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

"Pei... Pei Yuan! You... you're extorting a court official! I will never pay this unjust sum!"

Xu Wenchang was so angry that he trembled all over and suddenly stood up.

Pei Yuan wasn't annoyed; he simply leaned back in his armchair and picked at his ear with his little finger.

"Lu Zheng, Lord Xu accuses me of extortion. Go tell the men at the shipyard that the defenses at Xichun Garden are lifted tonight. Just in case a few more Japanese pirate remnants sneak in and accidentally injure Lord Xu..."

"That was also because Lord Xu sacrificed his life for the country. I will definitely report to the court and posthumously confer upon him the title of martyr."

"you!"

Xu Wenchang was so frightened that his legs went weak and he slumped back into his chair.

He looked at Pei Yuan's terrifying, half-smiling eyes.

I finally understand that in this treacherous territory where no rules apply, the integrity of upright officials is nothing but a fart.

If he dares not pay, he will definitely not leave Xichun Garden tonight!

In the end, the upright censor who was ordered to investigate corrupt officials, with tears in his eyes, put together the public funds he had brought with him, along with the private money of his entourage.

He wrote another IOU, which finally raised the five thousand taels for the "meal money".

The next morning.

Xu Wenchang fled Jinling City in a panic, his disheveled figure resembling a demon chasing after him.

Inside the open pavilion of Xichun Garden.

Pei Yuan looked at the five thousand taels of silver notes and IOU that Lu Zheng presented, threw his head back and laughed loudly, his laughter full of joy.

"These pedantic scholars deserve a good beating. Send this five thousand taels to the shipyard's mess hall so the craftsmen can have an extra meal of meat tonight!"

Pei Yuan casually tossed the IOU into the brazier beside him.

The ashes of the paper fluttered in the firelight.

The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, this hypocritical stream of officials, is now as ashes.

It all looked so ridiculous and laughable under his teasing.

In the dead of winter, the capital city experienced three consecutive heavy snowfalls.

The glazed tiles of the Forbidden City were completely covered.

On the official road leading to the capital, a dilapidated carriage struggled through knee-deep snow.

The coachman was so cold that he kept shivering.

Sitting in the carriage was Xu Wenchang, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief who had gone to Jinling to investigate the accounts but was extorted five thousand taels of silver by Pei Yuan.

Xu Wenchang endured countless hardships on his journey north.

He had left all his travel expenses and personal savings at Xichun Garden, and only a few coins remained on his person.

We stayed in the lowest-class inns along the way and ate cold, hard steamed buns with pickled vegetables.

A high-ranking official of the third rank was starved to the point of being unrecognizable, with sunken cheeks.

His official robes swayed precariously on his body, making him look like a refugee who had just returned from a disaster area.

When the carriage finally entered Zhengyang Gate and stopped outside Wenyuan Pavilion, Xu Wenchang was so exhausted that he barely had the strength to get out of the carriage.

Two guards at the gate dragged him into the cabinet office.

Grand Secretary Li Xianzheng was discussing matters with several Grand Secretaries around a charcoal brazier.

Seeing Xu Wenchang's miserable state, they were all shocked.

"Wen Chang! What's wrong with you? Did Pei Yuan torture you in Jiangnan?!"

Li Xian suddenly stood up, strode forward, his eyes filled with rage.

Xu Wenchang took the hot tea handed to him by the constable and gulped down three large mouthfuls before he could catch his breath.

Upon hearing the name "Pei Yuan," he shuddered uncontrollably, and his eyes instantly reddened.

"Your Excellency...this humble official...this humble official's life is miserable!"

Seeing this, Li Xian's suspicions were confirmed, and he slammed his fist on the table in righteous indignation.

"That arrogant and domineering scoundrel Pei! How dare he mistreat the imperial envoy! Wen Chang, don't be afraid. Tell me all the evidence of how he embezzled huge sums of money for shipbuilding in Jiangnan and how he neglected the shipyard."

"Even if it costs me my old bones, I will go before the Emperor and remonstrate with him to the death, and I will definitely skin that treacherous minister alive!"

Several Grand Secretaries echoed this sentiment, preparing to grind ink and draft impeachment memorials.

As Xu Wenchang listened to his colleagues' impassioned speeches, an indescribable bitterness welled up in his mouth.

Evidence of wrongdoing? Embezzlement? Abandoned shipyard?

If he really finds out these things, even if Pei Yuan breaks his legs, he can still stand tall and impeach him in court.

But what he saw was a mountain of supplies and a giant ship that was about to be completed!

Xu Wenchang shakily put down his teacup, looked at the expectant Prime Minister, and swallowed hard.

"Your Excellency... we can't investigate..."

"What?"

Li Xian was stunned, thinking he had misheard.

"What do you mean 'cannot be investigated'? Did he burn all the accounts?"

"no……"

Xu Wenchang shook his head, a bitter smile on his face that looked more like a grimace.

"I witnessed it firsthand at the Longjiang Shipyard. Pei Yuan not only spent all three million taels of silver allocated by the imperial court on shipbuilding..."

"He even managed to extract countless amounts of tung oil, pig iron, and golden nanmu wood from those wealthy merchants in Jiangnan."

Xu Wenchang closed his eyes, and the skeletons of the two thousand-ton treasure ships, as large as mountains, reappeared in his mind.

And the deafening roar of cannons.

"Your Excellency, the Longjiang Shipyard now has tens of thousands of craftsmen working day and night without the slightest slackening. Not only has the thousand-ton treasure ship already been launched for sea trials, but the second and third treasure ships are also just around the corner. Furthermore, there are new heavy cannons with earth-shattering power."

"Pei Yuan was indeed greedy and arrogant in Jiangnan, but he was also genuinely building ships. Those messy accounts..."

"They've all become warships on the river, invincible!"

Inside the Wenyuan Pavilion, an eerie silence instantly descended.

The scholars looked at each other in bewilderment, while Li Xian was struck dumb, unable to utter a word for a long time.

They had prepared a whole host of speeches, ready to vehemently condemn Pei Yuan for embezzling public funds.

Instead of embezzling the goods, they actually used the resources they had looted from merchants to rebuild the Ming Dynasty's navy, which had been abandoned for decades.

How can you impeach him like this? Impeach him for working too fast?

Or did impeaching him save the court money?

"Then...why have you been in such a sorry state along the way? If he was focused on building the ship, why did he make things difficult for you?"

Li Xian was still somewhat unwilling.

Upon hearing this, Xu Wenchang could no longer hold back his tears, which welled up in his eyes.

What could he say?

Could he say that he, a dignified imperial envoy, was extorted by Pei Yuan for 5,000 taels of silver for food, forcing him to beg all the way back to the capital?

If this gets out, what will become of his reputation as a righteous censor?

How will he survive in the officialdom after this?

"This humble official...this humble official is concerned about the people's plight and wants to save the court the expense of post stations, so I have traveled light and simply, enduring wind and rain..."

Xu Wenchang gritted his teeth and swallowed his anger, managing to concoct a reason that even he himself didn't believe.

Looking at Xu Wenchang's evasive eyes, Li Xian immediately understood that there must be some unspeakable reason behind it.

He let out a long sigh and slumped back into his chair.

"Enough, enough. This boy's methods are beyond our comprehension. Let him stir up the waters of Jiangnan."

"We old bones only need to guard Taicang, the capital."