Fangzhou Xier, starting with failing the art exam

"He first used the Grand Canal case to bring down Lord Huang, and now he is using the water conservancy issue to target our Ministry of Rites."

"Their intention to form cliques for personal gain and eliminate dissidents is blatantly obvious, and we...we are truly unable to eat or sleep in unease!"

His words were presented in a grand and dignified manner, both as a complaint and a test of Xun Huiming's attitude.

Xun Huiming finally put down the book in his hand, picked up the teacup beside him, and gently blew on the tea leaves floating on the surface.

"His Highness the Prince of Qin is currently enjoying great popularity, and what he is doing is all practical work."

"The work-for-relief program won over tens of thousands of people, improved water conservancy, and earned His Majesty's praise."

"At present, he enjoys the emperor's favor and the people's support, and can be said to have the advantage of favorable timing, location and popular support."

He took a sip of tea and slowly glanced at the two people in front of him.

“At this time, anyone who goes against him is going against His Majesty and against hundreds of thousands of people in the capital.”

Do you understand this principle?

Qian Yunhe and Wang Qinian's hearts sank together.

They understood the Grand Tutor's unspoken meaning: the King of Qin is now a volcano; whoever touches him will die, and I will not touch him for your sake.

Wang Qinian panicked and knelt down with a thud: "Grand Tutor! This humble official... this humble official is also doing this for the great cause of reform!"

"Over the years, in order to implement the new policies, we have offended so many old party nobles. We...we had no choice but to..."

"No other choice?" Xun Huiming interrupted him, letting out a cold laugh.

"Is it out of necessity to amass wealth, or out of necessity to form cliques?"

Wang Qinian was speechless for a moment, and cold sweat poured down his back.

Xun Huiming looked at him, his eyes eerily calm: "I told you long ago that reform is a major national policy, meant to enrich the country and strengthen its military, not for you to line your own pockets, much less for you to use the name of reform to do those despicable things!"

"Look at Huang Shih-chung, have you all forgotten what happened to him?"

Qian Yunhe's face also turned very ugly.

The Grand Tutor was both giving them a warning and drawing a line between himself and them.

"Grand Tutor, please calm your anger," Qian Yunhe said hastily, bowing deeply.

"This matter...this matter was due to our foolishness and lack of secrecy, which has tarnished the Grand Tutor's reputation and the great cause of reform."

"But now, the King of Qin is pressing us relentlessly, and Lin Yue of the Dali Temple is like a mad dog, biting indiscriminately everywhere. We..."

"What's the panic?" Xun Huiming said calmly.

"The King of Qin likes to build rivers, so let him do it. The bigger the project, the more money he spends, and the more he expands his operations, the more likely he is to make mistakes."

"What you need to do now is not to confront him head-on, but to do your own thing cleanly so that he can't find any fault with it."

He paused, then turned his gaze to Wang Qinian and said meaningfully, "Some things should be thrown away, and some people should be shut up forever."

"If you don't clean up your mess, even a god can't save you."

Wang Qinian trembled; he understood the murderous intent in the Grand Tutor's words.

This is a ploy to sacrifice the pawn to save the king, and to get rid of all the people and things who know the truth.

"As for the Dali Temple..." Xun Huiming picked up his teacup and took another sip.

"Lin Yue is a stubborn fool who only believes in his own principles; he's nothing to be afraid of."

"He needs evidence to investigate a case. What can he do to you without evidence?"

Qian Yunhe felt somewhat relieved, but still asked with unease, "Grand Tutor, are we just going to... just stand by and watch the Prince of Qin infiltrate the Ministry of Rites?"

Xun Huiming smiled and said, "He's just a prince, in charge of water conservancy. Could he really have any influence over the performance evaluations and promotions in your Ministry of Rites?"

"The imperial court is, after all, a place where rules apply."

He walked to the window, looked at the century-old locust tree with its lush branches and leaves in the courtyard, and said thoughtfully, "The King of Qin is still too young."

"He thought that by doing a few practical things and winning the hearts of the people, he could be invincible."

"He doesn't understand."

"The will of the people is like water; it can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."

"The more fun he has now, the greater the price he will have to pay in the future."

"You may go back now," Xun Huiming waved his hand, dismissing them.

"Remember my words, manage your own people, clean up your own messes, and don't come crying to me when the fire is already burning your eyebrows."

Qian Yunhe and Wang Qinian felt as if they had been granted a pardon. After bowing respectfully, they retreated in a disheveled state.

Watching their hasty departure, Xun Huiming's eyes revealed undisguised contempt.

A bunch of idiots.

How could he not know about the cheating in the imperial examinations?

He not only knew about it, but he was even happy to see it happen.

It should be noted that water that is too clear will have no fish.

He Yueyi needs these people to amass wealth, to do favors, and to act as his henchmen.

But he would never allow these lackeys to be so stupid as to let someone catch them by the tail and then try to drag him down with them.

King Yanxi of Qin...

Xun Huiming narrowed his eyes.

This second prince truly surprised him.

From the Grand Canal case to the work-for-relief program, and now to the State Water Resources Bureau, each step is meticulously planned and executed with a shrewdness that belies his early twenties.

In particular, the saying "It is better to fill the bellies of the people than to silence them" hits the nail on the head regarding the fundamentals of politics.

This boy is much more difficult to deal with than his older brother, who only knows how to compete.

But so what?

Xun Huiming returned to his desk and picked up the ancient book again.

The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it.

The more powerful you, King of Qin, are now, the deeper the thorn in His Majesty's heart will grow.

For any emperor, a prince who can easily stir up trouble throughout the city and win the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people is not a good thing.

He doesn't have to do anything.

All he had to do was watch quietly as the King of Qin rose to the top of his prestige, and then wait for him to fall from that peak.

He believed that day was not far off.

……

Dali Temple.

His Highness the King of Qin's order has been conveyed through Yang Wei: investigate the Hanlin Academy, but be careful about the impact.

Lin Yue understood His Highness's meaning.

Hanlin Pavilion is the money bag for the fraud ring, but it is also a hornet's nest.

The sheer size of the black market business it was able to conduct in Beijing speaks volumes about the powerful and entrenched forces behind it.

A hasty seizure could not only result in nothing but also provoke a backlash and obstruction from numerous forces.

We must have a legitimate reason for our actions, and use open strategies to counter open strategies.

"Guards!" Lin Yue ordered in a deep voice.

A capable-looking temple official immediately pushed open the door and entered: "What are your orders, sir?"

"Issue my order: effective immediately, the Dali Temple, in conjunction with the Ministry of Revenue and the Jingzhao Prefecture, will conduct a comprehensive tax audit of all shops in the city that deal in antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and luxury goods."

The temple official was taken aback: "Tax inspection?"

"Your Excellency, this...this seems to fall within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue and the Tax Bureau. If our Court of Judicial Review intervenes, I'm afraid..."

"Is there something wrong?" Lin Yue looked at him coldly.

"The major corruption case involving the Grand Canal has just been concluded. Don't you all know how much of the huge sums of money embezzled by Huang Shizhong, the Minister of Revenue, flowed into his pocket through these so-called 'elegant bribes'?"

“I suspect that a large number of shops in the city are involved in assisting officials in money laundering and tax evasion, thereby jeopardizing the national tax base. This is no longer a simple tax issue; it is now a serious criminal case!”

"Our Dali Temple was ordered to rectify the canal transport and thoroughly investigate corruption. Now that we've followed the clues and found these shops, what's wrong with that?"

He spoke with such confidence and assertiveness that he directly addressed the issue as a matter of national importance.

The temple official broke out in a cold sweat and dared not utter a single word of doubt.

"Yes! This subordinate understands!"

"When you go to the Ministry of Revenue and the Capital Prefecture to deliver the message, be firm in your tone," Lin Yue continued to instruct.

"Tell them that this is the follow-up to the Grand Canal transport case personally overseen by His Highness Prince Qin. Anyone who dares to disobey is going against His Highness Prince Qin and is an accomplice of Huang Shizhong!"

"Have them immediately select their most capable accountants and tax collectors to form a joint inspection team, and start the operation first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Yes!" The temple official accepted the order and hurriedly left.

Lin Yue's lips curled into a smile.

He knew, of course, that the Ministry of Revenue and the Capital Prefecture must have the protection of the Hanlin Academy.

But once he was labeled as the Qin King's supervisor and Huang Shizhong's accomplice, no one dared to openly obstruct him.

At most, they could only secretly tip off the enemy or send some of their own people to infiltrate the inspection team.

But this was exactly what Lin Yue wanted.

What he wanted was to stir up trouble and alert the enemy.

……

Early the next morning, more than a dozen inspection teams, composed of constables from the Dali Temple, tax officials from the Ministry of Revenue, and yamen runners from the Jingzhao Prefecture, set off from their respective yamen offices in a grand procession to the major luxury goods trading venues in the city.

The entire wealthy business community in Beijing was in an uproar.

The Hanlin Academy was naturally the first to be affected.

When four or five teams of inspectors, totaling thirty or forty people, simultaneously flooded into the elegant hall of Hanlin Pavilion, the manager, who was entertaining guests, turned green with rage.

"Sir, sir! What is this?"

"Our shop has always been law-abiding and pays taxes on time. Is there some misunderstanding?" The shopkeeper bowed while frantically trying to wink at his employee.

The leader of the team was Wang Wu, Lin Yue's trusted confidant.

With a stern, unyielding face, he waved the inspection warrant in his hand:

"Misunderstanding? We received a report that the Hanlin Pavilion is suspected of tax evasion, falsifying accounts, and assisting in money laundering. We are here to investigate on the orders of the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review."

"Shopkeeper, bring out all your shop's account books for the past three years."

"This...this..." The shopkeeper was sweating profusely.

"Sir, the shop's accounts are all in the accounting room in the back... Why don't you come to a private room for a cup of tea first, and I'll have someone go and get them right away?"

"No need for tea," Wang Wu waved his hand.

"Brothers, half of you guard the front and back doors, and don't let anyone in or out!"

"The other half, come with me to the accounting office! Manager, could you please lead the way?"

The shopkeeper's face turned ashen; he knew he couldn't escape this ordeal today.

He dared not say another word and could only lead the way, trembling as he went.

The inspection team quickly took control of the accounting office.

Several experienced accountants sent by the Ministry of Revenue plunged into the mountain of account books, their abacus beads clicking away.

Wang Wu, accompanied by men from the Dali Temple, toured the shop, ostensibly to "check the inventory," but in reality to observe the layout and search for any possible secret rooms or hidden compartments.

The inspection lasted from morning until evening.

The manager of Hanlin Pavilion was as restless as an ant on a hot pan.

He tried several times to find an opportunity to send someone out to deliver the message, but Wang Wu's men stopped him without making a sound.