Chapter 94

Chapter 93: Heaven's Hearing

The greatest, wealthiest, most civilized, and most prosperous city—almost monopolizing all beautiful adjectives and deserving the title of 'the greatest'—Kaifeng, was now enveloped in a storm.

For three consecutive days, torrential rain filled all the rivers and canals of Kaifeng. The towering palaces in the imperial city, the inns, taverns, and brothels outside the Zhuque Gate, with their embroidered banners and pearl curtains, all appeared faintly in the rain, losing their usual vitality and appearing dejected.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the world as bright as daylight, lighting up the inner palace shrouded in a curtain of water, and also illuminating the pale face of Chancellor Han.

In the Kaifeng imperial city, in the signing room of the Council of Military Affairs.

Since receiving the 'Tombstone Inscription for Fan Zhongyan' sent by Ouyang Xiu, Chancellor Han had remained in a seated position. The subordinates in the signing room did not dare to breathe loudly or move.

After the lightning, a thunderclap sounded, startling Chancellor Han, who shivered. He withdrew his gaze from the ceiling, steadied himself, and, by the candlelight, read the letter again.

It was not a tombstone inscription at all, but a shocking whistleblower letter. In the letter, Ouyang Xiu described a shocking corruption case with his powerful writing, which had the power to shock the heart and change the landscape.

To be honest, when Han Qi was still a deputy in the Council of Military Affairs, he had long known that the military in Lingnan was not clean. He had also proposed to the court to reorganize and recompile the southern garrison troops to save expenses, but his multiple petitions were ignored.

Not long after, he was inexplicably expelled from the Council of Military Affairs and transferred to a local prefecture. Later, he realized that he had cut off someone's source of income... It was said that the treatment and rewards for civil officials in the Song Dynasty were high, but this referred to high-ranking officials. The lower the rank, the less the income. For officials below the seventh rank in the capital, their income was not much different from that of chefs and tailors in Kaifeng.

Not to mention the numerous clerical officials, whose income could only be described as meager. In the expensive city of Kaifeng, they could barely make ends meet.

The Song Dynasty had a very effective system for preventing official corruption. Before taking office, officials needed at least two other officials to vouch for them, and if they were found to be corrupt, the vouching officials and their direct superiors would also be punished. Moreover, officials who had been punished, even if not expelled from the bureaucracy, would be sidelined in future promotions. There were also many redundant officials waiting for positions, so corruption cases in the Song Dynasty were rare.

However, as long as it was a human society, one could not expect to completely eliminate corruption. If the east was not corrupt, the west would be... If the political sphere was not corrupt, the military would be...

Although the Song Dynasty was known for its emphasis on civil officials over military officials, this referred to political status. In terms of finance, more than 70% of the revenue was allocated to the military. The military, being a self-contained entity, even the emperor could not interfere, naturally becoming a high-risk area for corruption.

The Western Army, which defended against the Xia Kingdom, and the elite Imperial Guards were better. The generals only embezzled a small portion of the payroll and did not dare to be too greedy. However, the southern regions were seen by the northern court as weak and wealthy, easy to exploit. The court never believed that the southerners would rebel. Their logic was simple: a group of people who could rule the weak Southern Tang and the brutal Northern Han would be grateful for the civilization of the Song Dynasty and would not rebel.

Therefore, the further south one went, the more rampant the corruption in the southern armies. The southerners, with their economic acumen, used the military's superior status to monopolize trade, earning more gold and silver than through corruption. Although the generals had low political status, they were as wealthy as princes, living a life of unimaginable luxury.

However, the strategy of the First Emperor to concentrate the elite troops in the capital made the southern generals, despite their wealth, dare not have any ideas. They had to submit to the control of the court. They naturally had to show respect to the civil officials who held their lives in their hands, sending heavy gifts to various government offices during festivals... of course, under the guise of certain merchants.

The Song Dynasty did not allow individual officials to be corrupt, but it did not prohibit government offices from accepting gifts. Therefore, the civil officials accepted the money with a clear conscience and without hesitation.

In return, they acted as protectors for the military officials. Even officials known for their integrity only refused such gifts but felt that the military should be lenient... because in the eyes of Song Dynasty officials, military men were inherently of low quality, and it would be strange if they were not corrupt. As long as they were obedient, a little corruption was acceptable.

However, it was not expected that while Lingnan was not in chaos, the area south of Lingnan produced a rebel named Nong Zhigao.

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After the failure of the Qingli Reforms, all the members of the Gentleman Party were reflecting on why they had failed so quickly. Han Qi was no exception...

Looking back at the beginning of Qingli, the reforms had a great momentum. The emperor was determined, a group of famous ministers were united, and the support from the court and the people was overwhelming. However, the reforms lasted for less than a year before fizzling out... The reason was that the reforms had harmed the interests of the bureaucratic class. Therefore, countless officials stood against the reforms, making the Old Party quickly grow strong and seize the opportunity to drag the reform leaders into the mire of party struggles, causing the emperor to feel fear and retreat.

Summarizing the lessons, Han Qi finally realized that throughout history, individuals or a few people could never stand up to the vast bureaucracy, even the emperor did not have that ability.

After reflection, many people made changes. The first to change was the exceptionally talented Chancellor Han. After that, he began to go with the flow, and indeed, he was the first to recover from the failure, returning to the capital to become the head of the Council of Military Affairs.

Soon, the officials in the capital noticed that Chancellor Han had indeed changed. Although he himself was tall, handsome, and rich, and did not accept any gifts, he learned to turn a blind eye to the benefits his subordinates received.

After securing his position, Han Qi began to promote his old comrades... In addition to Yu Jing, he also wanted to bring Ouyang Xiu back to service. In the Song Dynasty, bringing someone back to service was not unusual, and it was a natural move given Ouyang Xiu's high reputation in the literary world.

Yu Jing's reaction made him very pleased, thinking that if even this sweaty man had changed, Ouyang Xiu would not still be that troublemaker, right?

Now the answer was clear: he still was.

What consoled Han Qi was that Ouyang Xiu still remembered their old comradeship or was grateful for his recent support. In any case, he did not report to the emperor first, nor did he directly publish it to the world... With Ouyang Xiu's status as the leader of the literary world, his articles, once printed, would spread throughout the country within ten days, known to all. In the Song Dynasty, no one could match Ouyang Xiu in terms of influence.

This made Han Qi not too passive, and he quickly realized that if Ouyang Xiu in Jiangxi knew, the situation in Lingnan could not be hidden.

Moreover, Han Qi did not expect the corruption to be so shocking. He thought it would be at most a bit worse than the Western Army, with a 30% embezzlement... In that case, the combat effectiveness could still be restored.

But now, the army in Lingnan was clearly rotten to the core. Relying on a broken shoe to stab a foot, how could he continue to tolerate it?

Either do nothing or do it thoroughly, that was Han Qi's nature. The blood gradually returned to his face, and the cold, mature, and charming face revealed a heavy killing intent. Since it was like this, he would cut the Gordian knot and leave no one behind!

This was also going with the flow...

"Change into court attire," Han Qi looked at his attendant and instructed in a solemn voice: "I need to see the emperor!"

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Just a short while later, the emperor received his head of the Council of Military Affairs in the Chui Gong Hall.

The Song Emperor Zhao Zhen, known for his benevolence, had a kind face with fine eyes and long eyebrows. Although he looked young due to good care, he was already 43 years old, only two years younger than Han Qi. He was in the prime of his life and the peak of his authority as an emperor.

This year marked his 30th year on the throne and 20 years of personal rule. He had experienced too much and had long learned how to manage the staggering empire, moving it forward step by step without stumbling. People were accustomed to seeing the Song Emperor resolve all troubles with ease.

The palace attendants rarely saw an emperor as angry as he was now. After hearing Han Qi's report, Zhao Zhen's eyebrows twitched, and his hands, hidden in his sleeves, clenched tightly, suppressing his anger. After a long pause, he said slowly, "Based solely on a letter from Ouyang Gong, can you make such a conclusion?"

"Your Majesty, Ouyang Yongshu is a man of principle and would never spread rumors," Han Qi said with a determined expression, which was vastly different from when he was in his signing room. "I believe that even if it is not entirely accurate, it is not far off!"

"How did the Council of Military Affairs and the Censorate supervise?" Zhao Zhen's voice carried anger, which was the maximum expression of his anger. "This level of corruption did not happen overnight, did it?"

"Your Majesty is right," Han Qi bowed deeply. "After this matter is properly handled, I will take responsibility."

"It is not your fault," Zhao Zhen suppressed his anger. "How long have you been the head of the Council of Military Affairs?" Thinking of his former teacher, the previous head of the Council of Military Affairs, he felt somewhat annoyed. "We will discuss accountability later. First, handle the situation in Lingnan." He took a deep breath and confirmed again, "Are the troops in Lingnan completely useless?"

"Supplying provisions is not a problem," Han Qi said. "But in battle..." His expression darkened. "It might harm Yang Tian."

"Order him to hold his position immediately!" the emperor said sternly.

"Before coming to see you, I had already sent the order to hold position," Han Qi said softly.

"Let's hope it is not too late."

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I have made up for the update from last night. I will continue writing today's update.

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