Chapter 396 Everyone Shows Their Magical Powers

The rooster crowed, the dawn light spread across the earth, and the night passed quietly, seemingly calm.

In order to prevent a sudden attack from the Iron Hand Group, Zhao Ji stayed on guard all night without closing his eyes.

Fortunately, he was not the only one working all night. Cui Liang and Wu Wendeng also volunteered to work overtime at night without rest because they were “concerned about state affairs.”

Shen Tao moved very quickly. By dawn, Wang Zhou had been dragged in front of Zhao Ji.

Wang Zhou was thrown roughly in front of the lobby and groaned: “Ouch!”

Zhao Ji yawned, walked slowly to Wang Zhou, and asked, “Do you know why I brought you here?”

Wang Zhou was just an insignificant official with limited knowledge and a secret in his heart. Facing the prince’s envoy, he was trembling with fear.

“I…I don’t know…”

Zhao Ji shook his head slightly and reminded him, “Let me tell you, you once boasted to a woman named Xiaoying in the city that you worked in the Canal Transport Office and had an income of more than 2,000 taels a year?”

“You also promised to redeem her and take her as a concubine. You gave her many valuable gifts, and you spent hundreds of taels in just a few months. Am I right?”

Wang Zhou raised his head in shock when he heard this, and tried to deny it: “This…this…Your Highness, this is unjust! How can you trust the words of a prostitute?”

Zhao Ji smiled and shook his head: “You don’t have to cry foul. I have already sent someone to invite your wife to the palace. When the time comes, confront Ying’er and see what she has to say!”

“Ah?” Wang Zhouyi was a little flustered when he heard that he was going to call the original wife and the mistress to confront them. “No, no! Let’s not do this!”

Zhao Ji sneered, his face suddenly changed, and he said sternly: “I already know all about the corruption in your Caoyun Yamen, so I detained those three corrupt officials.”

“I know that you are just a small official who followed orders and are not the main culprit. If you are willing to come forward and report it, you will be doing meritorious service to atone for your sins. I can make the decision and absolve you of your guilt!”

“But if you insist on not changing your ways, don’t blame me for being rude. No one in the Canal Transport Office can escape responsibility for the Han Canal boat capsize case. As a canal guard, you neglected your duties, causing most of the official boats to capsize. I can sentence you to immediate execution right now!”

“Ah?!” Wang Zhou was startled and kowtowed, begging, “Your Highness, please spare my life! Your Highness, please spare my life!”

Seeing that the threats were over, Zhao Ji’s expression eased a little, and he said, “I will keep my word. If you confess, you will be rewarded for your crimes, and all your past deeds will be forgiven.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhou weighed the pros and cons in his mind, and finally made up his mind. He said in a trembling voice: “I am willing to tell the truth, but I don’t know what Your Highness wants to know?”

Zhao Ji smiled and said, “I know that the accounts of the Yangzhou Canal Transport Office are all fake. There is also a real account book. I want to know who has this account book? What does it look like? How much do you know about it?”

After hearing this, Wang Zhou’s face turned pale as paper and sweat trickled down his forehead. He knew very well that his choice at this moment would determine his life or death.

Under Zhao Ji’s sharp eyes, he spoke slowly with a trembling voice: “Your Highness, please understand that there is indeed such an account book, but I am a lowly official, and I can only listen to their arrangements and get paid. I really can’t access such secrets!”

“Therefore, I don’t know who has the accounts, let alone the specific contents of the accounts. Maybe, maybe Lord Yang knows…”

“My share of dividends is not even a fraction of what my superiors get. I heard that Lord Yang’s share of dividends is hundreds of thousands of taels every year!”

Wang Zhou probably knew that Zhao would not be satisfied with his answer, so he shifted the blame to others and cried out for injustice.

It is really ridiculous that a ninth-rank official gets 2,000 taels of silver every year and dares to complain that it is too little. However, Zhao Ji was not concerned about this. He changed the question: “You can get more than 2,000 taels of silver a year, which is not a small amount.”

“Yang Jiucheng has hundreds of thousands of taels, which is even more inconvenient. I’m afraid they won’t give you real silver, right?”

Wang Zhou was so shocked when he heard this that he couldn’t close his mouth for a long time: “Your Highness is really amazing. You even know this. Yes, I and others did not take the silver directly.”

“All the silver is stored in the Hongtong counter. On the 15th of every month, we can get a wooden card, which can be exchanged for 50 taels in the counter, which is 600 taels a year. In this way, accepting bribes is very concealed and difficult to detect.”

“However, I still have more than 1,000 taels of dividends left. According to the requirements, they must be kept in the shop and can only be redeemed under certain conditions. Other colleagues seem to be the same. They say that we should rise and fall together to prevent anyone from betraying us…”

Zhao Ji was not surprised to hear this answer, but he still felt a little amused.

It was within Zhao Ji’s expectation that Yuan Qi would bribe officials through Hongtong Shop, but Zhao Ji definitely did not expect that only half of the money would be given.

It can be imagined that the corrupt officials used the money “stored” in Hongtong Kuifang to lend at high interest rates or run other businesses, making huge profits.

If this is how they treat the officials in Yangzhou city, one can imagine what the underworld third-rate forces in the underground Crouching Tiger Village are like.

Wow, Yuan Qi’s talent for making money and being stingy is no exaggeration!

Zhao Ji stopped smiling and motioned Wang Zhou to stand up. “Give a detailed confession of all the corruption you know about in the Yangzhou government and all the shameful so-called common practices.”

“After signing, you will stay in the government office until the case is closed. Don’t go out. I will bring your family in to protect you!”

Wang Zhou felt relieved, nodded repeatedly, and burst into tears of gratitude: “Thank you, Your Highness. I will tell you everything I know!”

Zhao Ji turned around and winked at Shen Tao standing beside him: “Let him sign it!”

Shen Tao immediately understood and walked up to take Wang Zhou away, preparing for further interrogation.

Zhao Ji Ze stood where he was, his eyes passing through the rising sunlight outside the hall, secretly thinking about the affairs of Hongtong Shop.

“Maybe we should go to Hongtong Guifang and find out what’s going on! But it’s not convenient to go alone. It would be better if Yuan Fang and Di Gong were here. I wonder where they are now and whether they will meet that ‘nuclear weapon’ again?”
–
Just as Zhao Ji was planning to visit Hongtong Shop in disguise, an undercurrent was quietly surging inside the shop, and the plan against him was quietly unfolding.

Long Feng received Yuan Qi’s secret order and came to the shop, telling the shopkeeper: “Sect Master’s secret order! We must see results today!”

Yangzhou’s Hongtong Shop is one of Yuanqi’s core businesses, and the shopkeeper is also considered a core member of the Iron Hand Group.

He agreed to Yuan Qi’s request without any hesitation.

This shop is not just a shop, it also controls the accounts for all the officials, big and small, in Yangzhou, as well as affiliated forces such as Wohuzhuang.

Taking control of Hongtong Kuifang was equivalent to holding the handle on the officials in Yangzhou, and at the same time controlling the salt distribution channels in Yangzhou.

Even if we put all these aside and only look at the surface, under the influence of Yuan Qi, Hongtong Shop is the only monopoly shop in Yangzhou, with far-reaching commercial influence and the leading cash in the country.

Any word that comes out from here is enough to cause a huge uproar and is by no means a trivial matter.

Soon, Zhao Ji received news that the salt market in the entire Yangzhou city had been cut off from supply!
(End of this chapter)