Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

"Ouyang Chun?"

Pei Yuan pondered the name carefully, then suddenly chuckled softly.

There is never a shortage of such stubborn and inflexible young men in the imperial court.

He thought that by holding the laws of the Ming Dynasty in his hands, he could right all injustices in this corrupt officialdom.

He probably felt that Pei Yuan, the imperial envoy, held absolute power in Jiangnan and wanted to use the seizure of merchant ships as an excuse.

To earn a reputation for being fearless in the face of power and for speaking out against injustice.

"That's interesting."

Pei Yuan stood up and stretched.

"I've been stuck in the garden these past few days, I'm practically rusting. Since this Lord Ouyang is so devoted to his duty..."

"As the imperial envoy in charge of Jiangnan, if I don't go and meet this upright and promising scholar, it would seem that I don't know how to treat guests."

Pei Yuan gave instructions to Lu Zheng.

"Prepare the sedan chair. Head to Longjiang Wharf. I'm going to meet this iron-faced censor."

At 3:45 AM, at Longjiang Wharf.

At this moment, the dock was clearly divided, and the atmosphere was tense and confrontational.

On one side were piles of sacks and wooden crates, filled with priceless foreign spices.

Hundreds of dockworkers and merchant clerks stood anxiously to one side, wringing their hands.

On the other side, a young official dressed in a blue official robe of the seventh rank stood proudly in the middle of the pier.

This man was in his early thirties, with a thin face and sharp eyes; he was none other than Ouyang Chun, the newly appointed Nanjing Censor.

He was followed by a dozen or so constables, who were holding fire and water sticks and completely blocked the official road leading into the city.

"Lord Ouyang, please have mercy! The weather is gloomy, and it looks like it's about to rain. If these spices get wet, it'll be a loss of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver!"

A shopkeeper pleaded desperately.

Ouyang Chun snorted coldly, flicked his wide sleeves, and rebuked him with righteous indignation.

"You unscrupulous merchants, shut your mouths! The laws of the Ming Dynasty stipulate that not even a single plank of wood is allowed to go to sea. Your illegal construction of massive ships to travel to uncivilized lands and establish trade with foreign nations is a capital offense!"

"Now you've brought back such a massive quantity of strange and ingenious crafts, attempting to evade customs duties from the Maritime Trade Office. As the eyes and ears of the court, how can I tolerate your lawlessness beneath the walls of Nanjing!"

"Even if the sky falls today, not a single ounce of this shipment will be taken away!"

Ouyang Chun's loud voice drew the attention of the onlookers.

He secretly rejoiced, thinking that as long as he could withstand the pressure, he would surely become famous overnight.

Let those bigwigs in the capital see my integrity.

Just now.

A commotion suddenly broke out on the outskirts of the crowd.

Accompanied by the menacing shouts of the Imperial Guards clearing the way, a large sedan chair carried by eight strong men slowly came to a stop outside the dock.

"The Imperial Envoy has arrived!"

Lu Zheng's loud voice echoed over the dock.

The merchants and laborers who heard this voice felt as if they had seen a savior.

They all knelt down, making way for a wide passage.

Ouyang Chun frowned, feeling somewhat apprehensive.

But he still maintained a haughty demeanor and stood still.

The sedan curtain was lifted.

Pei Yuan, dressed in a crimson casual robe, still holding the Xiangfei bamboo folding fan in his hand, stepped out of the sedan chair with leisurely steps.

The dozen or so Imperial Guards behind him each had their hands on their sword hilts, exuding a murderous aura.

Pei Yuan walked slowly to Ouyang Chunmian and stopped three steps away.

His deep gaze swept over the newly appointed scholar, a playful smile playing on his lips.

"This must be Lord Ouyang. I heard the docks are quite lively here, so I came to take a look."

"What's wrong, Lord Ouyang? Why are you abandoning the tea in the yamen to come here and brave the cold wind at the river mouth? Do you find the scenery at this dock particularly beautiful?"

Ouyang Chun took a deep breath, straightened his back, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, and spoke in a stiff tone.

"I, Ouyang Chun, a supervising secretary in Nanjing, have met with Governor Pei. I am not here to enjoy the scenery, but to seize this batch of overseas goods suspected of being smuggled, in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty."

"Instead of enjoying his retirement at Xichun Garden, Governor Pei has come to this dock. Is he perhaps trying to bend the law for personal gain and support these unscrupulous merchants?"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding merchants all gasped in shock.

This hothead really dares to say anything.

How dare they accuse this living devil of bending the law for personal gain to his face!

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan not only did not get angry, but instead snapped his folding fan shut and burst into laughter.

"Abuse of power for personal gain? Lord Ouyang, you've certainly nailed that accusation to the table."

Pei Yuan tapped his palm lightly with the ribs of his fan and walked around Ouyang Chun once.

"Lord Ouyang, you keep quoting the Ming Dynasty law. Then I'd like to ask you, whose flag are these merchant ships flying?"

Ouyang Chun replied coldly, "The banners hanging here are naturally those of the major merchants in Jiangnan."

"wrong."

Pei Yuan stopped and pointed with his folding fan at the thirty large ships moored on the river.

On the tallest masts of those merchant ships, besides the flags of their respective companies, hung a large black flag with the character "Ming" in gold lettering.

The flag is edged with gold, representing the naval escort.

"Those ships were flying the escort flags of the Ming Dynasty navy."

Pei Yuan's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"The ships escorted by the Ming Dynasty navy are equivalent to the official ships of the imperial court. Lord Ouyang said they are suspected of smuggling."

"What, are you implying that the Ming navy under my command is leading these merchants to engage in such shady dealings?"

Ouyang Chun was speechless for a moment, his face turning bright red.

He was naturally aware of the trickery behind the escort flag, but it was, after all, a means of accumulating wealth tacitly approved by the emperor.

If he were to publicly accuse the navy of smuggling, he would be insulting the emperor as well.

He can't afford to take that charge.

Even... even with naval escort.

Ouyang Chun gritted his teeth and stubbornly argued his case.

"But according to the law, they should have paid heavy taxes to the Maritime Trade Office for bringing back such a huge quantity of spices. This blatant unloading is clearly an act of tax evasion!"

Pei Yuan shook his head helplessly as he looked at Ouyang Chun's stubborn expression.

He walked up to the pile of spice chests that looked like a small mountain and patted one of them.

"Tax evasion? Lord Ouyang, do you even know what's inside these boxes?"

"Naturally, it's spices like pepper and sappanwood!"

Ouyang Chun answered confidently.

Pei Yuan turned around, looked at Ouyang Chun, and a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes.

"Lord Ouyang, your judgment is still too shallow. This box doesn't contain any spices."

Pei Yuan suddenly raised his voice, which was as loud as a bell and resounded throughout the entire dock.

"These thirty ships of goods are imperial items, purchased by order of His Majesty on behalf of the Imperial Treasury!"

"It's royal property that the Emperor intends to use to reward his concubines and renovate the palaces!"

These words caused an uproar in the room.

Merchants like Wan Dafu were taken aback at first, but then suddenly realized what was going on.

Your Excellency is blatantly misrepresenting the facts, forcibly cloaking a merchant's private goods in the guise of royal goods!

Since 30% of the profits went to the emperor.

If this batch of goods is labeled "for official use," who would dare to say a word against it?