The emperor felt he had lost face. He was the one who issued the decree, but he hadn't been informed of the follow-up events and had to be reminded by a princess.
The next day at court, he threw a tantrum in front of all the civil and military officials.
He slammed the memorial onto the white jade steps and roared:
"I issued the decree to promote ice-making methods with good intentions, hoping to make ice affordable for the people. However, these unscrupulous merchants have taken advantage of this to make exorbitant profits, hoarding and speculating, and driving up prices. Where has this left my dignity?!"
The emperor grew increasingly angry as he spoke, his chest heaving violently, and he pointed outside the hall, roaring:
"Issue the order to thoroughly investigate this matter! Any unscrupulous merchants who participate in driving up the price of saltpeter and disrupting market order will be severely punished! Anyone who knows about this but fails to report it, or who covers it up, will be punished the same way!"
The kneeling ministers below dared not utter a sound, but inwardly they were all lamenting their misfortune. How could they, as officials, not know that the price of saltpeter had skyrocketed?
Everyone tacitly accepted the benefits and turned a blind eye.
Who knew that this would alarm Princess Qingyang and even reach the Emperor's ears? This has really stirred up a hornet's nest!
When the news reached Cangxi Town, Lu Yuan broke out in a cold sweat.
He had already become aware of the exorbitant price of saltpeter and had ordered people to investigate in secret, but he was struggling to find a pretext to prosecute these merchants.
After all, although saltpeter is expensive, it is indeed a matter of mutual consent, and it is not subject to the strict control of the imperial court like salt and sugar, so even if he wanted to do it, he had no reason to do so.
Now that the Emperor has issued a decree, it proves that this matter is of utmost importance. Moreover, I have heard that several officials have already been dismissed because of this. If I don't handle this well, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my official robes either.
So he dared not delay and immediately summoned the yamen runners to arrest people in various places overnight based on the results of the previous investigation, including the Zhao family!
The entire Zhao family was completely unaware that a great disaster was about to befall them.
At this moment, Master Zhao was embracing his beautiful concubine, listening to a little tune.
"Master, master! Something terrible has happened! The officials have arrived!"
Steward Zhao rushed into the courtyard in a panic, stumbled and crawled to Master Zhao, and said breathlessly.
"What? The government? What are they doing here? Are you sure you've got the right people?" Master Zhao panicked, and the teacup in his hand fell to the ground and shattered.
"Sir, I don't know either! Those officials came in a menacing manner, saying they were ordered by the county magistrate to arrest you and take you back for questioning!"
"It's not just us, I heard that quite a few other business people have been arrested." Butler Zhao was so frightened that his face turned pale and he began to stutter.
Master Zhao was terrified. Although he was extremely wealthy, he was nothing more than a nouveau riche who dared not utter a word in front of the government.
He forced himself to remain calm and said to the butler, "Quickly, go out and see what's going on!"
Just as Master Zhao reached the door, he saw a group of constables rushing in menacingly. The leader, Constable Wang, grabbed Master Zhao and shouted sternly:
"Zhao Caiwang! You are suspected of hoarding, price gouging, and disrupting market order. Come with us!"
Before Master Zhao could react, he was bound hand and foot by the constables and escorted out.
Chaos erupted throughout the Zhao household. Everyone cried and begged for mercy, but to no avail. They could only watch helplessly as Master Zhao and Steward Zhao were taken away by the constables.
Lu Yuan personally presided over Master Zhao's case. He dared not wait a moment longer; as soon as the man was brought back, he opened the court and presided over the trial himself.
In court, Lu Yuanyi solemnly and sternly listed Master Zhao's crimes and presented irrefutable evidence, then said:
"Zhao Caiwang, as a wealthy man in this area, instead of giving back to your hometown, you hoard goods and drive up prices. Do you know your crime?!"
With both witnesses and physical evidence present, Mr. Zhao had no way to deny it and could only weep and wail as he tried to defend himself:
"I...I really didn't know! How could I have imagined that doing business would turn out like this..."
He knelt on the ground, weeping and begging Lu Yuan for forgiveness, hoping that he could be forgiven this time for his many years of charitable deeds.
"My lord, spare my life! I was just confused for a moment and made such a terrible mistake. Please have mercy on me! I'm willing to donate all my family's property, just to spare my life!"
Lu Yuan saw that even now he still didn't know his crime and only admitted his mistake to escape punishment, so he felt no pity whatsoever.
He pronounced the verdict in court:
"Zhao Caiwang, you have inflated prices and amassed a huge amount of silver. The evidence against you is conclusive. You are sentenced to exile for three thousand miles. All your family property will be confiscated and used to provide relief to the people!"
Steward Zhao aided and abetted the wicked; he is sentenced to exile three thousand li!
Upon hearing the verdict, Master Zhao collapsed to the ground, filled with remorse, but it was too late.
The news of Master Zhao's arrest spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of the city.
When the people heard the news, they clapped and cheered. They had long abhorred Master Zhao's behavior, and now that he had finally been brought to justice, they felt very happy. They praised Lord Lu for eliminating a scourge for the people and called him a rare good official.
Meanwhile, at the Zhao family home, Zhao Juan, upon hearing the news, suddenly realized what was happening and pulled Chen Danian aside, asking, "Dad's been arrested, what are we going to do?!"
Chen Danian was also very flustered, but after thinking of something, he calmed down:
"You've married me, but as long as I insist that I didn't marry into the family, even the government can't arrest my Chen family because of the Zhao family's crimes!"
He paused, then looked at Zhao Juan gently and said:
"Now that you have married me, you should follow your husband's wishes and naturally come home with me."
Zhao Juan was deeply moved—it turned out that she had misunderstood Danian before; he was actually quite kind and righteous!
While she was still immersed in emotion, Chen Danian had already made up his mind:
“The Zhao family is gone, but we still have to make a living. I think you should quickly take your savings, get some banknotes and hide them! Then come home with me, and we'll live a good life from now on.”
Zhao Juan was at a loss, so she naturally did whatever he said and quickly turned to get the banknotes.
...
At the gate of the Zhao residence, Chen Danian was about to leave with Zhao Juan and his son Chen Yaozu when they were stopped by the officials.
Zhao Juan hid behind Chen Danian in a panic, while Chen Danian, though also frightened, remembered his academic achievements and quickly adopted the demeanor of a scholar, saying:
"The magistrate only sentenced Zhao Caiwang; we are not criminals. Why are you stopping us?"
The officer sneered, his gaze fixed on them with ill intent:
"We won't stop you, but we'll search you to see if you're carrying any valuables!"
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