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

Chapter 138 What right do you, a disloyal, unfilial, and heartless person, have to discuss the "Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty"?

All the humility and melancholy on Sun Chuanting's face vanished, replaced by the sharpness and decisiveness of an imperial blade.

He was no longer the humble minister who came to seek help, but an imperial envoy on behalf of the emperor, an extension of the emperor's will!

"Prince Zhu Cunshu of Qin, receive the imperial decree!"

Sun Chuanting's voice boomed like a thunderclap in the cool, spring-like hall.

Zhu Cunshu and his eunuchs and chief clerks knelt down almost reflexively, a testament to their deep-seated awe of the supreme imperial power.

Sun Chuanting unfurled the imperial edict; on the bright yellow silk, each character written in vermilion ink seemed stained with blood. He abandoned his gentle tone, adopting a cold, oppressive official voice, and read it aloud, word by word:

"The emperor is destined to be carried by heaven, and the edict says:"

"I have heard that if a ruler treats his people like dirt, then the people will treat him like an enemy. Now, Shaanxi is suffering a great disaster, and the people are living in misery. This is a great calamity for the country and a deep concern for the dynasty. Prince Zhu Cunshu of Qin has held the hereditary title for more than two hundred years and has enjoyed the emperor's favor. He should be a role model for all members of the imperial family."

"However, I pleaded with you through a tearful letter from home, yet you merely offered a meager sum of money and grain, treating me as nothing, the people as ants, and the ancestral land as your private property! What kind of heart do you have!"

"I hereby order you, Prince Zhu Cunshu of Qin, to immediately open the Prince's granaries and release 100,000 shi of grain! And to withdraw 300,000 taels of silver from the Prince's treasury! These funds shall be allocated by Sun Chuanting, the Governor of Shaanxi, for disaster relief! Any delay shall be punished as a delay in military affairs! So be it!"

With a "buzz," Zhu Cunshu's mind went blank.

100,000 shi of grain? 300,000 taels of silver?

This isn't asking him for donations, this is ransacking his home!
Anger, humiliation, fear... all sorts of emotions surged to Zhu Cunxu's head in an instant. He suddenly raised his head and stared intently at Sun Chuanting. His fair face turned bright red, veins bulged, and he looked like a mad tiger.

"Sun Chuanting!" he roared, "You...you dare to forge an imperial edict!?"

"Where in the Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty is there any reason to forcibly levy taxes on princes? The land and grain of my princely estate were all bestowed by Emperor Taizu Gao! You are violating the ancestral rules! You are committing treason!"

Zhu Cunshu refused to extend his hands to receive the imperial edict. His voice was sharp with anger, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

Sun Chuanting looked at him coldly, as if he were looking at a clown.

Moreover, beneath this cold exterior, a storm was raging within Sun Chuanting's heart.

It's here! Just as His Majesty predicted when he issued the decree!
Sun Chuanting suppressed the shock in his heart and transformed the awe he felt from the Nine Heavens into an invincible sharpness at this moment.

“Your Highness, it seems you still don’t understand.” Sun Chuanting’s voice was filled with disappointment, and even more so with a chilling killing intent. Every word seemed to carry the weight of the emperor’s own words. “The Imperial Ancestral Instructions are meant to protect the imperial family, not to allow the imperial family to sit idly by and watch the country collapse when the imperial family is in danger!”

He spoke each word slowly and deliberately, as if metal and stone were striking each other:

"You possess mountains of gold and seas of silver, yet you watch millions starve to death, and bandits rise up everywhere, shaking the very foundations of the nation! This is the greatest violation of ancestral rules, the greatest act of treason!"

These words, spoken by Sun Chuanting, were like a sharp sword that had been forged long ago, precisely piercing Zhu Cunshu's last line of defense.

Sun Chuanting understood. What His Majesty had bestowed was not merely an imperial edict, but a sharp blade capable of severing all sophistry. Every reaction of the Prince of Qin was precisely a deliberate act of meeting this razor-sharp edge!
At this moment, Sun Chuanting felt no more turmoil in his heart, only the resolute determination of a king's sword remained, and his face became even more sinister!
He took a step forward, and the aura that combined personal will with the majesty of imperial power crashed down on Zhu Cunshu like a heavy mountain, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

"Your Highness, you only remember that the founding emperor bestowed wealth and honor upon you, but you have forgotten why the founding emperor bestowed wealth and honor upon you in the first place!"

"To stand idly by and watch the people die, to disregard the Emperor's grace, is to be disloyal!"

"We are both of the Zhu family bloodline. The emperor is frugal and thrifty, but you are extravagant and unrestrained. This is disrespectful to your elders!"

"To hold a huge amount of rice but not save the people from suffering is inhumane!"

With each sentence Sun Chuanting spoke, Zhu Cunshu's face paled a little more.

"How dare you, a disloyal, unfilial, and inhumane person, talk about the 'Imperial Ancestral Instructions of the Ming Dynasty'!"

Sun Chuanting's rebuke was like a sharp sword piercing his heart.

Zhu Cunshu was completely enraged. He jumped up from the ground, pointed at Sun Chuanting's nose, and screamed, "Insolence! How dare you, a subject from another clan, insult me ​​like this! Guards! Seize this madman!"

Overwhelming rage completely consumed him, and the last vestiges of his reason were burned away by the flames of Sun Chuanting's scathing words!

However, Sun Chuanting seemed to have anticipated this. He completely ignored Zhu Cunshu's roar and instead turned to the outside and shouted, "Since Your Highness says that your household is in dire straits and cannot even produce three hundred shi of grain, the imperial edict's mention of one hundred thousand shi must be a mistake in the court's information. To avoid wrongly accusing Your Highness, I am ordered to personally inspect the Prince's granary to prove Your Highness's innocence and report back to His Majesty!"

After saying that, he actually lifted his foot to walk out!

This completely struck Zhu Cunxu's Achilles' heel.

Inspecting the grain warehouse?

Once the mountains of grain inside are exposed, Zhu Cunxu's lie about being poor will become the biggest joke in the world, and the crime of disobeying the imperial order will be impossible to clear his name!
"Stop him! Stop him for me!" Zhu Cunshu screamed hysterically. "Anyone who dares to let him step out of this door will have their entire family executed!"

slam-la-

Accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of armor rubbing together, dozens of guards from the Prince's Palace poured into the courtyard from all directions, completely surrounding the main hall.

These men were private soldiers kept by the Prince of Qin's palace; they only had eyes for the Prince of Qin, not the Emperor.

The cold spear tips were all aimed at the lone governor, dressed in a scarlet official robe. The atmosphere froze at that moment.

Sun Chuanting stopped in his tracks.

He turned around, facing the dark mass of weapons, his face showing not a trace of fear. He simply watched quietly, looking at the guards, at the outwardly fierce but inwardly cowardly King of Qin behind them, and then, slowly, word by word:
"Qin King Zhu Cunshu,"

"Gather troops and commit violence to defy the imperial edict!"

"This crime—"

"The crime is equivalent to treason!"

Sun Chuanting's gaze was as calm as a deep pool, but the casual phrase "as guilty as treason" exploded like a thunderclap in Zhu Cunshu's mind!

The words "treason" were like two invisible mountains, instantly crushing all his arrogance and conceit.

His face was deathly pale, his hands and feet were numb, and he watched helplessly as Sun Chuanting calmly walked out step by step through the passage that the bewildered guards had automatically parted. He wanted to shout at him, but it was as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping his throat, and he couldn't utter a sound.

At this moment, his fear of imperial power overwhelmed everything, and he slumped in his chair, letting Sun Chuanting walk out of the palace gates.

The main hall was deathly silent.

Zhu Cunshu was panting heavily, his luxurious robes soaked with cold sweat.

Just as he was in a state of panic, a servant rushed in, his voice trembling with fear: "Your Highness! Something terrible has happened! Sun Chuanting has really taken men to our granary! He says he wants to open it according to imperial decree!"

"what?!"

Zhu Cunshu suddenly sprang up from his chair, his obese body bursting with astonishing power.

That moment of fear was instantly swallowed up by a raging fire!

To hell with imperial power! To hell with treason! That's his grain! It's Zhu Cunshu's lifeblood!
"He dares!" Zhu Cunshu roared like a madman, his eyes bloodshot and blood rushing to his head! He pointed at the door and let out a roar that sounded inhuman:

"Men! Gather the guards! Charge forward and stop him! Stop him at all costs!"

The captain of the personal guards trembled, but seeing the prince's crazed expression, he dared not disobey in the slightest. With a roar, he led a team of elite guards and charged towards the granary like wolves and tigers!
Zhu Cunshu was hurriedly carried into a sedan chair by several servants, and the journey was bumpy and swaying towards the granary. In the swaying sedan chair, he had only one thought: Whoever touches my money and grain shall die!
Just then, a trusted advisor rode up on a fast horse and rushed to the sedan chair, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Your Highness! Your Highness! Something terrible has happened!"

"What could be worse than the granary!" Zhu Cunshu roared in frustration.

"It's His Majesty's edict of self-reproach! And that...that family letter!" The trusted advisor's voice was filled with desperate sobs as he almost collapsed beside the sedan chair. "At the very moment Sun Chuanting entered the mansion to announce the edict, bulletin boards throughout Xi'an were...completely covered! It happened at the same time! The whole city is talking about it, Your Highness!"

Zhu Cunshu, inside the sedan chair, suddenly stiffened. Instead of losing his composure as if struck by lightning, he fell into a deathly silence.

He didn't ask whether the imperial edict reprimanding him had been posted.

No need to ask.

In an instant, a layer of cold sweat suddenly seeped from his forehead.

Although he was arrogant, he wasn't a complete fool.

An edict of self-reproach is the emperor's way of showing weakness to the people and gaining their sympathy and loyalty. A family letter, on the other hand, uses kinship and family ties as a pretext for moral persuasion and admonition.

Once these two items are displayed, the emperor is already in an invincible position.

What's next?
If Zhu Cunshu were to be sensible and donate money and grain, it would be his duty as a member of the imperial clan.

If he disobeys...

Zhu Cunshu's pupils suddenly contracted!

First, appeal to the world with the responsibility of the emperor; then persuade the relatives with familial affection; finally, if the relatives still do not comply...
This isn't about asking him for money!

This is to put Zhu Cunshu under the wrath of the entire Shaanxi military and civilians and roast him alive!
With a "whoosh," the dizziness that had been forcibly suppressed suddenly erupted, and Zhu Cunxu's vision went black as his entire body slammed heavily against the sedan chair wall.

After alighting from the sedan chair, as he stumbled and was helped along, seemingly in a daze, to the granary, the scene before him shattered any remaining hope he had, plunging him into an abyss of despair.

The shouts of killing were loud!
His personal guards had already clashed with the small number of soldiers brought by Sun Chuanting!
Swords clashed, sparks flew!

What terrified him even more was that several of Sun Chuanting's soldiers had been cut down. Although they did not appear to be in immediate danger of dying, their bright red blood had stained their armor and left glaring marks on the ground!

See blood!
His gaze suddenly swept across the chaotic crowd and locked onto that person.

Sun Chuanting stood motionless in front of the granary gate, with the tightly closed gate behind him and the fighting soldiers in front of him.

He didn't watch the fighting; he just quietly watched Zhu Cunshu.

In Sun Chuanting's hands, the golden imperial edict was still tightly held, exuding an inviolable majesty amidst the chaos and bloodshed!
Zhu Cunshu's anger was extinguished instantly, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, leaving only endless chill.

　I'm typing it now, I'm typing it now.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)