Li San continuously organized the intelligence sent by the secret guards, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
According to the intelligence, Cao Zhengyang’s recent movements were increasingly suspicious. Now, he could basically confirm that the Cao family’s real purpose was to transfer silver.
“Fortunately, the secret guards have always had a dedicated person watching Cao Zhengyang. Otherwise, something big would happen this time.” Li San’s forehead beaded with sweat.
Although the secret guards were established by the imperial court to collect intelligence and supervise officials, with the increasing territory and number of officials, the secret guards’ manpower was now quite stretched.
Due to this reason, the secret guards abandoned some of their civilian oversight and instead focused on supervising important imperial officials and generals. He even reluctantly assigned a dedicated person to watch someone like Cao Zhengyang.
After all, compared to high-ranking and powerful officials, Cao Zhengyang was merely a minor figure.
However, this minor figure was now clearly about to undertake a major endeavor.
“Cao Zhengyang has already boarded the merchant ship heading for Dengzhou. Immediately notify the guard station to arrest Cao Zhengyang. Additionally, have them seize all of the Cao family’s businesses in the north.” Li San ordered. If action wasn’t taken soon, Cao Zhengyang might escape.
“Yes.”
The secret guard commander beside Li San responded and immediately left the secret guard office with three other men.
“You are to immediately go to Jinling Province and have the Jinling Province garrison intercept the silver.” Li San said seriously. Judging by the news from the other six prefectures, Cao Zhengyang had secretly transferred the silver from all the banks in the nearby counties.
If this batch of silver reached the State of Chu’s territory, it would severely impact the industrial and commercial development of the north. Although the Qingzhou Bank could now contend with the Cao Family Bank, many merchants, swayed by Cao Zhengyang’s persuasion, had deposited their family assets into the Cao Family Bank.
After issuing one order after another, Li San rose and headed towards the palace. He intended to report this matter to Xiao Ming.
He arrived at the imperial palace and waited outside the city for a while before being permitted to enter.
Upon reaching the imperial study, he saw Pang Yukun and Fei Ji also present.
“Your Majesty, Elder Fei, Senior Grand Secretary Pang.” Li San bowed.
Fei Ji and Pang Yukun, seeing Li San, both smiled warmly. This former royal household servant had now, in the blink of an eye, become the commander of the Great Yu Empire’s most mysterious organization, the secret guards.
It could be said that no official dared to offend him, fearing being caught by the secret guards.
“You’ve come so quickly. It seems something has truly happened with Cao Zhengyang this time,” Xiao Ming said.
Li San said frankly, “Yes, Your Majesty. I have already investigated. The Cao Family Banks in the prefectures and counties around Qingzhou Province have all transferred silver. Moreover, Cao Zhengyang is preparing to go to Dengzhou, which is very unusual. To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, I have already ordered the seizure of the Cao Family Banks and the interception of the silver being transferred by the Cao family.”
“This Cao family is truly muddled. How dare they undermine His Majesty at this moment?” Pang Yukun snorted angrily.
Fei Ji always maintained a composed demeanor. He said, “Actually, it’s not hard to understand. It’s simply the nature of merchants. As Your Majesty said, merchants are similar to nomadic people. Nomadic people move in search of water and grass, while merchants move in search of money. The Cao family initially sought refuge with Your Majesty to preserve the Cao family’s foundation. Now, seeking refuge with the Prince of Chu is also for the Cao family’s foundation. After all, the Prince of Chu’s actions now are quite significant, showing a strong tendency to govern with merchants.”
“Elder Fei is absolutely right, but this Prince of Chu is also desperately seeking any cure. Merchants are always shortsighted, only pursuing current exorbitant profits. Perhaps allowing merchants to hold power could bring about commercial prosperity in the short term, but in the long run, it will inevitably lead to inaction on national affairs due to conflicts of interest among merchants,” Pang Yukun eloquently explained.
Ever since Xiao Ming established the Son of Heaven’s Academy, these officials often attended lectures. Now, they had a deeper understanding of political systems from books, no longer confined by their previous backward feudal ideas.
Xiao Ming let the pen twirl in his hand. His gaze lingered on Fei Ji and Pang Yukun for a moment. He was very satisfied with their current progress.
He said, “I have to admit, the Prince of Chu is also a formidable figure. To defeat me, he can put aside anything. According to Wang Xuan’s intelligence, Lin’an now also presents a different kind of prosperity than Qingzhou Province. It is said that a Western-style parliament is being formed, and its speaker is Cao Kun.”
“No wonder the Cao family is willing to risk their lives for the Prince of Chu! The Prince of Chu truly dares to do such a thing! If this parliament is equivalent to a Western parliament, wouldn’t the Prince of Chu’s power also be limited by the parliament? Will the Prince of Chu agree?” Fei Ji was utterly astonished.
“The Golden Tent Khanate has been defeated. The Prince of Chu knows that His Majesty’s next target is him. Between life and power, which do you think he will choose? Moreover, even if that’s the case, the Prince of Chu can still inherit his title and enjoy wealth and glory indefinitely,” Pang Yukun frowned.
After a pause, he continued, “Your Majesty, the south is wealthy, and for a long time, the Prince of Chu’s influence has always been greater than that of the imperial family. If war truly breaks out, the common people may not side with the imperial family. Last year, Your Majesty’s request to migrate from densely populated areas to sparsely populated areas has been ineffective, and many common people are unwilling to come north. This has even led to several incidents of common people violently resisting.”
Li San nodded upon hearing this, indicating his agreement.
Xiao Ming rose and walked to the map, looking at the region south of the Yangtze River. “I indeed underestimated the Prince of Chu’s capacity to accept Western culture. In these past two or three years, the Prince of Chu has truly surprised me.”
Fei Ji smiled, “Your Majesty, the Han people of the south have another name: Hakka people. The Hakka’s origin began when Qin conquered Lingnan and assimilated the Baiyue, and after a thousand years, they have formed stable large clans. These Hakka people often trade with overseas peoples, and even thrive in places like Luzon, Malacca, and Annam. These nations established by Han people once paid tribute to the Great Yu Empire, but they have disappeared in recent centuries. This Li family of the Prince of Chu was originally from Fuzhou, and later followed the Great Ancestor to settle in Lin’an, but the Prince of Chu and places like Fuzhou have always maintained close ties.”
“I used to be confused, but now I think about it, those nations established by Han people must have been occupied by Westerners,” Pang Yukun said.
Xiao Ming naturally understood the Hakka people. They were indeed a group skilled at pioneering. But even so, it could not deter his will to unify the Great Yu Empire.
Now, the Prince of Chu and the Cao family were conspiring to launch a coordinated attack on the development of Qingzhou Province’s industry and commerce, aiming to delay Qingzhou Province’s development. He now had to crush the Cao family’s plan.
What saddened him a little was that the Prince of Chu was very clever and had left no incriminating evidence for him to seize. The Cao family’s further actions would be the Cao family’s problem, and on the surface, he was still a loyal feudal lord. He had no reason to send troops.
And sending troops under the pretext of reducing feudal lords’ power would trigger a chain reaction from the Prince of Huainan, the Prince of Yong, the Prince of Ruyang, and others, which was also something he did not wish to see.