Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 424 Closing the Net (Part )

According to Li Changgeng's rules, neither the yamen runners nor the external clerks were allowed to appear in the inner quarters of the Third Hall. Even if there was any important news to be delivered, they should have gone through the Li family servants on duty in the Second Hall.

The clerk did not stop for a moment because of the servant's scolding. Instead, he trotted all the way to Li Changgeng. "Sir, someone is coming!"

"Who is here?" Li Changgeng frowned, and the idea of ​​firing the secretary had already arisen in his mind.

"The eunuch from the East Factory, wearing a flying fish suit!" The clerk's shout shocked Li Changgeng so much that he stood up. "Where is the East Factory?"

"Yes," the clerk panted. "In the reception room."

A little over half a minute later, Li Changgeng, fully dressed, entered the reception room with nervous strides. Upon entering, he saw a figure sitting arrogantly at the main seat. Just as the clerk had described, the figure was dressed in a gifted robe with a flying fish pattern, and behind him stood four young eunuchs. Their demeanor made it clear they were up to no good.

"Wow. You run pretty fast." Cui Yuan sat upright. When he saw Li Changgeng pushing the door in, he had no intention of standing up.

Li Changgeng's eyes twitched, and he walked up to Cui Yuan with a frown. Just as he was about to greet him, he heard, "Are you Li Changgeng?"

Hearing the other person address him by his full name, Li Changgeng's displeasure intensified, but he still saluted. "Yes, I am Li Changgeng. May I ask your name, sir, and what brings you to my Ministry of Finance?"

"My last name is Cui Yuan, and my godfather is Admiral Cui Wensheng, the Second Chief of the Imperial Household Department and the Eastern Depot." Cui Yuan was extremely arrogant, and still had no intention of standing up. "As for why I came to you, you should know."

Li Changgeng quickly searched his memory, not feeling that he had done anything worthy of the East Factory's visit. "What should I know?"

"Then I'll give you a tip," Cui Yuan actually kept the secret. "Boat."

"Sir, are you here for the supply ship that will pass through in the middle of the month?" Li Changgeng sat down.

"Hey," Cui Yuan said in a pretentious tone, "Li Xiangbu, do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know?"

Li Changgeng let out a long breath and said, "Are you here for those two sunken ships, sir?"

"Heh. Don't you know that?" Cui Yuan raised the corner of his mouth and immediately threw out a provocative smile.

Li Changgeng shuddered. "I haven't reported this yet. How did my father-in-law know about it?"

"'This is what Cao Wushang, the Left Sima of Pei Gong, said.' As for who 'Cao Wushang' is, you can figure it out slowly." Cui Yuan looked at Li Changgeng intently, as if trying to cut the fat out of his face. "Before that, I want to ask why you didn't report it?"

Li Changgeng's expression was solemn, but his eyes showed no sign of panic. "The sea is stormy and rough, and if you're unlucky, you might encounter undercurrents and reefs. It's common for one out of ten ships to sink. If a ship is lost, we'll report it, and I'm afraid the Holy Spirit will be troubled. And I've checked, and the ship is indeed missing, and the crew hasn't returned."

"Hehehe." Cui Yuan grinned and chuckled, "You call that a check? Don't be ridiculous."

Li Changgeng's expression grew even more serious. It seemed the East Depot not only knew about this, but had also been here long beforehand. "Is Cui Tixing saying the East Depot has uncovered the hidden truth?"

"A secret? Ha." Cui Yuan reached out and picked up the teacup on the coffee table. "It's not that secret. Just like the lid on this teacup, it comes off easily."

Li Changgeng had expected Cui Yuan to explain, but unexpectedly, after Cui Yuan finished speaking, he actually began to sip his tea. After a moment's wait, Li Changgeng finally lost his patience. "Cui Tixing, what happened to those two ships?"

"It's gone." Cui Yuan still had that annoying look on his face. "Haven't you already investigated?"

"I'm referring to the secrets you uncovered." Li Changgeng's face had flushed slightly from repeated humiliation, but he maintained a respectable demeanor, not letting his disdain or disgust show. "If you don't speak frankly, how should I handle this?"

"Handle it?" Cui Yuan blew gently, but he still swallowed two floating tea leaves when he drank it. "Don't bother with it. I've already summoned people from the Governor's Office to assist in handling this case."

Li Changgeng stood up suddenly. "Why would the East Depot summon someone from the Governor's Office to interfere in the affairs of our Ministry of Finance? This is an overstepping of authority. Sun Zhisheng won't come!"

"Puff." Cui Yuan spat out the tea. "Sun Chengzong is already here, and he's arresting someone according to my instructions."

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The sound of hurried footsteps startled the birds in the forest and the dragonflies in the fields, and even caused the farmers who had just finished their rest to stop working. Looking up, they were horrified to see hundreds of infantrymen, led by a few horsemen, marching towards their village.

The farmers quickly planted the seedlings in their hands into the ground, then picked up their farm tools and followed the soldiers back to the village. Some of the fast runners even ran barefoot to the home of the village elder before the soldiers entered the village.

When the village elders heard the news, they were shocked and rushed out to greet them. At the village entrance, they ran into the soldiers of the standard camp led by Mao Yuanyi himself.

The leading village elder was very knowledgeable and immediately recognized the fourth-rank military officer's uniform that Mao Yuanyi was wearing. He quickly led the other village elders and the villagers present to kneel and greet him. "This elder greets the general."

"Get up! Get out of the way! Don't block the road!" Mao Yuanyi shouted at them.

The leading village elder wanted to ask Mao Yuanyi why he brought his troops here, but he did not dare to disobey. In the end, he had to half crawl and half walk with everyone to the two sides of the road and stood there blankly.

Under the guidance of the East Depot guards, the main force quickly advanced to their destination. Without Mao Yuanyi's further instructions, the standard battalion soldiers automatically left a squadron to guard each intersection according to their pre-planned plan. When Mao Yuanyi arrived at the gate of the large mansion, this settlement of over a thousand people was already sealed off.

"Uncle San, which government office are these soldiers from?" The young clan leader also came at this time. He walked behind the leading village elder and asked in a low voice while looking at the soldiers stationed at the village entrance.

"How should I know?" Third Uncle patted the dirt off his collar as he carefully examined the soldiers. "But they're definitely not from the Coastal Defense Battalion."

"What do you think they are doing here?" The patriarch nodded. This village is very close to Beitang Fortress, so it is inevitable to deal with the coastal defense camp stationed here.

"How should I know?" Third Uncle shook his head. "It's definitely not a good thing."

"I'm afraid it has something to do with those outsiders." Another younger village elder said in the ear of the third uncle.

"Hmm." Third uncle frowned.

"I told you not to let these outsiders live here, but you didn't listen and insisted on taking those dozens of taels of silver." The third uncle's youngest son was about the same age as the clan leader, but because he was the elder, he was not polite when speaking.

"Keep your voice down!" The third uncle turned his head and slapped his youngest son on the head. Their movement attracted the attention of the soldiers in the standard camp, but the soldiers only glanced at them and then looked away. "I didn't take this money for myself. I used it all to repair the ancestral hall." The clan leader was not convinced. He looked to the third uncle, trying to seek support.

"Blessings and disasters. Disasters and blessings." Third Uncle nodded. "Our ancestors will protect us."

"Hmph, may our ancestors bless us." The third uncle's youngest son rolled his eyes. "It will take a lot of money to avoid this disaster."

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Boom boom boom!
Mao Yuanyi's personal guards knocked on the door of the United Merchant Corps' headquarters.

"Who's outside?" Long before he came to answer the door, the Chen family servant who was in charge of guarding the base heard the orderly footsteps of a large group of people.

"Open the door!" The guards only responded by shouting.

The Chen family servant had already been on guard, so how could he open the door at this moment? He took a step and turned to walk away, but before he could greet the other members, he heard the sound of someone banging on the door behind him.

"What are you doing!?" Li Laicai heard the noise and walked over quickly.

"Master Cai, someone's banging on the door!" The Chen family servant's heartbeat was already extremely fast. In his panic, he seemed to hear the sound of the door bolt breaking. "The Jinyiwei are coming, the Jinyiwei are here to arrest us!"

"Don't panic!" Li Laicai's blood ran cold at the scream.

Boom! Another powerful collision. Li Laicai felt his hair stand on end, as if this time it wasn't hitting the door, but his heart.

"Just go for it." At this time, the drunken Mr. Chen Er also came out of the room, holding a drawn knife in his hand. "Let's fight them!"

"What are you fighting for? Who are you fighting with?" Li Laicai turned his head to look. When he saw the cold blade, his scalp immediately went numb. "Are you crazy? Put the knife back into the sheath!"

Boom!
"Why should we block it? We have twelve people and twelve knives. Even if the Jinyiwei come, we can still fight our way out." Master Chen's eyes turned red.

"Second Master! We can't fight!" The Chen family servant guarding the gate also reacted. "From the sound of footsteps, there must be hundreds of people coming! Let's run!"

"Since so many people have come, there must be people watching everywhere. We can't escape. We have no way to retreat." Chen Erye had a son in his early years, but unfortunately he died of illness. He was a bachelor with a miserable life. He was not afraid of death or implicating anyone. He was even drunk at noon. Now Chen Erye was completely shrouded in blood and the fantasy of being a hero of Liangshan. "It's better to kill one! If I can kill two, hehe! I can also be considered a hero."

Boom!
The others were different from the already insane Chen Erye. Even without their families to burden them, they were unwilling to die in vain. The main family was powerful, wealthy, and well-connected. As long as they could hold on, there was always hope.

Li Laicai winked at the servants behind Master Chen Er. They immediately understood and attacked him, almost instantly pinning Master Chen Er to the ground. Master Chen Er struggled in shock and anger, yelling and screaming. Meanwhile, the Chen family servants stood on either side, but no one stepped forward to help their leader.

Boom! This time, everyone in the yard heard the sound of wood breaking. The bolt, thicker than an adult's forearm, was finally about to give.

"What are you standing there for? Take the knife out of his hand and throw it away! Otherwise we will all be dead!" Li Laicai didn't care whether anyone outside could hear him or not, and shouted at the stunned crowd.

It was not known whether it was out of fear or to avenge the humiliation of the past few days. As soon as Li Laicai finished speaking, a servant of the Guo family rushed forward with sticks of firewood piled in the yard and smashed them on Mr. Chen Er's head.

How could Mr. Chen withstand this sudden blow? He was knocked unconscious. Seeing this, the servant of the Li family quickly reached out and pried open Mr. Chen's knife-wielding hand. He removed the knife from his hand.

Boom!
The door to the farmyard was thrown open, and dozens of shield- and sword-wielding soldiers rushed in in two columns, quickly surrounding everyone inside. Li Laicai looked toward the door and saw a young fourth-rank military officer slowly approaching, accompanied by several strong men massaging shoulders and arms.

"Come out someone who can speak." As Mao Yuanyi stepped into the courtyard, several personal soldiers immediately formed a protective formation on his left and right sides.

Li Laicai stepped forward, but didn't stop until Mao Yuanyi's personal guards signaled him to do so. "I'm Li Laicai, the leader of the merchant group. May I ask your name?"

"Heh." Mao Yuanyi didn't answer Li Laicai's question. Instead, he sneered, "Your door bolt is quite strong. It took me two shifts of people to break it open. What are you doing in there if you don't want to open the door?"

Li Laicai said with a double meaning: "Since you didn't reveal your identity and sent people to knock on the door as soon as you came, we thought it was bandits coming to rob us."

"What's going on with that person lying on the ground?" Mao Yuanyi still didn't respond.

"Your Excellency, we had some wine at noon. This guy couldn't hold his liquor well. He got drunk after just a little bit, and his head went haywire. He thought bandits were robbing us, so he took out his knife to defend himself," Li Laicai pointed at the knife lying on the ground, explaining loudly in a trembling voice. "But he passed out as soon as he ran into the yard. Luckily, he didn't get stabbed by his own knife, otherwise it would be hard to explain to you."

"Hmph." Mao Yuanyi snorted twice with a forced smile. He slowly scanned the crowd present, but only counted ten. "How come there are only ten people? There are still two left?"

Li Laicai was horrified and his face turned pale.

"I'm asking you a question. Where are the other two people?" Li Laicai did not answer for a long time, and his personal soldiers urged him.

"He's drunk, and..." Li Laicai's pupils trembled, and he used all his strength to calm his mind. "He's sleeping inside."

"Go. Catch them all." As soon as Mao Yuanyi finished speaking, ten soldiers immediately separated from the encirclement and began to search the house.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Li Laicai clenched his hands tightly under his sleeves, his nails almost digging into his flesh.

"You're talking nonsense, asking questions you already know the answer to. You're under arrest, so stay put and don't move, and don't even think of anything else. When the sword comes, you'll be the only one left to bear the consequences." Mao Yuanyi waved his hand and ordered, "Tie them all up."

"Yes." Another twenty people separated from the encirclement and prepared to tie up and capture the caravan members in a two-to-one ratio.

At the same time, more soldiers poured into the compound, quickly replenishing the encirclement that had become sparse due to the two withdrawals.

"What crime have we committed? Who are you?" Li Laicai shouted.

"You know exactly what crime you've committed. As for us," Mao Yuanyi said, his tone tingling with emotion. "You'll know once you meet Liu Weishan."

(End of this chapter)