Chapter 734: The Hongmen Banquet

Since Guangdong is located by the South China Sea, it is convenient to travel to the Western Seas, but extremely inconvenient to go to the Eastern Seas. Thus, although it was called opening a port, no permits were actually issued, so merchants could still remain patient. However, when they heard that all those in charge of guiding ships, assessing values, and collecting taxes at the port had been suddenly removed by Zhang Qian, and Zhang Yue even declared that the Maritime Administration was under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Administration, with the port now jointly managed by the Provincial Administration and the Maritime Office, they became quite flustered.

Since the Yongle era, there have been three major Maritime Administrations across the country. In name, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong merchants naturally divided the market among themselves. Yet, Guangdong merchants did not hold an absolute share in the Guangzhou Maritime Administration. In the commercial district, there were thirty-two merchant households, one-third of which were from Anhui and Fujian. Now that maritime trade had become a viable business, these thirty-two households competed fiercely, seeking connections and backers. Those who already had backers tried every means to obtain “protective amulets.” Who could have imagined such a sudden setback?

Although Zhang Qian said he and Zhang Yue were waiting for these merchants at Caiyun Tower, among the four classes—scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—merchants ranked lowest. Given Zhang Qian’s previous threats, no one dared to let those two high-ranking officials wait idly. As soon as Caiyun Tower opened early in the morning, several merchants entered, followed by more arriving one after another. By the third hour of the morning, all thirty-two households had arrived, filling the entire floor. Some shrewd people quietly went to the shopkeeper to settle all accounts for the day, after which they patiently sat together based on their usual relationships, drinking tea and eating snacks while waiting.

At the table by the corner, Fat Chu fanned himself and said, “Brother Wu, it’s good you warned me earlier. Otherwise, if we had given gifts to Qin Huaijin as we did in previous years, all that money would have been wasted! Don’t look at those people acting so confident—they must be hurting inside! And look at Xu Zhengping, sitting alone at that table. Tsk tsk, no matter how wealthy he is, he tried to make dishonest profits during the flood disaster. In the end, he lost more than he gained!”

His words were immediately echoed by the other three people at the table, and those at the adjacent tables nodded in agreement. Wu Jingxi, sitting in the middle, was naturally proud. He stroked his beard and said with a smile, “That was just luck. I got to know Lord Wang from the Salt Transport Administration in Huaihai through several connections, so I obtained some insider information. But it was still Brother Yue from Wuyue Merchant Group who helped me build good relations with the government through previous grain-related matters!”

For Wuyue Merchant Bank, these three groups of people were naturally no strangers, but it was the first time they had seen this low-key manager. At that moment, everyone turned to take a look at him. Chu Pangzi smiled and said, “We have quite a stock of goods at home, but we never intended to hoard them for profit. I was initially skeptical about Brother Yue’s words, but after going to meet that high-ranking official, not only did we not suffer losses, but we also made a huge profit. Where else can one find such a good opportunity to make money and sell goods? But…”
Recalling the news he had finally managed to hear about the military being sent to arrest people, his heart heated up, and he immediately lowered his voice: “Our greatest advantage now is having the upper hand. The people at the dock have been cleared out. Although we don’t know where Lord Zhang and Eunuch Zhang found people to fill the vacancies, it is said that the government issued a notice yesterday to recruit people to work on the port. Once the port expands, these few people will definitely not be enough. If we can place our own people there, that would truly be a huge advantage!”
“Come on, we just cleared out a group of people at the dock—how dare you try such tricks again? Eunuch Zhang has already made such harsh threats. Even though we have money, if the authorities invent a crime against us, we’ll lose everything in an instant. Do you think the head of the Xu family sitting there all by himself is showing off? Pah, it’s because everyone is afraid of getting involved with that fool and making such dishonest money. Once that executioner Zhang shows up, he’ll definitely be the first to be dealt with!”
While the others were discussing heatedly, Qiu Guoyong simply sipped his tea leisurely, slowly enjoying a piece of pastry in his hand. Previously, Lao An had mentioned that Jiu Niang, the daughter of the former chef Qiu Fang’s family, had been recommended by Chu Pangzi to work at Caiyun Tower. He felt both emotion and indescribable bitterness. To cut costs, his family had dismissed almost all their servants over the years, but now he realized that all that money spent on them had been completely wasted.
They were truly foolish. What kind of influence did the nobles during the Yongle era have? If even they couldn’t accomplish such things, how much less could the imperial eunuchs?
“Eunuch Zhang, the supervisor of the Maritime Trade Commission, has arrived! Lord Zhang, the governor, has arrived!”

Hearing a loud shout from above, all the merchants seated in the building immediately stood up and then knelt down one after another. A merchant at the top of the stairs mustered the courage to peek and saw that Zhang Qian and Zhang Yue were both wearing identical bright red brocade silk robes adorned with qilin patterns, the embroidered qilins on their chests and the cranes on their sleeves shining brightly. For a moment, he thought they were two identical people. It wasn’t until a voice from above said they could sit down that more people were able to see clearly their attire. It had been customary since the Yongle era for eunuchs in charge of trade to bestow qilin robes, but Zhang Yue’s outfit was something seen for the first time. Only those who had made serious efforts to investigate remembered that during the Yongle period, Zhang Yue seemed to have received such a robe.

However, the two men above did not answer this question in their minds. After sitting down, Zhang Yue didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point: “All of you are merchants who handle foreign goods in the market streets. Today, I and Eunuch Zhang have invited you here first to inform you of the results of the recent inspection of the docks in town. Everyone has been driven away, but as you surely know, if the laws of the Great Ming were truly followed, there should be dozens more heads hanging high on the streets of Guangzhou’s West City!”

His voice, filled with a chilling severity, was like a cold wind sweeping through, leaving many people frozen in place. After a long wait, with hearts in their throats, they finally heard Zhang Yue speak again.

“I know what kind of reputation I’ve earned among the common people. I’m not someone who enjoys killing, nor do I want countless heads to roll wherever I go. That’s why I agreed to Eunuch Zhang’s decision—to simply drive them away and forbid them from returning to the docks or being sheltered by merchants. Levying taxes on goods is part of the imperial regulations. If it relied solely on officials from the Maritime Administration, you might again complain of injustice. So, I’m here today to announce several new orders.”

The previous warning had already made everyone nervous, and the mention of new orders tightened their hearts even more. At that moment, dozens of pairs of eyes were fixed on Zhang Yue, including Qiu Guoyong. He didn’t even notice that a young servant beside Zhang Yue was staring at him intently, his gaze never wavering.

“First, since the court no longer prohibits private ships from sailing at sea, then sea merchants are sea merchants, and merchants in towns are merchants in towns. Since they go out to trade with foreign countries, they must not take in foreign merchants’ goods in the market streets. If anyone crosses this boundary, even if the sea merchants’ permits are issued later, the government will surely revoke them!”

At this point, Zhang Yue took a sip of water to moisten his throat, then glanced around at everyone again. “Secondly, regarding valuation, it won’t be solely decided by the Maritime Administration or the Maritime Office anymore. Official brokers will be established, and merchants from various seas only need to pay a deposit of a thousand guan to send one person to work there, with no more than one person allowed per merchant. Whenever a ship docks, whether it’s a domestic ship or a foreign one, the official brokers will send people to inspect the goods and, together with the clerks from the Maritime Office, assess the value and collect taxes. The Maritime Administration will also hire a third party to audit the accounts annually. Those who try to evade taxes will have their previous investments confiscated and be fined ten times as much. In the past, although there were alliances among the market associations, they were all disorganized. So, you decide on the specific rules yourselves.”

This second point came as a great surprise to everyone, and the silence in the room deepened. Zhang Yue didn’t wait for a response and turned his gaze to another corner. “For now, I’ll only propose these two points. You discuss the rest and decide later. But there’s one matter, though tangential, that must be mentioned now. After the floods, some unscrupulous merchants hoarded goods and drove up rice prices. Given the complexity of post-disaster affairs and the need to calm public sentiment, we didn’t take action. We thought they would repent after being warned, but just now, the Inspection Department reported a serious case! It turns out these merchants weren’t just profiting from the disaster victims—they were also human traffickers who sold our people displaced by the disaster overseas! Driving up prices is just unscrupulous behavior, but human trafficking is utterly unforgivable!”

The people who had initially calmed down were suddenly shocked. Those who knew the details immediately turned their heads. They saw that Xu Zhengping, though sitting on his chair, was trembling, his face turning pale and blue—clearly realizing that someone was about to get into trouble. Since the Xu family had always thought they had powerful backers and acted tyrannically, everyone was eager to watch this farce, with no one stepping forward to defend him.

“Xu Zhengping, is there anything wrong with what I’ve said?”

This sudden call-out made Xu Zhengping jump up. Standing there, he saw no one around to speak up for him, so he bit his tongue hard, forcing himself to stay calm. Only then did he bow deeply and say, “Sir, this humble servant doesn’t understand what you mean. I’ve always done legitimate business. The Duke of Qian in Yunnan and the Marquis of Zhenyuan in Guizhou have all done business with me.”

“The Duke of Qian? The Marquis of Zhenyuan?”

Zhang Yue repeated those two words and then laughed, “With which noble do you do business? That’s none of my business. You’re thinking that since the Duke of Qian and Marquis Zhenyuan have made great contributions guarding the borders, if you get involved with them, you’ll be safe, right? Don’t you even consider who these people are? The Duke of Qian and Marquis Zhenyuan are towering figures, while you, a mere merchant, at most have connections with the servants of local officials. How dare you try to implicate these top nobles in your crime of smuggling people out of the country! Someone, go and summon Commander Li and Inspector Yu!”

Commander Li Long had made a huge profit from the post-disaster price stabilization efforts earlier. Although it wasn’t as much as several thousand taels of gold, the money was clean, and Zhang Yue promised to cover up his scheme to extort gold from merchants, so he was temporarily satisfied. Inspector Yu Liang, having obtained the real list of bribes confessed by Qin Huaijin, immediately submitted it along with the imperial censor. Though the court hadn’t yet responded, someone in the capital had already told him that the high-ranking officials in the Censorate highly appreciated him. Now, with another large sum obtained from the seizures that night, and seeing a major case on the verge of being solved, both of them were extremely proud.

When they went upstairs one after another, they saw Zhang Qian and Zhang Yue wearing identical robes of the qilin and Bai Ze patterns, and both showed envious expressions. Yu Liang, who considered himself a man of integrity, quickly regained his composure. He smiled and bowed to Zhang Qian and Zhang Yue before standing beside Zhang Yue and casually pulled out a piece of paper from his sleeve. “This office is in charge of criminal affairs across the province. If not for Lord Zhang’s reminder, we might have missed a major case. Over the past three years, the Xu family has sold a total of 345 children from reputable families in eastern Fujian and western Guangdong, averaging over a hundred per year—something truly unheard of! Lord Li, since it was you who carried out the seizure, please share your thoughts.”

Tall and robust, Li Long wore a bright red silk robe with a stand-up collar, right-side opening, and floral lion embroidery, tied at the waist with a floral rhinoceros belt. Instead of a black gauze hat, he wore a crown with an agate top, giving him a majestic appearance. He cast a cold glance at Xu Zhengping, who was trembling like a sieve, before speaking in a deep, resonant voice.

“This office received reports of criminals in a house in Foshan Town, so I personally led 200 elite soldiers to investigate. We rescued 23 men and women, among whom three criminals were captured and killed on the spot. The criminals have now been handed over to Lord Yu and imprisoned in the provincial jail. I was transferred here from Xining over a year ago, and this is the first time anyone has dared to defy the imperial troops in broad daylight. It’s simply audacious!”

His voice was already loud, and this roar made everyone’s ears ring. The Military Command Office was in charge of the provincial troops and not of government affairs. The merchants had never dealt with this man before, and even when they learned that the office had risked lending grain reserves, they assumed Zhang Yue must have convinced the commander in some way—after all, many knew that this commander, who also rose to power during the Jingnan Campaign, hated nothing more than not being granted a title. He had little connection to the Zhang family, so there was no need to curry favor with Zhang Yue. But now, it was clear he was on Zhang Yue’s side—how could that be?

Thud—

Xu Zhengping ultimately couldn’t withstand the repeated attacks and collapsed to the ground, muttering uselessly as his lips moved, but no one could hear what he was saying. It wasn’t until two large hands reached from behind and lifted his arms that he suddenly woke up. He tried to kick free but found he couldn’t, so he shouted loudly, “Lord Zhang, battles are still going on in Dateng Gorge in Guangxi. I am the brother-in-law of Marquis Zhenyuan and have provided much support in terms of food and supplies. If you take me, what will happen to the battles there? How will you explain this to the imperial court?”

“Silence him!”

Zhang Yue slammed the armrest angrily and gave a sharp order. Once the shouting turned into muffled sobs and the man was dragged away, he coldly glanced at everyone.

“Gentlemen, as I’ve said before, I don’t want to cause chaos everywhere I go. So I ask you to reflect carefully and avoid doing anything that violates imperial laws. There will be plenty of opportunities to make great profits in the future!”

Marquis Zhenyuan, Gu Xingzu, was the commander-in-chief who would withdraw his troops once the Yao rebellion was quelled. But he was in Guangdong—what did that have to do with it?