Our family has been rebelling for generations, and you've become the top scholar in the imperia

Night falls.

Inside the palace.

In a pavilion in the Imperial Garden.

Qin Feng stared at the delicious food laid out on the table, momentarily speechless.

What does that mean?

The emperor wants to invite him to dinner?

"sit!"

Zhou Zhengde sat opposite him, still looking worried, and pointed to a stool across from him.

"yes!"

Qin Feng sat down nervously.

"I heard you've chosen the personnel? From the thousand households outside the city? They'll depart first thing tomorrow morning?"

The old eunuch reported the details.

His original intention was to let Qin Feng directly choose a thousand-household garrison, where manpower was readily available.

Unexpectedly, Qin Feng actually chose the people himself.

"Your Majesty, the selection has been finalized. Your humble servant will depart for the border first thing tomorrow morning."

Qin Feng was momentarily confused about what Zhou Zhengde meant.

Moreover, when dining in the Imperial Garden, only Eunuch Miao accompanied him; all the other eunuchs were absent.

"There's nothing to worry about on the road, but once we reach the border, General Gou will have a fiery temper. As the supervisor, you should observe and learn from him, and not disobey him."

"Your humble servant will remember this!"

Qin Feng readily agreed.

He's a general, and he's just a military supervisor. How could he possibly go against him?

He only has a few people, less than a thousand at most.

Where are they?

Twenty thousand soldiers.

"Furthermore, I need to know clearly what the situation is like at the border now? What is the true strength of the grasslands? Are they truly invincible, or is there another reason?"

Zhou Zhengde sighed softly.

In the past few days, he ordered people to investigate in detail the amount of silver allocated to the border each year.

Two million taels a year!

Two million taels of silver, and it's all gone like this? He simply can't accept it.

"Your Majesty understands. I will certainly investigate this matter thoroughly and have someone send the memorial to the palace. However..."

Speaking of it.

Qin Feng looked somewhat troubled.

"explain!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, that's how it is. As far as I know, the Ministry of Revenue doesn't allocate silver directly to the soldiers on the border. It goes through several intermediaries, first to the Ministry of War, and then the Ministry of War distributes it!"

"What are you trying to say?"

Zhou Zhengde narrowed his eyes, and his voice became deep.

"If I were to find out that someone embezzled funds and lined their own pockets along the way, Your Majesty, I am merely a military supervisor. In the face of some local officials, I am nothing."

Regarding this matter.

Qin Feng thought about it carefully and realized without a doubt that someone in the middle had embezzled the money.

Some villagers in Daliu Village had fled back from the border.

If the situation is as the villagers say, then the matter is much more serious.

The Great Zhou court currently pays border soldiers three taels of silver a month, but in reality, they may not even receive two taels, or even just one tael.

As for weaponry and equipment... that's a much deeper issue.

So many civil officials in the imperial court wanted to bribe the wild boar skin with silver to secure their power, but what about the local officials? Why didn't a single one of them speak up?

Especially officials in border areas.

These people were right next to the wild boar hide, so they should have a better understanding of the situation.

"Someone come here!"

"emperor!"

Grandpa Miao hurriedly and respectfully approached.

"Go and fetch the precious sword from the Imperial Study!"

Upon hearing this...

Grandpa Miao blinked hard, looking at Qin Feng opposite him in disbelief.

"What are you standing there for? Go now!"

Qin Feng immediately stood up as well.

A bold idea flashed through my mind.

No way?

Are they going to bestow swords upon him?

It's the emperor's sword, which is much more powerful. If the evidence is verified, he has the right to kill someone directly.

No matter how high-ranking you are, if the evidence is complete, you can be killed without even a word.

"I bestow this sword upon you. On your journey to the border, if you find out that someone has embezzled money from your pay, execute them first and report later."

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your trust!"

Then the sword was brought over.

Zhou Zhengde personally handed it to Qin Feng.

Grandpa Miao, standing to the side, kept blinking, and his breathing became somewhat rapid.

It's an imperial sword!

As for whether someone embezzled the money.

How could he not know?

It's more than just greed.

These people were so audacious that they even dared to intercept the silver for new weapons and equipment, allowing the border soldiers to continue using the old weapons.

The problem is that although the Imperial Guard knew some information about this matter, it involved too many people. Several prefectures near the border were involved, not just one or two officials, but all the officials of an entire prefecture.

Even he wouldn't dare to bring it up.

Previously, since the Great Zhou Dynasty had never fought a war, no one knew that these people were doing this. After all, as long as they didn't go to the battlefield, they wouldn't be discovered. When the court sent people to check, they were always from the Ministry of War, and they would just go around and come back.

But things are different now that we're on the battlefield. Tens of thousands of men suffered a crushing defeat against ten thousand wild boar hides. The Emperor will definitely investigate such a consequence.

I just didn't expect that Qin Feng would be the one to investigate.

He went as a military supervisor.

Let's eat!

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I've never eaten palace food before."

Qin Feng grinned.

Before Grandpa Miao could even check the chicken leg he had just picked up his chopsticks for, he had already stuffed it into his mouth.

"Lord Qin, this...this servant needs to examine you..."

"What kind of test? Oh, a drug test?"

Qin Feng was taken aback, then, recalling scenes from the TV series, he immediately understood.

He ate the chicken leg sheepishly.

"Then there's no need for you to test it, Your Majesty. I will taste them all myself, as if I were testing them for poison."

Zhou Zhengde, sitting opposite, was taken aback at first, then watched as Qin Feng actually ate every single dish.

And they ate it in big bites.

It's not the kind of tasting that involves taking small sips.

I couldn't help but laugh.

He glanced at the stunned old eunuch to the side.

He laughed and scolded:

"Give me the chopsticks. What are you standing there for? If this brat finishes eating, what will I eat?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Grandpa Miao respectfully handed over the chopsticks and quickly stepped aside.

The two of them ate their meal for a full half hour.

and!

All the food on the table was eaten.

You should know that since the great defeat at the border, the emperor has barely eaten anything these past few days. Today he ate the most, and there was even a smile on his face.

Qin Feng was different. In the past, when officials came here, they were all so reserved that they didn't even dare to touch their chopsticks.

Only Qin Feng dared to compete with the Emperor for food.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Zhou Zhengde ordered the old eunuch to escort Qin Feng away.

On the way out of the palace.

"Lord Qin, the Imperial Guard can provide you with some information regarding the investigation into the embezzlement of silver. However, this matter involves too many people, so you should be prepared."

"Don't worry, Grandpa Miao."

Qin Feng smiled and nodded; how could he not understand?

They even embezzled the border silver; this wasn't something one person could do, but rather something that happened from top to bottom, with probably everyone taking silver.

"Good that you understand. Keep the token we gave you safe. When you arrive in other prefectures, just look for a shop named Zhihong; that's a shop run by the Imperial Guard."

"Thank you, Eunuch!"

Qin Feng bowed and thanked him.

"Take care on your journey..."

Eunuch Miao sighed softly, watching Qin Feng walk out of the palace gate.

I couldn't help but shake my head.

Neither supervising the border troops nor bypassing the Ministry of War to investigate embezzlement was an easy task.

but!

If he really succeeds, the Emperor will likely give Qin Feng a very important position when he returns.