Chapter 5

Zhao Junchen had no father, and his mother, Lady Zhao, was a woman who had been expelled from the clan for being a "loose woman."

To put it simply, Lady Zhao was already pregnant with Zhao Junchen before she got married. Moreover, no matter how the clan elders interrogated her, she refused to reveal who Zhao Junchen's father was, and she was even unwilling to abort the child in her womb.

At that time, this was a shocking and scandalous act that the world could not tolerate.

Thus, it was only natural that Lady Zhao was expelled from the clan.

After being expelled from the family, Lady Zhao had no one to rely on. She was often bullied and could not retaliate or defend herself. After enduring countless hardships, she finally gave birth to Zhao Junchen. She then supported the family by doing needlework for others. However, due to her poor reputation, she received only half the wages that others did for the same work. With this meager income, she barely managed to support herself and Zhao Junchen, who depended on each other for survival.

No matter what mistakes Lady Zhao had made, she was indeed a great mother. Despite her meager income, she sent Zhao Junchen to a private school to learn reading and writing without hesitation, hoping that he would have a bright future.

However, when Zhao Junchen was eleven years old, Lady Zhao, unable to bear the burden, died from overwork. Zhao Junchen was devastated and fell seriously ill. In the end, it was Old Master Xu, who had taught Zhao Junchen, who took pity on him and took him in. Not only did he continue to teach Zhao Junchen poetry and the six arts, but he also paid for Zhao Junchen to enter the county school, making him a candidate for the imperial examinations.

Zhao Junchen did not disappoint the expectations of his deceased mother and Old Master Xu, who had treated him like a son. He passed the provincial and metropolitan examinations consecutively, although he always ranked near the bottom of the list. Considering that he was only seventeen or eighteen years old at the time, this was quite remarkable.

If things had continued this way, Zhao Junchen's future would have been to barely enter the palace examination, obtain a third-class ranking, and after several years of maneuvering, become a minor official like a county magistrate. With good luck, he might even have become a prefectural governor, a mid-level official in the Ming Dynasty.

However, no one could have predicted that during the palace examination, which only tested practical statecraft, the main topic of the examination Zhao Junchen took was about state finance. Zhao Junchen had a natural talent for finance, and he performed brilliantly, ultimately being personally selected as the top scholar by Emperor Deqing, who presided over the examination. This made many scholars envious.

After the imperial examinations, Zhao Junchen was directly appointed to the Ministry of Revenue, starting as a sixth-rank official. Within a year, he was promoted three times, rising rapidly. In just three to five years, he had become a third-rank official, the Deputy Minister of Revenue. Soon after, Emperor Deqing entrusted him with the management of the Inner Transport Treasury.

This rapid rise was closely tied to Zhao Junchen's talent in finance.

It could be said that over the years, Zhao Junchen had indeed accomplished a lot. Before he entered the government, the Ming Dynasty's finances were in a difficult state, with expenditures exceeding income. However, after implementing Zhao Junchen's various suggestions and reforms, the situation improved significantly, and in recent years, there has even been a surplus!

But more importantly, Emperor Deqing had an extraordinary trust in Zhao Junchen.

Essentially, from the moment Zhao Junchen entered the government, he became a close confidant of the emperor, often accompanying him and receiving many rewards. Whenever there was an opportunity for Zhao Junchen to demonstrate his abilities, Emperor Deqing would never miss it, always giving him the chance to shine. Whenever Zhao Junchen performed well, Emperor Deqing would seize the opportunity to promote him, bestowing generous rewards that made everyone in the court and the country envious.

In this way, in less than five years, Zhao Junchen, at the age of twenty-three, had become a third-rank official in the court!!

Due to the emperor's extraordinary favor, there were many rumors in the court and the country that Zhao Junchen might be Emperor Deqing's illegitimate son.

There were many reasons for this. For example, Zhao Junchen's appearance was about 70% similar to Emperor Deqing when he was young, and no one knew who Zhao Junchen's biological father was except for the deceased Lady Zhao.

Another reason was that the year before Lady Zhao gave birth to Zhao Junchen, Emperor Deqing had toured the south and passed through Yangzhou, where Zhao Junchen was from. During this time, he had secretly visited the area for a while, and no one knew where he had gone. However, the time and place of Lady Zhao's pregnancy coincided with this period.

Furthermore, when Zhao Junchen first met the emperor, upon learning of his background, the emperor showed an unusual interest in Zhao Junchen's family history and his deceased mother, Lady Zhao. When he learned that Lady Zhao had died from overwork, he showed a sad expression and remained silent for a long time...

In short, whether in the court or the country, the rumor that "Zhao Junchen is the emperor's illegitimate son" was widely known and firmly believed.

Although Zhao Junchen had heard these rumors and secretly felt pleased, he could not be sure. The emperor himself neither confirmed nor denied them.

However, it was undeniable that under the emperor's boundless favor, Zhao Junchen's talent in finance was fully displayed, and he achieved many accomplishments. At the same time, his flaws also became evident.

Perhaps because he had been poor in his youth, Zhao Junchen had an unusual obsession and passion for money. In short, he was greedy. Whenever he saw an opportunity for profit, regardless of whether it was legal or whether it was his right, he would find a way to benefit himself. The emperor's favor and even indulgence made him even more reckless, especially in the past two years, when his greed had become insatiable.

Thinking about Zhao Junchen's actions over the years, Zhao Gang sighed helplessly.

2,300,000 taels of silver!!

In the fragmented memories of Zhao Junchen, even though he was not very clear about the era and environment he was in, this number was crystal clear.

This was the amount he had embezzled over the past five years. It's worth noting that he had only been promoted to Deputy Minister of Revenue and entered the court a year ago. For most of the five years, he had been assisting the previous Deputy Minister. Even so, during that time, he managed to embezzle 400,000 taels of silver.

After being promoted to Deputy Minister of Revenue, in just half a year, he embezzled another 800,000 taels of silver. After taking charge of the Inner Transport Treasury, in another half a year, he embezzled 1,100,000 taels of silver!!

Yes, in the fragmented memories that Zhao Gang received, these numbers were very clear, extremely clear!!

What kind of greed and madness was this?

Zhao Gang had seen corrupt officials, but he had never seen one as疯狂地贪污.

Power and money transactions, open plunder, embezzlement, and bribery—any means that could bring him huge profits, he would never refuse or give up.

Moreover, Zhao Junchen, who had achieved success at a young age, had many people who were envious and jealous. Relying on Emperor Deqing's favor, he acted recklessly and offended many people. In the court, the number of ministers who were jealous and resentful of Zhao Junchen was probably no less than half.

However, Zhao Junchen was so favored by Emperor Deqing that, despite his corruption, he had indeed made significant contributions to the state's finances, which were considered meritorious. Therefore, the ministers who were envious and resentful of him could not do anything to him for the time being, but they were secretly targeting him.

In the political arena, there is no such thing as a secret. The other officials in the court knew whether Zhao Junchen was corrupt and how much he had embezzled. To tarnish Zhao Junchen's reputation and lay the groundwork for future action, they exaggerated and spread the news of his corruption and bribery, making it widely known.

As a result, although Zhao Junchen was not the most corrupt official in the court—after all, he had been in office for a relatively short time—he was certainly the most famous corrupt official in the country.

Of course, in all the propaganda, he was still portrayed as a court jester, and his many contributions were selectively ignored by the ministers. The common people, who cursed and spat on Zhao Junchen every day, knew nothing about his achievements.

Some of this information Zhao Gang obtained from Zhao Junchen's fragmented memories, and some were inferences and speculations based on current intelligence, but they were mostly accurate.

And this was the original Zhao Junchen!!

But what made Zhao Gang helpless was that he was now Zhao Junchen, and he had to bear the consequences of all Zhao Junchen's actions.

Thinking about this, Zhao Gang couldn't help but smile bitterly, shake his head, and say helplessly, "When God wants to destroy someone, He first makes them mad. I feel that this Zhao Junchen is already on the brink of destruction. I thought that even though I had traveled through time, as an ancient official, I would at least be safe and secure, without worrying about food and shelter. I didn't expect to end up in such a situation. But now, I am Zhao Junchen, and Zhao Junchen is me. I need to carefully plan my future actions; otherwise, following the current trend, I will not have a good end."