Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 489: Chapter 450 Are You Deceiving Me?

On the other side, after leaving the Zhen family, Luo Jingsong quickly arrived at the pre-arranged rendezvous point.

”How is it? How are the injuries?” He looked at the two injured brothers and asked.

”Rest assured, Sir, it’s just superficial wounds, nothing serious!”

”That’s good!” Luo Jingsong breathed a sigh of relief.

Every soldier of the Personal Guard Camp is precious; losing even a few would make it difficult to report back to Yang Zhenshan.

”What happened?”

At this moment, another team also returned, and Ding Qiu came over to inquire.

Luo Jingsong slightly shook his head, ”Infiltration failed. The Zhen family has a high-level martial artist at the Postnatal Ninth Layer, and to avoid causing a disturbance, I had to order the brothers to retreat first!”

Ding Qiu frowned, ”Do you know the identity of that master?”

High-level martial artists at the Postnatal Ninth Layer are extremely rare in Liaodong. Discounting military officers and commanders, you could count such masters in the Jianghu on one hand.

Yet a martial artist of this calibre appeared in the Zhen family; that was certainly unreasonable.

”I couldn’t make it out, but definitely not a master from Liaodong. I would recognize those!” said Luo Jingsong.

Ding Qiu fell into deep thought.

An unknown master has appeared in the Zhen family!

This should be information worth paying attention to.

”How are things on your end?” asked Luo Jingsong.

Ding Qiu replied: ”Everything went smoothly. Ning Dongsheng is too afraid of death. With just a few questions, he spilled everything!”

”Should we continue to investigate the Zhen family?” Luo Jingsong asked again.

After some thought, Ding Qiu said, ”No need. The details Ning Dongsheng provided are numerous. If the others also have findings, then the evidence we have is already sufficient.”

They were neither constables nor spies, so collecting evidence would not involve meticulously untangling a complex web slowly.

What’s the quickest way to find evidence?

Naturally, it’s to search the homes of those involved, to ask the persons of interest!

Moreover, collecting evidence of wrongdoing by these wealthy merchants wasn’t difficult; acts like bullying the local populace, oppressing citizens, and forcefully seizing assets were not uncommon for them.

Of course, the evidence that Yang Zhenshan wanted wasn’t of this nature; rather, he needed proof of their collusion with officials, bribery, and pursuit of illicit gains.

Such evidence wasn’t hard to find.

Rich merchants colluding with officials always liked to follow certain ’rules,’ and these rules needed bookkeeping: how profits were divided each month, how much silver needed to be sent over, all had to be clearly accounted for.

Otherwise, a confused accounting could lead to omissions and dissatisfaction from both parties.

The evidence Ding Qiu obtained was far more than anticipated. The information he got from Ning Dongsheng alone could cause a tremendous shake-up within the official circles of Ping Yuan.

...

At Chongshan Pass, within the General Mansion.

Yang Zhenshan sat in his study, reading a letter sent from the Capital City.

A letter sent by Emperor Yanping himself!

Truth be told, he was quite surprised upon receiving this letter.

Emperor Yanping had actually written to him, which was somewhat unexpected given his impression of the Emperor.

And when he read the contents of the letter, he was even more astounded.

Emperor Yanping had actually allocated one million taels of silver to him!

The silver was still in transit, but the letter had arrived first.

However, Emperor Yanping did not write this letter just to inform him about the one million taels; it was to inquire about the sales of glass products.

In other words, whether the glass products from the Capital City should be sold outside the Capital, how they should be sold, and whether there was a set of regulations?

Seeing such an inquiry, Yang Zhenshan was delighted.

This indicated that Emperor Yanping did not dislike him and, in fact, valued him considerably.

Although Emperor Yanping seemed to have intentions of monopolizing the glass business, the fact he consulted Yang Zhenshan was a recognition of him.

Regarding Emperor Yanping’s inquiry, Yang Zhenshan pondered for a long time.

The glass workshop could not be private property of the Yang family!

In this feudal dynasty, wealth did not trump nobility.

If the profit from the glass business was only several hundred thousand or over a million taels, it wouldn’t be an issue for Yang Zhenshan to keep it all to himself.

However, the glass business involved interests too vast for any single person to monopolize.

Even the Emperor couldn’t do it!

Now, Emperor Yanping might be able to monopolize it, but once court civil and military officials realized the glass business could earn tens of millions of taels yearly, they would certainly compel Emperor Yanping to hand over the glass business to the court’s operation.

Don’t think that the Emperor could always have the final say; sometimes, the Emperor might even need to compromise with the court officials.

So from the beginning, Yang Zhenshan never treated the glass workshop as personal property of the Yang family and had offered the methods and craftsmanship of glassmaking to Emperor Yanping from the start.

Emperor Yanping definitely wanted to keep this lucrative business in his grip, but how could he explain it to the court officials without them competing for it?

Yang Zhenshan thought it over for quite some time and ultimately came up with what seemed like a very good idea.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs!

Imperial Merchants!

The Ministry of Internal Affairs was a unique institution of the Qing Dynasty, with a staff of over three thousand officials, ten times more than the already very busy Ministry of Revenue, making it the largest governmental organ in the Qing Dynasty.

Its main function was to manage the royal household affairs, such as daily meals, clothing, stores, protocol, construction, agriculture, animal husbandry, security, etc. It also managed salt policies, collected taxes and accepted tribute.

Imperial Merchants, appointed by the Emperor, managed the royal industries in an official capacity, engaging in commerce on behalf of the state and monopolizing certain important industries operated by the court, managing the royal properties in various places.

In fact, in the Qing Dynasty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was part of the court as well, and its officials had ranks like other court officials. Likewise, Imperial Merchants also held official ranks.

Simply put, it was a fusion of officials and commerce, similar in nature to state-owned enterprises from a previous era.

Da Rong also had both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Imperial Merchants; the twenty-four yamen of the Imperial City held part of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and management of the royal farms and stores was similar to that of Imperial Merchants.

However, currently, those tasked with managing royal farms and stores in Da Rong were eunuchs, not officials.

Naturally, Yang Zhenshan wouldn’t propose establishing the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Emperor Yanping, as it would have too great an impact on the court, and he dared not to be reckless.

He simply suggested to Emperor Yanping the establishment of an Imperial Commerce Bureau within the court, with one doctor as the main officer at Secondary Fifth Rank, two auxiliary officials as External Officers at Secondary Sixth Rank, and several clerks at Standard Seventh Rank.

Merchants can join the Imperial Commerce Bureau as chiefs, operating imperial industries in the capacity of Imperial Merchants, including the glass industry.

The court has the power to appoint or dismiss officials of the Imperial Commerce Bureau, and the Emperor can assign eunuchs to act as supervisory officials within the Bureau, monitoring its operations and finances.

A portion of the earnings of the Imperial Commerce Bureau goes to the Ministry of Revenue, while another portion enters the imperial treasury.

As for the exact proportions, that is a matter for Emperor Yanping and the Ministry of Revenue; Yang Zhenshan has no authority to decide on that.

The Imperial Commerce Bureau is under court jurisdiction, but it manages the Emperor’s private assets, from which both the Emperor and the court can benefit.

However, this suggestion has many contradictions.

The first is the issue of the distribution ratios, how much should go to the Emperor and how much to the Ministry of Revenue.

The second is whether other industries should also be included, such as salt and iron and some of the royal farmlands and properties.

The last big contradiction is granting official status to merchants.

In the ranking of scholars, peasants, artisans, and merchants, if Imperial Merchants are to have ranks and official status, it would essentially alter the hierarchy of scholars, peasants, artisans, and merchants.

It is well-known that in Da Rong, merchants are of a lowly status, ineligible to take the imperial examinations or become officials.

However, it’s not entirely impossible for merchants to hold office. If a merchant’s offspring enlists in the army and gains merit on the battlefield, they could indeed be promoted to Military Officer.

So, merchants could become Military Officers but not civil servants.

Yang Zhenshan previously had Liang Xiu accompany Yang Minghao and Luo Bo accompany Yang Chengye precisely to enable them to earn merits and break free from the constraints of the lowly merchant status.

The emergence of Imperial Merchants with official status would effectively open a loophole for merchants to obtain official ranks.

When the time comes, all merchants across Da Rong will flock to it.

And the scholars throughout the land may well stand up in opposition.

Yang Zhenshan pondered for a moment, adding another sentence below, stating that merchants serving as chiefs in the Imperial Commerce Bureau must not be promoted.

In this way, there would still be controversy, but it should reduce the opposition from the scholars.

Yang Zhenshan spent an entire day writing this proposal.

There were certainly many inappropriate aspects or issues that he hadn’t considered, but that wasn’t a problem, as he was merely making a suggestion. Whether or not to adopt his suggestion and how to implement it, that was up to Emperor Yanping.

The next day, Yang Zhenshan had the letter sent to the Capital City.

Just as Yang Zhenshan had dispatched the letter to the Capital City, within the city of Dongyang Prefecture, Ding Qiu knocked on the doors of An Ruhui’s residence.

”Your humble servant Ding Qiu, the steward of Marquis Jing’an Mansion, pays respects to Lord An!”

In the main hall of An Residence, Ding Qiu greeted An Ruhui with a respectful fist-and-palm salute.

An Ruhui was very surprised by Ding Qiu’s arrival.

He certainly knew of Marquis Jing’an Yang Zhenshan, after all, he was closely associated with Lin Zhan, and when coming to Liaodong for his post, Lin Zhan once mentioned that if he encountered trouble he could ask Marquis Jing’an for help.

However, due to his own nature, he would not allow himself to cling to the powerful; hence he never considered having any entanglements with Marquis Jing’an Mansion.

Similarly, he never expected someone from Marquis Jing’an Mansion to take the initiative to seek him out.

”You are from Marquis Jing’an Mansion? Does Marquis Jing’an have business with me?” An Ruhui couldn’t fathom Ding Qiu’s intentions.

Ding Qiu nodded, ”The Marquis instructed me to hand these items over to your lordship!”

As he spoke, he took a square wooden box from his companion’s hands.

An Ruhui looked at the wooden box hesitantly, ”What’s inside?”

”Your lordship will know once you see it!” Ding Qiu said.

An Ruhui frowned slightly, fearing that the box contained something he shouldn’t take, such as silver.

But upon reflection, it seemed unlikely that Marquis Jing’an had any reason to send him silver; so, he opened the wooden box.

Inside the box were stacks of thick booklets.

”What is this?”

Ding Qiu said, ”These are evidences of collusion between eighteen officials including Ping Yuan Governor Zhao Yunxing, Right Assistant Ye Changlian, Deputy Inspector Ning Dongsheng, Dongyang Prefecture Magistrate Dong Shuyan, Guangning Prefecture Magistrate Wang Dexin, with many wealthy merchants. They’ve conspired with merchants, bullied the benevolent, grabbed fertile lands, dominated markets, suppressed their peers, persecuted merchants, and committed murder and unlawful acts!”

”Moreover, they plan to exploit the recent drought in Liaodong to increase grain prices. According to their plan, they will double the grain price in half a month, and also incite the populace to riot, pressuring the court to allocate funds and food for disaster relief!”

”What!” An Ruhui was completely stunned.

Ding Qiu’s words were utterly inconceivable and alarming.

An Ruhui expected official-merchant collusion and wasn’t surprised by even murder and unlawful acts.

But to increase grain prices, incite the populace to riot, and pressure the court for money and grain!

He couldn’t even dare to imagine such acts.

Anxiously, he flipped through the booklets in the wooden box.

They were filled with records of bribes being given and taken, implicating far more than eighteen officials, but it was clear that Zhao Yunxing, the Ping Yuan Governor, was the principal.

Of course, Zhao Yunxing wouldn’t collect silver personally; that was done by a person called Liu San, who was one of Zhao Yunxing’s Personal Followers.

Quickly, An Ruhui skimmed through all the account books, and with a dark face, he asked, ”How do you know they are planning to raise the grain price and incite the populace to riot?”

Ding Qiu took out a confession from his chest and handed it to An Ruhui, ”This is the confession of Deputy Inspector Ning Dongsheng!”

An Ruhui opened the confession and glanced at it, which indeed contained statements regarding raising grain prices and inciting riots.

”Is this true?”

Ding Qiu replied calmly, ”It is true. Ning Dongsheng is currently in our hands, and he can testify in court at any time!”

”You’ve captured Ning Dongsheng?” An Ruhui exclaimed.

”No, we’ve simply invited Lord Ning to a quiet place for some tea,” Ding Qiu said.

Tea!

Isn’t that just detaining him?

An Ruhui took a deep breath, looked at the account books in the box and the confession in his hand.

”They really plan to incite a riot among the populace?”

Ding Qiu’s gaze flickered, ”The human and physical evidence is complete, with a detailed plan on hand.”

An Ruhui was stunned, and then looked at Ding Qiu with astonishment.

”Are you deceiving me?”

A smile appeared on the corner of Ding Qiu’s mouth, ”No, all these physical evidences are real!”

”...” An Ruhui fell silent.