The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 382 - The Second Enlarged Standing Committee Meeting

After dismissing the clerks and government officials, Sun Shaozong led Wei Ruolan, Lin Delu, and Qiu Yunfei into the hall and sat behind the case with a heavy face, without saying a word for a while.

Others just paid off, but Qiu Yunfei was restless. He made a few grimaces at Wei Ruolan there, gritting his teeth. Seeing the latter ignore him, he became even more bored.

So he broke the silence in the hall and said broadly, "Your Excellency, aren't you a bit jittery with imaginary fear? Last time, making a big investigation of the ”Immortal Powder,” after all, it's something that can harm people's lives, but this time it's just a plaything. Is it worth stirring up the crowd like this?”

Just a plaything?

If it were just a mere plaything, it would be easy to handle!

However, what Sun Shaozong cared most about during his recent inquiry was not that ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells” were used in casinos as a medium to have channels for circulation between the market, but rather the scribe's eloquent remarks.

It could be traced back to ancient customs, with some gentry eye-catching it, and even the great scholars of the Hanlin Academy saying, ”It’s better to eat without meat than to hide without shells.”

At this point, the ”pottery, pearls, gold, and shells” has clearly developed a set of theories that could make some people believe in its ”intrinsic value,” and with the theory as its foundation, it greatly increased its deceptive and infectious power.

Even in modern society with developed information, there are still many people who are blinded by this deceptive theory, let alone the ancient people who have never been exposed to the ”financial foam!”

Therefore, if they just sit and watch it spread, the consequences would be truly incalculable.

Thinking of these, Sun Shaozong slowly shook his head and said, "Whether or not I worry about the situation for nothing, take some precautions in advance to prevent the situation from getting out of control, there will always be mistakes.”

“But Your Excellency…”

Lin Delu hesitated and said, "Buying and selling such playthings is not an act explicitly prohibited by the court. If our Criminal Department has come forward to prohibit it, I'm afraid it's an act without any justifiable reason.”

Wei Ruolan also questioned, "There are still many similar items on the market, and no one has ordered the prohibition of such toys in all Dynasties. It's probably not appropriate for you to be the pioneer of all Dynasties, is it, Lord Sun?”

Even Qiu Yunfei couldn't help but curl his lips and said, "That pottery, pearls, gold, and shells only sold for five hundred taels of silver. I saw a cricket jar the size of a palm earlier, which costs a thousand taels.”

Tch!

Although Sun Shaozong had long anticipated that everyone might not agree with his own opinions, he couldn't help but waver in the face of the unanimous opposition and question himself, Perhaps I was really too concerned?

Besides, wasn’t that cricket, cockfighting, and other playthings that have skyrocketed in value as well?

But he didn't have any social problems arising from this.

But…

After all, Sun Shaozong was used to hearing the danger of financial foam. Even though he didn’t know the cause and result of its formation, he was naturally more alert than others.

Therefore, after hesitating several times, he still insisted, "I don't mean to ban it explicitly, I just want to send someone to investigate first and see what channels this item is circulated through, whether someone is secretly manipulating it, and how many people are involved in it.”

Wei Ruolan immediately asked, "What if there is no one behind the scenes to manipulate it, but the people spontaneously like it?”

“If it's unmanned…”

Sun Shaozong hesitated for a moment and then said decisively, "If there are a large number of people involved, we should also find ways to remind the people not to overestimate the value of this item, let alone listen to the saying ”only rise but not fall” and blindly hoard this item.”

Wei Ruolan clearly didn’t agree with this approach but was too lazy to argue with Sun Shaozong. So he arched his hand and said, "Since you have made up your mind, there is no need to discuss it with us anymore. I still have official duties. Goodbye.”

As he spoke, he turned around and left the main hall without hesitation.

Upon seeing this, Qiu Yunfei was about to sneak off similarly, but suddenly saw Wei Ruolan turn back from outside and report, "Lord Sun, Minister Han, and Magistrate Jia have summoned you and me to the inner hall for discussion immediately.”

Inner Hall meeting?

Since it was Han Anbang and Jia Yucun calling together, Sun Shaozong naturally didn’t dare to neglect and quickly tidied up, rushing to the inner hall of the government with Wei Ruolan.

When they arrived in the inner hall, besides Han Anbang and Jia Yucun, they saw that Fu Shi, the Judge of Money and Grain, and Zhao Liben, the Judge of Miscellaneous Goods, were also present in the hall. In addition, Chen Zhichuang, the Chief Executive of the Secretary Department responsible for recording important meetings, also participated in the attendance.

This should be considered the ”Enlarged Meeting of the Standing Committee” of the Central Judicial Office.

The last time such a grand scene was launched was during last year's Halloween. Could it be that something significant happened again?

Sun Shaozong held his doubts in his heart and first approached the crowd to salute. Then he sat on the chair on the right side, forming a left and right pattern with Jia Yucun, guarding Han Anbang in the middle.

When Wei Ruolan also sat down in the hall, he heard Han Anbang solemnly saying, "This time our government is calling all the Lords here because this morning, the cabinet issued a decree that our Central Judicial Office will verify the number and origin of the slaves and maidservants raised by wealthy families from now on.”

It turned out to be this matter.

When the ”Longsheng Old Store Heart Digging Case” was reported in the Palace Newspaper, Sun Shaozong speculated that Emperor Guangde had a desire to suppress slavery, so he was not surprised.

Jia Yucun was famous for his lack of expression in his emotions, so he naturally couldn’t tell what his thoughts were at the moment. However, he had only been in the Capital for two years, and there weren’t too many servants in his family, so there was no need to worry about getting angry.

As for the three other judges, two of them suddenly changed their faces.

One of them was Fu Shi. This guy recently annexed the Ma family's property and shops and also gathered many servants together. If they were to verify their origins one by one, wouldn't the matter be exposed?

The other person with a sudden change in face was Wei Ruolan.

As an emerging nobleman, his family has rapidly expanded in power in recent years and has also annexed many dilapidated and prestigious family servants. This might not be a secret in private, but if it were to unfold, it might cause a lot of criticism.

However, since the decree was passed down through the cabinet, it showed that several leaders in the cabinet and the Emperor had reached a consensus. As the local officials below, they have no right to oppose, and the only thing they could do was to make remedies as soon as possible.

However, Han Anbang announced the purpose of this meeting and said, "This matter is of great importance. Please express your opinions and discuss a stable agenda as soon as possible.”

“Firstly, we must fulfill the tasks entrusted by the Cabinet and His Majesty, and secondly, we must also try our best to be cautious to avoid causing panic among the gentry in the Capital.”

To put it simply, he wanted to cut tofu with a knife to make both sides shine.

However, it seemed that the more he tried to please both sides, the easier it was to make things worse.

Therefore, these two seemingly simple things he mentioned were not very easy, so after speaking, the audience fell into an awkward silence.

Finally, Han Anbang had to call names and say, "Magistrate Jia, the Officials in the Office respect you. Why don't you say a few words first?”

This sounded a bit sour.

Jia Yucun only nodded and said, "Your Excellency, I will just say two things. I believe the second point is the most important. After all, most of the people who raise slaves are the gentry and noble officials, who are the cornerstone of the court and can’t be shaken.”

“That’s right.”

Sun Shaozong immediately explained on the side, "The reason why the court has appointed us to conduct inspections in the Central Judicial Office, rather than being led by the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Household, may also be intentional in controlling the scope and not wanting to expand the situation, causing anxiety among the gentry and nobles.”

During the conversation, the two exchanged glances over the case, both showing a hint of clarity.

If Emperor Guangde really had the intention to crack down on the slave hoarding trend, he wouldn’t have disclosed the direction of the situation in the Palace Newspaper in advance and could have ordered the Dragon Guard to conduct a secret investigation before conducting the arrest.

Nowadays, this grandiose delegation of tasks to the Central Judicial Office was clearly intended to ”knock the mountain and shake the tiger,” rather than a thorough investigation and punishment.

Obviously, Jia Yucun had already seen through this point, so he opened his mouth and spoke for the gentry and nobles, saying something beneficial and free, to gain a good impression among them.

And how could Sun Shaozong make him specialize in something so beneficial?

Han Anbang's political consciousness was almost halfway off. Seeing these two people singing in front of him, although he felt a bit inappropriate, he habitually sang the opposite tone, "The words of the two Lords are not exactly right. Although the gentry and nobility are the cornerstones of the court, the will passed down by the cabinet must not be attended carelessly.”

Sun Shaozong and Jia Yucun immediately stood up and arched their hands, saying, "You are right.”

In their heart, they have some disdain for this guy's emotional intelligence.

Especially when it came to discussing details, although Han Anbang might have played the opposite role, he had absolutely no ”toughness” to speak of and didn’t dare to point his finger at those aristocratic nobles.

So the outcome of everyone's discussion was to first make an example of merchants with poor reputations, and then gradually expand to the noble families of the gentry. If at that time, there were still people who were foolish enough to put their handles on the surface, then they couldn’t blame the Central Judicial Office for not turning a blind eye.

Finally, Han Anbang shamelessly said, "In the last ”Immortal Powder” case, our Central Judicial Office handled it properly and made some good reputation. This time, the ”checking of slave” must not be slacking at all, it must be more appropriate than last time.”

Bah~

The last time the ”Immortal Powder Special Rectification” campaign was launched, it was a joint effort between the Department of Criminal, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Punishment. At that time, Han Anbang was afraid of not being able to do so, but now he was putting gold on his face.

But…

His habitual pursuit of credit offended even Wei Ruolan. The two, who contributed the most to the ”Immortal Powder” project were Wei Ruolan and Qiu Yunfei.

Sun Shaozong coldly observed, and indeed saw a hint of displeasure in Wei Ruolan's face. Although it might not necessarily lead to a complete confrontation with Han Anbang, it was inevitable that he would become estranged.

It was no wonder that Han Anbang turned into an unpowerful leader!

“Brother.”

When the meeting was over, Sun Shaozong was waiting to lead Wei Ruolan back to the Criminal Department, but Jia Yucun approached and asked with a stern face, "I heard you had a conflict with Second Brother Lian yesterday.”

Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said, "Actually, it's not a conflict, it's just a misunderstanding.”

“That’s great to be just a misunderstanding.”

Jia Yucun's face softened slightly, and he said, "Although you have already connected with the towering tree of Prince Zhongshun, don't forget the root. Especially since your family and Rongguo Mansion have become in-laws, it's time to support each other.”

Eh?

Although this was a criticism, there was a hint of ”showing kindness” inside, but the two have been going their separate ways for more than half a year now. Why did Jia Yucun suddenly show kindness to himself?

Was it possible that something had happened in this government office that he had not noticed before?