Chapter 805
You Can't Investigate Anymore
The Japanese pirates made money off him, and he could turn around and make money off the Japanese pirates. In the end, Quanzhou Garrison was also dragged into the mess by him.
The newly arrived deputy commander of Quanzhou Guard, Jiang Fangzheng, previously served in Datong Prefecture and had close ties with the north.
At that time, the young emperor had just ascended the throne, and the three Yangs were very cautious in the court. The Empress Dowager also tried her best to maintain the ruling regulations of the previous emperor and dared not make any major changes.
Prince Lu discovered that money was easier to earn in the north, so he partnered with Jiang Fangzheng to sell goods to the north.
“But in the past two years, the north has become increasingly unstable, and His Majesty has grown up and begun to rule personally, so Prince Lu has become much more cautious,” Sun Xin said. “Jiang Fangzheng has been promoted from deputy commander to commander and does not want to get involved with the north anymore, so they have gradually reduced their contact with the north.”
Pan Yun: "Is this something they can just cut off whenever they want?"
Sun Xin smiled wryly: "That's right, this isn't something that can be broken off just like that. Wang Zhen was the first to object, so the Prince of Lu is even more eager to make progress in maritime trade and stop Wang Zhen from pressuring him."
It's all money, so what difference does it make whose money we make?
Wang Zhen only wanted the money and the treasures.
But it was different for the King of Lu.
He colluded with Japanese pirates, and to him, Japan was a vassal state separated by a vast sea.
However, colluding with the Oirat and other northern barbarians was, in his view, treason and betrayal.
The emperor and his officials did not believe that Japan was capable of crossing the sea to attack and rule the Ming Dynasty.
But they would certainly suspect that the Northern Hu could move south and occupy the Central Plains.
The Five Barbarian Invasions, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and the existence of the Yuan Dynasty all serve as cautionary tales.
If the Prince of Lu were caught colluding with Japanese pirates, he would at most be scolded and have his salary reduced. But if he were caught colluding with the Northern Barbarians, he and his descendants could all be wiped out.
"If the sea ban is lifted, not only will the money that Prince Lu promised to Wang Zhen not be available, but his own livelihood will also be affected. In addition, other families do not want private capital to enter the maritime trade, so they hit it off and robbed silver ships at sea."
Sun Xin looked up at Pan Jun and chuckled, "You think they want to ambush the delegation? No, they wouldn't do something like exterminating three clans. What they want to ambush is your silver ship."
"As long as the silver cannot be transported back, and the court sees that the sea is still so dangerous, they will realize that only by continuing to seal off the sea and preventing the Japanese pirates from landing can the losses be minimized. Otherwise, once the people and ships of the Ming Dynasty go into the water, they will never return."
"No one expected that the mission ship, which should have returned to Tianjin, would take the route back to Quanzhou. Those soldiers were out of their minds and couldn't even distinguish between the mission ship and the silver ship. They rushed at them as soon as they saw the Ming flag, which led to the hijacking and killing of the mission ship."
If it was a robbery of a silver ship, regardless of who the silver on board was for, before the silver was transported back, Pan Jun's ship was just a civilian ship, and the people on board were ordinary people without official status who went to sea on their own. They could label them as pirates, or even say that there was no silver on board at all, and that this was a play that Pan Jun directed and acted out of fear of punishment.
The talk of "silver mountains" and "silver" was all just Pan Yun's sensationalist rhetoric.
If a hundred people repeat a false story a hundred times, it can become the truth.
They are confident they can accomplish this.
As it turned out, they kidnapped the wrong people. That was bad enough, but if they could have just thrown everyone on the mission's ship into the sea, they could have fabricated the whole story. Instead, they managed to get the mission back unharmed.
Sun Xin smiled bitterly, “Even the heavens are on your side. The sea is inherently dangerous, yet you and the delegation managed to survive two assassination attempts.” “Since things have come to this, we can only clean up the mess,” Sun Xin said. “The current emperor is a man of ambition. No matter how lenient he is with the imperial family, he will not allow the Prince of Lu to collude with pirates to intercept and kill the delegation. Therefore, we can only push the blame onto the Earl of Huichang.”
Pan Yun asked, "Was the matter of colluding with pirates to rob and kill the silver ship discussed personally by the Earl of Huichang and the Prince of Lu?"
Sun Xin twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "How could such a matter be brought before them? The Prince of Lu only asked about it once, and the rest was handled by me and the Crown Prince. As for the Huichang Earl's Mansion, the Huichang Earl did not show up at all. Their family's maritime trade affairs are managed by their relative Sun Chao, who is the Huichang Earl's cousin."
Pan Yun asked, "Besides you, who are the other people?"
Sun Xin smirked and laughed sarcastically: "This world is truly strange. Whether it's royalty or imperial relatives, they are the first to be exposed. Who would have thought that in the end, it would be the group of gentry in Jiangnan and the Earl of Jingyuan who would remain undetected?"
Pan Jun looked up in surprise, while Wu Zhihong jumped up and asked, "Who did you say?"
Xue Shao's expression changed.
Sun Xin looked at them with a smile, tears streaming down her face: "Jingyuan Earl Wang Ji, hahaha, the fourth person is Jingyuan Earl, and the one who came forward to discuss with us about sending someone to ambush and kill him is his nephew Wang Tianyi."
As for the remaining group, despite their large number and scattered locations, they are the most closely connected. The Chen family, the Pu family, the Wu family—hahahaha, behind them are countless mid-to-high-ranking officials in the court, many with ancestral roots in Jiangnan or related by marriage to Jiangnan. Even the Yongle Emperor couldn't handle this; Pan Yun, do you really think you can?"
"You think you can get justice and settle this score? You're dreaming!" Sun Xin laughed loudly. "You think that with my testimony and knowing the truth, you can get justice and make it public? Let me tell you, it's impossible!"
“If it weren’t for your treacherous scheme, and if they were truly capable of wiping out my entire family to retaliate against me, I would never have cooperated with you.” Sun Xin propped himself up on his arms and looked down at Pan Yun: “I have confessed, but I can assure you that you cannot solve this case.”
He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “It’s not about the Prince of Lu and the Earl of Jingyuan, or even the Empress Dowager, but about the gentry in Jiangnan.”
Whether it was the Prince of Lu, the Earl of Jingyuan, or the Earl of Huichang, they all fought alone, and they all had something to protect them. Therefore, they were able to assess the situation, admit their mistakes, and even confess their crimes.
But the gentry in Jiangnan were different. Individually, colluding with pirates meant death, while colluding with Japanese pirates meant the extermination of their entire clan.
Therefore, they will not allow the case to continue to be investigated.
Sun Xin straightened up, carrying the jingling chains in his hands as he walked out. When he reached the door, he turned back to Pan Yun and said, "Prefect Lu Mingzhe of Quanzhou knows nothing yet, doesn't he? I wonder if he'll even survive the New Year."
Pan Yun clenched her fist.
Xue Shao pressed down on her shoulder and nodded slightly to Wu Zhihong, instructing him to take Sun Xin away for protection.
Sun Xin: "Pan Yun, remember what you said. If anything happens to my family, I will definitely take revenge on you!"
After the man was taken away, Wu Zhihong paced anxiously, "How am I supposed to write this memorial? It's already a headache enough that it involves the Prince of Lu and the Earl of Huichang, but now it also involves the Earl of Jingyuan." (End of Chapter)