Yang Wanli glanced at Fan Xian beside him and said, "Teacher, the Jiangnan matter has been settled. You don't have to worry too much."
His words were spoken with sincerity and sincerity. Yang Wanli had experienced more than half a year of wind and rain on the river embankment and wrangling and shirking in the River Transport Governor's yamen. He had long gradually understood the true meaning of being an official and the difficulties of the people's lives.
As an official, if they wanted to work for the people and share the burdens of the court, they had to have power and money in their hands. Otherwise, they couldn't do anything. Because Yang Wanli had Fan Xian as a backer, no superior in the Ministry of Works dared to order him around. Although the River Transport Governor's yamen was still a mess, he had the power to directly take silver from the palace treasury. Thus, in this area, no one could create obstacles for him.
He was no longer the pure young man who dared to make a ruckus at his students with a wave of his sleeves. Every time he thought of this, he deeply admired the lesson his teacher had taught him by West Lake in Hangzhou.
At this moment, the endless river embankment beneath their feet was Yang Wanli's achievements in this one year. Every time he looked at the square stones and yellow earth and the tamed river water below the embankment, his heart was always filled with fulfillment and pride. The patched clothes on his body and his dark face all became a symbol of glory.
Yang Wanli knew that the reason he was able to achieve his dreams in life was because of Minister Fan and Sir Fan junior's meticulous care and guidance. Thus, he was both happy and worried about his teacher's arrival, which was why he said the words he had said earlier.
Everyone under heaven knew that Fan Xian had been attacked on his way back to the capital. Yang Wanli was very worried about his teacher's health.
Fan Xian shook his head and looked at the river water under his feet. "It's fine. Don't think too highly of me. I am a lazy person. I won't be busy with government affairs and harm my health. As for the Jiangnan matter, the Ming family's weakness has long been grasped. Naturally, they have no power to retaliate. However, if they want to take them all in one bite, it will still be difficult."
Yang Wanli could understand the meaning behind these words. It was not difficult to take out the Ming family. What was important was the members of the royal family behind the Ming family. If he did not have to worry about the situation in the Palace, the Ming family would have long been taken out by him.
Fan Xian smiled and did not go into detail about the specific situation. He only comfortingly said, "Returning to the capital this time has been fruitful. Although the Emperor has not made up his mind to clean up the bureaucracy, the change in the court has already begun. You should have seen Cheng Jialin's name on the court bulletin."
"Yes, Brother Jia Lin is the first of the four of us to return to the imperial court." Yang Wanli said happily. The investigation into Fan Xian's assassination had ended without any results. The Qing Emperor had used the opportunity to chase away some old people and install many new people into the court. The least famous of Fan Xian's four disciples, Cheng Jialin, had met him respectfully and jumped ranks to be promoted. Presently, he was already the vice-director of the Ministry of Rites and a target of the court's training.
Fan Xian glanced at him and smiled. "Of the four of you, Jia Lin is the most silent and moderate. It is because of this that his path has been smoother than Jichang's. Of course, Jichang's problem is also mine. If I had not called him to Jiaozhou, he would not have sunk into this kind of stalemate. I just hope he doesn't blame me."
Yang Wanli shook his head and said, "Teacher, what are you saying? Jichang has also written to me about the Jiaozhou matter. This is an important matter, and only Jichang can handle it. "
Fan Xian nodded. Since the four of them knew of his painstaking efforts, then he didn't need to explain any more.
The two of them walked downstream along the long river embankment. As they walked, they chatted. Fan Xian reminded him, "I know about your matters in the river works yamen, and the court also knows. Now that the title of 'desperately working for Wan Li' has entered the Palace, it will be of great benefit to you in the future. However, you still have to remember what I said back then. For things like river works, if you know how to do it, then work hard. Don't randomly give orders for things you don't understand."
Yang Wanli smiled and replied, "After spending a year on the river embankment, even if I don't understand something, I understand a little."
Fan Xian glanced at him disapprovingly and said, "The river works are a major matter, even more important than the battles on the Western Hu and Northern Qi borders. If you only understand a little, how can this little be enough to support you to say such confident words?"
Yang Wanli immediately understood and shamefully accepted the lesson.
"Of course, it is impossible to stop the river disaster in a mere year's time," Fan Xian suddenly furrowed his brows and said. "This is a 10-year work, or even a 100-year work. As long as people live on the two sides of the river, they will have to work for as many years. You have to stop being arrogant and impatient. You should be willing to be lonely."
"Yes, teacher."
"However, you also have to pay attention to raising a few capable subordinates and specialists," Fan Xian said sincerely. Fan Xian sincerely said, "Although you have the desire to benefit tens of thousands of people, you've been exposed to wind and rain for a long time. I'm afraid your body won't be able to take it. You've raised capable people, so don't stay in the river works yamen anymore. Go back to the capital and work seriously."
Yang Wanli was startled and quickly explained, "Teacher, I don't want to go back to the capital. The capital is much more troublesome than the embankment. Besides, I'm not afraid of hardship. I've long gotten used to it."
"Of course, the capital is troublesome, but if you want to work, you have to go back to the capital," Fan Xian said resolutely. Fan Xian said resolutely and decisively, "This has nothing to do with whether or not you can endure this hardship. I still hope that you can live a few more years. You're already so old, yet you haven't even taken a wife. What kind of rumors would it be if it got out?"
Yang Wanli was vexed and didn't say anything. Speaking of which, it was strange. Fan Xian was younger than all four of his students, but during these two years, when they occasionally ran into each other and Fan Xian put on the airs of a teacher to lecture them, he had become more and more used to it. This was probably what was meant by changing places and nurturing one's temperament.
…
…
In the next few days, Fan Xian continued to linger in Yingzhou. Most of the time, he was on the river embankment pointing and discussing with Yang Wanli. However, he could not avoid being invited to a banquet by the river works governor's yamen. Fan Xian could refuse a normal local official, but this time, the river works governor had personally come to invite him to a banquet. This kind of face was rare.
The governor's reason for inviting Fan Xian was simple. What the river works governor's yamen lacked was silver. Fan Xian was in charge of the palace treasury and had plenty of silver. This year, the river works governor's yamen had smoothly repaired the river and received great rewards from the Emperor. It was because Fan Xian, both openly and secretly, had invested great enthusiasm and countless silver into this yamen. The governor could not help but be endlessly grateful for this kind of favor.
What Yang Wanli found strange was why his teacher had remained in Yingzhou. Of course, the imperial envoy of Jiangnan Road could inspect the construction of the embankment. Looking at Fan Xian's appearance, he was prepared to stay for half a month.
"Teacher, are you not going to Suzhou?" one day, Yang Wanli gathered his courage and asked.
"There's no rush. I'll wait a bit longer."
Fan Xian smiled. Jingdou was in the North, and Suzhou was in the East. He sat steadily in Yingzhou, coldly watching what was about to happen in the two places. It was like a porter carrying two loads of thorny fruits. He just happened to place the carrying pole on his shoulder to support the weight, but he was not worried about the thorny fruits piercing his thigh.
He was waiting for the Suzhou matter to first enter the main topic and then for the Jingdou matter to explode. Yingzhou was the best place to watch the show. Although he was very repulsive in the eyes of the officials under heaven, at such a sensitive time, he still needed to avoid arousing suspicion.
… …
The Qinian Unit of the Overwatch Council in Jiangnan had two leading figures. One was Su Wenmao, who managed the production of the palace treasury in the three workshops in North Min. The other was Hong Changqing, who kept an eye on the Ming family's movements in the palace treasury transport company in Suzhou.
The movements against the Ming family had actually been laid out a year ago, and the true movements had begun half a year ago. On one hand, Zhaoshang money house vigorously transferred silver to the Ming family to support their channels and daily needs. They also began to provoke Ming Lanshi to open up a new business route. At the same time, they also made a move against the Sixth master, who only liked sumo wrestling. That muddle-headed Sixth master only knew that Zhaoshang money house had borrowed a lot of silver from him to spend, but he had never thought that his shares in the Ming family had long become a few pieces of paper in Zhaoshang money house.
All of this was carried out in the open. Even if Zhaoshang money house were to press for a debt, given the Ming family's powerful strength, the goods in their hands as collateral, daily cash flow, and the support of Taiping money house, they would still be able to deal with it. They would not be forced to liquidate and use their business shares and land to pay it off.
Thus, the problem that had been placed in front of Fan Xian was how to quickly reduce the value of the Ming family's cash flow and cause serious problems for the Ming family's cash flow.
Against such an enormous business of the Ming family, no matter how much money they had, it would still be difficult to achieve this goal. However, the problem was that Fan Xian had full control over the palace treasury. He had a death grip on the supply of goods. It was the same as having the Ming family by the throat.
The first to act was Su Wenmao. With the full cooperation of the Deputy of the palace treasury transport envoy, Ren Shao'an's cousin, and the skillful arrangements of a few old shopkeepers in Qingyu Hall, the production of the three large workshops in the palace treasury had gradually and steadily increased since the end of last summer. The quality had also increased greatly.
With more goods sold, there would naturally be more to eat. The Ming family would not let go of this opportunity. Additionally, during this time, the Overwatch Council's harassment of the Ming family had been greatly relaxed. Thus, the entire Ming family business had come to life. In a moment, they had swallowed up countless goods and sent them in the direction of Dongyi and Quanzhou.
Although such a large amount of goods had used up a great deal of the Ming family's money, Ming Qingda was not worried. Once they changed hands, there would be money coming in. This was also the reason why he felt so relaxed during that time. If it continued like this, what wonderful days it would be.
However, the three large workshops of the palace treasury transport company had suddenly stopped for some reason.
…
…
After the news of the stoppage reached Suzhou, Ming Qingda flew into a rage. He had Ming Lanshi quickly go to the palace treasury transport company yamen and ask what had happened. Hong Qingda shamelessly accepted his questions. He was only willing to say that the three large workshops were undergoing routine equipment maintenance and needed to wait for a few hours.
The Ming family had the right to be angry and roar because he was a royal merchant who had bid out tens of thousands of liang of silver. Since the palace treasury had accepted his bid, they had to ensure his channel of goods. Otherwise, he could go to court before the Emperor.
However, Hong Changqing also had an excuse to delay. The goods the three large workshops had shipped last year had already fulfilled their share of the bidding documents. Even if they stopped for 10 days to half a month, the Ming family would have already received all the goods they should have received.
Ming Qingda had no choice. He could only use the power of the officialdom to find out the real news in Min Chu. With great difficulty, he came back with news. He heard that the three large workshops had started a strike again. Sir Su of the Overwatch Council had chopped off the heads of over 20 people before barely managing to suppress it. However, this would delay work for many days.
Only after learning of this reason did the Ming family let out a breath. As long as it was not Fan Xian's scheme, it was fine. They began to wait for the day the palace treasury would resume work. The reason the Ming family was so impatient and nervous was all because everything had been going well in the past two months. The Ming family had gradually come to accept the palace treasury's ability to deliver goods. Based on the daily amount, they had signed large contracts with Dongyi and overseas.
The contracts had already expired. The Ming family needed large amounts of goods. What merchants needed was credibility. The Ming family would rather lose money than not have any goods to sell.
After another few days, the three large workshops finally resumed work. However, there was not much of the various goods they produced. It was like trying to put out a cart of firewood with a cup of water. No one knew when they would return to last year's situation. For a moment, the Ming family sank into a small panic. In order to complete the contracts, they had no choice but to move goods from all over the place. Not only did they move the last of the family's reserves, they also had no choice but to borrow some goods at a high price from the shops on the North and South roads.
After receiving the accounts master's report, Ming Qingda estimated the amount of cash available to the family. He furrowed his brows and said, "What exactly does Fan Xian want to do? Does he want to destroy me just by taking a few days of my goods? That is too childish. "
Ming Lanshi listened to the side with a bitter taste in his mouth. These few days, he had secretly moved a sum of silver from Zhaoshang money house in preparation to participate in the illicit salt business. His partner this time was Jiangnan's largest salt merchant, Yang Jimei. Furthermore, he knew that Yang Jimei and Governor Xue Qing had a close relationship, so Ming Lanshi was not worried about anything. However, the return on the illicit salt would take at least three months. If his father knew that he had moved the family's cash flow to another place, would he still be as confident as he was now?
"The Ming family doesn't have anything else, but we have silver," Ming Qingda smiled coldly. "If Fan Xian wants to control the price of goods on the market to eat our silver, then we'll give it to him to eat. In any case, he'll still have to spit it all back out in the future. We must complete this order."
However, the Overwatch Council's actions were not as simple as controlling the price of goods. On the second day after the Ming family successfully gathered the goods at a high price, the workers of the three workshops became excited as if they had taken ephedrine. The palace treasury's operations suddenly exploded. There was not a trace of a strike. In a very short amount of time, they reached a new peak in daily output.
Although the prices of the goods sold by the royal merchants were set by the court, the selling prices were controlled by the upstream suppliers. At this moment, the prices of the goods had dropped, but business was much better. The Lingnan Xiong family, Sun family, and even Xia Mingji had made a lot of money from this wave of market prices. Mainly, they had earned a lot of the difference in prices from the Ming family.
The Ming family had worked hard to gather the high-priced goods and fulfilled most of the orders. However, they watched helplessly as the prices of the goods on the market dropped. They were unspeakably angry, particularly when a few foreigners who had sailed from Quanzhou shamelessly ran away and turned to Lingnan to pick up the cheaper goods. This caused the Ming family to throw away a large pile of high-priced porcelain and perfume in their hands.
In just this one battle, the Ming family had lost 700,000 liang of cash flow.
If this had been before, this 700,000 liang would not have been much for the Jiangnan Ming family. However, after being suppressed by the Overwatch Council with all their might for a year, the Ming family's circulation channels had long run dry. They were completely relying on the support of the Taiping and Zhaoshang money houses. Now, another 700,000 liang of cash flow had melted like snowflakes and disappeared. The master of the Ming family, Ming Qingda, had no choice but to be cautious.
…
…
"This order must be delivered. Although Shi Pibao is a foreigner, he also has a large foreign trading company behind him. He will not be as shameless as those islanders. He is also trustworthy." Ming Qingda rubbed his tired eyes and said to his son below, "Lanshi, this time, you will personally deliver the goods. You must be careful."
Ming Lanshi made a sound of acknowledgement. He also knew that this batch of goods was very important. This batch of goods was something his father had thought of every method and used countless connections to snatch from the palace treasury.
The so-called trial goods referred to the goods that the palace treasury had successfully developed for the first time. Just like the strong alcohol and perfume of the past, although the price was very high, everyone knew that it was something new. Once it was sold, it could be sold like gold.
The trial goods this time were a batch of mirrors. Ming Lanshi had personally inspected the goods. The main material of these mirrors was glass, but the back was made of some unknown material. It was actually plated with a layer of silver. When it shone on it, it was clear to the finest detail. It was truly a treasure.
Logically speaking, given the relationship between Fan Xian and the Ming family, it would not be the Ming family's turn to make a fortune from such an important trial goods. However, the Ming family had been operating in Jiangnan for a long time. They had only bought this batch of goods through another royal merchant. However, Ming Lanshi still had a bad feeling in his heart. If this batch of silver mirrors could be safely delivered to Shi Pibao's hands in Quanzhou, the Ming family's difficult cash flow situation could be greatly alleviated. But … would it go so smoothly?
"Don't worry about anything," Ming Qingda said with a dark expression. Ming Qingda said with a dark face, "I have already communicated with the capital. You will personally escort this batch of goods. The Jiaozhou Navy has also given orders. This time, we will not go out to sea ourselves. Although we will earn less, it should be safe to travel between the provinces …"
This master of the Ming family, who had already tolerated Fan Xian for an entire year, suddenly raised his head and said in a cold voice, "If someone … really dares to kill and steal the goods … we can't kill everyone. If someone escapes, we will go to the capital to fight in court!"
…
…
Three days later, on a small mountain heading southeast from Suzhou, Hong Changqing looked at the long line of carriages at the foot of the mountain and smiled. There were not many carriages carrying the silver mirrors. There were only two carriages, but the Ming family had sent out 500 private soldiers to escort them. Indeed, they placed great importance on this export order.
However, his smile immediately faded and turned into coldness. In this moment, he thought of a year ago, the day the Jiaozhou Navy had massacred on the island. He thought of the corpse-eating seabirds and the pirate brothers on the island who had died with their eyes wide open.
Although from the beginning, he had been an Overwatch Council secret agent responsible for going to the island to investigate, after spending a long time on the island with those pirates, he would always have some feelings. Thus, he stood on the mountain and looked down at the Ming family's carriages and private soldiers. A joyful and bloody smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
He would not kill anyone today, but it would certainly hurt Ming Qingda more than killing these people.
Just as he was thinking, a group of about 200 riders escorting a few carriages walked over from the official road directly opposite the Ming family.
The two sides met and blocked the foot of the mountain.
Ming Lanshi had been carefully watching the situation on the road. Looking at this group of people, he immediately sensed a strange atmosphere. He ordered his private soldiers to pull out their weapons and prepare to meet the enemy.
However, the 200 riders did not move. They only coldly brushed past the Ming family carriages. Although these riders were standing on their horses, a cold and stern aura emanated from their bodies. It made the Ming family's private soldiers afraid to move rashly.
Just as the two carriages merged into two lines, the side compartments of the carriages escorted by the 200 riders suddenly broke.
The carriages escorted by 200 riders suddenly had their sides broken. Everything inside spilled out and crashed onto the carriage the Ming family used to store the silver mirrors.
If it was normal goods, what was there to be afraid of?
The problem was, the things that smashed onto the carriages holding the silver mirrors were rolling stones, very heavy and angular rolling stones.
No one dared to use their bodies to block it, not even the Ming family's private soldiers with strict orders. After a few muffled booms, there came countless fine shattering sounds.
Ming Lanshi screamed and quickly dismounted from his horse to check. He saw that most of the 100 or so silver mirrors had been crushed into shards of shining lenses. Although they still reflected an enchanting light …
The official road at the foot of the mountain immediately descended into chaos. Countless people pulled out their weapons. The two sides faced each other. A great battle was about to break out at any moment.
Ming Lanshi's vision darkened. He immediately knew it was over. He turned his head fiercely and stared at the leader of the 200 riders. Gritting his teeth, he said, "As expected … when did the proper Black Knights of the Overwatch Council do such things as killing people and stealing goods?"
The leader's face was covered by a silver mask. He was not surprised that the young master of the Ming family could recognize the identity of his group. They had not planned to hide their identities today.
Jing Ge, the Deputy Commander of the Black Knights of the Overwatch Council, gazed at Ming Lanshi and coldly said, "I did not kill anyone or steal goods … I was escorting the stone materials needed by the three large workshops of the palace treasury through here. You civilian merchants dared to block the way. The road is narrow and unfortunately overturned. Both sides have suffered losses. I don't want you to compensate … don't make a ruckus. If you anger my fierce nature, I'll take your heads carefully."
Ming Lanshi's gaze was slightly dim. He looked at the Black Knights, who seemed eager to try, covered in a bloody aura. He forcefully pushed down the anger in his chest. He only felt the taste of blood in his throat. With wide eyes, he said in pain and absent-mindedness, "Overturned?"
How could a carriage overturn so accurately in this world? Both sides suffered losses? No matter how your stone was overturned, it would not lose a corner, while mine … was a fragile silver mirror!
…
…
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