Chapter 486: Progress

The Salt Transport Commissioner Jiang's heart trembled, and he hurried away.

Wang Zhen couldn't withstand investigation; his problems have all been laid bare so far.

But they couldn't withstand investigation either—Jiangnan's land taxes, private salt, maritime trade, and military farmland issues; any one of them alone could wipe out a whole crowd.

Now, Wang Zhen has only pointed to the issues of private salt and maritime smuggling, and hasn't spelled them out.

Wang Zhen is the Emperor's man—was this Wang Zhen's move, or the Emperor's own intention?

If the young Emperor truly clings to this matter, unless war breaks out again in the north or Luchuan, only death will end it.

"Do we follow Prime Minister Yang's advice to retreat a step, sacrifice the pawn to save the general, or push forward stubbornly and fight for a decisive victory?"

"If the Commissioner Jiang says this, he's clearly decided to sacrifice the pawn—but who is the pawn being sacrificed?"

Commissioner Jiang fell silent.

The others said: "There must be a leader; ordinary officials won't catch the Emperor's eye, and besides, the Emperor's move aims to fill the state treasury—how much to contribute, and from where, must be carefully chosen."

Commissioner Jiang: "Has the reason for the Emperor imprisoning Wang Zhen still not been found?"

"All we've heard is that the Emperor recently became obsessed with yellow talismans—he ordered the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to submit several kinds of talismans, and even visited the palace's Master Zhang. On the day of the palace examination, the Emperor picked up a pouch outside the Kunning Palace, and inside were yellow talismans."

"Yellow talismans also appeared in the palace before the Emperor first distanced himself from Wang Zhen."

Someone asked in confusion: "Why worry?"

Commissioner Jiang: "Even if we must retreat a step, we must strike hard—Wang Zhen must die!"

They also found Wang Zhen utterly detestable; after a moment's thought, they said: "There's still someone locked in the Imperial Prison—Pan Hong's daughter, Pan Yun. She's Yin Song's junior from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, and reportedly trained on Mount Sanqing, with considerable skill."

"Wasn't it said she was framed by Wang Zhen, and isn't even Pan Hong's real daughter?"

"How come I heard the Emperor pardoned her for Mu's sake, and dropped charges of deceiving the throne?"

"If true, all the better; if not, it doesn't matter—since Wang Zhen framed her, we're allies. Find a way to contact her, and make sure she finds a way to drive another wedge between the Emperor and Wang Zhen."

If Wang Zhen loses the Emperor's favor, he's nothing at all.

"I'll send someone to track her down right away!"

"Also stir things up in Ji'an," Commissioner Jiang said. "Prime Minister Yang is old. For years he's let the Emperor do as he pleases, losing the dignity of a true minister. Now he's even speaking for Wang Zhen. To spare Prime Minister Yang from tarnishing his final years, he ought to retire and return home to live out his days in peace."

Everyone agreed, nodding vigorously.

The next day, the court's wind shifted—civil officials seemed powerless against the offensive of Wang Zhen, Wang Wen, Ma Shun, and others; not only was Fujian Inspector Zhang Kai investigated, but Lin You, who had been quietly sitting in the Imperial Prison, was dragged out for retrial.

Pan Hong, locked across the cell, stared in shock. Only after Lin You was dragged away screaming in terror to be tortured did he close his mouth, muttering in fear: "I just said it in passing—how did they actually reopen the case?"

Pan Hong's mind couldn't keep up: "What's going on? My case hasn't been overturned, but the six-year-old dike breach case has?"

Lin You's case was indeed overturned—but not in a good direction, but in a bad one.

Families that had bought up flooded land in large quantities after the disaster were investigated, including several relatives of Yang Shiqi.

A closer look revealed that in six years, the Yang family's land had grown from just over three hundred mu six years ago to over four thousand six hundred mu, with three thousand mu added in the past two years, and roughly thirteen hundred mu acquired immediately after the flood six years ago.

When this investigation result came out, even Yang Shiqi was startled.

He glanced at the investigation reports sent back from Ji'an by the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, then looked up at his steward and asked: "Is this real, or has someone deliberately framed us?"

The steward: "Of course it's a frame, Old Master. Our family has acquired some land over the years, but certainly not this much."

"If not this much, then how much?" The steward hesitated: "At least one or two thousand mu."

He quickly explained: "The Emperor has granted generous rewards these past years. The money you sent home couldn't just sit idle, so Elder Master used it to buy property—it's a good thing to secure the future of our descendants."

Yang Shiqi slowly nodded. "Buying land is proper, but could that money really have bought so much land?"

The steward whispered: "Elder Master has a talent for business—money begets money…"

Yang Shiqi stared into his eyes; the steward's voice grew quieter and quieter until he collapsed to his knees with a thud.

Yang Shiqi flew into a rage, slamming his hand on the table and sending the case files flying to the ground: "I thought so—everyone's been pointing at me. So it's you lot who've been acting recklessly! Speak up now—what exactly have you been doing back home?"

The steward kept bowing his head, trembling: "Old Master, we only bought land—nothing else."

"So the list in the case files is all true?" Yang Shiqi asked. "Does our family really own over four thousand mu of land?"

Yang Shiqi's voice grew colder. "Or… is it more than that?"

The steward pressed his forehead hard against the floor, not daring to utter a sound.

!. Read

Yang Shiqi's vision blurred, and he collapsed backward.

"Old Master—"

The Yang household erupted into chaos.

The Emperor ordered a re-investigation of the Ji'an dike breach case; the truth was quickly uncovered. Besides the Yang family, five other families were seized—those who had bought flooded land at rock-bottom prices immediately after the flood, then used loans and other means to forcibly acquire the remaining land.

The silver seized was small, so the Emperor turned his attention to Jiangnan's private salt smuggling and maritime trade smuggling.

Using last year's pirate case as a lead, the Embroidered Uniform Guard traced the connections and exposed several officials who had smuggled weapons and colluded with pirates.

During the first trial, a dramatic turn occurred.

Half were Jiangnan gentry closely tied to Jiangnanyi Sect officials, regularly giving them bribes and opening wide doors for them;

The other half were local magnates allied with regional officials, who used these officials to contact Wang Zhen, regularly bribing them—Wang Zhen even lent them naval ships.

The Emperor: …

Good, good, good—everyone's involved, then? Let's seize them all!

The Northern Commandery Police Bureau went mad with work.

The Emperor was very pleased.

He loved watching the spectacle of confiscations; otherwise, listening daily to their bickering, shifting blame, and attacking each other in the grand hall had nearly driven him mad.

Of course, the seized money was only half—he turned his gaze to Fujian Inspector Zhang Kai.

Zhang Kai fell quickly; his evidence appeared as if handed directly to the Emperor—the Northern Commandery Police Bureau found everything with perfect accuracy.

But beyond corruption and tolerating wealthy merchants' collusion with pirates in maritime smuggling, no other evidence remained.

It was a crime punishable by beheading, but not one that warranted implicating the entire family; at most, the household would be seized and all assets confiscated.

The Emperor reviewed the property inventory submitted by the Northern Pacification Office.

(End of Chapter)