The embezzlement of strategic materials by local officials has long been discovered by Cai Ye.

Or rather, he already knew. And it was known earlier than the military intelligence and the military defense bureau.

In the final analysis, Cai Ye is, after all, the commander of more than 100,000 national defense forces in Shandong, in charge of all the affairs of these more than 100,000 troops. And these matters, of course, also include logistics.

Many of the materials collected by the local government suddenly turned from good to bad, and even the amount was not right at all, if Cai Ye didn't understand what was going on, he wouldn't be Cai Yi.

You must know that Cai Ye also served as the overseer of Yunnan, and he also governed Yunnan quite well. Therefore, I also have a good understanding of some things in the officialdom and in the local area.

He didn't say anything about it, just because he was worried.

He was worried that if this matter was made public, it would bring a lot of trouble.

Of course, he himself is in favor of harshly dealing with local officials who embezzle strategic materials, but what if Yan Guang doesn't think so, but wants to drag it out until the war is over?

By that time, the external enemy has not been driven away, and I am afraid that the internal troubles will already be numerous.

So everything, Cai Ye can only be buried in his stomach.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for Yan Guang's telegram to be sent, and his words had already indicated his decision to deal with the local officials strictly.

Since Yan Guangdu has decided so, Cai Ye naturally has no reason to object.

And...

If it is dealt with strictly, it will indeed cause great chaos in the local area, and may even affect the war in Shandong. But if they are left to the test and allowed to embezzle the materials urgently needed by the front-line defense forces, won't it affect the war in Shandong?

And if it is dealt with lightly, it may also encourage the arrogance of local officials.

At that point, the damage that could be done may be even more serious than being dealt with severely.

Whether it is strict or light, the final result is half a catty, since this is the case, then why not be strict?

This will not only make the government clearer, but it will also be of great benefit to the future of the country.

――――――――――

In the county government axe in Dongtai County, Jiangsu Province, several middle-aged men dressed as businessmen are circling around a slightly wealthy man.

In their hands they held a newspaper with a headline about the misappropriation of strategic weapons by local officials.

And looking at these flustered businessmen, the rich man was also extremely upset, and even the one on the table, the Song Dynasty vase given to him by a merchant a few days ago, had no intention of looking at it.

In those days, collusion between officials and businessmen was commonplace.

In the same way, if an official is greedy for something, unless the person who is greedy for ink is some cash or silver, then he will always have to find some merchant to deal with it.

And in this Dongtai County, the materials embezzled by the county magistrate are handled by these businessmen in front of them.

After all, if he, the dignified county magistrate, is to deal with it, it won't sound good to say it at first, and he won't have that channel again. It's better to directly hand over all the embezzled and greedy materials to these annihilation merchants, anyway, forgive these annihilation merchants and dare not be greedy for the share that should be given to him.

And yet, now...

"These damn people, you said that it would be good for you to fight your battle in Shandong, why did you expose this matter? Isn't that what we're doing to help you? ”

Looking at the newspaper on the table, the county magistrate also had a headache.

After thousands of calculations, I didn't expect that it would be said that I would poke this matter out.

"Master, what are we going to do now?"

"Yes, yes, county magistrate, you must find a way to come out..."

At this time, several businessmen around saw that the county magistrate kept rubbing his head, looking very headache, and hurriedly stepped forward to ask.

This matter is so big that among the more than 30 provinces in the country, three provinces are actually involved in this matter, and the coverage area has reached more than 80 percent...

Such a big thing, although these businessmen are also considered to be figures in the county, and the relationship with the county magistrate is also quite good―――――― after all, they are fed with countless cash.

But now, looking at the headlines and content in the newspapers, it was as if the sky had fallen.

At the end of the day, they're just a bunch of small businessmen...

At this time, the county magistrate, who was surrounded by them, looked at their chattering, and his head hurt for a long time, and finally he couldn't stand it anymore before he slapped the table.

"Okay, stop chattering there, it's not like the sky is falling now, what are you so worried about..."

"This—" After looking at each other, a businessman who seemed to have the highest status stepped forward. But sir, what is happening now is no different to us than when the sky falls..."

These big people in Dongtai County are nothing in front of the county magistrate, so you can imagine...

Those individuals in the capital, if they want to crush them to death, they don't need a finger, they just need to blow a breath on the ground, and the wind pressure will probably crush them into pulp...

After listening to the words of these businessmen, the county magistrate sighed and said.

"What are you worried about, don't you understand the law or not? It's true that this matter is very troublesome, but there are so many people involved, even if something is really found out above, will they dare to do it?! ”

The businessmen who listened to this nodded straightly, if it was just an ordinary event, maybe the central government would be stricter, but since so many counties and towns are now involved, then...

Maybe the central government will be extrajudicial?!

"What's more, now that Shandong is still fighting with himself, is it possible that the central government still dares to send people down to arrest people? Now the medicinal materials and food in Shandong are all raised by our provinces, if something really happens, what will happen to the things in Shandong? Corruption has existed in all dynasties, and our current matter is nothing in the past, and now the most important thing for the central government is the devils in Shandong, they won't do anything to us! ”

In fact, there is one more thing that the county magistrate has not said, that is, the central government may not be able to do whatever it wants.

Since they dared to do such a thing of embezzling strategic materials, how could they not take care of Yanjing's up and down in advance?

Although because the time is too short, those real members have not yet taken care of a few, but those members of the Congress have almost been bought by them―――――― there is nothing else to do as a member of the parliament, and there is no additional gray income, so they can only rely on a little "meager" salary from the political axe every year to make a living, barely living the kind of bitter life that is a little glamorous, but actually very nervous at hand.

At this time, someone came to the door with money and was willing to sponsor them, how could they refuse?

What's more, these are not bribes from local officials, but just "political contributions" provided by some local businessmen, with which they can continue to run for the next National Assembly, continue to receive the salary of the political axe, and continue to live a glorious life...

And take people's money, and eliminate disasters with people.

Since they have received money from others, they have to do things for others...

In fact, after the incident was exposed, local officials have begun to contact the lawmakers in Beijing, hoping that they can help delay the matter. For this reason, local officials did not hesitate to bribe those parliamentarians with heavy sums of money―――――― anyway, they did not spend their own money, and now that they have spent it, it is enough to get it back after the limelight has passed.

As long as the members of the National Assembly can delay the matter for them, they will also have the ability to eliminate some incriminating evidence, and even get in touch with some military and political leaders in Beijing through the network of parliamentarians.

As long as he can get involved with these military and political dignitaries, even if Yan Guang has a new way to clean them up, he will be powerless...

After all, Yan Guang is only the president, not the emperor.

Even if he wants to do many things, he must go through the formal way, and as long as the people in Jingnai, even if only some of them are willing to help them, this matter can be hidden...

Therefore, although this matter gave the magistrate of Dongtai County a headache, he was not too worried.

What's more, even if Yan Guang wanted to clean them up now, he would have some scruples about cleaning them up, would it cause chaos in the local area.

――――――――

Of course, the merchants surrounding the county magistrate didn't know what he was thinking, but seeing that he didn't look very worried, these businessmen were more or less relieved.

"The county magistrate, let's take our leave first..."

After saying this, he bowed his hand to the county magistrate, and several businessmen left the county magistrate's office one by one.

Later, the matter was similar to what the county magistrate and others thought, although the information about the embezzlement of strategic materials by local officials was already overwhelming in the newspapers.

Across the country, from officials to ordinary people, they all know everything.

However, Yan Guang, who was in Yanjing, didn't seem to know anything, just paying attention to the war in Shandong.

While this attitude reassured local officials, it also caused dissatisfaction among the people.

Fortunately, Yan Guang's policy of exempting all kinds of taxes and recovering Jiaozhou Bay and Shandong brought him great prestige. The attitude of ordinary people is not too intense, and there are even many students who support Yan Guang defending him.

The justification is...

"If something goes wrong, it's only cheaper."

The set...

Although this set of reasons has quelled some anger, not everyone is buying it.

After all, the Chinese tradition is to deal with people who are corrupt.

"Kill, kill, kill, kill !!"

(It should be noted that in the 21st century, the only envy of developed countries such as Europe and the United States is that China has a death penalty system, rather than keeping criminals in prison to "waste taxpayers' money", for example, the Norwegian strongman who shot 69 people on the island of Yute was sentenced to only 21 years.) Interestingly, in South America, many South American countries do not agree with the death penalty, and believe that no matter what kind of mistakes a person commits, the death penalty should not be used, and a person's life should be used as compensation... ）

――――――――――

Yan Jing had no intention of reacting, and this incident naturally made many local officials celebrate.

In particular, some members of parliament in Yanjing thought that this was their own credit, so when things seemed to be over, they even sent a telegram to some local officials who were in contact with them, vaguely telling them that they should give themselves some remuneration...

Now that the matter has come to a successful conclusion, the local people don't care about paying more, anyway, in the end, these efforts can be recovered. So both sides are really happy this time.

"Come, come, come, everyone drink !!"

In the county government axe building in Dongtai County, the county magistrate was drinking with some businessmen who had come some time ago, as well as some middle- and lower-level officials in the political axe.

The matter was resolved, and the crisis was lifted.

For the magistrate of Dongtai County, nothing could be better than this.

And the officials and businessmen who are surrounding the Dongtai county magistrate are also like this.

However, just as they were sitting at the wine table to celebrate, a guard from the county government axe building suddenly ran in.

“……… What's going on!!! ”

Seeing his subordinates so embarrassed, the county magistrate of Dongtai was a little unhappy.

It's just that just as the guard who ran in wanted to make it clear, a group of men in black uniforms suddenly poured into the hall...

"The Military Defense Bureau..."

Looking at this group of men dressed in black, a drop of sweat flowed from the forehead of the county magistrate of Dongtai.

The magistrate of Dongtai County can be said to have heard of this organization for a long time, and there is even a branch with only a few people in Dongtai County. The magistrate of Dongtai County also thought about contacting the people of this branch, but the other party was quite difficult to get close to.

The magistrate of Dongtai County is also regarded as the emperor of soil in Dongtai County, although the Military Defense Bureau is very powerful, he doesn't want to put a cold face on his hot ass, so the two sides have no contact.

Now, I didn't invite these people to come, why did they come back...

Suppressing the uneasiness in his heart, the magistrate of Dongtai County asked with a smiling face.

"I wonder what you're doing here?"

As he spoke, he glanced at his subordinates, and the county magistrate's subordinates were also relatively clever people, and when they saw his eyes, two people soon stood up with wine glasses.

"Come on, brothers, if there's anything to do first, let's have a drink first!!"

But before they could put it up, the leader had already dropped the glass they handed over.

The glass was slapped to the ground, and not only did the wine in the glass spill, but even the glass rolled around on the ground.

The sound of cups rolling was quite clear in the hall, which had fallen completely silent...

"Hmph..."

Glancing at the two subordinates with contempt, as well as the Dongtai County Magistrate, the black-clothed officer in the lead sneered.

"I'm sorry, I'm not here for a drink, I'm here on official business..."

The two bureaus of military intelligence and military defense were both established during the period of the Sichuan military and political axe, and the initial group of members, and even many new members later, were almost all entered by the army. Until now, both intelligence agencies have been inextricably linked to the Wehrmacht.

And now, local officials are embezzling strategic supplies that were supposed to be supplied to the Wehrmacht ...

It is not easy to get the people of the Military Defense Bureau to give them a good look.

The county magistrate also saw that this group of people from the Military Defense Bureau were not good, but he did not just give in, but said with a gloomy face.

"I don't know what kind of official duties you are doing here?!"

The military and the government are separated, and the military intelligence bureau and the military defense bureau are both intelligence agencies belonging to the army, while the county magistrate is a local official, and even if the county magistrate violates any law, there should be someone from the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of the Interior, but it is not the turn of the military defense bureau to come forward.

This is also the reason why the county magistrate has no fear, even if he is really going to be arrested, it should not be the Military Defense Bureau.

However, at this moment, the young man in the lead just said coldly.

"On the orders of the President, the Military Defense Bureau has taken charge of the strategic materials case, and the Military Defense Bureau has the right to arrest all suspects involved in this case on the spot, and if there is resistance, they will be killed..."

Saying this, the black-clothed men behind the young man had already taken out their pistols and aimed them at the guards of the Political Axe Building and the county magistrate and others who came quickly...

Looking at the pistol aimed at him, the county magistrate shouted although his face was pale.

"I'm a local political axe official, why do you arrest me, even if it's the president's order, don't ........."

However, before he could finish his nonsense, a person on the side had already beckoned him with the butt of his gun.

After the county magistrate's teeth fell, the leading young man said coldly.

"It's true that we don't have the right to interfere in local government affairs, but you must not forget that the materials you embezzled were all given to the soldiers on the front line who fought against the devils. And as long as it is something related to the military, our military defense bureau can intervene..."

That's right, if it's just a general matter, Yan Guang can only let the Ministry of Internal Affairs come forward.

However, the case of strategic materials is related to the war in Shandong, and since it involves military matters, then both the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Military Defense Bureau can be used...

As soon as the young man's words fell, the two men in black had already rushed forward and held the county magistrate up.

And the county magistrate was also very cooperative and collapsed.

In addition to the county magistrate, the officials and businessmen who were dining in the hall were also forced out of the hall by the people of the Military Defense Bureau at gunpoint. Outside the hall, several trucks were already ready, and in addition to the people of the Military Defense Bureau, there was also a company of infantry sent by the local garrison to cooperate...

At the same time that officials of Dongtai County, as well as those businessmen related to officials, were arrested, officials from other places were also arrested.

Even the members of the National Assembly in Beijing have been arrested.

When the people from the Military Defense Department came to the door, these members of Congress were still reprimanding them.

However, when the Military Defense Agency put in front of them evidence of their collusion with local officials, none of these MPs could move...

――――――――――

In the coordinated operation between the Military Defense Bureau and the military, at least about 80 percent of the local officials in several provinces involved in the matter were swept away.

Many of those who failed to be swept away were just because of their position, so they could not design the case, and the rest were not involved in the case because of their personal defense.

After all, no matter what era, the number of moral gentlemen is the least, but the number of hypocrites is the largest.

The whole action caused quite a stir in the whole country, after all, such a big action is rare in the entire history of China―――――― except for party disputes.

For such a result, it is natural that all the people cheer, after all, for the common people, it is good that corrupt officials are dead.

And for the officials, this action is also a wake-up call.

Eighty percent of local officials can already be described as tens of thousands.

After all, in the modern political system, the affairs of a county are no longer decided by a county magistrate. The county magistrate is no longer qualified to hear cases, because the people who share power with the county magistrate are too big...

What's more, according to the order conveyed by Yan Guang, these 80 percent of the officials, along with the members of the National Assembly who took bribes, and some officials in Beijing who have been bribed by local officials, will be executed in the end...

Death penalty, at least a thousand heads at a time?

If such a move can't shock the local officials, especially the local officials who were substituted later, then Yan Guang can't help it.

But none of that matters...

While sweeping away the local officials, although Yan Guang has mobilized a lot of reserve officials to these three provinces (there is no need to doubt this, no matter which dynasty it is, the officials are the most, especially those idle officials, or nominal officials), but the substitute officials are not genuine goods after all, not only have certain differences in ability from the original officials (otherwise it is impossible to substitute), but also do not understand local things as well as the original officials.

So even though the speed of the deployment has been very fast, the place is still in chaos.

Fortunately, although food and medicine are important, the most important thing is weapons and ammunition, and Sichuan and Hubei, which are responsible for the production of weapons and ammunition, were not involved in this matter (Hubei is one of the provinces with the most revolutionary parties, although the revolutionary party is also a lot of black, but after all, it will still be slightly better, not to mention that in just one year, Li Yuanhong will not be able to pollute the whole of Hubei).

It's just that although the impact is small, it still has an impact after all.

Therefore, although this move made the whole country excited, there were still several news of defeats on the Shandong front.

Fortunately, Cai Ye had already received news from Yan Guang in advance and was prepared for this matter, so the loss of several defeats was not large. Otherwise, it is really possible that Laiyang will be captured by the army in a hurry.

But even so, in the several positions on the periphery of Laiyang, two were still lost...

And now Cai's task is to recapture these two positions after the war stabilizes.

Moreover...

"I have to pull myself back to the same starting line..."

Saying this, Cai Ye looked at Xu Tianchuan on the side.

"Brother Xu, the next thing is to ask you!"

Xu Tianchuan nodded heavily. "Please rest assured, Brother Songpa, I will definitely handle this matter..."

Cai Ye also nodded, and this time the matter could only be handed over to the Air Force.

"As long as we can destroy all the supplies hoarded by the army, then it is not impossible to drive them back to Huang County..."

And just when Cai Yi was thinking so, Zhengyi in the temple on the opposite side was also planning, taking advantage of the chaos in the rear of the National Defense Army, to capture Laiyang in one fell swoop, and then attack Weifang...

(To be continued)