Repudiating a Good Wife Is Out of the Question

173. Unless it’s a Conspiracy

Translator: Sissy That Walk

Cao Le said, “Do you know your grain will be hijacked by Prince Ning’s private troops if you do land carriage?”

“So?” Cao Mo sneered.

“So you should do water way! The relative I’m talking about is in shipbuilding business, he knows water way well, plus you can shorten the travelling time and suffer less loss on the way if you do water transport.”

“What do you take me for, an idiot? Yeah, water transport can shorten the travelling time, but there’s great risk! Regular boats can’t endure stormy waves in the sea, as the saying goes, don’t bite more than you can chew, just stop being clever! Don’t mention it again unless he can increase the load-bearing capability of the boats by at least ten times!” Cao Mo turned Cao Le down.

Cao Le frowned, “It’s not impossible, right?”

Cao Mo shook his head resignedly and laughed, “You think that’s easy? It takes more than what you could imagine to build a ship like that, the keel alone takes more than a decade to build! Cao Le, enough with your wishful thinking already.”

Cao Le still looked unconvinced, he gnashed his teeth and said, “You need to get him a title just like Master Qi Three’s if we can pull this off within half a month.”

Cao Mo squinted his eyes, “Are you serious? But I haven’t heard we have any relatives who are in shipbuilding business.”

Cao Le averted his eyes and said impatiently, “You never pay any attention.”

Cao Mo’s face darkened as he heard that, Cao Le showed a fawning smile immediately, “I’m your older brother and I’ve passed the imperial examination at the county level, it’s the custom for them to talk to me instead of you, my younger brother.”

“All right, I will get him a title as long as he can build a ship up to the standard.” Cao Mo rubbed his fists in excitement, this was a habit he picked up from Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi would rub his hands whenever he was excited.

Xiao Yi walked into the room after Cao Le left, “Wonders never cease! You and Cao Le have reached an agreement?”

“If he can really build a great ship, why not?”

“I don’t think that’s possible, as you said earlier, the keel is made of special timber from the south, no way can he get the right timber considering the tension in the south, unless… …”

The two exchanged a look, “Unless there’s a conspiracy!”

“I knew it! I knew that Prince Ning wouldn’t fold his hands for capture, hmm, the south… the south… Qin’s his father is in the south… we need to investigate this thoroughly!” exclaimed Xiao Yi. With that he sent several shadow guards on mission.

“No need to get this worried now that we’ve got Cao Le taken the bait.” Cao Mo comforted Xiao Yi.

“But Cao Le is your brother after all, both of our families will get implicated due to him even though he is just a flunkey.”

Cao Mo nodded, “I’m sure we can get solid evidence from investigating the ship, plus it’s a fact that Prince Ning has maintained a private troop, I’m sure we can defeat him. As for Cao Le, I will come up with a plan to prove him innocent.”

“Sounds like you have a plan already”, Xiao Yi rubbed his hands, “We need to go to bed now, it’s getting late.”

Cao Le sent a letter to the capital city as soon as he left the temporary residence.

… …

Prince Xing came to the capital with great fanfare, he was no longer reserved, why, because he was loaded now!

There were twenty carriages full of silver ingots coming together with Prince Xing, quite a few merchants had visited Prince Xing and showed their support with silver and gold.

Master Qi Three’s position, General Secretary in Raising Army Provisions, would change hands every three years. The other merchants all tried to make an impression on Prince Xing thus to fight for the opportunity to become the next General Secretary in Raising Army Provisions.

The wealthy merchants all wished for the days when they could be referred as ‘Your Lordship’, the days when they could sit in a sedan chair or a carriage instead of ox cart, the days when they were qualified to wear silk robes and have servants.

There was a triumphant smile lingering on Prince Xing’s face the whole time.

There were Imperial Censors impeaching him for selling ranks and titles in Hunan and Hubei region, but Yao Wenyuan had already submitted a report refuting that argument, drastic times call for drastic measures. Prince Xing had successfully solve the matter of extreme urgency by appointing a General Secretary, that was a demonstration of Prince Xing’s resolve and ability.

All the Imperial Censors were rendered speechless, for what Yao Wenyuan said was correct, Prince Xing had actually tackled a thorny problem.

Prince Xing went to the palace first thing he was back in the capital city, he showed the emperor the silver ingots to clear things up.

The emperor was more than satisfied when he saw the glistening silver ingots, he even showed a smile, “My son, you have raised this much money for the country within less than a month, great job!”

“Father, I’m so flattered. I learned so much from this trip, merchants out there are all trying to corner the market in national calamity, so I employed an alternative way to encourage them to donate money and grains. I know appointing merchants as officials is controversial, please punish me.” Prince Xing kowtowed to the emperor, he sounded so sincere and modest.

The emperor supported Prince Xing from the ground, “My son, drastic times call for drastic measures, I won’t punish you this time, but there should be no such example next time.”

“Thank you for your leniency, father.” Prince Xing then added hesitantly, “Father, have you thought why merchants in Hunan and Hubei region have so much grain in hand?”

The emperor squinted his eyes, “Good point, the tax revenue from Hunan and Hubei region is decreasing year by year.”

Prince Xing was glad that the emperor noticed it, Hunan and Hubei region was by no means as lean as the Ministry of Revenue had described. ‘Father, soon you will find out it’s Prince Ning who is using the rest of the tax revenue to maintain his private troops,’ thought Prince Xing.

“Here comes Her Highness the Imperial Concubine Fair!” announced the eunuch by the gate.

“Invite her in later.” The emperor stopped Prince Xing who was about to leave, “My son, tell me how did you come up with such a good plan?”