"If I succeed in taking down Bai Shizhong this time, I'll have you appointed as a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Personnel's Department of State Affairs!"
After a long while, just as Qin Hui was about to despair, Wang Fu slowly spoke.
"Thank you for the promotion, Prime Minister!"
The position of Deputy Director in the Ministry of Personnel's Department of State Affairs was a truly lucrative one.
For Wang Fu to offer him this position meant he placed immense trust in him.
"Alright, it's too early to say all this. Let's focus on taking down Bai Shizhong first!"
Seeing his delighted expression, Wang Fu felt much more at ease.
After all, this man had come to him of his own volition. Wang Fu needed to assess his loyalty.
If this fellow had remained detached and devoid of any ulterior motives, Wang Fu would have had to ponder whether to employ him.
Indeed, the world thrives on profit; people bustle about for gain.
Someone who comes to one's side for no apparent reason and shows excessive eagerness might have greater ambitions.
The case in Kaifeng Prefecture had captured the attention of all the dignitaries in Bianliang City.
Yet, the chief judge, Nie Shan, was currently under immense pressure.
The case itself was not complicated, but Nie Shan had clearly seen the situation in the imperial court that day.
For such a simple case, the individuals involved behind the scenes were more than just one or two.
Whatever the final outcome, he would inevitably offend one party or the other.
For him, this was a no-win case.
If it were an ordinary case, he could have feigned illness right then. However, this case had been brought forth by the Emperor himself, and he had been personally appointed as the chief judge.
How should this case be tried?
To what extent should it be investigated?
At this moment, he had no idea.
Holding such a case, no matter how it was handled, seemed to offend someone, leaving him in a state of indecision.
However, he was not the only one grappling with such indecision.
Five hundred miles away, in Yuancheng, Li Jixian, the Transport Commissioner of Eastern Hebei, stared at the intelligence reports from various sources on his desk, his hair turning white from worry.
Thanks to that scoundrel Han Mo, all the official granaries, nearly a hundred in number, across the three prefectures, eleven counties, five military districts, and fifty-seven commanderies of Eastern Hebei were now under Xu Churen's control.
Publicly, they claimed it was to conduct an inventory and reorganize military supplies.
However, anyone could see that Xu Churen's intentions were far from simple.
The entire Eastern Hebei region was, in reality, just an empty shell.
The reason the imperial court had not discovered this over the years was entirely due to the constant maneuvering by successive transport commissioners.
To put it plainly, it was like robbing Peter to pay Paul.
If their own walls lacked tiles, they would borrow some from their neighbors.
After passing inspections, they would send their own tiles along with their neighbors' to help them pass their inspections.
But this time, Xu Churen's actions were too swift, and too many people were involved.
This prevented the local officials from being able to maneuver, forcing them to borrow money from local wealthy households and merchants.
Initially, they thought Xu Churen's actions would be all bark and no bite, that he would simply uncover the facts and keep them to himself. But they never expected this old rogue to play by entirely different rules.
After he had finished inventorying everything in the granaries and confirmed there were no discrepancies with the ledgers, he directly dispatched people to seal them.
Even more, each granary was guarded by appointed personnel.
This, in turn, severely inconvenienced the corrupt officials. Most of the money and grain they dealt with had been borrowed from wealthy households and merchants.
Moreover, they had agreed to exorbitant interest rates when borrowing the money. They had expected to resolve the situation in a few days, but it had been sealed for over half a month.
As for when the granaries would be unsealed, even the guards were unsure. Even after spending a considerable sum to inquire, the only response they received was the instruction to "await orders."
Once this news spread, the wealthy households throughout Eastern Hebei were thrown into a state of panic.
Many no longer cared about the interest; they were solely focused on retrieving their principal.
In the beginning, the local officials could still hold on, but after only seven days, those officials had already begun to complain bitterly.
In this era, any person in the entire Hebei region who could produce a large sum of money or grain was undoubtedly a formidable figure with deep connections.
If it were just one or two individuals, the Transport Commissioner might not have paid them much heed.
But the problem was that the entire Eastern Hebei region had descended into utter chaos.
The leading influential figures had already issued an ultimatum: if the problem was not resolved within ten days, they would begin impeaching him.
Among those who threatened him were over twenty officials who had held positions of third rank or higher.
As for those of fourth and fifth rank, they were countless.
Although he, the Transport Commissioner of Eastern Hebei, was enjoying considerable prestige at the moment, he knew in his heart that if this matter were to be exposed, not only his subordinates but also he himself would face dire consequences.
They had originally thought that by spending 200,000 strings of copper coins, they could influence the higher-ups and have Wang Fu help them by having Xu Churen transferred.
However, they never expected that after several days, Wang Fu's side would show no movement whatsoever.
They wouldn't even meet the people they sent, clearly intending to let them fend for themselves!
"Sir..."
As Li Jixian was agonizing over the situation, Pang Yue quietly entered.
"Didn't I tell you not to disturb me unless it's important? What is it this time?"
"The Office of Transmission has just forwarded a copy..."
As Pang Yue spoke, he carefully took a small booklet from his sleeve.
"The Office of Transmission?"
Upon hearing this, Li Jixian quickly accepted the booklet and began to read it carefully.
"Is the information in here reliable?"
After listening carefully to confirm that no one was outside, Li Jixian lowered his voice and asked.
"The information should be reliable. We've bought information from the Office of Transmission multiple times over the years; they shouldn't be ignorant of the rules!"
Pang Yue said in a low voice.