The Second Question

In the desolate camp Chang'an City, Li Guang, who was accompanying the new emperor, felt a sudden unease.

He felt that his return to the Northern Border Military Region was likely a long way off.

Li Guang never expected that such a casual question would lead to such a big trouble.

The difference between five hundred and a half taels of silver and ten strings of cash is a full twenty times.

The regulations implemented by the Northern Border Military Region are fine, but how they are implemented at the lower levels is another matter entirely.

The severance pay for soldiers discharged due to age or injury has been manipulated.

Li Guang cared about the soldiers in service and was considerate of their health. He would arrange for them to rest and recuperate, and even patrolled to ensure that the wounded had plenty of food and water. Everyone on duty was subject to Li Guang's inspection.

However, he did not pay attention to the situation of retired soldiers, making it difficult to know whether Zhang Baojia's case was an isolated incident or a common occurrence.

"This position is being terminated!"

The new emperor had promised to support the Northern Border Military Region's expansion plan, but now that this matter has been exposed, the plan is going to be halted.

If any significant issues are uncovered, Li Guang feels it will be difficult for him to return to the Northern Border Military Region and take over military command.

Soldiers conscripted from the Northern Border Military Region, after retiring, unexpectedly traveled thousands of miles to Chang'an City to make a living. Then, during an unintentional conversation, the emperor of the time learned the truth about their situation. This extremely rare occurrence almost made Li Guang question the meaning of life.

However, he was not one of those who could argue and defend themselves in court, and Li Guang disdained to argue on such matters. He was even less likely to angrily refute Zhang Baojia's lies, then imprison him, and force him to write a completely contradictory confession through bribery and torture.

Ten strings of cash isn't much!

The new emperor murmured something under his breath.

Ten strings of cash are equivalent to ten thousand and a half taels of silver, enough to buy a very ordinary bungalow in Chang'an City.

This kind of money sounds valuable, but it's a resettlement allowance that soldiers can only receive after ten years of service and before they can retire. It's only enough for a squad leader who has killed enemies, and when converted to an annual income, it's only one string of cash.

Having served for a long time, even risking their lives, the imperial court believed that retired soldiers deserved ten strings of cash, with even more generous compensation for those who died in service.

But the new emperor never expected that ten strings of cash could be reduced to only half a string.

Many people don't know this, and perhaps many others know it but haven't spoken out.

Some people are stakeholders, while others have never paid attention to those lowly sergeants. As long as the military region can mobilize these people for patrols and battles, no one cares whether these people are paid a lot or a little.

"We need to investigate again," Li Guang said in a low voice.

How do I check?

The new emperor was slightly angry.

This is very likely a long-standing, unsolved case, involving a large number of people.

Even if the key figures involved were beheaded, the lost public support would be difficult to regain. Furthermore, the Northern Border Military Region's annual expenditures are extremely balanced, and its accounting standards are very high. This also means that the Northern Border Military Region has not left much money behind, as most of its funds have been spent legally and legitimately, making it impossible to fill this gap.

The imperial court is even less likely to foot the bill for such a matter, and the new emperor is also unable to address this long-standing legacy issue.

He originally thought he had the ability to take Zhang Xuezhou's entrance exam, and he never expected to hear about something like this.

Li Guang was very cooperative, but how do you investigate something like this? Who has the ability to uncover those involved in this Northern Border Military Region affair and still come back alive? How will things be handled after this is exposed?

Various factors make it impossible to investigate such matters, nor can they be investigated openly.

How Zhang Xuezhou managed to keep these people alive during the college entrance exams was a matter of entertainment, while the issue of military pay for the Northern Border Military Region was a truly serious matter.

The imperial court couldn't possibly use ten strings of cash to do something worth five hundred and a half taels of cash.

The new emperor frowned. If something like this happened in the Northern Border Military Region, it was highly likely that similar things would happen in other military regions as well.

This is a terrible thing. The new emperor is not afraid of anyone embezzling funds; he is afraid that the money will go to places where it shouldn't go.

For example, during the Rebellion of the Eight Princes when Emperor Jing was in power, eight princes led hundreds of thousands of troops in a counterattack. The cost of the army that was quickly mobilized during the rebellion was enormous.

Normally, the vassal states could not be wealthier than the imperial court in Chang'an City, but the wealth these vassal states possessed was astonishing, even making the imperial court feel inferior.

This reversal of the Heavenly Gang is extremely illogical, yet it truly happened decades ago.

This reason may be part of the reason now.

How do I check?

When the new emperor asked again, Li Guang could only nod and lower his head, finding it difficult to answer the emperor's question.

When Zhang Xuezhou's voice rang out, Li Guang finally realized that the new emperor's second question was not directed at him, but rather at the scholar beside him.

"I'm thinking about how to lift the people here out of poverty and get them enough to eat!"

Answer my question first!

"This does not follow the proper questioning procedure!"

"Take the token I give them and go to the Prefectural Governor's Office in the Capital to receive their 'certificates' and resolve their identity issues. As long as they can enter and leave Chang'an City, the wild animals they hunt can fetch a good price Chang'an City. If they're lucky, they might even make a fortune someday!"

Zhang Xuezhou could not provide a satisfactory answer on how to lead the people of Zhang Household Village out of poverty, and the biggest reason for this lay with the authorities.

Without a proper identity, there can be no development.

Only when people in Zhang Household Village have legal and legitimate identities can they have more freedom to pursue opportunities, instead of needing Zhang Xuezhou to take the lead in everything.

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't answer that question, but the new emperor could.

After exchanging a few words, the new emperor pulled an iron plaque from his waist and handed it to Zhang Xuezhou. The most difficult part of the matter had been resolved.

"Investigating this matter is very difficult," Zhang Xuezhou returned to the second question, saying, "I once accompanied a merchant corps to Fuping County. The entire corps was forcibly detained by Wang Yanchong, the supervisor of the corps, over a trivial matter. The corps' money was confiscated, and after being thrown into prison, no one questioned or interrogated them. After being frozen for several days, it was General Li Jiao who discovered the matter and upheld justice!"

"Li Jiao?" the new emperor asked, puzzled.

"This Li Jiao should be my son. I met the Eastern Scholar when I was in the Northern Border," Li Guang interjected reluctantly.

"What does this have to do with the verification?" the new emperor asked, frowning.

"In this matter, General Bo Dang, who was in charge of the Fuping County Army, was beaten, and his subordinate Wang Yanchong was slapped several times, fined three months' salary, and forced to hand over the money he had embezzled from the merchant group," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"The punishment is barely appropriate!"

"But this money ultimately did not return to our merchant group!"

Zhang Xuezhou pointed out the real problem.

Dong Zhongshu, Zhang Xuezhou, and others focused on resolving their health issues at the Northern Border Military Region; financial matters were secondary.

At the time, no one was willing to risk their life to get their money back; they just wanted to be healthy.

But after the whole thing was over, they didn't get their money back because a clandestine area had emerged under the jurisdiction of the Northern Border Military Region.

Li Jiao couldn't possibly be after this money; the other party must have followed the proper procedures. But even if Li Jiao had acted according to the proper procedures, they still hadn't gotten their money back.

Whether due to delays, misappropriation of funds, or other reasons, the money ultimately remained stuck at some point in the process.

The fact that a general of Li Jiao's caliber could be ignored suggests that the personnel and processes involved were extremely complex. It's even possible that Li Guang was unknowingly involved and enjoyed the benefits offered by others.

Zhang Xuezhou recounted a case involving himself, but did not mention how he investigated it.

He didn't know if the new emperor was satisfied with this answer.

This is no longer a question of whether to investigate or not; rather, it requires the new emperor to take over military power, dismantle the old forces that have been dominating the military regions, and even carry out dismantling and relocation operations every certain number of years to ensure that the interconnected links are not completely corrupted.

Otherwise, even if some scapegoats are found in this matter, nothing will change.