Tang Ke had a feeling that, as a Vice Chancellor, Vice Prime Minister, and concurrently Minister of Commerce, someone wanted to remove him from office!
Otherwise, how could the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce have suddenly started charging a silver coin preservation fee right under his nose?
Moreover, even the emperor only found out today.
What does this mean?
This indicates that the Imperial City Guard had not yet had time to report to the Emperor.
There is only one possibility: the money preservation fee started last night or even in the early hours of the morning, and the Imperial City Guard had not yet had time to collect relevant information and compile it for record-keeping.
Tang Ke felt that things were getting out of control. How could he not know about something so important?
If this doesn't prove that someone wants to harm him, what else can prove it?
The person behind this must have calculated that the emperor was closely monitoring the paper money. Even if the emperor did not travel incognito, the Imperial City Guard would definitely report this matter.
Even if the paper money incident couldn't bring him down as Vice Chancellor, it could still make the emperor suspicious of him.
Suspicion is like a sword hanging over one's heart; it can never be eliminated.
But Shangguan Hongru and his ilk weren't fools; why would they agree to this condition?
Looking at Shangguan Hongru, who was crawling on the ground trembling, Tang Ke was a hundred reasons to be sure that Shangguan Hongru was still in the dark!
Therefore, the emperor must not go on a killing spree in a fit of anger, otherwise killing the wrong person could cause a huge upheaval in the court and among the people!
Tang Ke's forehead was covered in sweat; he was sweating more in this freezing weather than he would in summer.
Zhao Huan stood up and paced back and forth in front of the merchants from the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce, but no one could tell what the emperor was thinking.
"When I heard about the deposit fee for paper money, I was furious. Paper money is my life's work. Is my life's work so worthless!"
Shangguan Hongru and the others were speechless.
"I summoned you all here to personally tell everyone that the paper money must be implemented, and the court must take responsibility for it. Anyone who dares to meddle with the paper money again will be severely punished by me!"
"He Liming!"
"Your subordinate is here!"
"Send all of these people to the Dali Temple!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Tang Ke breathed a sigh of relief; the emperor was indeed aware of the situation.
Since the emperor did not immediately issue an order to kill these people, it means that the emperor wanted to take the time to thoroughly investigate the matter.
The emperor's summons of Xu Churen, Shao Chengzhang, and himself was clearly for a specific purpose.
The emperor wanted to announce the invalidity of the Jiaozi (paper money) preservation fee as quickly and directly as possible, to avoid any manipulation by those with ulterior motives who might delay the process, spread rumors, or cause unforeseen changes.
Unfortunately, Xu Churen misunderstood the emperor's meaning, thinking that the emperor was going to sentence someone to death on the spot.
Tang Ke thought again and realized something was wrong. Xu Churen hadn't misunderstood the emperor's meaning; the signal the emperor had just given was that he wanted to kill someone.
It was just that he spoke out of his own mouth. After he spoke out, firstly, it could intimidate everyone on the spot and serve as a warning to others, and secondly, it could show the people behind the scenes that the emperor's murderous intent was already very strong and there was no need to doubt it.
Finally, the reason the emperor did not pronounce the death sentence on the spot was, of course, because he knew in his heart that the matter was not so simple.
After leaving Jiang Nanchun, Zhao Huan did not linger and went straight back to the palace.
Xu Churen, Tang Ke, and Shao Chengzhang followed them into the palace, where the emperor gave them a severe scolding.
That afternoon, before the Dali Temple even began its interrogation, these bigwigs from the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce were secretly taken away by the Inspectorate.
Of course, in addition to these people, Situ Su, an assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, and Zhang Han, a secretary of the Ministry of Rites, were also invited over for tea.
According to normal procedures, these people from the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce were not qualified for the Inspectorate to handle their case. In order to avoid confusion in the rules and procedures, the Inspectorate secretly took these people away.
Liu Yanzong sat in a chair, sipping a bowl of ginseng soup. This slut still takes good care of herself; otherwise, at her age, where would she get the energy to talk about life with young girls all the time?
Liu Yanzong was enjoying his soup, while Manager Liang, Wang Qi, and others in front of him were beaten until their skin was torn and bleeding.
They were used to living a life of luxury and had never done any heavy physical labor. Now, they were being brutally beaten, and they were in excruciating pain, screaming as if they were dying.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Shangguan Hongru and the others already had three bamboo skewers stuck under their fingernails.
Even if he was unaware of it, he cannot escape responsibility now. Such a large business under his name began to interfere with the government's orders overnight. For this alone, he is guilty of lax supervision, and his property will be confiscated and he will be exiled to the frontier.
After finishing his soup, Liu Yanzong walked up to Manager Liang and Wang Qi and asked, "Tell me, who notified you that you were going to collect a fee for preserving the value of the paper money?"
“Tell me, and I will definitely report the situation to the Emperor, and you will all be released without charge.”
Wang Qi opened his mouth wide and let out a pig-like scream: "Shangguan, spare my life! This humble subject knew nothing about this. Everything I just said is true. Manager Liang told me that we could collect the money preservation fee!"
Manager Liang said, "Every word I said is true. Liu Yueqing came to me last night at Hai Shi (9-11 PM) to say that he wanted to collect a deposit fee for the paper money."
Liu Yueqing was a member of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and a lackey of Shangguan Hongru. He was being interrogated in another prison at the time.
"I will investigate this thoroughly. If you dare to lie..." Liu Yanzong smiled slightly, "have you ever been subjected to the death by a thousand cuts?"
Upon hearing Liu Yanzong's words, the two were terrified.
As night deepened, the wind began to blow and the snow started to fall again.
He Liming rushed over: "Shangguan Liu, we have investigated and found out that the restaurants and shops that collect the money preservation fee have all received instructions from the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce. The messenger is Liu Yueqing. I have already sent someone to his house!"
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