Li Shimin faked his death? Then I will be powerful enough to conquer the world!

The gilt on the coiled dragon pillars of the Taiji Hall flickered in the morning light, and the fingers of the official on duty from the Honglu Temple trembled slightly as he held the jade-inlaid memorial box.

The court robes of the civil and military officials in the hall were like rolling dark clouds, and the whispers were more piercing than the morning bell - lying in the box was a memorial from the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce donating tens of millions of taels of silver. The ink on the plain silk had not yet dried, but it had already caused a storm in the court.

"quiet!"

The voice of the eunuch cut through the commotion, and the jade tablet banged heavily on the blue bricks.

Li Chongye broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead. He remembered that the Ministry of Revenue had racked its brains to squeeze out three million taels from the salt and iron monopoly last year.

Looking at the heavy stack of documents on the imperial desk at this moment, he felt that they were even hotter than the land deeds he had accumulated over the past twenty years.

Zhang Jingming, the Right Relics Officer, suddenly stepped out of the line, the hem of his official uniform brushing against his colleague's embroidered boots. "Your Majesty! Merchants are interfering in government, using millions of silver to try to seize the top position of officials. There must be a conspiracy!"

Before he finished speaking, everyone in the Censorate had already echoed him, but mixed in the voices was clearly an unconcealable panic.

All officials above the third rank knew that if the ten million taels were distributed among the prefectures and cities, it would be enough to repair the canal transportation system that had been abandoned for twenty years.

Suddenly, the crisp sound of jade pendants colliding came from the ranks of civil servants.

Pei Wenzhao, the newly appointed Minister of Rites, stepped forward slowly, holding an ivory tablet and asking, "My Lords, do you know where these ten million taels of silver came from?"

He glanced at the people in the hall, "Since the Qianwu era, the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce has been adhering to the motto of 'taking from the people and giving back to the people.'"

"Last year, there was a severe drought in Jianghuai, and the Chamber of Commerce opened its warehouses and released grain for more than three months."

"Two years ago, the trade route to the Western Regions was blocked, and they paid out of their own pockets to repair the road."

"This money is the accumulation of benevolence."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the hall.

Li Chongye narrowed his eyes and looked at the young man from aristocratic family, thinking to himself.

The Pei family has always had dealings with the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce, so it seems there must be something behind this matter.

At this moment, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites suddenly announced loudly: "Your Majesty, the representative of the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce wishes to see you!"

The gilded door slowly opened, and Ye Zhiwei, wearing a moon-white robe and holding a sandalwood box, walked in steadily.

His eyes briefly met Li Zhi on the throne, and he bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, my guild leader said that this silver is specifically for redressing the Zhang family's grievances."

"Here are the detailed accounts. The Chamber of Commerce is willing to present to Your Majesty the method of earning these ten million taels of silver."

When the sandalwood box was opened, revealing the neatly arranged account books, Li Yifu, the Minister of Revenue, felt a blackness before his eyes.

Those detailed records not only marked the source of each sum of money, but even clearly stated the expected results.

What shocked him even more was that the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce was willing to contribute another three million taels, with the words "making up for the deficits of previous years" clearly written on the bill - this was clearly a direct reference to the corruption within the government!

……

At this court meeting, the appearance of Qianyu Chamber of Commerce made officials panic.

In the Liangyi Hall, Li Zhi folded the secret report into a paper crane and watched it hover over the candlelight on the desk until it turned into ashes.

The scent of ambergris wafted from the gilded incense burner, but it couldn't hide the coldness in his eyes.

Wang Can, who was on duty, had a black suit with a flying fish pattern that rose and fell with his breathing. In the corridor outside the hall, the embroidered spring swords of three hundred Ti cavalrymen could no longer hold back their clanging.

"Do you remember the Qian case during the Qianwu period?"

Li Zhi suddenly spoke, his fingertips running across the late emperor's will on the desk. The two characters "Qian Yu" on the yellowed silk were clearly visible through the back of the paper.

Wang Can's pupils shrank slightly. Of course he remembered.

At that time, all the civil and military officials in the court argued endlessly over avoiding the taboo of the word "Qian", but the plaque of Qianyu Chamber of Commerce remained unchanged. It was a covenant between the royal family and the business community that transcended life and death.

"Go tell the Dali Temple to send the files on last year's Jiangnan salt permit corruption case to the residences of the ministers."

"Let those officials know that these ten million taels are not just money, but a sword hanging over their necks."

In the secret room of Qianyu Chamber of Commerce in Chang'an, Lin Dafu was staring at the map of the Tang Dynasty on the wall.

Ye Zhiwei respectfully handed over a secret report: "President, the files from the Dali Temple have been sent out as planned."

"Those officials will probably have trouble sleeping tonight."

Lin Dafu stroked the "Qian" character on the plaque, a smile breaking across his aged face. "The late emperor once said that the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce would be the backbone of the Tang Dynasty."

"Now, it's time to let some people know that this backbone is not so easy to bend."

The next morning, the court meeting was held again in Taiji Hall.

When the Dali Temple Minister read out the latest developments in the Jiangnan Salt Permit corruption case in public, everyone was surprised to find that half of the officials on the list of officials involved were the same people who impeached the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce yesterday.

Li Chongye looked at the anonymous letter impeaching him on the imperial desk, his back already soaked with cold sweat.

This reward of 10 million taels directly silenced the court of the Tang Dynasty.

This is not a small number, it is a full 10 million taels of silver.

Many of them, even if they were greedy all their lives and stepped down from controlling the source of business, might not be able to get that much.

The most important thing is whether you can retire safely is still unclear.

All of a sudden, everyone in the entire interest group felt insecure.

If it was one million taels of silver, they could still stick together.

But this is a full ten million taels of silver.

Money that you can never earn back in several lifetimes.

The most important thing is that it was Qianyu Chamber of Commerce that paid the money.

Prove that they can get the money safely without worrying about subsequent problems.

Everyone who could enter the Taiji Hall was aware of the prosperity of the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce back then.

Even though the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce has now retreated behind the scenes, its foundation still remains.

Its richness is unimaginable.

Li Zhi murmured.

"Wang Can, go and add fuel to the fire."

Today, only the Jinyiwei are on duty in the Liangyi Palace, and there are no bad people.

Wang Can seemed to realize something.

He bowed to Li Zhi.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

……

Only after Wang Can left did Li Zhi raise his head.

Interesting, really interesting.

Officials who form alliances for the sake of interests will eventually go their separate ways because of interests.

Qianyu Chamber of Commerce played this move really well.

In the current political situation, even though Li Zhi has recruited people from aristocratic families, the results are not satisfactory.

Because this new family is not a vested interest group, they are of no concern to those vested interest groups that stick together.

However, this move of Qianyu Chamber of Commerce.

It directly caused panic among those who had gathered together.

The temptation of ten million taels of silver is too great.

Until now, the emperor is still helping him!

And because of the 10 million taels of silver for redress, the entire Tang Dynasty knew about the tragedy of the Zhang family.

Although he was so rich, he was completely taken advantage of by officials because he had no backing.

The leader of the Bad People, Ling Ling, died to atone for his crime.

But the fact is, the Zhang family not only has a backer, but this backer is also incredibly powerful.

This time, those people might have hit a wall.

However, the Qianyu Chamber of Commerce was unwilling to give up. The 10 million taels of silver were intended to catch the mastermind behind the scenes.