From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 136: Guangxin Palace Talks

Early morning, Guangxin Palace
Occasionally, birdsong can be heard among the branches of the ancient trees, interweaving with the sound of wind chimes hanging in the corners of the temple, adding a touch of liveliness to the solemn palace.

The morning light slanted into the hall through the carved window lattices, illuminating the tasseled curtains beside the couch and the bronze incense burner on the desk.

When Fan Xian was led into the hall, he saw his charming mother-in-law, wearing a rare palace dress, sitting at the desk with grace and solemnity.

"I have met Her Royal Highness, the eldest princess."

"There's no need to be polite between you and me. Please take a seat." The princess smiled gently and nodded at Fan Xian, pointing to an empty seat at the table. "I don't know what kind of tea you like, but Chen'er likes Queshe the best, so I prepared some for you."

"Thank you, Your Highness. I'm willing to do anything."

It was the first time that Fan Xian saw the princess being so formal, and he seemed a little embarrassed.

In fact, until this moment, his heart was still full of doubts. He didn't know what this world-famous mother-in-law wanted to do with him so early in the morning?
"I heard you're leaving for Northern Qi tomorrow. Besides escorting Sean, you should have other missions, right?"

"Uh, yes, Dean Chen has other instructions, but this is from the hospital..."

"Don't be nervous. I'm not trying to pry into your Overwatch Council's secrets. Even without you telling me, I know that with Yan Bingyun's arrest, the branch he was responsible for is leaderless, and most of them have successfully gone undercover. Your other mission is to reorganize that spy network."

Fan Xian chuckled, thinking that the heads of the first department of the Supervisory Council are all your people, and there are really not many secrets in the Supervisory Council that can be hidden from you.

"I asked you here today because of Yan Bingyun's matter." The eldest princess seemed oblivious to Fan Xian's meaningful laugh as she continued, "You are my son-in-law, destined to be in charge of the inner treasury in the future. Coincidentally, your mission to Northern Qi this time is also related to the inner treasury, so there are some things I should tell you."

"Is it related to the inner treasury?" Fan Xian was a little surprised.

"Of course it's related to the inner treasury. How do you think a teenager like him could have infiltrated the circle of princes and nobles in Shangjing? Did he really think it was because of that little girl named Shen? You have to understand that Shen Zhong's status and position are similar to Chen Pingping's. He's not that popular in Northern Qi."

"The little girl with the surname Shen?!"

Fan Xian immediately became interested.

He accepted the task from the Supervisory Council, and the intelligence information he obtained was all about the situation on Yan Bingyun's line. He really didn't know much about Yan Bingyun's situation.

Originally, according to the plan, these should be handed over after meeting Yan Bingyun, but the eldest princess obviously did not think so.

"That little girl is not important. Yan Bingyun opened a silk shop in Shangjing, but it was just a cover. In the eyes of the nobles in Shangjing, he was a smuggler who could get all the rare goods in the inner treasury. It was with the goods in the inner treasury that he successfully broke into the circle in Shangjing."

"This young man is also talented. In the past few years, he has sent back a lot of valuable intelligence. The reason why Ye Zhong was so successful in the north this time was entirely because he obtained the defense maps of several border towns and strategic locations on the Northern Qi border, as well as detailed information on the officers and soldiers defending the towns. Relying on this intelligence, Ye Zhong made unstoppable progress and reached Tieshan Pass like a broken bamboo.

"Then, Yan Bingyun was arrested."

The huge Guangxin Palace fell into silence for a moment.

"Two years ago, Yan Bingyun had an additional mission: building a smuggling network for Northern Qi's green salt. He played a vital role in the Neiku's ability to quickly defeat Northern Qi's salt merchants with its green salt. Besides smuggling salt, the Neiku has recently resumed smuggling channels for Northern Qi's refined iron. This line was established not long ago, but he was sold out." At this point, the eldest princess' eyes flashed coldly, "Do you know how much the Neiku has lost from this alone?"

"Isn't it true that refined iron cannot be smuggled?" Fan Xian was no longer the novice who had just arrived in Kyoto and knew nothing. Because of his engagement with Lin Wan'er and his involvement with the inner treasury, and because he was in the Supervisory Council, he still had considerable channels of information about some things in the inner treasury.

The Neiku was indeed smuggling to the Northern Qi and making huge profits through smuggling. Especially in the past two years, using the Neiku's green salt to overthrow the Northern Qi's salt policy can be said to be the Neiku's most proud move.

But green salt is green salt, and refined iron is refined iron. Green salt cannot be used as a weapon to kill people, but refined iron is an important strategic material and smuggling is prohibited, especially refined iron smelted using the advanced technology of the inner treasury, which is of paramount importance and has been severely cracked down by the court.

"That was in the past." Seeing Fan Xian's expression, as if he had caught something wrong with her, the princess laughed. She picked up a thick account book from the desk and handed it to Fan Xian, saying, "This is the bottom line of the business between the inner treasury and Northern Qi. Take a look at it first."

Fan Xian took the account book and opened it. Looking at the densely packed figures, his scalp tingled. He quickly closed the book, "Your Highness, I'm not very good at accounting."

"Then take a look at this. This is the arrangement made by Nei Ku in Northern Qi over the past few years. Yan Bingyun is the one who handled it. If you want to take on his work, you must understand these."

"Uh, okay!"

Fan Xian took another thick booklet and opened it. This time, it contained the same data, but it was not from an account book.

After a while, sweat broke out on Fan Xian's forehead. He struggled to move his eyes away from the booklet, and his expression when he looked at the eldest princess had changed.

"Neiku, have you put in so much effort already?"

The data in this account book is varied, but they are all clearly organized into categories.

Fan Xian didn't pay attention to the detailed accounts of smuggling. What really caught his attention was the changes in various commodities in various places in Northern Qi. There were figures for a total of three years. Although the years were not long, as a time traveler, Fan Xian could clearly see the intentions of the princess and even the inner treasury.

First came the salt administration, then came the refined iron.

In addition to daily fresh luxury goods, the Neiku also dumped large quantities of basic necessities such as grain and cloth into the Northern Qi Dynasty. In particular, the cloth business used advanced technology and low prices to impact the Northern Qi market. Now, not only the salt market in the Northern Qi Dynasty, but also the local cloth business has been destroyed.

The price of cloth was very low, but the price of raw material such as cotton was raised to a very high level by the Neiku. In three years, the amount of cotton purchased by the Neiku from Northern Qi continued to rise.

This was only the part he could barely understand.

"The Neiku used to be used to collect revenue for the state, but with the salt administration, we've discovered that, in addition to collecting revenue, the Neiku can also leverage its unique advantages to contribute to the nation." A reserved smile flashed across the Princess's face. "These are all the efforts the Neiku has made in Northern Qi over the past few years. Some have yielded results, while others haven't yet, but they'll be soon."

"Yan Bingyun is the center of this network. His methods are perfect. So, after you take over, you don't need to move this network. You just need to confirm one thing."

"what?"

"Has Beiqi noticed the inner treasury's actions?" The eldest princess tapped the account book on her desk with her slender fingertips. "I don't want to encounter any accidents during the harvest."

"I understand." Fan Xian took a deep breath and looked at the world-famous Princess Nanqing in front of him. The slender finger on the account book seemed to turn into a noose that gradually tightened the fate of Northern Qi.

(End of this chapter)