41 - Interlude 3

***Ministry of Commerce***

Hao Rong sat at his desk working through the massive amount of paperwork and organisation required to start a formal investigation into the guilds. It had been a strange day. Even since the council meeting the night before, his entire agenda had been co opted. He had spent the day working with Zhu Jie the Minister of Law Enforcement and Yan Zhu the Minister of Espionage on how the investigation could be run by their newly formed division.

This was all happening too fast, things were changing too fast. Ever since Hang Fo had called him in to meet that strange little noble, things had started to change rapidly. He could not believe that it had only been a few days since that fateful meeting. Normally even a simple request would take months to be seen, forget about getting a response. Yet, a simple meeting with Lady Sa Bina had turned into the guilds losing their monopoly, his ministry gaining real power over commerce, the creation of a new policing unit to investigate and the permission to investigate noble estates from the council itself.

He had no idea how things had moved so fast. He could only attribute the speed to the fact that no one had seen anything coming. Had the nobles even had any inkling then they would have taken steps to ensure the plans failed. Even now, he dreaded the repercussions that would follow. The noble houses, especially the barons who were pushing for more power, would not accept these changes quietly. They would target everyone they thought had acted against them and that would firmly put him in their sights.

Had he realised just how much trouble would be caused from a simple meeting and giving in to his curiosity, he would have ignored the request or made some excuse. It was far too late for that now. He found himself firmly in the camp acting against the interests of some powerful people. The only solace he had was that these were careful people. They would not act rashly. They would take their time, investigate, lay their traps and then take action.

As he ruminated on the state of affairs and how he found himself not only embroiled, but at the centre of this change, there was a knock on the door. His secretary stuck her head in the door to inform him that Cultivator Yin Ling the Minister of Defence was there to see him. Another troublesome person. He wondered what she wanted, and how much deeper this would lead him. He asked his secretary to show the cultivator in. Even though technically they were at the same rank, her status as a Cultivator and representative of the Green Mountain Sect meant that her status was significantly higher than his. He stood up to greet her.

“Greetings Cultivator Yin Ling,” he said. “What brings you to my humble department today?”

“Greetings Minister Hao Rong,” she replied. “I just came to congratulate you on a brilliantly laid trap at the council yesterday, and to offer my help.”

“What trap?” responded Hao Rong, with a sinking feeling.

“I heard it was your idea to get the formal approval for the policing unit,” replied Yin Ling. “The way you let those nobles push for your idea by making them think their interests were at risk, then to use their decision against them to push for an investigation into their affairs. I had not realised that you were so politically adroit.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” said Hao Rong. “I was just bringing up a problem that we had identified.”

“Oh, don’t worry I am not going to spill your secrets,” replied a clearly amused Yin Ling. “I am just here to provide support if you need it. We have noticed the way some of the local nobles have been acting, but did not have the pretext to act.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Hao Rong.

“Oh not much, I have just spoken to our colleagues,” replied Yin Ling. “They have accepted my offer of help. A few of our suitable disciples will be joining the new unit. It should help with those plans that you don’t have. Don’t worry, I have made sure that they are absolutely loyal.”

“I still have no idea what you are talking about,” insisted Hao Rong.

“If you say so,” replied Yin Ling, almost laughing. “In that case I will take my leave. If you do find yourself in need, feel free to drop by.” With that the infuriating woman swept out of the room.

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Hao Rong was left at a loss to understand what had just happened. He was getting dragged deeper and deeper into this mess. All because he had accepted the offer to claim credit for an initiative not his own. Once again, he tried to understand how he had ended up in the middle of this mess.

***Meeting of the Cabal***

Baron Xiu Hu sat at the head of the table waiting for his peers to settle down. He had called an emergency meeting to let everyone else know what was happening and how he intended for them to proceed. He did not want anyone taking any rash actions that could create even more trouble for them.

The meeting consisted of 3 other barons, an earl and heads of several houses holding business interests in the region. Everyone who was in the city had joined, or sent their most senior retainers. There had been no reason to hold such a meeting for a long time --- the plans had been progressing so well. It was not a complicated plan, and they had made sure to keep it within the bounds of the law. How had they not seen this coming? Finally everyone was settled.

“Thank you all for coming at such short notice,” he started. “I need to make you aware of some recent incidents that have the potential to impact our plans.”

“Just what has happened that has necessitated this meeting?” asked Earl Cheng Lei. “I do hope all this is not just because of the council meeting.”

“No, not entirely,” replied Baron Xiu Hu. “However, as not everyone is aware of the events at the council yesterday, I shall cover everything before discussing our next steps. One thing I will make clear from the outset. We can not have anyone taking independent action. There is too much at risk to allow that.”

“Get on with it,” said Earl Cheng Lei. The only one with the status to speak to him with that much disrespect. He kept his composure. Now was not the time to deal with him.

“Yesterday we had two items brought up at the council,” said the Baron. “The first was brought up by the ministries of law enforcement and espionage. They informed us of a threat of organised bandits that are targeting noble holdings. They wanted permission to form a special policing unit to investigate the actions of these bandits. They also insisted they needed the authority to investigate noble estates, to ensure that the bandits were not being offered succour by disloyal retainers. This measure was approved by all members of the council.”

“The second item that was brought up was by the ministry of commerce,” he continued. “That was a complaint against the guilds. Specifically, it was a complaint that the guilds were acting in concert to control trade. I tried to get this item thrown out, but the minister of defence claimed this was potentially treason, and asked the newly formed unit to investigate.”

This caused outrage around the table. Everyone was aware of what their plans entailed and that they could be susceptible to such an investigation. Before anyone could hijack the meeting, the baron continued.

“Yes, I am already aware that it puts us at risk,” he said, taking back control. “However, things escalated beyond that. When I returned from the council meeting, I called for all the guild heads to warn them of what was coming. To my surprise, they were already waiting for me. They collectively informed me that several members had purchased a significant amount of raw materials, then cancelled their memberships in the respective guilds. This has impacted at least 11 guilds. Further, these were the very members who had been complaining about the conduct of the guilds and the quotas that were enforced on them for the government contracts.”

“I am of the opinion that all these incidents are linked and part of a political move by the ministries to remove the power of the guilds. We must be very careful in how we respond.” he finished.

“There is no way that those businesses can work if they are not part of the guild,” said Earl Cheng Lei. “We should catch them in the act of breaking the rules and have them arrested. Then we can force them back to the guild contracts.”

“That had been my initial thought as well,” replied the Baron. “However, there is another potential option that we must consider. There is an archaic provision that allows for guilds from foreign nations to act within our kingdom, as long as a ministry is allowed full oversight.”

“How do you even know that such a law still exists?” asked one of the family heads.

“Because when we started this undertaking,” replied the Baron. “I had my scribes investigate all laws that could be used against us. This one came up in the search as a very old law that had never actually been used. Still, it is valid.”

“Could we stop that guild from acting by cutting off the supply of raw materials?” asked the Earl. “That would stop the guild from achieving anything.”

“I don’t know,” said the Baron. “I am having the matter fully investigated, and I suggest you all do the same. There must also be a foreign noble with the authority to approve such an agreement in the first place. Have any of you heard anything about a foreign noble visiting us?”

The general consensus was that if there had been a diplomatic visit, everyone should have been informed. Or at least the nobles. The meeting continued as they discussed the potential ramifications, and the actions they could take to mitigate the consequences. They would not be hasty, they would take their time and find everyone who conspired against them. Only then would they act. Their plans had been in play for a long time, and they would not allow them to fail now.