Who killed the Ming Dynasty?

Gao Jinzhong's blade stopped just in mid-air.

The blade was only three fingers' width from the wooden yoke, and a drop of blood, about to fall, was sliding down the tip of the blade onto the bluestone slab.

He turned to look at Zhu Cilang, his eyes filled with doubt:

"You ignorant brat! Do you think this is a street storytelling venue? You can barely protect yourself, yet you dare to spout nonsense!"

Zhu Cilang remained calm and approached Lu Zhenfei:

"Your Excellency, the Transport Commissioner, have clearly determined that this case was not the work of the Nanjing Ministries of Revenue and War!"

Lu Zhenfei frowned, his surprise and suspicion deepening.

"If it wasn't a conspiracy between the two agencies, then who is the mastermind behind it all?"

Zheng Xuan, Gao Jinzhong, and the surrounding officials all held their breath and focused their gazes on the boy.

"May I ask about the roadside pavilion—"

Zhu Cilang turned his gaze to Lu Zhenfei.

"Is the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue truly the only authority in the entire country to control the seals of military funds?"

Zheng Xuan strode forward with steady official steps, stroking his beard, his tone resolute:

"Apart from the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue's seal, there is absolutely no other official seal in the entire country!"

Zhu Cilang turned to look at Zheng Xuan:

"Zheng Gong is mistaken! There is still one more mistake!"

Zheng Xuan's hand, which was stroking his beard, suddenly froze, and the three strands of his beard were twisted into a rope by his knuckles.

Lu Zhenfei's pupils contracted sharply, and he gasped.

"Young man, are you perhaps referring to... the Ministry of Revenue in Beijing?"

"Exactly!"

Zhu Cilang slightly raised his chin, and Zheng Xuan's thoughts were confined to the Southern Capital.

"Though the seal of the Southern Ministry of Revenue is valuable, are the surrendered officials of the Northern Court without their own means?"

"Fan Wencheng, Ning Wan, and I are in charge of the seals of the Six Ministries. It is only a matter of lifting a finger to copy the official seals."

He spoke loudly, meeting dozens of astonished and suspicious gazes.

"This case was truly the work of the Jurchens, a meticulously planned scheme of substitution. No one conspired, and no one secretly changed the titles!"

At this moment, Beijing had fallen under the iron heel of the Jurchen invaders.

On the day the Forbidden City collapsed, many officials died for their country, while traitors knelt to welcome the new ruler.

Former Ming officials like Fan Wencheng and Ning Wanwo, holding the seal of the Northern Court, served as its lackeys and henchmen.

The chains on the rack suddenly rattled, and Lian Guoshi struggled to raise his head, trying his best to hear Zhu Cilang's speech.

Seeing the puzzled looks on everyone's faces, Zhu Cilang revealed the truth, word by word:

"What the bandits traded wasn't just the seals, nor the pay—it was the entire grain transport ship!"

These words shocked everyone present, and even the sound of the wind seemed to freeze for a moment.

"The entire cargo ship?"

Gao Jinzhong roared, his sword suddenly freezing in mid-air.

Zhu Cilang pointed to Zhang Hu and Zhang Bao behind Gao Jinzhong:

"General Gao! Are your two bodyguards twins? They look exactly alike; it's impossible to tell them apart!"

Upon hearing the sound, Zhang Hu and Zhang Bao simultaneously clasped their fists, raising and lowering their hands with perfect precision.

Zhu Cilang continued his analysis:

"The bandits prepared identical cargo ships, complete with stone boxes and counterfeit seals."

"Once the official ships reach the dock, taking advantage of the canal blockage and dense fog, they will use the method of moving boats and barges to deceive the public!"

He looked at Lu Zhenfei.

"Let alone the dockworkers, how many of the officials in charge of the grain transport could see through this meticulously planned scheme to block the river?"

Lu Zhenfei's eyes suddenly lit up, as if a thick fog had been lifted!

A buzzing sound erupted from the crowd, and a cacophony broke out!

The man in plain clothes took a half step back, clutching his handkerchief. The old scholar straightened his crooked collar, and the Taoist priest with a mole on his face suddenly gripped the handle of his whisk.

"May you enjoy boundless longevity and blessings! The Dragon King has eyes and ears to all these cargo ships coming and going; how could he possibly manipulate the arts of the Five Elements and the Art of Escape?"

"Good heavens! A 400-ton official ship can just be replaced like that? Are all the eyes at the dock blind?"

"Even if the grain transport boats are replaced, what about the people on board? The boatmen, soldiers, and laborers—how do you explain that?"

Zhu Cilang spoke faster and with clearer logic:

"The Junior Commander inspected the silver token at the Qingjiangpu boundary marker for the last time; the tip of the token was still gleaming with silver dust, and the lead seal was intact!"

"Before the silver entered the dockyard and granaries, it was only on the ship! If the ship hadn't been replaced, how could the silver have turned to stone in full view of everyone? How could the lead seal have remained intact?"

He continued, revealing the truth.

"Only Li Xianggui used the excuse of clearing the entire ship and took advantage of the fog and the canal blockage to let this carefully prepared 'fake ship' quietly approach and carry out the act of 'switching the beams and pillars'!"

"The real ship, carrying 180,000 taels of silver, will escape north before dawn, while a thick fog blankets the area. The fake ship, carrying an equal weight of stubborn stones, will dock for the transaction! This scoundrel will then vanish without a trace!"

"Please look, everyone—"

Zhu Cilang opened the silk handkerchief—and there it was, a few brownish-yellow, shriveled oat seeds.

"Scattered in the hold of this 'ship docking at the shore' were oat seeds—a crop that shouldn't be found in the drylands of northern China! This is irrefutable evidence!"

"Turning silver into stone? That's nothing but a smokescreen used by the Jurchens to mystify and confuse the people, a cover for their plan to escape unscathed!"

All eyes turned to Lian Guoshi.

Lian Guoshi was being untied from his rack by the grain transport officials, and he staggered to his feet:

"So that's how it is! I was so confused!"

Only then did he realize the truth, shaking his head in regret:

"At three-quarters past dawn, the boat's toilet was occupied by Li Gangshou. I, an old man, could not hold it any longer and had to go ashore to relieve myself. The round trip took no more than a quarter of an hour!"

Blood seeped from beneath his tattered official robes.

"On the way back to the ship, I noticed that the mortise and tenon joints looked different from before, but I just thought it was because my eyes were playing tricks on me from days of hard work... I never expected the thieves to be so rampant!"

Zhu Cilang's voice pierced through the square:

"This—is definitely not just about robbing 180,000 taels of silver!"

"This is a vicious scheme by the Jurchens to kill several birds with one stone!"

His voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"Firstly, robbing silver for their own enrichment would damage the vitality of our Great Ming Dynasty; this is an open conspiracy!"

He stepped forward, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.

"Secondly, they framed someone! By using the bizarre phenomenon of 'silver fossils,' they spread rumors of ghosts and spirits, undermining the morale of the military and civilians and creating panic!"

"If even the imperial army's funds can be confiscated in broad daylight, who would still believe in the fate of the Ming Dynasty? Who would dare to fight?"

He suddenly pointed at the blood-stained Lian Guoshi:

Thirdly, they are trying to sow discord and destroy their own foundation!

"Ironclad evidence points to embezzlement by officials in the Nanjing Ministries of Revenue and War, with the Junior Sima of the Ministry of War, who was in charge of transporting the goods, being the prime suspect!"

Zhu Cilang's gaze pierced Gao Jinzhong as he said:

"General Gao, you were just furious, repeatedly saying that the Ministry of War had fed rats and wishing you could immediately execute the Junior Sima as a sacrifice to the flag. Isn't that exactly what the enemy wanted?"

Gao Jinzhong's expression changed slightly, and the muscles on his cheeks twitched.

Fourthly, General Liu's 30,000 soldiers were starving and desperately needed food.

"If the military pay disappears today, and the Junior Commander is executed, when the soldiers of the various towns north of the Yangtze River hear of this, will they believe the court is incompetent, or will they suspect their superiors of embezzlement?"

"With morale shattered, the Jiangbei defense line will be rendered useless! The Jurchen cavalry can then seize the opportunity and march straight to Liudu!"

"If this plan succeeds, without losing a single soldier, it will cause the emperor and his ministers to doubt each other, the generals to become disloyal, the soldiers and civilians to be terrified, and the defense line to collapse!"

"This is the true scheme of the Jurchens!"

An uproar erupted in the square, every face etched with the same look of horror—

This scheme is utterly insidious! It not only aims to devour a fortune of silver, but also to sever the very foundation of the Ming Dynasty!

"Thump—thump—thump!!!"

As soon as the words were spoken, three drumbeats sounded, carrying a sense of resolute certainty that everything had finally settled.

It's already noon!

The lingering sound echoed in everyone's ears, lingering for a long time.