Chapter 509: No business with Old Dog Wang, business with Vice-Grand Secretary Wang

The Wanli Reform, in fact, when it reached this point, many people felt that Great Ming was strong enough and could stop to relax a little and wait for the Great Ming common people.

Even Zhang Juzheng felt that he could rest a little. The census of the population, the abolition of the humble status, and the return of land to the people, which were launched in the tenth year of Wanli, were all unfolding in an orderly manner. Everything in Great Ming was so methodical, several times better than the best situation Zhang Juzheng had envisioned.

Zhang Juzheng was drinking tea at the Quanchu Guild Hall. This was the Miyun Dragon tribute tea bestowed by the palace, coming from the Wu Yi Mountains in Fujian. One catty of tea cake was worth two taels of silver, which was a type of Da Hong Pao. Zhang Juzheng really had no research on tea. He felt that the tribute tea produced by Emperor Shenzong of Northern Song was not worth this price. Two taels of silver could buy four *shi* of grain in the capital.

Bestowed by the palace, Zhang Juzheng did not decline.

He tidied his clothes leisurely and picked up the *Xiaoyao Yiwen* on the table.

Lin Fucheng went to Tianjin Guard, watched the fleet review, and then began to vigorously promote it. From the shipwrights in the shipyard to the Great Ming official factory group construction method, to the Ministry of Works, and finally to Wang Chonggu, he blew them all over, making the Minister of Works, Wang Daokun, feel ashamed. Wang Chonggu was too embarrassed to mention the flattery in *Xiaoyao Yiwen* to anyone.

Great Ming culture was still very subtle. Lin Fucheng's flowery flattery was something even Vice-Grand Secretary Wang could not bear.

The latest issue of *Xiaoyao Yiwen* was sent to Zhang Juzheng along with the cold wind.

Zhang Juzheng opened *Xiaoyao Yiwen*, and upon seeing the title, he stood up. This Lin Fucheng had again, again, and again started to continue writing his travel notes on his trip to Baoding!

Whenever he wrote travel notes, they were all unpleasant words. The existence of this Lin Fucheng was like a fishbone in the throat. The *Xiaoyao Yiwen* before him seemed to be mocking Zhang Juzheng: what was the use of pushing the New Policies for ten years! The places in Great Ming that should be rotten were still rotten.

Zhang Juzheng took a deep breath and repeatedly comforted himself: contradictions succeed each other to release all principles, Great Ming is in a rising cycle, there is bad naturally there is good, things must be done bit by bit, one must be brave enough to accept criticism from others, and so on. After building his psychological construction, Zhang Juzheng sat down and opened *Xiaoyao Yiwen*.

After reading two lines, his eyes went black.

Except for the three words "I have doubts," the four words "Xiaoyao Yiwen" were the ones Zhang Juzheng could not see now.

"This Lin Fucheng!" Zhang Juzheng slapped the table and sighed.

You Qi had already finished reading this issue of *Xiaoyao Yiwen* and said in a low voice, "Master, should we find someone to put him in a sack and beat him up?"

Just like good people like Hence Hai Rui would not die, and bad people like Wang Chonggu who saw the wind and steered the rudder would not die, only stupid people would die. This was roughly the core proposition of "Heaven chooses people, people choose heaven." Lin Fucheng was the kind of person who was a bit stupid. Everyone was singing praises, praising the greatness of the Wanli Reform, and Lin Fucheng was also blowing, but Lin Fucheng was repeatedly piercing through the scene of flowers and brocade.

"No need. People are all like this: secular, slick, muddle-headed, cowardly, and drifting with the tide. People are always choosing a way of life that is beneficial to themselves. This is not wrong, but I never blame others for being brave, just like I didn't dare to use Hence Hai Rui at the beginning, but I never thought Hence Hai Rui did anything wrong." Zhang Juzheng waved his hand, stopping You Qi's idea of putting him in a sack.

The Great Ming indeed needs someone to point out where its ailments lie; otherwise, hidden dangers will accumulate ever deeper, and by the time they manifest and reflect upon the imperial court, the overall situation will have already slipped away, leaving no possibility of recovery.

Baoding Prefecture had a total of three departments and twelve counties. Lin Fucheng went to five counties. This time, it was in Wanzhou.

In Yaoshan, Wanzhou, there was a Wang family, which was one of the merchants outside the Great Wall. They were not Shanxi merchants, but the main destination of the Wang family's trade was the Eastern Barbarians in Liaodong. However, with Li Chengliang's expansion in Liaodong, the Eastern Barbarians were constantly being organized into the household register, and some shady deals could no longer be done.

Wang Duxing of the Wang family returned to Wanzhou from Liaodong.

Baoding Prefecture completed the land survey in the fourth year of Wanli. There were some fields that, because the land register was unclear and they had been abandoned for a long time, became official fields.

This was the mess caused by the invasion of Anda Khan. The hearts of the people in the capital were shaken. In the second year of Longqing, the total population of the nine prefectures and two departments in Beizhili was no more than 720,000. It was truly sparsely populated. From the Yanshan Mountains to the Yellow River, the vast North China Plain had only 720,000 people living there.

At that time, many, many people migrated, all fleeing to the south. Part of the land deeds were lost, and these lands became official fields.

Baoding Prefecture had about seven thousand *qing* of such fields, which was seven hundred thousand *mu* of official fields.

When Wang Duxing returned to Wanzhou from Liaodong, he did so with the status of having achieved success. He built a large mansion in Yaoshan and became a powerful family worthy of the name. And what was incomprehensible was that even Wang Duxing, who did not do business, still maintained a generous life, and his family property was constantly expanding.

After Lin Fucheng arrived in Wanzhou, he began to understand this Wang family. However, everyone in the local area was deeply taboo about Wang Duxing's history of making a fortune, and they did not even talk about it. And Lin Fucheng, who offended the Xia family in Renhe, also dug up the experience of the Xia family's sea pirates before being targeted. Lin Fucheng did not learn any lesson at all. After arriving in the Wanzhou area, he had to dig up the Wang family's history of making a fortune and had to get to the bottom of it.

And Lin Fucheng really figured it out. Wang Duxing rented four thousand *qing* of fields from the Baoding Wanzhou Yamen at a price of fifteen *wen* (flying money) per *mu*, and turned around and rented them out at four *qian* of silver per *mu* per year. Four *qian* of silver was about eight hundred *wen*. This lease lasted for thirty years—thirty years, two generations.

"The Baoding local government really wants to be promoted. Lin Fucheng is unfamiliar with the place. How does he know the price of this lease, and even the details of thirty years? In the Wanzhou area, no one is willing to talk about this matter. How does he, Lin Fucheng, know?"

"These are all the lingering evils left by the predecessor. The former Magistrate of Wanzhou, An Princess Jia Shan, is now the Magistrate of Jinhua, Zhejiang. An Princess Jia Shan is from Xinzhou, Shanxi, and is of the same period as Fan Yingqi, the direct descendant of the Shanxi Party. In the imperial court, there is Vice-Grand Secretary Wang as reliance. The Baoding local government dares not act rashly."

Zhang Juzheng analyzed this *Xiaoyao Yiwen*. Others just watched for fun, but Zhang Juzheng watched the situation. He understood these officialdom routines too well. The Baoding local officials all tacitly told Lin Fucheng some things that were difficult for ordinary people to know.

Lin Fucheng was like a sheep that had broken into a wolf pack. Many mines that were not convenient for the local area to point out in the past were all handed over to Lin Fucheng to step on. If they exploded, it would be Lin Fucheng who was blown to death! If they didn't explode, Lin Fucheng would just earn some reputation, but the officials in the Baoding local area could all be promoted.

Lin Fucheng was used by others wherever he went. If it weren't for the protection of Young Master Huang of the Great General's Mansion, he would probably have been put in a sack long ago.

Zhang Juzheng naturally knew that there was no Young Master Huang in the Great General's Mansion, only a Great Ming Emperor walking under a pseudonym. Being used by others was a good thing; it was much better than having no value at all.

Wang Duxing got forty thousand *mu* of thirty-year lease from the previous magistrate An Princess Jia Shan, and the cost was almost negligible, while he could earn at least sixteen thousand silver per year. This was truly too uncomfortable for the Baoding local government.

Did all these sixteen thousand silver fall into Wang Duxing's hands?

Obviously not. The bulk was definitely not something Wang Duxing could eat. Most of it went to the Shanxi Party. This was a very typical nest case. The Shanxi Party was stealing food from top to bottom.

After finishing the Wanzhou matter, Lin Fucheng summarized the various losses of Great Ming official fields. Such things did not only happen in Wanzhou, did not only happen in Baoding, but happened all over Great Ming.

"What's going on with Fan Yingqi?" Zhang Juzheng's brows were twisted into a knot. There was actually Fan Yingqi in this!

Zhang Juzheng's perception of Fan Yingqi was still very good, but in the past few years, Fan Yingqi seemed to be sliding into the abyss. This corruption was so corrupt that even Wang Chonggu could not stand it and could not tolerate it.

"Fan Yingqi is sick." You Qi simply said about the situation he had inquired about. Fan Yingqi had a toothache, sometimes good and sometimes bad.

"Tsk tsk, interesting." Zhang Juzheng closed *Xiaoyao Yiwen*. This issue of *Xiaoyao Yiwen* revealed some strangeness from beginning to end.

Lin Fucheng's Guangde Bookstore was under the protection of His Majesty, and also under the protection of Wang Qian. His Majesty was busy with ten thousand things every day, so he naturally had no time to pay attention to the operation of Guangde Bookstore. Most of the time, it was Wang Qian who was responsible. As the leader of the Shanxi Party, Wang Qian not only did not cover up the hole but instead let this travel note appear openly, and even sold it everywhere.

What did the Shanxi Party want to do? Without a doubt, the Shanxi Party was clearing out and metabolizing internally.

You know, when the Great Ming officials were counted in the second year of Longqing, Gao Gong was the Grand Secretary, and he did not dismiss or clear out any officials of Shanxi origin, and even the officials in Shaanxi, Henan, and other places who were under the protection of Shanxi officials were not cleared out. It was that count that made the Shanxi Party thoroughly become the largest force in the imperial court.

And now, the Shanxi Party led by Wang Chonggu was actively metabolizing internally, and without any external causes, they were turning their blades inward.

The last time Wang Chonggu cleared the party internally was because Great Ming was attacking Bansheng and recovering the Hetao. That was a major event. Wang Chonggu was afraid of setting himself on fire, so turning blades inward could still be understood. Now, this internal clearing of the Shanxi Party was full of unusual things everywhere.

"Wang Chonggu really doesn't care about the Shanxi Party, so he is so ruthless." Zhang Juzheng's fingers tapped on the table a few times and annotated *Xiaoyao Yiwen*. His Majesty liked to read *Minbao*, *Gewubao*, and *Xiaoyao Yiwen*. He never hid this from the Grand Tutor and Imperial Teacher. Zhang Juzheng was afraid that the Emperor would not understand the tricks in it, so he annotated it personally.

Lin Fucheng could be a tool, but His Majesty must absolutely not become a tool.

Zhang Juzheng felt that Fan Yingqi was strange. He could not be counted as an upright official, but he was also a capable official. How did he become like this for no reason? Where did the Fan Yingqi who took money but didn't do things go?

Wang Chonggu did not care about Fan Yingqi either. He was abandoning the Shanxi Party and becoming the leader of the Industrial Party.

You know, the Great Ming official factory group construction, especially the official factory group construction in coastal areas, all relied on the fields replaced by ship permits as supply. The treatment of official factory craftsmen was good, and they needed the grain produced by these fields to support them. The ship permits replaced three million *mu* of fields. These three million *mu* were the lifeblood of the Industrial Party.

Therefore, Wang Chonggu would rather decapitate Fan Yingqi than allow official fields to be rented out at negligible costs and then rented out to others.

Zhang Juzheng's judgment was not wrong at all. Wang Chonggu's coldness was several times colder than the Great Ming winter.

*Xiaoyao Yiwen* flattered several times in a row. Everyone knew that the *Youlong*'s design was really ingenious, it could hold a lot, and it ran very fast. It only took two months to run from Tianjin Guard to Java. This was ten thousand *li* away, and everyone was inspired. But *Xiaoyao Yiwen* changed its tone and wrote about travel notes again, attracting a lot of attention.

Especially the reaction of the Censorate was extremely intense. Hence Hai Rui had already organized manpower to go to Baoding to specifically investigate this matter.

Fan Yingqi was panic-stricken. He ran to the Quanjin Guild Hall in a hurry, hoping that the leader of the Shanxi Party would protect him. Wang Chonggu refused him from the door three times. The fourth time, Wang Chonggu walked out of the Quanjin Guild Hall instead of letting Fan Yingqi in.

This was very ruthless. When Gao Qiyu caused the Jiangnan provincial examination incident, Zhang Juzheng let Gao Qiyu in.

"Vice-Grand Secretary Wang, save me!" As soon as Fan Yingqi saw Wang Chonggu, he begged for help without any hesitation.

"I harmed you, and you want me to save you? Everyone in the capital knows that my son is standing for Lin Fucheng, and everyone says that my Wang father and son are the Emperor's dogs, and Lin Fucheng is Wang Qian's dog. Don't you know?" Wang Chonggu spoke clearly, extremely coldly, colder than the ice in the twelfth lunar month.

Fan Yingqi had also scolded, scolding Wang Chonggu for being the Emperor's dog.

Fan Yingqi was stunned for a moment and said, "Vice-Grand Secretary Wang, please investigate clearly. I really didn't take much money."

Wang Chonggu sighed deeply, "Is it a question of taking more or less? You and Wang Jiaping are both students of Ge Gong. If it weren't for this friendship, I wouldn't have come out to see you today. You and Wang Jiaping presided over the metropolitan examination and took money but didn't do things. Everyone in the capital knows, and no one says anything to you. Look at what Wang Jiaping is doing now, and what are you doing?"

"At the beginning, Luo Yao, the Provincial Governor of Sichuan, was ineffective in land survey, and the censors impeached him. Luo Yao was transferred away. I snatched the Provincial Governor of Sichuan from Zhang Juzheng's hands and gave it to you. And you? You felt that the place was barren before you even went to Sichuan, and you were unwilling to go. After only two months in Sichuan, you begged to be transferred back to the capital."

People will change. At the beginning, Fan Yingqi and Wang Jiaping, the two direct descendants of the Shanxi Party, were the "Heng and Ha" generals. They were not upright officials, but they still had a bottom line. Wang Jiaping served as the Provincial Governor of Guangzhou for several years as if it were one day. The foundation laid by Yin Zhengmao and Ling Yunyi was carried forward in Wang Jiaping's hands. The Guangzhou Shipping Commissioner and the Guangzhou Ocean-going Merchant Firm could even be compared with the Songjiang Shipping Commissioner and the Songjiang Ocean-going Merchant Firm.

What was Fan Yingqi doing? Taking bribes, protecting the treacherous.

"Vice-Grand Secretary Wang, your student is willing to offer all the gains of many years to the Vice-Grand Secretary's door. Please save me!" Cold sweat broke out on Fan Yingqi's forehead. In Fan Yingqi's view, he took the money but didn't give it to Wang Chonggu, which was why Wang Chonggu was so ruthless.

Fan Yingqi was a student of Ge Shouli, and after the struggle for the leader of the Shanxi Party, Fan Yingqi had never recognized Wang Chonggu as the leader. Now that something had happened, he begged at the door.

It was truly "no business with Old Dog Wang, business with Vice-Grand Secretary Wang."

Wang Chonggu flicked his sleeves and said with hatred for iron not becoming steel, "You still don't know what you did wrong until now! Do you really think that if Lin Fucheng didn't go to Baoding, this matter wouldn't have been exposed? If I indulged you and protected you, would you be fine? You have such a big head on your neck; is it paste or water inside?"

"Lin Fucheng is just a pen-pusher. What can he know? This is the dissatisfaction of the Baoding local officials. Do you really think the Baoding local area can remain indifferent to the things you did? Wang Tingzhan, who is under Zhang Juzheng, how did he impeach Luo Yao, who is also of the Chu Party and a direct descendant?"

"Luo Yao is from Huguang and is a student of Zhang Juzheng!"

"Stupid!"

Wang Chonggu had some expectations for Fan Yingqi. This matter could be as big as the sky, but in fact, it was not a big deal. It was just a nest case of corruption. If Fan Yingqi had turned back, Wang Chonggu could have begged for mercy before His Majesty. It would just be dismissing him from office and stripping him of his official status, and then he could be re-employed after the limelight passed.

But Fan Yingqi's performance made Wang Chonggu extremely disappointed. He did not know what he did wrong, and did not even think he was wrong, just thinking that he didn't give enough money, which was why Wang Chonggu was disgusted.

"If Vice-Grand Secretary Wang refuses, then I can only go to the Grand Secretary." Fan Yingqi gritted his teeth and said.

Wang Chonggu was directly laughed at. He laughed and said with a strange expression, "Go, by all means, go."

Zhang Juzheng's Chu Party and Zhang Party were not garbage recycling stations. They didn't want just any garbage. With Fan Yingqi like this now, if Zhang Juzheng looked at him, it would be Wang Chonggu's loss. If Zhang Juzheng was so easy to deal with, he, Wang Chonggu, would have driven Zhang Juzheng out of the imperial court long ago!

When Gao Qiyu risked his life to go to the West, Zhang Juzheng would not forgive him. The Emperor wanted to promote Gao Qiyu, but Zhang Juzheng finally insisted on giving him a Junior Vice Minister of the Court of Ceremonial.

Anyone who made a mistake, in Zhang Juzheng's place, would have a more miserable end.

Wang Chonggu finished speaking and left with his hands behind his back. The door of the Quanjin Guild Hall slowly closed. Inside the door, Wang Chonggu stood in the courtyard for a long time before shaking his head. At the beginning, His Majesty looked at the Shanxi Party with displeasure, constantly describing them as a "faction of hometown and clan," saying that the clan faction excluded others, did not stop until they were destroyed, and had no discipline in using and discarding.

Wang Chonggu was very angry at this sentence at the time, but looking at it now, these sixteen words were all hit.

People will change. Some people, walking and walking, will scatter.

"Father, it's cold." Wang Qian brought a large cloak and draped it over Wang Chonggu. Wang Qian was indeed a rebellious son, but when it came to the direct descendant of the Shanxi Party, Fan Yingqi, Wang Qian still discussed it properly with his father.

"Are you still fighting for a chance for Fan Yingqi?" Wang Qian asked curiously.

Wang Chonggu hesitated for three days. What he hesitated about was whether to give Fan Yingqi a chance, to put Fan Yingqi in Suiyuan to do things properly for a few years, which might not be unsavable. The publication of *Xiaoyao Yiwen* was actually a gentle means to expose this matter. Otherwise, if the censors really made a fuss, Fan Yingqi would not die but would lose a layer of skin.

Wang Chonggu's original plan was to leave him alone for three days, let him know the taste of fear, and then put him in Suiyuan to do things steadily.

Wang Chonggu tightened the cloak on his body and said, "Who can I save? I can't even save myself. It all depends on the holy favor. He doesn't even save himself. What can I do? When a person gets old, he becomes indecisive and nostalgic. I miss the old friendship of Ge Shouli, and I have the intention to protect Fan Yingqi."

"Alas, alas."

It was not that only Zhang Juzheng was a teacher with flesh and blood, willing to protect his students and come forward to protect them when something happened. Wang Chonggu was getting older and started to be nostalgic, so he originally intended to give Fan Yingqi a chance. Even if Fan Yingqi was "no business with Old Dog Wang, business with Vice-Grand Secretary Wang," if Wang Chonggu hadn't intended to give Fan Yingqi a chance, he wouldn't have come out to see him.

This matter finally reached the Emperor's ears, because Hence Hai Rui didn't spend much effort to find out the whole thing clearly. The Baoding local area had prepared the materials, and even how many trees were in the Wang family's home in Yaoshan were reported clearly.

"In other words, this Wang Duxing started by selling steel and fire feathers?" Zhu Yijun summoned Wang Chonggu to inquire about the details. Wang Chonggu was the Minister of Justice, but he was also the Vice-Grand Secretary, and he had the power to inquire about these things.

Steel and fire feathers: steel is armor, iron is arrowheads, fire is firearms, and feathers are arrow shafts with feathers. These were all heavy objects and were forbidden to leave the pass. Turning these things was naturally an absolute profiteering.

Iron pots, salt, tea, and other things were light objects and could be traded. If they were turning these, Zhu Yijun would not personally ask.

"Returning to Your Majesty, it is indeed so." Wang Chonggu said helplessly, "Speaking of which, it was also a matter of the Longqing reign. After Li Chengliang leveled Gule Village, he tightened the passes, and the business could not be done, so he came back."

In those years, smuggling these things was very common, and some people even smuggled cannons outside the pass. In that era of demons dancing, nothing was strange.

"But after this Wang Duxing returned to Baoding from Liaodong, he was still the same. Tsk tsk." Zhu Yijun put down the memorial in his hand, looked at Wang Chonggu, and asked, "Fan Yingqi, he took 700,000 silver in these six years. How does the Vice-Grand Secretary plan to deal with it?"

"Your subject originally wanted to let him go to Suiyuan to experience." Wang Chonggu told the truth. He had been with His Majesty for so long, and telling the truth was the way to survive.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Yesterday, after Fan Yingqi left Wang Vice-Grand Secretary's door, he went to find the Master for protection. You Qi didn't know the importance and had Fan Yingqi beaten away."

"Ah?" Wang Chonggu was stunned, and then smiled with some relief. He thought Fan Yingqi was forcing him to submit, but Fan Yingqi really went.

Standing in the position of the Quanchu Guild Hall, this was no different from scolding the Quanchu Guild Hall as a den of thieves and Zhang Juzheng as a thief leader. You Qi beating him away was considered polite.

"He can't go to Suiyuan anymore. It's not that I don't give the Vice-Grand Secretary face, but he doesn't have face himself." Zhu Yijun took out the file and said, "He has other things, not just the Baoding case. Of course, among these cases, it is not excluded that the local area is clearing old accounts and putting all the accounts on Fan Yingqi, but nine out of ten things in it were indeed directed by him."

Supervising all officials was the business of the Censorate. Hence Hai Rui did not tell Wang Chonggu too many details.

Not only Baoding, but also Shaanxi, Shanxi, Beizhili, and parts of Henan all had similar things happening. Indeed, some local areas heard about it and immediately put past old accounts on Fan Yingqi, but most of them were indeed caused by Fan Yingqi.

Wang Chonggu finished reading the file and shook his head repeatedly, "Your subject is truly ashamed. He really didn't even know how to take money. He poked such a big hole, but only took 700,000 silver. It's not as much as Chen Jingbang."

Treacherous officials were generally very capable, because without some ability, they could not climb to such a high position as a treacherous official. Obviously, Fan Yingqi was not yet a treacherous official. He didn't even know how to take money, which really lowered the average quality of treacherous officials.

Taking money was a very complicated thing. Wang Chonggu had a lot of experience.

Wang Chonggu frowned and said, "Your subject doesn't understand, Your Majesty. Fan Yingqi was not like this before. Your subject still had high hopes for him. He didn't want to be in Sichuan, and your subject even recommended him back to the capital."

"Did the Vice-Grand Secretary not notice his abnormality?" Zhu Yijun asked back.

"Did the Junior Grand Secretary not notice his abnormality?" Zhu Yijun asked in return.

Wang Chonggu recalled for a moment and said with suspicion, "He was indeed different from the past; he had grown much thinner, and his spirit was somewhat manic—a strange kind of mania. His cheeks were gaunt and his eye sockets deeply sunken; he was completely different from that dashing and handsome young scholar of yesteryear."

"Indeed, he has changed. He is consuming opium, initially because of a toothache." Zhu Yijun handed the diagnostic record from the Grand Physician of the Academy of Dissection to Wang Chonggu and sighed, saying, "General Yu and Minister Tan, when they reached their end and were in agonizing pain, refused to take this substance for pain relief because they knew its dangers; even at the very end, they would not allow themselves to be tainted by it in the slightest."

A toothache is not a disease, but when it flares up, it can be fatal. Hence Hai Rui discovered Fan Yingqi's abnormality while investigating a case and requested a diagnosis from the Grand Physician, confirming that Fan Yingqi was consuming opium to dull the pain. It was an opening obstruction caused by a wisdom tooth; the wisdom tooth had grown in crooked and was buried in the flesh, causing excruciating pain, which led Fan Yingqi to seek out opium for relief.

The Academy of Dissection stated that opium causes physiological destruction, and this has been verified in Fan Yingqi's case. If Fan Yingqi truly wanted to find it, he could; it is expensive, at two thousand silver per opium ball, but for Fan Yingqi, it is not actually prohibitively expensive.

Zhu Yijun still underestimated the impact of opening the seas on every aspect of the Great Ming. Luzon and the various islands are all planting large amounts of opium and tobacco. Opening the seas has brought not only vast amounts of silver but also not entirely positive influences; contradictions truly are everywhere.

Fan Yingqi was a perfectly fine man, and he has been ruined just like this.

In history, the Wanli Emperor hid in the inner palace smoking opium, ignoring state affairs for thirty years, with half the official positions in the empire left vacant—this is the terrifying harm of opium.

"This official has no further questions. Handle it according to the law, send him to the Academy of Dissection, and try to have him detox first," Wang Chonggu said dejectedly.

Fan Yingqi can be considered thoroughly ruined.

Fan Yingqi was the top scholar of the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, and the expectations the Jin Party held for him were far higher than those for Wang Jiaping. Yet, because of a toothache and the need for pain relief, he contracted such a vile habit. What else could Wang Chonggu do?

"This thing must still be strictly prohibited. Even if the People's Welfare Pharmacy prescribes it, they must be cautious and even more cautious. How much is used and when it is used must have clear limitations; it must absolutely not be bought and sold legally under the guise of medical treatment." Wang Chonggu agreed even more with His Majesty's prohibition order.

At the same time, drugs of this type—painkillers and hallucinogens—must be subjected to strict management equivalent to that of military ordnance.

"It is already being done," Zhu Yijun said with conviction as he looked at the case files.

(End of chapter)