Chapter 527: Shamelessly Flattering the Emperor

This kind of thing couldn't be blamed on them for feeling panicked — they really were afraid, not knowing what to do.

After all, under the circumstances before them, no one's situation was all that good. The Han family had already fallen, and the entire city of Yangzhou was sealed off — in such a situation, even running was impossible. Besides, the monk may run away, but the temple stays put — where could they even go?

Cao Bang took a deep look at Ye Chi, a contemplative expression appearing on his face.

Among those present, if there was anyone who wasn't all that afraid, it would probably be Ye Chi. Apart from him, there was no one else.

If today's events had happened before Zhangjiakou, everyone might still have had some confidence in their hearts; but the Zhangjiakou affair had already happened, and that confidence was truly gone.

The reason was also simple — back when the Emperor went to Zhangjiakou, he had directly carried out a complete purge of the place.

How many merchants had been implicated back then? How many people had been arrested on the spot? How many had lost their heads?

At a time like this, if the Emperor pulled something like that in Yangzhou, everyone would be finished.

"Ye Chi, do you know something?" Cao Bang looked at Ye Chi and said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Cao Bang's gaze never left Ye Chi, staring at him intently, hoping to detect any trace or clue from his face.

At a moment like this, even the slightest clue mattered.

Upon hearing these words, the previously noisy room fell silent in an instant.

It wasn't yet time for the meeting to begin, but at this moment everyone's nerves were taut, and hearing such words, naturally they all turned their attention over.

Everyone hoped to obtain some information — they were merchants, and they understood very well what information represented.

At this point, Ye Chi stopped toying with his fingers, raised his head to look at Cao Bang, and said with a smile: "This Yangzhou city is your territory. We don't have many people in Yangzhou. Asking me about this matter is a waste of breath. If anyone knows something, it's you people, not me."

Having said this, Ye Chi leaned back directly into his chair, showing no intention of speaking further.

In truth, Ye Chi knew very well in his heart, and understood what had happened.

To sum it up in one thing — the Emperor had come to Yangzhou.

Compared to the salt merchants present, Ye Chi had his own channels. And there was one more thing he understood better than these salt merchants.

Although everyone cultivated their own people, although everyone also got their own men into official positions, in many matters, some people simply didn't have the insight that Ye Chi had.

After all, there were people in Ye Chi's own family who held office — unlike those before him; those people only knew how to rake in money, only knew how to hand out bribes.

When it truly came to political wisdom, those people were far off the mark.

But Ye Chi was different — he not only had information channels, but also the thinking and wisdom in this regard.

Back when the Emperor had stirred things up in Zhangjiakou, everyone thought it was a case of collusion with the enemy and smuggling that had erupted there. But Ye Chi didn't see it that way — he clearly recognized only one point, and that was that the Emperor was looking for money.

Although the current Emperor was young in age, since ascending the throne he could be said to have been governing with vigor and determination — on one hand cleansing the court and strengthening his power, promoting capable people; on the other hand drilling the military, building up the Son of Heaven's personal guard, elevating the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, dividing the court, and seizing control of the factions.

One could tell at a glance that this Emperor's ambitions were extremely vast — historically, enlightened rulers of restoration eras basically all did things this way.

Look at Emperor Wu of Han back in the day — the pressure he faced was far greater, yet he resolved it all one by one. How similar were the things the current Emperor was doing?

Building up the Son of Heaven's personal guard, promoting favored generals, while simultaneously using loyal civil officials, and pushing forward his own ideology — these were all very concrete measures.

Didn't Emperor Wu of Han also promote Confucianism to strike against the Huang-Lao school back then?

At that time, the people in charge of the court were all Huang-Lao adherents, and once Confucianism gained the Emperor's support, it began to suppress those in the court. This created a situation of divide and rule, allowing the Emperor to mediate from the center.

The current Emperor was the same — at the very start of his reign he proposed equality among the four classes of people, lifted up the School of Mind, and even lifted up the more radical members of the School of Mind lineage; he heavily employed Xu Guangqi, who wasn't well regarded at the time, began attacking the School of Principle, swept the Donglin Faction clean from the court, and even kept Han Kuang around to soothe people's hearts.

Under such circumstances, the Emperor had completely seized control of the court situation. For an emperor of great talent and bold vision, this was the first step.

After seizing control of the court, the next step was foreign war. So the Emperor purged Zhangjiakou, fought a battle in Liaodong, took back Tieling and Qinghe, and also occupied the three garrisons of Jianning.

Even back then, some people had already analyzed that the Emperor would make more major moves.

Ye Chi knew this too.

It was just that everyone was living in a drunken stupor, and no one looked ahead.

But the Ye family was different — they connected north and south, had extraordinary insight, knew far more than these salt merchants who only knew how to spend money, and had more people in official circles, with family members enjoying support in the bureaucracy — so the Ye family saw things more clearly.

In the following years, the Emperor stopped — but was that really stopping?

Wasn't that the Emperor accumulating strength?

From the moment the Emperor set out from the capital, Ye Chi had judged that the Emperor was going south — the Emperor was about to make his move.

The north had already been swept clean; Zhangjiakou was no longer a threat, and now it provided the Emperor with an endless stream of money.

The Jianzhou barbarians had been crippled in the last battle, and the Mongol tribes didn't dare make trouble either — they had fought a few times over these two years, but because of the Great Ming's existence, it had all fizzled out.

And now the Emperor had come south — wasn't this just like the last time he went to Zhangjiakou?

What people in the south were worth the Emperor's attention?

In Ye Chi's view, there were two kinds.

One kind was those in the salt business like themselves — these people were too wealthy, and too reckless; it was only natural for the Emperor to deal with them. The other kind was those engaged in overseas trade.

The reason Ye Chi had come here today was not so much to attend the meeting as to make a clean break.

Cao Bang took a deep look at Ye Chi, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

Although he didn't know what Ye Chi was thinking, Cao Bang always felt it was nothing good. But judging by Ye Chi's demeanor, he clearly didn't intend to say more, and getting anything out of his mouth was impossible.

Cao Bang said: "Let's begin. There are still people who haven't arrived, and it seems they won't be coming. So let's discuss things among ourselves."

His gaze swept across everyone's faces, and Cao Bang continued: "The matter at hand concerns all of us, so we must unite as one. If anyone has any information, please speak up — at a time like this, don't be stingy."

Everyone's gaze fell upon Ye Chi.

Clearly, Cao Bang's actions just now had given everyone certain ideas.

Ye Chi furrowed his brow — he had indeed come to break with them, but he hadn't expected it to happen this quickly.

Cao Bang had indeed drawn a lot of attention to him, but Ye Chi also knew that if he didn't break with them now, he'd be finished. Since the opportunity was already in hand, he might as well be straightforward about it.

Ye Chi looked at everyone, rose to his feet, and said slowly: "There's no need to look at me. I don't know anything. I came here only to tell you one thing — the Ye family will not participate in this matter, nor will we get involved."

"We are subjects of the Great Ming, and doing business is perfectly legitimate. But since we are subjects of the Great Ming, we must not violate the laws of the Great Ming. Conduct business with peace of mind, conduct ourselves with propriety — that is what we ought to do."

"The Han family's affair has left you all anxious and fearful. Are you afraid? What are you afraid of?"

"As long as we abide by the law, the current Emperor is incomparably wise and discerning — naturally he will not wrong us, nor will he ruin our families and leave us with no place to be buried."

"I trust the court, I trust Your Majesty. There is nothing to defend about what the Han family did. Colluding with officials, bribing officials, engaging in those unlawful acts, even selling smuggled salt — the Han family met this end with nothing to be said for them."

Ye Chi clasped his fists toward the crowd and said, "Gentlemen, I have said all I came to say. I came here today to tell you all that I will not be doing anything with you, and you should not drag me into your affairs either."

"This kind of gathering today is frankly a bit improper. Originally we all sat together drinking tea and chatting, exchanging insights on business."

"What are you all planning to do now? Gather a crowd to defy the court? I will not do such a thing. Our Ye family is loyal to the court and loyal to Your Majesty—how could we do something so ungrateful and treacherous?"

"Gentlemen, I take my leave."

Having said this, Ye Chi clasped his fists once more, turned around, and walked toward the exit.

The room fell silent in an instant, and everyone stared at Ye Chi with strange looks.

What was wrong with this fellow? Had he taken the wrong medicine? Why was he spouting such nonsense at a time like this?

Cao Bang's pupils contracted slightly, and his expression turned extremely ugly.

This Ye fellow indeed knew something, but he refused to say a word about it.

Still, Cao Bang had already picked up on something—just now, Ye Chi's words had mentioned the Emperor many times. Why?

As a shrewd businessman, Cao Bang knew that flattery had to be delivered to a person's face to work; otherwise, the other party wouldn't know your bootlicking had landed on the horse's hoof. And if the other party didn't know, you had to find a way to make sure they did.

For Ye Chi to be loudly singing the Emperor's praises here meant that such words could reach the Emperor's ears—which in turn meant the Emperor had already arrived in Yangzhou.

Once this thought took shape, Cao Bang shot to his feet in an instant.

He then recalled another matter: if Ye Chi could make sure the Emperor knew what he had said here today, then that proved there were the Emperor's people present in this very room.

Cao Bang was struck with sudden alarm. Was such a possibility real?

The answer was yes—and highly likely at that.

Although everyone here was a merchant from Huizhou, who knew who stood behind whom? No one knew whether someone among them had secretly attached themselves to the court.

The people gathered here today were not necessarily all trustworthy.

Thinking of the all-pervasive Embroidered Uniform Guard, Cao Bang felt a chill surge from the depths of his body straight up to the crown of his head.