The official in charge of transporting the grain this time was Terry Shen, a mid-level officer in the Ministry of Revenue.
The Emperor had indeed drawn two million taels of silver from the inner treasury.
But once the money passed through the hands of the Minister of Revenue, those two million taels shrank to just one and a half million.
Then, after the Vice Minister of Revenue took his cut, only one million was left.
After layer upon layer of skimming, the actual amount spent on grain was barely two hundred thousand taels.
With the fall of the Five Northern Provinces, grain prices in the capital soared—two hundred thousand taels couldn’t buy a million shi, or even two hundred thousand shi.
So, the actual amount of grain Terry Shen received was only about 150,000 shi, but the higher-ups still demanded he escort a million shi to Cloudwaste Province.
So.
So he casually resold eighty thousand shi, bought thirty thousand shi of old, moldy grain, and finally mixed in sand and stones before sending the shipment to Cloudwaste.
He originally thought this job would be a breeze.
He never expected Ian Song would actually refuse to accept the grain delivered by the Ministry of Revenue.
For a moment, Terry Shen grew uneasy and requested an audience with Ian Song, but was turned away.
Rejected, he panicked further and decided to simply run for it. As long as he made it back to the capital, this newly appointed Provincial Governor out in the provinces wouldn’t be able to touch him.
But Ian Song sent troops to detain him.
Then, the Black-Robe Guard arrived.
This time, the Black-Robe Guard sent a Thousand-Household officer to Cloudwaste Province. After inspecting the grain wagons, he immediately understood what was going on and ordered Terry Shen’s arrest.
Just as the Thousand-Household officer of the Black-Robe Guard was about to leave, Ian Song arrived.
"Greetings, Your Excellency the Provincial Governor!"
Victor Liu, the Thousand-Household officer of the Black-Robe Guard, bowed and saluted.
"No need for such formalities, Officer Liu."
Ian Song waved his hand and invited Victor Liu into a room.
"Officer Liu, who do you think is behind all this?" Ian Song asked, looking at him.
"This still needs to be investigated!" Victor Liu replied.
"Do you think Terry Shen will expose the people behind him?" Ian Song pressed.
"Uh..." Victor Liu looked troubled, unsure how to answer.
"You know how officials protect each other. If Terry Shen keeps quiet, his family will be looked after; if he talks, not only will he die, but his family probably won’t end well either, right?" Ian Song asked bluntly.
Victor Liu was well aware of the tricks of the bureaucracy.
He could already foresee that even if he brought Terry Shen back to the capital, nothing substantial would come of the investigation—at most, Terry Shen would end up as a scapegoat.
"Do you want to earn real merit, Officer Liu?" Ian Song asked again.
At this, Victor Liu’s face showed clear hesitation and inner conflict.
"The Black-Robe Guard serves His Majesty, not the civil officials. Even if you try to please them, they won’t promote you, and they won’t really accept you either!" Ian Song said with a smile.
"Please, sir, give me your guidance!"
Suddenly, Victor Liu stood up and bowed to Ian Song.
"Bring Terry Shen in."
Ian Song smiled mysteriously.
Soon, Terry Shen, now dressed in prison clothes, was escorted in. He looked strangely calm.
"Terry Shen, don't you have anything to say?"
Ian Song asked.
The other party said nothing.
"So you plan to keep resisting to the end, huh?" Ian Song shook his head, then tapped Terry Shen on the brow. Afterward, he stood up and walked out: "Officer Liu, ask whatever you want."
Puzzled, Victor Liu asked Terry Shen a question, and was surprised at how cooperative he was.
Excited, he quickly asked several more questions, and Terry Shen answered them all without resistance.
Two days later.
The Black-Robe Guard escorted Terry Shen back to the capital and delivered a confession to the Emperor of Valeguard.
After reading Terry Shen’s confession, the Emperor’s face turned almost ashen with rage.
He immediately summoned Victor Liu in person.
That night, the Black-Robe Guard raided the homes of the Minister of Revenue, the Vice Minister, and all the key Ministry of Revenue officials. In a single night, thirty-six officials were thrown into prison.
Suddenly, every court official was afraid for their own safety.
The next morning, the Emperor tossed dozens of confessions onto the table.
After reading the confessions, the ministers’ faces turned ugly, and in their hearts, they hated the Black-Robe Guard to the core.
Thanks to Terry Shen’s confession, both the Minister and Vice Ministers of Revenue confessed as well.
Especially the Minister—over his years in office, he embezzled more than five million taels of silver. The two Vice Ministers weren’t much better: one took three million, the other four million.
The rest of the Ministry’s officials stole anywhere from a million down to tens of thousands each.
That’s why the Emperor of Valeguard was so furious—the entire Ministry of Revenue had nearly been emptied out by them.
After the morning audience—
The Black-Robe Guard immediately began confiscating estates, seizing more than twenty million taels of silver in total.
A few days later—
Zachary Cai was appointed Minister of Revenue and ordered to repurchase one million shi of military grain and deliver it to Cloudwaste Province.
At the same time, Victor Liu was promoted to Deputy Commander of the Black-Robe Guard.
A few days later—
One million shi of military grain was delivered to Cloudwaste.
With so many heads freshly rolled, nobody dared mess around at this critical moment—especially since Ian Song was the star student of the new Minister. Who would dare tamper with the grain?
The day after receiving the grain, Ian immediately marched out.
In just three days, he captured a commandery city in Redgorge Province.
The victory report reached the capital, putting the Emperor in a great mood.
Next, Ian spent two months reclaiming all of Redgorge, killing twenty thousand rebels and absorbing sixty thousand into his forces.
After resting for a month—
Ian pressed on and attacked Northwest Province.
Northwest Province had long been devastated by war, so it only took twenty days to reclaim the whole region, killing twenty thousand rebels and absorbing fifty thousand.
With this, three of the Five Northern Provinces had been recovered.
Then he pushed into Northmoor Province. This time, it took about a month and a half, and in the end, the remaining two hundred thousand rebels all retreated to Dragonreach.
With the recovery of four provinces, Ian’s name spread throughout the Valeguard Kingdom.
Just as Dragonreach was about to be reclaimed, the troublemakers appeared.
One by one, the court ministers began impeaching Ian for all sorts of supposed crimes.
Some even suggested recalling Ian to the capital and sending someone else to take command of the army and finish retaking Dragonreach.
After absorbing rebel forces from four provinces, Ian now commanded nearly four hundred thousand troops. If he ever turned traitor, he’d be even scarier than the rebels themselves.
The Emperor understood this perfectly, but pretended not to.
Feigning trust in the ministers, he actually issued an edict recalling Ian to the capital.
Zachary Cai, now Minister of Revenue, saw the Emperor’s decree and couldn’t help but feel a wave of deep disappointment.
Soon enough—
Ian received the imperial edict from the Emperor of Valeguard.
All his subordinates were furious, but Ian just smiled and accepted the decree.
"Lord Ian, His Majesty commands you to depart for the capital immediately upon receiving this edict!" The eunuch’s voice was sharp as he spoke, and dozens of Black-Robe Guard experts accompanying him locked their qi on Ian at once.