Chapter 80: Jiang Huan: I Can’t Keep Up With His Pacing. Seeking First Subscription
“Article Four!”
Zhang Biao ignored Ru Chang’s stunned silence and, as if transforming into a righteous roaring emperor, shouted with all his might:
“In the 25th year of Hongwu, the Shaanxi-Gansu military households’ grain seed was short by 30,000 shi! The accounts are flawless? Bah! Your brother-in-law’s cousin’s maternal uncle’s nephew, who just opened a grain store in Xi’an, where did his capital come from?!”
“Was it exchanged for our brothers’ rations?!”
*Thump!*
An old soldier, who had lost a leg in the Shaanxi-Gansu border town and was supposed to be filled with stern resolve, slammed his cane to the ground. He looked at Ru Chang, whose face had turned ashen, in disbelief.
He had lost one of his legs in the Shaanxi-Gansu border town.
“Article Five! Embezzlement of salaries!”
“The Capital Garrison’s three main camps have an authorized strength of 80,000, but what is the actual registered number?”
“Minister Ru, are those dozens of burly, idle retainers in your household listed in the Capital Garrison payroll?”
“Are their salaries thicker than those of the brothers fighting on the front lines?!”
Another old soldier, missing an arm, suddenly looked up. A flame of anger ignited in his single eye, and he stared intently at Ru Chang.
The old soldiers behind him began to stir, their heavy breaths merging into a chorus, a wrath ignited by deception and betrayal.
Ru Chang’s stout body trembled violently. Sweat had already soaked his official robe. He waved his arms in a futile attempt to protest:
“Slander! This is naked slander! Old soldier brothers, don’t listen to this madman’s ramblings! Quickly! Arrest them!”
However, the old soldiers he had invited to ‘maintain order’ now stood like statues of fury.
Not only did they not advance, but they looked at him with even colder, more suspicious eyes.
Maintain order?
Maintain order for a dog who might be drinking their blood and eating their flesh?!
“Whether it’s slander or not, it’s obvious at a glance!”
Zhang Biao sneered, tossed the greasy pen to Li Mo, clapped his hands, and shouted up at the roof: “Department Director Sun! Stop shining that light!”
“Pass your chamber pot lamp down to the old soldier brothers, let them see if the pillars of our Ministry of War Hall are harder than the bones of the frontline soldiers!”
“And shine it on Minister Ru’s face, see if it’s blacker than the bottom of a pot!”
“Alright!”
Sun Gui responded excitedly, then carefully lowered the chamber pot lamp, emitting a complex odor, on a rope to an old soldier below.
The old soldier blinked, then instinctively caught it.
The faint, odorous glow illuminated his weathered, time-worn face, as well as the crooked but damning accusations scrawled on the wall.
The light slowly moved, sweeping across Ru Chang’s pale, sweating, fat face, and then across the other trembling Ministry of War officials, creating a stark, absurd contrast.
“Brothers!”
Zhang Biao, standing on a roof beam, spoke again in a resonant voice:
“You shed blood and sweat to protect what? The brilliant futures and bloated bellies of these vermin? Is your delay in receiving your pensions and the deductions in your military pay being fed to these things?!”
After speaking, he pointed forcefully at Ru Chang again:
“Today! I, Zhang Biao, am here to help you, and to help the country, dig out these vermin!”
“Will you help him cover up his crimes and continue to starve your wives and children, or will you follow me, Old Zhang, and get back what’s rightfully yours?!”
*Whoosh!*
The entire hall fell silent, like fallen leaves swept away by an autumn wind.
A deathly silence.
Then—
“Damn it!”
The old soldier with the lost leg was the first to erupt. His eyes were bloodshot, and he slammed his cane hard on the ground, roaring:
“Was losing this leg worth it?! So these bastards could embezzle the money I earned fighting for them?!”
“Bastards! No wonder every payday is short!”
“Give us back our hard-earned money!”
The old soldiers’ anger exploded like a volcano.
They might not have understood grand principles, but they knew who touched their survival rations – they were their enemies.
In an instant, the target shifted.
These old soldiers, who had been invited to intimidate Zhang Biao and his group, instead became the most fearsome force surrounding the Ministry of War officials.
Seeing this, Ru Chang fell into complete despair.
He looked at the enraged old soldiers, at Zhang Biao on the roof beam like a devil, and at the undeniable evidence on the wall. His mental defenses completely collapsed.
“Stop, stop! Ancestor! I’ll call you ancestor, is that not enough?!”
Ru Chang slumped to the ground, his voice filled with a broken sob and utter collapse.
“It won’t do even if you call me father!”
Zhang Biao snorted coldly, then crossed his arms, standing on the roof beam like a god looking down on the mortal world: “Now tell me, will you pay or not?!”
“Yes! I’ll give you everything! You can take whatever you want from the Ministry of War’s storeroom! Just please, don’t pursue the accounts!”
Ru Chang’s stout body sagged completely: “If you calculate further… calculating further would lead to my nine generations of ancestors being executed!”
“Oh, now you’re scared?”
Zhang Biao raised an eyebrow, mockingly:
“Weren’t you quite tough just now? You even found old soldier brothers to scare us?”
“I was wrong! I was really wrong!”
Ru Chang wept tears, showing none of the former dignity of a minister.
“Enough! Whether you’re wrong or not is none of my business. Go tell the Emperor yourself!”
Zhang Biao waved his hand impatiently, then shouted to the people on the roof:
“Brothers! Minister Ru, in his noble generosity, has agreed to our ‘offsetting debts’! Let’s get to work!”
“Alright—!”
A roar erupted from the roof.
Then, they all descended from the roof and headed straight for the Ministry of War’s main gate.
Zhang Biao then turned to the meritorious old soldiers, smiling and saying:
“Old soldier brothers? What are you waiting for? Quickly open the yamen! Let’s have a party together!”
“This…”
The old soldiers exchanged glances, but no one dared to move.
At this moment, a more steady old soldier walked up to Ru Chang and asked coldly, “Minister Ru, can we open the yamen?”
Although it was a question, it carried an undeniable tone of authority.
Ru Chang was already terrified of Zhang Biao’s calculations and didn’t dare to refuse. He weakly waved his hand:
“Open… open it.”
*Rumble—!*
Before long, the main gate of the Ministry of War yamen was opened from the inside by the old soldiers.
The members of the ‘Salary Demand Troupe,’ who had been waiting outside, along with more low-ranking military households and soldiers’ families who had rushed over upon hearing the news, flooded in like a tide.
“Accountant Shen! Estimate the value! Focus on the military equipment storeroom!”
“Got it, Brother Biao! This saber is well-maintained, worth five qian of silver!”
“That box of leather armor! Take it away! It can still be worn after some alterations!”
“Whoa! This rosewood sand table! Valuable! Take it away to be Brother Biao’s dining table!”
“The kitchen! The Ministry of War’s kitchen must be rich in oil! Don’t miss any pots, bowls, ladles, basins, preserved meats, or salted fish!”
The Ministry of War instantly transformed into a more lively abstract marketplace than the Ministry of Revenue.
Tables, chairs, benches, official documents, discarded military equipment, and even the salted pickle jars from the kitchen were all labeled as ‘offset debt goods’ and moved out.
The old soldiers spontaneously maintained order and even helped with the moving, grumbling as they worked. The scene was chaotic yet possessed a strange sense of justice.
Ru Chang, with a deathly pale face, slumped on the ground, watching his years of labor being rapidly emptied. His eyes were vacant, as if his soul had been extracted.
Zhang Biao watched it all with satisfaction, then turned his gaze to the distance, stroked his chin, and muttered:
“The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War have been audited. Where to next? The Ministry of Justice? The Ministry of Works? Or should I just visit the homes of those Dukes and Marquises?”
His voice was not loud, but it was like a cold wind sweeping through the entire Ministry of War, making all the officials who heard it shiver involuntarily.
“Got it! Where is Wu Nai Da?!”
“Brother Biao! I’m here!”
Wu Nai Da, who was about to carry a stove home to bake flatbread, was startled and immediately responded.
Zhang Biao looked at him with a half-smile: “I remember you’re from the Ministry of Personnel? Do you have any connections?”
The ‘connections’ he was asking about were similar to Department Director Sun of the Ministry of War climbing onto the roof – entering one’s own home as if it were child’s play.
Wu Nai Da’s eyes darted around, and he immediately patted his chest:
“Consider it done, Brother Biao! Follow me, everyone!”
Soon, the convoy carrying bizarrely shaped items moved majestically and conspicuously through Yingtian Prefecture, under the terrified, curious, and suppressed laughter of the citizens, heading towards the Ministry of Personnel yamen.
Wherever they passed, there was chaos and deserted streets.
The news spread like wildfire.
“Look! Censor Zhang has emptied the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War!”
“They’ve got a big cart! It has everything on it!”
“They’re going to the Ministry of Personnel! Heavens! The Ministry of Personnel officials are in for trouble!”
Jiang Huan stood in a higher shadow, watching the mobile audit vehicle that was the epitome of absurdity, his mouth twitching even more violently.
He said to the Battalion Commander beside him:
“Record this: one new mobile audit vehicle, three packhorses, one copper basin…”
He stopped halfway and waved his hand in exasperation: “Forget it, just record whatever you want, I’m starting to lose track of that scoundrel’s rhythm.”
Battalion Commander: “…”
Isn’t it just “losing track of the rhythm,” Head Jiang?!
You’ve completely lost control of him!
