Jiang Chen's gaze was also extremely gloomy at this moment.

He didn't know the current prices of various items, so he didn't see anything wrong.

But after Xu Changqing said that, he understood.

There were only so many soldiers, but the amount of military pay consumed far exceeded the number of soldiers.

There was definitely a problem here!

Moreover, Jiang Chen also knew that the practice of drawing pay for nonexistent soldiers existed in this era!

In other words, at least one million taels of silver from the Ministry of War's annual expenditure was unaccounted for!

"Han Kanglin, give me an explanation," Jiang Chen said in a deep voice.

"I...I..."

Han Kanglin was trembling like a leaf at this moment, unable to utter a complete sentence.

He never expected that the people below would be so bold as to create such a big loophole.

With the facts before his eyes, Han Kanglin couldn't argue even if he wanted to.

In a panic, he knelt on the ground with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly to Jiang Chen.

"Your Majesty, I failed in my duty to investigate and was deceived by the people below. Please have mercy, Your Majesty. I will definitely make amends."

Jiang Chen ignored Han Kanglin's words and swept his cold gaze over the officials of the Ministry of War.

"Who else was involved in the accounting?"

Thud!

Thud!

Several ministers collapsed to the ground, their legs giving way.

Some of them, like Han Kanglin, hadn't noticed the anomaly at all.

Some had noticed the anomaly, but their superiors hadn't said anything, so they pretended to be deaf and mute, afraid of disturbing their superiors' good fortune.

In the main hall, all the ministers held their breaths, afraid that the matter would affect them.

Jiang Chen's gaze swept over the ministers one by one, then stopped in the area of the Minister of Revenue.

"Those in the Ministry of Revenue who handled these matters, come out as well."

Several ministers of the Ministry of Revenue also collapsed to the ground.

"Drag these people down!" Jiang Chen slammed the table.

The guards rushed in and dragged the ministers away amidst cries for mercy.

The originally crowded court suddenly became spacious.

"Minister Xu, have you discovered anything else?" Jiang Chen asked.

At this question, all the ministers' hairs stood on end, and their hearts felt as if they were being gripped. They all looked at Xu Changqing.

Even ministers who hadn't done anything against the law began to panic.

No one dared to be sure that there were no problems with the matters they had handled.

Fortunately, Xu Changqing shook his head. "Your Majesty, I am still verifying."

Jiang Chen nodded slowly and said, "Investigate carefully, slowly, and meticulously!"

Xu Changqing said solemnly, "This subject obeys the decree."

"Dismiss court!"

After the court was dismissed, Jiang Chen left in a rage.

After Jiang Chen's figure disappeared, the ministers didn't even have time to greet the other ministers and walked out faster than anyone else.

They had to sort out the matters in their hands, at least before Xu Changqing found out.

Jiang Chen, full of anger, did not go to the Diligent Governance Hall, but went to Chengqian Palace.

Since Consort Mei was deposed, Worthy Consort had lived here.

Worthy Consort was pleasantly surprised by Jiang Chen's sudden arrival, but she was startled when she saw Jiang Chen's expression.

"Your Majesty, who has made you so angry?"

"A bunch of good-for-nothing dogs!" Jiang Chen said angrily.

He had originally thought that among the six ministers, Han Kanglin was the tallest among the dwarfs.

But he didn't expect that Han Kanglin would be so incompetent that he couldn't even see such obvious mistakes.

And not just for a year or two.

This had caused Great Wei to lose at least ten million taels of silver over the years!

These lost military funds had undoubtedly fallen into the hands of the generals leading the troops.

This was the most fatal thing!

In this era of cold weapons, military power was the real deterrent to everything.

If those generals had rebellious intentions, it would be absolutely unacceptable to Jiang Chen!

After listening to Jiang Chen's analysis, Worthy Consort was startled. "What should we do?"

Even though she didn't understand much, Worthy Consort understood that those generals leading the troops were completely different from the ministers in the court.

Those generals had the strength to fight back.

While Jiang Chen was explaining to Worthy Consort, he already had a certain plan for this matter.

Patting Worthy Consort's hand, Jiang Chen said gently, "Alright, don't worry about such things, and don't tell anyone. I have my own plans."

Worthy Consort nodded obediently. "Your Majesty, no matter what, I will definitely support you."

After leaving Chengqian Palace, Jiang Chen summoned Xu Changqing.

"Currently, besides the Jiangnan and Capital military camps, Great Wei also has three other places: the north to resist the Xiongnu, the west to block the Quanrong, and the south to guard Lingnan. Tell me, which of these five places has problems?" Jiang Chen asked.

Xu Changqing's expression was not very good. After hesitating for a moment, he still said, "Your Majesty, based on my deduction from the accounts, it is possible that all four places except the capital have problems."

"Relatively speaking, the Jiangnan military camp has fewer problems."

"Good, good!"

Jiang Chen laughed in anger. "Are they thinking that because the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, the court won't find out?"

Sensing the anger and killing intent on Jiang Chen's body, Xu Changqing didn't dare to speak.

"Minister Xu, what do you think should be done to rectify this?" Jiang Chen asked.

"This..."

Although Xu Changqing's IQ was not low, he obviously had no experience in this matter. "This subject dares not speak rashly."

Jiang Chen waved his hand. "Forget it, go back and compile the specific problematic amounts and give them to me."

After Xu Changqing left, Jiang Chen fell into deep thought.

According to Xu Changqing, he could only completely rely on the capital's army right now.

And the three border armies were obviously unreliable.

No wonder he always felt something was wrong when fighting the Xiongnu before.

After thinking for a while, Jiang Chen wrote a secret decree and ordered someone to send it to Jinling.

Three days later, Shi Ping, covered in dust, rushed back and came to the Diligent Governance Hall as soon as possible.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"You've worked hard. Have a seat!" Jiang Chen said.

Shi Ping was somewhat flattered. To be able to have a seat in the Diligent Governance Hall was a great honor!

"Is everything alright in Jinling?" Jiang Chen asked.

Shi Ping quickly stood up and said, "This subordinate dare not forget Your Majesty's instructions for a moment and has been cooperating with Grand Tutor Yuan."

Saying that, Shi Ping scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly, "When I have free time, I occasionally go to the Jiangnan military camp to play."

"Jiangnan military camp?"

Jiang Chen's gaze became sharp.

This change startled Shi Ping, and he quickly knelt on the ground.

"Your Majesty, this subordinate was just itching to spar with the soldiers. I absolutely have no intention of betraying Your Majesty."

Jiang Chen did not doubt Shi Ping's loyalty and waved his hand. "Get up. I have a few questions to ask you."

"Yes!"

Shi Ping was still a little uneasy and didn't dare to sit down. He just stood there with his hands hanging down.

"I ask you, do you know any generals in the Jiangnan military camp?" Jiang Chen said, staring at Shi Ping.

Shi Ping hesitated slightly and said, "The first time this subordinate went, because they didn't recognize me, there was a conflict. Later, a Deputy General came forward to resolve the misunderstanding."