Chapter 262: Sweeping the Net Clean

Chen Sihai glanced at Xu Xianchun—he naturally understood what the other man meant by that. Although what they had done before was arrogant, in truth it had all been responses made only after Prince Fu had struck back first.

This time, however, was different—they had taken the initiative to seal off Prince Fu's residence.

Chen Sihai looked at Xu Xianchun and said slowly, "We cannot afford even the slightest risk. No one knows what Prince Fu might do. If something bad happens, neither of us will be able to answer for it—we might even die without a place to bury our bones. Do you think that would be good?"

Xu Xianchun shuddered outright, finally understanding why Chen Sihai had done this—and why he had spoken these words.

The so-called "something bad" meant that Prince Fu might turn desperate and leap the wall.

If Prince Fu truly rebelled in desperation, Xu Xianchun did not believe Prince Fu would succeed—but he and Chen Sihai would both be finished.

At that point, the two of them would be criminals. Having goaded Prince Fu into rebellion, no excuse would save them from a bad end. Perhaps His Majesty would forgive him and Chen Sihai, but allowing Prince Fu to rebel while they stood by—that was dereliction of duty.

Besides, once Prince Fu rebelled, would there be anyone more suitable than the two of them to sacrifice as banners before his army?

His and Chen Sihai's heads would serve the purpose perfectly—Prince Fu would kill the two of them.

Xu Xianchun quickly snapped back to his senses and hurriedly said to Chen Sihai, "What you say makes sense, sir. I will make arrangements at once. I will personally keep watch here over the next few days—there will absolutely be no mistakes."

Seeing Xu Xianchun agree so readily, Chen Sihai nodded with satisfaction.

Although Xu Xianchun was a newcomer, his ability to grasp things was excellent, and he knew how to conduct himself—decisive, never dragging his feet, and ruthless enough when it came to striking.

This was a man about to soar, especially given that Xu Xianchun served in a yamen like the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Chen Sihai's feelings were somewhat complicated. On the one hand, Xu Xianchun would certainly become a good helper in the future; on the other, he might well become a rival later on.

But Chen Sihai quickly cast that thought from his mind, because he knew this matter had to be handled properly—tend to what was in front of him first.

Chen Sihai left with his men; he had to return to conduct the interrogations.

Once he had interrogated these people and compiled the evidence of their crimes, Chen Sihai would have someone deliver the evidence to the capital. As for what happened next, that was not for him to decide—it would be up to His Majesty.

After all, dealing with a feudal prince was not something he, Chen Sihai, could call the shots on—even with conclusive evidence in hand.

At this very moment, in the capital, within the Western Park.

Zhu Youxiao let out a satisfied sigh of relief.

The weather had finally turned cool—though he estimated winter would soon be upon them.

This was a place without an autumn. Not that there truly was none—rather, autumn was too short, gone in the blink of an eye.

Still, these past few days of cool weather had been quite pleasant.

Glancing at Xu Guangqi standing not far away, Zhu Youxiao said with a smile, "Yuan Keli has already set out. There shouldn't be any problems over in Yunnan—no need to worry. I believe word of victory will arrive soon."

Xu Guangqi nodded and said, "What I worry about is the firearms this batch sent out from the Hundred Crafts Institute. I don't know whether they'll prove serviceable over in Yunnan."

This time, sending Yuan Keli to Yunnan naturally could not mean letting him go alone. Zhu Youxiao had dispatched a contingent to accompany him, transferred over from Qi Jin's command.

This contingent was led by Qi Jin's son, Qi Yuangong, and was not large in number—only three thousand men.

But these men had one rather special characteristic: they were equipped with the Hundred Crafts Institute's new-style weapons.

Besides the new-style armor, sabers, and spears, there were also new-style firearms—such as that cannon which a single man could carry on his shoulder and fire.

In addition, they were equipped with new-style incendiary bombs and explosive bombs, along with two thousand new-style flintlock muskets and one hundred new-style cannons.

These arms had completely emptied the Hundred Crafts Institute's stockpiles. What Xu Guangqi worried about were these very things—he knew how much hope Zhu Youxiao had placed in these weapons.

If this batch of weapons ran into any problems in Yunnan, it would be very troublesome—it would affect the Hundred Crafts Institute's future development.

Zhu Youxiao, for his part, was not concerned about that. But he felt it was fine this way—it kept Xu Guangqi and the Hundred Crafts Institute on their toes, working hard without getting carried away.

Let them be anxious now; when the good news came, the joy would taste all the sweeter.

"We can only know the results once things have played out." Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi and said with a smile, "Don't worry about it for now."

Xu Guangqi nodded and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. There is one more matter for which I came this time—the Imperial Household Department has already delivered the money from selling Ruyi Beans to the Ministry of Revenue, which has made up this year's shortfall. It still falls somewhat short, and we'll need to tighten our belts, but this year's salaries should all be paid out."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, feeling a slight headache coming on.

In truth, the Great Ming's fiscal condition was far from healthy. The matter of back pay owed to officials had always existed, and there was no good solution for it.

Although Zhu Youxiao had halted construction projects within the palace this year, there were still two imperial mausoleums to be built.

Though Zhu Youxiao felt that building them that way was a waste of money, he had not challenged the mainstream values. If he truly did such a thing, it would arouse discontent among many—even those who supported him would be displeased.

With those two major expenditures for the imperial tombs, plus military pay and personnel costs across the provinces, the money was still insufficient.

Zhu Youxiao had no particularly good solution for this either.

Confiscating households had brought in a portion; the Imperial Household Department had some income, but not much yet; the Hundred Crafts Institute was also burning money; and on top of that, Zhu Youxiao had the Imperial Household Department quietly stockpiling grain.

These were all relatively large expenditures—and he had also sent a considerable sum of money to Liaodong.

All told, it was still a tight year—there was even a deficit in the treasury.

Although there were still several million taels in the inner treasury, that money could not be touched—it had other uses.

This trip to Yunnan would likely cost a good deal of money. Hopefully Prince Fu's side would give him a bit more.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao sighed—otherwise, next year would be even harder.

Waving his hand, Zhu Youxiao said, "Things will get better. You needn't worry too much, my dear minister. Once the potato is promoted widely next year, there will be a good harvest. At the very least, grain prices on the market will drop considerably, and we should be able to collect a bit more in taxes."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Hearing Zhu Youxiao say this, Xu Guangqi nodded, and inwardly he too felt a measure of relief.

Although the tax rate remained unchanged, once yields increased, they would still be able to collect somewhat more.

Besides, once potato yields rose, grain prices on the market should fall considerably, and the court would not have to spend as much money when purchasing grain.

In fact, this was also a problem—grain prices in the capital region would certainly drop next year, and Zhu Youxiao would need to set aside an additional sum of money to buy grain.

For one thing, grain was of paramount importance at such a time; for another, it could be used to stabilize grain prices, keeping them at a relatively steady level.

If grain prices collapsed, it would drive many self-cultivating farmers to bankruptcy—something Zhu Youxiao did not want to see. What he wanted to do for now was maintain stability; nothing else mattered.

As for how long he would need to maintain it—that would be until he had finished everything he needed to do.

"Your Majesty, a secret memorial delivered by the Office of Transmission." Chen Hong came to Zhu Youxiao's side, holding a wooden box in his hands, and spoke respectfully.

Hearing Chen Hong's words, Zhu Youxiao looked up, his expression somewhat complicated.

Xu Guangqi, standing to one side, gave a start.

A possibility occurred to him—the court had no major affairs at present, having basically reached a relatively stable state, and the disputes of the recent period were also fading away.

As time passed, combined with the efforts pushed forward at court, the situation had basically been maintained in a relatively stable state. This allowed the several Grand Secretaries to breathe a sigh of relief, but there was still one matter that remained unstable—that concerning the Office of Transmission.

Everyone knew that Chen Sihai, the Assistant Director of the Office of Transmission, had already gone to Luoyang, and countless people at court were paying close attention to this matter.

They also all knew that this time the Office of Transmission was investigating Prince Fu.

It was just that what they cared about was not Prince Fu—whether Prince Fu lived or died had little to do with them. What they cared about was the Office of Transmission, and the Office of Transmission's memorials.

Everyone knew that this matter was a turning point. If it were handled well, then the Office of Transmission and its memorial system would soon be rolled out across the entire country, which would be of tremendous significance at court.

In Xu Guangqi's view, it was even greater than everything that had previously happened at court.

If it failed, no one knew what would happen, because His Majesty was a staunch supporter of this policy.

After working together for such a long time, they had roughly figured out His Majesty's intentions. The current Son of Heaven, with his youthful temperament, was not one to accept failure easily.

"Since Your Majesty has matters to attend to, your servant will take his leave." Xu Guangqi rose to his feet and bowed as he spoke.

He was doing this to avoid suspicion—after all, the matter of the Office of Transmission concerned memorials, which was not a domain the Grand Secretariat should meddle in, so he prepared to leave.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Xu Guangqi and said with a smile: "We haven't even heard what it says yet. Wait until We have read it before speaking. There might be matters concerning the Grand Secretariat in there, so wait here—it will save Us from having to call you back later."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xu Guangqi agreed without any hesitation.

After all, since this was His Majesty's wish, there was no longer any need for him to avoid suspicion.

Reaching out to take the box over, Zhu Youxiao quickly opened it, took out the memorial inside, and then rapidly skimmed through it.

Zhu Youxiao let out a gentle sigh of relief. The matter was no different from what he had imagined—or rather, no different from what everyone had imagined.

The situation in Henan Prefecture was very serious, even implicating the entire province of Henan. Naturally, Prince Fu's manor had not been able to escape involvement.

In this memorial, Chen Sihai had laid out the matter very clearly.

First was Henan Prefecture. In the years since Prince Fu had arrived in Luoyang, he had aggressively seized farmland in Henan Prefecture, while simultaneously bribing officials. Relying on his status as a prince, he had acted tyrannically and arbitrarily, with even dozens of cases involving loss of life.

Beyond Henan Prefecture, in other places throughout the province of Henan, he had done the same by the same methods.

Among them, all the officials of Henan Prefecture had already been bought off by Prince Fu. Beyond that, many officials throughout the province of Henan were the same.

According to Chen Sihai's preliminary calculations, three-tenths of the land in Henan province had already fallen into the hands of Prince Fu's manor. It could be said to be a staggering figure—one that seemed unbelievable at first glance.

As for the specific numbers, those would have to wait until after interrogations before being discussed in detail. Chen Sihai had already brought his people to Kaifeng, where he would wait for Zhu Youxiao's imperial decree—namely, the decree on whether the officials of Henan province should continue to be investigated and continue to be arrested.

One had to understand that those being moved against this time were high-ranking officials—those were the Governor and the Provincial Administration Commissioner.

If he were to move against them, then of the officials throughout the entire entire province of Henan, I fear fewer than one in ten would survive.

Although moving against them was simple, the repercussions also had to be considered. After all, if an entire province's officials were moved against, it would directly thrust the Office of Transmission into the eye of the storm, and at the same time thrust the memorial system into the eye of the storm as well.

The matter was too great; Chen Sihai did not dare make the decision himself.

After glancing at the memorial, Zhu Youxiao handed it to Xu Guangqi, saying with a smile: "As it turns out, it does concern the Grand Secretariat. Beloved minister, take a look first."

Reaching out to take the memorial, Xu Guangqi quickly began to browse through it.

The more he read, the more alarmed he became inwardly. This was not merely moving against Prince Fu's manor—this was sweeping up the entire province of Henan in one net.

A thought suddenly arose in Xu Guangqi's heart, but his face showed no expression, his feelings hidden rather deeply.

Glancing at Zhu Youxiao, Xu Guangqi asked cautiously: "What does Your Majesty mean?"

Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi, a playful smile on his face.

The sovereign and his minister exchanged a glance, and the atmosphere instantly turned somewhat awkward.

After a long moment, Xu Guangqi could only helplessly withdraw his gaze.

Feeling somewhat helpless inwardly, Zhu Youxiao let out a sigh.

Recalling the time when he had first met Xu Guangqi—back then, Xu Guangqi had not been like he was now. He had still been spirited and vigorous, speaking to him with great directness, carrying quite a bit of a reckless, devil-may-care bearing.

Now he had become like this. Indeed, status changes a person.

Zhu Youxiao also understood Xu Guangqi's meaning—this was testing him. After all, so many people and so many officials were implicated, and most importantly, Prince Fu was involved.

So Zhu Youxiao said: "Let the Grand Secretariat deliberate on it."

Upon hearing these words from Zhu Youxiao, Xu Guangqi's body trembled.

Many times, many words did not need to be spoken explicitly—actions represented one's attitude. His Majesty handing the matter to the Grand Secretariat for deliberation already represented His Majesty's attitude.

As a close minister by the side of the Son of Heaven, Xu Guangqi could not possibly fail to see this point.

If His Majesty did not wish to deal with the matter, then he certainly would not have the Grand Secretariat deliberate on it, but would instead suppress the matter. Since His Majesty had the Grand Secretariat discuss it, then the outcome of that discussion had already been decided.

So Xu Guangqi rose to his feet and said respectfully: "Then your servant will return to the Grand Secretariat."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said with a smile: "Go on, go on."

After bowing to Zhu Youxiao, Xu Guangqi walked out toward the Grand Secretariat.

Watching Xu Guangqi's retreating figure, Zhu Youxiao reached out and tapped the armrest of the dragon throne, a look of relief on his face.

Some matters had to be resolved before the Great Ming faced internal troubles and external threats. If they were not resolved now, they would only become more troublesome later.

After all, there were so many natural disasters and man-made calamities left for him to deal with.