The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 402: Implicate others?

After the entire Su family of Qishun Ocean Company was arrested by the Public Opinion Investigation Office on July 7, three Dong brothers, the largest shareholders of Oriental United Bank, were arrested by the Chang'an Public Opinion Investigation Office on July 15, and the bank's headquarters building was sealed off.

On July 7, Tang Zhengchang, the father and son of the mining giant Yingzhou Coal Industry, were arrested by the local public opinion survey office, and Tang’s residence and several coal mines were sealed off. On the same day, Gao Yuanping, known as the “canned food king”, and his father and son were arrested by the public opinion survey office at their manor in the suburbs of Daxing (now Brisbane, Australia), and more than ten factories under his name were sealed off.

On July 7, Hanzhou sugar tycoon Fan Chongde was arrested in Guangling (now Townsville, Australia), and his residence and several sugar factories were sealed off.

On July 7, Yin Zhenqi, the boss of the "Hua Tai Hang" trading company that operated in Southeast Asia and India, and his eldest son were arrested by the Public Security Bureau, and their mansion and the company's headquarters in Jianye were sealed off.

……

At nine o'clock in the morning on August 8, when Qi Yongde, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, arrived at Changxing Pavilion in the Prime Minister's Office to attend the cabinet meeting, he found that he was still a little late. More than 11 ministers from various ministries had already gathered in the ornately decorated parliament hall.

Everyone sat upright with serious expressions. As he entered the parliament hall, he immediately attracted a lot of attention. The cabinet ministers who were familiar with him did not greet him enthusiastically, but just nodded slightly to him.

"What's the topic today?" Qi Yongde apologized to everyone, bowed, and then tiptoed to sit next to Fu Chaoxiang, the Minister of Industry and Science and Technology.

"Have you seen the Dali Temple Minister on the left wing?" Fu Chaoxiang pointed to the left.

"Huh?" Qi Yongde heard this and immediately looked across.

Dali Temple Minister Yang Dejian was seen holding a pile of files with a sad look on his face. He was talking quietly to an assistant behind him. He was holding a charcoal pencil in his hand, making marks on the files.

"...The assassination of Prince Mingde?" Qi Yongde suddenly came to his senses.

"Yes, this cabinet meeting is to discuss the assassination of Prince Mingde."

"Hasn't it been that all the relevant criminals have been arrested? The Dali Temple has concluded the case based on the facts and pronounced the verdict according to the law. Why... is it necessary to submit this case to the cabinet meeting for discussion?"

"I guess this case involves a wide range of people." Fu Chaoxiang said in a low voice: "If the case is expanded under the pressure of the royal family during the trial, it will inevitably cause the largest criminal prosecution since the founding of Da Qi, shocking the entire government and the people."

"Is it because it involves...Dongshan Society?" Qi Yongde's expression also became serious.

"Yes, it involves the Dongshan Society." Fu Chaoxiang said, his brows furrowed.

All twenty-four members of the Dongshan Society were arrested by the Public Opinion Investigation Bureau, their residences and trading company (factory) headquarters were sealed off and searched, and many of their industries either came to a standstill or the people were restless, and they were inevitably in a state of paralysis.

You must know that these Dongshan Society members arrested by the Public Opinion Investigation Bureau are all owners or persons in charge of large and important enterprises in the empire or trading companies with considerable influence in the industry. They are involved in dozens of industries and have more than 40,000 employees. This has caused a huge shock to the entire society.

Not to mention, the factories, mines, trading companies and large plantations owned by these Dongshan Society members also have to face many upstream and downstream industrial chain entities within the empire, and are affected to a wider range.

From the perspective of the Ministry of Industry and Science and Technology, the arrest of Dongshan Society members by the Public Opinion Survey Office has had a considerable destructive effect on the development of some industrial and commercial entities in the empire, greatly affecting the people's livelihood and economy. It is truly brutal and should be severely stopped.

But the entire cabinet government maintained a rare silence. Even during the arrest process, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the cabinet actively cooperated and mobilized a large number of police officers to provide strong support and assistance to the spies of the Public Opinion Investigation Office.

There was no other reason. This case was too big. It involved the royal family of Da Qi and was even more related to the late Crown Prince Mingde. It really shocked the court and the public.

No one would have thought that the death of Prince Mingde from falling off a horse nine years ago was not an accident, but a blatant conspiracy and assassination!

Su Zongzhao, the young master of Qishun Ocean Company, a member of Dongshan Society, bribed the fodder supplier of the Royal Horse Department to mix a herb that can cause horses to freak out and go crazy into the feed, and fed it to the horses kept by the Royal Horse Department. This directly led to the horse suddenly getting frightened and throwing the prince off the horse while the prince was riding and hunting, and his head hit a hard rock on the ground. He eventually died of his injuries at the Royal Medical College.

News from different channels said that the young and energetic Su Zongzhao was resentful that the national tax audit promoted by the crown prince had seriously harmed the interests of the shipping company to which they belonged, so he committed such a desperate act of rebellion.

In order to prevent any fish from slipping through the net in this case, the Public Opinion Investigation Office ordered spies from all over the country to arrest all members of the Dongshan Society for careful interrogation and identification.

Because no one believes that such a big thing was done by Su Zongzhao, the young master of Qishun Shipping Company alone. If you dig deeper, you might be able to uncover a shocking conspiracy.

By then, the entire Public Opinion Survey Office will surely receive great praise from His Majesty the Emperor, and promotion and rewards will be a piece of cake.

To this end, the Public Opinion Survey Office has begun to expand the targets of arrests to companies that have connections or business dealings with members of the Dongshan Society. Nearly 600 people are implicated, causing everyone in the domestic industrial and commercial circles to feel insecure.

Judging from the situation, the Public Opinion Research Office is planning to punish everyone by association and set up a large-scale prison, making this a major case involving a wide range of people since the founding of our Great Qi!
In response to this, the cabinet government immediately expressed many objections and suggested that Prime Minister Zeng Shixue step in to prevent the situation from further expanding and deepening.

Damn it, the polling office only knows how to fight and kill, and arrest people indiscriminately. They never thought about the impact on public opinion, and they never considered the economy and people's livelihood?
At present, the war between Qi and France is still going on, and a huge amount of military supplies are needed for the war. This investigation office has wantonly expanded the scope of the attack, so that more business companies, factories and mines have been implicated, and it has begun to affect the delivery of military orders.

Given the enormous power that the Dongshan Society possesses, there must be many companies and individuals involved with them. If the Public Opinion Investigation Office arrests them all indiscriminately, how can social production be allowed to proceed normally?
Moreover, as the Dali Temple intervened in the case, it was discovered that the whole situation was not as exaggerated as the polling station had said. The main perpetrator seemed to be Su Zongzhao, the young master of Qishun Shipping Company, and even his father might not have known about it.

As for the other members of the Dongshan Society, they were not involved in the case of Prince Mingde falling off a horse at all.

In fact, anyone with a normal brain can figure it out. The royal family of the Great Qi Dynasty, since Taizu, has actively encouraged the development of industry and commerce. The royal foundation has even invested in hundreds of large and medium-sized trading companies and factories in the country, actively participating in the development and construction of domestic industry and commerce.

In other words, in terms of interests, the royal family and domestic industry and commerce are in agreement.

So, under such circumstances, the industrial and commercial leaders in the empire had no reason to oppose the royal family, let alone the idea of ​​collectively murdering the royal family. Needless to say, the royal family controlled the guns, so who would risk their lives to challenge the royal family?
Nine years ago, in order to clarify finances and taxes and increase government revenue, Crown Prince Mingde issued an order for a nationwide tax audit in the name of regent to crack down on tax evasion by domestic trading companies, factories, mines and other types of enterprises.

Although this move once caused an uproar in the domestic business community, with various boycotts and resistances carried out overtly or covertly, they did not really go to the extent of uniting against the royal family.

You must know that during this period, our Great Qi was thriving, its hegemony conquered the oceans, the people of the country lived and worked in peace and contentment, everything was so prosperous, which made the royal family have a very high prestige among the people.

You have the tools to govern the people, the numbers to command the troops, the reason to defeat the enemy country, and your share of the world. This is an unprecedented achievement!
Who would be so stubborn as to plot treason and harm the royal family?
The Dali Temple conducted several retrials of Su Zongzhao based on the interrogation records submitted by the Public Investigation Office. The criminal also admitted that he drugged the horse ridden by the prince not to kill him, but to make the prince fall off the horse and break an arm or a leg, so that the prince could not attend to his duties, thereby delaying the progress of the national tax inspection.

Because he learned from the people who provided the herb that after eating this herb, the horse would be frightened and mad for a short time, and even if a person fell off the horse, it would not cause death.

But what he never expected was that there was a hard rock where the prince fell off his horse, which hit his head and accidentally killed him.

Judging from this, the case should not involve a large number of people, and the number of people involved is not as many as imagined.

To take a step back, even if the royal family really wanted to conduct a thorough investigation into the murder of Prince Mingde and implicate everyone involved, at most the Su family and related relatives and friends would be implicated.

As for the other members of the Dongshan Society, they were probably implicated innocently.

During the reign of Emperor Taizu, an imperial decree was issued to prohibit collective punishment for crimes in order to demonstrate the principle of lenient laws that "the crime should not extend to family members."

This time, Prime Minister Zeng Shixue convened a cabinet meeting, probably to first reach a consensus at the government level, and then to jointly write a letter to His Majesty, requesting that the case of Prince Mingde falling from a horse be handled "fairly" and that too many people be implicated so as not to undermine social stability.

I also don't know whether Your Majesty will respond to the cabinet's request and temporarily suppress your anger when your father was murdered without any reason.
-
August 8, Jianye (now Darwin, Australia).

In August, Jianye City has entered the end of winter.

Of course, there is no snow or biting cold wind in the winter here, only bright sunshine and refreshing climate, which is the most suitable season for outdoor activities and outings to enjoy the scenery.

But in this huge city, whether it is the greedy businessmen and factory owners, or the busy workers and trading company clerks, they all seem to have no time to enjoy this rare beautiful season, and they are still rushing around in their operations and production year after year and day after day.

Although the census data of the first year of Yonglong showed that the population of Jianye City had reached 900,000, if the huge number of floating population and a large number of non-citizens who had not obtained naturalization status were taken into account, it was likely that it actually exceeded one million people, making it the most populous super-large city in the world.

Jianye is the largest industrial city in Qi State and the most important political, economic and cultural center in the north. It is also the birthplace of Qi State’s industrial revolution and the cradle of many cutting-edge science and technologies.

The wealth created by this city each year is almost equal to that of the entire Kingdom of England, and the tax revenue it contributes to the empire accounts for 25% of the country's total.

In the Chinese mainland, during the pre-Ming Dynasty, there was a saying that "taxes in the Three Wus rank first in the world, and taxes in Suzhou and Songjiang account for half of the world's tax revenue", while there was also a saying in Qi that "half of the country's wealth comes from Jianye".

This shows the important position of Jianye Prefecture in the empire.

However, in recent days, some discordant voices have been heard in Jianye City, making many businessmen and factory owners worried, and even a little panicky.

"Since the time of Taizu, our Great Qi has established itself on the basis of industry and commerce, which is why we have the prosperity we have today, and have continued to dominate the oceans and terrorize the world."

In the Qingbin Building in Dongcheng District, factory owners from dozens of major machinery manufacturing companies in Jianye Prefecture as well as senior scholars and experts are gathering together to hold a coordination and analysis meeting to discuss how to deal with the recent rumors from Chang'an that the royal family and the government want to suppress domestic industrial and commercial groups and how to deal with this extremely dangerous situation.

After everyone exchanged greetings and sat down, Mo Yuanzhen, the director of the Jianye Prefecture Industrial Federation, clasped his hands together twice, and when the hall gradually quieted down, he got straight to the point and said, "If Your Majesty and the cabinet government change their ways and start suppressing domestic industrial and commercial entities, I'm afraid it will destroy the foundation of our Great Qi and ruin our strong momentum for development."

"Yes, yes!" Jiang Tingguan, the owner of Huatong Precision Machinery Factory, nodded and said, "Mr. Mo is right. He has said in one sentence the key to the establishment of our country and the foundation of our development. Think about it, if our country wants to follow the ancients' emphasis on agriculture and suppress commerce, and suppress and restrict industrial development, can we continue to dominate the ocean and manage the world? Let's not talk about anything else, just compare it with the Qin State on the Shenzhou Continent. The Qin State occupies the continent with the most advantageous geographical conditions in the world, has hundreds of millions of people, and has a Chinese civilization that has lasted for thousands of years. In terms of development potential and conditions for rise, it is much stronger than our Hanzhou Continent."

"But the reality is that the power of our Great Qi is more than ten times that of Qin, and the people are far richer than Qin. As a result, hundreds of thousands of mainland people sneak across the border to our Qi every year, and they all regard our Great Qi as an ideal country and a place to pursue their dreams. Why? This is because of the benefits of industry and commerce! If our Great Qi did not have the current industrial foundation and the current prosperous business, how could it compare with Qin? If there was no great development of industry and commerce, how could it attract countless Chinese people to come to our Qi, and how could it gather talents from all over the world for its use? Suppressing industry and commerce and abandoning the foundation of Taizu's founding of the country is absolutely against the trend of history and the law of economic development."

"Brother Jiang's words are really serious and the truth of the world is shocking." Ding Xiaoyan, the owner of Guangsheng Machinery Manufacturing Factory, echoed loudly: "If the royal family and the cabinet really want to suppress and restrict our industrial entities, then there is no doubt that the 80-year history of Guangsheng Factory may end here. We should just close it down to avoid offending the government and getting involved in an inexplicable lawsuit."

"Brother Ding, are you worrying too much?" Xie Yuanyi, the owner of Baigong Machinery Factory, said with a smile, "All members of the Dongshan Society have been arrested and imprisoned, and there are also many related trading companies and factories. But this case involves the royal family and Prince Mingde, so they have suffered an unprovoked disaster. You know, in all dynasties, which major case of royal treason did not involve thousands of people? The former Ming Hongwu Emperor launched several prisons, and hundreds of thousands of officials and civilians suffered unwarranted disasters. This time, the royal family of Daqi has restrained itself a lot."

"Emperor Taizu once said that misfortune should not affect family members, crimes should not be committed against relatives, and collective punishment should not be allowed." Someone heard this and said in dissatisfaction, "More than 20 members of the Dongshan Society and hundreds of relatives, are they all going to be implicated and convicted?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the hall nodded in agreement.

Yes, if this is done like the mainland, the disaster might fall on my head.

Suddenly, there was a heated argument and debate in the hall, the noise was deafening.

"Everyone, everyone..."

As the noise was going on, a man suddenly rushed in from outside the hall, with a happy look on his face, and shouted loudly: "…Yin Zhenqi, the owner of Huatai Bank, was released by the Public Opinion Survey Office!"

(End of this chapter)