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

Pei Yuan didn't look at Lu Zheng behind him, but simply stretched out one hand.

Lu Zheng immediately understood, took out an old account book from his pocket, and respectfully handed it to Pei Yuan.

This ledger is not evidence of any crime uncovered by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Rather, it was the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue's deficit and bad debts that Gu Yannian remembered vividly when he was the Grand Secretary.

Last night, relying on his terrifying memory, he casually wrote it down from memory.

Pei Yuan opened the account book and began to read it casually.

"In the seventh year of the Jingtai reign, the autumn grain harvest in Jiangnan was carried out. The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue reported a loss of 30%. In reality, Lord Zhao colluded with grain merchants in Yangzhou to pass off the 30% of good grain as good, selling it to the people at a high price and making a profit of 200,000 taels of silver."

Zhao Guangting's eyelids twitched suddenly, and his legs began to tremble involuntarily.

Pei Yuan turned the page and continued reading.

"In the first year of the Chenghua reign, the Jiangnan Textile Bureau presented silk as tribute. Lord Zhao embezzled a hundred bolts of the tribute and privately bestowed them upon Qiu Niang, a famous courtesan on the Qinhuai River."

"Not only that, Lord Zhao also kept a mistress in Shuimo Lane in the south of the city. That house was purchased with special funds from the imperial court for repairing the city walls."

"Thump!"

Zhao Guangting could no longer support his obese body; his knees buckled, and he knelt heavily on the floor tiles.

He looked at Pei Yuan in utter terror, as if he were seeing a judge in the underworld flipping through the Book of Life and Death.

He kept these old scores extremely secret, managing to smooth things over perfectly.

How could Pei Yuan, who lives far away in the capital, know so much about the address of the house where he sends silk to prostitutes and keeps mistresses?!

Could it be that the Imperial Guard's spies have already infiltrated his bedroom?

"Lord Pei... these are all baseless accusations... I am innocent..."

Zhao Guangting still wanted to make a final stand.

Pei Yuan snapped the ledger shut, then tapped the deadly register lightly in his palm like a fan.

"Injustice? Lord Zhao, I am a greedy and treacherous official. I don't care how much you've embezzled, nor how many women you've kept."

"My only concern is whether the ships His Majesty requested can be built on time."

Pei Yuan walked up to Zhao Guangting, squatted down, and gently patted Zhao Guangting's pale, fat face with the account book.

"When I rob merchants of their money, that's robbing the rich. But when you, Lord Zhao, embezzle the court's money, that's stealing from the country. Let's keep to ourselves."

"But if you don't deliver the tung oil and pig iron for this shipbuilding by sunset today..."

Pei Yuan's voice suddenly lowered, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

"I will use this account book to send your entire family to the imperial prison. Once there, I have a hundred ways to make you vomit up every single grain of rice you've eaten, with interest."

"Lord Zhao, with your delicate skin, how many sets of torture instruments can you withstand?"

Zhao Guangting completely broke down.

When faced with those upright and honest censors, he could refute them with classical allusions.

But when faced with this ruthless and ruthless Jinyiwei mad dog who held his life in his hands, his pride in his political acumen instantly turned to dust.

"Give it to me! I'll give it to you! Let alone 50,000 catties, even 100,000 catties, I'll open the warehouse and release it immediately!"

Zhao Guangting kowtowed repeatedly, wailing in agony.

"Please, Lord Pei, have mercy and destroy those account books!"

Pei Yuan stood up and glanced down at him.

"Bring me the keys to the storeroom. I'll go get them myself."

Zhao Guangting dared not hesitate for a moment, and hurriedly took a large bunch of heavy copper keys from his waist and presented them with both hands.

Pei Yuan took the key and casually tossed it to Lu Zheng.

"Go. Take men to all the major warehouses in Jinling and empty them of all the tung oil, hemp fibers, pig iron, and gunpowder you can find. Don't leave them even a single rusty nail."

Lu Zheng accepted the order and, leading his fierce and ruthless elite cavalry, turned and charged towards the various warehouses of the Ministry of Revenue.

Pei Yuan straightened his flying fish robe and stopped looking at Zhao Guangting, who was slumped on the ground.

He strode out of the smoky and chaotic government office.

Just before leaving, he stopped, turned his back to the warm pavilion, and left behind a light, dismissive warning.

"Lord Zhao, I will keep these account books for you for now. If the Longjiang Shipyard ever goes missing even one item, I will come to settle this old score with you. Take care."

As dusk fell.

The setting sun, like blood, dyed the broad surface of the Yangtze River a golden-red.

In front of the dry dock of Longjiang Shipyard.

Old Yan was squatting on the ground, using the afterglow of the setting sun to mark a baseline on the wood with an ink line.

Suddenly, a deafening sound of wheels rolling came from outside the factory gate.

Old Yan looked up and his eyes widened in astonishment.

A convoy stretching for miles drove into the shipyard in a grand procession.

The mules pulling the cart puffed out white steam, and the cart was loaded with sealed tung oil barrels, bundles of high-quality hemp fibers, and ingots of pig iron that gleamed coldly.

Those officials in the Ministry of Revenue who usually acted arrogantly were now behaving like grandsons under the coercion of the Embroidered Spring Blade of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Sweating profusely, they carried sacks and unloaded the supplies in front of the warehouse.

Pei Yuan rode a tall horse at the head of the caravan.

He dismounted, walked up to Old Yan, who was dumbfounded, and patted the wooden barrels filled with tung oil.

"Old man, I've brought you the tung oil and pig iron. The quantity is more than you'd like."

As Pei Yuan faced the setting sun, a wild laugh full of ambition and charisma appeared on his devilish face.

"Tomorrow at an auspicious time, place the main dragon skeleton."

"I will watch as this first thousand-ton treasure ship of the Ming Dynasty slowly grows into its full form in this dry dock!"

Old Yan looked at the mountain of supplies, then at the imperial envoy who acted like a bandit but was incredibly efficient.

His withered lips trembled slightly as he suddenly knelt down.

He stroked the tung oil barrel that emitted a pungent smell with both hands, tears streaming down his face.

"Heaven has eyes! On behalf of the ancestors of the Longjiang Shipyard, I thank Your Excellency! With Your Excellency's swift and decisive actions, the treasure ship's departure is just around the corner!"

Pei Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the golden nanmu tree lying in the center of the dock, resembling a giant dragon lying in slumber.

The river breeze, the fragrance of wood, and the colossal ship about to rise from the ground.

This immortal being abandoned his abacus, picked up a knife, and forcefully cleaved a bloody path leading to the endless ocean.

The sails of the Ming Dynasty are about to once again obscure this ancient sky.