Chapter 1096

When Yu Zhiyong saw the Imperial Secret Guards, he immediately collapsed onto the ground and then began to wail. “Ge Yiren, I shouldn’t have

When Yu Zhiyong saw the Imperial Secret Guards, he immediately collapsed onto the ground and then began to wail.

“Ge Yiren, I shouldn’t have believed your nonsense. It’s over now, it’s all over.”

The secret guards captain watched Yu Zhiyong coldly. At the same time, the police who came with them were sealing Yu Zhiyong’s mansion.

“Since you already know, you should still come with us,” the secret guards captain’s voice contained no emotion.

When Ge Yiren brought Yu Zhiyong and Ni Kuang to Qingzhou, they were later summoned by the Emperor and put in charge of promoting New Confucianism.

Therefore, the three of them had always been very close. While Ge Yiren was being monitored, Yu Zhiyong and Ni Kuang were also not left out.

Yu Zhiyong was wailing and patting the ground with his hands. They had not originally wanted to get involved with Ge Yiren.

But Ge Yiren held too many of their secrets, so they had no choice but to follow Ge Yiren to the end.

Now that the incident had been exposed, he had been anxious. Now, the secret guards had indeed come to his door.

Seeing that Yu Zhiyong was ignoring him and still wailing, the secret guards captain immediately ordered his men to take Yu Zhiyong away.

At the same time, Ni Kuang, who was about to go out, was also blocked at his door. After being put in shackles, he was taken away without any explanation.

In addition to this, the secret guards also appeared in front of the doors of some officials and imperial relatives. Whenever they appeared, some powerful people who were usually prominent in Qingzhou would be arrested.

Such a large-scale operation quickly spread in Qingzhou City. For a time, everyone in Qingzhou City felt a sense of insecurity.

Zhu’s Mansion.

Zhu Wuliu glanced at the merchant who was being taken away through the crack in his door and could not help but shiver. He then quickly closed the door and returned to the main hall.

At this time, Ding Wu was waiting for Zhu Wuliu in the main hall.

After the incident, he came to Zhu Wuliu, after all, among the many merchants in Qingzhou, Zhu Wuliu’s news was still very well-informed.

“What’s all this commotion about? Which official has been arrested this time?” Ding Wu asked nervously.

The incident happened too suddenly for anyone to react. Now, many people were afraid that they would be taken away for no reason.

“This time it’s not an official. It’s the neighbor, Han Dafeng.” Zhu Wuliu’s expression was grim.

“Han Dafeng? Aren’t they only arresting officials and nobles?” Ding Wu jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “Do you think this will also involve us?”

Zhu Wuliu was also a little confused now. “It’s reasonable that this Ge Yiren, who was eating the Emperor’s food but was trying to undermine him, would be arrested. But arresting merchants is probably not that simple. I heard from Ge’s mansion that before Ge Yiren was arrested, he ordered his butler to get rid of Ren He, and this Ren He might be related to the Merchant Parliament.”

“In that case, this operation is actually two things being done at once?” Ding Wu let out a sigh of relief.

“Maybe,” Zhu Wuliu said. “This Han Dafeng also came from the south. In that case, it makes sense.”

“That puts my mind at ease. At least it has nothing to do with us.”

Zhu Wuliu’s face, however, was a little grim. “I have some business dealings with this Han Dafeng. I hope I won’t be implicated. We are only doing business, after all.”

Ding Wu looked at Zhu Wuliu with sympathy. This Zhu Wuliu, who started from a poor family and became a prominent merchant who could be on par with him in Qingzhou, was a legend.

But he knew that Zhu Wuliu’s status today was inseparable from the royal family’s care for him.

So he said, “The Emperor is so wise that he wouldn’t just arrest people randomly. Since it has nothing to do with us, let’s talk about business. Now that the court has allowed us to transfer the steam engine industry overseas, what are your plans?”

Zhu Wuliu also thought so. Because his elder brother was Zhu Sansi, he had always been cautious about crossing the line on sensitive issues.

Relieved, he said, “I am preparing to transport the outdated steam engine equipment to Southeast Asia. The natives there will work for you as long as you give them some food.”

“Although that’s the case, Southeast Asia is an uncivilized place. Can those natives really work diligently? I’m thinking of going to Japan. It is said that the situation in Japan is gradually stabilizing, and it’s also very close to the country.” Ding Wu said, trying to get some information.

Zhu Wuliu laughed when he heard this. He said, “Brother Ding, listen to me. You cannot go to Japan for now. You can go there to mine, but it’s still too early for factories.”

Ding Wu understood. This was his second reason for coming here. After electricity replaced coal, both he and Zhu Wuliu had accumulated a large amount of steam engine equipment.

Letting this equipment sit idle was too much of a waste. Therefore, everyone was thinking of going overseas.

While the two were chatting, sporadic gunshots rang out, which made both of their expressions change. It was clear that the situation was escalating.

Imperial Study.

Li San’s face was very grim after he received a telephone call from the side hall. He rushed to Xiao Ming and said, “Your Majesty, a shootout occurred when we were arresting the remnants of the Chamber of Commerce in the industrial zone. One of the secret guards was injured.”

“A shootout!” Xiao Ming frowned. “The Empire strictly prohibits the people from privately possessing firearms. How could these merchants have firearms?”

“The secret guards found a hidden room under a textile factory, and there were imitation firearms inside,” Li San said.

Xiao Ming’s face turned cold. Many problems were being exposed this time. There was no doubt that the most profitable business in this era was weapons.

This incident was enough to prove that Cao Kun had been plotting for a long time and had made preparations. This further solidified his determination to wipe out the remnants of the parliament in one fell swoop.

After a moment of thought, he said, “I will immediately notify the six major military regions and have them send soldiers to cooperate with the secret guards. This time, we must nip the problem in the bud! We will not leave any future troubles.”

“With the army’s cooperation, there will be no problems.” Li San said happily.

With that, Xiao Ming picked up the telephone and called Cui Shang’an, telling him to issue the order to the military regions.

After doing this, Xiao Ming felt that it was still not enough. He said, “It’s also time to let some people see the results of my reforms over the years and make them understand the true power of the Empire.”

Qian Dafu immediately understood what Xiao Ming meant. He had also done this back then when he was cleaning out the powerful families of the six prefectures.

“Qian Dafu, tomorrow, publish the list of arrested people in the newspaper. To call upon the militia, we will launch a national campaign to eliminate the evil forces that are causing chaos in the Empire. I will also personally write an article to set the record straight.” Xiao Ming said with a cold sneer.

Li San could not help but swallow. The Wang family did not escape this back then. Once Xiao Ming did this, a storm of rectification that would sweep through the Empire would truly arrive.

However, he was also a little worried, fearing that doing so would be an overcorrection and harm many innocent people. But it seemed that the Empire’s current crooked ways needed an overcorrection.

Otherwise, even if they eliminated a group of people like Ge Yiren, those old nobles who were still safe and sound would continue to lord over the common people. It was better to use this incident to curb their arrogance.