Chapter 2649: The Capital (Part 5)

"No need to arrest him. Have men follow him instead. Watch where he goes, whom he meets, what he says. Report back when you have something definite."

"Yes, Your Majesty! This humble official will dispatch men at once!" Wu Mengming marveled inwardly that "Heaven's will is truly unpredictable"—he could not fathom why this petty official from Fujian had piqued the Emperor's interest, receiving the kind of surveillance treatment normally reserved for ministers and provincial governors.

"And Wang Yehao..."

"This humble official already has men watching him."

Chongzhen nodded. "Have your detectives secretly investigate what connection exists between him and that Zhou Lezhi."

"Yes!" Wu Mengming waited a moment. Seeing the Emperor had no further instructions, he retreated several steps, preparing to take his leave—but the Emperor stopped him again.

"Delong Bank—how is its business these days?"

Wu Mengming started at the question. Delong Bank was neither particularly large nor especially renowned in the capital; its fame paled beside the venerable "Shanxi Houses" of the old Shanxi financiers. Yet everyone in the capital knew this bank had connections with the Kun. From the very beginning, Delong's primary business had been silver remittances to and from Guangdong.

The journey from the capital to Liangguang stretched thousands of li. To those of limited worldly knowledge, "Guangdong" might as well mean "barbarian territory." Nevertheless, the capital housed a considerable number of Guangdong-born merchants and officials, and the flow of silver between regions was quite substantial.

In the past, given the great distances and the difficulty of travel, remittance premiums had been exorbitant—whether sending money from the capital to Guangdong or the reverse. Remitting a single tael of silver to Guangzhou cost five or six times the fee charged for Jiangnan transfers, sometimes more than ten times as much. The transfer times were equally protracted, causing no end of inconvenience for Guangdong's gentry and merchants.

When Delong opened in the capital, it revolutionized the Liangguang remittance business almost overnight. Their transfers had no ceiling on amounts and charged remarkably low fees. But what the traditional houses found most impossible to match was their speed. For transfers between Guangzhou and the capital, the fastest "wire transfer" arrived in just three days. Such speed was unprecedented—even the court's eight-hundred-li urgent garrison dispatches could not match it. More remarkable still, they offered a cheaper "mail transfer" that arrived within ten days.

This speed utterly overturned conventional understanding. From Guangzhou to the capital, even a courier officer riding through starlight and sleeping in the saddle, pushing urgently for official business, required at least nine days. Delong's money transactions were also impeccably clear and precise. Before long, they had completely monopolized silver remittances between the capital and Guangzhou. The gentry and merchants of Liangguang praised them effusively, and many northern merchants began using Delong as their funding channel for ventures south into Guangdong. Those great rats who had already sniffed out that the ship of state was leaking also used Delong to quietly funnel their embezzled and extorted silver southward, building themselves new nests of comfort.

This north-south remittance business later expanded to include transfers between the two capitals, Beijing and Nanjing, and soon became Delong's largest enterprise. The service continued even after the fall of Liangguang—only as a matter of "throwing dust in people's eyes" did they discontinue the wire transfers. The "mail transfer" between Liangguang and the capital, however, remained open, with the time extended to one month. War was cited as the natural reason.

Everyone understood perfectly well whether Manager Leng of Delong was "colluding with the Hairs," but all maintained a tacit silence. After all, who would want to block such a convenient channel? Besides, Manager Leng was known in the capital's business circles as a man with "hard backers"—not only officials from Liangguang, but great eunuchs from the palace itself. So although Guangzhou had fallen nearly two years ago, and quite a few people had accused Delong of "colluding with the Hairs" in pursuit of wealth and status during that time, every single accuser had died under "unclear circumstances." Wu Mengming had no desire to wade into such murky waters.

Now that the Emperor had suddenly inquired about this, a torrent of thoughts raced through Wu Mengming's mind. Could someone have spoken directly to the Emperor? And...

The matter was too weighty for a careless answer. He merely followed the Emperor's line of inquiry and replied, "This humble official does not know. It is a bank, after all—whether business is good or poor cannot be judged from outside appearances. Allow this humble official to return and investigate thoroughly."

Chongzhen fixed Wu Mengming with an unblinking stare for a long while, watching until cold sweat beaded on the man's back. Only then did he lower his voice to a murmur that barely reached their two pairs of ears: "This matter must be kept secret! We have heard that someone among the inner officials has a connection with this bank. Go investigate and report back—you need not inform the Eastern Depot about this matter. Handle it in secret."

Hearing this, Wu Mengming's legs began to tremble. He felt as though he had suddenly stepped to the edge of a precipice. One wrong word, and dismissal and punishment would be the least of it—he might not keep his life.

Wu Mengming could not remember how he left or how he returned to his yamen. Back in his signing room, the other errands were easy enough to handle, but this investigation of the bank was impossibly thorny.

Wu Mengming knew a thing or two about Delong Bank: Manager Leng hailed from Guangdong and had originally been a nobody—a "fledgling"—in the capital. Somehow he had found a way to ingratiate himself with Eunuch Yang, the Director of the Bell and Drum Bureau in the palace, and through that connection had gained a foothold in the capital. Also because of Eunuch Yang's patronage, many of the palace's great eunuchs had deposited silver in this bank.

Investigating Delong or Leng Ningyun posed no difficulty in itself. But the Emperor's parting words—"no need to inform the Eastern Depot"—that was the most terrifying part.

The Eastern Depot was the Emperor's own "domestic slave." As His Majesty's most trusted Director of Ceremonial and Admiral of the Eastern Depot, Superintendent Cao Huachun was privy to the most intimate imperial secrets. Although Wu Mengming was also a close minister upon whom the Emperor relied, he still had to defer to Superintendent Cao's authority. For the Emperor to now command him to "handle it in secret" revealed that His Majesty had conceived doubts about Cao Huachun.

If Wu Mengming protected the eunuchs in his report, the Emperor would inevitably suspect him of colluding with them. But if he reported truthfully, Eunuch Yang was the Director of the Bell and Drum Bureau. Though his rank was not as exalted as eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial or the Directorate of Imperial Horses, he was still one of the managing great eunuchs of the Twenty-Four Yamen—and an apprentice of Gao Shiming. Palace connections were deeply intertwined. Once Eunuch Yang was investigated because of this, Wu Mengming would have mortally offended the eunuchs of the inner court!

He knew that Eunuch Yang had been currying favor with Wang Dehua in recent years. If he offended Wang Dehua through this affair, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Wu Mengming's back was slick with sweat. He paced his signing room for what felt like hours. He felt he should discuss this with Cao Huachun—regardless of Cao's reaction, at least to give him advance warning. But the Emperor had specifically cautioned him. If His Majesty discovered...

Then it struck him: the Emperor had only instructed him not to inform the Eastern Depot. As long as he did not explicitly raise this matter with Cao Huachun, he would remain within bounds. Since Eunuch Yang had a relationship with the bank, he would naturally have to avoid him. But Wang Dehua was not an obstacle.

Eunuch Yang had long attached himself to Wang Dehua; presumably he had shared a portion of Delong's profits with his patron. If Wu Mengming let slip even a whisper of this to Wang Dehua, the man would understand immediately. As for how to handle matters specifically, Eunuch Yang would surely send someone to negotiate.

With this strategy taking shape in his mind, he felt somewhat steadier. He immediately summoned several of his most capable subordinates and whispered his instructions.

The winter night in the capital was bitterly cold, cutting to the bone. Save for the very few who had no choice but to run about earning their livelihood, and the patrol officers and watchmen making their routine rounds, ordinary folk who still had roofs over their heads had long since retreated into their homes. The streets lay empty and desolate.

Yet amid this cold and bleak cityscape, at the western intersection of Huguosi in the capital, one courtyard blazed with light. This was the famous Liuquan Ju Restaurant. The establishment had opened during the Longqing reign of the Great Ming; even now in the Chongzhen era, it stood as a century-old institution.

The restaurant's street frontage was modest—just three rooms wide. Compared to other grand restaurants, it appeared rather common. But inside was another world entirely. Its backyard was broad and spacious, possessing a touch of pastoral charm within the city's confines. A great willow tree, over a hundred years old, stood in the courtyard, and beneath it bubbled a clear spring whose waters were pure and sweet. The proprietor used this spring water to brew yellow wine that was mellow in taste and overflowing with fragrance—diners called it "Jade Spring Fine Wine."

Besides the willow tree, the spring water, and the yellow wine, Liuquan Ju was most famous for its plaque having been inscribed by Yan Song himself. This made it quite celebrated in the capital. High officials and nobles came here endlessly for banquets, gathering day and night to exchange cups and drink merrily.

At this moment, within a private room in the backyard's wing, a "Dispelling Cold" banquet was in progress.

This was not a formal official banquet, merely a casual gathering of colleagues and friends. The guests were mostly officials and private secretaries from the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen, totaling fifteen or sixteen persons.

The table was laden with an array of appetizers to accompany the wine: pickled fish, preserved eggs, drunken crabs, dried meat, vegetables, dried and fresh fruits—everything imaginable, over twenty varieties in all. Fine wines of various kinds had also been prepared.

The fire walls in the private room were all heated. Outside, the cold wind bit cruelly, but inside it was warm as spring. The guests exchanged toasts and composed poems, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The middle-aged scholar seated in the place of honor was none other than Zhong Kai, the Shuntian Prefecture Yin. Zhong Kai had an upright reputation in officialdom, known for managing subordinates strictly while treating the common people with leniency. The Emperor himself had praised him as "a choice example of clean self-discipline and devotion to public duty."

Though he bore a reputation for uprightness and integrity, a man in officialdom could not afford to be blindly rigid and unyielding. Social engagements were also indispensable "work." Today's Dispelling Cold Banquet was his own initiative, meant to reward and comfort his subordinate officials and private secretaries.

Just as the gathering reached its liveliest, Zhong Kai's personal attendant suddenly entered and whispered something in his ear. The colleagues at the table saw his brows furrow slightly; they all fell silent and looked toward him.

Zhong Kai signaled the long-serving attendant to withdraw, then beckoned the private secretary in charge of criminal justice to approach. He whispered a few instructions: "...Arrange for men to investigate tomorrow. Report to me the moment there is news."

"Yes, this student will make arrangements immediately." After speaking, the advisor took his leave and departed from the table.

After the advisor had gone, seeing everyone's eyes upon him, Zhong Kai addressed the room: "Everyone here is from the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen. This student will not play coy with you all. A case has just occurred—I'm afraid we shall be quite busy tomorrow."

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. A case that warranted the Shuntian Prefecture Yin's personal inquiry had to be a major and serious matter. They all held their breath, waiting for what he would say next.

(End of Chapter)