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

Pei Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the shimmering river surface, his gaze gradually turning cold.

The Six Ministries in Nanjing, though considered sinecure offices in the Ming Dynasty, were used to house disgraced or elderly officials.

However, this group of people held immense power over the allocation of resources in the Jiangnan region.

The Jiangnan water towns are famous for their tung oil production.

The profits from iron smelting were a government monopoly.

Pei Yuan was sent to the south of the Yangtze River to build ships; this was an assignment personally appointed by the emperor.

But these Nanjing officials, at this critical juncture, played a game of delaying and shirking responsibility with him.

The reason is simple: these people have been living comfortably in Jiangnan for too long, and they've been making a fortune off the ground.

Now that the imperial envoy has come to ask for things, I have not seen any tribute or received any benefits.

Naturally, one must adopt an official demeanor and use cumbersome bureaucratic procedures to annoy people.

"It's been three days, and not even a pound of tung oil has been delivered?"

Pei Yuan patted Old Yan on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, sir, take your men and start carving the keel. This debt collection business is my specialty. Before sunset, I guarantee that the warehouses of Longjiang Shipyard will be filled with the tung oil and pig iron you desire."

Having said that, Pei Yuan turned around, the hem of his crimson flying fish robe billowing like waves in the river breeze.

"Lu Zheng, prepare the horses. Gather five hundred elite cavalry. They will accompany me to the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing."

"Yes, sir!"

At noon, in Nanjing, at the Ministry of Revenue.

Unlike the Ministry of Revenue in the capital, which was as busy as a spinning top, the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue exuded a tranquil and leisurely atmosphere.

Several century-old ginkgo trees were planted in the courtyard, and a few clerks were sitting under the shade of the trees, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans and sipping tea.

They chatted idly about which courtesan on the Qinhuai River had released a new song last night.

Zhao Guangting, the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, was currently resting with his eyes closed in the warm pavilion in the back hall.

Listen to a clerk reading out the accounts of tributes from various places.

Zhao Guangting is over sixty years old, with a ruddy complexion and a plump figure.

In his early years, he lost a power struggle in the capital and was exiled to the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing to live out his retirement.

Who knew that a loss might turn out to be a blessing in disguise? The wealth in Jiangnan was ten times greater than that in the capital.

In this city of Jinling, he was practically a local tyrant.

"Manager Li from the Dongtai Saltworks sent five thousand taels of silver and one hundred bolts of top-quality lake silk. He said it was a gift for the master's spring tea."

The advisor read it aloud respectfully.

Zhao Guangting closed his eyes, nodded slightly, and let out a satisfied soft "hmm" from his throat.

"Put the silk into the imperial treasury, and as for the silver... give me another two hundred acres of fine paddy fields outside the city."

The clerk took notes, then opened another booklet, looking troubled.

"My lord, the Imperial Envoy Pei from the Longjiang Shipyard has sent someone again to urge us on. He wants 50,000 catties of tung oil and 30,000 catties of pig iron. The documents urging us to do so are practically plastering the gates of our Ministry of Revenue."

"What do you think? Should we allocate a little bit of that money? After all, it's an order bestowed by the Emperor. If we really anger that living devil, things could get very messy."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Guangting slowly opened his eyes, snorted coldly, picked up the ginseng tea on the table, and took a sip.

"So what if he's an imperial envoy? Once he arrives in Jinling, dragons have to coil up and tigers have to lie low."

"Pei Yuan runs rampant in the capital because of the emperor's favor. But we, the Six Ministries in Nanjing, are far from the emperor's reach."

Zhao Guangting put down his teacup, a hint of shrewdness and arrogance flashing in his eyes.

"Fifty thousand catties of tung oil and thirty thousand catties of pig iron? How much silver is that? Does Pei Yuan think he can just take it for free?"

"Without my approval, even if someone holds a knife to the Nanjing prefect's throat, they won't be able to take a single pound of rotten hemp from this Nanjing city warehouse!"

"But sir, Pei Yuan just demolished Qian Dafu's house a few days ago. That man is insane, what if..."

The advisor was still somewhat worried.

"What's so great about demolishing a merchant's house? I am a high-ranking official of the second rank! Does he dare to lead troops to storm the Ministry of Revenue?"

"Go and reply to the officer who urged us to expedite the process. Tell him that the Ministry of Revenue's tung oil reserves are short, and they need to issue orders to various prefectures and counties for requisition. The official correspondence will take at least a month. Let Pei Yuan wait patiently!"

"When he gets impatient, he will naturally know to prepare generous gifts and come to my residence to pay his respects."

Zhao Guangting had a clever plan.

They were preparing to take advantage of this arrogant imperial envoy and, incidentally, squeeze some money out of him from the lucrative shipbuilding job.

The voice just fell.

"boom!"

A deafening roar came from the front courtyard of the Ministry of Revenue, causing dust to fall from the roof of the back hall.

Zhao Guangting was so frightened that he trembled all over and almost spilled the ginseng tea in his hand on himself.

"What's going on! Where did these thieves come from, daring to run wild in the heart of the Six Ministries!"

Before the clerk could go out to check, the door to the back room was kicked open.

Two guards who were guarding the back hall flew in like kites with broken strings, crashing heavily onto the floor tiles, spitting blood, and losing consciousness.

Immediately afterwards, a pair of black leather riding boots stepped across the threshold.

Pei Yuan, dressed in a bright red flying fish robe, with his hand on the hilt of his sword, strode into the warm pavilion, exuding a chilling killing intent that seemed almost tangible.

Behind him, hundreds of fully armed Imperial Guards surged into the Ministry of Revenue like a tidal wave, pinning all the terrified clerks and runners to the ground.

"Lord Zhao, the threshold of your Ministry of Revenue is too high. My men knocked on the door for a long time but no one answered. So I simply tore down the gate for you."

"Won't Lord Zhao take offense?"

Pei Yuan's voice, laced with both mockery and chilling coldness, echoed within the warm pavilion.

Zhao Guangting's face turned deathly pale as he looked at the formation that resembled a demon army descending from the sky.

His obese body suddenly sprang up from the armchair.

"Pei Yuan! You...you're outrageous! This is the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing! You've trespassed on the grounds of one of the Six Ministries and assaulted a high-ranking official. Do you have any respect for the law?!"

"I will definitely submit a memorial to the Emperor, impeaching you, you treacherous minister!"

Zhao Guangting roared, his voice trembling as he pointed at Pei Yuan.

Pei Yuan seemed not to hear him. He walked leisurely to the armchair where Zhao Guangting had just been sitting and sat down casually.

He picked up the half-cup of ginseng tea still steaming on the table, glanced at it, and disdainfully poured it on the ground beside him.

"The law? Lord Zhao has been in Jiangnan for too long; he's probably forgotten the rules of the Ming Dynasty. The Embroidered Uniform Guard carries the Emperor's sword when handling cases; they investigate treason."

"I can barge into these six government offices as I please."

Pei Yuan leaned back in his chair and took out an official document from his sleeve regarding the allocation of supplies.

It was thrown at Zhao Guangting's feet with a "thud".

"This morning I sent someone to urge for tung oil and pig iron. My subordinates reported that Lord Zhao said the warehouse is short of supplies and it will take a month to replenish them?"

Seeing Pei Yuan's arrogance, Zhao Guangting knew he had met a tough opponent, but for the sake of his reputation, he still forced himself to maintain his official demeanor.

"Indeed! Although Jiangnan is wealthy, such a large amount of war supplies cannot be gathered overnight. The accounts of each prefecture and county must be checked before they are handed over, and there are legal procedures for the entry and exit of supplies."

"Even if Lord Pei kills me, these rules cannot be broken!"

"Laws? Procedures?"

Pei Yuan suddenly burst out laughing.

The laughter started out very low, but gradually became wild and carried a chilling, sinister undertone.

He stopped laughing, leaned forward slightly, and stared intently at Zhao Guangting with his deep, unfathomable eyes.

"Zhao Guangting. I'm not here today to listen to you recite the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Since you're talking to me about the law, then I'll settle accounts with you."