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

Chapter 72 A useless person has no right to stay in this hall and waste the empire's salary (Third update, please continue reading)

Another uproar has erupted in the capital, this time affecting a wider area.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony remains silent today.

Silence should be the norm here, but during the morning court session, this silence becomes a form of punishment.

The officials stood below the imperial steps, civil officials to the east and military officials to the west, like carefully pruned trees.

They wore court robes with distinct ranks, black gauze hats, and stood with their heads bowed. From a distance, their demeanor was solemn and dignified, truly befitting a superior celestial nation.

But if you get closer, and stand next to many of them, you might be able to hear the beating of their hearts beneath their court robes.

Li Fengchun, a censor in the Censorate, could clearly hear the sound of his own heartbeat at that moment. Thump, thump, thump, each heavy thud pounding against his chest, as if it were about to leap out of his throat.

A fine layer of cold sweat had seeped onto the back of his neck, sticking to his collar and bringing a cool and slippery sensation that made him restless yet dared not make the slightest movement.

He dared not look up, or even glance at the scene out of the corner of his eye.

Because he knew where the silence came from.

From that high and mighty throne.

On the throne, the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian, had been sitting quietly for a long time.

He didn't speak.

Instead of having the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial read the memorials aloud as usual, he did not inquire about any departmental affairs.

The emperor simply sat there.

One hand rested casually on the armrest of the dragon throne, the fingertips gently tapping the warm jade, producing a very regular yet faint sound that was almost inaudible, while the other hand was flipping through a memorial that appeared out of nowhere.

The rustling sound of paper turning was amplified countless times in this spacious hall, large enough to hold a thousand people, like a dull knife slowly cutting back and forth on everyone's nerves.

The scene from yesterday's dusk uncontrollably surfaced in Li Fengchun's mind.

His colleague, Censor Wang of the Censorate, a man of integrity known for his uprightness, was ushered into a carriage by more than a dozen officers of the Embroidered Uniform Guard at the gate of his residence.

There was no crime, no shackles.

The leading commander of the Imperial Guards even politely cupped his hands in greeting to the Wang family members who came to stop him, and smiled kindly.

"Lord Wang, please don't be afraid. My commander said he just wanted to settle the accounts with you. I heard that you were short of money in the fourth year of the Tianqi reign and borrowed three thousand taels of silver from Wanshenghe in Shanxi for working capital. You see, several years have passed, and the interest is compounding, which is not a good thing. If it is really inconvenient for you, come to our Beizhen Fusi for a cup of tea, think it over slowly, and pay it back whenever you remember."

Every word he said was full of consideration, and every phrase was polite.

But when combined, it is even more vicious and inhumane than simply confiscating property and exterminating an entire family.

At that moment, Imperial Censor Wang's reputation shattered more completely than shards of porcelain on the ground.

Such scenes have been playing out almost daily in some corner of Beijing over the past ten days.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard, this group of vicious dogs that once belonged only to Wei Zhongxian, has now had its chains broken by the new emperor. But their targets are no longer the so-called Donglin Party, but... everyone.

Their weapons were no longer baseless accusations, but rather blood-stained account books confiscated from Shanxi merchants, and an undeniable chain of evidence—oh, a new term Wang Ji and his associates had learned from the emperor!
No one knows when the next hand reaching for their front door will appear.

No one knows whether their name is also written in that black book of death.

Even if it wasn't written down, who can guarantee that the Embroidered Uniform Guard wouldn't have written it down?

The fear of this sword hanging overhead, ready to fall at any moment, far surpasses any explicit political purge.

Today, the new emperor on the throne, with his suffocating silence, catalyzed this fear to its peak.

I have all the dirt on you.

I see your fear.

But I don't care!

……

Unlike the oppressive atmosphere that seemed almost suffocating on the civil service side, the atmosphere on the other side, led by Duke Zhang Weixian of England, was somewhat... delicate.

Zhang Weixian remained indifferent, his head slightly lowered as if he were about to fall asleep. However, if anyone could see his hands hidden in his sleeves, they would notice that his fingers were trembling slightly with excitement.

happy!

It’s such a joy!
how many years?

These descendants of the founding heroes were so overshadowed in the imperial court by a group of eloquent but incompetent civil officials that they could not even lift their heads.

They held titles but had no real power, watching helplessly as these supposedly upright officials, while proclaiming a desire for the people to rest, embezzled the nation's wealth through various means.

Now karma has caught up with them. This new ruler is practically a savior sent by heaven to these military nobles!

Unlike Emperor Tianqi, who delegated power to a lackey, he held power firmly in his own hands and then used the most effective methods to try to gradually shatter the hypocritical moral facade of the civil service.

Zhang Weixian could even imagine the inner turmoil of those usually arrogant ministers and vice ministers; he almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.

He glanced furtively at the emperor on the throne.

The young emperor was still reading memorials; the outline of his profile was somewhat blurred in the light and shadow, yet it exuded a coldness and majesty beyond his years.

He is like a silent volcano.

Everyone knows that his interior is filled with magma capable of incinerating everything, but no one knows when he will erupt or where it will erupt to.

This unknown is the ultimate deterrent!
……

Time flowed slowly and cruelly in silence.

Finally, some people's psychological defenses collapsed before their physical defenses.

"Pfft."

A muffled thud sounded particularly jarring in the deathly silent hall.

Everyone instinctively looked in the direction of the sound.

A junior official from the Ministry of Works was seen with a face as pale as paper. His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, his eyes unfocused, as if he were drowning.

The pressure finally broke him.

Immediately, golden-armored guards from the palace stepped forward, ready to drag him out.

Zhu Youjian, sitting on the throne, didn't even lift his eyelids.

He gently turned the page of the memorial in his hand.

"sand……"

The sound wasn't loud, but it clearly drowned out the official's panting and the clanging of the armor plates.

The hearts of everyone in the hall sank suddenly.

On the throne, Wang Chengen bowed slightly and said softly in a voice that only he and the emperor could hear, "Your Majesty, it is Liu, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works. The Embroidered Uniform Guard just paid a visit to his residence the day before yesterday."

Zhu Youjian hummed in response, his voice devoid of any emotion.

His gaze remained fixed on the words of the memorial, but his mind was far busier than he appeared.

How much money and food would be needed to build cities and train troops in Liaodong? And was Mao Wenlong, the sharpest knife behind enemy lines on Pi Island, actually usable?

Should the newly formed army in the outskirts of Beijing immediately recruit Lu Xiangshan and Cao Wenzhao? And what kind of polishing is needed for these two rough gems to become an invincible sword in his hands?

How can we quell the severe drought in Shaanxi, and the storms brewing that could overthrow the entire empire?
In his mind was a vast and complex chessboard, where every move was related to the life and death of hundreds of millions of people and the survival of this enormous empire.

In comparison, the fear, the torment, and the corrupt practices of these officials seem so... insignificant.

Zhu Youjian remained silent not to enjoy the thrill of being in control of everything.

His silence, in his view, was a form of selection.

Just like when he was recruiting in his previous life, if it was still difficult to choose among the suitable candidates after the final screening, he would randomly throw half of the resumes into the shredder first—sorry, luck is also a kind of ability, and we don't hire people with bad luck.

Now, he wants to use this silent pressure to gradually remove the psychologically fragile, greedy, and incompetent impurities from this bureaucratic system.

He wanted everyone to understand that the era of operating through public opinion, factional strife, and unspoken rules was over, and at least it could no longer be done so openly!

From this day forward, there will be only one voice in the Ming court, and that will be the voice of Zhu Youjian; there will be only one set of rules, and those will be the rules of Zhu Youjian!
You either adapt, or... get out.

Or, like a real man, go for it!

Either he, Zhu Youjian, will dissolve in water, or you, Qian Qianyi, will go and dive!

As for that Liu Yuanwailang who collapsed on the ground?

He didn't even bother to ask whether the Embroidered Uniform Guard had squeezed three thousand taels or fifty thousand taels out of him.

that's not important.

The important thing is that he is already a useless person. A person who cannot even withstand this much pressure has no right to stay in this hall and waste the empire's salary!

　I'm asking for your monthly votes at midnight.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)