The sound of Xu Qinghuan's voice had just been swept away by the hot wind when this dry heat, carrying yellow sand, traveled all the way south and crashed into the capital a thousand miles away.
The capital, the estate of the Minister of Revenue, the main study.
Smash!
A precious Ru kiln teacup was violently smashed against the green brick floor.
Broken porcelain mixed with boiling tea splashed all over the ground.
Shang Qitai's face was livid, his chest heaving violently.
His trusted attendant knelt beside the broken porcelain, his forehead pressed against the floor tiles, not even daring to breathe loudly.
"Taken away?" Shang Qitai asked through gritted teeth.
The attendant swallowed hard and replied, trembling.
"To answer Master, not only did Xu Youde enter the old archives, but he also moved all eight boxes of core account books regarding the transition from official to commercial water transport in the year of Yimao back to the Chengyi Count's Estate. Han Bingnian, who was guarding the archives, didn't even dare to stop him and even gave his thumbprint."
Shang Qitai kicked over the red sandalwood desk in front of him.
The Duan inkstone and brush washer crashed to the floor.
Thick black ink splashed onto the attendant's face, but he didn't dare to wipe it off.
Cui Jin, the Right Vice Minister of Revenue, stood to the side and took a half step back to avoid the splattering ink.
"Calm your anger, My Lord," Cui Jin said in a hushed voice.
"The account books from the year of Yimao are the origin of all the embezzlement accounts in the Ministry of Revenue."
"Back then, merchant ships advanced funds to repair ships, and the Ministry of Revenue used the guise of military grain wastage to deduct the silver to them. This entire closed loop is written in those moldy books."
Cui Jin paused, staring at Shang Qitai's face.
"If Xu Youde follows the vine to get the melon and pierces this layer of window paper, exposing the backgrounds of the merchant ships that took over the official water transport back then..."
"My Lord, even if you sell everything you own to fill the current deficit of millions of taels, it will still be a capital offense of deceiving the Emperor."
Shang Qitai's mind rapidly deduced the impending dead end.
Having obtained the account books, Xu Youde absolutely would not hand them directly to the Emperor. He would certainly make copies and distribute them to the Three Judicial Offices and the Grand Secretariat.
Once the Three Judicial Offices intervened, what they found would be more than just the embezzlement accounts.
The silver the First Prince used to privately raise death squads in Jiangnan was all laundered through this waterway.
If this rotten account was dug up, the First Prince, to protect himself, would be the first to chop off Shang Qitai's head to appease the Emperor's wrath.
He was dead either way.
It would be better to flip the table and let everyone die together.
"This old dog is driving the Shang family to death!"
"How can we make him stop?" Shang Qitai stared intently at Cui Jin.
Cui Jin leaned in closer.
"What Xu Youde is investigating is the water transport."
"What if the water transport completely paralyzes because of his audit?"
Shang Qitai's heart skipped a beat.
Cui Jin continued, every word piercing to the core.
"Once the waterway is cut off, the military grain for the northern border cannot be delivered."
"When the urgent memorials from the border fly into the capital, can his Chengyi Count's Estate bear the blame for cutting off the military grain?"
Touching the water transport was a double-edged sword.
If the waterway fell into chaos, the imperial court would definitely be furious. Once the blade of the Imperial City Department fell, no one would be able to escape.
Cui Jin saw through his concerns.
"My Lord, the Emperor only gave you one month."
"You are already meat on the chopping block. If you don't muddy the waters, the knife will immediately chop your neck!"
"As long as the waterway is in chaos, the civil and military officials of the entire court will force the Emperor to halt the audit. When that time comes, Xu Youde will be the sinner of Great Qian."
Shang Qitai paced back and forth in the study twice. He walked to the desk and pulled over a blank sheet of Xuan paper.
He picked up a brush and began to write.
There were only a few lines of words on the paper, without a signature.
He took out a private seal from his sleeve that only insiders would recognize and stamped it heavily on the corner of the paper.
"Call the head steward here."
Shang Qitai folded the slip of paper and stuffed it into an envelope.
"Have him leave the city overnight, go to the Tongjin Pier, and find Lei Zhen."
...
The Tongjin Pier in the capital's environs.
After nightfall, a torrential rain smashed down without warning.
The rainwater washed over the bluestone slabs on the pier, and the wind and waves on the river whipped up white foam ten feet high.
Inside the main hall of the Tongji Water Transport Guild, it was brightly lit. The sixty-year-old Chief Guild Master, Lei Zhen, sat in the central armchair, rolling two shiny, century-old walnuts in his hand.
On the square table in front of Lei Zhen lay the secret letter that the head steward of the Shang Estate had just delivered.
Four trusted gang leaders sat on either side, no one making a sound.
Lei Zhen slapped the walnuts onto the table and picked up the slip of paper to read it through.
Then he held it to the candle flame and lit it. The flames swallowed the paper, turning it into a ball of black ash that fell into the copper basin.
"Old River Dragon, what did the Minister say?" Scarface, the gang leader on the left, couldn't help but ask.
Lei Zhen leaned back in his chair.
"Shang Qitai wants us to cut off the waterway."
The hall instantly exploded into an uproar.
"Cut off the waterway? That's a beheading offense!"
"The imperial court's military grain is lined up right behind. If it gets cut off, those living Yamas from the Imperial City Department will turn our guild upside down!"
"Shang Qitai's own ass isn't clean, and he wants to drag us down with him?"
Lei Zhen raised his hand and pressed it down, and the hall instantly fell silent.
The Water Transport Gang's ability to thrive in both the light and the dark relied on understanding the rules.
Openly cutting off military grain was rebellion.
Lei Zhen had lived for sixty years and would absolutely not use the lives of tens of thousands of gang members to be buried with Shang Qitai.
But if he didn't listen to Shang Qitai, the Water Transport Gang wouldn't be able to survive under the Ministry of Revenue in the future.
Tens of thousands of people in Tongji needed to eat, and the approvals and salt licenses on the waterway were all held in the hands of the Ministry of Revenue.
If Shang Qitai fell, the newly appointed Minister would definitely use the Water Transport Gang to establish his authority.
He had to help Shang Qitai delay for time, but he absolutely could not dirty the hands of the Water Transport Gang.
"We won't burn the great granaries, and we won't hijack the large ships," Lei Zhen set the tone.
Scarface was stunned.
"Then how do we cut off the waterway?"
Lei Zhen picked up his teacup and scraped away the floating foam.
"The narrowest part of the Tongjin lock can only allow two ships to pass side by side."
"Pick three of the most broken-down old grain ships."
"Have Old Man Zhang take his men to navigate the waters. When they reach the lock, have the bottom of the ships get stuck on the hidden piles and turn sideways."
The several gang leaders looked at each other and drew in a sharp breath.
Lei Zhen put down his teacup.
"The ships will have run aground accidentally; the blame won't fall on our heads."
"As long as the lock is blocked dead, the ships behind won't be able to come in, and the ships in front won't be able to go out."
"After daybreak, have the porters on the pier spread the news."
"Just say that the Ministry of Revenue is digging through old accounts, and any boatmen who have handled official grain will have their homes confiscated and be executed."
"Add more fuel to the fire and say there are river bandits on the water who specialize in hijacking official grain."
Lei Zhen picked up his walnuts again and rolled them in his palm.
"As long as those large boatmen don't dare to weigh anchor and the porters don't dare to carry sacks, this waterway will naturally be paralyzed."
Scarface gave a thumbs up.
"Brilliant, truly brilliant! This is called a natural disaster and human misfortune; it has absolutely nothing to do with our Tongji Water Transport Guild."
Lei Zhen closed his eyes.
"Go get it done, and keep your hands clean."
