Chapter 742: Chapter 723: Chapter 723 Eighth Prince’s Refusal to Help

“Guo Huaimu, you’ve got some nerve! As an Imperial Mandate, allocating away the ten thousand Soldiers meant to ensure the safety of Jiannan State.”

“You’d even lend out the granary, the very foundation of the people’s livelihood.”

“And when do you plan on lending out your official hat as well?”

Asked by Lin Yi in such a manner, Guo Huaimu felt his career prospects dim and prostrated himself, knocking his forehead on the ground more than a dozen times, pleading for mercy from Lin Yi.

After a torrent of abuse, Lin Yi finally pointed him into a direction.

“The food was lent to the Eighth Prince by you, as the Inspector of a state. Now, that ten thousand Soldiers originally from Jiannan State have all been taken back.”

“What’s left is, you need to bring back the lent food to aid disaster relief, otherwise, you can forget about keeping your official hat!”

Lin Yi spoke with a firm tone, leaving no room for negotiation.

And for Guo Huaimu, going to the Eighth Prince to retrieve the food from the granary was even more dreadful than death itself.

Just a quarter of an hour ago, the Eighth Prince had already sent people over for the third time, demanding that he lead twenty thousand Soldiers out of Jiannan State.

Due to the presence of the Inspector, Guo Huaimu had declined several times.

Truth be told, he still hadn’t figured out how to explain to the Eighth Prince about the twenty thousand Soldiers.

It was clearly agreed to bring back the twenty thousand Soldiers before sunset, and now he’s unable to return them, Guo Huaimu had no face to ask the Eighth Prince for the granary back.

Seeing Guo Huaimu fail to respond for a long while, Lin Yi angrily commanded: “Bring Guo Huaimu here, tie him up and throw him into the dungeon!”

“I’ll go, I’ll go now! Please, give your subordinate one last chance, Inspector Lin.”

Terrified, Guo Huaimu clutched desperately at Lin Yi’s legs, begging for mercy.

Anyone with eyes could see that a person who made such grave mistakes like Guo Huaimu was beyond forgiveness.

Yet strangely, Guo Huaimu thought of himself as a miracle.

“What are you still standing around for? Go and transport the food back immediately, the disaster victims are counting on tomorrow’s meal!”

Lin Yi scolded again, frightening Guo Huaimu into fleeing in a mix of rolling and stumbling.

Of course, along with Guo Huaimu, there also fled the officials who were complicit with him.

Looking at the empty granary, Sun Pingkai couldn’t help but ask: “Inspector Lin, if we can’t wait for the food to be returned by the Eighth Prince, what should we do? The victims can’t wait that long.”

Lin Yi had already thought this through well in advance. If it really came down to it and no food was available, he would simply buy a few meals’ worth of food from the Nine-Eyed Mall for an emergency.

Of course, he needed a suitable time and place, and the right opportunity to do so.

“County Magistrate Sun need not worry too much, let’s just quietly await the news from Inspector Guo,” Lin Yi reassured.

However, Lin Yi’s reassurance didn’t bring understanding from Sun Pingkai.

He crept up to Lin Yi’s ear and whispered softly, “Inspector, I have a reserve granary in Gan County; it might be used for the emergency.”

Lin Yi was slightly taken aback. A small County Magistrate like him had planned so thoughtfully, quietly handling the issues that even the Inspector had neglected to address.

‘Wait a minute, just now a servant ran up and reported that the other thirteen granaries in Jiannan State were empty.’

‘But I clearly did not send anyone to check the other granaries, and I didn’t even know that Jiannan State had a total of fourteen granaries.’

It wouldn’t be Guo Huaimu’s subordinates who turned him in, so the only person who could be the informer must be Sun Pingkai.

Whether Sun Pingkai intended to trip up Guo Huaimu or to increase his charges, having the foresight to store grain for emergencies was commendable.

“County Magistrate Sun, is your granary able to feed these twenty thousand Soldiers for a few days?”

Lin Yi probed.

Actually, the disaster from the earthquake wasn’t severe. If food was needed for disaster relief, only about twenty bushels would suffice.

But Lin Yi wanted to use this opportunity to see how much more corruption Guo Huaimu was guilty of.

Sun Pingkai responded cautiously, “Our Gan County’s granary is discretely set up in a cave; it can supply four days’ worth of food for the people of Gan County.”

Gan County had the largest population in Jiannan State, boasting over eight thousand people. Enough for eight thousand people for four days could barely stretch to feed twenty thousand Soldiers for two days.

Lin Yi gently patted Sun Pingkai on the shoulder and admired, “County Magistrate Sun is truly prepared, not only providing the most tribute silver for Jiannan State but also ensuring the people live in peace and work happily, and having grain reserves ready for emergencies.”

“You are a model for all County Magistrates in You Country. I will definitely report to the court and give you a significant reward!”

Hearing Lin Yi’s promise, Sun Pingkai immediately interrupted.

“As the parent official of the people in Gan County, I must consider the well-being of the people. Although the earthquake did not affect our Gan County—”

“But our Gan County is willing to contribute to Jiannan State and I earnestly request Inspector to send soldiers right now to transport the grain here for disaster relief.”

“If we cannot get grain from Guo Huaimu and have to wait for the court to distribute disaster relief grain, I’m afraid public grievances will arise again.”

Lin Yi felt great satisfaction; if You Country had more local officials like Sun Pingkai, there was no worry that the country wouldn’t be prosperous and strong.

But Lin Yi still refused, “I have my own arrangements. Keep your small grain storage for now; it belongs to the ten thousand soldiers of Jiannan State, and I will allocate two thousand to you right now.”

“These two thousand strong men will follow your arrangements, get them to learn sericulture and weave Shu brocade. I want you to produce a much higher quality silk and Shu brocade for You Country, becoming the top Shu brocade-producing county!”

[Ding ding ding, the host has successfully purchased High-Efficiency Sericulture Technique Pouch and High-Output Shu Brocade Secret Manual, spending 200,000 Heavenly Bead Coins.]

Lin Yi handed over the pouch and Secret Manual to Sun Pingkai, speaking earnestly,

“You don’t need to consult with Guo Huaimu under any conditions; if there’s anything, report directly to Your Majesty or me, understand?”

Sun Pingkai was stunned by the favor, does this mean that his direct superiors are now His Majesty and Director Lin Yi himself?

“But, I’m just a mere County Magistrate, bypassing the Inspector—this may be inappropriate—”

“Ha ha!” Lin Yi laughed, “Just do as I say for now, as for Inspector Guo, it may not bode well.”

And the reality was as such.

Late into the night, in the Eighth Prince’s tent.

“Dammit! Absurd!”

The Eighth Prince was thunderous with rage, stepping forward and slapping Guo Huaimu squarely on the face!

“It’s all because I listened to your slander that I lost twenty thousand soldiers for nothing! Twenty thousand!”

“Sigh!”

The Eighth Prince regretted his decision; had he known that his two trusted generals would betray him, he would never have agreed for the twenty thousand soldiers to enter Jiannan State.

“Eighth Prince, this… this was completely unexpected. Generals Han and Meng also did not know how, suddenly they followed Inspector’s advice, and even made a military oath, loyal to the court, loyal to Your Majesty.”

At this point, Guo Huaimu was still trying to shift the blame onto the two generals.

At that moment, General Gan who had returned with Guo Huaimu stepped forward and exposed Guo Huaimu’s true face.

“Reporting to the Prince, Generals Han and Meng each received fifty glass treasure vases from Inspector as a reward from the court, identical to the ones on your table,” said General Gan.

At those words, the Eighth Prince’s face turned green with anger.

Who was it that said those two glass vases were extremely rare and valuable?

Now, his servants each have fifty glass vases, while he only has two, which he fiddled with fondly all day.

“Damn it!”

The inherently proud Eighth Prince could not stand such an insult, swinging his arm he smashed the two glass vases on the desk to the ground in his fury.

That wasn’t the end of it, General Gan continued, “Eighth Prince, another reason the soldiers were bribed is that Inspector rewarded each soldier with a Lin Yi bottle!”

One bottle each!

Without a word, the Eighth Prince furiously drew his sword and amputated one of Guo Huaimu’s arms on the spot.

“Bravo, Guo Huaimu, you dare bribe me with two worthless bottles, causing me to lose twenty thousand soldiers!”

“How dare you still have the audacity to ask this Prince to return a thousand stones of grain to you! Keep dreaming!” The Eighth Prince roared, his eyes flashing with anger.

In his view, to be bribed with two bottles was a great indignity!

“Guards! Hang this damned thing for me; this Prince wants to experience what military law entails!”

… End of this chapter …