The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 578 Mutation
"My dear husband, the world of Daqi is about to change."

"How dare you, a woman, discuss state affairs! What's going on? Come on, I'll take you home today!"

On the second day of November in the fourth year of Taichu, at Guangji Gate in Shenyang, Yang Tong, the chief officer of the pacification troops, stood at the gate of the Shenyang Chamber of Commerce Yamen, looking back at the misty North-South Street behind him, and repeatedly urged his wife.

The cold raindrops hit the iron hook, giving off an icy glow.

A carriage was parked in front of the two of them, and a coachman who looked like a pacification soldier was waiting patiently in the rain.

Yang Tong raised his surviving right hand, holding a slightly worn oil-paper umbrella, to shield his wife from the wind and rain as she just walked out of the yamen.

"What womanizer? I'm the deputy director of the Chamber of Commerce now. Maybe in a few days I'll be..."

Yang Tong glared at Liu Yue'er lightly, signaling her not to continue. He looked around alertly and urged his wife.

"Let's talk in the car. There are too many people here and they're all talking."

Liu Yue'er and her husband got on the carriage, which slowly drove towards North-South Street and returned to the Yang Mansion.

Amidst the dense fog behind the carriage, the empire's largest commercial office was in chaos, with officials constantly coming in and out, and the entrance was a mess.

Yang Tong sat down in the carriage, stretched his left arm, took out a rag, and carefully wiped the rain off the iron hook. Two years ago, the workshop's head craftsman Lei helped him replace the iron hook with a better material, saying it was made of fine steel, but it also needed careful maintenance.

A sharp pain spread throughout his body from the broken left arm. Yang Tong gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Sixteen years had passed since the Battle of Hetuala, the battle that eliminated Huang Taiji. The sniper's left arm wound hadn't healed yet. In rainy weather or when overworked, the bone would ache. On cold, windy days, when he approached a fire, Yang Tong would feel countless insects crawling inside.

"Have the governor, prefect, and corps commander all arrived? Leave the rest to the Raincoat Guards and the Imperial Guards. You should take a break."

The carriage jolted slightly. Liu Yue'er took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to her husband. Yang Tong took out a cigarette, put it into his mouth skillfully, and began to look for a lighter with his right hand.

"Give."

Liu Yue'er lit the fire and handed it to Yang Tong's mouth.

The cigarette made a rustling sound, and the billowing smoke spread like clouds between the couple.

At the moment when the clouds engulfed Liu Yue'er, the deputy director of the Chamber of Commerce also lit a cigarette for himself and puffed out smoke with Yang Tong.

Liu Yue'er's smoking movements were obviously more skillful than her husband's. She put her slender fingers to her mouth, took a shallow puff, and held it for a long time before gently exhaling.

Outside the carriage, the pacification soldier driving the carriage was like a clay sculpture, motionless, occasionally waving the whip and whipping the horse's butt.

On the north-south streets, the bright whale oil street lamps were lost in the dusky drizzle, emitting only a faint yellow glow. Passersby hurried along, umbrellas in hand.

"I can't rest. There aren't enough people. How can the emperor give me a holiday?"

Yang Tong exhaled a light smoke ring and watched the circle slowly rise.

"The corrupt officials are here. How many streetlights should we hang this year?"

Starting from mid-October, more than one hundred provincial governors, prefects, and heads of provincial chambers of commerce arrived in Shenyang. These powerful figures from the interior of the country were discussing new policies with the Taisho Palace, cabinet ministers, and the retired emperor. Many things were to change, from the land system to personnel arrangements.

Shenyang was full of soldiers and officials speaking with foreign accents, and the pressure fell on the pacification soldiers and the straw raincoat guards.

These days, Yang Tong has been busy guarding against assassins and comforting the people - the provincial governors did not come alone, many of them brought their relatives and families with them - and his old injury relapsed.

"Hanging streetlights? This isn't a major cleanup, how are we going to hang streetlights? Don't talk nonsense."

Yang Tong was somewhat dissatisfied with the question raised by his wife. The emperor liked to hang corrupt officials on street lamps. At this time last year, under the whale-shaped lamps on the North-South Street, there were at least 100 officials hanged, just like the spicy fish and bacon hanging at the doors of ordinary people. When there was wind, the corpses of corrupt officials swayed in the wind...

Liu Yue'er didn't take Yang Tong's warning to heart and started asking about Xie Yang again.

Xie Yang was Liu Yue'er's superior, and her only supervisor within the Chamber of Commerce. Half a month ago, due to widespread corruption within the Huguang Chamber of Commerce, the ill-fated Chamber of Commerce boss was once again arrested and interrogated in the Imperial Prison.

"Is Director Xie alive? Who else does Kang Yingqian want to arrest?"

Yang Tong's eyebrows twitched as he pressed the burnt-out cigarette butt into his palm. He pushed aside the smoke in front of his eyes, pointed at his wife's face, and said word by word:

"Don't ask about this matter, or you'll get into trouble!"

Liu Yue'er pushed her husband's hand away and said angrily:

"Director Xie worked diligently, thinking every day about making more money, making armor and firearms for the soldiers, and avenging Prefect Yuan. I didn't expect this to be the outcome! How do you think your brothers who died on the battlefield feel?"

Yang Tong glared at his wife angrily and said nothing more.

Liu Yueer joined the Daqi Chamber of Commerce and worked tirelessly for more than ten years. Apart from her marriage and maternity leave, she spent the rest of her time working hard for the Chamber of Commerce.

Develop the Nanming cigarette market, plan the brine salt trade with Daxi, and standardize the export of cement soap to European countries...

Over the years, the deputy director has earned at least 10 million yuan for the empire.

Most importantly, this strong woman never interfered in political affairs and turned a deaf ear to the revolving cabinet changes in the upper echelons of the empire.

Every year when the Chamber of Commerce organizes an evaluation to select exemplary officials with both moral integrity and ability, Liu Yueer is always selected.

In short, no matter how you look at it, this woman is a perfect tool for extremism. She's one of the highest-level tools. This is also the fundamental reason why she and her husband have been able to survive the successive purges.

However, by the fourth year of Taichu, especially in the second half of the year, the atmosphere inside and outside Shenyang had noticeably changed. Even the once peaceful Chamber of Commerce began to panic, and rumors of the empire's collapse began to circulate. Rumors circulated that the imperial court was planning to abolish the Chamber of Commerce, restore private property, and allow merchants from Shanxi and Anhui provinces to take over business in Liaodong and other regions, allowing them to continue to earn money for the court as imperial merchants of the Great Qi.

The news spread so quickly that even the names of several Shanxi merchants were announced.

On the post roads from Shenyang to Liaodong, smuggling is becoming increasingly rampant, and even many chamber of commerce officials are involved...

I thought the emperor's ambition would eventually be realized.

Unexpectedly, we had to go back in the end.

For the first time, Liu Yue'er began to doubt her faith.

"Xie Yang, are you also involved in smuggling? Speak up."

"You'd have to ask Zhang Mazi, I don't know."

If people's hearts are lost, it will be difficult to lead the team.

Yang Tong and his pacification troops were staunch defenders of the Qi Dynasty's land system.

But now, even these imperial lackeys have begun to waver.

Rumor has it in Shenyang that Xie Guangkun is in great danger this time.

The rain was still falling, and the driver, wearing a black military uniform, was driving the carriage calmly in front.

"You don't know anything. What are you doing here at the Pacification Office? Tomorrow the Emperor will have me thrown into prison! You won't have an easy time either!"

Yang Tong reached out to stop the agitated woman in front of him. After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and whispered to Liu Yue'er:

"Yes, things are going to change."

Liu Yue'er quickly grabbed her husband's sleeve.

"What? Someone wants to force the emperor to abdicate again?"

Yang Tong shook his head and said, "Kang Yingqian and those provincial governors were clamoring to restore the old system. Dozens of people surrounded the retired emperor and argued with him."

"Restore the old system?" Liu Yue'er widened her eyes.

"Restore the imperial examination system, keep imperial power from reaching the countryside, abolish chambers of commerce and farmers' associations, and allow the people to engage in business and rent land..."

Liu Yue'er had anticipated major changes at court, but she hadn't expected them to be so radical. She had assumed only minor adjustments to the Qi Dynasty's Land System, a transition period during which the state would retain control of the land, but she hadn't expected this.

All kinds of rumors have been flying around these days, and the chamber of commerce managers and directors are as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

Some smarter people have already started looking for a way out for themselves.

Yang Tong said anxiously, "The landlord is back, and it's getting dark again."

He leaned close to Liu Yue'er again, lowering his voice to the lowest point:
"A group of people have been arguing in the Dazheng Palace for several days, and there's still no clue. The Emperor Retired refuses to give in, and Supervisor Kang says he wants to find a few scapegoats and put on a show for the people."

Liu Yue'er asked in surprise, "So Xie Yang was arrested for this?"

"It's still unclear. They've found Sun Chuanting, Ma Shiying, Jin Dajiu, and Song Yingxing, and they've convicted them of treason, usurpation of power, and corruption."

"Kang Yingqian and others claim that Song Yingxing embezzled 40 million taels of silver, which is why Da Qi has been so impoverished in the past two years, with the people starving."

Liu Yue'er immediately shook her head and said, "Absolutely impossible! How could he have snatched up so much silver by himself? Besides, he's in Huguang, and without anyone to help him, he can't do it alone."

Yang Tongdao: "Who made him flee to the Southern Ming? The national treasury was short of 40 million taels, so he embezzled 40 million taels. The deficit was 400 million taels, so he embezzled 400 million taels. The people around Junzhou have lost all their food coupons that they deposited in silver shops. The court must give an explanation, right?"

"this·····"

Liu Yue'er was speechless.

When Song Yingxing was in Nanzhili or Yangzhou, surrounded by the skinny women of Yangzhou and the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai, living a life of luxury, he picked up a court bulletin issued by Da Qi and saw the news that he had absconded with 40 million taels of silver. Then he looked at the 40,000 taels of silver notes he carried with him. One can imagine how complicated his feelings were.

"Yesterday, the Emperor Retired issued an edict ordering Emperor Hongguang to hand over Song Yingxing and all the corrupt officials who fled to the south. However, the Southern Ming will probably not listen to us."

Liu Yue'er muttered to herself, "Why was Prime Minister Sun arrested? Even if he was a scapegoat, he couldn't be the one to take the blame. He has made great contributions to the Great Qi over the years."

Yang Tong did not answer again. The fact was already very clear. If Kang Yingqian wanted to truly take power, he had to find a group of scapegoats to negate all previous policies. It didn't matter who these people were.

"What about us?"

The carriage slowly stopped at the gate of Yang's house. The driver jumped down holding the railing and opened the door curtain.

Two guards walked out of the front yard and led the horses to the backyard.

Yang Tong supported his wife as they walked into the courtyard, waved away everyone, and whispered:

"Now that things have come to this, I have conspired with Pei Dahu, Liu Xingzhao, and others to use force to persuade the Emperor to eliminate the evildoers. We must not let the achievements of the Great Qi be ruined. This is our way out."

(End of this chapter)