In Fengtian Hall, on the upper left stood Liu Chaoming, on the upper right stood Shen Xi. Below the imperial seat were Zhu Yiheng and Military Governor Qi Wujiu. Behind them were the various generals and commanders. The moment Su Jin bowed, they all raised their hands in unison, bowing with hands clasped in their sleeves to this new Left Chief Censor dressed in crimson robes.

Zhu Yushen said indifferently: “Censor Su, rise.”

Su Jin responded: “Yes.” Then she presented a memorial and stood upright, saying: “This minister, by Your Majesty’s sacred command this past spring in the second month, remained in Shu to investigate the Cuiwei Town mulberry field case. The investigation has now been completed. The specific case details are recorded in this memorial.”

“The Cuiwei Town mulberry field case is one in which Jinzhou Prefect Zhang Zhengcai and Pingchuan County Magistrate Yao Youcai colluded with each other. After the new tuntion policy was implemented, they forcibly claimed the townspeople’s mulberry fields as their own.”

“According to Great Sui law, any wasteland that has been cultivated and taxed for over fifteen years becomes jointly owned by the government and the people—the people need only pay taxes to the government. After the tuntion system was implemented, for wasteland cultivated for less than fifteen years, the harvest would be divided between the government and the people according to the number of years.”

“Cuiwei Town’s mulberry fields have been cultivated since the fourteenth year of Jingyuan—sixteen years to date. However, because Zhang Zhengcai and Yao Youcai privately destroyed the tax ledgers from the fourteenth and fifteenth years of Jingyuan, they used the pretext that Cuiwei Town residents had not paid taxes for a full fifteen years to convert the town’s mulberry fields to the tuntion division method, thus profiting from it.”

Zhu Yushen said in a grave voice: “If the prefecture’s tax ledgers were destroyed, doesn’t the Ministry of Finance have the Fish Scale Register and the Yellow Register?”

The Fish Scale Register was Great Sui’s land registry, and the Yellow Register, besides recording household registration, also recorded assets.

In other words, even if there was nothing to investigate locally, one could simply find the Fish Scale Register and Yellow Register from the Ministry of Finance, check them against each other, and discover the discrepancies.

“Minister Shen, what do you have to say about this?”

Shen Xi stepped forward from the crowd but didn’t offer much explanation: “Your Majesty, this matter was my oversight.”

However, Su Jin said: “Your Majesty, from the ninth to tenth years of Jingyuan, there was the peach blossom flood in Jiangnan, and severe drought from the southwest to Lingnan regions. Refugees arose everywhere. In the following five years, to quell the disasters, the court implemented policies such as allowing people to relocate to new townships. Whether due to natural disasters causing displacement or government-ordered relocation, some people settled in one place for less than a year before moving elsewhere. The Ministry of Finance faced tremendous difficulties registering the Fish Scale Register and Yellow Register. Therefore, the registers for the fourteenth and fifteenth years of Jingyuan had many omissions, making it difficult to trace back.”

“After the fifteenth year of Jingyuan, though the Ministry of Finance worked hard to fill in the gaps, the actual recorded situation still differed from reality. Therefore, if someone tampered with the tax ledgers from the fourteenth and fifteenth years of Jingyuan locally, even with both registers, the Ministry of Finance would find it difficult to detect.”

“By the second year of Yongji, after the tuntion system was implemented, Minister Shen also realized this. So he reorganized the Fish Scale Registers from those years and cross-checked them with local tax ledgers, which is how he discovered some discrepancies.”

“Afterward, Minister Shen pretended to delegate authority, sending personal letters to Zhang Zhengcai, Yao Youcai, and other criminals, hoping to use this opportunity to identify the mastermind behind them. It was precisely by following Minister Shen’s personal letters and investigating further that this minister discovered the chief conspirator in this case was none other than the current Left Vice Minister of Finance, Du Zhen!”

The omissions and deficiencies in the two registers, and local officials seizing farmland—at first glance, these two things seemed unrelated.

But thinking carefully, why would these local officials dare to burn the tax ledgers from the fourteenth and fifteenth years of Jingyuan, then claim the land as their own? It was because they knew the Ministry of Finance could find nothing to investigate.

It was because someone in power at the Ministry of Finance told them: Your area has omissions in both the Fish Scale Register and Yellow Register, so as long as you burn your own private accounts, this land will be yours.

And this person was precisely Left Vice Minister Du Zhen.

Hearing this, Du Zhen fell to his knees with a thud: “Your… Your Majesty…”

He had originally thought this case had left no evidence and had been done without anyone knowing. Who would have expected it to be discovered so easily?

Du Zhen originally wanted to defend himself, but thinking that Su Shiyu, though a criminal official, had investigated the case in Shu and upon returning had instantly transformed into Left Chief Censor—this showed His Majesty trusted her extremely in this case. Moreover, her power in the court and countryside was already deeply rooted. Not to mention her relationship with Shen Qingyue, from now on all Three Judicial Offices would look to her for leadership. If he denied it, she could order the Three Judicial Offices to conduct a thorough joint investigation—then the net of heaven would be inescapable.

Du Zhen had originally been Zhu Zhaowei’s man and already had friction with Shen Xi. If not for the Ministry of Finance truly lacking personnel, and Shen Xi having to manage state affairs after entering the Cabinet, he probably would have been told to pack his bags and go home long ago.

During the Jing’an reign, Du Zhen had contemplated retirement. Later, in the Yongji reign, he thought Shen Xi would surely fall completely. Who knew that not only did Shen Qingyue remain perfectly well in the palace, but he was even ennobled as a duke.

Du Zhen had wanted to retire, but having squandered his wealth in the past, his coffers were gradually emptying, and his household still had a large family to support. So evil thoughts arose—he wanted to use the tuntion system to make a fortune, then resign from office.

When he had followed Zhu Zhaowei before, his hands weren’t clean. This kind of embezzlement—the first time one is trembling with fear, afraid of divine retribution. By the second time, it becomes as shameless as “I can’t save all beings, so let all beings save me.”

Seeing that Du Zhen offered no defense, Su Jin continued: “Minister Shen, as Minister of Finance, though he bears the fault of oversight for errors in land, grain, and household registration, how can one person be expected to inspect such a vast realm? When one’s right and left hands make mistakes, they’re impossible to guard against completely. Moreover, in the Shu mulberry field case, if not for Minister Shen’s meticulousness in finding discrepancies in the nearly traceless registers and using strategy to hook the officials like Zhang Zhengcai into readily explaining the circumstances, this minister fears the case could not have been solved in a month.”

She paused slightly here. “Furthermore, the Ministry of Personnel thoroughly investigated officials in all regions in the second year of Yongji. Pingchuan County Magistrate Yao Youcai was personally appointed by Ministry of Personnel Vice Minister Ren Xuan. Yao Youcai’s conduct was perverse, oppressing the people had become his habit. During the external evaluation, did the Ministry of Personnel not notice any irregularities? Did they not discover that tax grain had been embezzled in Pingchuan County?”

Zhu Yushen said coldly: “Ministry of Personnel, what do you have to say?”

Ren Xuan’s legs went weak, and like Du Zhen, he also fell to his knees with a thud.

Zeng Youliang was covered in cold sweat. Though he knew nothing of this matter, unlike Shen Xi, when Shen Xi had problems, it was because too many years had passed and the Fish Scale Register and Yellow Register themselves had issues. When he had problems, it was purely due to negligence: “This matter… was my oversight.”

Su Jin said: “Your Majesty, in the second year of Yongji, due to various major cases, the court dismissed a large number of officials. Important positions were vacant everywhere. The Ministry of Personnel was exhausted recruiting and promoting talent. For the appointment of a local county magistrate, even if there were improprieties, it would be quite normal.”

Zhu Yushen said: “According to your meaning, the Minister of Personnel need not be punished?”

“He must be punished,” Su Jin said. “But this minister believes that those above appoint, those below carry out duties. If subordinate officials embezzle while guarding themselves, though those above bear the fault of oversight, given the root cause of this case and the Ministry of Personnel’s circumstances at that time, they need not bear great responsibility.”

She paused slightly here. “Your Majesty, as for the Ministry of Personnel’s oversight in appointments, the Vice Minister of Personnel’s shielding, even possible complicity—initially… it was actually Lord Liu who found the clues.”

“Lord Liu once showed this minister a confidential letter about the tuntion case, with attached appointment and dismissal records of various implicated officials. It was after seeing this letter that this minister sensed something was wrong and investigated further.”

Zhu Yushen understood.

Earlier when Su Shiyu said things like the Ministry of Personnel “those above appoint, those below carry out duties” and “need not bear great responsibility,” he had felt suspicious. Why was this Su Jin suddenly speaking up for Zeng Youliang?

Now it seemed clear—how was she speaking up for Zeng Youliang? She was merely pleading on Liu Yun’s behalf.

As Cabinet Chief Grand Secretary, Liu Yun had single-handedly issued the tuntion system. Now that the new tuntion policy had major problems, if one traced responsibility to the top, it would fall to him.

But he was only one person—how could he bear the failures of everyone beneath him?

Su Shiyu’s implied meaning was that since the tuntion new policy’s implementation, its effectiveness had been remarkable—that was enough. As for various symptoms, deal with what should be dealt with, punish what should be punished.

Whether Liu Yun or Shen Qingyue, they had already done their utmost. Your Majesty need not punish them.

Who would have thought—beneath the Left Chief Censor’s conclusive words, she still harbored a bit of personal interest.

Zhu Yushen said indifferently: “Those who committed this crime—the ringleaders were Du Zhen and Ren Xuan? What about the Cabinet?”

Su Jin hesitated slightly.

Actually, how could she not understand Zhu Yushen’s implied meaning?

With Du Zhen and Ren Xuan’s capabilities, how could their actions be concealed from Liu Yun and Shen Qingyue? The reason Shen and Liu had temporarily failed to notice was naturally because within the Cabinet, someone had detected Du Zhen and Ren Xuan’s greed in advance and obstructed from within, adding fuel to the flames.

And this person could be none other than Shu Wenlan, who had repeatedly acted in the Shu tuntion case later.

Zhu Yushen’s question was precisely testing Su Jin.

Understanding wasn’t difficult. What was difficult was how to answer.