"Ten thousand men... That's quite a lot. I'll have to choose carefully."
Murong Huai pondered where to select his men from. His personal guard had to be the best of the best, and his first choice was naturally the Black Flame Army. But the Black Flame Army only had fifty thousand soldiers. Selecting ten thousand from them would mean cutting a full fifth of its ranks. Wouldn't his old man skin him alive?
"Ahem, well, Junior Brother, there's no need to rush over the Judgment Heavenly Army. There's something else." Qian Xunji interrupted the pondering Murong Huai.
"Huh? What is it?" Murong Huai snapped back to his senses and asked.
Qian Xunji picked up a report from a nearby table and tossed it to Murong Huai. "Junior Brother, have you forgotten about those people at the Ministry of Works? Over the past few years, they've spent nearly three billion Gold Soul Coins in total. That's no small sum."
"Three billion Gold Soul Coins?!" Murong Huai was somewhat startled. "Could someone have embezzled it?"
At that, Qian Xunji waved his hand. "Embezzlement is unlikely. Although the Ministry of Works has spent enormously these past few years, Mo Heng has sent over detailed expense reports every month. I had people verify them. There are discrepancies, but nothing too serious."
Hearing Qian Xunji's words, Murong Huai looked over the report in his hand and nodded. As long as there were no major issues, it was fine. A little missing here and there was nothing unusual. It was impossible to expect everyone not to take anything, but there were naturally red lines that could not be crossed. Everything else had to be fully accounted for—construction materials, workers' wages and allowances, research funding, and so on.
This was also something Qian Xunji tacitly allowed. Everyone