Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 428 Returning a favor and being a bad guy

"Can you show it to me?" Li Changgeng waited silently until Cui Yuan folded up the confession, then he stepped forward and asked.

"Of course," Cui Yuan handed the confession to Li Changgeng with one hand. "After all, your name isn't on it."

Li Changgeng took the confession and cursed Cui Yuan inwardly. However, as his eyes swept over the confession, his entire attention was instantly absorbed by its contents. "How could such a thing happen?" Li Changgeng muttered to himself, his eyes wide.

"Minister Li, you have to thank me. If it weren't for my East Factory helping you uncover this gang of thieves and eliminate this fatal hidden danger, you would have been derelict in your duty." Cui Yuan paused and said with a sinister smile, "Hehe, oh no! Minister Li, you have already failed in your duty. They have been operating in Beitang for so long and have even 'sunk' two ships. Didn't you notice anything at all?"

"No." Li Changgeng closed his confession and handed it back to Cui Yuan. "If these two disappearances were truly caused by human error, then I am indeed responsible for my negligence."

Cui Yuan snatched the confession away, then handed it back to Sun Chengzong, saying in a commanding tone, "Sun Zhongcheng, I want you to take your men out tomorrow morning to arrest all the scoundrels that are parasitizing those two ships!"

"I'm afraid..." Sun Chengzong was about to speak, but was interrupted by Sun Yuerong who suddenly broke in.

As soon as Sun Yuerong opened the curtain, she saw Cui Yuan sitting and Sun Chengzong standing. This made her feel a little confused. "Your servant greets Cui Tixing."

"Don't kneel there like an idiot. Stand over there." Cui Yuan casually pointed to an open space for him.

"Thank you, Cui Tixing." Sun Yuerong bowed again and stood up.

"From what Cui Tixing said, has the East Factory found those two ships?" Li Changgeng glanced at Sun Yuerong and then looked away.

"Not yet, but it will be soon," Cui Yuan said. "Capture the relatives and friends of these people and give them a good beating. We won't be short of information."

"How can you be sure you'll get the answer?" Li Changgeng asked sharply, "and what if you can't?"

"During the time you neglected your duties, we uncovered many things," Cui Yuan asked. "Do you think it's normal for a son to use your pension to visit brothels and drink prostitutes in the city before the mourning period is over?"

"Unfilial sons are everywhere," said Li Changgeng.

"I'm just giving you the most obvious example. There are many similar cases. More importantly, before the two ships 'sank,' some of these bandits met with the shipowners and crew of the sunken vessels," Cui Yuan said. "I learned all this through my investigation by the East Depot. As long as they didn't sink the ships and then drown themselves, someone must have known their hiding place."

"Follow-up investigation." Li Changgeng looked at Cui Yuan. "When exactly did you come?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Chengzong looked at Li Changgeng with some surprise. He did not expect Li Changgeng to be so direct.

"Why should I report to you? You figure it out yourself." Of course Cui Yuan would not answer.

"Huh" Sun Chengzong secretly exhaled a breath of regret. In fact, he also wanted to know the answer to this question.

Cui Yuan turned his head to look at Sun Yuerong. "Tomorrow, go with Sun Zhongcheng and arrest those people for questioning. Don't let me find those two boats."

"Yes." Sun Yuerong responded.

"I'm afraid this matter is not easy to handle." Li Changgeng said.

"What? You still want to protect them?" Cui Yuan looked at Li Changgeng with a critical look.

"Don't be so harsh," Li Changgeng rolled his eyes at Cui Yuan. "Most of these boatmen and sailors are local fishermen. They live together in groups, and as the saying goes, one move can affect the whole body."

Cui Yuan interrupted him. "Minister Li, what do you think Governor Sun's thousand standard-bearers are doing? Now that the people in the coastal defense camp are under control, we have people, boats, and artillery. What fishing village can stop us? If any unruly people dare to stop us, they will be treated as rebels! Publicly kill a few chickens, and these monkeys will be intimidated. If you don't dare to kill, I will do it!" Although Cui Yuan had not used force since leaving the capital, he wielded considerable power. As long as the subsequent explanation was convincing and could withstand investigation, he could even kill people in the street.

"Capturing and killing people is certainly easy. But if we actually do that, it will likely affect the transportation of food, wages, and supplies. We still have 10,000 dan of grain, 8,000 dan of horse beans, 50,000 bundles of horse grass, and 120,000 jin of crude iron stored in the warehouse awaiting shipment." Li Changgeng stared at Cui Yuan and said, "If the attack is too severe and disrupts sea transportation, I can't afford it."

Cui Yuan asked, "Is it possible that there is no one else to carry the goods on this vast ocean?"

"We can find them, but it will take time," Li Changgeng said. "It's March now, and the slave bandits will surely take advantage of this to plunder southward, while Xiong Feibai wants to counterattack northward to prevent the Jiannu from farming. Defense requires supplies, and counterattacks also require supplies. Shipping traffic cannot stop for a single day. According to the plan, three ships are scheduled to sail tomorrow, and the owners and sailors on these ships are all closely or distantly related to the victims of those two ships. Are you planning to capture them as well?"

"Then we can transfer them from other places," Cui Yuan suggested. "There are so many ships coming and going on the canal every day, we can just recruit them and use them."

"No," Sun Chengzong said. "Grain transport and sea transport are two completely different things. As long as it's not flood season, the canal is always calm. But the sea has complex hydrology and rugged reefs. If inexperienced canal sailors were to rashly go out to sea, it would be tantamount to seeking death. As Li Shaositu said, we can find someone else to take over the transport, but it will take time."

Li Changgeng nodded deeply. "That's right."

"Then what should we do? Should we not arrest them? If we can't find those people, we will lack key evidence and confessions." Cui Yuan asked.

"We still have to catch them, but it's best to let them catch them themselves," said Li Changgeng.

"What do you mean?" Cui Yuan asked.

Li Changgeng thought for a moment and said, "This group of thieves has been causing trouble in Beitang for about a month. They've sunk two ships, but that's all they've sunk."

"Hey, 'only' sank, you really know how to talk." Cui Yuan interrupted.

Li Changgeng frowned deeply. "Last month, there were sixty-two ships of all sizes out to sea, that's two per day. Compared to that number, how can it not be 'only'?"

"So what?" Cui Yuan said.

Li Changgeng was filled with rage at Cui Yuan's repeated insults. He closed his eyes and was silent for a long time before saying, "So I think that many people are not colluding with them, and these villages are not bandit villages. If they are not bandit villages or bandit communities, there is no need to catch them all in one fell swoop, and there is no need to punish them by association. My Ministry of Finance can issue a notice tomorrow, summoning the clan leaders and elders of these villages to the government office for questioning, and then let them find the criminals themselves. If they are unwilling to investigate and correct themselves, and want to play the game of protecting their relatives, it will not be too late to send troops to suppress them. Anyway, the people are there, and even if one of them can escape, they can't escape the whole village."

"What do you think, Sun Zhongcheng?" Cui Yuan looked at Sun Chengzong. "This is indeed much more appropriate than direct suppression." Sun Chengzong nodded.

"That's it," Cui Yuan nodded and said, "Early tomorrow morning, the governor's office will issue a warrant to summon these clan leaders and village elders for questioning."

Li Changgeng's brow, which had just relaxed, furrowed again. "This concerns maritime transport, so if there's any need for a military order, it's my department of finance that should issue it."

"Your suggestion is good, and it makes sense, but I don't trust you." Cui Yuan tilted his head and squinted at Li Changgeng. This attitude was extremely arrogant. "If I trusted you, why would Sun Zhongcheng make such a trip?"

Li Changgeng was instantly agitated, the anger that had been pent up for most of the day now erupting completely. He strode over to Cui Yuan, slammed the table, and practically shouted, "Then you might as well just fire me!"

Sun Yuerong was startled by Li Changgeng's sudden outburst, but he quickly recovered. "What's your name?" Just as Sun Yuerong was about to stand up to defend Cui Yuan, Cui Yuan raised his hand to stop him.

"I'd like to dismiss you directly," Cui Yuan met Li Changgeng's gaze. "But unfortunately, I'm only here to investigate. The Lord has not given me such authorization."

"Since you don't have the emperor's authorization, what right do you have to interfere in the affairs of my military payroll department?" Li Changgeng's shouting could be heard even outside the tent.

"Because something happened in your payroll department, and you were completely oblivious, I suspect you're involved. That's fair enough, isn't it?" Cui Yuan maintained his nonchalant demeanor. "I've already submitted my petition. If the emperor had dismissed you, I would have arrested you. You're still wearing this official hat because the imperial decree hasn't arrived yet."

"Since the imperial edict of dismissal hasn't arrived, I'll remain the head of the Ministry of Finance!" Li Changgeng's eyes flickered with obvious fire. "If anything goes wrong, I'll take the blame!"

"Hmph." Cui Yuan rolled his eyes at him and turned to look at Sun Chengzong. "Sun Zhongcheng, what do you think?"

"This is indeed a matter for the Ministry of Finance." Sun Chengzong had been wanting to say this before Sun Yuerong entered the tent. "The acting governor's office is indeed overstepping its bounds."

"Sun Zhongcheng is truly cautious," Cui Yuan said mockingly. "I'm afraid the entire credit for this major case will be shared away by someone else. Perhaps they can even fabricate a seven-story pagoda."

"."Sun Chengzong did not respond to Cui Yuan's words.

Cui Yuan didn't care. "Minister Li, since Sun Zhongcheng is unwilling to take on this matter, then you should go back and make the arrangements. We'll be interrogating the prisoner soon, and it won't be convenient for you to be here."

"You! Humph!" Li Changgeng turned around angrily. Sun Chengzong immediately followed him out.

Cui Yuan silently looked at the backs of the two men and smiled inexplicably.

--------

After a while, Sun Chengzong returned to the central army tent. At this time, Cui Yuan had already stood up, and Sun Yuerong stood behind him.

"Has Li Xiang's troops returned?" Cui Yuan asked with a smile.

Sun Chengzong nodded silently.

"I'm sorry for being rude, Mr. Sun, please take a seat." Cui Yuan greeted.

"What exactly does Cui Tixing mean by acting like this?" Sun Chengzong did not move.

"Be a bad guy." Cui Yuanying came in front of Sun Chengzong.

"I don't understand." Sun Chengzong instinctively wanted to take a step back, but his consciousness immediately suppressed this instinct.

Cui Yuan explained, "You are a man of great righteousness, and you are working for the country to eliminate traitors. However, you came to Beitang to arrest people without even asking. Li Xiangbu will undoubtedly accuse you of exceeding your authority. Since you don't mind co-signing a petition with me and have even offered me many pointers, I will return the favor and play the villain to help you maintain your relationship with Li Xiangbu. If Your Majesty is still willing to retain him, it will also facilitate your cooperation."

After Cui Yuan finished speaking, Sun Yuerong immediately looked enlightened.

Sun Chengzong was also somewhat moved, but after thinking it over, he felt that this kind of return of favor was really a bit strange. He bowed slightly, as a silent thank you. "So, Li Xiang's army was indeed not involved in this matter?"

"There were certainly oversight and lax governance, and the students' suspicions about him are genuine. But the thieves never approached Li Xiangbu directly, and the evidence we currently possess is insufficient to prove he orchestrated or assisted in this act. Otherwise, we would have requested his arrest." Cui Yuan said, "But then again, even if Li Xiangbu himself is clean, his government isn't."

"What else did Chief Justice Cui find out?" Sun Chengzong thought of what Li Weidong had mentioned, "the connection in the Ministry of Finance."

"Not yet," Cui Yuan said, grabbing Sun Chengzong's arm and guiding him toward the main seat. "But I'm certain this Ministry of Finance is not clean. Very not clean."

"What do you mean?" Sun Chengzong still sat down.

"Mr. Cui, please." Sun Yuerong also brought a chair to Cui Yuan.

Cui Yuan nodded and sat down, explaining, "All this recent mess is due to the diversion of shipping routes, which has affected those greedy and corrupt nobles who are making money from the Liao Dynasty. But you should know that this isn't the first time the route has been changed. When Minister Li first took office as the Minister of Finance, the shipping route originally went to Gaizhou. Minister Li personally escorted the first ship to Gaizhou. So, can you guess why the shipping destination was changed to Lushun and Jinzhou?"

Sun Chengzong knew that Cui Yuan was trying to show off, so he did not answer. Instead, he gave him an encouraging smile and motioned him to continue.

Cui Yuan was indeed impressed. "Either Minister Li took advantage of the situation and colluded with these people, or someone whispered in Minister Li's ear, making him think the route to Gaizhou was dangerous."

"Is Cui Tixing more inclined to the latter?" Sun Chengzong asked.

Cui Yuan nodded and said, "Based solely on the facts I've uncovered, I'm leaning more towards the latter. To be more specific, the greedy and treacherous noble first created a 'sinking' at sea, then used certain people to convince Minister Li that the Gaizhou route was dangerous. To minimize the perceived losses, Minister Li had no choice but to change the long route from Beitang to Gaizhou to the shorter route from Beitang to Lushun and Jinzhou. This way, Minister Li could report to the court and the late emperor, and those people could make a fortune from the land trade route. However, Liaodong gained nothing, and the court suffered a loss in vain."

(End of this chapter)