Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

Li Si's lips trembled slightly, as if he were having a fierce internal struggle.

A moment later, as if he had made up his mind, he suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot.

"Your Highness! You must stand up for us sailors!" he cried hoarsely, tears welling up instantly.

He knelt on the ground and began to weep.

Let's start with the numerous and varied fees levied on the canal transport.

There are dozens of fees, such as gate opening fees, inspection fees, berthing fees, and cleaning fees.

Each hurdle you overcome requires you to be skinned alive.

He also mentioned the overbearing nature of the Tongda Chamber of Commerce.

Their people are like dragons on the canal, forcing people to buy and sell, and beating them severely if they don't comply.

Their ships can ram and crash, while other ships have to obediently give way.

“In the past, they only wanted money, and we tolerated it, considering it a loss to avoid further trouble.” Li Si’s voice was filled with grief and indignation.

"But now, they want our lives!"

“My poor brother… just because he accidentally brushed against the side of one of their Tongda Merchant Guild’s ships while unloading cargo, and their manager saw it, and then…”

"They beat him to death with their oars!"

"The government? The government is in cahoots with them! Reporting to the authorities is just sending yourself to your death!"

He lay on the ground, wailing loudly, his cries sounding particularly mournful in the quiet night.

Yang Wei stood to the side, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

Lacey listened quietly without interrupting him.

He let Li Si vent his grief and anger to his heart.

Only after Li Si's crying gradually subsided did Lacey slowly speak: "I will not let your brother die in vain."

Li Si raised his bloodshot eyes and looked at Lai Xi.

Then, with trembling hands, he pulled out a small bag tightly wrapped in oilcloth from his inner clothing.

With his hands trembling like a leaf, he unwrapped the oilcloth layer by layer, revealing a booklet with a worn-out cover.

"Your Highness...this is...this is the evidence of their crimes!" Li Si held the ledger high above his head.

“I…I used to manage accounts in the canal gang, so I kept an eye out for things.”

“Over the past few years, I have secretly kept a record of every single donation I made, who it was given to, how much it was, and the goods that were stolen from me.”

"I originally intended to keep it, just in case it came in handy someday... I never expected it would be used to avenge my brother..."

Yang Wei stepped forward, took the ledger, and presented it to Laisi.

Lacey took the booklet.

He opened the booklet, by the dim light of the kerosene lamp.

The first page is filled with densely packed text.

"On the fifth day of the third month of the year XX, I passed through the Tongzhou tax checkpoint and presented the chief official, Lord Zhang, with three hundred taels of silver."

"On the nineteenth of March, the fleet arrived at the dock outside Baizao City. Liu, the inspector of the Ministry of Revenue, took twenty bolts of top-quality silk."

"On the first day of the fourth month, Manager Zhou of the Tongda Chamber of Commerce took away one thousand taels of silver under the guise of a cooperation fee."

……

Stroke by stroke, line by line.

The time, place, people, and amount were all recorded clearly.

From a minor tax collector in the local area to a high-ranking official in one of the Six Ministries in the capital, and then to various managers of the Tongda Chamber of Commerce.

Lacey's breath caught in her throat for a moment.

He knew the canal system was murky, but he never imagined it had deteriorated to this extent!

This ledger was more important than he had imagined.

It's enough to drag half the officials in the court down with it!

He closed the ledger, looked at Li Si with an extremely solemn expression.

"Li Si, you've done a tremendous good deed," Lacey said, emphasizing each word.

"I assure you, not a single person listed in this ledger will escape."

"From this moment forward, the safety of you and your family will be the responsibility of the Qin Prince's Mansion."

"Once this matter is settled, I will give you a sum of money and send you to a place where no one knows you, so you can start your lives anew."

Upon hearing Lai Xi's promise, Li Si was so moved that he burst into tears, repeatedly kowtowing and saying, "Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness!"

Lacey helped him up and handed him over to Yang Wei.

"Take him away and make sure he is properly cared for."

"Remember, he is our most important witness; we cannot afford to make any mistakes!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

After Yang Wei left with Li Si, only Lai Xi remained at the ferry crossing.

He opened the ledger again, the night wind rustling the pages.

He can't rush.

He needs to investigate every single node on this network thoroughly.

Then wait for the most opportune moment, a moment that will allow the bomb to unleash its maximum power while minimizing harm to innocent people.

……

Wherever the sun and moon reach, it is scorching earth: Chapter 242: Storytelling in the teahouse, public resentment boils over.

Baizao, Nancheng, Yuelai Teahouse.

The afternoon sun lazily spilled into the noisy lobby.

Tea drinkers gathered in small groups, cracking melon seeds, sipping coarse tea, and chatting animatedly about the latest happenings in the capital.

The most lively place in the hall was the small stage in the very center.

A storyteller, dressed in a gray long gown and with a thin face, was holding a gavel and slowly clearing his throat.

He is a newcomer who has suddenly become popular in the last few days. His surname is Wang. He tells stories vividly and is especially good at telling strange and unusual stories from the streets.

This man was Yang Wei's trusted confidant, whom he had carefully selected and placed according to Lai Xi's instructions.

He was originally a scout in the army, with an excellent ability to read people's expressions. When he imitated the storyteller's tone, he was seven or eight parts similar, enough to fool the real person.

With a sharp "smack," the gavel slammed heavily onto the table.

The noisy hall fell silent instantly, and everyone's eyes were focused on the stage.

Mr. Wang cleared his throat: "Ladies and gentlemen, today we will not talk about the great achievements of kings and generals, nor about the ethereal and illusory gods and ghosts."

"Let's talk about something that happened outside Baizhao City, something that happened around us."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the room, building up the anticipation, before slowly beginning to speak: "Speaking of which, ten miles outside the city, there is a vegetable farmer named Chen, the fifth in his family. Everyone calls him Chen Laowu."

"This Chen Laowu is an honest and simple farmer who has spent his whole life tending to his small vegetable garden."

"This year the weather has been favorable, and the vegetables in his field are growing plump, large, and lush green, which is a delightful sight."

A man dressed as a vegetable farmer in the audience nodded in agreement after hearing this.

Chen Laowu was thinking to himself that if he took this truckload of vegetables to the city to sell, he could use the money to buy some life-saving medicine for his sick little girl at home.

"But who would have thought that he set off before dawn, pushing a cart full of vegetables, and finally arrived at the canal wharf, ready to cross the river into the city, only to be stopped!"

The storyteller's tone shifted, taking on a touch of melancholy.

"Do you know who stopped him? It was the tax collector from the newly established Transport Commissioner's Office!"

"The tax collector didn't even lift his eyelids, and said that Chen Laowu's vegetables were of poor quality, so they could only be priced as old and rotten vegetables, and he would have to pay an extra river crossing tax!"

"Old Chen panicked, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying that this was the money to save his daughter's life!"

"But the tax collector didn't care about any of that. He kicked Chen Laowu so hard he fell over, cursing and swearing that he didn't know what was good for him!"

"Hey! These damn bastards!" someone in the audience couldn't help but curse out.

“That’s not all!” Mr. Wang exclaimed.

"In the midst of the scuffle, a large ship belonging to the Tongda Chamber of Commerce crashed into the shore. The ship's manager, annoyed that Chen Laowu's cart was blocking the way, ordered his men to overturn the entire cart full of vegetables into the murky canal without saying a word!"

"Those lush green vegetable leaves just swirled around in the water a few times and then sank..."

"Old Chen watched helplessly as those weren't just vegetables, they were his daughter's life!"

"He was stunned on the spot, sat on the ground, and cried like a child."

"In the end, they didn't get to buy the medicine, nor did they get any vegetables. They were even kicked half to death by the tax collectors and thugs from the Chamber of Commerce and left on the dock."

At this point in the story, Mr. Wang paused, picked up his teacup, and silently took a sip.

A moment later, someone in the teahouse sighed, instantly igniting the oppressive atmosphere.

"This is exactly what happened to my cousin-in-law!" A man slammed his hand on the table, his eyes red.

"His entire shipload of grain was detained at the dock for three days and went moldy because he didn't pay enough for the inspection fee!"

"That's not all! My neighbor, Butcher Zhang, had his meat stall confiscated because he didn't pay tribute to the transport commissioner. They accused him of selling diseased meat!"

"He's still in jail!"

"Those people from the Tongda Chamber of Commerce are even worse!"

“They control the canal. Our small merchants’ boats are practically skinned alive just to get through a checkpoint! Their boats can go about their business with impunity!”

"I can't live this life!"

"In the past, the government did collect taxes, but at least there were rules and regulations. These people are simply robbing us outright!"

Immediately, the teahouse was filled with agitation, with complaints and curses rising and falling.

Chen Laowu's story ignited the long-suppressed anger in everyone's hearts.

Because everyone realized that Chen Laowu was not a single person; each of them, more or less, was "Chen Laowu".

Meanwhile, in taverns and street corners throughout the capital, deliberately leaked wall poems and anonymous short articles quietly began to circulate.

The text does not name any high-ranking officials, but uses euphemistic language to record how some tax collectors extorted money and how some officials accepted bribes at the canal wharves.

The numbers are small, but each and every one of them is closely related to people's daily lives.

This undercurrent of public opinion, formed by stories and rumors, quickly fermented and spread throughout Baizhao City.

The people's discontent gradually turned against the newly established Transport Commissioner's Office after the reform, and against the corrupt officials who used the name of reform to carry out exploitation.

……

The Palace of the King of Wu.

The Third Prince Yan Wen listened to his confidant's report with a livid face, his teacup creaking in his hand.

"Telling stories in a teahouse again! Spreading rumors again!" He slammed his teacup to the ground, shards of porcelain flying everywhere.

"Yan Lao Er! It must be him!"

"We haven't even settled accounts with Qinghe County yet, and he's already pulling this stunt!"

"What is he trying to do? Does he want to cause a huge upheaval?"

Since the Qinghe County case, Yan Wen has been severely weakened and has become extremely cautious in his actions.

At this moment, rumors about the canal transport resurfaced, and he was like a frightened bird, his first reaction being that Lacey was up to no good behind the scenes.

He feared that the fire would spread along the canal and eventually burn down his own shady businesses.

"Your Highness, please calm down!" a trusted advisor quickly urged.

"Although this matter is strange, the main culprit is the Transport Commissioner's Office and Grand Tutor Xun's reforms. Grand Tutor Xun is a man of His Highness the Prince of Wei."