Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

The tenth year of the Zhengtong reign.

The streets of the capital were bustling with activity, as candidates with various accents carried their examination baskets and engaged in lively discussions in teahouses and taverns.

This year marks the triennial imperial examination, drawing scholars from all over the country to the capital.

Everyone hoped to pass the imperial examination with flying colors and rise to great heights.

Inside the Wenhua Hall, a delicate fragrance lingered.

The eighteen-year-old Emperor Zhu Qizhen, dressed in a bright yellow casual robe, sat upright behind a mountain of account books.

The child who once cried and begged for his parents under the abacus has now grown into a handsome young man.

However, those eyes, which should have exuded imperial majesty, were perpetually haunted by a deep-seated obsession with money.

"Pat-pat, pat..."

Zhu Qizhen's slender fingers flew across the sandalwood abacus, the thick calluses on his fingertips standing out against the sandalwood.

"No, this account doesn't match up."

Zhu Qizhen abruptly stopped what he was doing, his brows furrowing tightly into a deep frown.

He reached out and pulled a booklet bearing the official seal of the Ministry of War from the desk, then slammed it down on the table.

"Wang Banban!"

Zhu Qizhen called out without looking up.

Wang Zhen, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, immediately brought forward a cup of warm goji berry tea, his face full of ingratiating smiles.

"Your Majesty, have you noticed anything amiss?"

Zhu Qizhen sneered and pointed to a line of tiny characters on the folded paper.

"This is a memorial from Shi Heng, the General Commander of Datong, regarding the spring troop rotation and fodder expenditure. He wrote that since the beginning of winter, Datong Town has suffered frequent snow disasters, resulting in the freezing and starvation deaths of more than 3,000 warhorses. In the spring, 300,000 taels of silver need to be requested from the Taicang to purchase warhorses and replenish fodder."

Wang Zhen glanced at it and tentatively said.

"Datong is a crucial town on the nine borders, a gateway against the Oirat Mongols. General Shi's demand for 300,000 taels of silver seems reasonable..."

"That makes absolutely no sense!"

Zhu Qizhen, unusually, uttered a curse, grabbed Wang Zhen by the collar, pulled him to the table, and angrily pointed at the beads on the abacus.

"You dog slave, you spent half a year counting grain in Changping Granary in Henan. Did your brain get eaten by rats? The Datong garrison has no more than 15,000 cavalry at most."

"The memorial says that three thousand horses froze to death. The remaining warhorses, after a winter's fodder consumption, would at most cost fifty thousand taels of silver!"

The young emperor grew angrier and angrier as he spoke, his eyes practically spitting fire.

"He's asking for 300,000 taels! Even if he went to the Western Regions to buy the finest Akhal-Teke horses, plus the cost of the grooms' food and other expenses along the way, 200,000 taels would be enough!"

"Is he planning to pocket this extra 100,000 taels, or use the gold to forge horseshoes?!"

Wang Zhen was so reprimanded that he broke out in a cold sweat and kept shrinking back.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger! Your Majesty is wise! This Shi Heng is truly audacious, daring to falsify accounts right under Your Majesty's nose!"

Zhu Qizhen gritted his teeth, and the image of himself carrying a fifty-pound sandbag and eating a rough, gritty flatbread involuntarily flashed through his mind.

If that 100,000 taels of silver were replaced with sandbags, it could pile up into a mountain!

That was a lesson he, the emperor, had learned through blood, sweat, and humiliation; how could he allow a border general to so easily deceive him?

Just as Zhu Qizhen was about to pick up his brush and draw a big red cross on the folded paper, a steady and gentle sound of footsteps came from outside the hall.

Grand Secretary Gu Yannian, dressed in a simple lake-blue robe, strolled leisurely into the Wenhua Hall, holding a folding fan in his hand.

"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Gu Yannian bowed slightly, his expression serene.

Upon seeing Gu Yannian, Zhu Qizhen's arrogance instantly diminished by seven-tenths.

He quickly stood up, pointed to the folding table, and his tone carried a hint of self-aggrandizement that he himself did not realize.

"Grand Tutor, your arrival is timely. General Shi Heng of Datong has submitted a memorial requesting funds. I have just checked it and found that the amount of fodder and the silver for buying horses has been overstated by a full 100,000 taels."

"Such acts of embezzlement are hereby rejected by me, and the Ministry of War is hereby ordered to issue a stern warning!"

Gu Yannian stepped forward, but instead of looking at the book, he glanced at Zhu Qizhen's shiny abacus.

A gentle smile appeared on his lips, and he nodded slightly.

"Your Majesty is extremely discerning and your calculations are absolutely accurate."

Gu Yannian spoke in a calm tone.

"Shi Heng is a brave and skilled warrior, but he is always clumsy and incompetent when it comes to military supplies and provisions, and he is always good at making exorbitant demands."

Upon receiving praise from this living Yama Grand Tutor, Zhu Qizhen felt an indescribable and strange sense of satisfaction.

This feeling made him feel extremely humiliated, yet he couldn't control it.

"Since the Grand Tutor also believes that he has made false claims, then I will reject the memorial."

Zhu Qizhen picked up the vermilion brush.

"Wait a minute."

Gu Yannian pressed down with his folding fan, stopping Zhu Qizhen's hand.

"Your Majesty, it is easy to reject the memorial, but the fact that Datong Town is short of horses and grain is also true. If we reject it just like that, Shi Heng will be dissatisfied and will inevitably cause trouble at the border. I heard that Shi Heng has gone to the capital to report on his duties today and is currently handing over his duties at the Ministry of War."

"Why doesn't Your Majesty summon him to the palace and settle this mess in person?"

Zhu Qizhen was taken aback, then a fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

"Very well! Summon Shi Heng to an audience! Today I want to see how he plans to cover up this 100,000 taels of silver hole!"

Before long, a burly military officer with a rugged face like an iron tower strode into the Wenhua Hall.

This man was none other than Shi Heng, the General Commander of Datong.

He had just returned from the icy border region, still carrying the lingering scent of blood and the chill of the elements.

In his view, the civil officials in the court were all pedantic scholars who only knew classical Chinese.

The young emperor, a sheep raised in the inner palace, would surely obtain the 300,000 taels of silver if he simply described the situation at the border as perilous.

"Your subject, Shi Heng, General of Datong, pays homage to Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

Shi Heng knelt on the ground, his voice booming like a bell, causing the curtains in the hall to sway slightly.

Zhu Qizhen sat upright on the dragon throne, not immediately telling him to rise, but instead looking down at the fierce general with a cold gaze.

Gu Yannian sat on a grand chair to the side, picked up a cup of tea, and leisurely became a spectator.

"Rise, Minister Shi," Zhu Qizhen said coldly.

Shi Heng stood up, dusted himself off, and couldn't wait to speak.

"Your Majesty! The situation in Datong has been dire for the past six months! The Oirat Mongols have repeatedly invaded the border, and the soldiers are suffering from lack of food and clothing. More than three thousand warhorses have even frozen to death. I have come to the capital to earnestly request Your Majesty's compassion for the border troops and to quickly allocate the three hundred thousand taels of silver for military supplies. I will certainly fight to the death to defend the border for the Ming Dynasty!"

Shi Heng spoke passionately, hoping to gain some comfort from the young emperor.

To everyone's surprise, Zhu Qizhen was not moved at all. Instead, he grabbed a handful of ironwood abacuses from the table and smashed them on the gold bricks at Shi Heng's feet with a "bang," causing the abacus beads to tremble wildly.

"Shi Heng, are you trying to play the victim with me?"

Zhu Qizhen stood up, walked around from behind the imperial desk, and pressed closer step by step, his eyes fierce like a hungry wolf guarding its prey.

"I have come to ask you, the 15,000 cavalry in Datong Town, according to the Ministry of War's regulations, each warhorse needs 120 bundles of hay and 50 shi of black beans to get through the winter. Although there was a drought in the grasslands around Datong last autumn, the court had already allocated 100,000 bundles of hay from Taiyuan Prefecture to replenish the supplies."

"How did your three thousand horses freeze and starve to death? Did you stuff the fodder into your own mouth and eat it?!"