Yang Wanli glanced at Fan Xian beside him and said, "Teacher, the affairs of Jiangnan are settled. You don't need to worry too much."

He said these words very sincerely and earnestly. After spending more than half a year being exposed to the wind and rain on the riverbanks and dealing with the shirking and procrastination within the River Transport Supervisory Office, Yang Wanli had gradually grasped the true meaning of being an official and the hardships of people's livelihoods.

To be an official who wants to do things for the people and share the burden for the court, one must have power and money, otherwise, one cannot accomplish anything. Because he had Fan Xian as his backing, no superior in the Ministry of Works dared to order him around. Although the River Transport Supervisory Office was still a mess, he had the authority to directly withdraw silver from the Internal Treasury, so no one could create obstacles for him in this regard.

He was no longer the pure young man who dared to loudly scold his students with nothing but integrity. Whenever he thought of this, he deeply admired his teacher's teachings by the West Lake in Hangzhou.

The endless riverbanks and levees beneath their feet at this moment were Yang Wanli's achievements over the past year. Every time he looked at those square stones and yellow earth, at the tamed river water beneath the levees, his heart was filled with fulfillment and pride. The patched clothes and the dark complexion had become a symbol of glory.

Yang Wanli knew that his ability to achieve his life's ideals depended on the meticulous care and promotion of the Old Secretary Fan and the Young Master Fan, father and son. Therefore, he was both happy and worried about his teacher's arrival, which led him to say the previous words.

Everyone in the world knew that Fan Xian had been attacked on his way back to the capital. Yang Wanli was very worried about his teacher's health.

Fan Xian shook his head and, looking at the river water beneath his feet, said, "It's nothing. Don't think too highly of me. I'm a lazy person and won't ruin my health by busying myself with government affairs… As for the Jiangnan affairs, the Ming family's weakness has long been grasped, so they naturally have no power to fight back. However, it is still somewhat difficult to swallow them in one bite."

Now, Yang Wanli could certainly understand the meaning of these words. It was not difficult to devour the Ming family, the key was the imperial family members behind the Ming family. If Fan Xian didn't need to be wary of the situation in the palace, the Ming family would have been swallowed long ago.

Fan Xian smiled and didn't explain the specifics. He just comforted him, saying, "This trip back to the capital has been quite fruitful. Although His Majesty's determination to rectify officialdom has not yet been issued, the changing of the guard in the imperial court has already begun… You should have seen Cheng Jialin's name in the Dibao (official gazette)."

"Yes, Brother Jialin is the first of the four of us to return to the court to take office." Yang Wanli said happily. The investigation into Fan Xian's assassination ended without a conclusion, but the Qing Emperor took the opportunity to drive away some old guys and install many new people into the court. Cheng Jialin, the least famous of the Four Fan Disciples, was fortunate to participate and was promoted beyond his rank. Now he is a Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites and is a key training object of the court.

Fan Xian glanced at him and smiled, "Among the four of you, Jialin is the most silent and moderate. Precisely because of this, he has progressed more smoothly than Ji Chang… Of course, Ji Chang's problem is also with me. If I hadn't called him to Jiaozhou, he wouldn't have been in this kind of stalemate. I only hope he doesn't blame me."

Yang Wanli shook his head and said, "Teacher, what are you saying? Ji Chang also wrote to me about the Jiaozhou matter. It is a major matter, and only Ji Chang can handle it."

Fan Xian nodded. Since the four knew his good intentions, he didn't need to explain further.

The two walked along the long river levee towards the downstream direction, strolling and chatting. Fan Xian reminded him, "I am very clear about your affairs in the River Works Office, and so is the court. Now the title of '拼命万里的称谓 (Pinyin: Pīnmìng Wànlǐ de chēngwèi - 'Desperate Wanli')' has also been passed into the palace, which will be of great benefit to you in the future… But you still have to remember what I said back then. For things like river works, you should try your best to do what you know, and don't give blind orders about things you don't understand."

Yang Wanli smiled and replied, "After staying on the riverbank for a year, even if I didn't understand anything before, I've learned something now."

Fan Xian looked at him disapprovingly and said, "River works are a major matter, even more important than the wars on the borders of Western Hu and Northern Qi. If you only understand a little… how can this little support you in saying such confident words?"

Yang Wanli immediately understood and humbly accepted the teaching.

"A mere year, of course, cannot stop the river disaster." Fan Xian suddenly frowned and said, "This is a work of ten years, even a hundred years, or even as long as people live on both sides of this great river, it must be repaired for that many years. You must guard against pride and impatience… and be willing to be lonely."

"Yes, Teacher."

"But you should also pay attention to cultivating some capable subordinates and specialists." Fan Xian said sincerely, "Although you have the desire to create welfare for the people, I'm afraid your body can't stand the wind and rain all year round. Once you have cultivated capable people, you should no longer stay in the River Works Office and return to the capital to work seriously."

Yang Wanli was startled and quickly explained, "Teacher, I don't want to return to the capital. The capital is much more troublesome than the levee… Besides, I'm not afraid of hardship and have long been accustomed to it."

"Of course the capital is troublesome, but if you want to do things, you must return to the capital!" Fan Xian said decisively, "This has nothing to do with whether you can endure this hardship. I still expect you to live a few more years… A person of such a great age hasn't even taken a wife yet. What kind of talk is that?"

Yang Wanli was distressed and dared not say more. It was also strange that Fan Xian was younger than his four disciples, but in the past two years, when they occasionally met, Fan Xian would act like a teacher and scold them, and he had become increasingly accustomed to it. This was probably what was meant by "one's surroundings shape one's character, and one's upbringing cultivates one's spirit."

…

…

In the following days, Fan Xian still lingered in Yingzhou, spending most of his time pointing and directing with Yang Wanli on the riverbank, but he couldn't avoid being invited to banquets by the River Works Supervisory Office. Fan Xian could decline ordinary local officials, but this time the River Works Supervisor came to the banquet in person, and this kind of face was really unavoidable.

The River Works Supervisor's reason for inviting Fan Xian was simple: the River Works Supervisory Office was short of money, and Fan Xian, who was in charge of the Internal Treasury, had plenty of money. The River Works Supervisory Office's smooth river repairs this year were greatly praised by the Emperor because Fan Xian had put in a lot of enthusiasm and countless silver taels into this office from the front and the back. This kind of kindness made the Supervisor very grateful.

What made Yang Wanli feel strange was why his teacher had been staying in Yingzhou. As an imperial envoy inspecting the Jiangnan Road, he could of course inspect the construction of the levee, but looking at Fan Xian's appearance, he was preparing to stay here for half a month.

"Teacher, aren't you going to Suzhou?" One day, Yang Wanli boldly asked.

"Don't worry, wait a little longer."

Fan Xian smiled. The Qing Kingdom's capital was in the north, and Suzhou was in the east. He was now sitting steadily in Yingzhou, watching the events that were about to happen in the two places with cold eyes, just like a porter carrying two baskets of thorny fruit, placing the carrying pole precisely on his shoulders to bear the force, but not worrying about being pricked by the thorns.

He was waiting for the Suzhou affairs to enter the main topic first, and then waiting for the Kyoto affairs to erupt. Yingzhou was the best place to watch the show, because although he, this person, was very offensive in the eyes of the world's officials, he still needed to avoid suspicion at this sensitive moment.

—————————————————————

There were two leading figures in the Monitoring Office's **启年小组 (Pinyin: Qǐ Nián Xiǎozǔ - "Qinian Group," meaning "Start the Year Group")** in Jiangnan. One was Su Wenmao, who managed the production affairs of the three major workshops in northern Fujian, and the other was Hong Changqing, who was watching the Ming family's movements in the Suzhou City Internal Treasury Transportation Department.

The action against the Ming family had actually been planned a year ago, and the real start began six months ago. On the one hand, the Zhaoshang Bank vigorously transferred silver to the Ming family to support their channels and daily needs, and also began to stir up Ming Lanshi to open up new trade routes. At the same time, they also made a move against the Sixth Master Ming, who only liked Sumo… That confused Sixth Master Ming only knew that the Zhaoshang Bank had borrowed a lot of silver from him, but he never thought that his shares in the Ming family had already become several contracts in the Zhaoshang Bank.

All of this was done openly, because even if the Zhaoshang Bank forced the debt at this time, with the Ming family's strong strength, the mortgage of goods in their hands, the daily turnover, and the support of the Taiping Bank, they could still cope with it without being forced to liquidate and repay with commercial shares and land.

Therefore, the problem that had always been placed in front of Fan Xian was how to rapidly reduce the Ming family's turnover and cause serious problems with the Ming family's circulation.

To deal with such a huge industry like the Ming family, even if one had a lot of money, it would be difficult to achieve this goal. But the problem was that Fan Xian had the full authority to dispose of the Internal Treasury and tightly controlled the supply of goods, which was equivalent to strangling the Ming family's throat.

Su Wenmao was the first to make a move. With the full cooperation of the Deputy Envoy of the Internal Treasury Transportation Department, the Ren Shaoan brothers, and under the skillful arrangements of the old Ye shopkeepers of the Qing Yu Hall, the production of the Internal Treasury's three major workshops began to gradually and steadily increase from the end of last summer, and the quality also greatly improved.

With more goods being produced, more goods would inevitably be consumed. The Ming family was also unwilling to let go of this opportunity, and the Monitoring Office's harassment of the Ming family had also relaxed a lot during this period. Therefore, the entire industry of the Ming family was revitalized, and for a time, it swallowed countless goods and transported them to Dongyi City and Quanzhou.

Although such a large sum of goods consumed a lot of the Ming family's silver, Ming Qingda was not worried, because this transfer would bring silver back into the account, which was also the reason why he felt relaxed during that period. If it continued like this, what a wonderful day it would be.

However, the three major workshops of the Internal Treasury Transportation Department suddenly stopped working for some unknown reason!

…

…

After the news of the shutdown reached Suzhou, Ming Qingda was furious and asked Ming Lanshi to quickly go to the Internal Treasury Transportation Department to ask what had happened. Hong Qingda shamelessly accepted his questioning but only said that the three major workshops were undergoing routine equipment maintenance and needed to wait some time.

The Ming family had the right to be angry and roar because they were imperial merchants who had tendered countless tens of thousands of taels of silver from the Internal Treasury. Since the Internal Treasury had received their tender silver, it had to guarantee their source of goods; otherwise, they could file a lawsuit before the Emperor.

But Hong Changqing also had an excuse to delay because the three major workshops had already completed the share on the tender during the past year. Even if they stopped for ten days and a half months, the Ming family had already received the goods that they should have received.

Ming Qingda had no choice but to use the power in the officialdom to inquire about the real news from the Mindong area. Finally, news came back that there was another labor strike in the three major workshops. The Monitoring Office's Master Su had beheaded twenty-odd people before barely suppressing it, but it would delay many days of work.

After learning that this was the reason, the Ming family breathed a sigh of relief, as long as it wasn't Fan Xian's conspiracy. They began to wait for the day when the Internal Treasury would resume work. The reason why the Ming family was so impatient and so nervous… was entirely because everything had been smooth sailing in the previous two months. The Ming family gradually recognized the Internal Treasury's ability to produce goods and signed a large contract with Dongyi City and overseas according to the daily quantity.

The order form was now due, and the Ming family needed a large number of goods. What merchants needed was credibility, and the Ming family would rather lose money than not have goods to sell.

After several days, the three major workshops finally resumed work… However, there were not many various goods produced. It was just a drop in the bucket, and it was unknown when it would return to last year's situation. The Ming family fell into a small panic for a while. In order to complete the order form, they had no choice but to transfer goods everywhere. Not only did they transfer out the last reserves of the family, but they also had to borrow some goods from the several families in the Hebei Road and Henan Road at high prices.

After getting the accounting teacher's report and assessing the available cash flow in the family, Ming Qingda frowned and said, "What exactly does Fan Xian want to do? Does he think that he can defeat me just by taking away my goods for a few days? This is too naive."

Ming Lanshi was listening on the side, his mouth feeling a little bitter. These days, he had secretly transferred a sum of money from the Zhaoshang Bank to prepare to participate in the private salt business. His partner this time was Yang Jimei, the largest salt merchant in Jiangnan, and he knew that Yang Jimei and Supervisor Xue Qing had a very close relationship, so Ming Lanshi was not worried about anything… But the return on private salt would take at least three months… If his father knew that he had moved the family's cash flow to another place, would he still be as confident as he is now?

"Our Ming family has nothing else, but we have silver." Ming Qingda smiled coldly, "Fan Xian wants to manipulate the market price to eat our family's silver, then let him eat it. Anyway, he will have to spit it out in the future… We must complete this order form."

However, the Monitoring Office's actions were certainly not as simple as manipulating the price of goods. On the second day after the Ming family successfully collected goods at high prices… the workers of the three major workshops became excited like they had taken ephedrine. The operation of the Internal Treasury suddenly exploded, and there was no sign of a labor strike at all. In a very short time, they even created a peak in daily production.

Although the price of goods sold by the major imperial merchants was the price determined by the court, the price at which they were sold would inevitably be controlled by the upstream suppliers. At this time, the price of goods became cheap, but the business was much better. The Xiong family and Sun family in Lingnan, and even Xia Mingji, made a lot of money in this wave of market conditions, mainly earning a lot of price differences from the Ming family… who told the Ming family to have the most registered routes.

The Ming family worked hard to collect high-priced goods and fulfilled most of the order forms, but they watched helplessly as the price of goods on the market fell, and they were unspeakably annoyed. In particular, several foreigners who went to sea from Quanzhou shamelessly ran away and switched to Lingnan to pick up cheap goods… leaving the Ming family with a large pile of expensive porcelain and perfume in their hands.

In this battle alone, the Ming family lost 700,000 taels of cash flow.

If it were in the past, this 700,000 taels would not be anything to the Ming family in Jiangnan, but after being fully suppressed by the Monitoring Office for a year, the Ming family's circulation channels had already been close to being dried up, relying entirely on the support of the Taiping and Zhaoshang banks. Now that another 700,000 taels of cash flow had melted away like snowflakes, Ming Qingda, the master of the Ming family, could not help but be vigilant.

…

…

"This order must be delivered. Although Shi Bibo is a foreigner, he is also backed by a large foreign merchant bank. He will definitely not be as shameless as those islanders. He also values credibility." Ming Qingda rubbed his tired eyes and said to his son below, "Lanshi, you personally escort the goods this time, and you must be careful."

Ming Lanshi responded. He also knew that this batch of goods was very important because this batch of goods was a batch of trial goods that his father had tried every possible means to snatch from the Internal Treasury, not knowing how many relationships he had used.

The so-called trial goods referred to the goods that the Internal Treasury had successfully developed for the first time, such as the previous spirits and perfumes. Although the pricing was extremely high, everyone in the world knew that they must be extremely novel things, and once sold, they could be sold as gold.

This time, the trial goods were a batch of mirrors – Ming Lanshi had personally inspected the goods. The main material of these mirrors was glass, but he didn't know how the back was made. It was actually plated with a layer of silver, and the reflections were extremely clear. It was truly a treasure.

Logically speaking, given the relationship between Fan Xian and the Ming family, such important trial goods from the Internal Treasury would not be available for the Ming family to make a fortune. However, the Ming family had been operating in Jiangnan for a long time, and they only managed to get this batch of goods through another imperial merchant. But Ming Lanshi still had a premonition in his heart… If he could safely deliver this batch of silver mirrors to Shi Bibo in Quanzhou, the Ming family's current very difficult situation could be greatly alleviated, but… would it be so smooth?

"Don't worry about anything." Ming Qingda said with a gloomy face, "I have already sent a message to the capital. You personally escort this batch of goods, and I have also instructed the Jiaozhou Navy. This time, we won't go out to sea ourselves. Although we will earn less, it should be safe to travel between the prefectures…"

This master of the Ming family, who had tolerated Fan Xian for a whole year, suddenly raised his head and said in a cold voice, "If someone… really dares to kill and rob goods… they can't kill everyone. If someone escapes back, we will file a lawsuit before the Emperor in the capital!"

…

…

Three days later, on a small mountain going southeast from Suzhou, Hong Changqing smiled as he looked at the long convoy down the mountain. There were not many carriages carrying silver mirrors, only two carriages, but the Ming family had dispatched 500 private soldiers to escort them. They really valued this export order.

However, his smile immediately faded and turned into a coldness. At this moment, he thought of the day a year ago when a large number of officers and soldiers of the Jiaozhou Navy landed on the island to massacre. He thought of the seabirds that ate the rotting corpses and the pirate brothers on that island who died with their eyes open.

Although he had been a secret agent of the Monitoring Office from the beginning, responsible for investigating the island, he had spent a long time on the island with those pirates and had some feelings for them. So today, as he stood on the mountain, watching the Ming family's convoy and private soldiers below, a hint of pleasure and bloody smile appeared on the corner of his lips.

He wouldn't kill anyone today, but it would definitely make Ming Qingda even more heartbroken than killing these people.

While he was thinking, a team of about 200 cavalrymen, escorting several carriages, came from the official road directly opposite the Ming family.

The two sides rushed together and blocked the road at the foot of the mountain.

Ming Lanshi had been carefully paying attention to the situation on the road. Looking at this group of people, he immediately noticed a trace of weird atmosphere and directed the private soldiers under his command to draw their weapons and prepare to meet the enemy.

However, the 200 cavalrymen did not do much. They just coldly brushed past the Ming family's convoy. Although these cavalrymen stood upright on their horses, they exuded a cold and murderous aura, causing the Ming family's private soldiers not to dare to act rashly.

It just so happened that the two convoys merged into two lines.

The side of several carriages escorted by the 200 cavalrymen suddenly broke, and the things inside all spilled out and smashed into the Ming family's carriages storing the silver mirrors!

If it were ordinary goods, what would be the harm in being hit?

But the problem was that the things that砸 (Pinyin: zá - 'smashed') on the carriages storing the silver mirrors… were 碌石 (Pinyin: lùshí - 'Rolled stones'), extremely heavy, extremely heavy, and extremely angular rolled stones!

No one dared to use their flesh and blood to stop it, even the Ming family's private soldiers who were carrying strict orders. After hearing a few dull thuds, there were countless subtle cracking sounds!

Ming Lanshi screamed and quickly dismounted to check. He saw that more than a hundred silver mirrors… most of them had been crushed into glittering fragments. Although they still reflected a charming light, but…

The official road at the foot of the mountain suddenly became chaotic. Countless people drew their weapons, and the two sides confronted each other, and a war was about to break out.

Ming Lanshi's eyes darkened, and he immediately knew that he was finished. He turned his head sharply and stared at the leader of the 200 cavalrymen, and said through gritted teeth, "Sure enough… When did the dignified Black Riders of the Monitoring Office also start doing things of killing and robbing goods?"

The leader was wearing a silver mask and was not surprised that the Ming family's young master could recognize his party because they had not intended to hide their identities today.

Jing Ge, the Deputy Commander of the Black Riders of the Monitoring Office, looked at Ming Lanshi coldly and said, "This general did not kill anyone, nor did he rob goods… This general was escorting the stone materials needed by the three major workshops of the Internal Treasury and passing through this place. You private merchants dared to block the road. The road is narrow and narrow, and unfortunately, the vehicle overturned, and both sides suffered losses. I don't want you to pay compensation… And you must not agitate and provoke. If you anger grandpa's fierce temper, be careful with your heads."

Ming Lanshi's eyes were a little dim. He looked at those Black Riders who were full of iron and blood and seemed eager to try… He forcibly suppressed the anger in his chest and only felt a bloody taste in his throat. He stared with wide eyes and lost his mind in pain and said, "翻车 (Pinyin: Fānchē - 'Overturned' vehicle)?"

Is there such a thing as a vehicle overturning so accurately? Both sides suffered losses? No matter how your family's石碌 (Pinyin: Shí Lù - 'Stone roller') overturned, it wouldn't lose a corner, but our family… but they are fragile silver mirrors!

…

…

(To have so many monthly tickets now, sincerely thank you for your support. I won't say anything else, I will write it carefully, bow and thank you. ps: I have pulled again…)