The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Xue Shao's heart stirred, his eyes gleaming. After spinning around twice, he said, "If the person behind Feng Hongde is really Cao Rong, it is understandable that he could create this wealth by using the manpower and military strength of the entire Guangdong military settlement."

"These soldiers who settled here mostly came from the Central Plains and the Jiangnan region, but after the reigns of Hongwu and Yongle, they have been rooted here for at least three generations and have long been integrated with the local people. Didn't the poor treatment of the soldiers by Feng Hongde and others affect the surrounding people? Didn't they harbor resentment in their hearts?"

Xue Shao murmured, "They are not like the soldiers in the military garrisons, who are subject to military law and can endure it. If they are wronged, their dissatisfaction will accumulate and they will definitely rebel."

Pan Yun nodded: "That's true."

In her time and space, during the Ming Dynasty, the uprisings in Guangdong and Guangxi were the most frequent and the longest-lasting.

In Guangdong, the sea transport provided a lifeline, giving the people a chance to breathe. In Guangxi, however, there were more mountains and less land. During the Ming Dynasty, the chieftains, for some unknown reason, wanted to treat the local people under their rule as slaves. The imperial court was fighting wars everywhere and increasing taxes to raise funds for the war effort. The chieftains would then add another 30% to the taxes imposed by the imperial court and pass it on to the local people.

They focused on one thing, with the imperial court profiting half and them profiting the other half. Eventually, the local people couldn't bear the oppression any longer, and not only the Zhuang, Yao, and Dong ethnic groups, but also rebelled.

Pan Yun stroked his chin and said, "I remember there was a rebellion in Chaozhou during the Hongwu era, and it was quite large."

Xue Shao hummed in agreement and then said, "It was because of the maritime ban and taxes. Chaozhou Prefecture is located by the sea, and many people rely on fishing for their livelihood. At that time, in order to prevent Zhang Shicheng and other rebel armies from disturbing the sea, the imperial court imposed a complete maritime ban. The people of Chaozhou were dissatisfied and rebelled."

An Chen grew irritated and questioned, "Are you questioning whether Emperor Taizu Gao's sea ban was flawed?"

Pan Yun glanced at him and said, "We are saying that the people of Guangdong and Guangxi have a lot of courage to fight for their rights."

An Chen's eyes widened: "You, you actually want to recruit rioters? Are you out of your minds? If this goes wrong, they might really storm the government office, and every one of us here will be labeled as a traitor. That's a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"

Xue Shao: "Lord An is overthinking it. It's just that some people think that way. Of course, we would never scheme against the people's hearts."

An Chen stared at him in disbelief.

Xue Shao sighed and said, "If we exploit the people's hearts like this and things get out of control, we will die without regret, but what about the innocent people who are implicated?"

An Chen was instantly calmed down and understood after a moment's thought.

Given Xue Shao's character, he might use this to scare people, but he certainly wouldn't actually use this method.

If the people are incited to pressure the court, it is unknown whether the court will back down, but those incited people will certainly be labeled as rioters and will not have a good end.

On the contrary, Xue Shao has a thousand ways to escape if he wants to.

An Chen looked at Xue Shao with a strange expression, a hint of regret in his eyes: "Lord Xue, it would be better if you were a treacherous official."

The three of them turned to look at him, the third brother looking at his eldest brother with a puzzled expression.

An Chen's tone was tinged with regret: "If the Embroidered Uniform Guard could capture you, you would surely be remembered in history."

Xue Shao: "...Thank you for the compliment, Commander An."

Pan Yun: "Wouldn't arresting me make me even more famous in history?"

An Chen and Lao San remained silent; who would dare to arrest her?

Xue Shao said, "Let's include the remaining antiques and calligraphy in the catalog."

There's quite a lot of stuff here; the calligraphy and paintings are packed in boxes. Just opening any one of them would be worth a hundred gold coins. No wonder An Chen said gold is worthless.

Gold is really worthless here.

However, Cao Rong didn't seem to appreciate them. He didn't categorize them or even preserve them properly, just leaving them in the box. This made Xue Shao frown: "Fortunately, there's lime placed around here to absorb moisture. Otherwise, given Guangdong's climate, if the calligraphy and paintings were piled up like this, they would be ruined in less than two years."

In addition to calligraphy and paintings, the two shelves along the wall are filled with jade Buddhas, gold Buddhas, jade deities, and gold deities, displayed in individual compartments.

There are five statues of Guan Yu, three made of jade and two made of gold.

Pan Yun was carrying a golden statue of Guan Gong, which was quite heavy, weighing at least twenty pounds.

Pan Yun was delighted: "This must be solid."

This type of gold statue of Xue Shao does not require weighing.

Pan Yun belatedly realized what was happening and narrowed her eyes slightly: "You don't suspect me of hiding gold, do you?"

Xue Shao met her fiery eyes and said, "You have accumulated merit, so of course you wouldn't do such a thing. I'm guarding against people other than you. With so many gold bricks and bars, just counting the number of pieces is useless. Someone with a purpose can scrape off a layer of skin from each brick and make a lot of money, so weighing is the most appropriate."

Pan Jun was finally satisfied.

The third brother said quietly, "The Imperial Preceptor took it directly to the capital and handed it over to the national treasury. It only went through one intermediary. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, it would be impossible for anyone with ulterior motives to intercept it."

An Chen corrected, "It's two or even three layers of intermediaries: the Embroidered Uniform Guard or the Censorate. Only after the confiscation is recorded can it be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue."

Xue Shao lowered his eyes and said, "Let all three parties be present at the time. We'll register them on one side and hand them over to the Ministry of Revenue on the other. With all three parties as witnesses and the Imperial Advisor present, I don't think anyone will have the guts to do that."

An Chen, representing the Embroidered Uniform Guard, agreed; Xue Shao, representing the Censorate, and Pan Yun, representing himself, were all ignored, as was the Ministry of Revenue, the fourth party.

The four of them busied themselves in the treasure room, recording the last jade Buddha in the book and storing it in their space. The entire treasure room was left with only two troughs of lime in the corner and two wooden shelves by the wall.

Pan Yun stood with her hands on her hips, looking around the entrance again and again. Her obsessive-compulsive disorder kicked in, and she said, "No, this treasure room still has too many things. It's not empty enough."

Imperial Guard: "...Everything has been moved."

"Why is it all bare? There's still a shelf here, isn't there?"

Seeing that her eyes were practically glued to the shelves, Xue Shao couldn't help but chuckle: "Even the Northern Garrison Command wouldn't confiscate such junk."

An Chen glanced at Xue Shao and said, "How can our Northern Garrison compare to the Censorate? The Censorate is known for leaving no trace of its people behind, so naturally, it wouldn't leave behind things like empty shells."

Xue Shao glanced at An Chen and then decisively reached out and put away the two shelves.

Upon seeing this, Pan Jun eagerly ran off to collect the two troughs of lime as well.

Xue Shao paused, and An Chen and Lao San were also confused, not understanding why she wanted this.
Pan Yun chuckled: "There is nothing useless in this world."

The treasure room was opened, and the four of them walked out. The sky was already turning white, and the morning light shone in through the window. The room was quiet.

After thinking for a moment, Xue Shao said, "We can't just leave like this; we haven't gotten enough."

Pan Yun: "They've taken a whole treasure trove of stuff from someone else."

Xue Shao: "I'm talking about the case. Since we're already here, we should at least find out the relationship between him and Feng Hongde."

An Chen said, "Let's go out first. It's almost dawn. Let's see what the others have found." (End of Chapter)