Your intelligence is high, the rebellion was made, the defeat of the Song army in Lingnan brought a painful blow to the Song people, no less than the independence of Western Xia. Everyone is asking why, why did the Guangnan East and West roads with 200,000 troops be defeated so easily?

  Especially when people learned that at the beginning of Nong Zhigao's uprising, there were only about 5,000 old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers, but he dared to attack Hengshan Stronghold with its natural barriers and Botou City with a garrison of 20,000 soldiers, both of which were defeated in one battle. Was it that Nong Zhigao had heavenly soldiers under his command? Or was there a problem with the military system in Lingnan? Everyone wanted to know the answer, including Chen Xiliang.

  Moreover, when he was the magistrate of Hengyang, he had an unparalleled advantage in sending military supplies to Guangdong and Guangxi. The vast majority of them had to be transferred here, either to the southwest to Guilin, Guangxi or to the southeast to Guangzhou, Huizhou. The defeated soldiers also regrouped here, waiting for orders.

  In the process of resettling the defeated troops of Liang Guang, Chen Xiliang naturally had to throw the problem to the parties involved, and the answers he got were varied and confusing to hear.

  The defeated soldiers said that the troops in Guangdong and Guangxi had long since rotted, with less than half of the garrisoned troops being fit for duty, mostly consisting of the old, weak, sickly and disabled. The able-bodied men were less than 20% of their original number, and almost none of them had received any training.

  Chen Xiliang asked incredulously: "No training, what have you been doing every day?"

  "But we're not idle either." The soldiers joked and laughed: "We all have to do business for the generals."

  "Doing business..." Chen Xiliang took a deep breath. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the government implemented a system of recruiting soldiers, which simply put, was to recruit farmers as soldiers during years of flood or drought when they had no livelihood, and let them eat military rations, turning unstable social elements into machines that maintained stability.

  This national policy indeed made the Zhao Song regime not have a large-scale peasant uprising, but it was a chronic poison... The recruited soldiers all underwent military training and were no longer adapted to farming life. The country did not dare to let them go back, so they could only be kept until they retired at the age of 60. This led to the number of troops increasing year by year, swelling up year after year.

  Moreover, recruitment is to be given a military salary. The latest statistics are that the total number of troops reached 14 million, exceeding the population of the Tang Dynasty during the Tianbao period and the Song Dynasty, but only half of the Tianbao period.

  Fewer mouths to feed, more troops. If it were other dynasties' rulers, they would definitely reduce military pay and supplies. But the Song Dynasty's rulers dare not give less by a single penny. The country not only treats scholars well but also treats the army with great generosity, providing monthly silver pay, military uniforms, and food supplies to the best of their abilities... Otherwise, the soldiers will immediately rebel against you.

  Later, the financial resources were really not enough to support them, so they could only prioritize supplying the imperial guards and local troops, and could only provide half of their salaries. The remaining half was allowed to be solved by the military through business operations. As this went on for a long time, the training of local troops became lax, and they spent their days doing things like driving carts, ships, tea, wine, and all sorts of imaginable industries... They made quite a bit of money, but when the enemy came knocking, they suddenly discovered that hardly anyone knew how to use bows and arrows anymore.

  Wealth makes people jealous, but possessing wealth makes one fearful. Seeing the generals collecting spoils and fleeing faster than rabbits, the soldiers below naturally dispersed in a hurry. So it's not that Niu Zhigao is too powerful, but rather those cities he has conquered are almost all undefended.

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  Chen Xiliang was furious and asked: "Although the court only pays half of the salary, according to what you said, the number of soldiers is not even half of the quota, which is enough for you to receive full salary. Why do you still want to trade?!"

  "It's good that the commander knows, I've been a soldier for 40 years and have always received half pay." The officers and soldiers shook their heads and said: "As for those empty quotas who embezzled military pay, it will never fall on our heads."

  "Not only that, but also the grain and military equipment allocated by the imperial court were all resold by those in power."

  "The huge profits from business were also embezzled by them, what can we get?"

  “……。”

  These accusations made Chen Xiliang's five internal organs burn, and he couldn't sleep for several nights. He really couldn't have imagined that the great Song Dynasty, which was known for its integrity, would actually exist with such shocking **.

  No matter if this wind is only in the Lingnan region or has spread throughout the country, it must be exposed! Let the officials and gentlemen know the truth! The scholars of the Northern Song Dynasty, at least before they hit a wall, generally had the sentiment of 'taking the world as their own responsibility'. Chen Xiliang made up his mind: 'Otherwise, once it rots completely, the Great Song will surely perish!'

  As soon as they thought of it, Chen's father and son were highly consistent on this point. It just so happened that due to the outbreak of war, the Jinghu South Road Transportation Department moved to Hengyang County Government, and this Hengyang magistrate, who was known for his clean governance, was temporarily entrusted with important tasks, which made it convenient for him to secretly check accounts.

  After several months of secret investigation, he found that for every 100 taels of military pay sent to Guangdong and Guangxi via Jinghu South Road, apart from the four taels 'short flat' already deducted by the Ministry of Revenue when allocating funds, another four taels would be embezzled. In addition, several bigwigs in the Transportation Department would also privately deduct two taels using their power.

  Only ninety taels were left for Guangdong and Guangxi.

  Don't underestimate these two unremarkable provinces, as the two Guangs have an army of 200,000, with each person receiving 30 taels of silver in annual salary, which alone would deduct 700,000 taels.

  These cleverly named public deductions are still small change. If half of the military rations were really embezzled, then there would be 3.1 million strings of cash that have gone missing.

  In addition, every year's allocation of grain, fodder, military equipment, armor, vehicles and horses, if half were sold off, would at the very least yield 2 million guan in cash...

  In addition, the army opened foot shops, usury, and private tea trading, selling private salt, brewing and selling wine, and even using military ships to carry out maritime trade... almost monopolizing the lucrative industries of Guangdong and Guangxi.

  At the most conservative estimate, there are also more than 50 million yuan in annual revenue.

  A full 10 million guan! Equivalent to one-sixth of the Song Dynasty's fiscal revenue, yet it has never been seen in the account books, and its whereabouts are unknown. How many dark secrets are hidden here, and how many people will be implicated? Just thinking about it makes one shudder...

  If it's just speculation and investigation within the scope of authority, no one will discover his unusual behavior, and he won't encounter any danger. However, he knows that as a minor figure, this level of investigation report won't cause any ripples; to stir up the higher-ups, he must bring out some solid evidence!

  Chen Xiliang took the initiative to take on the task of collecting the dead bodies in the city, which others were reluctant to do. In this era, the Lingnan region was plagued by malaria, and many wounded soldiers had injuries that could not be treated due to limited medical conditions, resulting in a number of deaths every day. In such hot weather, it was necessary to bury them immediately, otherwise, it would lead to an outbreak of plague.

  When checking the belongings of the deceased, Chen Xiliang did not let go of any written materials. As long as it had words on it, he would carefully read it, and if it was valuable, he would keep it for registration. This method may be clumsy, but it is correct... because many soldiers are involved in trade, and some of them are actually the ones who handle the profit chain. Perhaps to have a clear mind or to be prepared for any situation, a lot of information was recorded and presented in front of him after his death.

  A flower name list, an account book, a receipt for the actual payment of military salaries by the head of the department, and information revealed in letters... One by one, small pieces of evidence were found, and he gradually outlined a black gold map involving the Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi military regions. Although it was fragmented, it had already formed a complete chain of evidence, and anyone who understood would see the big picture from the details.

  He did things neatly and quietly, working without drawing attention to himself. However, half a month ago, when inspecting the accounts of Secretary Chen Xiliang, he discovered a crucial ledger hidden in his clothing that recorded every instance of embezzlement by the Zuo State Army from Qingli 2nd year to the present!

  Chen Xiliang's heart was racing and his blood was rushing to his head. He knew that this thing would bring him mortal danger, but it was the ironclad evidence he had been searching for in vain!

  Without much hesitation, he made up his mind to stay. After finishing the records for several nights in a row, he buried the account book and all the evidence he had obtained earlier.

  Just after finishing washing his hands and feet, a Yu Hou from the Yongzhou army came to the door with some men, asking where the secretary's belongings were.

  Chen Xiliang then took them to the guard room, handed a package to Yu Hou and said: "There are valuables and personal items inside. Check carefully and sign for it."

  Yu Hou opened it and took a look, but didn't find what he was looking for. He said in a low voice, "Is there anything else?"

  "Clothes and other worthless things were all burned by the civilians." Chen Xiliang said calmly, "Who knows if they carry diseases or not?"

  "Is it on fire?" Yu Hou immediately became anxious and growled: "There are important documents of our army there!"

  "This is...". Chen Xiliang said indifferently: "You don't want to touch the dead, let's not mention it, do you still need to feel every piece of clothing? Where in the world is this reasonable?" Not to mention that the other party was just a Yu Hou, even if he were a commander, he could also refuse to accept it.

  This is the Song Dynasty where literature is valued over military affairs...

  Nan Yu Hou got a nose full of ash and left. Later, Lord Xian Tai personally found Chen Xi Liang to talk, still asking about that important "document" in a roundabout way. He insisted it was burned, and in the end, he didn't spit out a single word.

  But when he returned, he found his residence had been searched again.

  Just a few days after this, when he thought the other party had already believed it to be true, Chen Xiliang was assigned by the transportation officer to escort grain to Shaoguan. On the way, they encountered bandits who robbed them...

  To say that it was a narrow escape, there is a destiny in heaven. Chen Xiliang died of a long illness due to his poor health and low resistance, so when he encountered the plague, he fell ill and fortunately escaped by luck.

  Even in prison, no one treated his illness, but he was tough and managed to pull through until the moment Song Duanping appeared...

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