At that moment,
News that several buildings in Beijing had collapsed reached the imperial palace as well.
The ones thrown into the biggest panic were the officials of the Ministry of Works.
“What the hell! How does a perfectly fine building just collapse like that?”
“I– I’m not really sure either…”
“And two of them collapsed one after another? Damn it!”
A section chief of the Ministry of Works clutched his head and groaned.
“Bring me the records, now! If we don’t figure this out before Vice Minister Wu gets here, we’re all dead!”
“Yes, sir!”
Soon they brought the records for the buildings, but no matter how they pored over them, they couldn’t find any particular problem.
“Who was the bastard who did the final inspection on these?”
“The names are written here. Uh… but these seniors have all been promoted. They’re now assistant ministers posted out in the various provinces.”
“Damn it! Well, of course. These are records from ten years ago. Back then the seniors were the ones doing inspections.”
He could only slam his fist down on the desk.
Anyone who went out to do completion inspections ten years ago would obviously outrank him now.
“Fine, then who’s the current owner of these buildings?”
“Well… huh!”
The official checking the owner’s name flinched in shock.
“What is it?”
“It says… Eun Seo-ho.”
“What? W– who?”
“Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
Just then, a palace guard from the nearby guard post came in and spoke to them.
“A request for audience just came in.”
“From whom?”
“Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho of the Eunhae Merchant Group.”
“…”
One of the officials shot a look at the section chief, then carefully asked,
“What should we do?”
“Bring him in. We couldn’t even spot any obvious problems ourselves, so how would he know?”
I stepped into the Ministry of Works building.
Is this already my second time here in this life?
I’d come once before to push them to hurry up with the final inspection for the Eunhae Merchant Group’s Beijing branch.
While I waited in the reception room, an official came in.
“This humble Eun Seo-ho greets you, sir.”
“Alright, what brings you here today?”
“I assumed you’d have heard the news. Two buildings I own collapsed today.”
“Is that so? That’s truly unfortunate.”
“So I’d like to examine the paperwork for those buildings, to see if there were any defects.”
“Wait here a moment.”
He called in another official and told him to bring the files for the two buildings, and a short while later that official returned with a bundle of documents.
“Here they are.”
“Thank you.”
I went through the documents.
As expected… on paper they were described as perfectly normal buildings.
But I already knew they were only perfect on paper, and that there were serious defects hidden underneath.
“Something about this looks off.”
“W– what do you mean?”
“Right here it says this building has twenty–one pillars.”
“Yes, and what’s wrong with that?”
“When I was clearing the debris from the collapsed building earlier, I counted only fifteen foundation stones.”
“…!”
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead as he protested.
“Th– that can’t be. Every building in Beijing has to be built exactly according to the blueprints submitted to the Ministry of Works.”
“Then why don’t you come with me and check for yourself?”
“R– right now I’m very busy… and these files can’t be taken out by anyone who’s not a Ministry of Works official.”
“Then I’ll ask one of the other Ministry of Works officials.”
“Everyone’s busy these days. I don’t know if there’s anyone who can go out on an inspection.”
Hoo… this bastard?
Seeing how desperate he was to stall, it was clear he understood exactly what was going on.
Honestly, the discrepancy in the number of pillars was something he could have tried to cover up, but I’d brought it up on purpose.
Just to make him sweat.
I grinned, then pulled a scroll from my sleeve and held it out.
“Have you forgotten that I carry His Majesty the Emperor’s imperial decree?”
“…”
“Which means my business takes priority over everything else. So, let’s go.”
I knew full well there hadn’t been any recent construction projects and none scheduled either, so they were idle. Where exactly did he think he was going to find an excuse?
And just like that, he had no choice but to go out on inspection with me.
His name was Son Myeong.
His rank was section chief.
He kept wiping at his sweat the whole carriage ride with me.
The other official he brought along, a clerk named Pung Do, watched Section Chief Son’s expression the whole time.
Before long, we arrived in front of the collapsed estate.
“This way, please.”
We got out of the carriage and walked toward the ruined estate.
“Good heavens! What a mess!”
Even Clerk Pung couldn’t help saying that.
“Fortunately, I’d emptied it after buying it so I could renovate, so there were no casualties.”
“Th– that’s a relief, at least.”
Yeah, he should count himself lucky.
If people had died, his responsibility would have been a lot heavier.
“By the way, how did you clear the roof?”
“I have some competent people under me.”
“I see.”
Just then, someone came looking for us.
“Ah! So you were here after all!”
It was Warrior Jin Yeong.
I’d actually sent Warrior Jin Yeong a letter this morning, saying I had some questions about the imperial palace martial arts and would like to meet and talk.
We’d set the meeting for this afternoon.
He’d gone by our Beijing branch first, heard I was here, and followed me over. Just as I’d planned.
“Ah! Jin Yeong!”
I quickly bowed my head.
“I apologize! I should have sent word ahead to cancel our appointment, but things were chaotic and I didn’t manage to contact you.”
“Think nothing of it.”
Warrior Jin Yeong waved his hand.
“I heard when I arrived. Is it true that two buildings you own suddenly collapsed?”
“Yes, that’s right. Luckily there were no casualties, but…”
“That’s a small mercy in a disaster, but the financial loss must still be considerable. I hardly know what to say to console you.”
He made a sympathetic face, then glanced at the officials beside me and asked,
“These men with you are from the Ministry of Works, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are.”
At my reply, the two officials hurriedly cupped their fists to greet Warrior Jin Yeong.
“I’m Son Myeong, section chief of the Ministry of Works. I greet you, Warrior Jin Yeong.”
“I’m Clerk Pung Do of the Ministry of Works. I greet you, Warrior Jin Yeong.”
“I’m Jin Yeong of the Embroidered Guard.”
Once their introductions were done, I spoke up.
“While I was handling the aftermath of the collapse, I noticed a few things that didn’t sit right with me. So I asked the Ministry of Works for cooperation and brought these two officials back with me.”
I went on.
“This estate is actually close to the Eunhae Merchant Group’s Beijing branch, and I bought it so I could bring my parents here. It happened to be empty because I was planning renovations; if anyone had been inside… just thinking about it makes my chest tighten.”
I continued.
“So I don’t think I can judge this matter calmly. If I may ask, are you busy right now?”
“I don’t have anything particularly pressing at the moment.”
“In that case, could I ask you to look into the problems with this building together with me?”
Warrior Jin Yeong readily agreed.
“Of course I should help.”
Perfect!
With this, that Ministry of Works official no longer had any way to quietly gloss this over.
If we found problems here and those two tried to deny or cover them up, things would get troublesome.
But if they failed to report issues discovered in the presence of a member of the Embroidered Guard, they’d be arrested immediately for deceiving His Majesty the Emperor.
Not that His Majesty would sit still anyway, given there were more buildings still due to collapse.
Even so, I’d written to Warrior Jin Yeong to make sure everything could be handled faster and more cleanly.
“Then let’s begin.”
“Yes.”
They took the documents and started checking whether the building had been constructed according to the blueprints.
“…”
Their expressions, grim to begin with, grew darker and darker.
Officials of the Ministry of Works are, in other words, specialists in this field.
They realized the mismatch in the number of foundation stones I’d mentioned earlier wasn’t even the real issue compared to how badly things had been done.
They did their best not to say anything out loud, but there was no way I was going to let that slide.
Standing beside them, I casually tossed out comments.
“Huh? Don’t tell me these pillars are made of paulownia wood?”
“Ahem… it… appears so.”
“The documents say they used oak. And unless I’m mistaken, paulownia wood is quite soft, isn’t it…?”
“Sometimes paulownia is used for pillars too.”
“I’ve heard that when they do, the foundation stones are set higher. These look rather low to me. What do the records say?”
“…”
At my question, Warrior Jin Yeong glanced at the documents and spoke.
“According to the documents, the foundation stones are supposed to be a foot high. But these… don’t look like a foot.”
“Th– that’s because they’re buried in the ground.”
“Then let’s dig them up.”
At my words, Palgap, who’d been standing by with a shovel, rushed over and dug around the foundation stones.
“…”
The exposed foundation stones were exactly as Warrior Jin Yeong had said.
“…”
“Write it down.”
At that stern order, they flinched and hurried to record the fact in their report.
“These look like the beams, tie beams, and corbels and such that supported the structure…”
Those parts, like the tie beams and corbels, are the most important pieces connecting the pillars and the roof.
“Why are they all warped like this?”
Why do you think.
They used wood that hadn’t been dried properly, that’s why.
You can’t just use freshly cut wood as–is when building houses or furniture. As it dries, the timber twists.
So you have to dry the wood thoroughly before using it as material, but that process isn’t easy.
They built the house with half–dried lumber, and as that wood dried it warped, causing structural defects.
In the roughly two hours the inspection went on, we found over twenty separate defects.
“It’s so absurd I don’t even know how to be angry anymore.”
At my words, Warrior Jin Yeong clicked his tongue.
“There is no way the Ministry of Works officials didn’t notice this, and yet they still signed off on the completion…”
He turned to the two officials and said,
“Hand over everything you’ve recorded.”
“Sir?”
“I’ll deliver it to His Majesty the Emperor myself.”
They trembled, but still tried to make excuses.
“Ah, it’s still not properly organized…”
“Must I really draw my sword?”
“N– no, of course not!”
He quickly thrust the documents forward.
“H– here they are.”
Warrior Jin Yeong took the papers and spoke to me.
“Once again, you have my condolences. I don’t know if this will be any comfort, but…”
“Not at all. You’ve come here personally and even helped with the investigation; I’m only grateful.”
I added,
“If I may say one more thing out of caution, we should make sure the people who built this place don’t run away.”
“Ah, you’re right. I’ll see to it.”
In my previous life, because the investigation started late, the family of the Merchant Lord of the construction company that built the collapsed buildings fled in the night.
It took over ten years before they were finally caught, and by then they’d been living well on the embezzled money.
Someone who deserves the harshest punishment shouldn’t get to live comfortably.
The Emperor looked over the report in his hand.
“Hmm…”
It was a report personally submitted to him by Jin Yeong of the Embroidered Guard.
It stated that the houses Eun Seo-ho had recently purchased had collapsed, and that the defects had been discovered while checking whether there were any issues with the construction.
“I don’t know much about construction myself, but in a way, it’s impressive that they lasted ten years with defects like these.”
In front of him, the Minister of Works was prostrated on the floor.
“Take a look.”
The eunuch handed the report to the Minister of Works, who read it with trembling eyes before bowing his head even lower.
“I failed to keep my subordinates in line. I deserve death. Please, put me to death.”
But the Emperor ignored him and spoke to the eunuch.
“Summon the Censorate Inspector.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Soon, the Censorate Inspector was brought in. He knelt before the throne and paid his respects.
The Censorate Inspector was one of the heads of the Censorate, responsible for investigating officials in the central government.
“Censorate Inspector, there’s something I need you to handle.”
“Please, give your command.”
“Are you aware of the incident with the two buildings collapsing in Beijing?”
“Yes, I am aware, Your Majesty.”
“Serious defects were found in those buildings. There’s no way the officials of the Ministry of Works didn’t know and simply let it pass. Work together with the Embroidered Guard and get to the bottom of this thoroughly!”
“I receive your command.”
After saying that, the Censorate Inspector hesitated, then spoke again.
“Forgive my boldness in asking, but is Your Majesty ordering such a thorough investigation because the owner of those buildings is Deputy Merchant Lord Eun Seo-ho?”
At that question, the Emperor let out a short laugh.
“Think about the loss of life that would have occurred if that boy hadn’t bought those buildings ahead of time and left them empty.”
When he imagined that scenario, the Censorate Inspector’s mouth went dry.
“So shouldn’t I at least show some sincerity in response?”
“I will carry out your will with all my heart.”
That night.
One more building collapsed.
The next day.
Three buildings collapsed in succession.
Just like in my previous life, six buildings collapsed.
The collapses themselves were inevitable.
You can’t stop houses that were built wrong from eventually falling down.
“Young Master, are you alright? Your left eyebrow’s twitching up a little… you’re angry, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I’m really angry right now.”
Palgap probably thought I was angry because the six houses I’d paid so much for had collapsed, but the real reason I was furious was…
These damn thieves! Just because they weren’t going to live here themselves, how could they be this shameless?
The defects were far worse than even I’d expected.
Those bastards! I won’t let this go!
I’m going to squeeze them so hard I’ll take even the coins they’ve hidden in their underwear!
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt