou, it was a loss for Yuezhou to take out silver taels from the state's treasury to subsidize the Shenwu Army. From the governor down, they are definitely not happy.
It is understandable that a disposable silver box like this is made of cheaper materials.
"There were no cracks on these silver boxes at that time!"
"There shouldn't be any!'
Wang Li's tone seemed a little uncertain.
"should?!"
"Your Excellency, when I accepted these cash boxes, I didn't check them carefully. I just looked at a few of them and then put them into the treasury!"
Di Zhiyuan nodded, and then asked for some details, "Wang Yincao, you abused your power and should have been punished. However, considering that the amount of bribes you received was relatively small and the mistakes you made were not serious, I temporarily remembered it. Come on. I hope you will never do it again in the future!"
A hint of joy flashed in Wang Li's eyes, "Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!"
"One more thing, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has begun its audit of Yuezhou's treasury, and you need to actively cooperate with this matter without making any mistakes!
"I respectfully obey Jun's order!"
After Di Zhiyuan waved Wang Li down, he continued to study these boxes.
These boxes are so strangely damaged, and the cracks don't look like they were cracked by internal force.
But no matter how loose the wood used in the box is, it won’t be completely damaged like this!
The quality of this batch of wooden boxes was just a small case of corruption, and was it related to the loss of salary? Just when Di Zhiyuan was investigating the matter, Li Xunhuan also gained something.
It's a pity that this harvest is not for the salary case.
In Yuezhou, Shanyin Mansion, the imperial envoy went to the palace.
As the inspector of Yuezhou, Li Xunhuan did not directly participate in the investigation of the salary case, but began to trace the subordinates of the Yuezhou Governor's Office at all levels.
A big case like this would be difficult to handle without internal support. Li Xunhuan's investigation of corruption was actually tracking down possible internal traitors from the side!
"Master Li! There seems to be something wrong with the accounts here!!"
Hu Yunji, the censor of the Gyeonggi Province who was following the luggage to have fun, found Li Xunhuan with a ledger.
"Oh?! What?! There's something wrong with the silver in the bank!?"
If there is really a problem with the bank, it might be the key to unlocking the Yin soldiers' loan case!
"yes!'
Hu Yunji handed the account book in his hand to Li Xunhuan, "Sir Li, I checked the accounts of Yuezhou Bank and found that there is a missing amount of silver!"
"oh?!"
Li Xunhuan took the account book and found that Hu Yunji had already marked it out.
"In March last year, Xinchang County, under the jurisdiction of Shanyin Prefecture, had a tax paid into the treasury, totaling 23,000 taels. Chad saw that there was nothing wrong with the account book, but after checking the accounts of the money in and out of the treasury, we finally got As a result, there should be 763,000 taels of silver remaining in the treasury now, but the real amount in the treasury now is only 740,000 taels. These 20,000 taels have been spent in various ways. !'
When he heard the 23,000 taels, Li Xunhuan felt that he was excited for nothing. He originally thought that this would be a key to the Yin soldiers borrowing salary case, but it seemed that it had nothing to do with the Yin soldiers borrowing salary case.
Twenty-three thousand taels is indeed a lot for an individual!
But in the face of eight million taels of military pay, this number is a bit insufficient. Even if there is a missing twenty thousand taels among the eight million taels, it would take a long time to calculate.
From this point of view, it seems to be an ordinary case of accounting corruption.
"I understand. Let you take the lead on this case! If you need manpower, you can borrow it from Liumen and Dali Temple!"
"yes!'
After that, Li Xunhuan focused on investigating corruption in Yuezhou.
Li Xunhuan had already arrested a group of people according to the list given by Wang Hua, but among those arrested, none seemed to be related to the salary case.
Li Xunhuan had no choice but to continue investigating, hoping to find some clues.
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