Chapter 63: The Robbery Begins

The Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture personally led his men, going door to door according to the list, conducting searches and seizures.

Rows of soldiers in gleaming armor, holding bright weapons and blades, charged about like bandits, barging and crashing everywhere.

"Lord Li, Lord Li, this is a small token of respect, please do accept it."

"How dare you openly bribe a court official in public! Men, seize him!"

The merchant immediately wailed, "No, no, Lord Li, it's just a small token of filial respect, you've always accepted these before..."

"Insolent! You dare slander this official as well? Men, search the place, don't leave a single thing untouched."

On the other side, the Bureau Director of the Ministry of Revenue was not idle either, riding at full speed, bustling about in a flurry.

"How dare you sell smuggled salt! Men, seize them!"

"My lord, my lord, we have salt certificates, we have documents verified by the Ministry of Revenue!"

"Documents? I don't know anything about that. This salt certificate is obviously fake as well. Men, haul it all back!"

"My lord, stop, stop! My lord, just name whatever amount of silver you want, speak freely."

"Attempting to bribe! Men, take the man as well!"

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was clearly identifiable by their attire. Squad after squad of them stood imposing and majestic, keeping strangers at bay.

"You, you pack of hounds! Is there no law left in this land?!"

"Law? I am the law! Whatever can be carried away, carry it away. Whatever can't be carried, smash it!"

"Stop it, stop it! You beasts! I'll go to the yamen and file a complaint against you!"

"Complain about us? You old fool, beat him!"

At the city gate.

"What are you people doing here? Where are you headed?"

"In answer to you, soldier, we fled here from the disaster, and we heard things have gotten better back home, so we want to return."

"Return? Do you need this many carts for that? I think you're spies. Men, search them!"

"No, no, soldier, we're just ordinary folk, not spies. Everything on the carts we bought with our own silver."

"My lord, it's all grain."

"Spies indeed! Men, confiscate it all and take them into custody!"

"My lord, my lord, we really are ordinary people! This grain is for disaster relief!"

"Hmph, once you're in the heavenly prison, you'll have plenty of time to argue. Arrest them all!"

The Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and so on — virtually every yamen in the capital capable of seizing people and confiscating goods had sprung into action. The entire capital seemed to have plunged into chaos.

At a silk shop.

"My lord, this is bad — the court is making a move against us!"

"Quick, quick! Hide everything in the cellar!"

At a rice shop.

"Manager, this is bad — the patrol battalion's men are heading straight for us!"

"Quick! Hide as much as you can!"

At a pawnshop.

"Manager, there's no time! The Ministry of War's men are here!"

"Quick, quick! Move it all into the secret room! These damned dogs!"

Those who got word early could hide more; those who got word late would have more confiscated. At this moment, every wealthy household and merchant was tense beyond measure, mobilizing every resource to conceal their valuables. By now, trying to pull strings through connections was impossible — they could only hope to recover something afterward.

At the mysterious inn.

"Manager Yang, what do we do? The court is coming for us!"

"Indeed, this time the court is playing for real. What do we do? We've got no small amount of our fortune buried in the courtyard!"

"Manager Yang, we've already paid for the goods we bought. If the authorities confiscate them, our losses this time will be enormous."

"The ones inside the city are one thing, but if the ones outside the city get confiscated too, we'll lose our heads!"

Yang Huaizhong's face was extremely grim at this moment as well. The authorities' operation had come far too quickly — they had received no word at all beforehand, leaving them no time whatsoever to prepare.

He frowned deeply and thought for a long while, then could only say helplessly, "Hide the silver first. If the goods are confiscated, then they're confiscated — we'll find a way to get them back afterward. The ones outside the city should be fine, no need to worry." Even as he said this, his brow did not relax in the slightest. At a time like this, what could possibly give one peace of mind?

Still, he was the pillar of the group, and hearing him say this, everyone felt slightly relieved.

At the pawnshop.

"Lord Chu, Lord Chu, all of these came from legitimate sources! Ouch — easy, easy..."

"Legitimate sources? Would you dare say that in the main hall of the Ministry of Justice? Men, haul it all away! Anyone who dares to block us, take them into custody as well!"

Qiu Yuehou wanted to cry but had no tears. This was the accumulation of many years of his life. He blocked the path of this Lord Chu from the Ministry of Justice, weeping and pleading: "Lord Chu, I know Officer Yang of the Embroidered Uniform Guard! If you won't spare the monk, spare the Buddha — please, show mercy and lift your noble hand!"

"Get out of the way, or I'll arrest you too! Move it faster, or everything will be snatched up by the others!"

"Yes, my lord!"

A guard walked over and kicked Qiu Yuehou to the ground with one blow.

The entire capital seemed to have descended into hell — arrogant and overbearing soldiers everywhere, wails and bitter weeping everywhere. Although the court's operation this time was quite hasty, it did not hinder the actions of the various yamen in the slightest. These men did not strictly follow the list; whenever they saw a wealthy household, they charged in without hesitation.

"Chief Zhao, please."

Inside the Huitong Trading Company, Wei Liangqing wore a beaming smile as he sincerely poured tea for this agent of the Eastern Depot.

Chief Zhao, just past thirty, took Wei Liangqing's teacup and said with a chuckle, "Lord Wei, you carry no small weight around here." As he spoke, he glanced outside.

At the entrance of the Huitong Trading Company stood a squad of over thirty men, standing like guards on both sides of the door, imposing and quite formidable. Judging from their attire, they appeared to be from the Right Guard.

Inside of them were eight Embroidered Uniform Guard officers in gleaming armor, hands on their embroidered spring sabers, looking down on everyone with arrogance.

Inside the door, two officials from the Ministry of Revenue stood expressionless, gazing out at the street.

Adding the Chief Zhao of the Eastern Depot inside, all the powerful yamen involved in this operation were now present in full force.

Wei Liangqing smiled faintly and said, "Chief Zhao is joking. Tonight I'll play host—everyone must do me the honor of coming."

This was the part where benefits were divided after the fact. Chief Zhao gave a knowing smile and, holding his teacup, said, "Easy to say, easy to say."

Wei Liangqing sipped his tea, feeling pleased inside. He believed that before long, the people who had treated him like a stinking fly would be worshipping him like a lord!

Although this operation had been approved by the court and the noble-minded officials saw nothing improper about it, it would inevitably cause chaos in the capital and could not be sustained, so it would all be over by today.

Zhu Xu remained in the palace, gazing into the distance beyond the palace walls. Smiling, he asked the two Cao officers before him, "Guess how much silver the court will seize this time?"

Cao Wenzhao knew this operation was on a grand scale. After a quick calculation, he said, "Your Highness, just in ready silver alone it will likely exceed ten million taels. Adding up everything else converted, it will probably exceed fifty million taels."

Fifty million taels!

Zhu Xu raised an eyebrow—that was even more than he had estimated. The Great Ming court's annual tax revenue was only about two and a half million taels, half of which came from the salt tax. This single haul was equivalent to twenty years of tax income!

"Tsk tsk, this will certainly satisfy those gentlemen in the court."