Chapter 505: The Salt Merchants

Hearing Xu Xianchun's question, the room fell silent in an instant.

Everyone looked at Zhao Wuji, waiting to see what he would say.

The reason was simple — whatever Zhao Wuji said would determine everyone else's attitude.

Whether Zhao Wuji would blurt it out directly or continue to conceal it was critical to them all.

At this point, Zhao Wuji no longer had any confidence left in his heart.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had come in earnest this time; his life was in their hands, and he truly had no room to bargain.

Zhao Wuji said directly: "He is a steward of Duke Wei's household, named Xu Boyi."

Hearing this, Xu Xianchun was not particularly surprised; he merely nodded lightly.

In fact, Xu Xianchun already knew a great many things. The Embroidered Uniform Guard had reported the intelligence to him, and he was well aware of it. All he needed to do now was to get these men to confess.

Now that Zhao Wuji had named Xu Boyi, this was a good start.

After Zhao Wuji implicated Xu Boyi, the atmosphere in the room actually relaxed, and the men all felt as though a weight had been lifted.

This made them realize that their sense of fear had vanished. Clearly, the pressure Xu Xianchun and his men had applied had reached the point where silence was no longer an option.

Nodding with satisfaction, Xu Xianchun continued: "Then what did you come here for? What were you just discussing? Tell me everything, sparing no detail."

At this moment, Zhao Wuji naturally dared not conceal anything further — since he had already spoken, he poured it all out like beans tumbling from a bamboo tube, telling Xu Xianchun everything.

What they had come here to do, how they had discussed it — every single matter, every single detail, was laid out clearly.

When Zhao Wuji finished, Xu Xianchun said directly to the Embroidered Uniform Guard officer responsible for record-keeping behind him: "Have them sign and affix their seals."

Zhao Wuji and the others all signed and sealed their statements, then withdrew to one side, looking at Xu Xianchun with anxious expressions, waiting to see what he would do next.

At this moment, Zhao Wuji and the others had not the slightest confidence; they were putty in his hands.

Xu Xianchun collected the confessions, glanced at Xu Boyi lying prostrate on the ground, and waved a hand at his subordinates.

Two Embroidered Uniform Guard officers withdrew, and as they left they removed the cloth from Xu Boyi's mouth, allowing him to speak.

Xu Boyi's face was ashen now — he had dragged Duke Wei's household into this, and he knew things had taken a terrible turn.

In fact, the reason Xu Boyi had been so stubborn was not merely that he felt emboldened, but more that he did not want to implicate Duke Wei. Because if Duke Wei were not implicated, then even if he himself got into trouble, his family would still be well taken care of.

But now that was gone — all of it was gone.

Raising his head to glare furiously at Zhao Wuji, Xu Boyi said nothing.

Xu Boyi had now resigned himself to his fate and no longer intended to speak. He wanted to fight for a path of survival for his family. This matter was not something he could control — these Embroidered Uniform Guard officers had already pushed the affair to a higher level.

As for himself, Xu Boyi no longer cared. Whatever the outcome, there was no way for him to escape.

Duke Wei would certainly be fine — the Emperor could not possibly punish Duke Wei over something like this — so he himself would inevitably become the scapegoat.

Therefore, if he kept his mouth shut and did not recklessly drag others down, there would be no problem; but the moment he opened his mouth and started accusing others, things would get troublesome.

On this matter, Xu Boyi had thought it through very clearly: he could not speak. If he absolutely had to speak, then there would be no turning back.

Xu Xianchun glanced at Xu Boyi, who now wore the look of one resigned to death, and a cold sneer appeared on his face.

Xu Xianchun knew very well in his heart that this type of man was actually hard to interrogate, because Xu Boyi, for the sake of his family, would never open his mouth. Even if torture were applied, it would not be easy.

Xu Xianchun had no intention of torturing Xu Boyi anyway, because it would be useless — no point wasting time.

Besides, some matters did not require a confession at all. When working for the Emperor, did one even need to present evidence?

Xu Xianchun instructed the man beside him: "Take them all into custody, and give me a copy of the confessions."

His subordinates naturally dared not be negligent; they hastily handed Xu Xianchun the prepared confessions.

Xu Boyi and the others were led away. They would be quietly detained — right there in Lichun Court, without even being taken outside — to ensure no word leaked out.

Under such circumstances, the matters that followed would be easier to handle.

After arranging everything, Xu Xianchun went to the adjoining room.

Seeing Chen Hong standing outside the door, Xu Xianchun hastened to say: "Greetings, Eunuch Chen."

The two had once been able to cooperate quite smoothly, but since the last incident, their relationship had cooled considerably.

No one had expected Xu Xianchun to be able to turn things around — Chen Hong included.

But times were different now; Xu Xianchun was still deeply favored by His Majesty, and so was Chen Hong. Though meeting each other was somewhat awkward, on the surface the two still presented a very harmonious front.

After all, they were both His Majesty's men; outside, they naturally could not fall out openly. Moreover, they were currently in a period of cooperation — even if one were to strike at the other, it would be done behind the scenes.

Chen Hong smiled and asked: "The matter is settled?"

Though there was some friction between Chen Hong and Xu Xianchun, it could hardly be called enmity.

Xu Xianchun could hardly blame Chen Hong either — the matter last time had clearly been his own fault — so his attitude was considerably more courteous.

And Chen Hong also knew that although this affair looked quite thorny, it depended on who was handling it. In Xu Xianchun's hands, such a matter was no problem at all.

With Xu Xianchun's abilities, handling something like this was like using a cleaver to kill a chicken — there was simply no way he could fail.

A brilliant smile spread across Xu Xianchun's face as he said: "Reporting to Your Excellency, the matter is settled. I apologize for keeping Your Excellency waiting."

Hearing this, Chen Hong nodded and said: "I don't mind in the least; as long as His Majesty hasn't grown impatient waiting, that's what matters."

"Wait here. I'll go in and report. If His Majesty should ask, I'll come out and call for you."

"Thank you, Eunuch Chen." Xu Xianchun said with a smile.

Nodding, Chen Hong said nothing more. Taking the confessions, he walked inside.

After entering the room, Chen Hong went directly before Zhu Youxiao and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the items have been brought."

"Xu Xianchun has handled the matter properly?" Setting down the teacup in his hand, Zhu Youxiao asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty. It has been settled." Chen Hong nodded in acknowledgment, presenting the confessions with both hands, then stood respectfully to one side, waiting for Zhu Youxiao to read them.

Taking the confessions, Zhu Youxiao flipped through them quickly, then set them aside.

There was not the slightest stir on Zhu Youxiao's face, nor any change in his expression.

He had long since seen all this material and knew exactly what was going on inside. So he was in no hurry at all, nor was he the least bit surprised.

In fact, even without this investigation, even without the earlier intelligence reports, Zhu Youxiao already knew some of it.

This time when Zhu Youxiao came south, aside from dealing with the salt merchants, what he also wanted to deal with were those officials who managed the salt, and to release those salt-evaporating households.

Aside from collecting some money, what also needed to be done was to promote the development of the industry.

In fact, the Great Ming's salt industry had already fallen far behind.

As for sea salt, the best method was actually salt evaporation by sunlight. With the current scientific technology, it was not a problem at all—it had already ceased to be a problem decades ago. The fact that the technology had never been promoted and used was largely due to policy reasons.

You don't want to say anything about changing concepts, the merchants don't want to do anything, and everyone feels that things are fine as they are and that they can protect their own interests.

And in fact, that was exactly the case. Under the current production system, salt merchants could obtain enormous profits and could even hollow out the state's foundations; while the officials could collect bribes and oppress the salt-evaporating households—they could even sell off the daughters of those households, which showed the kind of character they had.

Under such circumstances, wanting them to push forward reform was simply impossible.

In the original course of history, the one who pushed forward salt field reform was Xu Guangqi, and even then it was only a single part, or rather, a small attempt.

It was Xu Guangqi who changed boiling salt into sun-drying salt, which increased the output of that salt field considerably. It was just that by that time it was already the end of the Great Ming, and this matter was too late—there was no way to continue promoting it.

Even if this sun-drying salt technology could bring some silver to the court, it would be devoured by the opposing forces. The reason was simple: by that time, the court no longer had sufficient strength to guarantee the continuity of policy, and could not even guarantee the implementation of policy.

And this time when Zhu Youxiao came south, it was precisely for this.

A stable political environment and unprecedentedly powerful national strength could guarantee the implementation and continuity of policy. Zhu Youxiao understood this all too well. So this time he had come to hurt people and collect money.

Setting down the testimony in his hands, Zhu Youxiao said, "Have Xu Xianchun come in."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong acknowledged, then turned around and went out to find Xu Xianchun.

In fact, Chen Hong had long since guessed that His Majesty surely had other matters to arrange, so he would definitely need to see Xu Xianchun.

Before long, Xu Xianchun walked in from outside.

Upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, Xu Xianchun hurriedly bowed and said, "Your servant Xu Xianchun pays respects to Your Majesty."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Rise."

After Xu Xianchun stood up, Zhu Youxiao glanced at him and said, "The matter was handled well, but this is only the beginning. Next we're going to Yangzhou. Make your preparations—we depart at dawn tomorrow."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xu Xianchun hurriedly acknowledged, and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

The matter he had handled had received His Majesty's approval—that was the best outcome. As for rewards and such, he did not presume to hope for them; what he was doing now was all in atonement for his crimes.

Zhu Youxiao said nothing more. Setting down the teacup in his hand, he stood up and said, "Go back. Return and make your preparations—tomorrow at dawn we go to Yangzhou."

Nanjing would indeed stir up waves, but not now.

The place that would truly ignite the storm was actually Yangzhou.