Chapter 33
Before dawn, Cui Wen was already standing beneath the steps of the Taiji Hall.
The morning breeze was cold, like a knife with icy shards, scraping across his stiff cheeks, but it couldn't extinguish the ever-burning fire in his heart.
It wasn't anger.
It is the fire of fear.
He could feel his limbs and bones turning to ash little by little in this silent flame.
He could smell the scent of the grand hall. A mixture of the fragrance of century-old golden nanmu wood, the sweetness of imperial incense, and the cold, chilling, metallic smell of power itself. He had smelled this scent for decades, but never before had it made him feel so suffocated.
The area was surrounded by people.
Civil and military officials, clad in purple robes and gold belts, stood like silent, lifeless statues. They were all waiting. Waiting to see how the Cui family would swallow the poison, sweetened with honey, that His Majesty the Emperor himself had fed them.
Cui Wen's gaze swept across the crowd and landed on the two young and upright figures at the very front.
Crown Prince Tang Jingcheng and Second Prince Tang Jingming.
One is as gentle and refined as jade, the other as sinister and ruthless as an eagle.
He knew that the real audience for today's performance was the person high on the dragon throne, whose expression was unreadable. And he, Cui Wen, was nothing more than a puppet pushed to the forefront by his daughter.
A terrible actor who can't even memorize his lines properly.
His palms were covered in cold sweat. The memorial he had hidden in his sleeve was soaked with sweat and had become somewhat soft, like a wet rice cake, heavy and weighing on his heart.
He was afraid.
I'm afraid I might say the wrong word.
He feared that a single wrong glance from him would bring ruin upon his daughter's entire life's work, along with the entire Cui family.
I'm too lazy to think about it.
So be it if I die.
When the eunuch's sharp, drawn-out voice rang out, "Speak if you have something to say, otherwise leave court," Cui Wen felt as if his heart had been squeezed hard by an invisible hand.
Right now.
Just when everyone thought he would step forward to express gratitude or make a sorrowful plea, like an old dog with a broken spine.
Cui Wen took that step.
He stepped out of the line, knelt down, his voice hoarse from extreme tension, yet exceptionally clear due to a desperate resolve.
"Your subject, Cui Wen, Vice Minister of Works, has a memorial to present!"
The entire hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
All eyes, like searchlights, instantly focused on him.
The emperor on the dragon throne, who had been leaning back lazily, now sat up slightly, a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.
"speak."
The emperor's voice was not loud, but it carried an overwhelming majesty.
Cui Wen took a deep breath and lowered his head even further.
"Your Majesty, I kowtow in gratitude for Your Majesty's divine grace!" He first kowtowed respectfully. "Your Majesty is wise and has established the 'Royal Shipping Bureau' to oversee all maritime transport in the world. This is truly the foundation for the eternal prosperity of our Great Qin! Your Majesty and the Cui family are deeply grateful and are willing to sacrifice ourselves for Your Majesty and for Great Qin!"
A set of elegant platitudes.
A few faint sneers rang out in the court.
The second prince's lips curled into an undisguised contempt.
Cui Wen ignored him. He took out the somewhat damp memorial from his sleeve and raised it high above his head with both hands.
"However, I humbly believe that the benefits of the Royal Shipping Company extend far beyond this! This is a monumental undertaking that will benefit the nation and its people for generations to come. If it is solely managed by the Royal Family and the Cui family, it would be too small a scope and would also fail to live up to Your Majesty's ambition to expand the maritime frontier! In order to better share Your Majesty's burdens and broaden the sources of revenue for Great Qin, I humbly request Your Majesty to... reorganize the 'Royal Shipping Company' into the 'Great Qin Royal Maritime Trade Corporation'!"
...
...
...
Joint-stock company?
What the hell is this thing?
The entire Taiji Hall fell into an eerie, deathly silence that lasted for tens of seconds.
Everyone was stunned.
They stared wide-eyed at Cui Wen kneeling on the ground, as if he were a monster that had fallen from the sky.
Even the usually composed Crown Prince Tang Jingcheng showed a hint of surprise on his face.
The emperor's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He had never heard of those four words before.
The combination of these four words conveyed a sense of unfamiliarity, even... unease, to him.
finally.
The deathly silence was shattered by a loud shout.
"Nonsense!"
Zhang Ge, the Minister of Revenue and the Second Prince's most loyal henchman, was the first to jump out. He pointed at Cui Wen's nose, spitting as he spoke.
"Cui Wen! Have you gone mad? Company? Shares? How can such unheard-of merchant talk be used in the imperial court! Where do you place the official system of the court and the majesty of the royal family? I think you are not trying to share the burden of the country, but are clearly spreading heresies and trying to disrupt the foundation of my Great Qin Kingdom. Your intentions are despicable!"
"Minister Zhang is mistaken!"
Before Cui Wen could speak, another official immediately stepped forward to refute him. That man was a scion of a fallen aristocratic family in the capital who had long coveted the Cui family's overseas trade.
"Although I have never heard of Minister Cui's words before, they may not be a bad idea! If we can gather the resources of all the officials to jointly carry out this grand undertaking, wouldn't that be much better than the Cui family supporting it alone? Our Great Qin's treasury is empty. If we can use this to open up new sources of revenue and replenish the treasury, it would be a great thing for the country and the people!"
"A good thing? That's utterly ridiculous!" Zhang Ge sneered. "Making court officials do business like merchants? What kind of decorum is this! Does our Great Qin have no face left?"
"Can face be eaten? Can face fill the stomachs of the soldiers in the North?"
"you……"
The imperial court erupted in chaos.
Like a hornet's nest that has been poked, buzzing and in complete chaos.
The conservative officials, led by the Second Prince, jumped out to denounce Cui Wen for his unorthodox views and malicious intentions, accusing him of trying to taint the court with the stench of money. They cited classical texts, from ancestral laws to the teachings of sages, to dismiss Cui Wen's proposal as worthless.
Meanwhile, those aristocratic families and nobles who had long coveted the Cui family's enormous profits from overseas trade, as well as some relatively open-minded officials who hoped to find new sources of revenue for the national treasury, were all moved and began to defend Cui Wen.
The two sides engaged in a heated argument, arguing fiercely.
Cui Wen knelt in the center, like a small boat in the eye of a storm, enduring the raging waves around him. He just gritted his teeth, buried his head in the ground, and remained silent.
His daughter had instructed him that all he needed to do was light the fire.
The rest will be helped by someone else.
really.
Just as the Second Prince's faction was about to gain the upper hand and was about to accuse Cui Wen of "misruling the government," a clear voice, like jade striking jade, resounded throughout the entire hall.
"Your subject has something to say."
It is the Crown Prince, Tang Jingcheng.
He slowly stepped out of the queue, bowed to the emperor on the dragon throne, his posture elegant and composed.
“Father, I believe that Minister Cui’s plan, though seemingly unorthodox, is in fact… in accordance with the great principles.”
The moment he spoke, all the arguing stopped.
The second prince's gloomy gaze was like a venomous snake fixed on him.
"The Guanzi says, 'A country whose profits come from a single source is invincible.' However, it also says, 'If one does not take advantage of the seasons, wealth will not be generated; if one does not take advantage of the land, the granaries will not be full.' Now, our Great Qin is at peace throughout the land, but the national treasury is not full. Military expenses in the north and the maintenance of river works are all stretched thin. Why? It is because tax revenue is limited. Wealth is hidden among the people, but it has not been transformed into national resources."
"Minister Cui's method is precisely to open a new path of 'transforming the people's private wealth into the public good of the nation.' It allows capital from all over the country to flow into the sea for the nation's long voyages, with the profits going up to the national treasury and down to the officials. In this way, the national treasury can be replenished, all industries can be stimulated, and wealth can be stored in both the nation and the people. This is a brilliant strategy that achieves multiple benefits. How can it be considered a disruption of the government?"
The crown prince quoted extensively from classical texts and spoke eloquently. He did not dwell on novel terms such as "company" and "shares," but instead elevated them directly to the strategic level of "national economy and people's livelihood."
These words made the neutral ministers, who had been observing, nod in agreement and show thoughtful expressions.
The second prince's expression turned even uglier.
Just then.
A louder, more powerful voice, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, suddenly exploded.
"Your subject, Prince An, Tang Pu, second this proposal!"
Tang Pu, holding his official tablet, strode out of the ranks of military officers. Unlike the Crown Prince, who quoted classical texts, his words were simple, direct, and full of the iron-blooded spirit of a soldier.
"Your Majesty! I have just returned from the northern border! I saw with my own eyes that the soldiers of my Great Qin could not even gather enough winter clothes to get through the freezing cold! Why? Because they had no money!"
"Now, the Cui family has found a path to gold and silver mountains for our Great Qin! Instead of thinking about how to broaden this path, we're arguing about 'propriety' and 'face' here. It's ridiculous!"
"If we can attract private capital to build ten or even a hundred giant ships like the Kunpeng, forming an invincible navy, then what will be the concern of mere Japanese pirates and sea bandits? Wherever the might of our Great Qin army points, the entire world will be our land! This is true dignity! This is the face of the Celestial Empire!"
Support from the princelings.
The military provides strong support.
The double bombshell instantly shattered the advantage that the Second Prince's faction had just established.
The political climate in the imperial court has completely changed.
Those nobles who had been hesitant could no longer contain themselves. With Prince An taking the lead, what did they have to fear? This was a sure-fire way to make money!
"I second that proposal!"
"I second that proposal! This is a strategy to strengthen the nation!"
Voices of agreement rose and fell.
The faces of the second prince and his cronies were so black they could drip ink.
They couldn't understand how things had turned out this way.
How did a simple power grab and crackdown turn into a nationwide wealth frenzy with everyone investing in stocks?
All eyes were finally drawn to the high dragon throne.
The emperor remained silent throughout.
He simply watched the noisy officials below, the perfectly timed smile on the Crown Prince's face, Tang Pu's sincere face filled with "loyalty to the country," and the undisguised greed in the eyes of the civil and military officials.
His eyes were unfathomable, like an ancient well whose bottom could not be seen.
His original intention was to make an example of the Cui family, to bring this almost out-of-control canary back into its cage.
But he didn't expect that.
Far from being frightened, the canary, right in front of him, drew a larger, more magnificent new cage next to his existing one, a cage large enough to hold everyone.
Then, invite him to come in and be the host.
reject?
He glanced at the Crown Prince, then at Tang Pu, and then surveyed the eager ministers below.
He realized that he could no longer easily refuse.
A forceful refusal would mean offending the Crown Prince, the military, and most of the noble families in the court.
Good tactic.
That's a brilliant tactic.
The emperor's lips slowly curled into a cold smile that no one could decipher.
"This matter..."
He finally spoke.
The hall fell silent instantly.
"...It's open to discussion."
Two words, light as a feather, yet weighing a ton.
The second prince's heart sank to the bottom.
As for Cui Wen, who was kneeling on the ground, the heart that had been hanging in suspense all morning finally settled back into his stomach. He felt that his back was completely soaked with cold sweat.
The emperor's voice continued.
"By my decree, the Crown Prince shall lead a council, with the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works participating, to discuss the specifics of this 'Company Charter.' The charter shall be drafted and then submitted to me."
The decree was issued.
The Cui family successfully dragged the emperor's unquestionable "order" into a "negotiation" that could be repeatedly pulled back and forth and bargained over.
The bell tolled to signal the end of the court session.
Cui Wen was helped out of the Taiji Hall.
The afternoon sun shone on him, but he felt no warmth at all; instead, he felt cold all over.
He knew that today was just the beginning.
Upon returning to the Cui residence, he immediately rushed into his daughter's study.
Cui Yunshu was already waiting there, her expression calm, as if she had expected everything.
She didn't ask about matters of the court; instead, she spread out a sheet of snow-white Xuan paper, picked up a brush, and dipped it in ink.
Then, under her father's shocked gaze, she wrote a line of large characters, stroke by stroke, with steady and powerful strokes.
Draft Articles of Association of Daqin Royal Ocean Trade Co., Ltd.
She looked up at the window and said softly:
"Father, the real battle is just beginning."
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