Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 106 The Emperor's Sword: Execute First, Report Later

After Sun Chuanting asked this question, it was as if all sound and light were sucked out of the entire Imperial Study.

The boundless pride that had surged within me because of the Emperor's three world-saving punches, the burning desire to immediately take up my sword and leave the capital to save the people, was instantly cooled and frozen as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over my head, then turned into a bone-chilling cold that spread from my tailbone all the way to the strands of my hair.

Ideal plans are always so magnificent and so alluring.

But the chasms of reality are always so deep, so... dirty.

Sun Chuanting could almost see how those grain carts, laden with the court's hopes and the people's will to survive, were stripped of their grease at each checkpoint; how the silver intended for work relief was transformed into empty numbers by the skilled pens of officials; and how those imperial edicts, brimming with favors when they departed from the capital, became nothing but scraps of paper and deepened the people's despair upon arriving in Shaanxi!

Of the disaster relief funds, less than one-tenth remained.

This is not an alarmist prophecy, but an irrefutable truth that has prevailed in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty and even the officialdom of China for hundreds of years.

These are bloody facts, a cold reality built from the bones of countless ordinary people.

No matter how perfect the emperor's plan is, if it is handed over to a group of treacherous officials to carry it out, the final result will only be a more absurd and cruel tragedy.

Sun Chuanting didn't say anything more, but just stood there quietly, waiting.

Since the emperor dared to conceive such a grand plan, he must have already considered where the foundation supporting this plan would lie.

He was just waiting for an answer.

However, when he saw the expression on the emperor's face, he still felt a chill run down his spine.

A faint yet chilling smile slowly spread across that young face.

That smile contained an understanding that he had already seen through everything, and... a murderous aura that was far more intense than he had expected, so intense that it sent chills down his spine!
“What you say is exactly the root of the problem.”

Zhu Youjian's voice was very calm, so calm that no emotion could be detected. He slowly walked away from the map.

"Therefore, what I am giving you is not just the position of governor!"

Before he could finish speaking, Sun Chuanting's heart skipped a beat.

Zhu Youjian walked up to him, his eyes calm and cold, as if they could see through all pretense and disguise.

"I know that with just an imperial edict and an official position, once you arrive in Shaanxi, you will be like a dragon falling into shallow waters or a tiger falling into the plains. You will be facing the entire intricate bureaucratic system of Shaanxi, which has been cultivated for decades. They have countless ways to make you invisible and deaf, to render you powerless, and to turn you into a clay statue placed on the court."

"They will greet you with smiles, host banquets, and flatter you, then turn their backs and continue their exploitative business. They will even deliberately create some minor troubles to keep you busy and make you feel that you have done a great service by barely maintaining the situation."

Every word the emperor spoke seemed to precisely depict the predicament Sun Chuanting was about to face.

These words do not sound like those of a monarch who has never left the capital; rather, they sound like those of an old official who has been mired in the quagmire of officialdom for decades, expressing his ultimate lament about this corrupt world.

Sun Chuanting remained silent, knowing that the emperor was right.

"Therefore, to break this deadlock, I must give you a knife."

Zhu Youjian's tone rose slightly, carrying a resounding, powerful tone reminiscent of the clash of swords and the thunder of war.

"I hereby assign all five thousand newly trained elite soldiers from the capital garrison to you as your personal guards!"

Sun Chuanting's pupils contracted sharply once again!
The Beijing Garrison! Five thousand newly trained elite soldiers!

Unlike the old, weak, sick, and disabled soldiers in the local garrisons who were already incapable of fighting, and not those soldiers who embezzled salaries and only knew how to oppress the people, they were the emperor's personal army, built under the emperor's personal supervision, with the best money and food and the strictest discipline!

These five thousand men were practically the emperor's most valuable asset!
"These five thousand men are not under the command of the Ministry of War, nor are they subject to the orders of the Five Military Commissions." Zhu Youjian's voice was clear and forceful, each word like a military order.
"Their swords obey only your command! They are responsible for escorting all the money and grain sent from the capital to Shaanxi, providing full escort throughout the journey. Anyone who dares to approach them will be executed without mercy! They are also responsible for suppressing local lawlessness. Anyone who gathers a crowd to storm soup kitchens or rob government offices will be killed without exception! And... most importantly, they are your source of confidence and the guarantee that you can carry out my orders!"

Zhu Youjian stared at him and said, word by word, "Anyone who dares to lay a hand on you, let their swords and spears teach those people what the rules are!"

Shocked!

An absolutely stunning experience!
Sun Chuanting felt his breathing become rapid.

This is the governor's authority!

With 5,000 elite troops at his disposal and a unified military and political force, he had the power to use force directly within Shaanxi Province without any intermediaries.

With this knife, the Three Fists of Salvation are no longer castles in the air; they have a solid foundation, a guarantee of execution, and... the possibility of killing with a single blow.

In Sun Chuanting's chest, his heart, which had been chilled by the icy waters of reality, began to beat violently once again, uncontrollably.

However, the emperor seemed to feel that this was far from enough.

Looking at the complex expression on Sun Chuanting's face, a mixture of shock and excitement, he slowly shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of world-weariness. "A knife alone is not enough."

"A knife can only be used to kill, but it can't see who to kill. A knife can cut the wrong person and is easily deceived. It needs eyes and ears. It needs countless eyes and ears to watch over every corner of Shaanxi, every government office, and every official's residence!"

Zhu Youjian strolled back to the dragon desk, seemingly casually picking up the cup of tea that had long since gone cold, but he did not drink it. Instead, he rubbed the rim of the cup with his fingers. His gaze was deep and unfathomable, as if he could see through the palace walls and into the Qin Chuan land thousands of miles away.

"Therefore, I will give you one more thing."

He put down his cup, turned around, and spoke softly, yet it made the hairs on Sun Chuanting's body stand on end.

"I hereby grant you control over the Eastern and Western Depots and the Embroidered Uniform Guard within Shaanxi Province!"

silence.

Dead silence.

Inside the main hall, even the air seemed to solidify. Sun Chuanting stood there, stunned, like a statue.

To restrain... the power of the Eastern Depot, the Western Depot, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard?

Your Majesty, what is he saying?
Sun Chuanting felt a buzzing in his ears, and he even wondered if he was hallucinating because he was too excited.

What is the Factory Guard?
That was the most fearsome sword hanging over the heads of all civil and military officials in the Ming Dynasty!
They are the emperor's eyes and ears, the claws and teeth of imperial power, and the omnipresent shadows in the darkness!
They were independent of the Three Judicial Offices and were accountable only to the emperor.

Controlling the imperial guards—what a terrifying power that is!

Let alone a mere fifth-rank physician like him, even the Grand Secretary of the court would never dare to claim that he could control the Imperial Guard.

That requires the emperor's complete, absolute, and even somewhat obsessive trust!
Sun Chuanting's heart at this moment was beyond description; it was as if the sky had collapsed and the earth had shattered!
The emperor's voice seemed to come from the distant horizon, carrying an inhuman coldness: "All the officers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the agents of the Eastern and Western Depots within Shaanxi, their reports and intelligence gathering, will first pass through your hands before reaching the Emperor. They are your eyes, your ears, and even more so, the butcher's knife hanging over the heads of all corrupt officials!"

"The Imperial Guards will tell you who is outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, who is embezzling funds and grain, and who is secretly hindering progress. And you can use the knife in your hand to clean up these... parasites of the Ming Dynasty."

Sun Chuanting's lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.

His power at this moment has long since far exceeded the scope of the title of governor.

Holding both military and political power, and also serving as an inspector, this... this is a ruler who can control everything, disregard all rules, and only seek to achieve his ultimate goal... a guardian on behalf of Heaven!
He felt an unprecedented power, but also a profound loneliness and coldness that penetrated to his very bones.

But when his gaze met the emperor's burning eyes again, he suddenly felt that all of this seemed so natural.

Otherwise, how can we fight against the deeply entrenched bureaucratic system and carve out a way out in that desperate land?
However, just when Sun Chuanting thought this was the limit the emperor could give, he was wrong.

How wrong.

The emperor's cold smile deepened and became even more... insane.

"But that's not enough!"

The emperor's voice suddenly lowered, and he approached Sun Chuanting step by step, each step seeming to pound on his heartbeat, making the atmosphere in the entire hall extremely oppressive.

"I have the knife. I have the eyes too. But... there's still one thing missing."

Zhu Youjian stopped just a step away from him, the flames in his eyes almost bursting forth.

"I'll give you one last thing!"

He turned around abruptly, strode towards the huge dragon-shaped desk, and pulled out a scroll that had already been written on and mounted on bright yellow silk.

Then, Zhu Youjian took the scroll and walked back to Sun Chuanting. He grabbed both ends of the scroll and unfurled it in front of him with a "whoosh"!

On the bright yellow silk, the characters written with cinnabar ink were as sharp as if carved by a knife and axe, carrying an overwhelming and intense aura of killing intent!
Sun Chuanting's gaze was fixed on those shocking lines of text.

At that moment, Zhu Youjian's voice rang out, as cold as iron!

"By this decree, anyone within Shaanxi Province who embezzles disaster relief funds or grain, regardless of their official rank, shall be punished."

He paused, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Anyone who embezzles more than sixty taels of silver may be executed on the spot without trial, and the execution shall be carried out without prior notification!"

First! Execute! Then! Report!
These four words struck Sun Chuanting's mind like a resounding bell, making his very soul buzz.

"Don't they like to talk to me about ancestral rules and regulations?" For the first time, a near-ferocious smile appeared on Zhu Youjian's face.
"Then I will grant them the ancestral rule! The rule set by Emperor Taizu Gao! Any official who embezzles more than sixty taels of silver shall be beheaded and his skin peeled off! Today I will send your grandson, Sun Chuanting, to Shaanxi to restore the good governance of Emperor Taizu's era!"

(End of this chapter)