Chapter 507: The Great Yangzhou Case

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "It doesn't matter if we don't know—once we investigate, we'll find out."

After saying this, Zhu Youxiao continued, "Xu Xianchun, make your move after dawn. Arrest Chen Zhenglin first."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xu Xianchun replied directly.

If you want to stir up a major case in Jiangnan, then the starting point of that case needs to carry enough weight. In Jiangnan, what kind of case carries the most weight?

Naturally, it was an imperial examination fraud case.

In a place like this, everyone takes the imperial examinations, and there are many scholars. What scholars hate most is examination fraud.

Once such a case gets churned up, it easily wins the support of the scholars. To put it plainly, no one dares to make a fuss. Because whoever makes a fuss is opposing all the scholars, and in this era, that means opposing everyone under heaven.

As long as you manufacture an examination fraud case in Jiangnan and blow the matter up, anyone you want to destroy gets dragged in. No need to talk about any other cases, no need to mention anything else you've done—one case wraps you all up in one bundle.

This is the method emperors commonly use. Who talks to you about specific cases or specific evidence and all that messy stuff?

That's not how an emperor should operate. It's when ministers make their moves that they talk about cases and evidence like that.

For an emperor, there are only two ways to strike: either an examination fraud case or a rebellion case. In one sentence—implicate as many as you can implicate, strike down as many as you can strike down, topple every single opponent, and never give them a chance.

Among these, the easiest to pull off is the examination fraud case. Because other cases are hard to handle—people easily cry injustice, and it's hard to manage in terms of public opinion.

An examination fraud case, on the other hand, wins the support of the scholars. Of course, their hatred of examination fraud is one thing; another is that every time the examinations are held, only a minority pass, and most of those who fail won't admit their own learning is lacking—they'll believe they failed because a few people cheated.

Such thinking inevitably lurks in people's subconscious, so they'll take it for granted that those people did cheat. Even if they don't believe it in their hearts, they won't say so out loud. As long as the examinations are held again, they've gained an advantage. Who knows whether they'd pass on a second try? What if they do?

Even if someone harbors a sense of justice, they can't speak up, because most people have no sense of justice at all—after ten years of hard study, when there's a chance to make the honor roll, how could they let it go?

So manufacturing an examination fraud case is the simplest and fastest method. Since Zhu Youxiao couldn't do it that way, he had to settle for the next best thing; a rebellion case was out of the question too—how do you manufacture one when no one has actually rebelled?

That left only a large-scale corruption and fraud case, so he had to start with the salt merchants. The salt merchants held enormous weight in Jiangnan—half of its prosperity was propped up by them.

And to go after the salt merchants, he first had to remove their umbrella of protection, which is why Zhu Youxiao had arrested the Duke of Wei.

As long as the Duke of Wei's household didn't make trouble and stayed obedient, no one else could stir up chaos even if they wanted to. Isolated disturbances here and there were nothing but an ant trying to shake a tree—not worth a moment's concern.

As for "a single spark can start a prairie fire"—they were dreaming. Did they even deserve such a thought?

After dealing with the Duke of Wei in Nanjing, Zhu Youxiao rushed to Yangzhou. And in Yangzhou, the office most tightly tied to the salt transport was the Yangzhou Salt Transport Commissioner's Office, and the man most crucial to the salt merchants was the Salt Transport Commissioner, Chen Zhenglin.

As long as Chen Zhenglin was arrested, enough evidence could be obtained—he would certainly confess without hesitation. When disaster looms, no one protects anyone else.

Hearing this, Xu Xianchun hurriedly said, "Yes, Your Majesty. Tomorrow morning will do. We'll wait on the road to his office, and once Chen Zhenglin comes out of his house, we'll arrest him in secret."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Very well. Those merchants arrested in Nanjing—have they been brought over?"

This was another reason Zhu Youxiao was moving against Chen Zhenglin: those merchants in Nanjing had already confessed to some of their misdeeds, including the matter of sending money to Chen Zhenglin.

Of course, it wasn't direct cash—they used another method, the so-called elegant bribe, playing at refined culture.

Ancient texts, paintings, famous classics—on the surface they looked like cultured gentlemen, but in their hearts it was all about money.

Such things were extremely common in officialdom. In daily dealings, people exchanged gifts back and forth, and as time went on, the items grew more and more expensive. The receivers understood perfectly well, and the givers understood even better—everyone knew without saying a word.

With evidence like this in hand, arresting the man naturally posed no difficulty. Once he was in custody, he could be properly interrogated.

And Chen Zhenglin's confession would be just the thing to stir up a storm across Jiangnan.

"Alright, then make your move tomorrow." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Go make the arrangements."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Xu Xianchun acknowledged, turned, and walked out.

After Xu Xianchun left, Zhu Youxiao turned to look at Wei Changsheng and said, "You've done well in your post here. Send a copy of everything you've collected to Chen Hong, then continue doing your job properly."

"Once this matter is over, you'll be transferred away from here and enter the Imperial Household Department first. If you serve there for a few years and do well, you can be moved into officialdom as a magistrate. If you don't want to be an official, then stay in the Imperial Household Department—in a few years, it will have great prospects."

For someone like Wei Changsheng, entering the Imperial Household Department would pose no problem at all. First of all, he already had experience in commerce; especially in handling interpersonal relations, there was nothing to criticize.

A man like this, once inside the Imperial Household Department, would surely be able to display his talents.

And the Imperial Household Department was destined to become a very useful office in the future. For Zhu Youxiao, gathering talent for it was also preparation for what lay ahead.

Wei Changsheng naturally knew what the Imperial Household Department was, and he hurriedly said, "Yes, Your Majesty. Your servant will do his utmost and will never disappoint Your Majesty's cultivation."

"Alright, you may go down as well." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said.

After Wei Changsheng had also left, Zhu Youxiao glanced at Qi Yuanfu, then looked out the window at the bustling, lively city of Yangzhou, and said with a cold glint in his eyes, "Spread some of your men out to monitor every move in this city. If there's any sign of troop movements, report to me at once."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Qi Yuanfu acknowledged with a grave expression.

After Qi Yuanfu had also departed, Zhu Youxiao sat down directly on a chair and said, "Ahh, after a whole day of travel, I'm tired. Have them prepare a banquet—let them keep playing music, keep dancing!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Chao acknowledged from the side.

And so it was an ordinary night—the city of Yangzhou still blazed with lights and prosperity, eating and drinking as usual, enjoying pleasures as usual.

But no one knew that at this very moment, some people were moving in silence.

When the sun first rose, the crowds on the streets began to swell. The cries of vendors, the sounds of laughter—in an instant, the whole city seemed to come alive.

In a city like Yangzhou, there was an extra touch of the warmth of daily life—the fragrance of morning cooking wafted through the air.

Zhu Youxiao stood at the window, pushed it open, took a deep breath, and said, "This is the true breath of the mortal world."

Wei Chao stood behind Zhu Youxiao, attending to him with the utmost care, not daring the slightest negligence.

After a long moment, Wei Chao said, "Your Majesty, the morning meal is ready. Shall I have them bring it over?"

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Very well, have them bring it up."

Soon, breakfast was brought in—local Yangzhou delicacies.

Zhu Youxiao began eating with great interest.

As he ate, a thought occurred to him: when word eventually spread that he had toured Jiangnan, would all sorts of foods start claiming connections to him?

But it didn't matter—leaving behind such a fine reputation didn't sound half bad.

While Zhu Youxiao was eating, Chen Zhenglin had already left his house. Chen Zhenglin had been extraordinarily diligent these past days.

Ever since the Emperor arrived in Nanjing, the atmosphere of the entire Yangzhou officialdom had changed—or rather, the atmosphere of the entire Jiangnan officialdom had changed.

The lazy, lackadaisical mood of ordinary days was gone, replaced by an air of sharp competence. Arriving early in the morning, never leaving early in the afternoon—whether there was work or not, everyone stayed put in the office.

Because the Emperor was right there in Nanjing, and no one knew whether someone with a loose tongue might file a report. So a certain tension was palpable among them all.

Chen Zhenglin was naturally no exception. After rising early and eating breakfast, he boarded his sedan chair, ready to head for the office.

The lands of Jiangnan were different from the north; in the capital, the custom of riding in horse-drawn carriages was still maintained.

After all, the Founding Emperor had once said that riding in a sedan chair was treating people as beasts of burden, so sedan chairs were not permitted—officials were all required to ride in horse-drawn carriages. Only those elderly high-ranking officials who had received the Emperor's special favor were allowed to use sedan chairs.

However, this practice was somewhat laxer in the south, and besides, when someone else was footing the bill, people naturally indulged themselves a bit more. Horse-drawn carriages of this era were certainly not as comfortable as sedan chairs.

After Chen Zhenglin got into the sedan chair, he said habitually, "Let's go."

The sedan chair was lifted up and soon made its way toward the government office.

After they left the Chen residence, not far away, someone made a very ordinary-looking gesture—it appeared as if he were picking lice off himself.

Shortly thereafter, people began rapidly passing along the message.

The message finally reached a two-story teahouse, where Xu Xianchun was sitting inside, drinking freshly brewed tea.

"He's come out." Setting down his teacup, Xu Xianchun let out a cold laugh and said, "Have the men below make their move. Tell them that under no circumstances is word of this allowed to leak out."