Yu Chaoen looked at the data compiled by his subordinates with a bitter face. His heart was full of mixed feelings. This month's data had dropped by several percentage points compared to the previous month, which made him somewhat unprepared.
Since he was in charge of the Railway Administration, he had been working hard to maintain the operation of the railway. The results had always been like a sesame seed blooming, which made him very gratified. It also made the emperor quite satisfied. He praised Yu Chaoen many times in front of many great eunuchs, saying that Yu Chaoen should be greatly rewarded for his good work, and rewarded Yu Chaoen with a lot of money.
The reward of money was relatively secondary, and the improvement of status was what satisfied Yu Chaoen the most. After being recognized by the emperor, more people came to him to do things. Gifts were common. Even because there were too many gifts, Yu Chaoen's residence could not be piled up.
In addition, many businessmen, small and large, in order to allow their goods to be transported by railway to their destination as soon as possible, also flattered Yu Chaoen and gave him too many benefits.
In these years, Yu Chaoen lived very comfortably. His life was too comfortable. Although sometimes he was forced to jump into a well by many people, overall, his life was very rich, which was a good life that many people envied.
But in the second half of this year, Yu Chaoen's troubles came. With the gradual slowing of the growth of the Railway Administration's income, he began to be a little anxious. Such results were bound to be difficult to satisfy the emperor. It was very likely that he would be reprimanded, and such results were also difficult to fake. This made him quite distressed, but he was helpless. He did not know what to do.
There were many stations and lines under the Railway Administration. Most of the subordinate units were basically balanced. Some were slightly profitable, some were slightly losing. Only the new units were more profitable, far more than the old units before.
These new units all had a common characteristic. That was, the people who were appointed were transferred from different old units, and some were newly recruited. Most of the employees in the units did not know each other before. The leaders in charge of the overall situation and the people in charge of finance were strangers who had never seen each other. There was no trust between them. No one could figure out what kind of person the other was.
It was precisely because the new units were strangers that everyone was more honest and did not dare to do greedy things easily. Even the highest leaders and the accountants did not dare to do it easily. As time went by, these strangers would always get to know each other. After going to brothels and restaurants together, they would become familiar with each other. They could even test each other's intentions at the wine table. Then, everyone would be like big rats stealing food and embezzling all the money that could be embezzled.
People's courage grew little by little. These big rats and worms would increase the number of greedy people little by little. Eventually, the profitable departments would become departments that basically balanced their income and expenditure. Those who were a little less courageous would make a small profit, so that the accounts would look better. Those who were more courageous would make the accounts lose money. After all, in some remote lines with few people, even if they were all honest officials, they would still lose money. They would compare with these lines.
However, those were the strategic railways of the imperial court. Even if the losses were huge and the construction costs could not be recovered, the imperial court was still willing to do it because it involved national defense and was beneficial for the imperial court to control these remote areas. This was the value of strategic railways.
Yu Chaoen and many officials in the imperial court were aware of the decrease in the income of the various departments under the Railway Bureau. This was an open secret in the Tang dynasty. Everyone knew what was going on. However, some departments were not profitable. Even if this phenomenon happened, it would not attract attention. However, the Railway Bureau was too rich. Once the income growth decreased significantly, it would be discovered. After all, no one was a fool. The railway transportation was so busy that the increase in income could not keep up with the increase in expenditure. This was obviously a big problem. It was fine if the higher-ups did not investigate, but as long as they investigated, they would basically be right.
As a leader, Yu Chaoen was, of course, qualified to investigate. However, he was not very clean himself. He was somewhat guilty. If the subordinates he investigated held a grudge and bit him before they died, then he would be killed.
In addition, there were not only one or two subordinate units that had major corruption. There were many of them. Casually cracking down on one or two of them would not have any effect. It would not save the Railway Bureau's account.
Once these subordinate units with corruption were cracked down, then it would be a big incident. It would have a huge negative impact on the Railway Bureau. Yu Chaoen would not be able to keep his lucrative job.
The Railway Bureau was such a good unit. Yu Chaoen had been working for so many years. How could he be willing to give it up? However, the current development of the situation had exceeded his expectations. He originally thought that the small fish and shrimps under him would be rich enough. However, the reality was that greed was like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. Even small shrimps with low official positions had the ambition to embezzle huge amounts of money. Moreover, many of the small shrimps under him had embezzled more money than Yu Chaoen. If Yu Chaoen knew about it, he would be shocked.
With the recent financial data reported by the subordinate units, Yu Chaoen became very upset. These data were clearly written. On the surface, there was no problem, but he could be sure that there must be a problem, a big problem.
Falsification of accounts had been common since ancient times in the Hua Xia Empire. Many bold officials would cooperate with the officials in charge of finance to embezzle the imperial court's property and put it into their own pockets. There were many ways to falsify accounts. Moreover, there was often a certain degree of concealment. Laymen would certainly not be able to see it.
This situation was also very common in later generations. Whether it was the imperial court's unit or the private accounts that needed to be made public, there were serious falsifications.
Take the income and expenditure of the property fees of each community as an example. Ang Lee remembered that the several communities he had lived in were always losing money. Not only that, but when he went to other communities to investigate, he found that they were also losing money. Almost all the property companies were losing money and making small profits. For example, if the property's income was nine hundred and ninety thousand yuan, then the expenditure was one million yuan and the loss was ten thousand yuan a year. If the property's income was ten million yuan, then the expenditure would be ten million yuan and the loss would be ten thousand yuan a year. In short, the higher the income, the higher the expenditure.
Ang Lee couldn't figure it out. Since the property company was losing money every year, why did they still stay in the community? Did they want to do a loss-making business and serve the public for free?
Since ancient times, businessmen were the guys who didn't get up early if there was no profit. Even if they had a conscience, they wouldn't do a loss-making business! Moreover, it wasn't just a property company. Almost all the companies were losing money and making money at a loss.
This kind of falsification could only deceive students who had just graduated from school. For any adult with social experience, they knew that the accounts were false. The expenditure details were too general. It didn't specify every small expense. In addition, trees would be planted from time to time in the community. A tree that didn't look very good could be quoted at a price of tens of thousands. If a few hundred trees were planted, then the huge expenditure would be settled.
As for why the property company in the community had to basically balance the income and expenditure and even make a loss, it was naturally to show a good image of serving the owners everywhere. If they told you that they made a profit of a few million yuan a year, there would probably be people who would go to the imperial court and ask for the property fee to be reduced. In this way, their interests would be violated.
If they made a loss of a few million yuan in their accounts, it definitely wouldn't work. In this case, with such a huge loss, why did the property company still stay? Why didn't they close down? Wasn't this seriously against common sense? Instead, they made the income and expenditure basically balance. In this way, all the problems would be solved. As for whether others would believe it, there was no way. In any case, if they could make the accounts so that others couldn't do anything about it, there was nothing they could do about it.
In short, as long as some people wanted to embezzle money or hide their finances, they would always think of ways to falsify the accounts in order to obtain the greatest benefits for themselves.
This month's income is actually lower than last month's, but the expenditure is higher by more than a little. The income and expenditure balance out, and this month's profit is only 358 strings of cash. There must be a problem with this account. Not only this month, but also the income and expenditure for the recent year. The income didn't rise but fell instead. The expenditure increased step by step and is about to exceed the income. If this continues, this line will be in a loss next year! "
A trusted eunuch said.
"It's not about the fish. This railway was built by the Ministry of Works. The initial investment was also spent by them. We are only responsible for the operation. Luoyang is such an important hub. The transportation of people and goods every day is endless. No matter what, it shouldn't be like this. The profit for a month is only about 300 strings of cash."
A trusted eunuch said helplessly.
"As for the fish, their accounts are quite professional. No matter how we pick, we can't find any problems. However, there must be something fishy about it. The Luoyang Railway Branch can't have such a small income. There's a big problem here!"
The third trusted eunuch also felt that there was a big problem with the Luoyang Railway Branch.
When Yu Chaoen heard this, he didn't say a word. How could he not know how many problems there were? Every year, when it was close to the end of the year, several leaders of the Luoyang Railway Branch would give Yu Chaoen a large number of gifts. This year's gifts had also been delivered, and there were even more gifts than last year.
The value of these gifts was far greater than the net income of the Luoyang Railway Branch in a month. The value of the gifts from many leaders was more than the total profit of the Luoyang Railway Branch in a year. It could be seen how much money these fellows had embezzled from the people.
The other railway branches would also give Yu Chaoen gifts. There were very few who didn't give gifts. In the past, when Yu Chaoen received gifts, he was always very happy and proud. However, this time, Yu Chaoen felt that the gifts were a little hot. He had received gifts for so many years. This time, even if he didn't accept the gifts, he couldn't stay out of it.
In other words, although Yu Chaoen's mind was clear, he had completely fallen into it. Moreover, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't seem to find a way to escape from this quagmire. His mansion was in Chang 'an City, and it was piled up with the wealth he had accumulated over the years. As long as it was confiscated, then his corruption would be completely exposed.
He had thought of a way out, but he was only a eunuch. He didn't have any children. No one could inherit his wealth, and no one could be truly loyal to him. Moreover, although the world was big, the world belonged to the Emperor. Where could he escape to? The only outcome of escaping with the money was death.
However, if he didn't escape, the huge wealth he had accumulated would be a time bomb that could take his life at any time. The Railway Branch's income would plummet, and once it reached the limit of the Imperial Court's patience, the Imperial Court would definitely take action. As such, Yu Chaoen's good days would come to an end.
"A greedy snake swallows an elephant. A greedy snake swallows an elephant!"
Yu Chaoen sighed helplessly.
His eyes were full of helplessness. He thought that his subordinates in various units would be gentler in their greed and wouldn't make such a big move. In this way, even if they had been greedy for decades, they wouldn't be noticed by the Imperial Court. However, these guys were too greedy. The extent of their greed was getting bigger and bigger, so that the Imperial Court couldn't get any income. This was obviously a very dangerous behavior. However, these guys were not only not afraid, but also brazenly sent gifts to Yu Chaoen.
Perhaps, in their opinion, as long as they got rid of Yu Chaoen, their immediate superior, then they could be greedy for money as much as they wanted. Or perhaps, they felt that they had completely kidnapped Yu Chaoen, so Yu Chaoen had to protect them. Because once something happened to them, Yu Chaoen, who had received gifts for many years, couldn't run away. If they wanted to be happy, everyone should be happy together. If they wanted to die, then everyone should die together.
Yu Chaoen also felt that he had been kidnapped. At first, when his subordinates gave him gifts, he was very proud. But slowly, he was kidnapped by these subordinates and became a community of fate with them. Everyone shared weal and woe. They were all in the same boat. No one could escape.
Therefore, even if he knew that there was danger, Yu Chaoen was helpless. There was no good way to get rid of all this. He could only take one step at a time. Maybe the Imperial Court wouldn't investigate, or maybe the Emperor would let him go for the sake of his loyalty.
However, the possibility of this happening was too low. He knew that the probability of him escaping was not high. As such, he could only enjoy himself. He would eat and drink as much as he could. Once something happened, he would not be able to enjoy anything.
It was a pity that Yu Chaoen was a eunuch and couldn't enjoy sex. Otherwise, at this time, he would inevitably go to places like the brothel to vent his desires.
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