The eunuch on duty hurried down the imperial steps, took the thin sheet of paper from Xu Youde's hands, and trotted back up, presenting it with both hands onto the imperial desk.
The hall was frighteningly quiet.
The Emperor picked up the paper and swept his gaze over it twice.
A chilling smile suddenly broke across his previously expressionless face.
He did not speak, merely slapping the paper lightly against the imperial desk.
That soft smack made the hearts of the officials below leap with dread.
Qi Zhengliang frowned, turning his head to look at Xu Youde.
Shang Qitai's heart pounded wildly, his palms slick with cold sweat.
What trick was this old fool playing at now?
Why investigate the backgrounds of the boatmen?
Xu Youde straightened his back.
Your Majesty, the Tongjin Lock is blocked, and seventeen grain ships have halted their voyage.
Rumors outside say that water bandits are running rampant, and that the boatmen are terrified of the imperial court auditing their accounts.
Last night, I investigated and found out that the three boat owners who led the grounding, along with the seventeen boatmen who followed suit... none of them hold the deeds to their boats or their own indentures!
The court erupted in an uproar, the buzzing of whispers instantly impossible to suppress.
Cui Jin's eyes widened, his neck craning forward.
Xu Youde continued to drop heavy bombshells.
These boatmen are nothing but puppets burdened with massive boat loans.
The one controlling their life and death is a merchant firm named Guanghui Bank.
With just a single word from the bank's owner, even with a knife to their throats, they would absolutely never dare to untie a single mooring rope!
Xu Youde laid it all out in the open.
This had nothing to do with natural disasters or public grievance; someone behind the scenes was using silver to strangle the boatmen.
Shang Qitai's mind raced.
Guanghui Bank?
Of course he knew what this place was.
It was the First Prince's secret channel for moving funds in the capital, nominally registered under the name of the chief butler of his own Shang estate.
How did Xu Youde manage to trace this back to Guanghui Bank?
Forcing down the panic in his heart, Shang Qitai took a half step forward and let out a cold laugh.
Vice Minister Xu is truly grasping at straws in his desperation.
Lending and borrowing among merchants is a common occurrence in the marketplace.
It is perfectly normal for boatmen to lack capital for their voyages and seek out banks for high-interest loans.
What does this have to do with the paralysis of the water transport and the obstruction of military rations?
Could it be that you intend to pin this capital offense of cutting off military rations onto a merchant running a bank?
Shang Qitai's retort was watertight.
So what if you investigated the bank?
Borrowing money isn't illegal.
You couldn't possibly claim that the bank owner forced the boatmen to rebel, could you?
The surrounding imperial censors nodded along, agreeing with the Minister's argument.
Xu Youde abruptly turned his head, locking his gaze onto Shang Qitai's face, which was struggling to maintain a facade of calm.
Merchant lending is naturally not a crime.
But what if this bank, within the last three months... issued massive boat repair loans to those three instigating boat owners, amounts far exceeding the value of their vessels?
Those three broken-down boats combined aren't worth five hundred taels, yet Guanghui Bank lent them three thousand taels of silver in cash!
This sum of silver is enough to buy the lives of their entire families!
Xu Youde took a step closer, pointing his finger directly at Shang Qitai's nose.
What's even more coincidental is that the owner of this Guanghui Bank is none other than the chief butler of the Minister's estate, Shang Zhong!
The moment these words came out, the entire Golden Throne Room descended into chaos.
The sound of officials gasping in shock rose and fell.
Qi Zhengliang took two steps back and lowered his head, terrified that someone would remember he had just impeached Xu Youde.
Cui Jin wished he could shrink into a crack in the floor, not even daring to glance at Shang Qitai.
A massive roar echoed in Shang Qitai's mind.
His calves went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the green brick floor.
He had never calculated that Xu Youde would completely ignore the convoluted schemes on the waterways.
Forget the water bandits, forget the audits, forget the public grievance.
Xu Youde threw all of that to the back of his mind and struck directly at the lowest, most fatal flow of silver.
This single move ruthlessly tore apart the firewall between Shang Qitai and the Tongji Water Transport Guild.
Shang Qitai felt cold all over.
He had originally thought Xu Youde would investigate the channels of the Tongjin Lock or look into the backgrounds of the water gangs.
But Xu Youde had actually followed the bank and dragged the Shang estate out into the light.
How dare this old dog touch the First Prince's bank!
Does he not want to live!
These sentences consumed Shang Qitai's mind; his lips trembled, and for a long time, he couldn't spit out a single word.
He wanted to bring out the First Prince to suppress his opponent.
But here in the Golden Throne Room, right in front of the Emperor, if he dared to drag the First Prince into this, the nine generations of the Shang family would be lining up to lose their heads at the execution ground tomorrow.
All the officials had spent half their lives navigating the bureaucracy; how could any of them fail to understand?
This was no panic over water transport.
This was clearly the Minister of Revenue deliberately manipulating the bank and the water gangs to cut off the northern military rations, all to obstruct the audit!
The censors who had been fiercely condemning Xu Youde just moments ago now all clamped their mouths shut.
Everyone knew the truth in their hearts.
Shang Qitai had his butler use silver to force the boatmen to halt their voyages, using this to blackmail the imperial court.
This was absolutely not dereliction of duty!
This was tantamount to treason!
Xu Youde gave Shang Qitai no chance to catch his breath.
He turned to face the dragon throne and kowtowed heavily, his forehead striking the green bricks.
I beseech Your Majesty for permission: do not investigate the water bandits, do not question the shipping schedules, only investigate where the silver came from!
Audit the ledgers of this Guanghui Bank and see exactly how this massive sum of repair silver flowed into the pockets of the boatmen!
If this silver is clean, I, Xu Youde, am willing to offer my head to fill the Tongjin Lock!
Every word Xu Youde spoke was heavy, slamming into the hearts of everyone present.
Shang Qitai's knees could hold out no longer, and with a heavy thud, he fell.
He knelt straight down on the floor, his kneecaps throbbing with pain.
But he could no longer care about the pain.
His face was deathly pale, his entire body trembling uncontrollably, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead, blinding his eyes.
Your Majesty...
I am wronged!
Shang Qitai's mind spun rapidly as he cried out.
Your Majesty! That slave Shang Zhong bought his freedom three years ago and went into business outside! Remembering our past ties, I did not stop him. Who knew he would actually use my name to associate with the powerful and commit such treasonous acts! I am guilty of oversight, but I absolutely harbor no treasonous intentions!
Your Majesty, see clearly! Even if I had the courage of heaven, I would never dare to treat the northern military rations as a trifling matter!
He could only sacrifice the pawn to save the king.
He pushed all the blame onto the butler.
But who would believe such nonsense?
Could a mere butler produce thousands of taels of silver to control the major boat owners of the water transport?
Without the Minister's approval, would a butler dare to touch the transfer of the imperial court's military rations?
Senior Grand Secretary Xu Jie, standing at the very front, sighed inwardly.
Shang Qitai was finished.
In this game of chess, Xu Youde had won.
And he had won beautifully.
Xu Youde had not only backed Shang Qitai into a corner but had also cleverly avoided the First Prince.
The nominal owner of Guanghui Bank was the Minister's butler.
Xu Youde bit down hard on this butler and refused to let go, not mentioning a single word about the First Prince.
This was exactly the result the Emperor wanted.
He could justifiably execute Shang Qitai while preserving the face of the imperial family.
Xu Youde was truly a useful blade.
On the dragon throne.
The Emperor finally stood up.
He snatched up the list on the imperial desk and slammed it down viciously.
The thin sheets of paper scattered in the air, finally landing in front of Shang Qitai.
A bone-chilling voice echoed throughout the Golden Throne Room.
What a fine example of pulling one hair and moving the whole body!
Shang Qitai, you certainly pulled this hair from a very long way away!
