Chapter 516: Insatiable Greed

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

At this point, Old Madam Yu couldn’t help but think of the past. Her eyes were complicated. “Your second uncle joined the Hanlin Compilation and sorted out the old books of the previous dynasty. He had the intention to train the navy and open up a sea route. With Xia Yansheng’s support, he went to Fujian and completed the Map Strategy’ with the help of the Xie family.”

“He summarized the various benefits of open maritime trade, mentioned various drawbacks, and even proposed a solution. These are all the foundations of the Xie family’s past maritime voyages and are extremely valuable. As soon as the Sea Map was presented, most of the court officials supported open maritime routes and the development of maritime trade.” Her grandmother did not mention much about the past. Yu Youyao only knew that her second uncle had been selected by the emperor to join the Ministry of Revenue because of the “Sea Map Strategy”. From the beginning, it had laid a solid foundation for him to enter the cabinet.

Old Madam Yu only mentioned this briefly before changing the topic. “Therefore, I’ve borrowed many relevant maritime matters from the previous dynasty. Your father’s five-hit combo revolved around ‘Sea Map’. It can be said to be brilliant.”

When Yu Youyao heard this, she understood. Her grandmother had first mentioned the “Sea Map Strategy”, then mentioned that Yu Zongzheng had asked the Imperial Court about the “Sea Map Strategy.”

Yu Zongzheng had used the “Sea Map Strategy” to increase his persuasiveness. No one suspected if the memorial was real or fake anymore. They would only care about the memorial. It was very important.

Indeed!

“Your father’s second question was this: Many soldiers have cold legs before the age of 40 because they fight in the water all year round. They fall sick and suffer from pain. The Imperial Court empathizes with the hardships of the navy and more or less distributes some comfort money every year. However, the Zhejiang navy says that they have never received any comfort money. May I ask if the Imperial Court has distributed the comfort money to the Zhejiang navy?

Yu Youyao asked, “How did the Ministry of War react?”

When talking to smart people, it was really easy to understand the situation. Old Madam Yu smiled. “How could the Ministry of War dare to bear this crime? They immediately took out the military comfort records of the Zhejiang navy and said that every year, the Imperial Court would distribute relevant military comfort silver according to the number of active soldiers reported by the

Zhejiang navy. On average, each person would receive no less than five taels.”

If the soldiers did not get the consolation money, who would?

Everything was obvious.

He saw the situation and avoided drawing out swords. He took a detour and threw all the problems to the Imperial Court, the Ministry of War, and the emperor. He could achieve her goal better.

Such a scheme was definitely not something Yu Zongzheng could have.

In that case, other than Song Mingzhao, no one else would think about it.

In that case, her cousin was really right. He had really used the right amount of strength to suggest that Yu Zongzheng bring Song Mingzhao along.

Yu Zongzheng was intentionally getting involved in a messy situation. Only a scheming person like Song Mingzhao could handle it.

“Your father’s third question was: The soldiers who have retired from the army due to injuries and illnesses will also receive a sum of money. This sum of money will not be less than ten taels of silver. If they die in battle, the Imperial Court will also distribute pension money ranging from fifteen to a hundred taels of silver to their families. However, many families of martyrs said that the pension money was only five to ten taels of silver. Some families didn’t even get the blood money. They asked the Imperial Court if the pension money that the Zhejiang navy is distributing every year is in place?

Yu Youyao smiled. “Father’s questions are very skillful. The money used to comfort the army is only a small sum, but the pension money is the main thing. He went deeper and deeper, peeling back layer by layer. The emotions of the people who read the memorial would be like an endless fire. In the end,

I’m afraid they’ll have a shocking anger.”

Old Madam Yu nodded. “That’s right. Your father’s words were directed at the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War is afraid of taking responsibility, so they can’t care about anything else. They can only took out the booklet distributed by the Ministry of War to prove their innocence. This way, the responsibility will fall on Song Xiuwen and all the relevant officials in Zhejiang.”

This kind of questioning of the Imperial Court was actually indirect scolding.

From the beginning, they had blocked the path of the Ministry of War, making it impossible for them to hide. If they wanted to cover up for Zhejiang, they had to see if their heads were enough. With the evidence of the Ministry of War, Song Xiuwen and all the officials in Zhejiang had nowhere to hide.

What had Yu Zongzheng done from the beginning to the end?

Just complaining on behalf of the Zhejiang navy?

What did he do?

He didn’t do anything?

They didn’t like him?

However, you’ve mistreated the Zhejiang navy. I’ll complain on their behalf. With 300,000 navy members protecting me, you can’t stand me or kill me.

If I die in Zhejiang, not to mention how the Zhejiang navy will cause trouble, you will be convicted. The Imperial Court has a reason to reorganize Jiangnan. If I die, there will be thousands of corpses in Jiangnan.

Yu Youyao took a deep breath. “I was originally worried that Song Xiuwen’s case would Implicate the Interests of the other officials In Jiangnan and that they would be deeply involved and couldn’t extricate themselves. I suggested that Father start with the navy and only deal with Song Xiuwen to get the dirty money. Who knew…”

Her father had still poked a hornet’s nest in Jiangnan.

So be it. He had even brought 300,000 navy soldiers with him. Now, he was fearless.

At this point, this case could no longer be said to be done well. It could be said to be very clear. He had shaken the entire Jiangnan alone and could escape unscathed.

This was enough for Yu Zongzheng to brag about for the rest of his life. In the future, when Yu Zongzheng entered the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs, he would definitely have a place in the history books.

She guessed that Song Mingzhao had contributed greatly.

However, guiding her father and pulling 300,000 navy soldiers into a hornet’s nest in Jiangnan was definitely part of her cousin’s plan.

How could she have purely thought that her cousin had taken a fancy to Song Xiuwen’s position? With her cousin’s ambition, how could he only want to satisfy 300,000 Zhejiang navy soldiers?

He even wanted to take the wealth from Jiangnan!

If he didn’t stir up a hornet’s nest, how could he accumulate wealth wantonly?

Old Madam Yu also had mixed feelings. “Your father’s fourth question was: He has counted the number of active soldiers in the Zhejiang navy. He asked if the Imperial Court gave them enough military salary every year. If not, why was the life of the Zhejiang navy so difficult?”

Yu Youyao knew immediately that the main point was here.

Layer by layer, they went deeper and deeper. The money used to comfort the army was a small sum, and the compensation money was a big sum. The main point was the army.

The number of active-duty soldiers in the Zhejiang navy was not something that could be investigated just because you wanted to. If the general in charge of the navy wanted to hide it, it was basically impossible to find out.

Since Yu Zongzheng could find out about this, it must have been arranged by his cousin.

Old Madam Yu continued, “These words and questions made the emperor even angrier. When the Imperial Court was furious, the Minister of War was so frightened that he fainted on the spot. It was the Right Assistant Minister who checked. The number of active-duty soldiers reported by the Zhejiang navy every year was seriously inconsistent with the number of people reported by your father. Among them, there were 100,000 vacant spots. That was, they had falsely reported the number of people and the salary of the army. Every year, the greedy took the salary of 100,000 people..”

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