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

"But sir, this can't go on forever."

The aide looked distressed. "If we can't pay the compensation by the deadline, the court will blame us..."

"I will take full responsibility!"

Zhou Chen slammed his gavel and stood up abruptly.

His thin face revealed an indomitable fortitude.

"These gentry from Jiangnan are trying to use the financial crisis to force me to comply and compel the court to withdraw its new policies. If I back down, this cancerous tumor in Jiangnan will never be eradicated!"

He walked to the window and pushed it open.

Gazing at the dark night sky, he murmured to himself.

"Lord Gu, I have already stirred up the waters of Jiangnan. Have you, in the capital, seen the difficulties I am facing?"

Zhou Chen knew in his heart that he was nothing more than a pawn charging into battle.

The only thing that could truly break the deadlock was the unfathomable mountain of the Ministry of Revenue behind them.

As the days went by, the situation in Suzhou became increasingly tense.

Like a powder keg about to be ignited.

The eighth day of the fifth lunar month.

The sky was overcast that day, as if a downpour was brewing.

Shen Wanquan sat in the armchair of his own business, listening to the manager's report, and couldn't help but smile.

"Master, Zhou Chen hasn't left the government office for three whole days. Rumor has it that he has submitted a memorial to plead guilty and is preparing to resign and return to his hometown."

The shopkeeper smiled obsequiously.

"Hmph, he's smart to know his place."

Shen Wanquan picked up his teacup and leisurely blew on the tea leaves.

"Pass the word down: tell all pawnshops and banks to raise the price of silver by another 10%! I want to make silver in Suzhou a rare commodity, even more valuable than gold!"

Just as Shen Wanquan was preparing to close the net completely and bring this grand drama to a close.

"Thump—thump—thump!"

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

A servant stumbled and crawled into the store's lobby, his face ashen.

Even the hat on its head fell off.

"Master...Master! Something terrible has happened!"

The servant fell to his knees with a thud, panting heavily.

Shen Wanquan frowned and shouted sternly, "What's the panic! If the sky falls, I'll hold it up! What's the matter with such a fuss?"

"The canal... the canal dock!"

The servant swallowed hard, pointed in the direction outside the city, his eyes filled with horror.

"So many ships have arrived! Huge, enormous official ships! They stretch as far as the eye can see, all bearing the flags of the Ministry of Revenue and the Beijing Garrison!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Wanquan's heart skipped a beat.

The teacup in my hand shook violently, and the scalding tea spilled onto the back of my hand.

He was completely unaware.

"An official ship? What official ship would come from at this time? What's on it?"

The servant replied in a trembling voice, "I went to inquire, and they said... they said it was treasury silver allocated by the Ministry of Revenue in the capital. A full..."

"A full several million taels! Escorted by several thousand Beijing soldiers armed with muskets, it has already docked at the Hushu Pass wharf!"

"Clang!"

The teacup in Shen Wanquan's hand slammed heavily onto the blue brick floor and shattered into pieces.

He suddenly stood up, feeling a wave of dizziness, and almost fell over.

"Several million taels...of silver?"

Shen Wanquan's lips trembled, and his face turned ashen.

He just couldn't understand it.

How could the Ming Dynasty's treasury, which had been mired in war and was practically bankrupt, suddenly produce such a massive amount of cash overnight?!

This is simply a fantasy!

However, harsh reality gave him no chance to catch his breath.

Half an hour later, the gates of Suzhou were opened wide.

Under the protection of thousands of musketeers from the Shenji Battalion, clad in bright armor.

Heavy four-wheeled carriages rolled over the bluestone road, producing a deafening roar.

They drove into the city in a grand procession.

The carriage was piled high with huge wooden crates tightly wrapped in sheet metal.

Each wooden crate was sealed with the Ministry of Revenue's bright red seal.

The people and merchants of Suzhou flocked to the streets.

They stared dumbfounded at the silver transport convoy that seemed to have descended from the heavens like divine soldiers.

The convoy did not go to any private money exchange.

Instead, it drove straight to the wide square in front of the Suzhou government office.

Zhou Chen had already led all the officials of the government office, dressed in their most solemn official robes, to wait for him in the square for a long time.

He looked at the heavy wooden crates, his eyes slightly red.

The heavy weight that had been pressing on my heart for months was finally lifted.

"Lord Gu, you have truly not disappointed me!"

Zhou Chen silently cried out in his heart.

The convoy came to a stop, and a commander of the Imperial Guards, dressed in a flying fish robe, dismounted.

He strode up to Zhou Chen, holding a bright yellow divination tablet in both hands.

"By order of Vice Minister Gu of the Ministry of Revenue, three million taels of silver have been allocated from the Taicang treasury and shall be escorted to Suzhou for delivery. Governor Zhou, please inspect and accept this document!"

The voices of the thousand households were as loud as a bell, resounding throughout the entire square.

Zhou Chen stepped forward and took the compatibility test.

He turned to face the onlookers and the pale-faced business agents hidden in the crowd.

He suddenly drew his sword from his waist and cleaved open the iron lock on the nearest wooden box with a single stroke.

"Bang!"

The lid of the wooden crate was forcefully pried open by two soldiers.

In an instant, a dazzling silver light refracted against the gloomy sky.

It almost blinded everyone.

The whole box was filled with neatly cast, fifty-tael silver ingots bearing the official seal of the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty!

That's a full three million taels of real gold and silver!

Like an insurmountable silver mountain, it ruthlessly crashed onto the land of Suzhou, a place controlled by merchants.

Zhou Chen stood before the Silver Mountain, looked around, and spoke in a loud and impassioned voice.

"The imperial court's implementation of the silver conversion policy is a measure to show compassion for the people's hardship! However, some unscrupulous individuals are attempting to hoard silver and disrupt market prices."

"Today, I am here by imperial decree to establish the Equalization Silver Bureau!"

The long sword in his hand pointed towards the sky.

"All people in Jiangnan can come here to exchange grain, cloth, or copper coins for official silver to pay their autumn taxes, at the fair price approved by the imperial court!"

"I will collect as much grain as is available on the market!"

"I'd like to see whether their moles are better hidden than the vast treasury of my Great Ming Dynasty!"

Upon hearing this, the square fell into a deathly silence.

A thunderous roar of cheers erupted immediately.

The people wept with joy, knelt down, and shouted "Long live the Emperor!"

With the Pingzhun Bank, they no longer had to suffer the exploitation of those unscrupulous money shops.

Meanwhile, the spies of the Shen family and other prominent gentry in the crowd were terrified.

They scrambled back to their master's residence to report the news.

Inside the Lingering Garden.

Shen Wanquan slumped in the armchair, and after listening to the steward's tearful complaints, he seemed to age ten years in an instant.

"It's over...it's all over..."

He muttered to himself, his eyes vacant.

What does it mean that three million taels of silver entered the market?

This means that they painstakingly hoarded up small amounts of silver to inflate market prices.

Faced with the massive amount of official silver from the imperial court, it instantly turned into a pile of useless scrap metal!

With the government providing them with fair silver for tax payments, who would need to beg them?

In order to hoard this silver, they tied up countless amounts of cash and shop turnover funds.

The price of silver is now bound to plummet due to the influx of official silver.

The silver they hold will rapidly depreciate, and the losses will be astronomical!

"Master! What should we do?! The pawnshop owners are all coming to collect their debts, and our cash flow has dried up!"

The housekeeper was so anxious that he started to cry.

Shen Wanquan closed his eyes helplessly.

The image of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who was far away in the capital and was said to leave his office precisely at dusk every day, came to mind.

Only now did he truly understand what it meant to break the deadlock with force.

What is meant by great power rivalry?

Faced with an absolute state apparatus and massive amounts of capital.

These self-proclaimed clever merchants from Jiangnan were nothing more than fish on a chopping board.

"Pass down the order..."

Shen Wanquan's voice was terribly hoarse.

"Open the granaries and release all the silver in the storehouses. Go to the prefectural government office and request an audience with Governor Zhou..."

"The Shen family has to admit defeat."

The dramatic economic battle in Jiangnan was over the moment three million taels of government silver were poured in.

Meanwhile, in the capital city, thousands of miles away.

Inside the duty room of the Ministry of Revenue.

Gu Yannian gazed quietly out the window. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on his crimson official robes.

The evening drum sounded precisely on time.

He closed the file on his desk and locked it in the drawer.

She stood up, smoothed out her clothes, and tucked the sandalwood abacus into her sleeve.

The stage in Jiangnan has been set up, and Zhou Chen has put on a wonderful performance.

The remaining cleanup work was naturally handled by the subordinates.

He walked out of the Ministry of Revenue with steady steps, amidst the respectful gazes of the officials in charge.

"The sunset today is a festive red."

He looked up at the sky, a relaxed smile appearing on his lips, and walked towards his home in Xuanwu Lane.