Song Dynasty: Yuan Dynasty, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm still alive.

The morning court session at Fengtian Hall was delayed from 5:00 AM to 9:00 AM.

"Customs duties in Quanzhou have decreased by 100% compared to last year." Zhu Di's voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the hall could hear him clearly. "Commercial taxes in Songjiang have decreased by 95%. Guangzhou and Ningbo are similar."

He closed the booklet and placed it on the corner of the desk.

"My treasury is empty."

The hall was completely silent.

Chen Ying stepped forward. He had specially changed into a new official robe today, its bright color making him look very energetic.

"Your Majesty! I have said it before: Song people cannot be trusted! Song goods cannot be sold! Song merchants cannot be kept!" He repeated "cannot" three times in one breath, his spittle almost splattering onto Zheng Ci's head. "Nowadays, Song merchants are rampant with smuggling, and local officials are colluding with unscrupulous merchants. If we do not investigate thoroughly, the southeastern half of the Ming Dynasty will fall into the hands of the Song people!"

Xia Yuanji stood motionless in the Ministry of Revenue's train. Now that Chen Ying had made her move, he decided to say nothing today.

Zhu Di's gaze swept across the hall and landed on Ji Gang.

"Ji Gang"

"Your subject is here."

"All coastal prefectures and counties are given three months to investigate smuggling and apprehend unscrupulous merchants. Those who achieve results will be rewarded; those who fail will be—"

He paused.

"He will be punished for treason and collusion with the enemy."

A slight commotion arose in the hall. To collude with the enemy and commit treason was a crime punishable by the extermination of one's entire clan.

Ji Gang kowtowed, his forehead hitting the gold brick with a dull thud: "Your subject... obeys the decree."

His back was soaked with sweat when he got up.

It's not that I'm afraid of being investigated.

He served as a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard for over a decade; what case hadn't he investigated?

What he feared was what would happen after the investigation—the people behind those coastal officials, the bigwigs in the imperial court, and those who had taken money from the Song people, bought houses in the Song Dynasty, and sent their sons to study in the Song Dynasty.

In this world, we are all interconnected, and who can truly distinguish between us?

Zhu Di saw through his thoughts.

"I don't care what methods you use," Zhu Di's voice fell from the dragon throne, sharp as a knife. "I only care about the results."

The back hall of the Quanzhou government office was brightly lit.

Prefect Liu Wenzhao sat in the main seat, a copy of the imperial edict spread out in front of him. The room was filled with the prefectural judge, the judge, and the county magistrate.

"Gentlemen, His Majesty's will is clear." Liu Wenzhao picked up his teacup, blew away the foam, and didn't drink. "Three months. If we don't achieve results, we'll be accused of 'colluding with the enemy and plotting rebellion'."

Prefect Chen Mingyuan was the first to speak: "Sir, investigating smuggling? Smuggling is done by ourselves. Investigating ourselves?"

Judge Zheng Huai-ren stroked his beard: "What His Majesty wants is 'performance,' not a real investigation into smuggling. Let's hand over a few 'smugglers,' make the case look perfect, and His Majesty will be pleased, and we'll have accomplished our task."

"Who should we arrest?" Magistrate Qian Youliang asked.

Zheng Huai-ren laughed: "Those Ming Dynasty cloth shops that are still holding on. With such fierce market competition, the fact that they can still survive means they must be using Song Dynasty cloth! Investigating them is perfectly justified."

Liu Wenzhao put down his teacup and thought for a moment.

"Brilliant plan!"

He stood up, walked to the map of the Ming Dynasty hanging on the wall, and pointed to the location of Quanzhou Prefecture.

"Let's start with Jinjiang."

. . .

There are many clever people in the world, and Zhao Wenkai, the newly appointed prefect of Songjiang Prefecture, also came up with the same method as Liu Wenzhao.

I don't know if real smugglers are easy to catch, but fake smugglers are definitely easy to catch.

Sun's Cloth Shop in Songjiang Prefecture.

Sun Maocai stood behind the counter, a bolt of cloth in front of him. It was Songjiang cloth he had woven himself, with distinct warp and weft, and a thick, substantial feel. He had personally overseen every step of the process, from cotton to spinning to weaving.

"Sir, this is truly cloth woven by my own family."

The officer standing opposite him didn't look at him; he was looking at the list in his hand.

"Sun Maocai, someone has reported that you are selling smuggled Song cloth as Songjiang cloth. By order of the Prefect, Sun's Cloth Shop has been shut down, all the cloth has been seized, and the personnel have been brought back to the yamen for questioning."

Sun Maocai's hand trembled slightly.

"Who reported it?"

The officer looked up at him but did not answer.

"To ask such a difficult question shows a complete lack of consideration for the imperial court."

Two bailiffs had already entered the backyard and begun carrying cloth out. One bolt after another, they piled up at the entrance like a small mountain.

Qiao'er ran out from the backyard and saw the cloth being moved away; her face turned pale instantly.

"Father! Ah-Kuan and Ah-Gui have been arrested!"

Sun Maocai closed his eyes.

Despite being treated so unfairly, Sun Maocai felt no grief or indignation.

Because he did indeed use Song cloth; otherwise, he would have gone bankrupt long ago.

However, he bought Song cloth from Song merchants and transported it to his own shop, where it was sold as Songjiang cloth. He survived for so long by using the gimmick that if you didn't buy Songjiang cloth, you weren't a Songjiang native.

Alas, the officials are indeed too clever.

You can see right through him at a glance.

When the news reached Tianfu, Zhu Di was very satisfied.

In less than a month, the four coastal prefectures reported seventeen cases of "Song cloth smuggling uncovered," more than twenty cloth shops were shut down, and more than thirty "unscrupulous merchants" were arrested.

Zhu Di wrote "Good" on the memorial, then asked Ji Gang, "Were all those arrested Song merchants?"

Ji Gang knelt on the ground and pondered for a long time.

"Your Majesty, most of those arrested are local cloth merchants."

Zhu Di paused, his pen still.

"A local fabric merchant?"

"Yes. The real Song merchants... I'm still investigating."

Zhu Di's face instantly darkened.

"I refuse to believe that all my officials are involved in smuggling!"

"It has been decided that if smuggling is discovered in a certain area and no official reports it, all officials in that area will be convicted of smuggling!"

The imperial decree was sent to Quanzhou.

Prefect Liu Wenzhao sat in the main seat, a copy of the imperial edict spread out in front of him. The room was filled with the prefectural judge, the judge, and the county magistrate.

Smuggling rings from Quanzhou gathered together.

"Your Majesty's move is still too ruthless. Some officials who weren't involved in smuggling have already started investigating it to avoid being implicated. Prefect, should we temporarily halt smuggling?"

It's stopped?

Will they continue to receive the Ming Dynasty's official paper money and in-kind stipends?

The prefect stroked his beard and said softly, "How about this? Since we're going to investigate smuggling, let's investigate it thoroughly. A short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one. Let's just let Quanzhou descend into chaos this time. Consider it a piece of flesh rotting on my Great Ming Dynasty. Once this piece of flesh rots, it'll be time to squeeze out the festering sore that is the Chen faction."

The judge said, "The Ming Dynasty has reached a critical juncture of life and death. If we allow treacherous officials like the Chen faction, who only know how to flatter the emperor, to control the court, our Ming Dynasty will be in danger of collapse."

The prefect praised, "Indeed, only by returning to a situation where the emperor and the scholar-officials share the world can we regain our integrity, and only then can the Ming Dynasty be filled with upright officials and flourish."

Prefect Liu Wenzhao pondered and said, "The strength of the Song Dynasty has proven that tyrants and sycophantic ministers cannot bring benefits to the people."

"In that case, let's ban the seas!"