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

Chapter 179 Your hand is reaching too far!
The night, like a splash of thick ink, bathed the entire Forbidden City in a deep and tranquil hue.

The candlelight still flickered inside the warm pavilion, casting a huge and lonely silhouette of Zhu Youjian sitting alone on the wall.

Bi Ziyan and Fan Jingwen had already left, their footsteps disappearing at the end of the long palace road, taking away the last trace of noise from the room.

Instead of immediately getting to work on the next memorial, Zhu Youjian allowed himself a rare moment of deep thought.

His fingers tapped lightly and unconsciously on the imperial desk.

Bi Ziyan, Wen Tiren.

One is to accumulate blood, the other is to unify will.

One was responsible for using the sharpest scalpel to cut open the festering sores on the empire's body and forcibly withdraw wealth back to the national treasury; the other was responsible for controlling the empire's public opinion and the imperial examinations, injecting the emperor's own will into the mind and bones of this massive body in an unprecedented way.

These two men were the two crucial cornerstones of his envisioned new, efficient power center that was accountable only to him.

So, what about the rest?
Zhu Youjian's gaze fell on the huge "Map of the Ming Dynasty" on the wall, and he had already made up his mind.

He intended to directly grant the position of Grand Secretary, the core of the four, to Sun Chengzong, who was far away in Liaodong. Only the prestige and military power of this imperial tutor could stabilize his foundation while he focused on breaking the deadlock. This matter was not to be done by convention; it could be done under the guise of concurrent appointment.

Thus, three of the four seats were already decided.

The last remaining seat requires the sharpest blade, a ruthless official who can clear all obstacles with swift and decisive action when the new policies are thwarted.

Zhu Youjian had a list of candidates in mind, but he needed a few more days to select the most suitable and loyal one from those names.

Zhu Youjian was not in a hurry.

Because he knew that once he held the last hilt of the sword, what would follow would be a complete overhaul of the functions and power of the Six Ministries and even the entire bureaucratic system.

That will be an extremely complicated and dangerous war, where every step could jeopardize the lifeline of a century-old family; every mobilization could trigger an earthquake in the imperial court.

At the beginning of the year, this was his biggest task.

……

Just as he was about to let his thoughts wander and begin to ponder other questions, a series of hurried and suppressed footsteps approached from afar, breaking the tranquility of the night.

"His Majesty!"

Outside the palace gates came Wang Chengen's extremely anxious voice.

Zhu Youjian's brows furrowed instantly.

"Come in." The emperor's voice returned to its usual calm, but a cold glint flashed in his deep eyes.

The palace doors were suddenly pushed open, and a gust of cold wind carried a figure inside.

The visitor was none other than Tian Ergeng, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

At this moment, he lacked his usual majesty and menacing aura, but he was not panicked either; his travel-worn face held a settled sense of ruthlessness.

As soon as he entered the hall, he knelt down with a thud.

"Your Majesty! Jiangnan... has moved!"

Tian Ergeng's voice was filled with a kind of excitement that was about to erupt.

Zhu Youjian's pupils suddenly contracted.

Jiangnan!

He slowly stood up, walked step by step to Tian Ergeng, and looked down at him.

"speak."

Tian Ergeng abruptly looked up, his gaze meeting the emperor's icy stare. He understood everything from those unfathomable eyes. He pulled a secret report from his robes, raised it above his head, and spoke with a voice as firm as iron:
"Your Majesty! They've made their move!"

"Two officials from the Ministry of Revenue in Songjiang Prefecture, responsible for measuring farmland, were deliberately drowned in an accident!!"

A bloodthirsty glint flashed in Tian Ergeng's eyes.

Zhu Youjian's face was ashen, and he remained silent.

"The three auditors from Yangzhou who were in charge of checking the salt accounts all died suddenly in the official post station!" Tian Ergeng's voice grew louder and louder, as if he were not reporting a tragedy, but reading out the enemy's crimes.

"boom!

With a loud crash, the imperial desk beside Zhu Youjian trembled violently as he slammed his hand down, causing the writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone on it to leap up and then fall heavily back down, leaving a mess. Wang Chengen and Tian Ergeng were so frightened that they buried their heads deep in the gold bricks, not daring to even breathe.

This is a declaration of war.

This is the most outrageous and clear warning that the deeply entrenched interest groups in Jiangnan, the salt merchants who are richer than the country, and the gentry who have been officials for generations are sending to him, the emperor in the capital, with five bloody heads!
—You've stretched your hand too far!

Zhu Youjian slowly closed his eyes, his chest heaving violently.

His ministers were the vanguard who were ordered to carry out his ideal of "changing the world".

And now, they are dead.

He died on the territory of the Ming Dynasty, in the most prosperous Jiangnan region, under the glorious light of the Ming Emperor.

When Zhu Youjian opened his eyes again, all his emotions had vanished.

He abandoned the idea of ​​continuing the search for the last candidate for the "new cabinet".

The cold water, or rather, the passionate blood, poured into him from Jiangnan instantly brought him to his senses.

Before he could completely break the backbone of the deeply entrenched Jiangnan community, everything he had said to Bi Ziyan and Wen Tiren was just empty talk.

The emperor remained silent for a long time, so long that Wang Chengen and Tian Ergeng felt their blood was about to freeze.

Then, the emperor finally spoke, his voice so calm it was chilling.

"Wang Chengen".

"The slave is here!"

"Issue my decree: immediately summon Zhang Weixian, Wei Zhongxian, and Zhou Quan to this warm pavilion to see me. Be quick!"

Wang Chengen was deeply shocked!
When was the last time the emperor summoned all of them to this warm pavilion at the same time, regardless of the time of day?
It was on the eve of the Shanxi merchants' case!
On that occasion, the emperor skillfully integrated the power represented by these individuals, transforming it into an extremely sharp knife that pierced the heart of the Shanxi merchant group entrenched in the north, bringing the emperor his first pot of gold for transforming the world.

So... what about this time?

Wang Chengen dared not think any further; all he knew was that the sky was about to collapse.

"This servant... obeys the decree!"

He scrambled to his feet and rushed out of the warm pavilion at the fastest speed he had ever seen, disappearing into the deep night.

……

Half an hour later.

When Zhang Weixian, full of suspicion, Wei Zhongxian, with a gloomy face, and Zhou Quan, with a calm expression, stumbled into the warm pavilion at almost the same time, this was the scene they saw.

The emperor sat alone on his throne, his face expressionless.

In front of him was a cup of tea that had long since gone cold.

The entire hall was completely silent except for their heavy breathing; the silence was more chilling than any thunderous rage.

Zhang Weixian and Wei Zhongxian, both shrewd individuals, felt a sudden unease when they saw each other in the same place.

For the emperor to summon them both in the middle of the night, it must be because something so momentous has happened that could shake the very foundations of the nation!
A storm raged within each of them.

So what is it this time?!

Has the Mongol invasion from the north begun again? Or is there some unusual activity by the Jurchens in Liaodong? Or perhaps... someone in the capital has foolishly angered the emperor?

They exchanged glances, both seeing the same shock and bewilderment in each other's eyes.

Finally, Duke Zhang Weixian of England mustered his courage, stepped forward, and bowed.

"Your Majesty, I, Zhang Weixian, pay my respects. May I ask what brings Your Majesty to summon me so urgently in the middle of the night?"

Zhu Youjian's gaze seemed to pierce through the palace walls, looking towards the distant southeast.

After a long while, he slowly spoke.

"I, the Emperor, wish to personally travel to the south of the Yangtze River!"

(End of this chapter)