Chapter 1005: Clean and Clear

Xue Shao's heart stirred, his eyes gleaming with sudden insight; he turned in place twice and said, "If the man behind Feng Hongde is truly Cao Rong, then mobilizing the entire Guangdong military colony's manpower and troops to amass such wealth becomes understandable."

"These military colony soldiers mostly migrated from central China and the Jiangnan region, but after the Hongwu and Yongle reigns, they've been rooted here for at least three generations, long since fused with the local populace. If Feng Hongde and others mistreat the soldiers, could it not affect the surrounding civilians? Could they not harbor resentment?"

Xue Shao murmured, "They're not like the soldiers under military law, who can endure hardship. If they suffer injustice, their grievances will pile up—and they will rebel."

Pan Yun nodded: "That's true."

In her timeline, during the entire Ming dynasty, the rebellions in Guangdong and Guangxi occurred most frequently and lasted the longest.

In Guangdong, maritime trade provided the people breathing room, but in Guangxi, there were more mountains and less land; throughout the Ming, the tusi lords somehow lost their minds and tried to treat their subjects as slaves. The imperial court was constantly at war, raising taxes everywhere to fund military expenses, and the tusi lords added another thirty percent on top of the imperial taxes and imposed them on the commoners.

The idea was simple: the court takes half, the tusi takes half, and finally, the commoners, crushed beyond endurance, rose up—not just the Zhuang, Yao, and Dong, but all together.

Pan Yun rubbed her chin and said, "I recall there was a rebellion in Chaozhou during the Hongwu era—quite sizable, too."

Xue Shao grunted, then said, "It was precisely because of the maritime ban and heavy taxation. Chaozhou, being coastal, relied heavily on fishing; the court imposed a total maritime ban to prevent rebels like Zhang Shicheng from disrupting the seas. The people of Chaozhou resisted—and rebelled."

An Chen, growing impatient, demanded, "Are you questioning the wisdom of the Hongwu Emperor's maritime ban?"

Pan Yun glanced at him and said, "We're saying the people of Guangdong and Guangxi have the courage to fight for their rights."

An Chen's eyes widened: "You—you want to invoke the mob? Are you insane? If things go wrong and they storm the government offices, every last one of us here will be branded traitors—that's a crime punishable by extermination of nine clans!"

Xue Shao: "An Da Ren, you overthink it. We're merely letting some people think that. Of course we wouldn't manipulate public sentiment so recklessly."

An Chen stared at him, utterly unconvinced.

Xue Shao sighed: "If we exploit public sentiment and lose control, my death would be insignificant—but what of the innocent civilians dragged into it?"

An Chen was instantly calmed; after a moment's thought, he understood.

Given Xue Shao's character, he might use this as a threat—but he would never actually do it.

If the people were incited to pressure the court, the court might or might not retreat—but those incited would surely be branded rebels, and their fate would be grim.

Xue Shao, by contrast, if he wished, had a thousand ways to extricate himself.

An Chen looked at Xue Shao with strange regret: "Lord Xue, if only you were a corrupt official."

All three turned to stare at him; the third man's gaze at his leader was full of confusion.

An Chen's tone carried unmistakable regret: "If the Embroidered Uniform Guard could capture you, you'd go down in history."

Xue Shao: "... Thank you, An Company Commander, for your compliment."

Pan Yun: "Wouldn't capturing me be even better for your legacy?"

An Chen and the third man fell silent—who dared capture her?

Xue Shao said: "Record the remaining antiques and paintings as well."

There was no shortage of these—paintings and calligraphy were packed in crates; any single piece opened would be worth a hundred taels of gold. No wonder An Chen said gold was worthless.

Gold really was worthless here.

But Cao Rong didn't seem to appreciate them—he hadn't categorized or preserved them properly, just dumped them in boxes.

This made Xue Shao frown: "Fortunately, lime was placed around here to absorb moisture; otherwise, with Guangdong's climate, stacking the paintings like this would ruin them within two years."

Besides the paintings, two shelves lined the walls, each compartment holding jade Buddhas, golden Buddhas, jade immortals, and golden immortals.

Among them were five Guan Gong statues—three made of jade, two of gold.

Pan Yun picked up one golden Guan Gong statue; it was heavy, at least twenty catties.

Pan Yun couldn't put it down: "This must be solid gold."

Xue Shao didn't bother demanding a weight check for such golden statues.

Pan Yun suddenly realized, her eyes narrowing slightly: "You don't suspect me of hiding gold, do you?"

Xue Shao met her fiery gaze: "You have virtue to your name—you wouldn't do such a thing. I'm guarding against others. With so many gold bricks and ingots, counting them alone won't do; a schemer could scrape off a layer from one brick and accumulate a fair amount. Weighing them is the only reliable method."

Pan Yun was satisfied.

The third man murmured: "If the State Preceptor takes it straight to Jingcheng and hands it over to the national treasury, it only passes through one hand, under everyone's eyes—no one could possibly intercept it."

An Chen corrected: "It's two hands, even three: the Embroidered Uniform Guard or Censorate seizes it, records it, then transfers it to the Ministry of Revenue."

Xue Shao lowered his gaze: "Let all three parties be present—record it, transfer it to the Ministry of Revenue, all witnessed. With the State Preceptor present, I doubt anyone would dare."

An Chen, representing the Embroidered Uniform Guard, agreed; Xue Shao, representing the Censorate; Pan Yun, representing herself. As for the fourth party, the Ministry of Revenue—no one cared.

The four worked busily in the treasure chamber, recording the last jade Buddha and storing it away; the chamber now held only two troughs of lime in the corner and two wooden shelves against the wall.

Pan Yun placed her hands on her hips, staring at the entrance again and again, her OCD flaring: "No, this treasure chamber still has too much left—it's not empty enough."

The Embroidered Uniform Guard: "... Everything's been moved."

"How's it moved? Aren't the shelves still here?"

Xue Shao, seeing her eyes glued to the shelves, couldn't help smiling: "Such clutter—even the Northern Capital Garrison wouldn't confiscate it."

An Chen glanced at Xue Shao and said: "Our Northern Capital Garrison can't compare to the Censorate—the Censorate is famed for leaving not even a blade of grass. Items like these shelves? Naturally, they wouldn't be left behind."

Xue Shao glanced at An Chen, then simply reached out and took both shelves.

Pan Yun, seeing this, scampered over and took the two troughs of lime as well.

Xue Shao paused; An Chen and the third man stared blankly, wondering what she wanted with lime.

Pan Yun grinned: "Nothing in this world is useless."

They opened the treasure chamber and stepped out; the sky had turned pale, morning light streaming through the windows, the room silent.

Xue Shao thought for a moment and said: "We can't just leave. We've taken too little."

Pan Yun: "We took an entire treasure vault."

Xue Shao: "I mean the case. We came here—let's at least uncover his connection to Feng Hongde."

An Chen said: "Let's go out first. Dawn is coming—see what others have found." (End of Chapter)