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

Upon hearing this, the entire room fell silent.

The merchants who were pinned to the ground were so terrified that they soiled themselves.

He couldn't even beg for mercy; he just struggled desperately.

The merchants who were watching were so frightened that their faces turned pale and their legs went weak.

They tied people to the muzzle of cannons and blasted them to pieces.

Even the ancient tyrants Jie and Zhou could not have conceived of such cruel torture!

This Right Vice-Governor is truly a living Yama reincarnated!

The two attendants of the Crown Prince could no longer contain themselves and knelt down before him with a thud.

"Your Highness! This is absolutely unacceptable! Such a cruel and inhumane punishment is against the natural order and will further damage Your Highness's benevolent reputation! Please, Your Highness, stop Governor Pei!"

Zhu Youzhen looked at the merchants who were paralyzed with fear, and his face turned pale as well.

He was only ten years old after all, and had never seen such a bloody and cruel scene before.

He subconsciously looked at Pei Yuan, his lips moving as if he wanted to plead for mercy.

Pei Yuan didn't look at him, but simply picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip.

"Your Highness, if you speak up, I will naturally release them. However, they will be executed according to the law in the autumn."

"But have you considered that if you act with womanly compassion today to protect your reputation, more merchants with wishful thinking will smuggle weapons tomorrow? And one day, when foreign barbarians use our Ming Dynasty's cannons to blast open our city gates..."

"Those who died were tens of thousands of citizens of the Ming Dynasty."

Pei Yuan put down his teacup and stared intently at Zhu Youzhen.

"Thunder and rain, all are the emperor's grace. Only by performing extraordinary deeds can one establish unparalleled prestige."

"Your Highness, will you choose your personal reputation for benevolence, or the long-term stability and prosperity of the Ming Dynasty?"

Zhu Youzhen's whole body jolted violently.

He looked into Pei Yuan's deep, unfathomable eyes, then glanced down at the merchants below, who stood silent, their eyes filled with awe.

He finally understood.

Master Pei is using these lives to set a precedent for the whole world!

It's also forcing myself to shed that weak, womanly shell of compassion.

Zhu Youzhen took a deep breath, clenched her small hands into fists, and pushed away the two still noisy attendants.

He walked to the edge of the steps, and his childish voice revealed a chilling coldness and authority.

"Not a single piece of the Ming Dynasty's vital military and national treasures is allowed to leave the country. Those who violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how far away, will be punished, let alone you traitors!"

The young prince waved his hand, pointing at the smuggling merchants.

"As Pei Taibao has suggested, bind him to the muzzle of a cannon and execute him publicly as a warning to others!"

"Your Highness is wise!"

The Imperial Guards shouted in unison, dragging the limp merchants toward the city wall's fortresses with ferocious wolves.

Not long after.

"boom!!!"

A deafening cannon blast erupted from the top of Zhenhai Fort.

The muffled roar, accompanied by a cloud of blood mist, drifted away on the wind over the Bohai Bay.

Inside and outside the entire Bureau of Commerce, thousands of merchants and laborers remained completely silent.

I felt a chill run from the soles of my feet straight up to the top of my head.

From that moment on, no one dared to harbor even the slightest mischievous thoughts about violating the rules of the Royal Trading Company.

Pei Yuan sat in the grand chair.

Looking at the young prince standing in front of him, whose legs were still trembling but whose back was straight.

His face, which always carried a hint of mockery, finally revealed a genuine expression of appreciation.

"This rough gem has finally been enlightened."

Pei Yuan unfolded the Xiangfei bamboo folding fan and gently shook it.

……

Since that day, when smuggling merchants used the cannon of the Sea-Suppressing God to make offerings.

The area around Tianjin has finally come to a complete end.

Those wealthy gentlemen who used to rely on powerful figures backing them and try to profit from the chaos in the Royal Trading Company are now keeping a low profile.

They even walk on tiptoe, afraid of making the slightest noise and following in the footsteps of those unlucky guys.

Inside the spacious carriage on the way back to Beijing, wisps of incense smoke rose gently.

Pei Yuan changed into a bamboo-green Hangzhou silk robe and leaned against a couch covered with gold-threaded cushions.

Sitting opposite him was Crown Prince Zhu Youzhen, who was engrossed in reading a business ledger.

Ever since experiencing that bloody execution by cannon fire, the ten-year-old crown prince seemed to have shed the timidity and naivety he had developed in the deep palace overnight.

He no longer clung to Mencius, but instead turned his attention to these accounts that reeked of money.

They were also greatly interested in the range of the Ming Dynasty navy's cannons.

As for the two tutors of the Crown Prince, Pei Yuan had already casually found an excuse to send them to gather dust on the supply wagons at the back.

"Your Highness, what secrets do you discern from these account books?"

Pei Yuan slowly asked, waving the Xiangfei bamboo folding fan in his hand.

Zhu Youzhen raised his head, his youthful face revealing a composure beyond his years.

"Reporting to the Grand Protector, I understand now. The income on the books, ostensibly from the sale of tallies, is actually cash converted from the military might of the Ming Navy."

"Without those hundreds of cannons keeping watch in the harbor, these account books would be nothing but a pile of waste paper."

"it is good."

Pei Yuan clapped his hands in satisfaction and chuckled.

"Your Highness possesses exceptional insight. In essence, all business in this world boils down to the trade of sword handles and money bags. Only when the sword handle is strong enough can the money bag be filled to the brim."

"This principle cannot be taught to you by the teachers in the Wenhua Hall; you can only learn it in this bloody and turbulent world."

The carriage moved smoothly along the official road, heading towards the bustling capital city.

Meanwhile, deep within the residence of Li Xian, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, in the capital city.

The atmosphere in the study was oppressive and suffocating.

The candlelight on the desk flickered.

Li Xian sat slumped in the armchair, his face ashen.

Before him, the two Imperial Palace attendants who had been sent by Pei Yuan to ride in the supply wagon were kneeling on the ground, their bodies trembling violently as if they were being shaken.

With tears streaming down his face, he recounted everything that had happened in Tianjin in detail.

"...Your Excellency! That Pei Yuan is an utterly deranged madman! He actually tied a living person to a cannon right in front of His Highness the Crown Prince...and blasted them into bloody pulp with a single shot!"

One of the attendants, recalling the scattered limbs and severed bodies, felt a wave of nausea wash over him and collapsed to the ground, dry heaving.

Another attendant kowtowed and wept bitterly.

"Your Excellency, the most terrifying thing is not Pei Yuan's cruelty. It is... it is His Highness the Crown Prince!"

"Not only did His Highness not stop it, but he also personally issued the decree to carry out the execution! His Highness has been bewitched by that treacherous official, and now his mouth is full of tyrannical tactics and ways to amass wealth."

"He has raised the future crown prince of our Great Ming Dynasty into a tyrant who treats human life like dirt!"

Li Xian felt a sudden dizziness, and even breathing became extremely difficult.

His hands, covered with age spots, gripped the armrests of the armchair tightly.

It’s over.

These upright and experienced officials racked their brains to educate the crown prince into a wise and benevolent ruler.

Fortunately, the court situation, which had been thrown into chaos by Pei Yuan, could be salvaged in the future.

But who would have thought that Pei Yuan only took the Crown Prince to Tianjin once.

In just a few days, the seed of benevolence and righteousness in the Crown Prince's heart was completely uprooted, and a bloodthirsty and greedy tumor was planted!