"Fuan, you must be joking!"
The smile on Fang Qi's face faded a little. He knew he had underestimated Kou Yuan.
This normally silent upright official was not incapable of biting after all.
At the same time, Song Yue gave Fang Qi no chance to catch his breath, picking up right where Kou Yuan had left off.
"I think Lord Kou has put his finger on the root of the matter.
The Minister of Revenue cannot see his own ministry's true accounts. The Ever-Normal Granary lists a hundred and twenty thousand shi of grain on paper, but holds only seventy-three thousand-a shortfall of forty percent.
Where did that forty percent go?
If someone embezzled it, whose crime was it?
If it was transferred away, where was it sent?
Was it used for legitimate court expenditures, or for something it should never have funded?
This memorial says, 'The registers are falsely inflated to dazzle eyes and ears, while actual reserves are depleted to fatten private purses.'
Those are grave words, but the evidence is out in plain sight.
Anyone who calls this a false accusation must first explain where those forty-seven thousand shi of grain went!"
As Song Yue spoke, his gaze remained fixed on Fang Qi.
He had no need to look at Kou Yuan.
He and Kou Yuan belonged to different camps, but today they shared a target.
That target was not Shen Duan-at least, not on the surface.
On the surface, this memorial impeached the Southern Capital Ever-Normal Granary.
But who managed the Southern Capital Ever-Normal Granary? The Ministry of Revenue.
And who managed the Ministry of Revenue? Shen Duan.
Strip away the layers one by one, and the blade's point still ended up aimed at Shen Duan's throat.
Faced with this, Fang Qi could only put on