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

Chapter 104 The First Deadly Tribulation of My Great Ming Dynasty Lies Here
The hustle and bustle of the morning court session receded like the tide.

The square in front of the palace, which was just a moment ago bustling with people and officials in their robes, is now completely empty, and the Wenhua Hall is even more silent.

The towering palace was illuminated only by sunlight streaming through rows of latticed windows. The light pierced through the windowpanes, casting crisscrossing shadows on the smooth, mirror-like golden brick floor. Countless tiny dust particles lazily tumbled and danced in the beams of light, as if time had been frozen for hundreds of years.

Sun Chuanting sat in this vast and empty silence, yet felt colder than if he were standing naked on ice in the dead of winter.

This isn't due to the cold weather, but rather the pressure from the environment and atmosphere that penetrates to the bone.

He sat upright, his hands resting flat on his knees, his gaze lowered to the small rosewood table in front of him, on which sat only a celadon teacup filled with freshly brewed hot tea, from which a wisp of steam rose faintly.

There were no snacks, no food or drinks, not a trace of warmth or courtesy. This extreme simplicity, or rather, extreme seriousness, was itself a thunderous attitude.

Sitting opposite him was the master of this land, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian.

The emperor was very young, almost too young, but his eyes held an antiquity and weariness that were completely out of character for his age, as if he had witnessed thousands of years of rise and fall and was carrying a burden that no one could understand.

He was bathed in the sunlight streaming in from the window, the gold threads on his dragon robe reflecting a blinding light that made his face appear somewhat blurry.

The emperor did not speak immediately, but simply picked up the teacup in front of him, gently blew away the foam, and then drank it all in one gulp.

When you put the teacup down, it makes a soft "tap" sound.

The crisp sound, amplified infinitely in the absolute silence, made Sun Chuanting's back tense even more instantly.

He dared not move or speak, maintaining the most humble posture of a subject.

Zhu Youjian put down his teacup and looked quietly at Sun Chuanting. His gaze seemed sharper than the sunlight outside the window, able to penetrate flesh and see into the depths of his soul.

Then, he asked a shocking question.

"Sir, do you know why I had to exterminate the entire clan of the Shanxi merchants who colluded with the enemy, and confiscate the property of the Jiangnan grain merchants who defied the imperial edict, even at the cost of a sea of ​​heads at the execution ground, to seize this money and grain with the most ruthless means?"

His voice was calm, without a trace of imperial majesty, more like that of an ordinary scholar asking a friend a question that had troubled him for a long time.

But this question was like an invisible sword, instantly piercing the warm air inside the hall, its tip aimed straight at Sun Chuanting's throat.

Sun Chuanting was silent for a moment, then slowly raised his head, looked directly into the emperor's eyes for the first time, and answered in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, this humble subject dares to speculate."

His voice was steady and clear.
"Your Majesty's swift and decisive action, punishing the Shanxi merchants for their treason and those who hoarded grain in Jiangnan, will not be used to enrich the imperial treasury, but to replenish the national treasury! This is a move to rectify the court and revitalize the border defenses. The Shanxi merchants' collusion with the enemy is like a festering sore; the powerful clans of Jiangnan are like a hand choking one's throat. Your Majesty, risking infamy, has taken this thunderous measure, which is precisely to remove the poison from the bone, so as to restore a bright and just world to our Great Ming, a world with strict laws and regulations!"

As he said this, his voice unconsciously rose a little, carrying a long-suppressed indignation.

As soon as he finished speaking, Sun Chuanting did not stop. Instead, a look of even greater struggle flashed across his face, as if he was weighing a sentence that was about to be uttered but was also extremely dangerous.

Finally, as if he had made up his mind, his voice lowered, carrying a sense of hesitation and uncertainty:

"I have heard in Dai County that the Qin and Jin regions have been plagued by frequent natural disasters in recent years, and the people are suffering greatly... Could Your Majesty's current fundraising efforts also be for... to stabilize the area and prepare for unforeseen circumstances?"

These words seemed to drain all the strength from his body.

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly kowtowed to the ground, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold gold brick, his voice trembling slightly: "This sinful subject has misspoke! To presume to know Your Majesty's will is a grave taboo for a subject! I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

Sun Chuanting's heart was in his throat. He didn't know whether that last sentence was the finishing touch or an unnecessary addition.

"Haha...hahahaha!"

Zhu Youjian slowly stood up, his dragon robe falling silently. He walked slowly to Sun Chuanting, his bright yellow boots coming into view.

"Get up."

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable authority. Sun Chuanting's heart trembled, and he stood up as instructed.

"All the civil and military officials," Zhu Youjian said indifferently, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger, "those who hate me call me Jie and Zhou, which is quite frank; those who flatter me praise me as Yao and Shun, but their words are not sincere."

His gaze swept over Sun Chuanting's head and looked towards the sky outside the hall.

"They only see what I am doing, but no one thinks about why I am doing it."

The conversation abruptly shifted, and Zhu Youjian's gaze refocused on Sun Chuanting.

"Come with me."

Zhu Youjian turned and walked towards the center of the main hall. Sun Chuanting composed himself and quickly followed.

A map of the Ming Dynasty hangs in the center of the main hall.

Zhu Youjian's finger slammed heavily onto the vast loess region on the map. Shaanxi.

"You guessed right." The emperor turned his head, the hint of admiration in his eyes had faded, leaving only the cold, piercing reality.

"The first fatal calamity for my Great Ming Dynasty lies right here!"

Zhu Youjian's voice suddenly became cold and firm. The coldness was not the ruthlessness of an emperor, but the absolute objectivity of stating established facts.

"Given the severe drought in Shaanxi this year, the starving people in Yan'an and Xi'an prefectures may not survive for more than three months. Once their means of survival are cut off, looting will be their only way to live."

Sun Chuanting's heart skipped a beat. He was from Shanxi, separated from Shaanxi by only one mountain, and their fates were intertwined. He knew the extent of the disaster in his hometown very well, and he had also heard about the situation in Shaanxi.

But... how could the emperor be so certain of his statement?
Before he could think it through, Zhu Youjian seemed to see right through him.

"These initial small-scale uprisings now seem like nothing more than a minor ailment. But I know the character of those local officials better than anyone else—they don't know how to appease, they only know how to suppress."

A mocking smile curled at the corner of Zhu Youjian's mouth.

"If we allow them to suppress us without opening granaries for relief, without considering appeasement and remediation, and treat this minor ailment as a major threat, then we are forcing good people to become bandits! At that time, this spark could very well turn into a prairie fire, with bandits rising up everywhere and sweeping across the three borders!"

At this point, he suddenly raised his voice!
"At that time, with the Jurchens eyeing us covetously from the outside and bandits posing a serious threat from within, our Great Ming will truly be plunged into an abyss of no return!"

Sun Chuanting felt as if something had exploded in his mind. His lips trembled slightly. He wanted to speak up and say that there might still be room for maneuver, but the words just wouldn't come out.

Because he knew better than anyone that every step the emperor had planned had precisely hit the most vulnerable point in reality.

The stagnant state of officialdom in Shaanxi, and the moral character of those bureaucrats... will inevitably push things in the worst possible direction!

The emperor was right.

If nothing is done, everything will be beyond repair.

He murmured unconsciously, "Your Majesty is wise. I have heard of the plight of Shaanxi. But to say it would deteriorate to this extent... the local officials might still have some control, and it shouldn't have progressed so quickly..."

"Quickly?" Zhu Youjian let out a cold laugh, a laugh filled with contempt and disdain for the entire court. He clapped his hands lightly.

A young eunuch, who had been standing in the shadows, silently slid over, holding a black lacquered wooden box in both hands, and respectfully presented it.

Zhu Youjian took out a secret report from the box and handed it to Sun Chuanting. It had the blood-red eagle emblem that was unique to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"See for yourself, sir!"

Sun Chuanting picked up the secret report with trembling hands. After reading only a few lines, his face turned deathly pale.

The secret report clearly states that the prefect of Yan'an Prefecture dismissed all reports of "starving people looting grain" from the counties under his jurisdiction as "making a mountain out of a molehill," and stated unequivocally in his reply: "These are all unruly people. Once the summer grain harvest is complete next year and they are no longer hungry, they will naturally disperse. There is no need to worry about them!"

The Provincial Governor of Xi'an Prefecture even delayed an urgent document requesting the opening of granaries for relief for a full half month, simply because he felt that the word "thief" in it would damage his reputation.

Concealing information! Reprimanding! Delaying!

These worst-case scenarios that he could only imagine are now presented to him in black and white, with the scent of ink but exuding a putrid stench!

"Utterly foolish!" Zhu Youjian's voice struck Sun Chuanting's heart like a heavy hammer. "They naively believe that once the summer harvest comes next year, these starving people will be well-fed and will automatically disperse! They don't even know what kind of people they are dealing with!"

Sun Chuanting raised his head, his eyes filled with surprise and doubt.

“What’s even more foolish of them is,” Zhu Youjian paced back and forth, his voice echoing in the empty hall, “that the rebels are just unarmed peasants!”

He stopped in his tracks, his gaze sharp: "I ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate! The groups stirring up trouble throughout Shaanxi are extremely diverse! Rebel soldiers, deserters... plus starving people with nowhere to live, displaced refugees, and bandits taking advantage of the chaos! When these forces are mixed together, they are the seeds of a prairie fire!"

“But the most terrifying of these people,” he emphasized, “are the soldiers who fled back from the border towns!”

Zhu Youjian's eyes were cold and devoid of any warmth.

"Does everyone in the court think they're just starving?"

He spoke slowly and deliberately, his voice sounding as if it were being squeezed out from between his teeth.

"These deserters were used as cannon fodder by their officers, and then their pay was withheld and they were forced to bleed! There was no way forward and no way back! The despair and hatred they were forced into were far beyond what a few starving people could feel!"

Zhu Youjian lowered his voice even further, "Most importantly, many of them have been on the battlefield, killed people, know about weapons, and even have a rudimentary understanding of battle formations! These are no longer refugees, but rather a source of unrest with basic military capabilities! They are by no means a rabble!"
Sun Chuanting's breathing had become extremely rapid.

Every word the emperor uttered was like unveiling one unfathomable abyss after another that he had never glimpsed before. He finally understood why the emperor had spoken of "a place of utter ruin." Because what the emperor saw was far more profound than the reports on his desk or the understanding of anyone else!

(End of this chapter)