Chapter 166: Whether people die or not depends entirely on one word

"Winning a great victory is a good thing, a great joyous event. It should have been full of joy, but the imperial court argued about money again. Little Chen, do you know the reason for this?"

"This humble servant heard a word or two, but it wasn't very clear." Chen Guanlou knew it well, but in front of his superiors, he naturally couldn't show off. He had to pretend to be dull and only perform at critical moments.

Master Fan was worried, and with a long face, he said earnestly, "The Ministry of Revenue has a little silver left. Before, they promised to make up for the salaries of the officials in the capital, so that everyone could have money to spend for the New Year. However, Jinzhou won a great victory, and the soldiers are all waiting for the imperial court's rewards. The soldiers have worked hard for a year and also want to have a good New Year.

Jinzhou has been devastated by rebels for several years and is at the end of its rope; the local government really cannot take out silver, so it can only rely on the imperial court. Everyone knows that those border soldiers—calling them soldier-hooligans is being polite. If the reward money is not in place, I am afraid Jinzhou will have to suffer another disaster.

Officials from Jinzhou are anxious, and they have used a lot of effort to convince the superiors to allocate reward money as soon as possible. However, the Ministry of Revenue has no money, and His Majesty refuses to pay, so the money that was originally planned to make up for the salaries of the officials in the capital has been targeted.

Little Chen, we have been working for the imperial court for a year, a whole year, and haven't seen a single cent of salary or a grain of rice from the imperial court. It's finally the end of the year, and the imperial court has shown kindness once, but it's going to be intercepted again. You tell me, what should we do?"

Ah?

Chen Guanlou was stunned.

What kind of figure is he that Master Fan would actually ask for his opinion on such a big matter?

Are you kidding me!

However, looking at Master Fan's appearance, it didn't look like he was kidding. There must be a deep meaning. Perhaps they already had an execution plan and were just missing an executor.

No way!

These two are looking for him to be cannon fodder?

Chen Guanlou became vigilant, not daring to be the slightest bit careless. He was afraid that if he wasn't careful, he would fall into a pit and be buried in it.

Master Li stood out and coughed lightly. Next, it was his turn to take the stage.

"Little Chen, you understand the matter. The adult's opinion is that we cannot always be controlled by others and cannot let owing salaries and grain become a convention. Once it becomes a convention, it will eventually become a default rule. Once it becomes a rule, it will be extremely difficult to overthrow it. The superiors have no money; we understand. However, they cannot not even give a grain of rice. Without grain, the kitchen cannot be fired up, and the prisoners in the prison will have nothing to eat. Starving one or two to death, I imagine, is also normal."

Chen Guanlou was dumbfounded; he finally understood the two's plan.

"Is the adult trying to force the superiors to allocate grain? Is doing this appropriate?"

According to Chen Guanlou's simple understanding of officialdom, acting against superiors is a major taboo in officialdom and will be hit and liquidated in all directions.

"What do you mean by force? This official doesn't have the courage to force the superiors. Is this official forcing? Isn't this a fact, isn't this an objective difficulty?" Master Fan was furious, very dissatisfied with Chen Guanlou's dullness right now; does he even know how to speak?

Chen Guanlou also realized that his word choice was inappropriate, and hurriedly made up for it, "The adult is right. The Heavenly Prison has no money and no grain; these are objective facts. The granary is bottoming out, and without grain replenishment, everyone will have to starve. The Heavenly Prison is not an important yamen, but it is an indispensable yamen of the imperial court. Without the Heavenly Prison, who will maintain the imperial court's laws and the imperial court's face? No matter what, we must maintain the operation of the Heavenly Prison. To operate, it won't work without money, and it won't work even more without grain."

Master Fan revealed a satisfied smile, and even Master Li nodded repeatedly on the side, secretly praising that his words had a level. The Heavenly Prison is the bottom line for maintaining the imperial court's laws and face. The magnificent Great Gan Dynasty cannot have no bottom line.

"Little Chen speaks very well; it concerns the face of the imperial court and cannot be maintained without maintenance. However, we cannot rely on words alone to maintain it; we must have real gold and silver. Little Chen, your brain is flexible, and your family background is deep. Now that Marquis Pingjiang has won a great victory and is in the limelight, can this matter be operated, and how should it be operated?"

Chen Guanlou:...

He had a belly full of national curses and hated the two people in front of him to death in his heart. They were clearly roasting him on the fire. The benefits the two gave him were simply not enough for him to do this thing. Yet he couldn't directly refuse.

He took a deep breath and suppressed the irritability in his heart, "The cells in the A-block seem to be untouchable."

Master Fan frowned, "If we don't move the A-block cells, how can we make the superiors realize the seriousness of the problem and realize that the Heavenly Prison has reached the end of its rope?"

Chen Guanlou opened his mouth, "If we must move the A-block cells, this humble servant thinks we need to look at the wind in the court first. If we pick the wrong person, everyone will have to take risks."

Master Li added, "The status cannot be too heavy, but it cannot be too light. If it's too heavy, we can't afford the risk. If it's too light, it lacks persuasiveness. Little Chen, you know the prisoners in the A-block best; tell us, who should we pick?"

Jumping into such a big pit, Chen Guanlou was baring his teeth in his heart.

"To make the superiors make up for the grain, actually, it may not be necessary to have people die. Can we change to a gentler method?"

"What gentler method do you have? If you mean complaining to the superiors and submitting a memorial, it's useless. This official has submitted no less than ten times this year, asking for money and grain for the Heavenly Prison, and all of them were fobbed off. The officials in charge don't care about their own business and hang high, saying every time that we should overcome it ourselves. If we continue to overcome it, the money and grain that should have belonged to the Heavenly Prison will be intercepted by others."

Chen Guanlou frowned and thought deeply, "It's the end of the year, and the families of the imprisoned officials are sending food and clothes to the prison as usual, passing on some information. Perhaps we can take advantage of this opportunity to let the outside world know about the difficulties of the Heavenly Prison."

"Oh? How do you want to do it?"

Chen Guanlou gritted his teeth, "Let's first let the imprisoned officials starve a bit, changing two meals a day to one meal a day. Change the meat soup to vegetable soup. This humble servant's meaning is, between the lines, to pass on the news that the Heavenly Prison lacks money and grain. The Heavenly Prison is humble and its words don't carry weight. However, those imprisoned officials—there are always a few capable ones, and a word they pass on is more useful than the Heavenly Prison. No matter what, during the New Year, the imprisoned officials in the prison cannot be hungry and drinking swill."

Master Fan nodded secretly, "This method is feasible, it's just that the time spent is a bit long. This official thinks that it is still necessary to have people die. We don't have to have people die in the A-block, but in the B-block and C-block, we must have a few people die. And, it must be that they died."

"The adult's words are reasonable. If we don't starve a few people to death, the superiors won't take this matter seriously." Master Li echoed.

Chen Guanlou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, finally filling half of the big pit. As for the other half, we will share the difficulties together, and he cannot be the one charging to the front alone. ===== CHAPTER 167 =====

Chen Guanlou, however, secretly breathed a sigh of relief; he had at least filled half of the big pit. As for the remaining half, he would share the burden; he could not be the only one charging at the front.