Chapter 105: The Other Party Rejected You And Blocked You. Requesting Monthly Tickets!
Audit the Imperial Treasury?! Publicize the accounts?!
Provide vouchers?! Conduct an on-site inventory?!
Budget and final accounts?! Supervise our spending?!
It’s even the 【Hongwu Imperial Treasury Audit Special Action Group】?! Team Leader Zhang Biao?!
Each of these words was like a red-hot awl, fiercely piercing Old Zhu’s eyes and stabbing into his mind.
Utter humiliation! An unprecedented utter humiliation!
Ten thousand times more humiliating than that ham ‘memorial’!
This was no longer a matter of face.
It was like stripping off Emperor Hongwu’s Dragon Robe and throwing it on the Hall of Supreme Harmony Square, then letting the whole world comment on the style of his underwear.
“Slam—!”
Old Zhu threw the ‘Audit Letter’ in his hand onto the golden bricks, his eyes black with anger, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
Yun Ming and the imperial physicians were terrified and rushed to his aid.
“Get lost!”
Old Zhu pushed them away, stood up shakily, his chest heaving violently, pointing outside the hall and roaring like a demon crawling from hell: “Zhang Biao—!”
“You lawless bastard! Have you turned upside down on us?!”
“I will grind you to ashes and scatter them! I will—”
At this point, he suddenly felt like he was going to spit blood and faint. He had been struck by Zhang Biao’s 【five kills】. He quickly grabbed the Dragon desk, suppressing his rage, but his whole body trembled with anger.
He thought he was playing Go with Zhang Biao, but in reality, Zhang Biao was playing Five-in-a-Row with him.
There were no intricate strategies, no capturing each other’s pieces.
Connecting five in a line was a win.
This unconventional approach completely stumped Emperor Hongwu.
After a long pause, he finally calmed himself and controlled his emotions. Suppressing his killing intent and rage, he gritted his teeth and said, “Yun Ming! Go and see for us! What exactly is going on!”
“Yes.”
Yun Ming quickly agreed and then ran out, sweating profusely.
At the same time, outside the Censorate’s gate.
Zhang Biao had somehow obtained a brand new plaque, with several large characters written on it in a flamboyant style:
【Hongwu Audit Special Clearing Account Department】
There was another line of small text below.
【Imperial Treasury Audit Special Action Group, currently in preparation.】
He brazenly hung the new plaque next to the Censorate’s main gate, making it even more eye-catching than the Censorate’s original plaque.
Shen Lang, Zhao Fengman, and others were nervously holding the ladder and handing over hammers, their faces looking worse than if their own father had died.
Around them, a large crowd of onlookers, consisting of commoners and minor officials, had already gathered.
They pointed and chattered, their faces filled with disbelief and the excitement of spectators who enjoy a good spectacle.
“Hey! Did you hear? Censor Zhang is going to audit the Emperor!”
“My heavens! That’s like an old man with longevity noodles hanging himself, he’s tired of living!”
“Auditing the Emperor? How can that be done? Doesn’t the Emperor spend money however he wants?”
“You know nothing! Censor Zhang is acting on behalf of the people! The Emperor’s money is also from the people’s hard-earned wealth!”
“They’re crazy! All of them are crazy!”
“.”
As Shen Lang listened to the discussions, he whispered to Zhang Biao, who was on the ladder, with a tearful voice:
“Brother Biao… Can we please cover up those words ‘Imperial Treasury’ for now? It’s too… too scary…”
“Cover what?”
Zhang Biao hammered the last nail firmly, jumped off the ladder, clapped his hands, and shouted:
“We are acting under imperial decree! Openly and honestly! If the Emperor’s Imperial Treasury is clean, why should he fear our audit? We are helping the Emperor enhance his reputation!”
As he finished speaking, he cleared his throat again and cupped his hands towards the onlookers:
“Fellow villagers! Fellow colleagues! I, Zhang Biao, trusted by His Majesty, have been promoted to Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, in charge of account clearing matters! From this day forward, this department officially opens for business!”
“Whether you are a commoner or a court official, if you have any clues about corrupt officials, any grievances, or any evidence, feel free to report it!”
“I will investigate to the end and bring justice to everyone!”
Having said this, he turned to Zhao Fengman, who was not far away, and said, “Our slogan is—”
Li Mo, with his eyes closed and an expression of facing death, held up a freshly written big-character poster with the slogan Zhang Biao had forced him to write:
【Sweep away corruption, audit the world! Even the Emperor’s storeroom will be investigated!】
Whoosh!
The entire venue erupted in uproar!
The crowd completely exploded.
This slogan was too direct! Too explosive! Too lawless!
On the other side, inside Huagai Hall.
Old Zhu had just caught his breath, downed a bowl of medicine, and was gnashing his teeth as he carefully read Zhang Biao’s ‘memorial’.
Just then, Yun Ming came rushing back, scrambling.
“Your… Your Majesty! Bad news! Censor Zhang has put up a plaque at the Censorate’s gate!”
“What plaque?”
Old Zhu’s hand, holding the memorial, froze instantly, a vague sense of extreme foreboding washing over him.
“It’s the 【Hongwu Audit Department】… and…”
Yun Ming was so scared he almost peed himself:
“And the 【Imperial Treasury Audit Special Action Group】, preparing next to the Censorate! They also… also shouted a slogan…”
“What slogan?!”
Old Zhu’s roar shook the hall’s tiles.
“【Sweep away corruption, audit the world! Even the Emperor’s storeroom will be investigated!】”
After Yun Ming finished, he collapsed onto the ground.
“Ugh…”
Old Zhu felt a sweetness in his throat, and a mouthful of blood surged up, but he forcefully swallowed it down.
He swayed a few times, tightly gripping the Dragon throne’s armrest, to prevent himself from fainting again.
Bastard!
That damned bastard!
Not only did he submit a memorial, but he also put up a plaque and shouted slogans! Is he afraid the world doesn’t know?!
“Rebellion! Everything is rebellion!!”
Old Zhu trembled all over with rage, looking like a madman:
“Jiang Huan! Jiang Huan!”
“Your servant is here!”
Jiang Huan hurried over.
“Go! Go and get that bastard Zhang Biao for us—”
Old Zhu’s words stopped abruptly halfway.
Because he suddenly saw several censors and officials from the Hanlin Academy peeking outside the hall.
They seemed to want to submit memorials as well, their expressions complex, a mix of fear, curiosity, and even a hint of excitement?
Something’s not right!
That bastard is not right!
The news of ‘auditing the Emperor’s Imperial Treasury’ had already spread, and the entire Yingtian Prefecture knew about it.
If he arrested Zhang Biao, wouldn’t that confirm his own guilt? Confirm that the Imperial Treasury had problems? What would those pure stream censors think? What would the common people think?
This madman was using his own life to set a trap for Zhu Yuanzhang.
Either agree to his audit of the Imperial Treasury, losing face for the Emperor.
Or kill him, to fulfill his will to die.
This was a no-win, dead-end situation.
Thinking this, Old Zhu’s expression shifted, killing intent and reason warring fiercely in his eyes.
Finally, with extreme difficulty, he squeezed out an order word by word through his gritted teeth, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows: “Jiang Huan!”
“Your servant is here!”
“You take men and keep an eye on Zhang Biao for us! He can investigate anyone he wants! But if he dares to get within one step of the Imperial Treasury, kill him without mercy!”
“Additionally, have the Five City Patrols disperse the commoners at the Censorate’s gate under the guise of ‘maintaining order and preventing stampedes’.”
“Tell Zhang Biao that we know his loyalty. Have him finish auditing the officials he’s currently handling first. The matter of the Imperial Treasury will be discussed later.”
It had to be said that this was an extremely brilliant political maneuver.
He did not explicitly refuse the ‘audit of the Imperial Treasury,’ nor did he explicitly agree. This made Zhang Biao’s punches feel like they were hitting cotton.
And ‘to be discussed later’ was a universal excuse.
It appeased some of the public opinion stirred up by Zhang Biao and also gave him time to strategize and observe.
Emphasizing ‘finish auditing the officials first’ was both a warning to Zhang Biao not to push his luck and a reconfirmation of one thing:
We allow you to bite, but who you bite and when you bite is up to us.
After all, what Old Zhu truly wanted to see was the ripple effect this arrogant demand to ‘audit the Imperial Treasury’ would create in the Imperial Court.
Who would jump out? Who would panic?
This was even more enticing and provocative than him faking a faint previously to make those people jump out and ‘beat the dog’.
Thinking this, to ensure Jiang Huan handled the matter well, Old Zhu added:
“If he can find out, it’s his ability. If he can’t, or causes trouble…”
He paused here, a faint, cold curve at the corner of his lips: “Then it’s Zhang Biao’s incompetence or ill intentions. What does it have to do with us?”
Boom!
Jiang Huan’s heart stirred upon hearing this.
He understood instantly.
The Emperor had completely let go, even to the point of indulgence!
Not stopping Zhang Biao from investigating officials was equivalent to tacitly allowing Zhang Biao to continue offending people.
Not responding to the request to audit the Imperial Treasury was equivalent to clearly telling everyone that he did not support Zhang Biao’s crazy actions and was not in cahoots with Zhang Biao.
This silence and indulgence was itself an extremely clear political signal.
Censor Zhang has fallen out of favor; the Emperor no longer protects him!
He was now a drowning dog that anyone could beat!
He would bear the consequences of all his actions!
“Your servant obeys the decree!”
Jiang Huan was full of admiration for Old Zhu, thinking that the Emperor’s methods were indeed more brilliant and ruthless than he had imagined.
This was to use the backlash of the entire bureaucratic system to completely crush Zhang Biao, this disobedient ‘mad knife’.
However, after giving instructions to Jiang Huan, Old Zhu was still not appeased and roared into the air again: “Yun Ming!”
“Your… Your servant is here!”
Yun Ming quickly struggled to get up from the ground.
Then he heard Old Zhu say solemnly:
“Draft an edict! Inform the Six Ministries and all government offices! Whoever dares to cooperate with Zhang Biao’s absurd behavior of auditing the Imperial Treasury will be treated as a co-conspirator! They will all share the same crime!”
“Also, tell Zhang Biao! The eight thousand taels of silver previously allocated to him, return it to us! Not a single fraction less! Let him drink the northwest wind!”
“Yes!”
Yun Ming agreed and was about to leave.
“Wait!”
Old Zhu shouted him to a halt again, breathing heavily, and added the ultimate instruction:
“Also! Convey my decree! From today onwards! Zhang Biao and all his accomplices are forbidden to set foot within the Imperial Palace! Forbidden to approach within five li of the Imperial Treasury! Forbidden to contact any imperial eunuchs! Forbidden to access any archives related to imperial expenses!”
“I don’t want to hear any more of his bullshit about auditing! I don’t want to see any more of his dog-shit memorials! Make him disappear from my sight completely! Do you understand?!”
“I understand! I understand! Your servant will attend to it immediately!”
Yun Ming and Jiang Huan finally understood.
The Emperor had not only rejected Censor Zhang’s request but had also blocked him on his contact list.
