Dugong

Chapter 116 A Visit to Jiangnan

Royal study room.

The atmosphere was heavy and somber.

Emperor Yongning's face was unusually gloomy. He flipped through the secret memorial submitted by the Zhenfu Division again and again, still unable to believe that the imperial envoy had been poisoned.

"So is this a protest, a boycott, or a rebellion?"

The investigation into the salt merchants of Jiangnan, using the case of the King of Qi as a pretext, was indeed motivated by an idea to reform the salt and iron tax system and increase national treasury revenue. However, no one could have imagined that the salt merchants would dare to kill the imperial envoy.

Emperor Yongning frowned slightly, unsure of what to do, and glanced at the kneeling palace maids and eunuchs.

"Little Hai Zi, what do you think I should do?"

"Your Majesty, according to the laws of our dynasty, killing an imperial envoy is tantamount to treason. Those involved should be executed along with their entire families, and local officials should be dismissed and exiled."

Eunuch Hai changed the subject: "But the salt merchants are backed by powerful families in Jiangnan, so we can't investigate everything. What if we trace it back to the Lu family or the Zheng family..."

The powerful families of Jiangnan are deeply intertwined. Investigating Lu and Zheng would involve the Cui family, which is His Majesty's maternal clan. Grand Secretary Cui is also His Majesty's right-hand man in controlling the court.

Emperor Yongning said coldly, "So there's no way to investigate?"

Eunuch Hai said, "Your Majesty, for the sake of the peace and stability of the nation, investigations must be conducted with purpose, scope, and limits."

Emperor Yongning closed the memorial, secretly wishing to massacre the people of Jiangnan, yet he also knew that Xiao Haizi was right.

The execution of nine generations of the salt merchants and the collection of salt taxes could be considered as having barely achieved the goal.

His kind and benevolent nature is suitable for the country to recuperate and thrive, but his lack of harshness and ruthlessness will allow corrupt officials to run rampant.

Or perhaps, Emperor Yongning was cowardly and retreated in the face of the deeply entrenched powerful families of Jiangnan.

At this time.

Xiao Liangzi entered and announced, "Your Majesty, Eunuch An requests an audience."

"Let Xiao Anzi in."

Emperor Yongning was slightly dissatisfied with Xiao Anzi. He had previously ordered Xiao Anzi to assist in a case, but the case made no progress and the imperial envoy died.

"Your Majesty, you must do justice for this servant!"

Before Li Ping'an was even seen, the sound of sobbing and choking could be heard first, and his eyes were red and tears were flowing uncontrollably.

He knelt down before Emperor Yongning with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly and crying out for justice.

"My adopted son went to Jiangnan to investigate a case, but he was ambushed and killed by the Salt Gang. He died without a burial place. He was my beloved family member!"

Emperor Yongning frowned slightly, his initial intention to reprimand him vanished, and he instead felt compelled to offer words of comfort.

"Stop crying and wailing, what kind of behavior is this? Your godson is dead, and so is my imperial envoy!"

"what?"

Li Ping'an stared in disbelief, exclaiming in horror, "Someone actually attempted to assassinate the imperial envoy! This is utterly treasonous and deserves the extermination of his entire family!"

A surge of murderous intent rose in Emperor Yongning's heart, and he asked, "Little Anzi, whose entire family do you think should be executed?"

Li Ping'an counted on his fingers and said, "The salt merchants are one, the Zheng family is one, the Wang family is one, and the Li family is one."

The five prominent families of Cui, Lu, Zheng, Wang, and Li in Jiangnan have each had a history of over a thousand years and can be considered leaders of prestigious clans.

Emperor Yongning nodded in satisfaction. As expected, Xiao Anzi was the most sensible one, knowing to exclude the Lu family.

"Xiao Anzi, who do you think should be sent to investigate?"

Li Ping'an replied solemnly, "This servant is willing to lead men to Jiangnan to investigate the case, capture the traitor's entire family, and cleanse the Jiangnan officialdom for Your Majesty!"

"Xiao Anzi is commendably loyal."

Emperor Yongning nodded in praise, pondered for a moment, and then instructed: "You may act as you see fit in Jiangnan, but do not kill too many people. I do not want heads."

Li Ping'an kowtowed and said, "This servant obeys the decree."

Hai Gonggong frowned, not understanding what An Gonggong was doing. The Jiangnan aristocratic families were clearly a quagmire, so why wade into such muddy waters?

In the capital, you are the Commander of the Three Offices; in Jiangnan, the emperor is far away, so who recognizes your identity?

Li Ping'an bowed and left the imperial study, casually slipping two gold ingots to Xiao Liangzi. Even if they weren't useful this time, he still needed to spend money to maintain the relationship.

Trying to cram at the last minute won't get you anywhere.

Back to the Imperial Stables.

The group of adopted sons and old eunuchs were still waiting for news. Li Ping'an chuckled strangely, "His Majesty has ordered me to go to Jiangnan to investigate a case and capture the traitor, and has given me permission to act as I see fit."

Everyone was overjoyed upon hearing this and praised Eunuch An for being favored by the Emperor.

I had long heard that the Jiangnan region was the wealthiest place in the world, and this time the investigation was targeting salt merchants. They could easily rake in a little silver that would be equivalent to years of savings.

Li Ping'an instructed, "Xiao Yuzi, spread the word that we will set off in three days."

Xiao Yu asked doubtfully, "Shouldn't investigations be as secretive as possible?"

"His Majesty doesn't want us to actually investigate the case."

Li Ping'an said calmly, "Besides, the salt merchants have complicated backgrounds, and it's hard to say who the mastermind is. We can't investigate them all."

Most of the salt merchants in Jiangnan had powerful backers. Besides the Zheng, Wang, and Li families, there were also Grand Secretaries and princes in the imperial court. If they made a mistake in their investigation, they would inadvertently create enmity.

Of course, there were also a very few salt merchants with no background, who were undoubtedly traitors who poisoned the imperial envoy.

Eunuch Xia suddenly realized and said, "Does Your Excellency mean that we should have the mastermind submit the name of their business so that we can go south to arrest people?"

Li Ping'an nodded and said, "That's right. If we were to check them one by one, it would take forever!"

Eunuch Xia asked, "What if no one submits their name?"

"Then don't blame us for unleashing a bloodbath!"

Li Ping'an said quietly, "If they get scared and try to send a note begging for mercy, it won't be easy for us to take them in."

The implication was that more money was required.

"Godfather, Your Excellency is wise."

The eunuchs bowed in unison, their eyes gleaming with greedy red light, as if they wanted to devour someone. Clearly, they held great hopes for the trip to Jiangnan.

……

News of Eunuch An's investigation in Jiangnan quickly spread throughout the capital.

That same day, someone came to the Imperial Horse Administration with a note, claiming to be the steward of Prince Cheng's residence, who was also the commander of the Beijing Garrison and a minister entrusted with the care of the young emperor.

The note had the name of a business written on it: Huaiyi.

Li Ping'an sent someone to inquire and learned that Huaiyi Trading Company was quite famous in Jiangnan, and the owner's surname was Liu, seemingly having no connection with Prince Cheng's mansion.

"That old fox always complains about being poor, his official robes have seven or eight patches, but behind the scenes he runs a huge business!"

Prince Cheng was always thorough in his work. When he handed over the note, he also placed a silver note underneath, the denomination of which was so large it was almost blinding.

When Eunuch An raided and confiscated the salt merchants' property, he was essentially helping to eliminate a competitor, so he should express his gratitude.

The steward of the Prince's mansion arrived without any attempt to conceal his presence. Seeing that Prince Cheng had handed over a note, other salt merchants soon sent people to visit as well.

In just three days, the Imperial Horse Administration received a thick stack of notes, indicating that most of the prominent figures in the capital were involved in the salt industry to some extent.

Li Ping'an delivered the note to the Imperial Study, and after a moment, he left with a smile, accompanied by a large sum of silver notes.

His Majesty, for the sake of the 200,000 taels of silver, granted permission to lead 2,000 soldiers from the Beijing Garrison.

Back to the Imperial Stables.

"A salt merchant who didn't submit a note is a traitor! Come with me to Jiangnan to arrest him!"

Li Ping'an waved his hand and walked towards the inner stables.

Eunuch Xia, Xiao Yuzi, and other adopted sons and old eunuchs followed closely behind, each choosing a familiar horse and leading it out of the Donghua Gate.

He mounted the horse and shook the reins.

Howling!
The black steed, Wuzhui, reared up and galloped wildly toward the south gate of the capital.

More than a hundred horsemen roamed the capital, frightening the people into scattering and fleeing.

at this time.

At the drill ground of the Sixth Guard of the Capital Garrison, two thousand soldiers, all carefully selected elites, were already lined up and ready to fight.

Li Ping'an rode up and stopped in front of the training ground, his whip pointing diagonally.

"I am acting on His Majesty's orders to investigate and confiscate the spoils of the rebels in Jiangnan. Those who have rendered meritorious service in this campaign will be rewarded with two years' worth of pay!"

(End of this chapter)