Chapter 1787 - 1725: Becoming the Target of Public Ire
Chapter 1787: Chapter 1725: Becoming the Target of Public Ire
After listening to the old man’s words, Ah Jiu and Liang Bang exchanged glances again, frowning.
"No way, His Majesty the Emperor is a wise ruler who would never neglect natural disasters. With such a big snow disaster, he surely would have allocated funds for relief!" Ah Jiu said.
The old man took out his tobacco pouch and pipe, chuckled, and as he packed tobacco into the pipe, he said, "Even if His Majesty allocates funds for disaster relief, it can’t satisfy the greedy appetite of these corrupt officials!"
"Are you saying those disaster relief funds were embezzled by those officials? Who?"
The old man’s neck shrank, and he waved his hand, saying, "I dare not say."
"Don’t worry, old man, we’re tight-lipped and won’t speak of it!" Ah Jiu said with a smile.
"I dare not say, it’s not easy to speak." The old man shook his head and said, "To put it bluntly, these officials shield each other, covering up one another. Who knows who is linked in this chain?"
Ah Jiu continued, "Isn’t there a certain Prefect He? I heard he embezzled, and even took his own life to atone."
"Prefect He, ah, he was a good official. To say he embezzled those disaster relief funds, I, an old man, do not believe it. The people of our prefectural city have all benefited from his grace, and several wrongful convictions have been overturned thanks to Prefect He. His family is known to be poor; his wife and daughter have to work. The old man shook his head and said, "With such circumstances, embezzling silver? I don’t believe it."
Liang Bang then said, "Old man, sometimes people are all show and no substance. You don’t really know."
"Still, I don’t believe he embezzled it." The old man paused for a moment and shook his head again.
Liang Bang wanted to say more, but a woman inside shouted at the old man, and he immediately stood up and said, "Please sit, guests. It seems the flatbread is ready!"
He hurried inside and soon came out with over a dozen pieces of piping-hot, crisp, golden flatbread. Liang Bang took two, while the rest were distributed among the guards, and he asked the old man to bake more.
The old man was all smiles, busy going inside to help his wife.
Liang Bang bit into the flatbread and asked Ah Jiu, "What do you think?"
"The disaster relief funds were allocated and handed over smoothly, yet complications arose with He Quanchang. The silver disappeared without a trace. He Quanchang died in prison, officially claimed as suicide from guilt. But what about the silver? His whole family also hung themselves, which is unusual." Ah Jiu’s voice was very light: "If he had embezzled that silver, to search everywhere should reveal it, right? But it hasn’t. Additionally, his youngest daughter has disappeared along with the silver."
"All evidence points to him, without any oversight, which is too neat." Ah Jiu whispered, "Moreover, leaving behind such a large sum of silver, he’d surely have descendants to inherit, not abandoning a son but keeping a daughter."
"Are you saying he was just a scapegoat?" Liang Bang asked.
"With the investigation unfinished, it’s hard to say. We need to find the disaster relief funds first." Ah Jiu said, "If He Quanchang was a scapegoat, then things will be even harder to handle."
Liang Bang was stunned, his eyebrows furrowing.
If he were a scapegoat, it would prove there is a hidden big fish behind it, or not just one, but a string of them, conspiring together to misappropriate the funds, then they would only connect more closely, after all, if one part collapses, the rest will crumble.
And to avoid crumbling, naturally they would unite and stand against common foes.
The forces in the Northern Region were already chaotic, and once those people unite, those investigating the embezzlement case would become targets of public criticism.
"Take it slow." Ah Jiu patted his shoulder, "If possible, secure a position for yourself here."
Liang Bang’s heart skipped a beat, and he nodded.