Chapter 202: Hongwu Great Emperor Pursues With Sword, Censor Zhang Circles The Pillar!? 【 Requesting Monthly Tickets 】
Last time, Zhang Biao proposed auditing the Imperial Treasury, and Old Zhu immediately cut off contact with him.
He also left unread the formal letter submitted by Zhang Biao, requesting the public disclosure of the Hongwu Emperor’s Imperial Treasury accounts and their submission to the Censorate for audit.
It was clear that he was done with Zhang Biao.
He even sent Jiang Huan to monitor the Imperial Treasury Audit Special Action Group that Zhang Biao had formed, and even smashed the signboard of the Hongwu Audit Special Clearing Account Department.
This time, Zhang Biao proposed auditing the Imperial Treasury again, and directly at that, in front of Old Zhu.
It was tantamount to the emperor and his minister having completely fallen out.
If Old Zhu wanted to ignore Zhang Biao again, it would appear that he, the Hongwu Emperor, had caved in to his minister.
So, how could he possibly accept this?!
“Zhang Biao—!”
After a long period of tension, Old Zhu’s roar echoed like a wounded lion throughout the Hall of Supreme Harmony, shaking dust from the beams and pillars.
“My tolerance has limits!”
“If you push me further! Even if you hide the greatest secret! Even if I never know the truth in my life! I will still! Kill you!”
He emphasized the last two words, “kill you,” heavily, his eyes red and his chest heaving.
The killing intent in his gaze had almost solidified into substance, as if he were about to tear Zhang Biao to shreds with his own hands in the next moment.
However, faced with this “imperial wrath” that would make any minister lose their soul, Zhang Biao was like seaweed rooted to a reef in a storm. He didn’t even sway, and the mocking smile on his face deepened.
“You see, Old Zhu.”
Zhang Biao’s voice was not loud, but it clearly cut through Old Zhu’s roar with a chilling, all-knowing tone:
“This is the problem.”
“You repeatedly claim to be acting for the Great Ming, for the empire and its state.”
“But the moment it touches your own interests, your imperial power and private assets that cannot be probed, you immediately fly into a rage, treat it as forbidden, and wish to dismember anyone who offers advice!”
Having said that, he pointed at Old Zhu, showing no deference expected of a minister, acting more like he was scolding a stingy miser:
“You would rather watch the national treasury become empty, the border troops go unpaid, the common people suffer, and officials be corrupt! You would rather support a group of imperial clan princes who are hollowing out the country, than allow anyone to touch even a fraction of your Imperial Treasury!”
“You demand integrity from everyone in the land, demand that the princes observe mourning periods, and that officials be loyal to the ruler, but what about yourself?”
“How much in your Imperial Treasury comes from confiscated official land? How much from taxes that should have gone into the national treasury? How much from the people’s hard-earned money ‘tributed’ from various regions?!”
“Your own hands are not clean, so on what basis do you demand that others be incorruptible?! On what grounds do you righteously tell me to ‘audit the princes’ and ‘audit the officials’?! Just because you are the Emperor? Does that mean the official can set fire to the stove, but the commoner cannot even light a lamp?!”
“You… you bastard!”
Old Zhu trembled all over, enraged by these words that pierced his heart so deeply. He wanted to retort, but found his throat blocked.
Zhang Biao’s words were like the sharpest dagger, precisely piercing the deepest, most hidden corner of his heart that he himself refused to acknowledge—
That mindset of privilege, as an emperor, of being above all laws, and the subconscious notion of treating the entire empire as his private property.
Then, Old Zhu retorted through gritted teeth:
“The Imperial Treasury is the Emperor’s private property! It is used to maintain the expenses of the palace, reward meritorious officials, and meet unexpected needs! How can it be equated with the national treasury?!”
He paused, narrowed his eyes at Zhang Biao, and emphasized, “How can a mere minister like you make wild guesses and arbitrarily audit it?!”
He tried to use the traditional argument of “the Emperor’s private property” to preserve his last fig leaf.
“The Emperor’s private property?”
Zhang Biao sneered and pressed on:
“Under heaven, all land belongs to the king; all subjects on its shores are the king’s vassals. Since the entire world is yours, why differentiate so clearly?”
“When the nation is in need, when your people are starving to death, why cannot this ‘Emperor’s private property’ be used as a ‘public resource for the entire world’?”
“Your Majesty, have you ever considered that precisely because you and your successors have so clearly separated the Imperial Treasury from the National Treasury, you have given future rulers an excuse to be extravagant and deplete the country?! And caused officials in the Ministry of Revenue to be fearful and dare not speak out when facing imperial expenses?!”
“Auditing the Imperial Treasury is not about stealing your money! It is about establishing a rule!”
“A rule that even an emperor cannot act recklessly, and that imperial expenses must be subject to supervision and consideration!”
“So, why establish this rule? Is it to tell the world that the Emperor must also abide by the law! That imperial power is not boundless!”
“Absurd! Utterly absurd!”
Old Zhu’s vision turned black with rage. He felt that the beliefs and the foundation of his power, which he had upheld his entire life, were being frantically undermined by Zhang Biao with these unheard-of ‘heretical theories.’
“The Emperor is the supreme ruler, chosen by heaven! Do I need to account for my actions to a mere censor like you?! Do I need to establish some damn rule?!”
“So what?”
Zhang Biao retorted unceremoniously, “So you can ignore the financial crisis, ignore the people’s suffering, and just hoard your little coffer?”
“So you can cry ‘anti-corruption’ while you and your family become the biggest protectors of corruption?”
“Old Zhu, if you cannot be upright yourself, how can you demand that your sons and ministers be honest and self-disciplined?”
“What are you truly fighting against with your anti-corruption campaign? Are you only fighting others and not yourself?!”
Boom!
As these words were spoken, Old Zhu felt as if struck by lightning, his mind buzzing.
Fighting myself?
Listen! Is that human speech?!
I, the dignified Emperor of the Great Ming, the supreme ruler, the master of the world! And you think I’m fighting myself?!
Who does this bastard think I am?! Does he really think I’m a complete idiot?!
“Pfft—”
The intense anger caused his blood to surge in reverse, and Old Zhu finally couldn’t hold back, spitting out a mouthful of blood that stained his dragon robe and the golden brick floor in front of him.
His body swayed, and he stumbled, grasping the dragon-carved golden pillar beside him to avoid falling.
“Your Majesty—!”
Yun Ming’s panicked cry was faintly heard from outside the hall, but he dared not enter.
Old Zhu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Zhang Biao, devoid of anger now, replaced by an extreme coldness and an inexpressible complexity.
There was killing intent, shock, and perhaps a trace of embarrassment after the truth was exposed, and a sliver of wavering he himself was unwilling to admit.
“Zhang Biao…”
Old Zhu’s voice was hoarse like a broken gong, “Everything you have said today… every word is a heart-piercing accusation… are you determined to force me to kill you… is that it?”
Zhang Biao looked at Old Zhu spitting blood, his eyes moved slightly, but quickly returned to their insolent toughness.
He straightened his back and met Old Zhu’s gaze fearlessly:
“I advocate for the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Bureau, naturally, I want to fight corruption!”
“The greatest financial power in this land, by rights, should be the national treasury, but upon closer examination, it is actually your Imperial Treasury.”
“Now, I have audited the Ministry of Revenue and discovered many problems. And this is the result without directly auditing the national treasury.”
“From this, it is evident how rotten the Great Ming’s finances are!”
“And you, who hasn’t even figured out mathematics, are in control of the world’s greatest financial power, isn’t that a huge joke?”
“If your Imperial Treasury is not audited clearly, how can the public be convinced? How can the Emperor’s own integrity be proven?”
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
Old Zhu completely lost his composure, even resorting to foul language, and abruptly stood up from behind his imperial desk:
“Do I need to prove myself to you?! You bastard, you repeatedly provoke the heavenly might, do you really think I dare not kill you?!”
“Provocation?”
Zhang Biao suddenly smiled, a smile filled with deep sarcasm:
“Your Majesty, haven’t you realized yet? I am helping you!”
“Help me?”
Old Zhu laughed in anger, “You want to audit my Imperial Treasury and you say you’re helping me?!”
“Feint to the east, attack to the west, a feint to capture Zhao, such a simple tactic, does Your Majesty not understand?”
Zhang Biao shrugged, with an expression that said, ‘How can you be so stupid?’:
“I clamored about auditing the princes, set up a complaint box, stirred up the waters, and attracted everyone’s attention.”
“At this time, if I then audit your Imperial Treasury, which seems the most impossible to touch, wouldn’t the resistance be much smaller?”
“Once I’ve thoroughly investigated the Imperial Treasury and proven that Your Majesty himself is clean, then when I go after those princes, who would dare to say a word?!”
“This is called setting an example, this is called occupying the moral high ground!”
He paused, his tone hardening, with naked threat:
“So, Your Majesty, there are only three paths before you now.”
“First, agree to my auditing the Imperial Treasury, and I will help you deal with the princes until they are all subdued.”
“Second, if you disagree, then I will continue to mess with your son, using my methods. If something like ‘removing the ruler’s assistants’ happens then, don’t blame me for not giving you advance notice.”
“Third, the simplest, you kill me now, and it’s all over.”
“You… you dare to threaten me?!”
Old Zhu was so enraged that his eyes were about to burst. He had never encountered such an arrogant and unrestrained minister.
“Yes, it is a threat.”
Zhang Biao calmly admitted it, even nodding, “And I don’t think you would dare not kill me. To be honest, I rather hope you do it sooner.”
A very punchable, yearning expression appeared on his face:
“Being this damn official, constantly on edge, and having to outwit an emperor with advanced suspicion, isn’t it tiring? I’ve long wanted to go back!”
“Go back and enjoy! Nightclubs with models, luxury cars, and mansions, aren’t they all better than being your ‘punching bag’ here?!”
“Before, I didn’t have money, so I couldn’t help it. Now that I have money, tens of millions in assets, why should I endure this kind of abuse from you?!”
This speech contained so much information that it completely stunned Old Zhu.
Nightclubs with models? Luxury cars and mansions? What on earth are these things?
Tens… tens of millions of taels?!!
Old Zhu’s rage was instantly suppressed by a great shock. His pupils widened, and he stared intently at Zhang Biao:
“Where… where did you get the money?!”
“Tens of millions of taels? Even my Imperial Treasury doesn’t have that much! You embezzled?! You took bribes?!”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
Zhang Biao waved his hand, looking like he was saying, ‘Commercial secrets, I’m afraid I can’t tell you’:
“Anyway, the source is legal and clean. Just tell me, do you agree to my terms or not?”
Old Zhu was shaken by the enormous sum and Zhang Biao’s attitude. However, he was, after all, the Hongwu Great Emperor. He forcibly calmed himself and said through gritted teeth:
“You wish! I will never be threatened by you!”
“If you dare to cause trouble again, I will lock you up in the Imperial Prison, and all your accomplices, those old soldiers colluding with you, will be executed by slow slicing one by one!”
He thought this would scare Zhang Biao.
However, the sarcasm on Zhang Biao’s face deepened. He shook his head and said in an almost pitying tone:
“Zhu Yuanzhang, you really are no good. Besides rebellion, you can’t do anything else well.”
He called him by his full name!
Like the last straw, it crushed Old Zhu’s reason. He almost roared to call someone in.
But Zhang Biao’s next words were like three cold poisonous arrows, precisely piercing all his rage, leaving only bone-chilling coldness and terror.
“Have you figured out the truth behind Zhu Xiongying’s death?”
“Have you found the mastermind behind the death of Crown Prince Zhu Biao?”
“I’ll kill you—!”
Old Zhu was touched on his most painful scar and became instantly enraged, almost lunging forward to strangle Zhang Biao with his own hands.
However, Zhang Biao continued to stab him in the heart without pause:
“Oh, by the way. The death of Empress Ma, you must have sensed something was wrong, right?”
Boom—!
These three sentences, a hundred times more powerful than all the previous outrageous words combined!
Old Zhu felt as if struck by a thunderbolt from the highest heavens. He froze in place, his face instantly turning as pale as paper, his lips trembling, but he could not utter a single word.
Xiongying… Biao’er… Sister…
These three scars, the most important in his life, and the most painful and untouchable in his heart, were ripped open bloody by Zhang Biao in the most brutal way.
After a moment, he abruptly turned his head and roared towards the outside of the hall, “Yun Ming! Bring me my sword—!”
Holy crap! Old Zhu, are you serious!?
Zhang Biao shivered.
Just then, the hall door creaked open a crack.
Yun Ming entered, trembling, holding a richly decorated precious sword, his face looking worse than if his own father had died, “Em… Emperor… the sword… the sword…”
Old Zhu snatched the precious sword, and with a “clang,” the sharp blade was drawn, its cold light reflecting his ferocious face:
“You damned Zhang Biao! If I don’t chop you up today, I’m not surnamed Zhu!”
Saying this, he rushed towards Zhang Biao with the sword in hand, his posture resembling a famished wolf whose food had been snatched.
Zhang Biao saw this and thought, “This is serious!”
He hadn’t tried being personally killed by Old Zhu and then transmigrating back to the modern world.
If anything went wrong, wouldn’t that be the end of it?
So, he didn’t dare take this risk.
“Oh my god! Old Zhu! No! Your Majesty, calm down! Impulsiveness is the devil—!”
Zhang Biao shrieked and swiftly dodged behind the nearest dragon-carved golden pillar.
“Stop right there! If you’re a man, don’t run!”
Old Zhu, furious, chased him around the pillar with the sword.
“Not running is for fools! You’re clearly trying to dismember me!”
Zhang Biao fully utilized the agility of a modern corporate slave dodging their boss’s inspection, playing a game of hide-and-seek with Old Zhu around the pillar.
For a moment, the solemn and majestic Huagai Hall became the stage for a comical scene: “The Hongwu Great Emperor furiously chases a mad censor, a life-or-death race unfolds beneath the golden pillars.”
The guards who had rushed in to protect the emperor, and Yun Ming holding the sword sheath, were all dumbfounded.
They never expected the scene to change so drastically, and they stood frozen, unsure whether to advance or retreat.
However, their expressions were a kaleidoscope of emotions: wanting to laugh but not daring to, wanting to advise but not daring to, they could only stare dumbfounded at this unprecedented scene.
Old Zhu, after all, was getting old and had just vomited blood, so after a few rounds, he was panting.
He leaned against the pillar, the tip of his sword pointing at Zhang Biao on the other side, “You… you son of a bitch… come here!”
Zhang Biao poked his head out from behind the pillar, his tongue still nimble:
“Your Majesty, you’re not playing fair! Resorting to violence when you can’t win? It’s uncivilized! It’s beneath your status!”
“Bah! What integrity and status am I supposed to have with a scoundrel like you!”
Old Zhu gasped and cursed, “I will chop you today!”
“If you chop me, it will be the joy of our loved ones and the satisfaction of our enemies!”
Zhang Biao, while warily maintaining a safe distance, counted on his fingers, enumerating Old Zhu’s past:
“Look at you, ever since you were a young novice monk at Huang Jue Temple, caught stealing offerings and kicked out, your temper has never been good!”
“Later, you begged for food as a beggar and fought with dogs for scraps, is that how you developed these legs? You’re quite agile chasing me now!”
“When you were a monk, did you not memorize scriptures? Did you only think about fighting?”
“When you were with Guo Zixing, did you only think about how to cheat your father-in-law?”
“.”
Zhang Biao’s mouth was like a vacuum cleaner, dredging up all of Old Zhu’s hidden dirt… no, his entire entrepreneurial history!
Every word precisely hit Old Zhu’s most sensitive points and black history that he least wanted mentioned.
“You… shut up!”
Old Zhu was so angry that his hair was about to stand on end. His blood pressure soared, and he forgot his fatigue, picking up the sword and yelling again as he chased.
“I’ll kill you, you loose-tongued bastard!”
“Ow! Your Majesty, spare me! I haven’t even gotten to the part where you secretly peeked at the widow from the next village bathing yet!”
Zhang Biao, while dodging frantically, continued to pour fuel on the fire.
“What nonsense are you spouting! I didn’t!”
Old Zhu was going mad. What was all this?!
His reputation was the most important thing in his life, how could he tolerate this?!
Yun Ming and the guards were completely petrified, their hearts screaming:
Master Zhang! Please, stop talking!
Your Majesty! Please calm your anger! What… what is this conduct?!
But they dared not move, fearing they would become collateral damage.
The emperor and his minister, one panting and chasing with a precious sword, the other nimbly dodging, began an endless cycle around the large pillars in the Huagai Hall.
“Stop right there!”
“Not stopping!”
“I’ll exterminate your nine generations of kin!”
“I only have one generation of kin, feel free to do as you please!”
“I’ll flay you alive!”
“Then you’ll have to catch me first!”
“You’re making me so angry!!”
Finally, Old Zhu’s stamina gave out. He stumbled, propped himself up with his sword, and panted heavily, sweat streaming down his face, his dragon robe soaked through.
He pointed at Zhang Biao, who was also exhausted and leaning against a pillar, and gritted his teeth, barely having the strength to curse:
“You… you… bastard…”
Zhang Biao also panted, but his face wore a “what can you do about it” expression, and he couldn’t resist adding:
“Your Majesty, you see, your stamina isn’t good either. You should get angry less in the future, focus on your health, and strive to live to… uh, strive to live a long life and kill more corrupt officials.”
Upon hearing this, Old Zhu almost spat out another mouthful of blood.
He finally understood that arguing with this obstinate fellow would only lead to his own demise from anger.
He fiercely threw the precious sword to the ground with a “clang,” making Yun Ming and the guards jump.
“Scram…”
Old Zhu waved his hand weakly, not even wanting to look at Zhang Biao again:
“Get away from here far…”
“Three days… if you can’t submit a memorial in three days… I’ll… I’ll banish you to Liaodong to feed the mosquitoes…”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Biao’s eyes lit up:
Liaodong? What a good place! I heard the black soil there is very fertile; sweet potatoes would surely yield a high harvest there!
Is Old Zhu giving me a test plot!?
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great kindness! Your Majesty is wise!”
Zhang Biao quickly bowed deeply to Old Zhu.
Old Zhu was completely taken aback.
Is this bastard deaf?! Or is he truly hopelessly insane?!
“Get out—!”
Old Zhu couldn’t help but roar like thunder.
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
He felt like he was about to ascend to heaven from anger!
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