Chapter 338: Making Use of the Situation

Even among those who had contributed to the Jingnan Campaign, there were different ranks, with hereditary titles and non-hereditary ones being vastly distinct. The Fang family was initially granted the title of earl and the position of permanent commander, ranking twenty-second among the meritorious officials. However, other earls were either promoted or given hereditary titles by the emperor. Fang Sheng made no further contributions after the Jingnan Campaign and passed away in the fourth year of the Yongle era. Thus, the hereditary position of commander remained unchanged for Fang Ling’s father. Although Fang Ling was the son of a noble family and had an elder brother by birth, he was never included in court banquets. Had it not been for his brief visit to the Eastern Palace when selecting readers and guards for the crown prince back then, he might never have even met Zhu Zhanji.

So, even though the emperor was no longer in the Nanjing palace, Fang Ling felt nervous as he stood in front of the Wu Gate for the first time in his life. Noticing that many officials coming in and out were staring at him, he grew even more uncomfortable. He repeatedly told himself to stay calm and not lose face—not only for his own sake but also for Zhang Yue’s. Moreover, he couldn’t disappoint his superior, Zhou Bailing.

After a long while, a young eunuch rushed out, examined him from head to toe, and then announced loudly, “Lord Fang, the Crown Prince has summoned you to the Wenhua Hall!”

Hearing that the crown prince wanted to see him, Fang Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, although Zhang Yue had spoken with confidence when giving them instructions, putting them into action turned out to be much harder—especially since the information in their possession, though nominally obtained through secret investigations by him and Zhou Bailing, was surprisingly easy to gather, almost unbelievable.

Following the young eunuch, he watched as they passed by various palaces and halls. Preoccupied as he was, he quickly lost his way until he finally spotted the blue plaque with golden characters reading “Wenhua Hall.” Realizing where he was, he quickly adjusted his clothes.

Zhu Zhanji had been in a bad mood these days. No matter how hard Huang Run tried to investigate, the cause of the death of those two old maids remained unclear, eventually drawing the attention of the crown prince’s wife, Lady Zhang. At his mother’s urging, he reluctantly gave up on further investigation. Yesterday, upon hearing that his mother had met Zhang Yue’s wife, he sent people to inquire but received no news, adding to his worries. But today, hearing that Fang Ling was going to report on the previous grain warehouse scandal, he forced himself to stay focused.

He waved his hand to tell Fangling to get up. He couldn’t help but take another look at the man, noticing that he had a handsome and spirited appearance, though he seemed quite nervous and not as composed as Zhang Yue. The thought crossed his mind, and he smiled to himself, realizing he was being too demanding in judging others by this standard. Looking at that face, he suddenly remembered an old incident.

“I remember you. Back then, you and Sun… um, Sun Han were showing Zhang Yue around the Imperial Academy, and you happened to meet me alone. Later, you even tried hard to signal to Zhang Yue, right?” Seeing Fangling stammer and unable to speak, he smiled gently and said, “It’s already been three years. Zhang Yue embarked on a literary career through the imperial examinations, while you and Sun Han chose the path of military officials. But everyone has their own way; both literary and military paths are similar. It’s just that Zhang Yue is too favoritistic—instead of sending that Captain Zhou, he sent you to report?”

Fangling didn’t expect Zhu Zhanji to have such a good memory. He was somewhat excited, but only when he heard the last sentence did he become serious. He quickly bowed respectfully and said, “Your Highness, Lord Zhang originally ordered Lord Zhou to come, but Lord Zhou said he was just a military man and feared making a mistake in front of Your Highness. He also worried he might not be able to explain all the details properly, so he asked me to come instead. If not for Lord Zhou’s careful arrangements, we would have been exposed by those watching us. The covert investigation was also led by him; I merely assisted.”

After saying all this, seeing Zhu Zhanji smiling silently, he knew it was time to present the main matter. He quickly recited in detail what he had prepared in advance. Having studied at the Imperial Academy for many years, he had an excellent memory. He spoke for a full twenty minutes without pausing once. At the end, he took out a thick stack of documents and presented them with both hands.

“In short, among the three major granaries in the capital, although they have been renovated, there is a shortage of up to five thousand bushels of grain. Even when new grain was stored to replace the old, fraud occurred—colluding with unscrupulous merchants to sell the new grain while keeping the old. Moreover, these people hired account experts to fabricate records, keeping two sets of accounts—one internal and one external. If it weren’t for us secretly obtaining the real sales records, we would have had to turn the entire granary upside down to investigate. The court built these granaries to prepare for famine and war, yet they have been ruined by these corrupt officials.”

At first, Zhu Zhanji listened indifferently, then his brows gradually furrowed, and in the end, he was not only shocked but also furious. He had initially thought it was just an excuse sent by his grandfather through Zhang Yue, but now he no longer saw it as a trivial matter. Standing up and pacing a few steps, he immediately ordered Eunuch Huang to summon Yang Shiqi. Fifteen minutes later, Yang Shiqi, whose hair was already gray, arrived. He casually instructed the young eunuchs to bring all the evidence and then briefly explained the situation.

“Yang Qing, since you are the minister in charge, you will handle this matter. If there is a need to deploy troops, I will order Duke Cheng to lend his full support. With such a long period of peace, these people have forgotten Emperor Taizu’s methods of combating corruption—it’s truly detestable!”

Yang Shiqi had already guessed that this so-called imperial envoy, Zhang Yue, had other duties, so he wasn’t surprised by Zhang Yue’s departure to conduct inspections elsewhere; he was merely somewhat displeased. Hearing Zhu Zhanji’s words and then Fang Ling’s explanation that the account books were too heavy to carry and remained at the envoy’s camp, along with a glance at the heavy stack of documents in his hands, he finally felt relieved. A student of Du Yishan would surely not neglect minor matters for major ones.

“Zhang Yuanjie has thought of everything by handling both matters simultaneously. Fang Baihu and Zhou Qianhu also deserve credit for their efforts. Without your careful attention, it might not have been possible to uncover such corruption. I will have the Ministry of Revenue work with Ying Tianfu to conduct a thorough investigation—no corrupt official will go unpunished.”

As the minister in charge, Yang Shiqi had countless responsibilities and couldn’t stay long. After saying a few words, he hurried back to Wenyuan Pavilion. Fang Ling also wanted to leave, but Zhu Zhanji asked him to stay. Since this was a personal matter rather than a formal one, he was initially very nervous but gradually relaxed. Even so, he remained extremely cautious when talking about his family affairs—after all, Zhu Zhanji was not Zhang Yue, and he couldn’t slander his relatives in such a setting. As he recounted how he first met Zhang Yue at Meng Jun’s birthday banquet, Zhu Zhanji suddenly said something unexpected.

“Fang Ling, I happen to need a scholar-official who is skilled in both literature and martial arts. You seem honest. After this matter is resolved, I’ll speak to the Emperor Grandfather, and you can stay in Nanjing for now.”

The main house in the eastern courtyard of the Fan family’s compound.

Although he couldn’t figure out what those words in Eastern dialect meant, Zhang Yue was too lazy to play guessing games. Early the next morning, when Fan Tong came to see him, he pointed at the two food boxes and said with a smile that Fan Xiyan had specially brought this “late-night snack” last night and stayed with him for quite some time. The extremely fat supervisor of the Maritime Trade Office nervously stepped forward to lift the lids. After seeing what was inside, he was stunned speechless.

His body stiffened as he turned around, suddenly collapsing to his knees. “M-my lord, I acknowledge my fault!”

Zhang Yue had originally intended to warn Fan Tong to speak plainly instead of hiding things and testing him, but he didn’t expect such a reaction. Faced with this unexpected situation, after quick thinking, he hid his astonishment and simply asked, “Lord Fan said so much at the dinner table last night, speaking so earnestly—why are you apologizing now?”

Although he wasn’t a high-ranking official and there was a eunuch in charge of the Maritime Trade Office, Fan Tong, backed by powerful allies, only bowed slightly when meeting Wang Darong. Having not knelt in years, his knees ached terribly as they touched the hard bluestone ground. He cursed that wench a thousand times over in his heart.

“My lord, that girl isn’t my biological daughter. She appeared out of nowhere two years ago and insisted on living in my house. Her background is unknown. If it weren’t for her threatening to expose my secrets, how could I tolerate her! My lord, please don’t believe her nonsense. I did accept money from the Yan family over the years and helped them a bit with their ships, but that’s because… because the Yan family has the support of the Marquis of Fuyang. Not only can’t I afford to anger her, but not even that eunuch Wang!”

Choosing the lesser of two evils, Fan Tong, having been an official for over a decade, was skilled at such tactics. Seeing Zhang Yue seem thoughtful, clearly convinced by his words, he quickly crawled forward a few steps, putting on an expression of deep distress. “My lord may not know, but although there are many islands along the coast, most of them are barren lands where it’s extremely difficult to obtain fresh water and food. That’s why many Japanese pirates and sea robbers have bases on Eastern Island. After plundering along the coast, they usually flee to Eastern Island to rest before disappearing further away! So, that girl’s claim that I’m colluding with Eastern Island is outright slander!”

A piece of paper with two indecipherable characters instantly yielded so much information, which was undoubtedly a surprising gain for Zhang Yue. However, since he had already tricked her into revealing this much, he saw no harm in adding a few more false threats. He stood up, walked over to the huanghuali desk, and casually picked up the pearls from the jade bowl, letting them roll one by one through his fingers.

“These pearls must be fine Hepu pearls, right? I’ve heard that Hepu’s southern pearls are famous throughout the world. Pearls this large and uniform are quite rare. Besides, this jade bowl isn’t an ordinary item either; I remember jade of this kind was a tribute from Burma. Your daughter said…”

Fan Tong, who had been lying on the ground moments earlier, suddenly sprang up. His plump body once again showed remarkable agility. Seeing the guard beside Zhang Yue bow slightly, as if ready to pounce at any moment, he refrained from rushing forward to explain. Instead, he smiled awkwardly and said, “I gave her these trinkets just to shut her up. Who would have thought she’d bite me instead? Sir, don’t believe her nonsense. These pearls came from the south and aren’t any good. And this isn’t a jade bowl either—it’s just an ordinary jade bowl. I just used the name of a Burmese tribute to deceive her. Who knew she’d actually believe it?”