Doomsday Code

Chapter 539 Involvement

After saying that, Holmes also sighed and shook his head.

If Huidun had not mentioned this matter, as the prime minister, he would have been busy with all kinds of affairs and would not have had the time to investigate the corruption in disaster relief.

Just like the beast tide that had previously plagued Huidun City, where Huidun was located, the State Council would naturally distribute the corresponding supplies and money after confirming the disaster situation.

However, these disaster relief funds, food and supplies ultimately fall into the hands of the local nobles and city lords, and whether the victims can obtain these relief supplies depends on whether their lords are good or bad.

Of course, the Kingdom Center is also very cautious in assessing the disaster, especially in this world with magic. Local nobles and city lords dare not use this matter to deceive the Kingdom Center.

If he were to be discovered, not only would his noble status be stripped away, but his entire family would also be reduced to official slaves.

It can be said that the rule at that time was actually extremely loose. The subjects were the livestock raised by the lords, and the lords were only responsible to the king.

The king required the lords to pay full taxes, accept the king's call, and send a sufficient number of qualified soldiers during wartime or military reviews.

If the requirements are not met, the noble status will also be lost.

So in the past, no one actually cared about this kind of corruption in disaster relief funds and grain.

But now it’s different. The kingdom needs to reform, and this is a good starting point to catch those useless rats and take action against them.

The night passed in a flash, and at dawn the next day, Holmes went to the State Council to take up his post. At the same time, he also sent people to check some abnormal disaster relief files he had discovered last night.

After finishing his work here, he left the Council of State and went to the Prince's Mansion.

Because when he was checking the files all night last night, he found some clues. This matter is very complicated, so he has to report it to Huidun and test Huidun's determination.

When the doorman of the Prince's Mansion saw that it was Holmes, he immediately invited him in, and then went to inform Huidun who was doing morning exercises in the martial arts field in the backyard.

Chen Cheng taught Huidun this morning exercise these days. Chen Cheng saw that Huidun was very busy with affairs after becoming the crown prince and had no time to exercise, so he asked him to get up early in the morning to do morning exercises.

And another important point is that since Chen Cheng started practicing the way of warrior, he no longer has the habit of staying in bed.

In Filion's words, his physical constitution was too good, and because he had not practiced the way of the warrior before, he was unable to release the power of his physical constitution, which led to his habit of not being able to wake up in the morning and preferring to stay in bed.

Although Chen Cheng didn't understand, he had indeed gotten rid of the bad habit of staying in bed since he started practicing the Way of the Warrior, so he didn't get to the bottom of it.

At this time, Chen Cheng and his companion were running in circles in the martial arts field. They saw the doorman come to report that it was Holmes who came.

Huidun stopped and asked the servant to invite Holmes to rest in the living room, while he went to wash up and then go to see Holmes.

Holmes had been up all night and his body was a little exhausted. Since the last incident, he has not been so pretentious in doing things.

So I didn't force myself to resist the sleepiness and just took a nap in the living room.

When Huidun came in after washing up, he saw Homeis sleeping.

Huidun never expected to see Holmes sleeping here.

In the past, given Holmes's personality, he would never behave like this in front of outsiders.

Huidun didn't even wake him up and was about to leave.

Holmes only closed his eyes for a moment, but Huidun's movement alerted him, and he soon opened his eyes and woke up.

Seeing that it was Huidun, he also stood up quickly.

"His Royal Highness."

Huidun saw him wake up and nodded. Then, seeing his red eyes, he asked with concern:

"Prime Minister, you must have stayed up all night last night. You should rest now. It would be bad if you exhaust yourself."

Hearing these caring words, Holmes was very moved. He nodded and said:

"Your Highness, last night I reviewed the disaster reports from various places directly under the Royal Capital's jurisdiction in recent years, and indeed, several of them are problematic."

Huidun didn't expect that Holmes stayed up late to see him because of this matter.

But he knew that Holmes told him this not just because he said it yesterday, there must be something else involved.

"After further investigation, I discovered that many of the affected areas were territories belonging to the Duke's Mansion, and this had been happening for several consecutive years."

Huidun naturally knew which Duke's Mansion Holmes was talking about without him reminding him.

Ever since the last incident, the old Duke's self-serving approach has alienated him from the kingdom and the royal family.

It’s just that the attack on the Duke’s Mansion was delayed recently because of Huidun’s enthronement as the crown prince.

And now that the matter of disaster relief corruption involves the Duke's Mansion, this is a good entry point.

However, Huidun hesitated for a moment, and then said:

"That's perfectly acceptable. The old man's last actions have already sealed his own ties with the kingdom.

But those innocent people are my subjects, so I'll save them if I can."

Huidun didn't expect that this matter would involve the Duke's Mansion. Once it was involved, he could make a fuss about it and reduce the initial impact of dealing with the Duke's Mansion.

However, this involves political struggles, which is not a good thing for ordinary citizens.

If you want to be a Duke, you have to provide real evidence, and those subjects are the best evidence.

However, in this era, although the subjects are free people on the surface, secretly they can be said to be the private property of the nobles.

This is a customary practice among all nobles, and Huidun cannot break it right away. He can only break this customary rule after he has dealt with the Duke's Mansion and established his prestige.

In this case, these citizens who served as witnesses would become targets of retaliation by the Duke's Mansion.

That's why Huidun was so hesitant.

After hearing this, Homuis did not blame Huidun for being too soft-hearted. Apart from anything else, he said that if the court could not guarantee the personal safety of the civilians who could stand up and testify, then who would trust such a court?

Holmes thought for a while, then said:

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will find a solution for this matter. However, I may need the help of the various chambers of commerce associated with the bank."

The reason why we need the help of the Chamber of Commerce is that we need to protect those citizens who have the courage to stand up before trying the Duke's Mansion.

As for the power of the imperial court, Holmes could not boast of it. He could only rely on the help of the chambers of commerce that traveled far and wide and knew which places could be used to hide people in order to protect these ordinary subjects.

Huidun did not hesitate, took out his token, and then asked someone to prepare pen and ink, and he wrote a note to Huidun.

"This is my token and handwritten letter. Take these to the chambers of commerce. As long as they still do business with banks and exchanges, they will help you."