Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1751 Sun Wenheng's Autobiography
Although he longed to make a name for himself in the Great Qiankun, Sun Wenheng knew he had missed his chance. If it had been five years earlier, he would have had the opportunity to raise an army, establish his own power, and contend for the world.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in this world. The Great Qian Dynasty has just been established, and the people are on its side. It is a time of great prosperity. To cause trouble at this time would not have any popular support and would be a dead end!
So despite some reluctance, Sun Wenheng gave up the idea of ​​causing trouble in Daqian and set his sights on Nanyang!

Although Sun Wenheng had some influence in his small territory of Jiangnan and could learn about the latest policy changes in the region, he was powerless at the level of the Great Qian Dynasty. Although Murong Yuliang was aware of this, as a traditional official, Murong Yuliang still had good basic political qualities. Sun Wenheng tried to get some information from him, but to no avail.

Although Sun Wenheng learned about Daqian's major policies from Murong Yuliang, he still gleaned some clues and realized that Ye Mingsheng himself was very interested in Southeast Asia. With his political ambitions growing, Sun Wenheng immediately had the idea of ​​using Daqian's resources to cultivate his private power in Southeast Asia.

After having this idea, Sun Wenheng acted immediately. He quickly used the connections and resources he had accumulated over the years to recruit some scattered soldiers in Southeast Asia, transported them to Lei Island, equipped them with Daqian firearms, and trained them.

Sun Wenheng's plan was proceeding smoothly, and no one knew that this general manager of Wanfu Bank actually had a private army of several thousand men on Lei Island in the South China Sea...
Sun Wenheng chose Lei Island as the training ground for his private armed forces because he had a good relationship with Agus, the chief of the Baya tribe, one of the local indigenous tribes on Lei Island. Moreover, the current situation on Lei Island is that the Baya tribe and another local indigenous tribe, the Mata tribe, share the land. This situation has lasted for more than a hundred years. The two sides have been fighting for territory for more than a hundred years, accumulating countless blood feuds. Both sides want to devour the other, but neither has the ability to do so. Therefore, the two sides are able to maintain a superficial peace.

However, in private, both Agus, the chief of the Baya tribe, and Suhano, the chief of the Mata tribe, wanted to kill each other at all times!
After understanding Argus's psychology, Sun Wenheng initially hinted through various channels that he was one of the Great Qian's agents in Southeast Asia and that he could provide Argus with warships, weapons, food, and all other resources.

Argus was initially skeptical, but after receiving the firearms and food from the Great Qian Dynasty brought by Sun Wenheng, and after Sun Wenheng promised to help him eliminate the Mata tribe, Argus readily agreed to Sun Wenheng's idea of ​​training troops on Lei Island.

Argus originally intended to use Sun Wenheng's power to eliminate the Mata tribe and seize control of Lei Island. However, unbeknownst to him, Sun Wenheng's plan was to wipe out Argus and Suhano in one fell swoop, forcing the Baya and Maha tribes to submit to him, thus gaining control of the entire Lei Island and expanding into other parts of the South Seas…

According to Sun Wenheng's plan, he originally thought he would need 10,000 men to achieve the idea of ​​"when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits." Therefore, Sun Wenheng used the money he had earned over the years to exchange for weapons, armor and other resources through various channels. However, maintaining an army was too expensive, and even a wealthy man like Sun Wenheng could not afford it. Sun Wenheng, who controlled the huge amount of money in Wanfu Bank, also set his sights on Wanfu Bank. In secret, the accountants and others forged account books to embezzle money from Wanfu Bank.

Sun Wenheng originally thought that his actions were done without anyone knowing, but little did he know that there are no secrets in the world. His despicable deeds were all seen by the second manager, Zhao Dahai. Zhao Dahai originally planned to report Sun Wenheng to Murong Yuliang, but then he thought that Sun Wenheng was recommended by Murong Yuliang, so if he reported him to Murong Yuliang, Murong Yuliang was very likely to protect Sun Wenheng!
His actions had undoubtedly offended Sun Wenheng completely. Therefore, if he could not kill Sun Wenheng in one blow, he would surely face Sun Wenheng's merciless revenge. So Zhao Dahai did not trust Murong Yuliang, but decided to report him to Yi Jing through his own connections.

Zhao Dahai had intended to complete everything quietly, but word got out. And as he expected, faced with this situation, Murong Yuliang's first priority wasn't to resolve or deal with it; he wanted to cover it up and get rid of Zhao Dahai first…
After learning about these things, Sun Wenheng knew he was finished. Once his actions were exposed, he would definitely be doomed. To Murong Yuyang, he was just a pair of gloves. If something happened, Murong Yuyang would be too busy severing ties with him to protect him.

Therefore, Sun Wenheng immediately ordered people to pack their belongings and prepare to flee with their families. In order to escape as quickly as possible, he did not even have time to take the 500,000 taels of silver he had set aside. He arranged for his confidant Cao Heng to secretly hide the 500,000 taels of silver and send it to Lei Island after the storm had passed. This was the military funds he planned to use to start a war on Lei Island. Without this silver, his plans would be greatly affected.

At the time, Murong Yuyang only knew that Zhao Dahai was going to report Sun Wenheng, but he didn't know how big a mistake Sun Wenheng had made. He only thought that Sun Wenheng had embezzled money from Wanfu Piaohao. So he did not expect that Sun Wenheng would run away so easily. In a short time, Sun Wenheng took advantage of the situation and allowed him to take his family on a boat and escape to Lei Island.

After arriving at Lei Island, Sun Wenheng felt somewhat helpless and unwilling, but he also adhered to the principle of "since we're here, let's make the best of it." He arranged for his son, Sun Teng, to train and command his private armed force, while he himself focused on cultivating relationships with both the Baya and Mata tribes and stirring up conflicts between them.

Under his instigation, the already irreconcilable Baya and Mata tribes have recently clashed repeatedly. Just as his plan was progressing smoothly, bad news arrived from Jiangnan: the 500,000 taels of silver his trusted confidant Cao Heng had intended for military expenses had been seized and confiscated by the Jiangnan Provincial Surveillance Commission. Furthermore, the Joint Investigation Department was also investigating him…
Upon learning this news, Sun Wenheng felt a sense of urgency. He knew that after all the bad things he had done, Daqian would not let him off easily. Moreover, Daqian was planning to expand into Southeast Asia. So, in Sun Wenheng's view, some things were a matter of life and death, and there was no way to avoid them!
Since that's the case, Sun Wenheng felt there was nothing more to say. In order to save his own life and that of his family, the only thing he had to do was to develop and expand his power as quickly as possible!
Sun Wenheng felt that although Daqian was strong, it was still a traditional continental dynasty and could not reach the South Seas. Moreover, Lei Island did not border Daqian. Therefore, as long as he could control Lei Island, Daqian would not be able to do anything to him!
Therefore, in his view, his top priority is to strengthen his own strength. After all, one must be strong to forge iron. If he is not strong, even if the two Tu tribes cannot hold back their anger and fight each other, creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them to fight and the other party to benefit, they will not be able to seize the opportunity!

It was because of this idea that he was so eager to ask his son Sun Teng to train the troops well and strive to turn those few thousand men into a battle-hardened army like the Great Qian army.

Sun Wenheng had always believed his son, Sun Teng, was of one mind with him, but only now did he realize that his son actually thought their predicament was entirely his fault. Thinking of this, Sun Wenheng felt his heart bleeding. He was over sixty years old, half-buried, how many more years could he live? What was the point of working so hard every day?
If it weren't for the sake of the family's better development, wouldn't it be better for an old man like him to enjoy his retirement?
Despite his deep resentment, Sun Wenheng had no one to confide in. Since Sun Teng was unwilling to train the troops, his task was to find someone skilled in military training to lead those several thousand soldiers; these men would be their foundation in Southeast Asia…
···············
···············
Qilu Tao Port
Standing atop the tower, looking down at the massive port below, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. When he first came here, this place was just a small fishing village, but in just a few short years, the village had undergone a complete transformation.

Just as Ye Mingsheng was feeling sentimental, Zhao Yingjie, the prefect of Taogang, spoke up and introduced:

"Your Majesty, the first phase of construction at Tao Port has been completed. According to the published design, it can accommodate Bao Chuan ships with a capacity of 5,000 shi, and at the same time, it can accommodate twenty large ships with a capacity of 1,000 shi each! Last year, the annual throughput was approximately 300,000 shi!"

Upon hearing the figure of only 300,000 shi, Ye Mingsheng frowned slightly. If he remembered correctly, Huacheng Port in Jiangnan could handle 1.3 million shi a year. This port was only a fraction of Huacheng's capacity!
Although Ye Mingsheng didn't say it directly, Ma Runchuan, who was standing next to him, realized what Ye Mingsheng was thinking from the subtle gesture of Ye Mingsheng frowning and quickly added:

"Your Majesty, the construction of Tao Port is divided into three phases. The first phase was completed last year, and the civilian section only just began operation last year. Therefore, the throughput of 300,000 shi was somewhat lower than expected. However, we guarantee that it can reach 500,000 shi this year. Once all three phases of construction are completed, we expect Tao Port's annual throughput to reach at least 1.5 million shi..."

Listening to Ma Runchuan's account, Ye Mingsheng remained silent, observing the ships entering and leaving the harbor through his binoculars. After about half a cup of tea's time, he slowly spoke:
"I remember you told me back then that you planned to spend 1.3 million taels of silver to successfully build Tao Port?"

Hearing that Ye Mingsheng still remembered his words from back then, Ma Runchuan hesitated. He wanted to tell Ye Mingsheng that he was mistaken and that he had said at least 1.3 million taels of silver or even more. However, Ma Runchuan, who had spent his whole life in officialdom, knew that the emperor was not wrong; the only ones who were wrong were them, the ministers!

At this point, Ma Runchuan no longer hesitated and said:
"Your Majesty, I underestimated the cost of building Tao Port. The first phase of construction alone cost 650,000 taels of silver, and the subsequent two phases have been even more expensive. So, it seems that the latter two phases will require another 150 taels of silver!"

Upon hearing Ma Runchuan's introduction, Ye Mingsheng was secretly shocked. Sixty-five plus one hundred and fifty, the total cost of the three phases of construction in Tao Port exceeded two million taels of silver. This was simply too expensive!

The annual tax revenue of the Great Qian Dynasty is currently no more than four million taels of silver. The construction of Tao Port alone has consumed half of the Great Qian Dynasty's annual tax revenue; Ye Mingsheng truly felt this was somewhat exaggerated…
Ye Mingsheng was very curious about where all this money went and whether it was really necessary to spend so much money to build Tao Port.

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng also asked:
"How much silver did the imperial court approve for the first phase of construction in Tao Port?"

Ma Runchuan glanced at Zhao Yingjie beside him, and the prefect Zhao immediately spoke up:
"The imperial court approved two grants for the construction of Chaogang: 80,000 taels of silver the first time and 70,000 taels the second time, for a total of 150,000 taels of silver!"

Listening to Zhao Yingjie's account, Ye Mingsheng began to recall that the money had been approved by him. However, as the emperor, Ye Mingsheng was busy with official duties every day, and it had been almost a year since he had approved the money. Ye Mingsheng simply couldn't remember.

Thinking back on this, Ye Mingsheng asked again:
"I recall that you even issued bonds specifically for the Taogang Construction project?"

"Yes! Regarding the construction of Tao Port, the imperial court allocated a total of 150,000 taels of silver, and our provincial administration department also raised 100,000 taels of silver from various sources. The remaining shortfall is 400,000 taels of silver. We will only be able to raise the funds for the first phase of construction by issuing bonds after obtaining approval from the imperial court!"

Hearing this, Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly. He was increasingly suspicious of any irregularities in the expenses of Taogang's construction project. However, he didn't ask. He knew very well that both Ma Runchuan, the Provincial Governor of Shandong, and Zhao Yingjie, the Prefect of Taogang, had made thorough preparations for his inspection. Any expenditures that could be made public must have a basis. Asking directly would yield no results and might even alert them. If he wanted to know the true expenses, he would have to send someone to investigate privately…