spend time

Chapter 502: Aftermath (Part )

Jiang Yi suddenly laughed again: "Why are you looking at me like that, cousin? Are you suspicious of me? If you say this, all the civil and military officials in the court will treat it as a joke."

The Gaoliang King's brain was damaged when he was young. He has not even been to his fiefdom in recent years and has always stayed in the capital. He is the head of the clan affairs office, which is actually just a title. The Gaoliang King's son Jiang Yi is even more famous for his playfulness and laziness. He grew up in the palace, stayed by the emperor's side, and was closest to the imperial power, but he never did anything.

"I was just joking, don't be nervous, cousin Yi." Jiang Shaohua smiled faintly: "God is watching what you do. As long as you are upright, there is nothing to be afraid of."

Jiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief and grinned, "My cousin is right. I, Jiang Yi, don't have many strengths, except for my enthusiasm and frankness."

Jiang Shaohua smiled and continued riding forward.

At this time, the two assistant ministers of the Ministry of War had already got off the carriage and were standing outside the Ministry of War to greet them.

Jiang Shaohua changed her approachable and gentle manner when she inspected the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works, and put on the posture of a princess traveling. After the two ministers had paid their respects, she dismounted and said, "Minister Wang and Minister Ding, please stand up."

The Gaoliang prince Jiang Yi got off his horse next. Behind the two were dozens of personal guards, and two hundred imperial guards from the palace accompanied them. The imperial guards were all wearing soft armor and holding weapons, and they exuded a murderous aura even in broad daylight.

It was inconvenient for so many people to enter the Ministry of War. Jiang Shaohua gave an order, and the imperial guards stood guard outside the Ministry of War, while dozens of personal guards followed her into the Ministry of War.

Minister Wang put away his reluctance and said with spirit: "Our Ministry of War is divided into four departments, namely the Military Selection Department, the Military Affairs Department, the Chariot Department, the Armory Department, and the Warehouse Department. Each department has doctors and assistants, as well as chief officials. The entire Ministry of War has a total of 49 officials with ranks."

A group of military officials lined up in order of rank and bowed together.

These officials were not qualified to attend the small court meetings, but they had attended the big court meetings. They had all witnessed Jiang Shaohua's prestige and heard about her power. They encountered assassins last night, but they still continued to patrol today. This courage and spirit was admirable. Therefore, all the officials were very respectful when they saluted.

Jiang Shaohua was used to this kind of scene, so he said casually: "Everyone, please stand up."

"Thank you, Princess." All the officials thanked the Princess for her grace and then stood up.

Jiang Yi, the prince of Gaoliang, was naturally ignored under the blazing light of Princess Nanyang.

It was no wonder that the officials were negligent. Jiang Yi did not hold a proper official position, and usually worked as a secretary. Today, he followed behind Princess Nanyang, and it was obvious that he was her follower.

No one knew what Jiang Yi was thinking. With his signature harmless smile, he followed Jiang Shaohua and went to inspect the Military Selection Department first.

Among the four departments of the Ministry of War, the Military Selection Department is responsible for the selection, promotion, transfer, replacement, and reward of soldiers. It can be said to be the most important department of the Ministry of War. Duke Anguo has been running the department for several years, and he has put most of his energy into the Military Selection Department. Unfortunately, Minister Wang made a desperate move and hit the nail on the head. There was also a Deputy Minister in the Military Selection Department, who also submitted a memorial to expose the evil deeds of Duke Anguo for selling official positions.

This also shows how powerful Prime Minister Wang is, with his minions spread across the six ministries.

Jiang Shaohua glanced at the official calmly, then said, "This county lord would like to take a look at the military roster of the Military Selection Department."

Cao Yuanwailang was stunned and subconsciously looked at Wang Shilang. Wang Shilang frowned, "Princess, Daliang has dozens of armies and 400,000 soldiers. There are more than a hundred military books, which fill up half of the warehouse. I wonder which one you want to look at?"

Jiang Shaohua said calmly: "This county lord wants to see the military register of the border troops." "There are 100,000 border troops. There is one military register for every 5,000 people, which means 20 registers in total. This is too much..."

"If the Ministry of War is short-handed, my personal guards can go and help." Jiang Shaohua raised his eyebrows and said bluntly, "As for whether you can finish reading it, it's my business. Minister Wang, don't worry about it."

Wang Shilang was choked and looked ugly. He held back his anger and accepted the order, and gave the order with a stern face. Cao Yuanwailang immediately led people to look for the military register. The action was very fast. In less than an incense stick of time, all the military registers of the border troops were moved over.

Each military manual was very thick, and twenty of them were stacked on the desk, two feet high.

Jiang Shaohua didn't say anything. Minister Wang couldn't leave, so he just stood aside and watched the princess slowly take a book and slowly flip through it.

"Cousin Yi, take paper and pen and take notes." Jiang Shaohua ordered without even raising his head.

Jiang Yi had taken notes in the palace before, so he was well prepared. He took out a pen and paper and sat aside. As for the content of the record, from this moment on, everything Jiang Shaohua and Minister Wang said had to be recorded one by one. After returning to the palace, he would present it to the emperor.

During the past ten days of court meetings, Minister Wang had already experienced the power of this move. He gritted his teeth in hatred, but had nothing to say.

The same thing happened to Jiang Shaohua in the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works. It cannot be said that he was deliberately targeting the Ministry of War... In fact, he was just making things difficult.

He just looked around the Ministry of Rites casually, and did not make things difficult for Shangshu Zhou and others in the Ministry of Works. But when he arrived at the Ministry of War, he went straight for him.

As expected, Jiang Shaohua quickly asked, "Minister Wang, this military register looks quite old. I wonder how many years ago it was made?"

Minister Wang's heart skipped a beat: "My lord, this is the military register from three years ago."

Jiang Shaohua looked up, his eyes bright. "This year, the Rouran cavalry launched a massive attack, and the border troops suffered heavy casualties. Why is there no reduction in the number of troops listed?"

Minister Wang's forehead was slightly sweaty. He clasped his hands and replied, "It is quite complicated to compile statistics on the military rolls. After the border army was defeated, they did submit a list of the casualties. Because the Ministry of War has been busy recently, the military rolls have not been revised yet."

Jiang Shaohua asked calmly, "So, will the military funds allocated to the border troops this year be based on the previous military roster amount?"

Minister Wang also began to sweat on his back, but he forced himself to hold it together and looked at him to show his frankness: "This year's military funds for the border troops were allocated to the border troops three months ago. It was allocated by Minister Zheng himself. I don't know the details. If the princess wants to ask in detail, you might as well go to Zheng's house and ask in detail."

"Why bother?" Jiang Shaohua said coldly, "Bring the military expenditure account book of the Ministry of War here, and I will take a look at it."

"Oh, by the way, I heard that most government offices have two sets of account books, one is the real one, and the other is reserved for outsiders to see. I wonder if the Ministry of War also has two sets of account books?"

Minister Wang's face flushed red, and it was unclear whether he was angry or guilty. "My princess, you are joking. How could our Ministry of War falsify information? We never have two sets of account books."

Jiang Shaohua said, "It seems that Minister Wang is only willing to show this princess the fake account book. Well, this princess should learn something new."

Minister Wang: “…”