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

Zhu Qizhen abruptly stopped laughing, his eyes turning fierce like those of a demon.

"Even if half of the 120,000 stone slabs sink, they wouldn't cost more than 3.2 taels!"

"You parasites, sucking my blood, eating my flesh, and treating me like a fool!"

Zhu Qizhen turned to look at the imperial desk and strode over.

Wang Zhen thought the Emperor was going to write a red ink note and send him to prison, so he quickly stepped aside.

However, Zhu Qizhen did not pick up a pen.

His hand grasped a pure copper tiger paperweight weighing a full five pounds.

That was a huge map presented by Yu Qian, the Minister of War, a few days ago, to suppress the border.

Zhu Qizhen carried the heavy copper paperweight and walked step by step toward Zhou Lin, who was kneeling on the ground.

Looking at the coldly gleaming bronze paperweight in the emperor's hand, Zhou Lin finally realized the fear of death.

"Your Majesty... what do you want to do? I am a third-rank official, a protégé of the Emperor..."

"According to the law, the case should be jointly tried by the three judicial departments, Your Majesty!"

Zhou Lin shrank back in fear.

The three people in charge were so frightened that they wet themselves and lay on the ground trembling.

"The three judicial departments? A joint trial?"

Zhu Qizhen walked up to Zhou Lin and looked down at him.

"I miscalculated a fire loss back then, and the Grand Tutor ordered me to dig a trench. I couldn't dig it, but the Grand Tutor cleaved a trench more than ten feet deep with one hand."

Zhu Qizhen raised the copper paperweight in his hand, his eyes bloodshot with madness.

"Today I'll show you what happens when you take my money!"

"Die! You filthy rat! Give me back my sandbags! Give me back my silver!"

With a fierce roar, Zhu Qizhen swung the tiger-shaped paperweight in his hand and, with all his might, smashed it down on Zhou Lin's head.

"Bang!"

A deafeningly loud bang.

Before Zhou Lin could even scream, the top of his head was dented by the five-pound copper paperweight.

Red blood mixed with white brain matter gushed out instantly, splashing onto the glittering golden floor tiles of the Wenhua Hall.

It also splashed onto Zhu Qizhen's bright yellow dragon robe.

"thump."

Zhou Lin's body fell heavily into the pool of blood, twitched twice, and then remained motionless.

Inside the main hall, there was a deathly silence.

Only the thunder rumbled outside the window.

Wang Zhen was so frightened that his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

The three river workers watched as their superior was brutally killed by the emperor right before their eyes.

He was urinating and defecating, and couldn't even utter a sound of begging for mercy.

Zhu Qizhen was panting heavily.

The copper paperweight in his hand fell to the ground with a clang, stained with a glaring scarlet color.

He looked at the corpse on the ground, and at his own trembling hands.

This was the first time he had ever killed someone.

There was no fear, no nausea.

There was only one kind of unprecedented, exhilarating pleasure!

Eight years of suppressed resentment, fear of the abacus, and obsession with money.

In that strike, he experienced a complete and utter release!

"I... am the emperor."

Zhu Qizhen muttered to himself, slowly straightening his back.

He turned his head and looked at Gu Yannian, who had been sitting in the armchair, silently watching everything.

The look in his eyes had lost some of its former timidity, and gained a fierceness that belonged to the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and to a bloodthirsty lone wolf.

"Grand Tutor".

Zhu Qizhen's voice was still trembling slightly, but his tone was unusually firm.

"Am I right in this calculation?"

Gu Yannian looked at the pool of blood on the ground, then at the young emperor whose face was splattered with blood.

He put down his teacup and stood up.

There was no panic, no blame.

A satisfied, profound smile appeared on his handsome face.

He knew that the "work" he had created with his own hands had finally come to fruition.

An iron-fisted accountant emperor who treated the national treasury as his lifeblood, was meticulous about every penny, and was ruthless.

The Ming Dynasty's resources are now secure.

Anyone who wants to cause trouble at the border or embezzle silver from the Taicang granary should first consider whether their head is tough enough.

Can it withstand the weight of His Majesty the Emperor's bronze paperweight?

Gu Yannian walked slowly to Zhu Qizhen and bowed slightly.

He raised the plain folding fan in his hand and performed a proper courtier's salute.

"Your Majesty's plans are flawless. These traitors deserve to die. On behalf of the 280,000 taels of silver in the Taicang and the million people of Kaifeng, I thank Your Majesty for your great kindness."

Gu Yannian straightened up and glanced at Wang Zhen, who had fainted on the ground, and the three terrified managers.

His tone returned to its usual calm and gentle manner.

"Guards! Clean this hall of filth. Issue an order to the Embroidered Uniform Guard to immediately search Zhou Lin's residence, execute his entire family, and confiscate all their property for the imperial treasury."

"As for these three people in charge..."

Gu Yannian tapped his folding fan lightly.

Zhu Qizhen took a deep breath and sternly took over the conversation.

"Throw them into the imperial prison! Hand them over to the Northern Garrison Command for severe torture, and pry out the names of the officials who colluded with each other during the Yellow River repairs over the past few years, one by one!"

"Find one person, kill them! Find one family, confiscate their property!"

"I want them to cough up all the money they've taken, with interest!"

"Your Majesty is wise."

Gu Yannian smiled and stepped aside.

The imperial guards outside the hall rushed into the Wenhua Hall like wolves and tigers, dragging the corpses and the limp officials out.

The palace maids carried hot water and rags, carefully cleaning the bloodstains off the gold bricks.

The thunderstorm outside gradually subsided, and a dazzling ray of sunlight broke through the clouds and shone directly into the windows of the Wenhua Hall.

Zhu Qizhen washed the blood off his hands and face and put on a brand new dragon robe.

He glanced at the sandalwood abacus on the table, its paint chipped from being smashed by him.

After a moment of silence, he surprisingly reached out and placed it neatly in the center of the imperial desk.

"Grand Tutor".

Zhu Qizhen turned to look at Gu Yannian.

"Your humble servant is here."

"Morning morning."

Zhu Qizhen's gaze was cold and stern, his back straight as a pine tree.

"I will personally audit the salt tax collection accounts of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue this year. If I find even the slightest discrepancy, the gold bricks in the Wenhua Hall will probably have to be washed again."

Gu Yannian opened his folding fan, covering half of his face, his eyes filled with the leisure and composure of watching a play.

"Your humble servant obeys the decree."