The underground palace, the pinnacle of bliss, was now shrouded in deathly silence.
Even though Qin Zhaoyue was quite magnanimous, she roughly knew how terrifying aristocratic families could be.
Even after hearing the story told by the head of the God of Wealth, I still felt a chill run down my spine.
The troubles of powerful families are not limited to local areas; they have taken root in Fengjing and are deeply entrenched!
Chengyuan is only a part of it, and it can even be considered the "public" part.
Controlling the gambling industry in Fengjing and uncovering the secrets and private affairs of the powerful and wealthy—this is the duty of the Nine Gates.
As for dealings with the powerful and wealthy, and bribery, these were merely means to maintain control.
The establishment of a prominent family in Fengjing was not achieved overnight; it took at least several generations of effort.
Grain transport, rice and grain, cloth and silk, money shops and banks, pawnshops, carriage and horse shops...
These industries, which are fundamental to people's livelihoods, are the basis for the establishment of aristocratic families in Fengjing.
After countless years of operation, it's impossible to tell how many of them belong to established families.
In times of prosperity, one may not notice, but in times of chaos, it could very well affect prices, manipulate the market, and even cut off the government's supplies.
This might not sound intuitive, so let me give you an example.
How many workers in the grain, cloth, and carriage shops made a living from these shops that existed in every market town?
When it really comes down to life and death, they will all be those eyes and those hands.
This is the root system!
It's not hard to imagine the vast underground gambling industry, brothels, intelligence gathering, and gray-market transactions in Fengjing.
Furthermore, those who are lustful and greedy, or who engage in loan sharking and usury, have further filtered out a group of people.
What wouldn't these people do for money and sex?
They were able to target lower- and middle-ranking officials, fallen nobles, and merchants who were in dire straits or indulging in pleasure.
Don't look down on these people. The first thing that came to Qin Zhaoyue's mind was the city gatekeepers, and even the palace gatekeepers...
Moving up a level, the lineage of these families had stretched for centuries, with countless members marrying into the families of officials and nobles in the capital.
Through generations of intermarriage, many relatives are not listed in the family genealogy or are barely related.
In-laws support and protect each other, forming a deeply entrenched network.
Secondly, his former students and officials.
Needless to say, the number in the local areas will be no less in Fengjing as well.
I don't know much about this, so I can only guess.
In order to control the powerful families, the imperial court would not allow the core members of the four great families to occupy important positions in the court.
Meanwhile, aristocratic families are also celibate and will never send their core members to the imperial court.
It may seem that none of the four great families hold important positions in the imperial court, but that is not the case.
Leaving aside the recommendation and hereditary privileges, let's focus on the imperial examination system.
Are there any local students who are affiliated with aristocratic families, who have received favors from them, or who were secretly cultivated by aristocratic families?
The exact number of the God of Wealth's skulls is unclear, but one can guess that there must be a lot of them.
Could the imperial court possibly investigate every official who passed the imperial examinations thoroughly? Could it distinguish which of them came from prominent families?
No one knows how many offices there are in the Six Departments and the capital region.
Thirdly, the cultivation of scholars and advisors.
He secretly provided generous treatment to his cronies, advisors, and strategists, among whom the best of the best entered the capital through various means to serve as advisors in important officials' or even the imperial prince's residence.
This is even more difficult to investigate than those who entered officialdom through the imperial examinations. They have no official titles, yet they may directly influence decision-making and spy on secrets.
Upper, middle, and lower – this is the deep-rooted infiltration of the aristocratic families into Fengjing.
Damn it, Qin Zhaoyue slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.
Thankfully, the original owner of this body wasn't of much value to assist, and she wasn't left with any advisors or strategists.
The only rebellious maid was dealt with long ago; her grave is probably overgrown with weeds by now.
In reality, the God of Wealth's head didn't have much contact with the affairs of aristocratic families; most of what he said was just speculation.
After all, given Guiya's previous experience, it's understandable that he would secretly spy on things and want to have some backup plans.
But this is only his perspective. Qin Zhaoyue suspects that the truth may be even more shocking.
In short: It's ubiquitous and penetrates to the bone.
She couldn't help but wonder, now it seems that targeting Chengyuan isn't particularly effective.
Of course, controlling the opening of gambling operations in the short term, spreading public opinion to encourage talented women to participate, and even confiscating a large amount of wealth are all advantages, but...
Given His Majesty's cunning and calculating nature, is that really all there is to it?
Qin Zhaoyue always felt that things weren't that simple.
But to say that dealing with powerful families is such a major task as putting an inexperienced princess to the test?
Pshaw, who would believe that?
It's likely that a comprehensive plan had been in place for a long time, and she was just a runner-up.
Thinking of this, I glanced lightly at my side.
Dou Zhan received a meaningful look, but heard no telepathic message, and was completely baffled.
Qin Zhaoyue sighed inwardly.
It's only been a short time since I transmigrated, and my strength has increased way too fast.
The thought of having only a Broken Ink cultivator who had just advanced to the fourth rank beside him made him feel a little flustered.
As the soul of a Chinese, she understood that this was entirely due to insufficient firepower.
"To forge iron, one must be strong oneself." I originally planned to slowly accumulate merit points, but now I feel a bit anxious.
The sooner you reach the Divine Martial Realm, the sooner you can have peace of mind.
After a moment's thought, who cares how much deeper meaning lies behind it? Let's just grab the merit points first.
So he immediately sent a telepathic message: "Can I make the decisions here?"
Remembering what his boss had said when he left, Dou Zhan replied, "Okay."
He thought that if the Sixth Prince made any unreasonable demands, such as wanting the treasures in the secret chamber, it wouldn't be too late to refuse.
Otherwise, with that mouth of hers...
After receiving an affirmative answer, Qin Zhaoyue immediately gave the order:
"First, order all underground casinos in Fengjing to temporarily suspend the issuance of all gambling tokens."
Anyone who disobeys will be taken down immediately.
Furthermore, the recalculated interest already paid cannot exceed nine-tenths of the total interest paid.
The worst thing about casino chips is compound interest; the snowball will only get bigger and bigger.
Those who don't have the determination to cut their losses at the beginning will almost certainly fall into the trap and end up at the mercy of others.
The interest rate of "nine out, thirteen back" is really considered very reasonable. Even with a group of addicted gamblers, Qin Zhaoyue didn't even consider waiving the interest.
In a word, yes!
"Secondly, underground funds will no longer be circulated through those auction houses, but will all be circulated directly through the Nine Gates, and for the time being, funds will only be collected and not released."
The God of Wealth's skull has a significant function: it controls the funds in the gray market within the Nine Gates' sphere of influence.
We should only take from them and not let them go, at least we can cut off one of their arms, or even just one hand or one finger, we can't let them have an easy time.
"Third, Chengyuan Garden will be closed tonight and will no longer receive visitors."
Gather all the slaves and settle them in; give them food and drink, and don't delay in treating their injuries and illnesses.
"Fourth, the Nine Gates must have some intelligence on human trafficking and slave trading. They should confess everything and be shut down."
Regardless of whether Xuanji Wei originally intended to do so, Qin Zhaoyue has now spoken of it, so she has to take some of the credit.
Dou Zhan nodded; none of the four rules were out of line.
"As for Article 5..."
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