I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 215: Chaos in the Chaos

In Nanjing city.

Laiyilou, located on the bank of Qinhuai River, is a famous restaurant along the ten-mile Qinhuai River.

In the largest private room upstairs, there were two people sitting, one was Xu Bangning, the youngest son of Xu Pengju, Duke of Wei, and the other was Liu Shiyan, the former Earl of Chengyi.

Why is it the former Earl of Chengyi?

In April of the 45th year of Jiajing's reign, Liu Shiyan presented himself on military and political affairs, citing illness as an example. In a letter of hundreds of words, he described his family's contributions, but his words were full of complaints and slander, which disgusted Emperor Jiajing.

As a result, Xin Zixiu, the Minister of Rites, impeached him and Emperor Jiajing issued an edict to strip him of his title and dismiss him from his post.

Now he has been staying idle at home, plotting to regain his title.

First, they listened to two singing girls singing two songs while playing the pipa. Then Xu Bangning and Liu Shiyan drank a few cups of wine while the beauties sang.

Then he flirted with the singing girl for a while, which made his clothes disheveled and he almost had sex with her.

Xu Bangning was young and hot-tempered, and he chased after the two singing girls and made a scene. Liu Shiyan watched from the side, with a cold light in his eyes.

He always lamented that the world was unfair and did not give him a chance to stand out.

Liu Shiyan boasted that he was a descendant of famous officials and nobles, and that he was a man of extraordinary talent. When the Zhenwu Camp was rioting for military pay, he immediately executed the camp's grain supervisor Huang Maoguan, and threatened Zhang Ao, the Minister of War in Nanjing, to obtain silver from the Nanjing treasury and give it to the Zhenwu Camp, thus quelling the mutiny.

Then he felt proud of his achievements and asked the court for rewards.

However, his colleagues in Nanjing accused him of killing his colleagues and threatening his superiors. Beijing was in a muddle, neither rewarding nor punishing.

Liu Shiyan was filled with resentment, always feeling that the court owed him a lot, and he complained about everything. So in the 45th year of Jiajing, he was finally stripped of his title and dismissed from office by Emperor Jiajing.

Now, he is trying to get back his title by scheming everywhere.

Xu Bangning was one of the helpers he tried hard to win over.

When the commotion had almost died down, Liu Shiyan waved his hand and signaled the singing girls to leave.

Xu Bangning got up from the ground, put some rouge on his face, and tried it on his lips.

"It smells so good and tastes so good. Hmm, where are the two sisters?"

Liu Shiyan said in a deep voice: "Xu Laoer, stop messing around."

"Nonsense? Aren't you here to fool around? Hey, give me back my beauty."

Liu Shiyan said coldly: "It's already this time, and you still remember those fallen women! If you become the Duke of Wei, what kind of beauties will you not have?"

Xu Bangning's face straightened and he slowly sat up.

"Brother Liu, please tell me. You are resourceful and I will listen to you."

Liu Shiyan rolled his eyes, smiled amiably, put his arm around Xu Bangning's shoulders and said, "The friendship between you and me is more than that between brothers. Brothers of one mind can break metal!
As long as you and I work together, you will be able to defeat your unworthy brother and inherit your father's Duke of Wei. And I can tell the world that I, Liu Shiyan, will definitely take back what I have lost! "

Xu Bangning's blood boiled when he heard this, and he said excitedly: "Brother, just tell me what you want me to do! I will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

Liu Shiyan chuckled, "Brother, there is no need to risk everything. The current situation is very favorable to you and me."

Xu Bangning's eyes lit up: "Brother, how can it be beneficial to us?"

"Second brother, look. First, Hai Rui and Wang Yi'e were appointed as the salt administrators of Lianghuai. Now they have sent Zhang Juzheng. A few salt merchants from Yangzhou. The court not only sent the world-famous Hai Gangfeng, but also sent a cabinet minister.

It can be seen from this that the salt merchants in Yangzhou were just the instigator, and what the court was concerned about were certain people in Nanjing City. "

Xu Bangning's eyes flashed with clear stupidity, "Brother, who do you think the court cares about?"

Liu Shiyan chuckled, with a cunning light flashing in the corner of his eyes.

"Xu Lao Er, the imperial court has come with ill intentions. You want to inherit your father's title, and I want to restore it. This is the only chance I can take."

"Please give me some pointers, big brother!"

"We don't care who the court cares about. We just need to implicate the people we care about. You care about your elder brother Xu Bangrui, and I care about Nanjing's Minister of Personnel Liu Cai. Only by getting rid of these two people can you inherit the title, and I can restore the title, and everyone will be happy." Xu Bangning finally understood what he meant and asked hesitantly, "Brother, how do we implicate these two people?"

"I don't know who told Wu Shilai to be so stupid that he actually allowed the bandits to kill civilians. He really did a very crude job. Hai Rui is now investigating this matter, and Wang Yi'e is inspecting the various Jiang defense camps.

Second brother, do you know why? "

Xu Bangning shook his head.

"Nanjing and the southeast are far away from the emperor, and the Forbidden City will be suspicious at the slightest disturbance. Especially military affairs, which are the most sensitive. No matter whether Wu Shilai is real or fake, he led his troops into the canal when the imperial envoy arrived, and let the river bandits wipe out the wealthy businessman's family.

This matter can be big or small, and must be strictly investigated and rectified. We can add to the situation and light a big fire for Zhang Ge Lao when he comes."

"What fire?"

"Zhenwu Camp. It was the army set up by Zhang Ao, the former Nanjing Minister of War, to prepare for the Japanese invasion. After several changes, it became the military support of Nanjing City, but also the biggest cancer."

"Zhenwu Camp!" Xu Bangning was excited when he heard it. "We know several officers there. They smuggle and evade taxes, resell weapons, run gambling dens and prostitutes, and make a lot of money.

What do you want to do with them, brother?

Liu Shiyan said proudly: "A few years ago, I was ordered to suppress a riot in Zhenwu Camp. There is no acquaintance without fighting, and I have become friends with many of them.

Now is the time to put them to use.”

Xu Bangning shuddered with fear, "Ask them to demand pay?"

Liu Shiyan chuckled: "The Zhenwu Camp was rioting when the elders were offering sacrifices to the Xiaoling Mausoleum. Can Nanjing's Minister of War Liu Cai escape responsibility? Can your brother Xu Bangrui, who is also the Nanjing Garrison Assistant, escape responsibility?"

Xu Bangning was stunned. He looked up at Liu Shiyan and saw a crazy and ferocious smile on his face.

Suddenly someone downstairs shouted, "Have you heard? Something big happened in Yangzhou!"

Someone immediately asked, "What happened?"

"Hai Qingtian led his men into the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office and arrested all the officials from Qu Wenshou and above. He said that the Han family was exterminated because of uneven distribution of the spoils, and that the people from the Salt Transport Commissioner's Office colluded with the people from the Jiangfang Camp to do it."

With a loud bang, the entire Laiyi Tower exploded, and everyone's faces were filled with horror.

The Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office was in charge of the Lianghuai salt administration. It was the most lucrative government office in the world. Even a blind or a deaf person knew how many dirty things were going on inside.

The world-famous Hai Qingtian brought his men into the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office and arrested all the officials there. What explosive news!

The iron-faced and impartial Hai Qingtian finally began to investigate the richest and most filthy place in the world! What will he find?

Some are looking forward to it, some are nervous, some are anxious, and some are at a loss.

On this day, Hai Rui was supervising the accounting at the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office.

A dozen accountants seconded from the Coordination Bureau were lying on the tables in various rooms, calculating with the account books.

Hai Rui stood with his hands behind his back, and slowly inspected each room.

These accountants were calculating the accounts of the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office for the past ten years. The accounts for the past ten years were piled up like a mountain. It would take a dozen accountants who were good at accounting a long time to sort out the entire account and then sort out the accumulated problems one by one.

"My lord, a guest comes to visit us." The attendant reported at the gate.

Hai Rui sneered. Ever since he moved into the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office, the Yangzhou salt merchants had become anxious, and the people behind them had also become anxious. There was an endless stream of people coming to visit him under various pretexts, but they were all flatly rejected by Hai Rui.

"Don't you know my rules?"

"Master, the person who comes here has a business card from Lord Nanlin."

Lord Nanlin?
He was Hai Rui's mentor, whose kindness was as great as a mountain. But Nan Lin had long passed away, so the only ones who could come to visit with his name card must be his descendants.

Hai Rui asked again: "Which descendant of Lord Nanlin is this?"

"He is said to be the second son of Lord Nanlin, claiming to be the master's elder brother, and he is the county magistrate in Jiangyin."

Hai Rui hesitated. Should he meet him or not?
(End of this chapter)