After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Liu Zhi's voice was firm and resolute.

In an instant, the sound of people getting up echoed throughout the hall.

About half of the ministers bowed and shouted, "We second that proposal."

Another small group of officials said, "Your Highness, you must not," while another small group, led by Sun Chengshan, the Grand Tutor of the Eastern Palace, remained silent.

Zhu Cuiwei glanced indifferently at the assembled officials below, pursed her pink lips, and remained silent.

Liu Zhi said with a sigh, "Your Highness, we have been discussing this for nearly two hours. We have made the advantages and disadvantages of Baiyufang very clear."

"Ning Baixuan, as a staff member of Grand Tutor Gu, did indeed relieve the cotton merchants' financial difficulties for a time by establishing the Baiyufang. The deposit paid to the cotton merchants of Songjiang, Suzhou and Jiaxing allowed them and various merchant groups to have money to dredge waterways and clear roads, and to hire long-term and short-term workers to pick cotton in a timely manner."

"But as Grand Tutor Gu said, we have no way to resolve the ten evils of Baiyufang."

"Even without considering hoarding and speculation, neither the imperial court nor Ning Baixuan personally can afford to pay high prices for cotton several months from now. If anything goes wrong, many cotton merchants will not receive cash, and hundreds of thousands of cotton farmers will have nothing to show for their labor. The cotton industry in Jiangnan will be thrown into chaos. Therefore, from today onwards, Baiyufang must be shut down. If this continues, Jiangnan will inevitably be thrown into turmoil."

talking.

Liu Zhi sighed, "Ning Baixuan is too focused on personal gain. After buying cotton, he hoards it months in advance using promissory notes, then sells the notes to get cash. He then uses the cash as a deposit to continue buying on a large scale. If he had stopped there, it would have been fine."

"But after Baiyufang sold so many promissory notes, it allowed the holders of the promissory notes to trade with each other, which is extremely wrong."

"He is trying to get the whole world to hoard and speculate, so that the price of cotton will skyrocket. But in the end, because the people can no longer afford the price of cotton cloth, the price will surely fall. At that time, the people will have no cloth to wear, the cloth merchants will have no cotton to weave, and the cotton merchants will have no money to collect. Then the world will be in chaos."

Secondly,

Liu Zhi sighed,

"The fluctuating prices of these promissory notes are just the second of the ten major harms mentioned by Grand Tutor Gu. Merchants are pursuing profits, and many have lost their fortunes, which will surely cause public resentment to boil over."

"If the court only shuts down Baiyufang but doesn't execute Ning Baixuan, the people's resentment will be difficult to quell. The money Ning Baixuan owes will also be left unpaid. This is not me following Cao Cao's example by executing the grain official, but rather out of desperation..."

Instantly, the assembled officials, led by Junior Chamberlain Chen Yuezhi, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I second your opinion," "What Liu Zhongyun said is absolutely right," "The people's resentment is too great," "Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it," "Ning Baixuan brought this upon himself; Liu Zhongyun need not say more."

The Crown Prince's advisor, Xu Longdao, looked anxious and stepped forward, quickly clasping his hands in a fist and saying, "Your Highness, Liu Zhongyun is mistaken."

Xu Longdao said in a heavy voice, "If you ask me, Ning Baixuan's Baiyufang has truly made a great contribution to the nation!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of cold laughter erupted in the hall.

"May I ask, Xu Zanshan, what is Ning Baixuan's great achievement?"

"Is the hoarding and speculation a hoarding scheme?"

"Could the dramatic rise and fall in promissory note prices be a hoax?"

"Xu Zanshan's family must have bought a lot of promissory notes!"

Faced with these sarcastic remarks, Xu Longdao remained dignified and fearless, saying, "Your Highness, gentlemen, to be honest, I come from Songjiang Prefecture, and my family were cotton farmers in my early years. I know firsthand the suffering of cotton farmers... Floods, insect plagues, and droughts—if one of these occurs in a year, it is a bountiful year. If two of these occur, my sisters and I will surely starve to death."

"After Xu Longdao became an official, he also racked his brains trying to figure out how to help cotton farmers escape this suffering."

He bowed to Zhu Cuiwei and said, "But I am foolish and have not been able to find a solution for many years. It was only after seeing Baiyufang, which was willing to sign large-scale purchase contracts at high prices and pay deposits to help cotton merchants during the famine, that I saw a glimmer of hope."

Liu Zhi said, "Xu Zanshang, if it weren't for this Baiyufang, wouldn't the cloth merchants buy cotton? Wouldn't they pay a deposit? Ning Baixuan paid a 10% deposit at the beginning! Isn't that being a profiteer?"

"But he paid a deposit that was more than five times the price!" Xu Long flung his sleeves, raised his eyebrows, and retorted angrily, "The usual price of cotton is twenty coins. Ning Baixuan bought cotton for one hundred coins, paying a 10% deposit... It seems like 10%, but he actually paid a ten-coin deposit! That far exceeds the usual deposit for cotton farmers!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.

"Gentlemen," Xu Long sighed, "you all think too highly of cloth merchants! And too poorly of cotton farmers! You really think that when natural disasters strike, it becomes a good time for us cotton farmers to make a fortune!"

"Xu can confidently tell everyone that without Baiyufang, what would these cloth merchants do? They would indeed sign some purchase contracts first, but not many. They would test the cotton merchants' bottom line step by step to drive down the price. What bottom line? It would be the bottom line of cotton farmers suffering heavy losses."

"The greater the losses, the less you can afford to raise prices at this time, because you need to deposit money to buy grain and cloth, to have rice to cook, to pay for medical treatment for the elderly and children in your family, to repair houses destroyed by floods, and to get through the current difficulties... Cloth merchants will gradually lower prices, and cotton farmers, seeing that the cotton in the fields is about to ripen, need money to harvest the cotton and to clear the roads, have no choice but to sign low-price cotton supply contracts early on..."

After earnestly explaining the plight of the cotton farmers, Xu Longdao took a deep breath, glanced at Liu Zhi, and sneered, "Liu Zhongyun, at least in my opinion, Ning Baixuan is not as heinous as you say."

Liu Zhi's eyes widened for a moment, his lips moved, but in the end he lowered his eyes and did not refute.

Junior Chamberlain Chen Yuezhi coldly chuckled and said, "Xu Zanshan, the difficulties you mentioned regarding cotton farmers are other matters, not relevant to today's discussion. You want to preserve Baiyufang, but do you have a solution to the ten major harms proposed by Grand Tutor Gu? Although the court can issue decrees prohibiting others from imitating these practices to eliminate the fifth and eighth harms, we will leave aside the first harm of hoarding and speculation, the tenth harm of obstructing the spread of the sage's teachings throughout the land... and so on. But what about the other harms? Do you have a solution to those?" Chen Yuezhi questioned coldly.

Xu Longdao's face darkened, and after struggling for a moment, he sighed and pursed his lips.

At this moment, Zhu Cuiwei, seated at the head of the table, raised her chin, looked at the silent Grand Tutor of the Eastern Palace, Sun Chengshan, and said calmly, "Grand Tutor Sun, what are your thoughts on Baiyufang and Ning Baixuan?"

Sun Chengshan solemnly cupped his hands and said, "The Grand Tutor has said that although Baiyufang has ten major problems, Ning Baixuan is also a promising talent. He requests that the court send someone to Baiyufang to discuss things with him first. This is why we sent people to post notices. In my opinion, we should talk to Ning Baixuan first."

The officials looked displeased and inwardly unhappy. Several even let out a few cold snorts, feeling that Grand Tutor Gu was too contradictory. On the one hand, he was making a big fuss about the ten major harms of Baiyufang, and on the other hand, he was telling the court to talk to Ning Baixuan properly first. He was extremely contradictory. Moreover, what was there to talk about with a commoner like him?

However, everyone had to respect the Grand Tutor's (later the Minister of Personnel) orders, especially since Ning Baixuan was the Grand Tutor's advisor. This was another point of contention. He was clearly the Grand Tutor's advisor; Bai Yufang had problems, yet instead of covering it up or helping him rectify them, the Grand Tutor openly submitted memorials, making it difficult for everyone to choose sides. It was unclear what this future Minister of Personnel was really thinking.

Seeing that the Heavenly Official spoke of the Ten Evils of the White Jade Pavilion with such earnestness and resolve, one could only conclude that the advisor seemed somewhat out of control. Grand Tutor Gu seemed to want to distance himself from the matter, so, going along with the Grand Tutor's wishes, it was best to simply execute him. There was nothing to discuss. It was just a formality. Everyone exchanged glances; their thoughts were roughly the same. Ultimately, the people in this palace held the final say in this matter.

Zhu Cuiwei, who was seated at the head of the table, thought for a moment.

It was said that Junior Chamberlain Chen Yuezhi had been busy with the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet recently and was too tired, so Liu Zhi and Xu Longdao had been replaced by Chen Yuezhi to go to Baiyufang tonight. Chen Yuezhi bowed and accepted the order, saying gratefully, "Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness." Zhu Cuiwei then adjourned the meeting, and everyone immediately stood up and bowed to accept the order.

Zhu Cuiwei let everyone go ahead, leaving Liu Zhi and Xu Longdao in the hall.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Liu Zhi and Xu Longdao came out. The ministers who were gathered in twos and threes outside the hall discussing some matters looked over, but before they could speak, they frowned. They noticed that the two men who came out were staring blankly and their faces were ashen.