From another perspective, Li Bao's killing of Cai Yongling was not an isolated incident or a sudden occurrence.
By the tenth year of the Jingkang era, Yu Yunwen's rise to power foreshadowed a new round of power shifts in the Song Dynasty court.
In the first decade, the reformists, represented by Xu Churen, were facing challenges and impacts from those who came after them.
In just over six months, Yu Yunwen had already established himself firmly in the central government.
However, the power struggle that extends from the central government to the local level has only just begun.
Li Bao's arrival in Quanzhou was merely a microcosm of a power struggle.
This situation, when analyzed by onlookers, seemed somewhat unbelievable.
Li Bao, a figure in the military, became the instigator of the conflict between the younger and older factions.
Cai Yongling was Tang Ke's man. After Tang Ke was transferred to Liaodong, he aligned himself with the Prince of Kang. Zhou Wenji was also a man of the Prince of Kang.
It can be said that Quanzhou was completely controlled by Zhao Gou.
As the second largest export port of the Song Dynasty, this was a territory that Yu Yunwen had to capture.
He can forget about Hangzhou for now, since the headquarters of the Maritime Trade Office is located there.
Hangzhou plays a dual role: the primary export port to the outside world and the largest city in eastern China.
Externally, it was Prince Kang who was in charge; internally, it was the Vice Minister of State Affairs who personally oversaw the situation.
It would be too difficult for Yu Yunwen to take over Hangzhou, so he could only start with Quanzhou and established the Guangnan New Prefecture in Guangzhou.
The imperial court intended to place Quanzhou under the jurisdiction of the South China Sea, a move strongly promoted by Yu Yunwen, whose intentions were obvious.
But how could King Kang agree to that?
He was naturally a hundred times unwilling to have the lucrative opportunity snatched away from him.
Therefore, the conflicts in Quanzhou are actually a microcosm of the conflicts within the imperial court.
Why is Cai Yongling not cooperating?
Is he truly lustful and inactive?
It should be noted that Quanzhou, under Cai Yongling's jurisdiction, became the second largest city in Fujian Province in terms of foreign trade, second only to Fuzhou.
The taxes we pay each year are almost catching up with those in Fuzhou.
At least Zhao Huan was quite satisfied with Cai Yongling's political achievements.
But why did Liu Yanzong say that the emperor wanted to kill this capable prefect?
It wasn't just the Inspectorate that uncovered Cai Yongling's enormous embezzled funds.
In fact, the Imperial City Guard also secretly discovered that Cai Yongling had used a false identity to apply for more than a dozen trading companies, with businesses spanning multiple industries such as grain, transportation, construction, mining, and land purchases, both domestically and internationally.
The thought of this filled Zhao Huan with dread.
He felt bloodied claws reaching towards him.
Officials like Cai Yongling were a product of the court's vigorous reforms over the previous decade.
Zhao Huan acknowledged that everything has two sides.
His aim to destroy the old interest groups will inevitably lead to the emergence of new ones.
Because the old interest groups were too large and bloated, and their roots were too deep in the land of China, they had to be uprooted in a very brutal way.
This approach inevitably creates many loopholes, which is precisely where officials like Cai Yongling have exploited.
Liu Yanzong was at least very clear about the big picture; the emperor wanted Cai Yongling dead.
Li Bao's killing of Cai Yongling was exactly what the emperor wanted.
The emperor's henchmen and a few ministers skilled at reading the emperor's intentions, such as the two bigwigs of the Censorate, Duan Zhijie and Qin Hui, as well as the Censor-in-Chief He Ye, all understood one thing: the emperor would definitely not kill Li Bao.
He was only pretending to be very angry because of pressure from the court officials.
Of course they had to stand up for Li Bao, regardless of right or wrong, loyalty or treachery.
Liu Yanzong then loudly proclaimed, "Your Majesty, I believe that Cai Yongling deserved to die and is not worth regretting!"
"What do you mean by that, Imperial Censor Liu?" Zhao Huan's voice deepened, but his eyes lit up. "Cai Yongling's administration was quite successful; he is a meritorious official of the court."
"Your Majesty, I happen to have an important matter to report today, which happens to concern the prefect of Quanzhou."
"Oh, please tell me."
The ministers looked at Liu Yusi with cold eyes, as if to say: "Drama queen Liu, what the hell are you trying to do today!"
"According to the latest investigation by the Inspectorate, this Prefect Cai had 500,000 strings of cash of unknown origin during his seven years in office."
Everyone's heart skipped a beat.
But then Liu Yanzong continued, "This is just the tip of the iceberg. This Prefect Cai also has another identity, named Li San. He owns fifteen trading companies, which are involved in grain, transportation, mining, construction, restaurants, brothels, textiles, road construction, and so on. The annual turnover is as high as ten million strings of cash!"
What does ten million strings of cash mean?
In the first year of the Jingkang era, the imperial court's annual tax revenue was only 80 million strings of cash!
Liu Yanzong, never one to be outdone, continued, "I have also discovered that this Li San not only has close ties with many wealthy merchants in Quanzhou, but also with several wealthy merchants in Fuzhou. It is normal for business people to associate with each other, but this Fujian merchant named Chen Abao happens to be another identity of Su Yuanqing, the Fujian Circuit Transport Commissioner!"
After Liu Yanzong finished speaking, the court was completely silent.
These few words instantly froze the atmosphere in the court.
The ministers looked over cautiously, only to see that the emperor's face was already clouded with gloom.
The new policy explicitly stipulates that officials are strictly prohibited from engaging in private business.
Take the Guangzhou turmoil, for example. It was due to the poor management of merchants that the emperor wanted to exterminate the entire Chen family. The officials in the capital city of Tokyo were so frightened that they went home to investigate.
Only a few days have passed since that incident, and now such a big thing has happened on Fujian Road.
Some ministers were already sweating profusely.
Can Cai Yongling be killed or not?
Of course, he deserves to die!
But even in the Song Dynasty's imperial court, there was one man of unwavering integrity and incorruptibility.
For example, Zhang Shuye dared to stand up and say, "Even if Cai Yongling violated the law, he should be dealt with by the court and judged by His Majesty. He should not be killed by Li Baoneng!"
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
