Chaos of Ming 1628

Inside the private room.

Sun Quan looked puzzled and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "I don't understand, why is that?"

"You clearly knew he wasn't a member of the Sun family, so why did you still cover for him in public?"

"Your Excellency," Song Xian patiently explained, "it's not that I'm intentionally concealing anything, but in the current situation, who can accurately predict the outcome?"

"When I first heard that a member of the Sun family had arrived, I immediately went to his side. After getting to know him, I found that he was not a greedy person, nor did he engage in factional strife; he truly worked for the people."

"But his methods are incomprehensible to most people."

Upon hearing this, Sun Quan was even more puzzled: "Then why did you just say he was one of the current emperor's men?"

"It was Junru who said it." Song Xian hesitated for a moment, but still told Sun Quan what Shen Junru had said.

"What?" Sun Quan asked gravely.

He didn't rush to talk about someone impersonating the Sun family member; he put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth.

After a long pause, he finally said, "He claimed to be a member of the Sun family, and after amassing wealth, he quickly helped refugees. He deliberately created divine punishment in order to suppress the eunuch faction."

"He should have been plotting against Madam Ke out of hatred for the eunuch faction. How could he suddenly become allied with Tian Ergeng for the sake of a mere acting county magistrate?"

Neither of them could understand Sun Qing's behavior.

"He never admitted it himself, but as events unfolded, I became increasingly suspicious that he was a close confidant of the current emperor." Song Xian said with certainty, "He must be a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

The powerful eunuch faction also divided the Embroidered Uniform Guard into two factions. When Zhu Yuanzhang created the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he single-handedly built the most powerful intelligence network in the Ming Dynasty.

However, it has never been better utilized and has only been used to supervise officials.

Now, Wei Zhongxian's faction is even more powerful. Fortunately, the Embroidered Uniform Guard only obeys the emperor's orders, so a portion of them are still under the emperor's control.

Sun Quan turned around abruptly: "How so?"

"At first, I just thought he was a scoundrel. The first strange thing was when he created the Heavenly Punishment incident. He not only immediately knew what Meng Zhaoxiang and Su Jiuda were good at, but he was also able to use them immediately."

"Even..." Song Xian smiled bitterly as he mentioned this, "He asked me to write documents for him, and I thought he was just testing me. Later, a letter came from the capital saying that he saw my handwriting and immediately went to the palace to meet the emperor, asking if Grand Secretary Sun had made any moves?"

"I only realized it at that moment. I'm afraid that by then, he already knew my identity."

Sun Quan's breathing had become much heavier: "And then?"

"When I discovered this, Mr. Ke had already arrived in Jiahe County. I knew that hanging around him was just fooling around. When Mr. Ke was sent back to the capital, I left the post station."

Song Xian's eyes were filled with shame.

He thought he could manipulate Sun Qing by feigning madness. Little did he know, he had long since become a pawn in Sun Qing's game.

Sun Quan leaned on the table with one hand, slowly walked back to his chair, and sat down.

His face was already covered with a fine layer of sweat. He suddenly gave a bitter smile: "The Emperor has never colluded with the eunuch faction. For my Sun family, he is the only hope."

"But before that, he had lived in the Prince's Palace for a long time and had no power. Even though he has ascended the throne, the court and the people inside and outside the palace are all Wei Zhongxian's henchmen, and his future is uncertain."

Song Xian held a different view: "Sun Qing devised a plan to punish the heavens, and the current emperor immediately seized the opportunity to express his intentions. Qiao Lai also intends to rectify the world."

"But he is young and lacks capable ministers to assist him. How can he distinguish between the true and false officials in the court?"

Song Xian said excitedly, "Sun Qing dared to impersonate the Sun family without His Majesty's approval!"

"His Majesty must have meant it. The Grand Counselor has suffered such injustice, and your talents are obvious to all. Yet, under the suppression of the eunuch faction, you can only have a heart full of ambitions but nowhere to put them to use."

"If we cooperate with Sun Qing..."

Sun Quan raised his hand to interrupt him, his tone now more serious: "I cannot gamble the fate of the nation with the lives of more than forty people in Gaoyang just because there is a sliver of hope."

"Right now, the only thing to do is to stay true to our duties, restrain our clansmen, and wait for the situation to change."

"Are you still going to expose Sun Qing's identity?" Song Xian's tone was already tinged with anxiety: "You haven't had any in-depth contact with him, so you don't know how he may act against etiquette, but he truly cares about the people."

"If we reveal his identity now, and he turns out not to be one of the Emperor's men, we will miss out on a hero who could change the lives of ordinary people. If he is, this move would only alert him, and the eunuch faction would surely be on guard. What would the Emperor do then?"

As for Song Xian, Sun Chengzong's family was also his own family; he had long since become one with the Sun family.

Entering the imperial court as an official is secondary. Having lived to this level, they have long since become indifferent to vanity.

"Why!"

Sun Quan sighed, "Don't worry, I'll be leaving Jiahe County tomorrow, and I'll talk to him then."

County government office.

After a day of commotion, when Sun Qing returned home, lanterns had already been hung in the courtyard.

Upon hearing footsteps, Meng Zhaoxiang quickly stood up and waited by his side.

Before him lay a mountain of dossiers.

Su Jiuda ran over, his face beaming with joy: "Young Master, I'm back too."

Sun Qing nodded: "How did it go?"

"I have already exchanged all the valuables for silver as requested by the young master." Su Jiu's eyes were bright, filled with pride.

Meng Zhaoxiang patted the pile of files, his eyes bruised, but his tone was full of excitement: "As per your request, young master, all the files have been sorted and categorized."

Although the two had a tough journey, they finally found their purpose in life.

Su hurriedly took out the account book and spread it out on the table: "A total of thirteen large boxes were brought in. The contents included Zhou Ji's privately hidden valuables as well as the wealth that Li Donglin had amassed over the years."

"What's left is the wealth we plundered from wealthy merchants and ordinary people under the pretext of arresting you."

"After removing the broken and useless utensils, the total value was sold for 120,000 taels of silver."

Twelve thousand taels of silver! Su Jiuda and Meng Zhaoxiang were both quite excited. How much could they do with that much silver!

At least the refugees under the city walls and the homeless people on the streets can all be dealt with.

"How come there's only such a small amount?" Sun Qing asked with a worried expression.

Their smiles froze instantly, their eyes filled with fear as they cautiously asked, "Young master, how much do you need?"

"Come on, look at this!"

Sun Qing walked to the table, unfolded the drawings on it, and said with a serious expression, "I have said before that I want to transform Botou into a commercial port terminal."

"The mudflats on the west bank of the river are a no-man's-land, so I took charge of them directly."

"Demolish all the shantytowns and set up temporary shelters under the city wall for the people living on the riverbank. Then build houses for the entire area."

"That place will be used to resettle displaced people free of charge, thus completely resolving the problems of widespread displaced people and rampant banditry."

Meng Zhaoxiang listened with wide eyes, and even imagined such a beautiful scene and picture in his mind.

Su was already fiddling with the abacus.

"Not enough, far from enough, far too far!" Su roared in a low voice as he calculated.

Botou has its own official kilns, which saves on bricks and tiles. Timber and stone are transported by water, keeping prices low.

As for the resettlement of the poor, it does not need to be too luxurious. It can be a two-story brick and wood shop, which is different from the shops. The construction cost is only one-sixth of that of the shops.

Sun Qing silently did the math in his mind. During the Ming Dynasty, there were already fortified villages built to resist Japanese pirates. According to historical records, Yongchang Fort had a circumference of 860 zhang and cost 7,000 taels of silver. The area of ​​the Hexi mudflats was even larger, and to build on the entire area was simply a pipe dream.

Sure enough, the next second, Su looked at Sun Qing with a desperate expression.

"Young master, this won't do!"

"Based on the current situation and according to the blueprints, it would cost at least 44,000 taels of silver to build a fortified town on the west bank of the river. And the commercial settlement would cost at least 95,000 taels."

"Even with all this money spent on both projects progressing simultaneously, we'll still be short 19,000 taels!"

This number would be nothing to the eunuch faction. But they had nothing.

What Sun Qing needs to do is naturally the most important thing.

Meng Zhaoxiang was also very anxious: "It seems that things are really too difficult right now."

"From the rich to the poor, the imperial guards have searched every corner of Jiahe County. Trying to squeeze any more silver from the wealthy households is simply impossible!"

"Hmph!" Sun Qing sneered, "Whether they'll give us the money or not, we'll have to see if they're willing to."

"Mr. Meng, how's the case file you're reviewing coming along?"