Chapter 317: When the Nest Is Overturned, How Can Any Eggs Remain Intact?

But this matter was simply too difficult—if he truly handed it to Xu Xi, he had no idea whether Xu Xi could pull it off.

Still, at this point, there was really no other good option. It just so happened that Xu Xi had come begging at his doorstep, so handing the matter to him was only natural.

If the matter succeeded, a share of the credit would naturally fall to him; but if it failed, then Xu Xi would be the one to take the blame.

Zhang Weixian steadied his mind, thinking that the Duke of Ding had come to him seeking a solution, while he himself was seeking a matter to accomplish.

Now that the Staff Office had been established, his position needed to change. Before, he had sought self-preservation; now it was different—he needed to seek power.

Under these circumstances, Zhang Weixian had more to think about and more to do. In the past, there were some matters he could handle personally, but now that was no longer convenient. Finding someone to keep by his side was the right choice.

So under these circumstances, keeping Xu Xi by his side was also an option. After all, by this point in time, a man needed a few people under his command who would bite on his orders.

Now it remained to be seen whether Xu Xi had the guts. This matter being handed to him served two purposes: first, to give the Emperor an accounting; second, it was a pledge of loyalty.

Xu Xi sat to one side, thinking as well. Though he had come humbly begging, that did not mean he had no thoughts of his own. As a Duke of the Great Ming, there were some things he understood very clearly—what could be done and what could not—and he understood them even more clearly in his heart.

So the Duke of Ying's words, Xu Xi truly did not dare agree to.

After a long moment of deliberation, Xu Xi said, "Duke, is this matter not a bit too big?"

"A broken drum needs a heavy hammer—it may split it open, but it may also wake the deaf and startle the dull. At this point, if your heart still hesitates, then I think we have nothing further to discuss." Zhang Weixian looked at Xu Xi and spoke in a light tone.

What he wanted was someone who could stay by his side, someone willing to charge forward and bite for him.

The Duke of Ding was a Duke, with a very special status, so he was a very suitable candidate. But if he did not dare act, then no matter how special his status, it was useless.

"But Duke, you know as well as I do that those salt merchants are not to be trifled with. Besides, there's big money in salt—not to mention anything else, even we people take no small sum from it every year. What happened back then, you know and I know. If this really gets stirred up, I'm afraid old accounts will be dragged out."

After saying this, Xu Xi raised his head to look at Zhang Weixian and said with a grave expression, "If this matter truly gets churned up, I'm afraid none of us will get away."

"What are you afraid of?" Zhang Weixian sneered. "This realm belongs to His Majesty. Who gets dealt with and who doesn't—isn't that just a word from His Majesty?"

"You do the deed for His Majesty, and His Majesty will naturally protect you. What of the Prince of Fu? Isn't he still hopping around in the capital right now?"

"And look at Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Cheng—what standing does he have now? Are you truly content with your lot? If you really are, then pretend I said nothing."

Upon hearing the Duke of Ying's words, Xu Xi fell silent for another long moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Duke, you speak."

The Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian, glanced at Xu Xi and said, "You speak instead."

Xu Xi smiled helplessly. He knew that Zhang Weixian was testing him, but at this point, he truly had no other choice—he could only follow Zhang Weixian's lead.

After thinking it over, Xu Xi said, "You want to touch the money from nest-occupying?"

"Go on." Zhang Weixian glanced at him and said.

The so-called nest-occupying was actually a secret known jointly to the nobles and the imperial in-laws. It first originated during the Hongzhi reign, led by the Emperor's maternal uncle at the time.

At that time, the Hongzhi Emperor doted only on Empress Zhang, so the Zhang family naturally rose to prominence like the sun at high noon.

Marquis Shouning, Zhang Heling—though this man was ambitious but incompetent, when it came to amassing wealth for himself, he truly had a remarkable knack.

The so-called nest-occupying was, in essence, hoarding salt certificates.

Everyone knew salt certificates were money, but they could not be issued recklessly. Once over-issued, the damage they caused would be enormous.

But Marquis Shouning paid no heed to that. He amassed salt certificates on a grand scale, even obtaining several hundred thousand dan's worth through the palace—and all that money naturally went into his own pockets.

Only, these certificates could not be turned into cash directly; they had to go through the salt merchants. And the grain-for-certificate system was the biggest obstacle to their wealth.

So, coordinating with each other, they changed the grain-for-certificate system into a silver-for-certificate system.

Though the difference was only a single word, it was a world of difference.

The grain-for-certificate system required grain; the silver-for-certificate system required only silver. By using silver to purchase salt certificates, there was no longer any need to transport grain—salt merchants could simply buy salt certificates with money.

At the time, Minister of Revenue Ye Qi changed the grain-for-certificate system to the silver-for-certificate system, ostensibly to increase revenue for the court, letting merchants buy salt certificates with silver to boost state income.

And in fact, that was exactly what happened—in the following years, the court gained several million taels more each year.

But this policy gave the Anhui salt merchants an opportunity to rise. From then on, they no longer had to deal with grain—they could simply work with silver directly.

During that period, the various nobles and imperial in-laws also amassed wealth frantically. They obtained a huge pile of salt certificates from the imperial house and resold them to salt merchants; the merchants would buy the certificates from the nobles and in-laws, and the prices were naturally not low.

This kind of operation was nest-occupying, and that time was a feast of wealth for countless people.

Whether civil officials, salt merchants, nobles, or imperial in-laws—all took a large share from it, and this money could be inherited for generations. It could be said that voices of opposition were few at the time.

This policy had now been in place for quite some time. Everyone knew how much money was in it—mountains of gold and seas of silver—but to touch this policy meant offending a great many people.

First were the imperial in-laws—they would certainly oppose it.

Second were the salt merchants. The salt merchants of today were not what they used to be; these people were powerful and wealthy, and countless officials at court had been cultivated by them. Their roots ran deep.

Once salt was touched, it was equivalent to offending everyone. If this were truly pursued from that angle, it would probably be a road to certain death.

So Xu Xi directly asked the key question: was Zhang Weixian planning to touch this money?

Glancing at Xu Xi, Zhang Weixian said directly, "When the nest is overturned, how can any eggs remain intact?"

Upon hearing these words, Xu Xi slowly closed his eyes.