Da Ming: I told you to die for your cause, why are you actually going to die?

Chapter 46 Old Zhu Fainted from Anger [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

Inside the Fengtian Hall, it was as silent as a graveyard.

Only a few dozen low-ranking officials in the capital, their cheeks puffed out, biting down on tattered account books, making defiant "mmm" sounds in their throats, and their belches, which smelled of pork head, formed an utterly absurd background sound.

Old Zhu stood on the imperial steps, his chest heaving violently like a broken bellows.

His withered fingers clenched so tightly that his nails almost dug into his flesh.

Although he knew that Zhang Biao was behind this, that's precisely why he needed to be more rational.

It's not that he couldn't kill these low-ranking officials in the capital, but killing them would not only fail to solve the problem, but would also exacerbate the conflict.

What kind of emperor is one who kills a group of honest and loyal officials for the sake of a group of nobles and corrupt officials?
Even Qin Er Shi would probably have to offer him a cigarette!
Therefore, this is the core essence of Zhang Biao's training: the extreme contrast and absurdity that bring about a slight sense of self-reflection.

After all, for a ruthless person like Lao Zhu to use conventional methods to demand unpaid wages would be tantamount to suicide.

Old Zhu pointed at the group of low-ranking Beijing officials below the steps, their fingers trembling and lips quivering, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth:

"Take it down."

What happened? They've taken him down? They're not going to kill him?
Jiang Huan was full of doubt, but Zhu's orders were absolute. In any case, once these people were in the imperial prison, they would be severely injured even if they didn't die.

His eyes flashed with a sharp look, and he was about to order the Imperial Guards to take a hard line.

at this time.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

Shen Lang suddenly unleashed astonishing power.

Suddenly, he lunged forward, his cheeks puffed out like two eggs, but his eyes were fixed on Old Zhu, and he shook his head frantically.

As if afraid that Old Zhu didn't understand, he nodded forcefully towards his chest with his chin.

The meaning couldn't be clearer.

The ledger! The key is the ledger!

You should take a look!
His movement seemed to have turned on a switch.

"No no no!"

"Um!"

"Hiccup!"

Other lower-ranking officials in the capital who were "bearing the burden of their principles" were also immediately excited and followed Shen Lang's example.

While they were biting down hard on the book "A Bloody and Tearful Tale of Demanding Unpaid Wages," they desperately tried to signal in Old Zhu's direction with their chins, eyes, and even their whole bodies. The "mmm" sounds in their throats instantly rose eight octaves, and their burps became more frequent.

The entire Fengtian Hall seemed to have become a huge pantomime scene filled with anxiety and urgency.

Old Zhu: "."

Jiang Huan and the Embroidered Uniform Guard: "."

Other officials: "."

What the hell is this new tactic?!
How many tactics did Zhang Biao devise for them?!

Old Zhu felt a surge of rage mixed with intense curiosity rushing to the top of his head.

He'd like to see that!

What earth-shattering stuff is written in those lousy notebooks stuffed in their mouths?!
Is it worth them risking their lives like this?
"Jiang Huan!" Old Zhu's voice was like sandpaper scraping, yet it carried an undeniable authority: "Go! Get us a copy!"

He pointed to Sun Gui, the official closest to the imperial steps, who was excitedly gesturing wildly.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Jiang Huan's lips twitched violently.

This job is fucking frustrating!

He steeled himself and walked up to Sun Gui.

Sun Gui immediately widened his eyes warily, clenched his jaw even tighter, made a threatening "woo-woo" sound in his throat, and instinctively shrank back, as if to say, "If you dare to steal it, I'll spit saliva and shreds of the ledger in your face."

Jiang Huan took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to draw his sword and kill, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Give in! The Emperor wants to see!"

Sun Gui's eyes struggled. He looked at Jiang Huan, then at Old Zhu, whose face was ashen on the dragon throne. Finally, under Jiang Huan's increasingly cold gaze, he reluctantly and cautiously opened his mouth.

"Boom!"

A soft sound, filled with saliva and the rustling of ledger paper. The book, "A Record of Blood and Tears for Wages," covered in saliva and with its edges chewed to shreds, finally slipped from Sun Gui's mouth and fell into Jiang Huan's timely outstretched hand.

It was sticky and warm to the touch, with a strong, complex smell of pork head meat mixed with cheap liquor.

Jiang Huan suppressed his nausea, expressionless, and quickly walked to the imperial steps to present the 'biological weapon' to Old Zhu.

The young eunuch Yunming took it with trepidation, and only dared to place it on the imperial desk after placing it on a clean silk handkerchief.

Old Zhu held his breath, frowned, and endured the intense physical discomfort. He used two fingers to pick up a corner of the wet, crumpled ledger with extreme disgust and reluctantly opened it.

What comes into view is dense, crooked handwriting.

Recorded:

On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, the stipend for rice was not issued.

On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, three bolts of colored cloth were folded.

On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, one pound of pepper was donated.

The rent is several months overdue, and there have been several rent collection attempts. There are also medical expenses for my elderly mother and other outstanding debts.

I bought Wang Mazi's pig's head meat on credit, owing him 600 cash.

"."

All of this was within Lao Zhu's expectations, but he recorded it in exceptionally detailed and trivial terms, revealing a strong sense of vulgarity and poverty.

He patiently flipped through the pages, his face growing darker with each turn.

The style of the illustrations changed abruptly when I turned to the next few pages.

It's no longer a dry, chronological record, but rather a collection of pictures and text.

It's a Q-version comic drawn with cheap charcoal sticks—extremely abstract yet inexplicably expressive!
First picture:
A chibi-style imperial censor, wearing a patched official robe, with a large head and a small body, and two huge X's for eyes, lies unconscious on the street.

Beside him stood a chubby, cartoonish nobleman dressed in splendid silk, wearing an exaggerated tall hat with a copper coin painted on top, standing with his hands on his hips laughing wildly, with several gold ingots scattered at his feet.

The caption, written in a crooked, illegible hand: "The nobles are laughing heartily, while the censors are starving!"

Second picture:
It was still that same Q-version censor who had fainted from hunger, surrounded by a group of Q-version clerks wielding sticks and with ferocious faces. The clerks were tearing off a tattered piece of cloth with the word 'salary' written on it from the censor.

Caption: [The clerks are like wolves, stealing all our salaries!]

The third picture:
In the center of the picture, there is a huge, golden dragon throne, on which sits an extremely simplified Q version of the emperor, who is crossing his legs and holding a huge pig's head in his hands, eating with his mouth full of oil. The pig's head is drawn to be bigger than the emperor's head.

Beneath the dragon throne, a group of tiny, ant-sized chibi-style imperial censors, each bearing a giant "hungry" character on their heads, stared longingly at the pig's head, drooling.

Caption: [The Emperor eats a pig's head, the censor drools, when will the owed wages be paid? The little mouse gnaws on its book, worried!]

Looking at the abstract painting depicting him as eating a pig's head, and then at the poignant caption, Old Zhu felt a surge of anger rise to his head once again.

Humiliation! Utter humiliation!!

Those bastards deserve to die!

How dare they do this!
however.

Just as Old Zhu was about to kill without hesitation, he saw another, even more hasty, unrestrained, and gloating handwriting beneath the cartoon "The Emperor Eats a Pig's Head," with a line of small characters:
[Your Majesty, do you see this? It's not that your officials are rebelling, it's that you're shamelessly withholding wages! Settle your bills now, or you'll choke to death on a pig's head in the next painting!]

[A friendly reminder from Mr. Zhang, a kind-hearted citizen next door.]

Boom! !
Old Zhu's brain exploded!!

The last string inside, called 'reason', snapped completely!

That son of a bitch Zhang Biao, I'm going to kill you!!
"Bam—!!"

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!"

The high-ranking officials and nobles of the six ministries exclaimed in surprise.

Jiang Huan rushed forward and quickly helped the fallen Old Zhu up. He then unleashed a hysterical roar at the group of low-ranking Beijing officials, whose cheeks were still puffed out and who were too stunned by the sudden spectacle to even groan: "Get out! All of you, get the hell out of here!!"

"Jiang Huan, bring that bastard Zhang Biao here!"

Before he could finish speaking, Old Zhu was so angry that he fainted.

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(End of this chapter)