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

Minister of Revenue Chen Jian stepped out of the queue with great anticipation, holding his official tablet and bowing, he said:

"Your Majesty, the new emperor's ascension to the throne is a joyous occasion for all under heaven. In accordance with ancestral precedent, a general decree shall be issued to exempt all prefectures and counties from paying 30% of this year's autumn grain tax, and to grant amnesty to all criminals, from penal exile down to the lowest level, in order to demonstrate Your Majesty's benevolence."

Upon hearing this, the courtiers all echoed his sentiments.

"We, your humble servants, second this motion; we beseech Your Majesty to extend your grace to the world!"

Zhu Qiyu sat on the dragon throne, quietly looking at the group of officials below who were full of expectation.

Beneath the wide sleeves of his dragon robe, his calloused hands suddenly felt something hard.

That was a small sandalwood abacus that he had specially inlaid inside the armrest of the dragon throne.

"Reimburse the autumn grain tax? Grant a general amnesty?"

Zhu Qiyu's lips curled into a mocking sneer identical to that of his late father.

The smile that appeared in the eyes of the officials sent chills down their spines.

"Chen Jian".

Zhu Qiyu's voice was no longer calm, but suddenly turned cold.

"Your humble servant is here." Chen Jian's heart skipped a beat.

"As the Minister of Revenue, in charge of the nation's finances, how could you utter such absurd words!"

Zhu Qiyu slammed his hand on the armrest of the dragon throne.

"I ask you, whose granary does the autumn grain harvested from all the prefectures and counties of the realm go into? Does it go into my private coffers? It goes into the Imperial Granary!"

"That was the life-saving money meant to repair the Yellow River dikes and to pay the rations to the 700,000 troops stationed along the nine border regions!"

Zhu Qiyu stood up, strode to the edge of the imperial steps, his eyes sharp as knives.

"Reimbursing 30% of the autumn grain tax is easy to say! If this 30% tax is waived, what will your Ministry of Revenue use for disaster relief if the Yellow River breaches its banks next spring?"

"If the Oirats invade, how will your Ministry of Revenue pay your soldiers? Are you going to let them starve while they fight for the Ming Dynasty?!"

Chen Jian was so reprimanded that his face turned ashen, and he knelt on the ground, drenched in cold sweat.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Your humble servant... Your humble servant was merely following precedent..."

"Old precedents? In my eyes, there are only clear-cut accounts, not muddled precedents!"

At this moment, Zhu Qiyu perfectly inherited Zhu Qizhen's mantle and even carried it forward.

"And then there's the general amnesty!"

Zhu Qiyu angrily pointed at several censors from the Censorate.

"Those corrupt officials, thugs, and ruffians imprisoned are all criminals who have violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty! Releasing them would only allow them to continue harming the people!"

"Furthermore, is the amount of food that the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review spend on these prisoners every year not a small sum?"

Zhu Qiyu flicked his sleeves and issued a decree in a stern voice, his thunderous aura causing the entire Fengtian Hall to vibrate.

"Issue my decree! The proposal to exempt the autumn grain rations is utter nonsense and is rejected immediately!"

"Not only are all prefectures and counties in the realm not exempt, but local officials must also make up for all outstanding fire tax and other debts owed to me before the first year of the Jingtai reign!"

"If even a single tael of silver is missing, I'll offer my head!"

Upon hearing this, the officials felt as if their vision had gone black, as if struck by lightning.

Not only are they not exempt from taxation, but they're also being asked to pay back debts from previous years?

This new emperor is even more ruthless and stingy than the previous one!

Zhu Qiyu was clearly not done yet; the spirit of the iron shovel he had spent four years digging at the border was burning fiercely within him.

"As for a general amnesty, I am lenient and benevolent. Those sentenced to death may be spared, but those sentenced to imprisonment will not escape punishment. I hereby order the Ministry of Justice to transfer all able-bodied prisoners of the penal servitude or higher to hard labor camps."

"They'll be sent to the Xishan coal mine, the Yellow River construction site, and the Nine Garrisons to build city walls! They eat the food of the Ming Dynasty's prisons, so they'll have to do hard labor for the Ming Dynasty!"

"This is called making the best use of people's talents and resources!"

The Fengtian Hall was deathly silent.

All the officials stared in disbelief at the new emperor on the dragon throne.

Should we use all the prisoners as free labor?

Such a bizarre way of thinking, and such a ruthless approach of squeezing every last drop of profit, is simply chilling.

They originally thought that after outliving that "calculator emperor," they would be greeted by a benevolent ruler who was easy to fool.

But now it seems they've just escaped one wolf's den only to plunge headlong into another.

Emperor Jingtai, who wielded an iron paddle and abacus to kill without hesitation in the Nine Border Regions, was simply an unyielding and ruthless ruler!

"What? Do any of you ministers have any objections to my decree?"

Zhu Qiyu's gaze swept across the entire room like lightning.

The courtiers trembled with fear, not daring to utter a single word of dissent, and kowtowed and shouted in unison.

"Your Majesty is wise! We obey your decree!"

Gu Yannian stood below the steps, watching this magnificent coronation drama, and listening to the new emperor's words, "Make the best use of everyone's talents and resources," and the smile in his eyes grew even stronger.

These eight words were spoken by him personally when he was instructing Zhu Qizhen.

These two brothers now regard his theory of "managing finances and governing the country" as their guiding principle.

"His Majesty."

Gu Yannian slowly stepped out of the queue, holding a tablet in his hand, and bowed slightly.

"In my humble opinion, Your Majesty, having just ascended the throne, certainly needs to rectify official corruption and clarify the finances. However, the case of Prince Xin's rebellion has far-reaching implications."

"There are still many soldiers in the capital garrison who are unaware of the truth. If we indiscriminately implicate them, it may damage the harmony of the capital region."

Gu Yannian's words sounded like advice, but in reality, they were handing the new emperor the sharpest knife.

Zhu Qiyu understood immediately.

He understood that the Grand Tutor was reminding him to use the opportunity of investigating and confiscating the property of Prince Xin's associates to completely seize control of the capital garrison.

Uproot those corrupt noble forces completely.

"What the Grand Tutor says is absolutely right."

Zhu Qiyu's expression turned solemn, and he spoke in a loud voice.

"The Prince of Xin is plotting a rebellion, and the ringleaders must be punished, while those who were coerced into joining will be spared. However, the generals and nobles who joined the rebellion, whose private property is ill-gotten gains, must all be confiscated!"

A calculating glint flashed in Zhu Qiyu's eyes.

"Issue an imperial decree ordering the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in conjunction with the Ministry of Revenue, to conduct a thorough investigation of the Prince Xin's residence and all the residences of his accomplices! Dig three feet into the ground; do not let a single copper coin escape!"

"Of the confiscated goods, thirty percent will be used to reward the Datong soldiers who contributed to the suppression of this rebellion, and seventy percent will be put into the imperial granary! Grand Tutor, I will trouble the cabinet to personally oversee this matter."

Gu Yannian smiled slightly and bowed in response:

"Your humble servant obeys the decree and will ensure that this messy account is clearly recorded in the Yellow Register of the Ming Dynasty."

The music for the court's adjournment began to play again.

The officials staggered out of the Fengtian Hall.

The snow outside had stopped sometime ago.

But they felt that winter in the Ming Dynasty had only just begun, and that it was longer and colder than ever before.

Walking along the alleyway leading out of the palace, the ministers exchanged glances, all seeing the despair in each other's eyes.

The late emperor was an accountant, but this new emperor is not only an accountant, but also an accountant who has carried an iron shovel.

From now on, I'm afraid I'll have to spend half a day calculating the cost of even drinking a cup of tea.

Meanwhile, inside the warm and cozy office of the Grand Secretary.

Gu Yannian changed out of his heavy court robes into comfortable casual clothes, sat by the window, and held a cup of fresh tea.

The change of power in the Ming Dynasty did not cause any major upheavals.

Instead, amidst the crisp sound of the abacus, the transition smoothly led to the Jingtai era.

"With the sound of the abacus, gold flows in. In the hands of these two misers, the Ming Dynasty is truly so rich that it's impossible for them to remain poor even if they wanted to."