The eighth day of the eighth month was the last day before the provincial examination began. When night fell, there were no three or four books on the examination questions from the Gongyuan, which made the Zhang brothers extremely angry.

"...The two lords are not humble, but they are not doing their best. They are because Chen Yude and Jin Zhongyun are too nervous. Not only did they not reveal the exam questions, but they also ordered the Imperial Guard to strictly guard the inner curtain test paper printing place." Tang Ying seemed very unfair. He had already done everything he should have done, but in the end he failed.

Zhang Heling was furious: "Have you not greeted the inner curtain printing office before this?"

Tang Ying replied tremblingly: "Return to the Marquis, I have not encountered such a situation in the past few provincial examinations... Moreover, every time the Inner Curtain Printing Bureau temporarily draws personnel from the Silijian and the Imperial College. If the Imperial Guards are added, there will be so many people involved at once, and the matter is complicated, it will be easy to leak the news, so... I am negligent in my humble position!"

Zhang Yanling had a bit of mocking on his face: "This is the trustworthy Chen Yude of the eldest brother? It seems that he does not give us any face!"

"Pinning, go back, remember to keep an eye on the tribute court and report anything in time!"

Zhang Heling was not furious because he knew it was useless to be angry. Since he didn't get the test questions before the exam, he had to start from the inside of the exam room, get the questions and pass them outside before writing them and sending them in, or he would tamper with the final marking and opening the papers.

After Tang Ying retreated, Zhang Heling said, "Don't mention who helps us with his subordinates. Do you want everyone in the world to know who is in contact with us among the court officials?"

"Brother is right to worry about it, but he has to see the partner. Even if he uses nine courages to give Tang Ying, he dares to be in the wrong with our Zhang family? Also, that boy Chen Xi has not been against us once or twice. I heard that Mr. Xie appreciates him very much, and he is afraid he has no intention to join us... Don't end, we cultivate him, which will become a disaster!" Zhang Yanling's tone was not kind.

Zhang Heling couldn't help but explain to Chen Xi: "Don't talk nonsense! Chen Yude didn't know that it was us who wanted to get the questions behind the Four Books exams, so it's okay to be prepared. Alas! It's because he didn't consider Zhou Xiang, so he should have known him as soon as possible."

Hearing that his brother did not hate Chen Xi, he tried every means to protect Chen Xi, Zhang Yanling was furious. He thought to himself: "That kid puts us on, how could he let him go so easily?"

"Brother, the emperor will call you and me into the palace tomorrow. Do you know what's going on?" Zhang Yanling suddenly changed the topic.

Zhang Heling sighed because he didn't get the exam questions and said, "Do you know?"

"Is this an obvious thing? It will take some time before autumn grain is stored. However, several prefectures in Henan are plaguing locusts, and I heard that Sichuan has severely reduced production this year. His Majesty is most likely worried about money and food. This is a great opportunity for you and my brothers."

Zhang Yanling said with a bit of seductive tone.

"Oh!? Where to start with the opportunity?"

Zhang Heling frowned, "Do you want... to ask us to ask for money and food from the officials who secretly defected to us?"

"Why do you have to be sorry for your own people? There are many merchants selling grain around the capital. The court has difficulty in turning around. These merchants are still doing business of buying low and selling high. I heard that some merchants are still colluding with foreign countries. We use this as an excuse to let Shuntian Prefecture and the Five Army Governor's Office do some work, so why don't you have money and food?"

Zhang Yanling proposed an idea that he thought was very good.

After all, it is to plunder merchants, turn the merchants' wealth into theirs, and then honor most of them to the court, so as to generate income for the court in disguise.

Zhang Heling said with some concern: "In recent years, border troubles have been ongoing and civil strife, and merchants around the capital have already been in a panic. After the start of the Chinese New Year this year, the Ministry of Revenue has placed all the money and grain dispatch under its direct jurisdiction. It is not easy to draw money and grain from merchants at this time."

"Does your brother remember the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce?" Zhang Yanling suddenly asked.

Zhang Heling thought about it and then nodded: "It seems to have a lot to do with Chen Yude."

“That’s right.”

Zhang Yanling said, "In the first year, the Fujian Local Administrators Department seized a large number of shops and warehouses of the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce in Fujian, and the money they earned was not a small amount. I heard that the heads of the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce have now moved to the capital. We might as well open the gap from the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce."

Zhang Heling thought for a while and asked, "Isn't the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce collapsed because of the local government's suppression? How could it appear in the capital?"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "I just heard that I was the leader of the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce. I gathered a group of mobs to establish a Fujian merchant association... It's such a big joke. It's a big joke. It's a business organization under the eyes of the court, which clearly means rebellion."

"I thought the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce had nothing to do, but now I know that the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce's savings were much larger than I had expected. From them, I could get at least tens of thousands of taels of silver, as well as a large number of grain and goods. The Fujian merchants are all foreigners who have not settled. When we take action, the merchants in the capital will not only not help, but will instead celebrate because of cutting off a strong enemy!"

"What's the reason?"

Zhang Heling looked at his younger brother, and he felt that Zhang Yanling should have had a plan for what he said.

Zhang Yanling said: "Those outsiders went to the capital to do business and were uneasy. They once bribed officials from local prefectures and counties, and even officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works were involved. Some of these people sent a message to us saying that they were going to join us. I was very clear about their crimes."

"At that time, as long as we say that these foreign merchants openly bribed the government and corrupted the official atmosphere, we can confirm the crime and confiscate their wealth. When we see the emperor tomorrow, when we tell the matter, the emperor should happily agree to investigate it thoroughly. At that time, we will handle the case under the order."

Zhang Heling hesitated for a moment. At first, he was cautious about plundering merchants, because many merchants had close ties with Zhang, which meant to kill chickens and get eggs. But it seemed that this foreign merchant had nothing to do with the Shouning Marquis Mansion!

"Um."

Zhang Heling finally nodded, "When I see Your Majesty tomorrow, I will submit this matter to see what Your Majesty means. But I will first declare that if Your Majesty refuses, the matter will be stopped, and the merchants in other places will be fine. The merchants in Fujian have some connection with Chen Yude. Doing things like this is definitely not a good deed."

Zhang Yanling said that, but he was quite dissatisfied in his heart and secretly became ruthless: I want to take the merchants from Fujian! Who told you that Chen Xi is unaware of the situation and dares to make things difficult for us Zhang and will not hand over the exam questions obediently. Now let you know that you are amazing and copy all your industries. In the end, you have to come back and beg us to be one of our dogs?

...

...

Just when the Tingzhou Chamber of Commerce was targeted, Song Xiaocheng had already taken out all the warehouses along the Paozi River near Chongwenmen and stored them in silver coins, leaving them to acquire the carriage shops in Beijing to make a comeback.

Song Xiaocheng did everything according to Chen Xi's instructions and tried not to have anything to do with the court and those in power.

But Hui Niang's side was becoming more and more extreme in doing things.

In order to regain the authority to transport grain in the imperial court, Hui Niang bribed officials of the Ministry of Revenue through relations many times, and the money she sent was already seven or eight hundred taels, and she was promised that she would be requalified to transport grain in the Ministry of Revenue by the end of the year.

"I have hired ships now, and the manpower is ready. As long as I can get the business of the court, so what if I don't have him, the business will still be prosperous?"

Hui Niang was very proud because she felt that she could finally escape from the shadow of Chen Xi and be an independent woman. No matter what Chen Xi did, it had nothing to do with her. She could also rely on her own abilities to make her business bigger and bigger.

In fact, Hui Niang is not an ambitious woman. What she pursues is just to preserve her original foundation. It was Chen Xi who allowed her to develop to a height that made her feel self-threatening, but after she let go, she felt reluctant to let go and tried her best to take back everything she lost.

She made all this effort just to prove to Chen Xi that she is capable.

Hui Niang spent two or three months hiring many ships on the front line of the North Canal south of Tongzhou. These ships can only help people transport some goods, but because they do not have a large order business, they are basically doing business at a loss. She no longer feels that Chen Xi has not planned for her and is being constrained everywhere in her work.

She was eager to get the job of transporting grain for the Ministry of Revenue. With the protection of the Ministry of Revenue, the situation was very different. Many businesses could rely on shipping to become bigger and stronger, and truly realize her dream of monopoly management.

For Hui Niang, bribery to local governments has always been unimpeded, and this time it shouldn't be surprising.

"I can't lose all the money that my sister in the Shen family puts in. When I want her to come back, she can have money that she can't spend in her lifetime... Just treat it as my dowry to Xiaoya."

Hui Niang felt a little relieved when she thought of marrying her daughter into the Shen family.

For her, Lu Xier can live a good life, even if she fulfills her final wish. When she went to pick Lu Xier up and went home that day, she thought that instead of letting Lu Xier be unhappy with her, why not leave Lu Xier with Shen Xi? That is her daughter's own choice, and she believes that even if her daughter marrys her as a concubine, Chen Xi will not treat her badly.

Thinking of Chen Xi's appearance when she was young, her heart felt warm, but when she thought of Chen Xi's "heartlessness" towards her before, her heart would feel a heart-wrenching and severe pain.

On the tenth day of August, Hui Niang suddenly received a message saying that the Ministry of Revenue had agreed to transport grain for the Ministry of Revenue at the end of the year. Some people from Fujian merchants would have a boat. It would be a matter of time before they were selected. She asked her to bring a thousand taels of silver to a designated location to settle the "final payment".

Because it had been agreed before that once the matter was successful, she would pay all the money she had bribed.

Hui Niang felt something was wrong in her heart because she felt that things were going too smoothly, so smooth that it exceeded her imagination. She thought to herself, the court agreed so quickly to release the authority to transport grain again?

Hui Niang also suspected those who accepted her bribes, but when she thought that these people dared not make things public, she felt relieved.

"If the matter is revealed, these officials cannot be lost. I am just a waste of my life. Are they willing to be buried with me?"

The more she thought about it, Hui Niang became more confident. In order to prevent accidents, she brought more people, all of whom had passed through the carriage and horse gang.

It was like a female general who was going to fight the enemy. Hui Niang prepared everything she should prepare. When she got on the carriage, she finally glanced at the empty Shen family gate.

It was the old house of the Xie family, where Chen Xi once lived. After Shen Xi moved to the big house near the Radish Sea, it was left for Shen Mingjun and his wife to live there, but now it is like her home, and it is empty.

Even her heart was now empty. Hui Niang wanted to say something for a moment, but in the end she couldn't even say anything, and suddenly she felt a little choked in her throat.

After getting on the carriage, Hui Niang cried with the warm pillow for a long time. In the end, she cried for some reason.

“Too tired.”

Hui Niang looked at the view outside the window and thoughtfully, "How great would it be if I could give me a rest? Or, death is better than suffering from life..."

***************

ps: The fourth update is here!

How should Hui Niang deal with it?

The plot is at its most critical moment again. Hui Niang’s life and death are just a matter of thought. I hope everyone can speak enthusiastically in the book review area. I want to hear your truest voices!
Chapter completed!