Chapter 198: Officials Collapse! Condemning Old Zhu For Abetting Evil! 【 Requesting Monthly Tickets 】
“Come, come! Everyone come and see, come and look!”
“Passersby, don’t miss out! The ultimate ‘revenge and retribution,’ ‘promotion and wealth’ weapon is here!”
“The anonymous complaint box for reporting Princes, you deserve to have one!”
“Your farmland was forcibly occupied? A Prince’s subordinate official extorted you? You can’t stand a certain Prince’s arrogance and tyranny? Your chance has come!”
“No need to worry about exposure! No need to fear retaliation! It’s more convenient than beating the Drum of Hearing Petitions, more efficient than writing a memorial, it can reach the Emperor directly! No deception!”
“Furthermore! Successful reporting earns a grand prize! Fifty taels of snowflake silver to start, no upper limit! You won’t be cheated, you won’t be fooled!”
Zhang Biao’s highly inflammatory ‘advertisement’ was remarkably effective.
The surrounding commoners’ eyes widened, their breathing grew heavy, and they whispered to each other:
“Fifty taels?! My family couldn’t earn that in fifty years!”
“And it can be anonymous? This… if I reported how Wang Lao Wu from the next village had his irrigation ditch stolen by the Prince’s manor…”
“Shh! Keep your voice down! Are you trying to die!”
“What’s there to fear! It’s anonymous! Who would know it was us!”
The more the commoners heard, the more their hearts were stirred, their fists clenched, eager to try.
As for the civil and military officials, they were all pale as death, trembling with anger.
Yuan Tai’s beard bristled, he pointed at Zhang Biao, and snarled at his colleagues:
“What kind of conduct is this! What kind of conduct! Has this fellow turned the area outside the Gate of Heavenly Acceptance into a marketplace?! Does he think he’s a street performer hawking his wares?!”
Another official clutched his chest, feeling a pang of chest pain: “Our reputation is in tatters! In tatters! To serve in the same court as such a rogue is an utter humiliation!”
Just as the officials were about to be driven mad by Zhang Biao’s ‘business genius’ operation, and the commoners were about to lose control of their ‘creative passion’ –
“Imperial Decree arrives –!”
A sharp, piercing cry, tinged with exasperation, rang out.
The side gate of the Gate of Heavenly Acceptance creaked open, and Jiang Huan and Yun Ming, leading the Imperial Guard, practically rushed out.
Jiang Huan’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot; if looks could kill, Zhang Biao would have been slow-sliced eight hundred times over.
“Zhang Biao! How dare you!”
Jiang Huan roared, his voice cracking slightly:
“The Emperor has decreed that this stall, which is disrupting order and deceiving the masses, be dismantled immediately –!”
“Here!”
The Imperial Guards, suppressing their laughter and a hint of helplessness, once again transformed into a demolition crew.
“Crash, bang, clatter –!”
The broken table, broken chairs, and recruitment signs once again suffered ruthless, pulverizing blows.
Zhang Biao stood aside, not only not intervening, but somehow producing an oiled paper bag from who-knows-where. He was eating something, perhaps sour and spicy pig trotters or pig’s head meat, his mouth slick with oil, and watching the spectacle with relish, occasionally nodding and commenting:
“Hmm, that leg technique is good, strong force!”
“Oh, what a pity about that board, it could still be used as firewood!”
“Hmph!”
Seeing Jiang Huan glare at him with a cold snort, he quickly hid the oiled paper bag and covered his oily mouth with his hand, but his eyes, curved into crescents from smiling, and his heaving shoulders, completely betrayed him.
“Demolish! Demolish with all your might! Better to demolish it with gongs and drums!”
“This advertising effect is even better than me shouting myself hoarse!”
“Later, I’ll write a ‘Record of the Demolition of the Gate of Heavenly Acceptance,’ it will surely sell well!”
Jiang Huan looked at Zhang Biao’s smug, defiant demeanor, his blood pressure soaring, wishing only to finish the demolition and leave, to get this eyesore out of his sight.
However, just as the stall was reduced to a pile of genuine garbage, and Jiang Huan was preparing to have Yun Ming quickly read the decree and report back, his peripheral vision caught sight of something exceptionally striking, completely intact, and glaringly red, beside the pile of trash –
A LARGE BOX!
The words “Anonymous Complaint Box” seemed like five little demons in red belly bands dancing, intensely stinging his eyes.
Jiang Huan’s steps suddenly halted, his entire body frozen as if struck by an Immobilization Technique.
The anger on his face instantly congealed, then shattered like ice, replaced by an extremely complex expression of shock, absurdity, and a profound sense of ‘I’ll be damned, this is even possible.’
“An… anonymous complaint box?!”
“He actually dared… dared to set this thing up?! And aimed at the Princes?!”
As the Imperial Guard Commander, he knew all too well what this contraption signified.
This was no recruitment drive; it was a butcher knife hanging over everyone’s heads, one that could incite countless bloody storms without Zhang Biao personally wielding it!
Almost at the same moment Jiang Huan saw the complaint box, Yun Ming also noticed this bizarre presence.
The eunuch, accustomed to facing storms, also trembled slightly, his hand holding the imperial decree, a flicker of disbelief and alarm flashing in the depths of his eyes.
Meanwhile, Yuan Tai and the other officials, who had just begun to feel a sliver of relief that the Emperor had finally intervened after their stall was dismantled, felt their hearts plummet as they saw the drastic change in Jiang Huan’s and Yun Ming’s expressions.
It’s over!
The worst-case scenario has occurred!
The person the Emperor sent doesn’t know about this anonymous complaint box.
This means that this madman Zhang Biao has outmaneuvered the Emperor!
He first shouted the slogan ‘Audit the Princes,’ alerting the Emperor, and then, after the Emperor’s decree was issued, he produced the anonymous complaint box!
The Emperor’s decree could very well become Zhang Biao’s greatest asset!
“What do we do? What should we do now?”
Jiang Huan felt his throat grow dry and couldn’t help but turn to Yun Ming, his eyes filled with inquiry and a hint of barely concealed panic.
Yun Ming took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm.
Regardless of the situation, the decree had to be read according to protocol.
He stepped forward, unfurled the imperial decree, and read in a voice as steady as possible:
“The Emperor’s oral decree: I am feeling slightly unwell. Today’s Grand Court Session will be postponed by one hour. All officials are to wait in the side hall for now and refrain from making noise.”
This first decree was understandable to everyone.
However, Yun Ming then proceeded to read the Emperor’s disposition regarding Zhang Biao:
“The Emperor further decrees: Regarding Zhang Biao’s ‘Anti-Corruption Bureau’ recruitment matter, his so-called ‘high salary and benefits’ far exceed court regulations and are not in compliance. Furthermore, he has no authority over personnel or finances, and all promises are void!”
“As for his statement about ‘auditing the Princes,’ it concerns the imperial clan and is no small matter. Even if there is truth to it, it requires my personal judgment, how can it be casually discussed and judged by private individuals?!”
“Effective immediately…”
As Yun Ming read, he himself felt the imperial decree to be somewhat weak and ineffective.
Indeed, after the decree was read, an extremely awkward silence fell upon the scene.
The officials’ expressions were priceless, as if they had collectively swallowed a fly, unable to spit it out or swallow it down.
“Your Majesty! This is hardly a punishment for him!”
“You’ve revoked Zhang Biao’s power to recruit? It doesn’t matter! This complaint box is right here!”
“He doesn’t need to recruit; naturally, someone will be driven by gain or hatred and secretly stuff things in! The effect will be more hidden, safer, and more stimulating!”
“You’ve revoked Zhang Biao’s power to access the Ministry of Revenue’s money and grain? It doesn’t matter!”
“The silver awarded for successful reports is nothing to that madman Zhang Biao! He has his own ways of getting money!”
“Moreover, the reward itself is a bait!”
“You say auditing the Princes requires your ‘personal judgment’? It doesn’t matter!”
“The ‘clues’ collected by this complaint box are precisely the best ‘material’ to be presented to Your Majesty for personal judgment!”
“Zhang Biao doesn’t need personnel authority or financial power; he doesn’t even need immediate authorization for auditing!”
“He just needs to put up the ‘Anti-Corruption Bureau’ sign and set up this complaint box, and he has already planted seeds of suspicion, fear, and speculation in everyone’s hearts!”
“So, we’ve been trembling with fear here, and you, old man, are afraid we won’t be scared to death, so you issue an imperial decree to ‘aid the wicked’?”
Collapse!
Indescribable collapse!
The officials at this moment wished they were dead!
But Zhang Biao didn’t care about their internal collapse. With an expression of ‘I’m the most obedient,’ he bowed and said in a loud voice:
“Your subject—Zhang Biao, receives the decree and expresses gratitude! The Emperor is wise!”
“The Emperor shows consideration for his subjects, knowing I have no people or money, and still allows me to retain the power to ‘report situations.’ I am deeply grateful and will surely devote myself wholeheartedly until death!”
Having said that, under Jiang Huan’s gaze, which seemed to want to devour him alive, he scurried over to the complaint box, picked it up as if it were a newborn son, and carefully wiped away nonexistent dust with his sleeve.
Immediately afterward, he turned to Jiang Huan and Yun Ming, whose faces were a kaleidoscope of changing expressions, and offered a smile as warm and brilliant as the morning sun:
“Commander Jiang, Eunuch Yun, you have both worked hard!”
“I have taken the Emperor’s decree to heart! I will absolutely not use personnel authority or financial power, and will audit the Princes as the Emperor commanded! However,”
He changed his tone, patted the box in his arms, and spoke with a naive and innocent air:
“The Emperor didn’t say I couldn’t conduct public opinion polls, did he? He didn’t say I couldn’t set up a suggestion box, did he?”
“I will certainly take good care of this ‘public opinion box’ when I get back, and strive to collect more… uh… valuable suggestions, to help the Emperor sooner!”
With that, he waved to the dumbfounded officials and the wide-eyed commoners around him, holding the box like a celebrity bidding farewell at a concert:
“Fellow villagers! Colleagues! Today’s ‘on-site promotion event’ has successfully concluded!”
“I’m taking the ‘suggestion box’ home! If you have any ‘good suggestions,’ feel free to… um, find an opportunity to submit them! There are many opportunities and generous rewards! I’m off!”
He called out to the old soldiers who were watching with beaming smiles:
“Brothers, pack it up! Let’s go home and celebrate… uh, go home and enshrine this precious box!”
Holding the ‘artifact’ that made him invincible, he strode away with an arrogant gait, under a multitude of intensely complex gazes.
Outside the Gate of Heavenly Acceptance, only scattered debris remained, along with a group of officials whose minds were in turmoil, feeling as if their intelligence had been ground into the dirt, and commoners who were deep in thought, as if they had discovered a new continent.
Jiang Huan stared at Zhang Biao’s retreating figure, his fists clenched so tightly they made a cracking sound, and only one thought remained in his mind:
“Can I still apply to serve on the border now?”
Yun Ming rubbed his aching temples, feeling that his career had encountered an unprecedented challenge.
As for Yuan Tai and the other ministers, they gazed in the direction Zhang Biao had disappeared, and for the first time, they deeply and painfully understood the saying, “The righteous are no match for the wicked.”
This madman was not only ruthless and thick-skinned, but also a master of wordplay and exploiting loopholes!
Who could withstand this?!
Not long after, Jiang Huan and Yun Ming returned to the Huagai Hall, trembling.
Inside the Huagai Hall, the blue smoke of dragon’s breath incense curled upwards, but it could not suppress the air that was almost thick enough to freeze into ice shards.
Jiang Huan and Yun Ming knelt below the imperial steps, their heads bowed low.
In the plainest language possible, they reported the commotion caused by the ‘anonymous complaint box’ outside the Gate of Heavenly Acceptance to Old Zhu.
When they heard how Zhang Biao had loudly proclaimed the complaint box a weapon for ‘revenge and retribution, promotion and wealth,’ inciting the commoners to action, Old Zhu’s eyebrows twitched.
When they heard how Jiang Huan had led his men to dismantle the stall, and Zhang Biao had stood by eating pig’s head meat and watching the show, Old Zhu’s jaw bulged.
When the focus finally fell on the anonymous complaint box, which Zhang Biao had carried away like a beloved son, and the despairing reactions of the officials, as if they had swallowed flies –
“Heh… hehe…”
On the dragon throne, a strange, suppressed laugh, as if squeezed from the depths of his throat, was heard.
Jiang Huan and Yun Ming flinched in fear, their heads drooping lower, almost touching the golden bricks.
Suddenly!
“Bang –!”
With a loud bang, Old Zhu slammed his palm onto the hard rosewood imperial desk, causing the imperial brush on the brush holder to jump and a fine Duan inkstone to leap up!
“Good! Good! Very good!!”
Old Zhu sprang from the dragon throne with a ‘whoosh,’ his movements so swift they were unlike those of an old man.
His chest heaved violently, his face flushed crimson, not with the paleness of someone about to vomit blood, but like a heated branding iron, veins bulging on his forehead.
He paced back and forth before the imperial steps, his strides heavy and hurried, like a furious lion trapped in a cage, the hem of his dragon robe billowing.
“Anonymous complaint box?! Reaching the Emperor directly?! Fifty taels to start?! No upper limit?!”
With each repetition of Zhang Biao’s ‘advertisement,’ Old Zhu’s voice rose higher, until he was practically shouting, causing dust to rain down from the hall beams.
“What does Zhang Biao want?! Huh?! What does he want?! What does he think this Great Ming court is?!”
“A dice cup?! A bet at the gambling house?! And anonymous, no less?!”
He suddenly stopped, pointing in the direction of the Gate of Heavenly Acceptance, his finger trembling:
“Beating gongs and drums! Even street vendors don’t hawk their wares as loudly as he does! Our Gate of Heavenly Acceptance! Has become his street stall?”
“And you!”
Old Zhu’s wrath erupted, and he turned to Jiang Huan and Yun Ming: “Were your eyes on your backside?! Couldn’t you see such a large box?!”
“Demolish it! Good demolition! Excellent demolition! Demolished into a mess!”
“And then?! Huh?! You just watched him carry that broken box away like a family heirloom?!”
Jiang Huan and Yun Ming prostrated themselves on the ground, repeatedly saying, “Your subject is guilty,” and inwardly lamenting their misfortune.
Old Zhu paid them no mind and continued his furious tirade:
“We denied him personnel authority! Denied him financial power! Was to prevent him from ‘recruiting troops and horses,’ to prevent him from indulging in extravagance!”
“And the result?! This killer! He’s directly engaged in a business with no cost and infinite profit!”
“He doesn’t need people! That broken box is his people! He doesn’t need money! Those report rewards are nothing compared to the grand promises he makes!”
“He is… he is using our rules, exploiting our loopholes! He is putting our civil and military officials, our Princes, on the fire to roast! And it’s slow roasting over a low flame!”
Old Zhu grew more agitated as he spoke, even instinctively rolling up his sleeves as if he were about to rush out and fight Zhang Biao himself.
“A fine ‘public opinion box’! A fine ‘collecting suggestions’!”
“I see him as nothing more than a troublemaker who fears the world is not chaotic enough! A stinking, stubborn, and shape-shifting troublemaker!”
He panted, turning in a circle on the spot, then stopped abruptly, his eyes becoming sharp and gleaming with the ferocity of a completely enraged man, mixed with killing intent and a hint of recognizing a worthy opponent.
“Want to play? Fine! I’ll play with you!”
He suddenly looked at Yun Ming, his voice decisive: “Yun Ming!”
“Your servant is here!”
Yun Ming started.
“Go to the side hall and relay this message: The Grand Court Session will proceed as usual! We will add a discussion on ‘Princes’ Salaries and Restrictions’! All Princes, including the Nine Border Kings, without exception!”
“Your servant obeys the decree!”
Yun Ming’s heart tightened; he instantly understood the Emperor’s intention.
The Emperor intended to leverage the situation!
Didn’t Zhang Biao forcefully break through the issue of ‘auditing the Princes’?
Very well, the Emperor would bring it up for discussion openly!
But not with Zhang Biao’s lawless methods, but with him, the Emperor, leading the discussion!
This was about reclaiming the right to speak and the initiative!
Immediately after, Old Zhu looked sharply at Jiang Huan, his gaze like two red-hot iron awls: “Jiang Huan!”
“Your subject is here!”
Jiang Huan quickly stepped forward.
Only to hear Old Zhu say with no room for argument:
“That box! Keep a close eye on it! Where he puts it, who approaches it, who throws something in, even if it’s just toilet paper, investigate it thoroughly!”
“Also, those spies from the various Princely Mansions in the capital, keep a close watch on who they exchange glances with!”
“Let’s see if our Imperial Guard is more formidable, or if his broken box can shake the heavens!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Jiang Huan felt a surge of hot blood mixed with cold rush to his head.
“Go!”
Old Zhu waved his hand.
The two retreated from the Huagai Hall as if granted a great amnesty.
The hall door closed, as if shutting out the outside world.
Old Zhu stood alone in the center of the vast hall, his chest still heaving, but the furious rage in his eyes gradually subsided, transforming into a deep, chilling coldness.
He walked to the imperial desk, which bore the imprint of his palm, looked at the inkstone that had jumped, and reached out, slowly, to set it upright.
“Zhang Biao, Zhang Biao, you want to stir up trouble with this box and force my hand?”
“Do you think I’ll be led by the nose by you?”
“You want to force my sons to rebel, forcing me to kill them? I’ll see that you don’t get your way!”
The corners of his mouth slowly curled into a cold, almost ferocious arc.
After the excitement came extreme calm, and the ignited fighting spirit of the Hongwu Great Emperor.
“You throw out a gunpowder barrel, and I’ll light it like a firecracker! Make a noise, and incidentally, clear the stage!”
“Once I establish the Imperial Grandson, and the realm is settled, I will deal with you, you madman!”
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