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

He paced anxiously around the hall twice, then suddenly stopped, a shrewd glint in his eyes.

"Since these horses were brought by the Oirat people, they must abide by the rules of the Ming Dynasty! Issue my decree to the Court of Imperial Stud and the Ministry of Works!"

Zhu Qizhen turned around and walked behind the imperial desk, picked up a brush and dipped it in ink.

"Of those two thousand horses, select two hundred of the best ones suitable for the Imperial Horse Stables, and put the rest of the inferior horses on bridles, put them on large carts, and send them to the Western Hills!"

Wang Zhen was stunned: "Exiled to the Western Hills? Your Majesty, those are warhorses..."

"What a load of rubbish! Once you're on my territory and eating my fodder, you're nothing more than a mule pulling a cart!"

Zhu Qizhen wrote his vermilion annotations on the memorial with a flourish of his pen.

"The coal mined in Xishan is facing a shortage of transport capacity. Let these Oirat horses pull the coal carts! Their masters dig inside the mines, and they pull outside. If a cart is full, they're given a handful of fodder; if it's not full, they're left to go hungry!"

"This great Ming Dynasty absolutely cannot tolerate any freeloaders!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhen felt a chill run down his spine and repeatedly kowtowed in agreement.

This young master is stingy to the core; now he even takes the horses that are presented as tribute from foreign lands.

They truly took the "making the most of everything" principle taught by the Grand Tutor to an astonishing degree.

Just as this bizarre imperial edict was issued.

Holding an ancient book in his hand, Gu Yannian walked calmly into the hall.

"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

Upon seeing Gu Yannian arrive, Zhu Qizhen immediately put on a smiling face and, as if seeking credit, recounted the arrangements he had just made.

"Grand Tutor, what do you think of my arrangements? Not only have those three thousand Oirat people saved the national treasury money, but I have also arranged for the horses they brought with them perfectly."

"In this way, the income of Xishan Coal Mine can double again."

Gu Yannian listened quietly, a hint of appreciation flashing in his deep eyes, and bowed slightly.

"Your Majesty possesses profound insight and a deep understanding of the principles of revenue generation and expenditure. Your methods of employing foreign powers for the benefit of the Ming Dynasty are unparalleled among ancient emperors. I am truly impressed."

Hearing such praise from the Grand Tutor, who was usually stingy with compliments, Zhu Qizhen felt a strong sense of satisfaction.

This sense of satisfaction is far more pleasurable than when he issues orders in the imperial court.

However, Gu Yannian changed the subject, his tone still gentle, but he raised an extremely sharp question.

"However, the Oirat delegation will eventually return home. According to the ancestral system of our Great Ming Dynasty, foreign envoys who come to pay tribute will receive generous annual rewards upon their departure from the capital. These three thousand men have been digging coal all winter,"

"If the court continues to bestow upon them large amounts of gold, silver, silk, and tea in the spring as is customary, then His Majesty will likely have to repay the coal money he saved up during the winter, with interest."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Qizhen's smile froze instantly.

Yup!

These barbarians will eventually leave.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were obsessed with saving face. If a foreign country sent them a few broken horses, the gifts they received in return would often be ten or a hundred times more valuable.

If they were to actually return to the grasslands laden with bags of gold, silver, and silk...

Then all my hard work these past few months has been for nothing?

Not only did they work for nothing, but those coal-mining barbarians went back and probably thought the Ming Dynasty was a fool who had too much money and was being taken advantage of.

"This... Grand Tutor, this annual tribute is a rule established by our ancestors, and it concerns the dignity and face of the nation. If I were to refuse to give a single penny and let the delegation return empty-handed, wouldn't that give the people of the world something to criticize? It would also anger Esen and cause unnecessary border conflicts."

Zhu Qizhen frowned, caught in a dilemma.

Not wanting to pay money but also wanting to save face—this is an intractable dilemma.

Gu Yannian gently placed the ancient book in his hand on the imperial desk, opened the plain folding fan, and a calm smile appeared on his lips.

"Your Majesty is overthinking it. We must protect the dignity of the Ming Dynasty, and we must safeguard the silver in the Taicang granary even more."

Gu Yannian walked slowly to the map of the Nine Borders, his gaze falling on the vast grassland.

"Your Majesty has a plan that will allow Your Majesty to save face for the Celestial Empire, make the Oirat delegation grateful, and not harm the Taicang in the slightest."

Zhu Qizhen's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Grand Tutor, please tell me!"

Gu Yannian turned around, his tone relaxed.

"Does Your Majesty know why the Oirat people are so eager to pay tribute?"

Zhu Qizhen pondered for a moment before replying.

"Naturally, it's to deceive the Ming Dynasty into giving them annual tributes in exchange for iron pots, cloth, and tea that they don't have on their grasslands."

"Exactly."

Gu Yannian nodded slightly.

"The grasslands are harsh and cold, producing neither silk nor hemp, nor tea trees. What they regard as treasures is nothing more than commonplace in the Jiangnan region of my Great Ming Dynasty. My plan is called the 'Annual Gift Based on Items'."

Gu Yannian closed his folding fan and tapped it lightly in his palm.

"When the delegation leaves the capital in the spring, the Ministry of Rites will still hold a grand farewell ceremony. However, the names of the rewards will be changed."

"We won't give them gold or silver, but we'll tell Angke that they've worked hard and made great contributions in the past few months, observing the people's conditions and assisting with mining in the Ming Dynasty."

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was benevolent and specially compensated them for their labor by converting the coal they mined into wages at the market price."

Zhu Qizhen was stunned.

"Pay them wages? The coal they're mining is a risk-free business; are we really going to pay them?"

Gu Yannian shook his head, a shrewd calculation flashing in his eyes.

"Your Majesty misunderstands. How could the Ming Dynasty give silver to barbarians? We will settle accounts with the goods they need most."

With a smile on his lips, Gu Yannian recounted the methods of exploitation.

"In the past few months, I have secretly ordered the Ministry of Revenue to transfer a batch of aged tea from the Ever-Normal Granaries in various parts of Jiangnan. These aged teas can no longer fetch a good price on the market in the Ming Dynasty."

"In addition, they also found those inferior silks and coarse cloths that had been stockpiled for many years in the Imperial Household Department's storeroom."

"On the day of settlement, we will increase the price of these old teas and coarse cloths by five or even ten times, as top-quality gifts from the Celestial Empire, to offset their wages for mining coal and the cost of fodder for their horses."

Tell them that the emperor is rewarding them with treasures from the imperial treasury because he appreciates their contributions to coal mining.

Zhu Qizhen was stunned.

They took unsold tea and old cloth and paid them ten times the price as wages to the Oirat people.

"In that case..."

Gu Yannian's eyes gleamed with a clear, penetrating insight.

"The Ming Dynasty not only didn't spend a single penny, but also cleared out the backlog of waste materials in its warehouses. Meanwhile, the Oirat delegation returned with several cartloads of inferior tea and cloth, and not only could they not find fault with it, they also had to proclaim the generosity of the Ming emperor on the grasslands."

"Even if he saw through the scheme first, we've settled the score clearly. What can he do then?"

This clever yet seemingly respectable method of seizing power amazed Zhu Qizhen.

His hands, which were used to operating an abacus for years, trembled slightly with excitement.

The Grand Tutor's brain is practically a money-sucking machine!

"Grand Tutor's plan is truly a divine calculation unparalleled throughout history!"

Zhu Qizhen stood up and bowed deeply to Gu Yannian.

"I've learned my lesson! I'll do as the Grand Tutor says! I want that Angke to know that once we're in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, even if it's just a clod of mud that falls from his body, I can still squeeze two ounces of oil out of him!"

Gu Yannian stepped aside to avoid Zhu Qizhen's greeting and smiled as he shook his folding fan.

"Your Majesty's ability to draw inferences from one instance is very gratifying. However, this matter still requires the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue to cooperate seamlessly to prevent any leaks."

"Rest assured, Grand Tutor, I will make the arrangements immediately."

Zhu Qizhen excitedly summoned Wang Zhen and began drafting a secret edict.

Looking at this energetic emperor who was full of abacus energy, Gu Yannian turned around and walked out of the palace with satisfaction.

Pushing open the heavy palace doors, a gust of cold wind mixed with snow rushed in.

Gu Yannian wrapped his fox-fur cloak tighter around his armpits and stepped into the swirling snow.

Immortality without end, life like a song.

The historical trajectory of the Ming Dynasty has been completely altered under his fingertips.

The young emperor who should have suffered a great humiliation at Tumu Fortress.

Now he sits comfortably in the warm Wenhua Hall, calculating the blood and sweat of thousands of Oirat laborers.

He chuckled softly and disappeared gracefully into the distance beyond the red walls and white snow.