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Chapter 503: Aftermath (Part )

Jiang Yi kept waving his pen, but unfortunately, the ink was limited and he could not record Jiang Shaohua's aggressive power and Minister Wang's embarrassment at this moment.

Minister Ding, who had been silent the whole time, finally stood up and said, "My lord, the account books of the Ministry of War have been kept by me. My lord, if you want to see the account books, I will go get them right away."

Jiang Shaohua hummed, looked at Minister Ding, and said in a much gentler voice: "Thank you, Minister Ding."

Minister Ding had private dealings with the Nanyang Palace, but he rarely revealed it publicly, so few people knew about it. At least, Minister Wang was not aware of it.

Seeing Minister Ding speaking up to help him out, Minister Wang even felt a little grateful.

Jiang Shaohua's words are as sharp as knives and he is really hard to deal with.

It is true that women and villains are difficult to raise.

Minister Wang kept complaining in his heart, but he didn't dare to say a word, for fear of getting into trouble again.

Soon, Minister Ding came over with a stack of account books. "Here are all the account books of the Ministry of War for the past five years. The military expenditures allocated from the Ministry of Revenue every year are recorded in the account books. They are then distributed according to the number of troops in each army."

"However, the military expenditures estimated by the Ministry of War can only be approximate. The real and accurate figures are only known by the commanders of each army."

This is also one of the shortcomings of the Daliang army. Whether it is the border army or the garrison, the commander is bound to eat empty salaries and drink the blood of the soldiers. The real strength of the army cannot match the numbers on the military register. Drinking 10% or 20% of the soldiers' blood is considered a conscience of the commander.

Every year, the Ministry of War has to allocate military funds to dozens of armies of varying numbers, which is a difficult task. For example, the Imperial Guards of the capital, the Yongwei Camp, the Shenwu Camp, and the Shenwei Camp, must be given priority to ensure that their military pay is sufficient. For example, the border troops must not save on military funds. As for the remaining garrisons, how much to deduct and how much to pay depends on the relationship between the garrison commander and the Ministry of War.

Especially in recent years, the treasury of Daliang has been empty and the income has not been enough to cover the expenditure. Military expenditure has been reduced again and again, and the military expenditure of the garrison cannot be guaranteed at all. The rebellion in Pingzhou was caused by the withholding of military expenditure.

These problems were known to the court officials, the Ministry of War, and the Emperor Taihe who was resting on the dragon couch. Even the Empress Dowager Zheng and Empress Dowager Li had a rough idea of ​​them.

What's the point of knowing clearly? How to solve such a big gap?
Daliang was hit by constant natural disasters, man-made calamities and wars. Taxes were getting less and less every year, but the places where money was needed were increasing year by year. There was no way to solve this fundamental problem.

Jiang Shaohua did not look at the account books for the previous four years. He took the latest one this year and slowly read through it.

Minister Ding was relatively calm, and whenever the princess asked him questions, he would answer them immediately. No matter how many problems there were in the account books in private, at least they looked acceptable on the surface.

Minister Wang also slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Before he could completely let out a sigh of relief, Jiang Shaohua turned around and looked at him again: "Minister Wang, this year's account book shows that the military expenditure allocated to the border troops has not decreased, and it has even increased by 10%. It is recorded so clearly, why did Minister Wang just say that he didn't know?"

Wang Shilang was furious at being targeted so clearly, and replied, "Shilang Ding and I each have our own duties, and Shilang Ding is in charge of the account books. I am not the princess, so how can I just flip through them?"

Minister Ding winked at Minister Wang repeatedly.

However, Minister Wang was so angry that he felt that he had a strong backer and was not willing to be criticized by a teenage girl. He said stiffly, "I have work to do. I will leave for now."

Jiang Shaohua ignored Minister Wang and said to Jiang Yi: "Remember this, Minister Wang was angry and guilty because of my questioning, and he didn't want to stay, so he found an excuse to leave." Jiang Yi: "..."

Jiang Yi thought to himself that he admired him so much that he couldn't stop writing.

Minister Wang was so angry that his forehead was about to burst: "What do you mean by that, Princess? When did I become guilty and angry?"

Jiang Shaohua looked at Minister Wang steadily, her beautiful face covered with a layer of frost: "Minister Wang, this princess came to inspect the Ministry of War on behalf of the emperor, and everything she said and did must be reported to the emperor. You refused to cooperate, and made all kinds of excuses, with a lot of dissatisfaction and denial in your words. Are you dissatisfied with this princess, or with the emperor?"

Minister Wang was in a dilemma and said angrily, "I am loyal to the emperor, and the sun and the moon can testify to that. The princess is inspecting on behalf of the emperor, but she is only here to inspect on behalf of the emperor. Do you want us to treat the princess as the emperor and not even tell the truth?"

Minister Ding, who had remained calm, also became a little anxious. He reached out and grabbed Minister Wang's sleeve, whispering hastily, "Minister Wang, please be patient and don't offend the princess!"

"How am I being rude?" Minister Wang pulled back his sleeves and roared at Minister Ding, "You saw everything that happened today. The princess went to the Ministry of War and all her words were directed at me. It was obvious that she was trying to find fault with me."

"I am the Minister of War, a third-rank official in the imperial court. Why should I be humiliated by her like this?"

"What's wrong with the princess? Even Princess Baohua in the palace is not as arrogant as her! Don't pull me into this! I have a lot of grievances in my stomach, and I have to speak them out!"

Minister Wang turned his head suddenly like a flood, his eyes spurting fire: "Princess Nanyang! Your status is equal to that of a vassal king, so you should abide by the rules of a vassal king and stay in your vassal land honestly. Now you come to the capital and keep saying that you are acting for the emperor. You are taking advantage of the emperor's trust and bullying others too much!"

"The court has its own rules, and the six ministries have their own practices. You are a teenage girl, even if you are naturally smart, how much can you understand? What can you find out by inspecting the six ministries?"

"The Emperor and the Empress Dowager allow you to act like this. It's ridiculous!"

Minister Wang spoke with great enthusiasm, spitting heavily.

Minister Ding and others all changed their expressions and hurriedly bowed their hands to apologize.

Jiang Yi looked like he was enjoying the show, waiting to see how Jiang Shaohua would deal with the ending.

"Did you write down what Minister Wang said just now?" Jiang Shaohua did not rush to refute Minister Wang, but asked Jiang Yi first.

Jiang Yi immediately lowered his head, wrote quickly, and his ears perked up.

Jiang Shaohua then said to Minister Ding and others, "This matter has nothing to do with you. You don't need to apologize. Stand up."

Then, he slowly looked at Minister Wang: "Minister Wang has many complaints about this princess, and his words are disrespectful to the emperor and the Empress Dowager. Come, arrest Minister Wang and send him to the Ministry of Justice to open a case for disrespect. The specific punishment will be decided by the emperor after this princess returns to the palace and reports to the emperor."

Qin Hu and Meng Sanbao immediately followed the order and stepped forward, neatly "capturing" Minister Wang.

Minister Wang's eyes were spitting fire, and he was about to curse, but Qin Hu moved faster, stretched out his hand and pinched it, and with a click, Minister Wang's jaw dropped.