The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Pan Yun had easy access to the emperor; she had written a talisman to inform him of what had happened the previous night.

Now she can also condense Xue Shao's ideas and tell the emperor so that he can prepare in advance.

This is the benefit of information asymmetry.

While the court officials were completely unaware, the emperor already knew everything that had happened in Guangdong.

He could easily plan ahead according to his own wishes, selectively revealing some useful information to certain people and discussing the things to be done with them in advance.

Pan Yun was right, and the emperor was also correct; however, an unexpected incident occurred during the selection of personnel.

Or rather, no one expected an unexpected incident.

The emperor chose to tell Yu Qian about this matter.

Yu Qian was known for his integrity and impartiality. Upon hearing of such a large-scale corruption incident in the Guangdong military region, he was furious and immediately discussed with the emperor who should be sent to take over.

He agreed to Xue Shao's proposal to use some of the embezzled funds to appease the military households, redistribute the farmland, provide some compensation, and exempt them from 30% of their military rations the following year without much thought.

The missing 30% of military rations will be partially paid for with the confiscated silver, while the remaining portion will have to be resolved by the newly arrived commander.

"Imperial Censor Xue mentioned that the navy should protect merchant ships passing through the South Seas in exchange for payment. This method is inappropriate," Yu Qian said. "Protecting the interests of the people is the duty of the nation. It is only right for the navy of our Great Ming to protect the merchant ships of our Great Ming. If we profit from this, how can our Maritime Trade Office have the face to collect taxes from merchants entering and leaving the country?"

The emperor found Yu Qian's words reasonable and abandoned the idea.

Yu Qian said, "If the military rations in Guangdong are insufficient, they can be allocated from other garrison areas."

He proposed: "Your Majesty, as can be seen from the corruption in the army, power cannot be concentrated in the hands of one person or one institution. If the land reclamation and military rations of the whole country were handled by another department, although it would not completely eliminate the practice of commanders drawing salaries without working and encroaching on land reclamation, it would greatly reduce such practices."

Yu Qian proposed that the authority to manage land reclamation and the allocation of military provisions be returned to the Ministry of War, so that local commanders would no longer be allowed to interfere.

The emperor was tempted, but also somewhat worried.

He recalled what Pan Yun had said: if you have doubts about a decision, you should think it over carefully before you act.

He immediately suppressed his thoughts and said, "Let's deal with the Guangdong matter first. We can discuss the rest after all the military affairs in all the garrison areas have been thoroughly investigated."

Yu Qian agreed and immediately suggested several candidates for the position of Commander-in-Chief of Guangdong to the emperor, most of whom were civil officials.

The emperor frowned.

Yu Qian explained: "This time, many military officers and commanders have been arrested in Guangdong. According to Your Majesty, the commanders of Chaozhou, Huizhou, Guanghaiwei and Zhaoqing Prefecture are all involved. Since the arrow has been released, there is no turning back. In order to prevent corruption from rising again after these military officers are arrested, their connections should be severed."

"The commanders and centurions of the Thousand-Household Office are selected from low-ranking military officers, so the commander-in-chief should be a civil official as the first choice, so that the two sides can check and balance each other."

The emperor pondered for a moment, nodded slightly, and left behind the few candidates he had suggested, saying, "I will think about who is more suitable."

Yu Qian knew he would choose someone from these people, but he didn't make a decision immediately. He either went back to ask the Empress or the Imperial Advisor.

Yu Qian did not think there was anything wrong with his suggestion, and bowed and withdrew.

As soon as he left, the emperor immediately took out a yellow talisman and copied the names onto it, then asked Pan Yun, "Grand Preceptor, which of these people do you think is suitable?"

Pan Jun was drinking tea when she received this message and spat it out.

She frowned, did not answer, and decided to return to Beijing that evening.

The emperor is getting more and more outrageous. He actually has to ask her about such things. Does he have no autonomy at all?

This trend must be stopped. She needs to gain experience and cultivate herself; she doesn't have that much time to discuss state affairs with him.
The emperor has grown up and it's time for him to be independent. Pan Yun pressed down the talisman, and just then, the third prince rushed in to report: "Imperial Preceptor, guess who has come to Guangzhou Prefecture?"

"Who?"

"Lord Xue's father-in-law."

Pan Yun looked up: "Who is it?"

"Feng Hongde!"

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow: "Why is he here? Did Cao Rong send him?"

The third brother chuckled: "That's the interesting part, Cao Rong didn't call him."

Pan Yun: "Leaving the post without orders is tantamount to courting death."

The third brother said, "Our boss ordered Prefect Song to arrest people, saying he wanted to give them a share of the credit. We can't eat the meat and leave not even a drop of soup."

Pan Jun nodded: "An Chen knows how to be an official."

The third brother winked and said, "When the man is brought back, Lord Xue will personally interrogate him. The Chaozhou Prefecture wants to keep the news secret for the time being. We don't have the time to spare right now. If we want to search and confiscate the property there, we'll probably need the cooperation of the local military households. Grand Preceptor, why don't you go and join in the fun?"

Pan Yun: "After all that you've said, are you trying to get me to go to Chaozhou Prefecture?"

The third brother scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly: "What our boss means is that you are very resourceful. Since you are going to use this dirty silver for the military households, you can't let the local authorities confiscate it. Otherwise, not to mention the losses, it will be extremely difficult to get the money out of their pockets."

“Imperial Censor Xue is an inspector. Once this case is settled, he will move on to the next one. We Imperial Guards are even more constantly on the move. We can’t possibly stay here and fight to the death over this sum of dirty money. If we go to the capital, we’ll be arguing back and forth. By the time the results are in, it could take one or two years, or even indefinitely. By then, even if His Majesty orders them to use the money for the military households, it will probably be gone.”

"What's the use of having a good suggestion if we don't have the money?"

Pan Yun: "I'm confiscating your property? The money has to go somewhere, so who will I give it to?"

“Once the new commander-in-chief arrives and new commanders of thousands and hundreds are promoted, this money will have a place to go. The rest can be handed over to the national treasury.” The third son said, “Compared to the local government, my eldest son trusts you more, and of course, so does Imperial Censor Xue.”

Pan Jun gave a soft hum, but did not object.

She thought of Shen Boxiu and Shen Shukang, to whom she had made a promise.

Seeing that she didn't object, the third son encouraged her, "Grand Preceptor, let's go watch the excitement."

Pan Yun went with him to see what was going on.

The prefectural government quickly arrested Feng Hongde, who was dressed in plain clothes.

All the men he brought were arrested.

Feng Hongde was extremely arrogant, struggling violently as he shouted, "Do you know who I am? You dare to arrest me? How many heads do you have to chop off?"

"A mere commander of the Chaozhou Guard has such a big mouth?" Prefect Song walked out of the main hall, looking at the courtyard that had been turned into a mess by Feng Hongde's violent struggle, his brows furrowed.

Feng Hongde turned his head sharply, staring wide-eyed at Prefect Song: "Do you know who I am?"

Prefect Song looked puzzled: "Are you of such high status?"

Feng Hongde's mouth moved, barely managing to regain his senses: "Lord Song, since you know I am a commander of the Chaozhou Guard, why did you have me bound? We are officials in the same court..."

"Wait a minute," Prefect Song raised his hand to stop him from continuing, a half-smile on his face. "We're both officials in the same court. Let me remind you, Commander Feng, you're a commander of the Chaozhou Guard. Why are you in my Guangzhou Prefecture?" (End of Chapter)