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

"Splash..."

The clanging of the abacus beads was like a torrential downpour of pear blossoms, sending chills down the spines of all the officials in the court.

"One 'yin' of salt equals two hundred catties. One million two hundred thousand 'yin' is two hundred and forty million catties. You reported a salt tax that wasted 150,000 taels of silver, which, converted to market price, means you've simply wasted thirty million catties of salt!"

Zhu Qizhen abruptly stopped fiddling with the abacus beads, which made a crisp sound.

"Thirty million catties of salt! Even if you threw it directly into the Yangtze River, it would make the river water taste salty!"

"Tell me, how did five days of rain manage to completely dissolve thirty million catties of coarse salt that was covered with straw mats?!"

"Is it that your salt warehouses under the Lianghuai Salt Transport Commissioner's Office are all covered with roofs, or is what God is sending down not rain, but boiling water specifically for turning salt?!"

Lu Zongdao was struck dumb, collapsing to the ground, his face drained of color.

He never expected that this young emperor would be able to find out the number of rainy days from the calendar of the Imperial Observatory.

They even converted the deficit of 150,000 taels of silver into 30 million catties of real goods!

They left no room for argument whatsoever.

"Your Majesty... this... perhaps some of the lower-ranking officials have embezzled funds, and this humble subject failed to investigate..."

Lu Zongdao completely panicked and began to incoherently try to shift the blame.

"Oversight?"

Zhu Qizhen walked up to him and coldly looked down at the red-robed official who was covered in sweat.

"Yesterday, I personally smashed the head of Zhou Lin, the Vice Minister of Works. He embezzled 280,000 taels of silver. Although you embezzled less than him, those 150,000 taels were still the blood and sweat of the people of the Ming Dynasty, and the rations for the soldiers on the front lines!"

Zhu Qizhen's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and his right hand subconsciously reached for the paperweight on the dragon table.

Startled, Wang Zhen quickly moved the newly replaced jade paperweight back.

They were afraid that if the Emperor got excited, he would start a massacre at Fengtian Gate again.

Seeing that the time was right, Gu Yannian slowly stepped out of the queue.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

Gu Yannian's tone was calm, like a gentle breeze, instantly dispelling the tense silence in the hall.

"The corruption in the salt administration has a long history. Lu Zongdao, as the transport commissioner, embezzled and misappropriated funds, a crime that is unforgivable. However, salt is the foundation of the nation, and affecting one part affects the whole."

"If we kill him for the sake of momentary pleasure, the 150,000 taels of silver deficit will become a dead debt. Who will compensate for the losses in Taicang?"

Zhu Qizhen took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the anger in his chest.

He turned to look at Gu Yannian, his eyes revealing a hint of seeking advice.

But to the officials, it looked like a tiger obeying the commands of a tamer.

"In your opinion, Grand Tutor, how should we deal with such traitors?"

Gu Yannian opened his folding fan and glanced at Lu Zongdao, who was kneeling on the ground trembling like a leaf.

"According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, anyone who embezzles more than ten thousand taels of silver will be skinned alive and stuffed with straw. But this method can never fill the national treasury."

Gu Yannian's lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Your Majesty, since Lord Lu says that the 30 million catties of salt have dissolved in the water, then let him boil the salt out of the water again."

"Issue an imperial decree to the Embroidered Uniform Guard to immediately confiscate the property of Lu Zongdao and his nine generations of relatives to offset the deficit in the imperial granary. If the confiscated property is less than 150,000 taels..."

Gu Yannian paused, his gentle voice revealing a chilling coldness.

"Lu Zongdao was stripped of his official position and all the male members of his family were exiled to the Lianghuai Salt Fields to work as salt producers. They were to guard the salt pots day and night, boiling salt, with a daily quota, and those who failed to meet it were whipped."

"Until the salt they produce can offset the debt. As for the women, they will be sent to the brothel for public confiscation."

These words shocked the entire court.

Confiscate their property to pay off their debts!

The whole family boils salt!

This kind of punishment is a hundred times more cruel than being killed outright!

A high-ranking official of the imperial court, holding the rank of third grade, was sent to the arduous salt fields to work as a lowly salt worker, enduring the smoke and fire every day.

This is worse than death!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Qizhen's eyes suddenly lit up.

Yup!

If you kill him, the money won't come back.

Confiscate his entire family's property, then make him do hard labor to pay off his debts. That's the real way to make a profit without any risk!

The Grand Tutor truly lives up to his title; his methods of ruthlessly exploiting people and squeezing out every last bit of value are truly divine!

"Grand Tutor's words are excellent! They resonate deeply with me!"

Zhu Qizhen immediately issued an imperial edict.

"Wang Zhen! Draft the decree according to the Prime Minister's wishes! Immediately arrest Lu Zongdao and imprison him. Order the Embroidered Uniform Guard to search his home tonight! If even a single penny is missing, I will hold you accountable!"

The imperial guards rushed into the hall like wolves and tigers, dragging Lu Zongdao, who was already paralyzed with fear and had soiled himself, away.

The morning court session continues.

For the next period of time, all the officials at Fengtian Gate were trembling with fear.

Holding an abacus, Zhu Qizhen, like an iron-faced manager inspecting the accounts, checked the annual expenditures of each department one by one.

If any account is unclear or the fire loss is too high, it will be considered a problem.

Zhu Qizhen would then sternly rebuke them, immediately calculating a clear account to refute the officials completely.

With the precedents of Zhou Lin being crushed to death and Lu Zongdao having his home ransacked and boiled for salt production, how could the officials dare to utter a single word of rebuttal?

They all kowtowed and confessed their crimes, promising to immediately return to the yamen to rewrite the accounts and make up for the deficit out of their own pockets.

After a morning court session, hundreds of thousands of taels of "deficit to be covered" appeared out of nowhere on Taicang's books.

The whip cracked as the court adjourned.

The officials, as if granted a general amnesty, filed out of Fengtian Gate.

The court robes on everyone's backs were soaked with cold sweat.

They finally came to the harsh reality.

The world of the Ming Dynasty has changed.

Before this abacus emperor, any flowery language and hypocritical excuses would be torn to shreds by his most precise addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

corruption?

In this court, corruption is no longer as simple as losing one's head.

No matter how much you embezzle, the emperor will have his abacus in hand. He will not only confiscate your property, but also force your entire family to do manual labor like bricklaying and salt production.

They'll squeeze every last drop of blood and sweat from your family's generations!

Inside the main hall, only Emperor Zhu Qizhen and his minister Gu Yannian remained.

Zhu Qizhen looked at the account book, which was full of profits, and let out a long sigh.

An unprecedented look of comfort appeared on his handsome face.

"Grand Tutor".

Zhu Qizhen walked up to Gu Yannian.

Although there was no bow, his tone was unusually less venomous than before, and more filled with complex respect.

"Only today do I realize that if these abacus beads are used well, they are more effective than a thousand troops."

Gu Yannian, fanning himself with a folding fan, looked at the young emperor who had finally come to his senses, his smile relaxed.

"Your Majesty's understanding of this principle greatly pleases me. A thousand troops and ten thousand horses kill people, but an abacus bead is used to govern the country. As long as Your Majesty holds this balance in your heart, no one can shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty."

Gu Yannian turned around and walked out of the hall.

"Tomorrow, I will have someone send over the old accounts of the Nine Garrisons. It is a muddled account that has been rotten for decades and involves many military officers."

"If Your Majesty could use your abacus to sort out this matter and make those military generals who have embezzled military farms return the land they have taken..."

Gu Yannian stopped and looked back at Zhu Qizhen, his deep gaze seemingly piercing through time.

"Then Your Majesty will truly be worthy of being the ruler who preserves the great Ming Dynasty's prosperity."

Zhu Qizhen watched Gu Yannian's departing figure, his hands slowly stroking the edge of the sandalwood abacus.

"Old military settlements..."

A fierce fighting spirit and greed ignited in the young emperor's eyes.

That was greed for the national treasury assets that had been embezzled.

"Pass down the decree!"

Zhu Qizhen gave a stern order to Wang Zhen behind him.

"Brew me a pot of strong tea! Tonight, I will stay in the Wenhua Hall. I want them to know that every inch of this Ming Dynasty's land is within my grasp!"

Along the long street, the spring breeze caresses the willows.

Gu Yannian walked lightly along the alleyway leading out of the palace.

He didn't need to turn around to sense the burning, high-spirited fighting spirit emanating from the Wenhua Hall behind him.

The young emperor no longer dreamed of going beyond the Great Wall to achieve great deeds.

His entire focus now is on how to audit the accounts, how to raid the homes of corrupt officials, and how to fill the national treasury.