And now here was the reason that not even a small act of corruption could be overlooked.
When government officials abused their authority by committing corrupt deeds, they could manage some powerful risk control—like taking the teeth out of audits and the administration of justice, for instance. With that, they’d get full of themselves and soon normalize their corruption.
The moment even minor acts of corruption were overlooked as unimportant, those officials would gather more accomplices and eventually become one powerful force, impossible to control.
It was the same in Teshtorya. Unless they were stopped, it was only a matter of time before, even if the wrongdoings of the Financial Affairs Department chief and his accomplices came to light, not even the state governor would be able to oppose their corrupt party without fear of assassination. If things came to that, rather than fighting, the state governor might choose to become complicit instead.
Then those corrupt officials would erode governmental authority and rot away the roots of the administrative organization itself. It was the complete opposite of what they were supposed to do—shoulder the burden of the whole world and the country.
“Before Catalan, there were many similar countries who operated under a centralized government where bureaucrats worked at the emperor’s beck and call. They had strong national policies, and it was a given for those countries to become great or powerful,” his boss said with a pained expression as they were returning to the imperial capital. It was after they’d finished investigating Teshtorya. She didn’t feel satisfied with the work she’d done.
The state government office had decayed so greatly that, upon taking into account the potential dangers, they’d given up their plans of revealing their identities as tax inspectors and conducting an audit of the state books. They’d leave that inspection to the Police Agency, which possessed military power, while they were forced to back off after only conducting their secret investigation.
His boss wasn’t someone who cared much about achievements, but she couldn’t forgive her own powerlessness.
She continued. “However, not a single one of those countries remain. At the very least, they don’t exist in the western region of the continent where we are.”
Those countries had all met the same fate and fallen into ruins.
“As the enforcement of law and order loosened, the government officials, who’d received their authority from their emperor, began corrupting from the top down. The power structure decayed. These countries should’ve been great, but the decay ate them from the inside, and the nations’ power itself declined. Without exception, this chain of events happened to every one of those countries. They repeated the same despicable and foolish acts.”
After a pause, Zen spoke up. “Yes. It’s exactly as you said.”
His boss barked a laugh. “Hah! I guess you don’t need this kind of lecture. You passed the Advanced Civil Service Exam, after all.”
“If you want to drown your sorrows over this, I’ll accompany you for as long as you want, you know?”
“You’re ten years too early to be doing that, you little devil.” She suddenly slapped his back, and Zen held back a wry smile.
However, even if she wasn’t satisfied with what they’d accomplished, her investigation report had undoubtedly been useful, and the Teshtorya State Government Office was later purified.
The Director General of the Police Agency took the matter seriously, and under his strong leadership, a larger-scale investigation was conducted, and the corrupt government officials were purged. It again proved that law and order remained intact in Catalan, and it was likely a relief for Zen’s closest friends, the emperor and empress.
Still, Zen looked at this all from another angle.
It could be said that the Inspection Bureau, which was filled with many excellent tax inspectors like his boss, was the pride of the empire, and the bureau’s ability to function correctly was because of the bureau chief and their capabilities. By extension, it was thanks to the keen eye of the Director General of the Police Agency that had appointed that bureau chief.
And even further, the Director General of the Police Agency, who was an elderly person known for his devout loyalty to the imperial family, had been handpicked personally by Heinri and his father.
It wasn’t due to any clever techniques that the empire succeeded where the others had failed. It was extremely difficult to ascertain what people were suited for, give them the appropriate posts, and have them fully show what they were capable of. However, the ceaseless hard work of the previous emperors had made it possible to achieve. They’d made it so that Catalan would never tread the same path as those fallen countries.
Elysia listened intently to Zen’s long story. Mina had been listening with interest until partway through, but as the night grew late, she couldn’t stay awake anymore and fell asleep.
Zen decided it was about time to wrap up his lecture. “Of course, the reason Catalan can remain special today is certainly in part because of the intimidating golden dragon divine god that is keeping an eye on the imperial family. However, the previous emperors’ hard work and the value of their efforts haven’t faded away either. You really have to admire that.”
“Sir Cummel must be going through great pains to keep Nazalf Prefecture free of corrupt officials too...”
“And for the emperor, the scale extends to the whole nation. Saying it’s ten times more difficult is an understatement.”
However, Heinri had done it. That was why Zen wanted Elysia to carry on that legacy when she was crowned empress one day, even if it was an unfair thing to put on this still-fourteen-year-old girl.
I’ll do everything I can to support her, Zen thought to himself, looking at Elysia. He felt like he was praying.
Did his feelings reach her?
“I’ll never forget what you’ve taught me,” Elysia said, resolute, clenching her fists on her knees. As the next empress, she was incredibly dependable.
Now, how about you, Your Majesty the Emperor? The new prefectural governor Stoga was overlooking corrupt government officials like Palk. It’d been the current emperor Jemma II who’d selected him. Did Jemma II understand the hard work and powerful determination of his ancestors?
The night drew on, and while Zen’s irritated feelings continued to bubble up inside him, he climbed into bed. The reason he struggled to fall asleep was probably not the muddy loaches in his stomach.