The Wealthiest Man Was Embezzled? Lin Yuxia's First Thoughts of Giving Up / Go On, Keep Stirring Things Up! You'll Stir the Great Yan Dynasty Right Into Ruin!

"What?"

Chen Qi's words shocked everyone. Wei Yenwu immediately grasped the implications... The richest man in Zhe City had no private wealth, yet his position was linked to government and enterprises. If he had no personal money, then the money could only have ended up in one place...

"He's stirring up the whole world! 'Neither a marquis nor a king,' and not even the richest man is truly rich—this is the epitome of irony."

PS: First chapter today!

Volume 1: Chapter 307: The Richest Man Lost to Corruption? Lin Yuxia's First Thought of Retreating

As Chen Qi said, during the subsequent filming, the characters played by Liang Xun, Ning Ciqiu, and Mr. Nothing the Imperial Guards secretly move four large boxes of account books to Gao Hanwen's house before the raid.

"It seems they're planning to destroy the evidence first, and if Shen Yishi has a substantial fortune left behind, they'll try to make another quick buck?"

Wei Yenwu and the others had already figured out the thoughts of the characters they were playing. However, at this moment, everyone who already knew the plot from Chen Qi wore a half-smile on their faces.

"Then let me see just how far the officials of the Great Yan can go in their corruption, and just how audacious these local government officials really are."

"I think my younger brother must be very interested as well," Wei Yenwu muttered to himself. Soon, the first box was opened, and a letter that was clearly left by Shen Yishi for the three of them was torn open. The curse that Shen Yishi left for the three of them was all written in this letter.

"From the twenty-first year of the Jiajing reign to the present, over the past twenty years, this is the last batch of account books kept by Shen Mou in connection with the Weaving Bureau and the Zhe City government."

"Of the four textile commissioners and five governors, only Minister Hu Zongxian had no accounting dealings with me. The rest of these high-ranking officials are not worth mentioning."

"Over the past twenty years, more than four million bolts of silk have been woven, of which two million one million bolts were handed over to the Weaving Bureau. Each official received one million bolts as profit, and the remaining nine hundred thousand bolts were used to buy more raw silk and produce more silk, which has been a difficult but sustainable operation until now."

"When you gentlemen see this ledger, I, Shen, only have one hundred bolts of silk in stock, and my workshop can only weave nineteen thousand bolts. This is four hundred and eighty-nine thousand bolts short of the five hundred thousand bolts required by the court."

"The court's investigation is thorough, and you gentlemen are understandably alarmed. Our Great Yan Nation. If the court had been frugal and caring towards the people, and if officials at all levels had been honest and self-disciplined, how could the national treasury be so depleted today? The officials at all levels have squandered resources without restraint, plundering from the people; with popular uprisings imminent, they have plundered from the merchants."

"My fate today was entirely expected. I will depart first. As you all return to the netherworld, that day will not be far off."

The letter inside the envelope, accompanied by the voice of the Emperor (whose filming had now wrapped), narrated the story in a clear and logical manner. It revealed the truth that Shen Yishi, the richest man in Zhe City, actually had no money at all.

All of this was exactly as Wei Yenwu had predicted. When he heard that the richest man in Zhe City actually had no money, he knew that the richest man in Zhe City had probably already invested his money in bribery and doing things for the imperial court.

For Shen Yishi, the work at the Weaving Bureau was inherently unprofitable. He was merely managing the Weaving Bureau on behalf of the imperial court. In reality, after the local government and various officials in the palace had taken their cut of the so-called "exorbitant profits," how much was left for him?

In the end, everyone thought that the person who was the richest man in Zhe City was just a manager who barely made ends meet on his meager salary.

At this moment, the people in the play fell silent, and everyone outside the play also fell silent. Although they all knew how it would end, when the evidence in black and white was placed in front of them, everyone realized just how far the corruption of the Great Yan local government had gone.

With collusion between officials and businessmen, and officials skimming profits at every level, even the richest man in Zhe City was penniless. And this was Zhe City, one of the wealthiest Mobile City in Gouwu! Shen Yishi held a position in the most profitable Weaving Bureau, and even there, the profits could barely cover the officials' exploitation. Could the "richest men" in the less affluent Mobile City be in any better shape than Shen Yishi?

"This is simply... an exposé of the true nature of officialdom."

Wei Yenwu didn't know how much time had passed before he slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, completely obscuring his face for a moment, before closing his eyes and slowly speaking to the person beside him:

"... Send this to the Emperor so he can see just how muddy the waters will become if some local government officials in our Great Yan are not properly disciplined."

"Yes."

However, no sooner had Wei Yenwu finished speaking than a figure in a Black Cape slowly appeared and then immediately disappeared. Clearly, this was to deliver the video recording to the Emperor of Great Yan.

Not long after, during a moment of silence, Lin Yuxia, who had been sitting next to the Rat King, slowly stood up without saying a word and calmly addressed the crowd:

"... Dad, Officer Wei, I don't want to be an official anymore. Is it too late for me to resign now?"

"Yuxia?" However, Lin Yuxia's sudden decision to resign from her official post surprised both the Rat King and Wei Yenwu. In contrast, Chen Huijie and Zuo Le, along with other young people, seemed to understand why Lin Yuxia had made this choice.

Undoubtedly, this scene changed Lin Yuxia's long-held image of "officials." As a girl from a triad family, Lin Yuxia was instilled with the idea of "cleansing herself" and moving closer to the legitimate world from a young age by the Rat King. The people she came into contact with afterward were either good officials like Wei Yenwu or upright and incorruptible senior police superintendents like Chen Huijie.

Therefore, in Lin Yuxia's mind, although not all officials are good, most of them are good, especially under the prosperous era of the Great Yan Dynasty, and the people around her are all representatives of the country and the people, which makes Lin Yuxia even more convinced of this.

But now, Chen Qi's scene has severely impacted Lin Yuxia's image of "officials." Although she had prepared herself for her worldview to be challenged since the filming of "The Great Yan Dynasty" began, she still finds it hard to convince herself of this.

Especially... the thought of being stuck in this quagmire made her feel even more strongly that she might not be fit to be an official.

"Yuxia, don't worry, I know your character. You won't become like those hypocrites." Seeing this, Wei Yenwu and the Rat King exchanged glances, and Wei Yenwu took the initiative to comfort them.

"Moreover, you work in Lungmen, under my command, Wei Yenwu. As long as I live, I will not allow bribery or exploitation of merchants and common people to occur in Lungmen. Even if it is my relative who has made a mistake, I will punish them severely."

"... But as long as I remain in this official position, I can't stay in Lungmen forever. Officer Wei and Dad, you can't protect me forever either." Lin Yuxia's eyes were slightly lowered. After witnessing this scene, she now only wanted to extricate herself from officialdom.

It wasn't just that Lin Yuxia cherished her reputation and didn't want to become a hypocrite like these people. She also didn't want to be used as a pawn like Gao Hanwen and Ma Ningyuan in the drama. It would be one thing if she were all alone, but she still had her parents.

"Besides, you've always protected me, so what kind of official am I? Being an official means being able to stand on your own, but I can't accept... that the price of being able to stand on your own is this..."

"I don't know if I can become Hu Zongxian, or if I'll even make it halfway down this path. Rather than being an official caught in the middle, unable to protect the people, I'd rather be an ordinary citizen. At least then, when it really matters, I can rely on my own abilities and interests to do things and help others."

Lin Yuxia's words unwittingly struck a chord with Chen Huijie and Zuo Le, who were standing nearby. Both were outstanding young talents in the Great Yan Dynasty, and although they held official positions, they were largely driven by their own sense of right and wrong in their actions.

Chen Huijie is alright; she has a good uncle, and besides, she's a police officer, so her actions in fighting evil and promoting good are generally in line with the image of a police officer. But for Zuo Le, as a member of the Imperial Calendar Bureau), such a personality is a major taboo. And what about Lin Yuxia, who originally came from the underworld? Even though she's cleared her name, her criminal record still exists. If someone wants to attack you, her background is absolutely a major disadvantage!

They were, after all, officials, not heroes. And those who acted solely on personal morality and used force to break the law were generally called "bandits" in the eyes of the authorities.

"--Being a good official is difficult, but if you do it, you can save many people from suffering."

At this moment, Chen Qi, who had been quietly listening to Lin Yuxia's words, remained silent until Wei Yenwu, the Rat King, and the others were at a loss for words. Only then did he finally offer Lin Yuxia words of comfort:

"Being a chivalrous knight-errant may bring joy and revenge, but how many people can you save on your own? A dozen? A hundred? In the face of true disaster, one person's strength is like a mantis trying to stop a chariot."

"But if you are a good official, you can gather many forces like yours, and everyone can follow your orders and exert their strength at once. At that time, you can save a thousand people, ten thousand people—of course, provided that you persevere."

At this point, a faint smile appeared on Chen Qi's face, and he said with considerable confidence, in front of Lin Yuxia, whose gaze was slightly dazed:

"But I can't speak for others, but I have great confidence in you, Yuxia. Your achievements will be no less than Hu Zongxian's."

"... I'll take your words to heart." Lin Yuxia was comforted by Chen Qi, probably because Chen Qi was special to her. He was one of her few friends, someone she looked up to and admired. His comfort was very helpful to Lin Yuxia.

"But even if I could become Hu Zongxian, there are so many powerful and corrupt officials in the court, like Lü Fang and Yan Song, that I would be powerless to stop them."

Lin Yuxia couldn't help but deflate when she got to this point. She had completely regarded Chen Qi's "The Great Yan Dynasty 1566" as a prophetic TV series. Nowadays, many people, including the Emperor of Great Yan, vaguely believe that the 1566 depicted by Chen Qi is the Great Yan 500 years later.

Now, the Emperor of Great Yan is working even harder to prevent Great Yan from going down that path, and is even trying to establish more rules for future generations—isn't it all because he's worried that this will happen?

"Who says there's absolutely no way out?"

However, Chen Qi smiled slightly upon hearing this. In front of Lin Yuxia, Chen Huijie, and the other dejected young people, he felt he had to give them a small spoiler, lest this film cause them to lose faith in the Great Yan Dynasty. Otherwise, wouldn't he become a "500,000" (a derogatory term implying he'd lost money)?

"Don't forget, the protagonist of this drama is Hai Rui. If he were completely useless, why would I have chosen him as the protagonist? In my opinion, he's the only one who can stand up to the Emperor Jiajing head-on."

"... You mean, there's still hope for the Great Yan Dynasty in the drama? And that the Emperor Jiajing will suddenly realize his mistakes?"

However, Chen Qi's words ignited hope in those nearly driven mad by the oppressive environment of "The Great Yan Dynasty 1566." Chen Qi didn't say much in response, only nodding solemnly, uttering a statement that seemed insincere:

"There will be hope; you will see it later."

"But right now, we need to finish filming the scenes we have on hand. A few months later, we'll start filming the scenes about the downfall of Yan Faction. At that time, you'll gradually see how Hai Rui rose from a lowly seventh-rank official to a figure who even made the Emperor Jiajing tremble."

PS: This is the second chapter today! As usual, there will be another update tonight! (I forced myself to write this while feeling dizzy and lightheaded. The later I stay up, the later it gets, sob sob sob. Writing three chapters is so tiring... I'm exhausted...)

Volume 1: Chapter 308: Keep stirring things up! You can keep stirring things up until the Great Yan Dynasty falls!

Several months later, in the main hall, officials gathered as usual for the morning court session. However, this time, the atmosphere in the court was quite serious, all because of the gloomy face of the Great Yan Emperor.

This is outrageous!

"Bang!"

Suddenly, the Emperor of Great Yan, upon seeing the memorial presented to him, abruptly and furiously kicked the imperial desk away. Instantly, all the civil and military officials felt the absolute suppression of their bloodline by the aura of the True Lung, and they all knelt on the ground in fear and trembling, immediately saying in unison:

"Your Majesty, I deserve to die!"

The Emperor of Great Yan's fury was undoubtedly related to the plot that Wei Yenwu had sent him a few months earlier. Shen Yishi, the richest man in Zhe City, had his entire fortune stripped bare by officials from top to bottom, leaving his home ransacked.

When the Emperor of Great Yan saw that his elder brother had specifically sent him this plot, he understood immediately that it was a warning to him. He immediately followed this clue and began to dispatch wealthy merchants from various Mobile City to investigate the possibility of "collusion between officials and merchants".

What they found during the investigation was shocking. When the Emperor of the Great Yan, through various forces including the Court of Judicial Review, the Imperial Guards, and the Censorate, poured into the local government to begin a new round of thorough investigation, they were actually able to uncover something.

Local officials in various Mobile City have business dealings with local wealthy businessmen and even Commercial Federation, just like in Chen Qi's drama, except that the plot of them being in cahoots has not yet appeared.

Some local government officials have indeed handed over seemingly good government-owned enterprises to wealthy businessmen for management, then extracted profits from them, treating the businessmen as managers of their profitable businesses. However, it's not that no officials have reported them, but most of these reports were intercepted halfway through.

What angered the Emperor of Great Yan was that these officials who dared to expose the truth were either dismissed or transferred to the border by these people using various methods. And these local governments even manipulated these personnel transfers, with each person's confession and reasoning for the verdict being stamped and sealed, so much so that even the Ministry of Personnel could not see through it, and it was even more impossible to see through it when it was presented to the Emperor.

It's only because the laws of the Great Yan Dynasty are strict that they wouldn't dare commit the crime of causing the sudden death of an official, otherwise the Ministry of Personnel would definitely have reacted. But such deception and corruption alone were enough to make the Emperor of the Great Yan lose his patience.

For the Emperor of Great Yan, this is the "demon-revealing mirror" of the Great Yan Dynasty. Now, the demons have truly been revealed. And for the Emperor of Great Yan, who is now on edge and afraid that Great Yan will really become like the one in the drama, these old cases have undoubtedly become the scapegoats he must take down.

"All the corrupt officials listed in the memorials shall be executed by my hand, their property confiscated, as a warning to others!"

"All officials falsely accused and exiled to the frontier will have their crimes overturned by the court, and will be allowed to fill vacant positions as compensation and reward. The areas under the jurisdiction of these local officials who have been embezzled will be exempt from taxes for one year. All officials in the Ministry of Personnel will be fined one year's salary; let them not repeat this offense!"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The Great Yan Emperor's order was immediately carried out. Clearly, all the officials were well aware of their emperor's temperament. He wasn't a tyrant; he was usually gentle and tolerant towards officials and commoners. But once he picked up a knife, he would kill without blinking an eye.

Even with Wei Yenwu, the emperor's elder brother who had changed his name and identity and was known to all the officials, the current emperor showed no mercy when he made an example of Wei Yenwu to deter others after he committed a fundamental error.

Therefore, the fact that they received such a verdict, without harming the innocent, is already a relief. If it were the late emperor, the entire court would probably have been punished.

The officials withdrew, still shaken, leaving only the weary Emperor of Great Yan rubbing his eyes. Not far away, Wei Yenwu slowly approached, and his younger brother asked softly:

"Your Majesty... am I incompetent and foolish? Why did so many problems arise under my command without my noticing, not even the people in the Ministry of Personnel of Personnel whom I was transferred to? I even needed Director Chen Qi to remind me before I noticed these blind spots."

"Am I so bad at judging people? To have fallen to such a wretched state is truly shameful."

Hearing his younger brother, with whom he had grown up, suddenly display such a distressed expression, Wei Yenwu felt a pang of guilt and sorrow. Without hesitation, he replied:

"Don't think like that. Although His Majesty is the emperor, he is still human. Even someone who has lived for tens of thousands of years wouldn't claim to know everything. Besides, His Majesty has always been in the palace, working diligently for the country and its people. Naturally, he lacks some knowledge about local affairs."

"Yes... I am unaware of local affairs, unlike my elder brother, who must be knowledgeable in both regions. If you were to sit on the throne, you would surely be better suited than me, wouldn't you?"

However, Wei Yenwu's answer only earned him a low, resentful remark from the Emperor of Great Yan, or perhaps a frantic hint. Seeing that his younger brother still hadn't given up on his plan to put him on the throne, Wei Yenwu could only silently reply:

"Your Majesty, please be careful with your words. I am now the Duke of Zhenguo Wei Yenwu."

"Ah, it's good to have two names; in a little while, it'll be someone else."

The Emperor of Great Yan's lips twitched. He knew that his relentless pursuit would only make his elder brother more wary, so he changed the subject and asked:

"Several months have passed, and I have been busy with matters concerning the Great Yan, rarely visiting Director Chen Qi and his team. I wonder if the filming on Director Chen Qi's side is going smoothly?"

"It's going very smoothly. We've been filming two episodes a month. That kid Chen Qi has already sent quite a few videotapes to the monarchs of those countries." Wei Yenwu's face lit up with excitement as he mentioned the recent episodes Chen Qi had been filming. There was no doubt that he had been thoroughly enjoying them.

"I must say, these scenes were truly spectacular. It just so happens that Your Majesty hasn't watched them recently, so I'll watch them with you again."

"I remember, these scenes are about to bring down Yan, right? If all the cases in Zhe City are exposed, then Yan Faction will surely fall. I'll see how Lady Chen (Chen Huijie), who plays Hai Rui, fuels this."

The Emperor of Great Yan has indeed had no Kung Fu Hustle to rest lately, first with the state banquet, then with this major corruption case. He really needs a good rest.

So, with Wei Yenwu by their side, the two brothers sat down together again, temporarily setting aside their respective identities, and began watching the piled-up videotapes in their bedchamber, intending to spend the next few hours catching up on this drama.

In the drama, Liang Xun and Ning Ciqiu play Zheng and He, who, after failing to confiscate Shen Yishi's property, are forced to sell the Weaving Bureau to a group of Huizhou merchants, who will then be responsible for producing 500,000 bolts of silk. For the two, only by successfully negotiating this deal and using the profits to fund Hu Zongxian's campaign against Seaborn can they escape their fate.

As for why they sold it to Huizhou merchants, it was just to slightly annoy Hu Zongxian, since Hu Zongxian himself was from there. They were all looking for Hu Zongxian's fellow townsmen, so they could drag Hu Zongxian down with them.

However, what they didn't expect was that, just when they thought they could escape by burning the account books that were unfavorable to them, Shen Yishi actually left behind a second set of account books, exactly the same as the one they burned. These four boxes of account books, along with Yang Jinshui's secret memorial, were sent to the palace.

At this moment, Wei Yenwu's portrayal of the Emperor Jiajing finally reveals the source of his power to control information about all officials and to clearly identify who is corrupt and who is honest, loyal and who is rotten—a vast team of arithmetic experts.

A dozen servants were seen around the computer, typing away at the keyboard to calculate accounts, while on the other side, dozens of servants were using an ancient abacus to calculate the same data. Technology and manual labor were used to calculate the same account to ensure that there would be absolutely no mistakes.

"It seems that for this Emperor Jiajing, being emperor was just a side job; being Feranmut and the Minister of Ministry of Revenue were his true duties."

When the Emperor of Great Yan saw this scene, he couldn't help but twitch his lips slightly. However, he had to admit that this method was indeed effective. As long as he grasped the financial data and compared his own accounts with those of the Six Ministries, it would be quite obvious which department had problems.

Of course, the Jiajing in the drama wanted to firmly control the finances, and this wasn't just based on that. After all, he was a monarch who wanted to become Feranmut, and alchemy still required money from his own "inner treasury." The national treasury and the inner treasury were two different things, so he needed an accounting team to keep track of some accounts for him.

In the end, Jiajing finally came to the conclusion that the corruption of various officials in Zhe City over the years amounted to at least seven or eight million taels of silver.

This made Jiajing once again consider overthrowing Yan, but in the end, Hu Zongxian, played by Zuo Xuanliao, temporarily dissuaded Jiajing from this idea. Now Hu Zongxian was suppressing Seaborn in the southeast, and the decisive battle was approaching. Moreover, the Great Yan was still beset by many internal and external troubles. If Yan were overthrown at this time, the Great Yan would lose a pillar that, although decayed, bore heavy responsibilities, which would still be very dangerous.

Ultimately, Jiajing's solution was to remove Yan Shifan from the Grand Secretariat, but in order to balance the power of the Grand Secretariat and prevent the Purists too powerful, he also made some adjustments.

"Yan Shifan is leaving the Grand Secretariat, and I will not protect the others. Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng are also leaving; the Grand Secretariat leadership needs to be reshuffled."

"The Grand Secretary will remain Grand Secretary Yan, but Xu Jie will handle the practical matters. Appoint Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin to the post— Xu Jie will announce this decree."

"Remember, first let those people see the transcribed mess of accounts, and after they've seen it, announce the decree. Then discuss who should be appointed governor of Zhe City, and immediately arrest Zheng Michang and He Maocai, and recover the embezzled property of Shen Yishi."

"Indeed, Jiajing's art of weighing the pros and cons... truly commands respect."

This scene made the Great Yan Emperor understand Jiajing's intentions, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Yan Shifan has withdrawn from the Grand Secretariat, Yan Song is practically a figurehead, and real power has fallen into the hands of Xu Jie of the Clear Stream Faction. Even if Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong are also purged, Xu Jie is still the one who actually holds power."

"But this decree led Xu Jie to announce... Jiajing wanted to sow discord among the Purists faction and divide Purists. This would throw both the Yan Faction and the Purists into chaos, forcing them to perform their respective duties, while allowing the other two people who joined the Grand Secretariat to become familiar with the Grand Secretariat and gradually assume important responsibilities."

And just as the Emperor of Great Yan had said, with a shift in the scene to the Grand Secretariat, the three men finished reviewing the account books, Xu Jie announced the imperial decree, and the three men simultaneously withdrew from the Grand Secretariat.

"Yan Shifan, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng are prone to impetuosity in their deliberations and handling of state affairs, and they frequently attack each other, thus hindering national governance. I Xu Jie the advice of Yan Song and Yan Song, and hereby order Yan Shifan, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng to be removed from their positions as Grand Secretariat members and returned to their respective ministries, where they will resume their original posts."

As expected, after Xu Jie announced the decree, Gao Gong, played by Celestial Master Bai, immediately became serious, and his aggressive gaze made everyone know that Jiajing had achieved his goal.

Regarding the issue of the governor of Zhe City, neither Yan Shifan nor his trusted confidants recommended by the Purists Faction were adopted; Jiajing had already made his decision. That decision rested with Zhao Zhenji, the "non-stick pan" played by Ling.