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

"What a brilliant tactic! Truly a brilliant tactic!"

Zhu Qizhen was so angry that he laughed. He hurled the iron shovel in his hand at Liu Ju, burying it three feet deep in the ground.

"Lay down a layer of salt and alkali, place a few stones, and ten thousand acres of fertile land from the Ming Dynasty will become the private property of your Liu and Shi families!"

"Use the grain produced on this land to exchange for fine wine from Jiangnan, and for a hundred taels of gold ingots!"

"And then you'll have to get funds from Taicang to provide relief to your soldiers!"

Zhu Qiyu strode up to Liu Ju and pulled out the rolled-up leather ruler from his sleeve.

He slapped Liu Ju hard across the face, leaving a bright red bloodstain.

"You parasites! You're sucking the marrow out of the Ming Dynasty!"

Liu Ju covered his face, knowing that all was lost, and kowtowed repeatedly in fear.

"Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me! This is...this is all a rule left by the previous ruler, and I was just following the crowd..."

"Follow the crowd? Sure."

A glint of ruthlessness and shrewdness, exactly like that of Zhu Qizhen, flashed in Zhu Qiyu's eyes.

He took out an abacus from his pocket.

"Pat-pat-pat!"

"Ten thousand mu of fertile land, concealed from the truth. Based on the yield of eight dou per mu for inferior irrigated land in Datong, that's eight thousand shi of grain a year! Converted to market price, that's five thousand taels of silver!"

"You've concealed this for ten years, which amounts to fifty thousand taels of silver!"

Zhu Qiyu shoved the abacus in front of Liu Ju.

"Immediately issue my order! Seal off the offices of the General and Deputy General of Datong! Confiscate the private residences and farmland of all relevant generals! The Embroidered Uniform Guards, according to the old files of the Ministry of War, dig them up one by one!"

"Measure and reclaim all the black soil hidden beneath the surface! For every acre found, deduct it from their property as a ten-year debt! If their property is insufficient to cover the debt..."

"Then I will conscript their entire family into the army! They will spend their lives carrying bricks on this border wall of Datong, until this debt is paid off!"

The Imperial Guards following behind Zhu Qiyu shouted in unison.

"Your subordinate obeys!"

The fierce and ruthless imperial guards instantly pinned Liu Ju and his generals to the ground and stripped them of their armor.

On White Wolf Slope, the cold wind still howled.

But Zhu Qiyu, the Prince of Cheng, standing on this land, could no longer feel the slightest bit of cold.

As he looked at the border generals being dragged away and at the fertile black soil beneath his feet, an unprecedented sense of exhilaration welled up within him.

The humiliation I suffered in the Wenhua Hall and the beatings I endured in the West Garden over the past two weeks.

At this moment, it transformed into a sharp blade that tore open the empire's festering wound.

It turns out that what his elder brother and the Grand Tutor taught him was not how to suffer.

Rather, it's about how to use the abacus and iron shovel to grasp the most real power in the world!

a few days later.

The good news of the major corruption case in Datong Town, accompanied by dozens of carriages loaded with confiscated silver and revised registers, drove into the capital in a grand procession.

Inside the Chief Minister's office next to the Wenhua Hall.

The underground heating system was warm and cozy, and several pots of winter plum blossoms quietly bloomed.

Gu Yannian held in his hands the meticulously organized and detailed report on field surveying that Zhu Qiyu had sent back.

A relaxed smile appeared on his lips.

[Ding! Today's attendance complete. Attribute point gained +1.]

"Add to the spirit."

Gu Yannian picked up his teacup and looked at the plum blossoms braving the snow outside the window.

Under the personal tutelage of that cunning little schemer known as the "Great Ming War God".

This Prince Cheng, who was originally destined to be hastily placed on the throne and struggle to survive after the Tumu Crisis.

Now it has transformed into a ferocious wolf, armed with an iron paddle and an abacus, frantically tearing apart corrupt officials in the nine border regions.

At the beginning of winter, the capital city welcomed its first heavy snowfall of the season.

Dark clouds covered the sky, and the north wind swirled snowflakes like mats, enveloping the entire Forbidden City in a vast expanse of white.

The white marble steps and the golden glazed tiles were all covered with a thick layer of silver.

The howling north wind swept through the narrow passageway of the palace wall, emitting a whimpering sound like that of a trapped beast.

However, the square outside the Qianqing Palace was bustling with activity at that moment.

A bustling scene that seems completely out of place in this frigid weather.

"Quickly! Be careful, all of you! If you knock over even a single tael of silver, I'll skin you alive!"

At this moment, even the winged crown on the head of the Zhengtong Emperor Zhu Qizhen was not properly worn.

Wearing only a dark cloak and deerskin boots, he stood in the ankle-deep snow, dancing with excitement.

His handsome face was flushed red with extreme excitement.

The exhaled white breath quickly dissipated in the cold wind.

In the center of the square, there were thirty large four-wheeled carriages covered with heavy tarpaulins.

The horses pulling the cart were snorting, exhaling puffs of white air, and their hooves were pawing restlessly in the snow.

This grand convoy was the stolen silver being escorted back to the capital from Datong Town by the Imperial Guards, who were working day and night.

Wang Zhen, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, led a hundred or so strong eunuchs as they sweated profusely as they lifted the tarpaulin off the carriage.

Then, heavy mahogany chests were carried down and neatly stacked in front of Zhu Qizhen.

"Your Majesty, the cash and gold ingots seized from Deputy Commander Liu Ju and his corrupt generals in Datong Town, along with the proceeds from the sale of their private residences, totaling 750,000 taels of silver, have all been escorted here!"

The accompanying Jinyiwei commander knelt on one knee and loudly reported.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhu Qizhen said "good" three times in a row.

His eyes lit up, and he strode forward, kicking open the brass lock on one of the mahogany chests.

With a "bang," the box lid was flipped open.

The gleaming silver ingots, illuminated by hundreds of torches around them, refracted a dazzling, mesmerizing silver light.

The light pierced through the winter night's wind and snow, shining straight into Zhu Qizhen's heart.

He bent down and scooped up a handful of silver ingots with both hands.

Feeling the cold yet heavy touch, a grin spread from his lips to his ears.

"Seven hundred and fifty thousand taels! A deputy general and a brigade general in Datong can scrape together seven hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver! That bastard Shi Heng actually dared to lick his boots and ask me for three hundred thousand taels to repair the city walls and replenish the warhorses back then!"

Zhu Qizhen gritted his teeth and laughed and cursed, throwing the silver ingot in his hand back into the box with a crisp and pleasant metallic clang.

"Wang Zhen!"

Zhu Qizhen turned around and shouted.

"This servant is here!" Wang Zhen quickly stepped forward.

"Carry all these boxes into the East Warm Pavilion! Light the brightest tallow candles! I won't sleep tonight. I will personally check this money, ingot by ingot, with an abacus. If even a single coin is missing, all the Imperial Guards escorting the carts will be sent to carry stones on the Yellow River!"

Zhu Qizhen rubbed his hands together excitedly.

He had already begun to plan in his mind how to deposit this huge sum of money into the imperial treasury and how to use it to make more money.

He turned his head and looked towards the distant north, a rare hint of warmth and appreciation flashing in his eyes.

"That lad Qi Yu truly didn't suffer in the Western Garden for nothing. He used the abacus I bestowed upon him to investigate the accounts thoroughly and efficiently! What a swift and effective knife for harvesting the wealth of corrupt officials!"

"Issue my decree, sent by express courier to Datong, granting the Prince of Cheng the authority to serve before the Emperor and bestowing upon him a robe embroidered with a four-clawed golden dragon. Instruct him to continue his investigation in Xuanfu!"

"Don't let an inch of land or a tael of silver slip by!"

As the snow fell heavily, the young emperor's laughter, as he counted gold and silver in the snow, carried on the wind to the outside of the palace.

Meanwhile, in the capital, the mansions of countless princes, nobles, meritorious officials, and military generals were shrouded in gloom and despair.

The cover of the corruption case in Datong Town's military settlement has been completely lifted.

The news that Deputy Commander-in-Chief Liu Ju's entire family had been incorporated into the military households to repair the border wall had already spread throughout the military and noble circles in the capital through various secret channels.