"Yingzhou..." Liu Yan murmured to himself, his finger lightly tracing the place name.
Of course he knew of Yingzhou!
It was a fabled land of great wealth overseas, rich in gold and silver. At the founding of Great Xia, the founding emperor had once sent a fleet on a voyage to find this legendary land, but they had ultimately returned empty-handed. Since then, the search for Yingzhou had become little more than an elusive legend.
And now, a map leading to that legend lay right before him.
If this were merely some merchant's trick to make grand promises, Liu Yan might have laughed it off. But when he saw the other document beside the map, his breath caught in his throat.
It was a list of officials.
From the provincial administration commissioners and surveillance commissioners of the coastal provinces, to the commander overseeing the navy, to several seemingly insignificant dockmasters and port inspectors... Name after name formed a vast smuggling network spanning the entire southeastern coast of Great Xia!
At the very end of the list, one name stood out—
Minister of Revenue, Zhang Jing.
Zhang Jing was a core member of the Crown Prince's Faction. After the Crown Prince's downfall, he had immediately gone to the emperor in tears, begging forgiveness. Claiming that he was "old and muddleheaded, misled by treacherous men," he had miraculously managed to keep both his position and his life. The emperor, mindful of his service under three reigns and the turbulent state of the court, had merely reprimanded him and docked his pay.
Now it seemed this smuggling network was Zhang Jing's real trump card! It was also what gave him the confidence to betray the Crown Prince!
A chill shot from the soles of Liu Yan's feet straight to the crown of his