Chapter 82: Quickly Invite The Grand Censor! Seeking First Subscription!
“One of us?”
Zhang Biao paused for a moment, then looked at Shen Lang with some confusion, “What do you mean, one of us!?”
Shen Lang was also dumbfounded and turned to look at Wu Nai Da, the Director of the Ministry of Personnel.
He was from the Ministry of Personnel and naturally knew it better.
Then he heard Wu Nai Da say thoughtfully:
“There is no real Minister of Personnel; the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Zhan Hui, concurrently holds the position of Minister of Personnel. And the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate is Brother Biao’s superior. I believe that Vice Minister Zhai meant this.”
“To ask Brother Biao to spare the Ministry of Personnel out of respect for the Grand Censor and not conduct an audit.”
“Ha!”
Zhang Biao seemed to hear a huge joke and immediately scoffed,
“What kind of bullshit ‘one of us’ is that!? We are the ones who are ‘one of us’, what are they!?”
After speaking, he waved his hand, “Don’t mind them, just drive the carriage over. I, Zhang Biao, audit ‘our own people’!”
Before long, Zhang Biao’s empty nest audit chariot stopped at the doorway of the Ministry of Personnel.
The desperate cries from within the half-height brick wall seemed to still echo in the air.
Zhang Biao did not rush in but instead circled the newly built low wall, tutting to himself,
“The craftsmanship of this wall looks a bit rough, the mortar joints aren’t even, and the bricks aren’t laid straight. It’s clearly a hasty job. The budget must have been embezzled!”
The cries from within the wall stopped abruptly.
Then Zhang Biao said unhurriedly, “Editor Li, make a note. First item: The renovation project of the Ministry of Personnel yamen is suspected of poor workmanship and material. The person responsible is to be investigated!”
The cries from within the wall immediately rose an octave, “Censor Zhang! Why must you do this? We really are ‘our own people’!”
“We are ‘our own people’! I never said we weren’t!”
Zhang Biao smiled and then rubbed his hands, “Only ‘our own people’ take responsibility for ‘our own people’! Hurry up and open the door, I can’t wait to see you all, ‘our own people’!”
“No, Censor Zhang! We in the Ministry of Personnel really have no money! It’s a clean department! Much cleaner than the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of War!”
“Is that so?”
Zhang Biao’s expression instantly turned cold, “Don’t refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Do you think I’m an idiot?! How much do you sell a ninth-rank official for? How much for a seventh-rank substantive position? Shall I give you a price on the spot? Honest prices, bulk discounts?”
The cries from within the wall grew louder:
“Nothing of the sort! Absolutely not! Censor Zhang, you cannot slander us!”
“Slander?”
Zhang Biao sneered, “This Ministry of Personnel yamen looks quite grand, hasn’t it been embezzling again? Editor Li…”
“Wait a moment, Brother Biao!”
Shen Lang whispered a reminder, “Aren’t we here to audit official files and evaluations?”
“Wrong!”
Zhang Biao waved his hand, interrupting him,
“Your perspective is too narrow! What is the Ministry of Personnel’s greatest asset? It’s official positions! It’s the black gauze caps! Today, we’re not auditing money and grain, we’re auditing official hats!”
Those inside and outside the wall were stunned.
Auditing official hats? How would that work?
There was a brief silence from within the wall, followed by a sharp voice, exuding forced bravado,
“Zhang Biao! How dare you! This is a court yamen! How can you act so outrageously!?”
“You emptied the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, which is already a heinous crime! Now you’re disturbing the Ministry of Personnel and disrespecting the court? Commander Jiang! Where is Commander Jiang?! Are the Imperial Guards just watching this scoundrel run amok?!”
As the voice fell silent, there was silence all around.
No one responded, and no Imperial Guards appeared.
Zhang Biao’s lips curled slightly, as if he was not surprised at all by Jiang Huan’s indifference.
At this moment, another, more seasoned voice sounded, attempting to reason:
“Censor Zhang! We are colleagues serving the same Emperor, why must it come to this?”
“If there are any misunderstandings, we can sit down and talk! Acting like this insults our scholarly traditions and damages the court’s dignity!”
“Scholarly traditions? Dignity?”
Zhang Biao scratched his ear and scoffed,
“When you were engaging in corruption and nepotism, why didn’t you think of scholarly traditions and dignity? Now you’re talking to me about it? Are you out of your mind?!”
“Censor Zhang!”
Soon, a third voice rang out, carrying a sinister threat, “Leave a way out for others, and you’ll have a way out for yourself in the future!”
“Do you know how many officials in the entire court have their promotions and evaluations processed by our Ministry of Personnel? Today, you’ve offended not just a few of us, but all the high officials in court! Aren’t you afraid that in the future…”
“Afraid?! I’m afraid of your mother!”
Zhang Biao interrupted directly, his voice louder than the other man’s, “I’ve made the Emperor himself faint three times, and you think I’m afraid of you demons and monsters? All the high officials in court?”
“However.”
He said, changing his tone, and continued,
“You’ve reminded me! Perfect! When I get home, I’ll write a book titled ‘Corruption and Evaluations of All Court Officials’. You in the Ministry of Personnel can provide the material!”
“Oh, right, Accountant Shen, take this and read it! Read it out loud!”
He took out a booklet from his embrace and handed it to Shen Lang.
“Alright, Brother Biao!”
Shen Lang excitedly took the booklet and took a close look.
Holy crap!
The Secret Records of the Department of Official Promotions!
Where did Brother Biao get this from? This is too exciting! Despite his immense shock, Shen Lang excitedly released the booklet and began to read aloud as written:
“First entry! In the national inspection of the 24th year of Hongwu, Liu Moumou, formerly an Censor of Zhejiang Circuit, received an ‘Excellent’ evaluation and was promoted to Huguang Circuit Commissioner.
Note: Liu Moumou is a relative of Fu Youwen, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Before this promotion, Fu Youwen hosted a three-day banquet at ‘Feng Sheng Grain Store’, attended by the Director and Department Director of the Department of Official Promotions of the Ministry of Personnel, among others, where gifts were received, cough cough, a certain amount of ceremonial gifts were received.”
“What!?”
A startled cry and the sound of a chair falling over came from within the wall.
“Nonsense! That was, that was normal colleague interactions!”
The sharp voice attempted to refute, but it sounded weak and unconvincing.
Shen Lang glanced at Zhang Biao, who had an expression of disdain. He immediately ignored the cries and continued reading, speeding up his pace:
“Second entry! In the same year, Wang Moumou, Vice Commissioner of Education in Shanxi, received a ‘Below Average’ evaluation with the comment: ‘Mediocre talent, unfit for important duties, transferred to a sinecure.’
Note: Wang Moumou had previously impeached Li Moumou, Director of the Ministry of War’s Office of Military Selection, who was the brother-in-law of a Supervising Secretary in the Ministry of Personnel, for embezzling military funds. Therefore, he was demoted.”
“You, you’re slandering us!”
Another voice from within the wall exclaimed angrily, with obvious panic.
Shen Lang, however, read more and more smoothly, his voice growing louder, deliberately choosing cases with complex networks and sordid transactions:
“Third entry! This one is even more explosive!”
“In the 22nd year of Hongwu, the illegitimate son of a certain Marquis, aged sixteen, was evaluated as: ‘Mature beyond his years, skilled in both civil and military arts,’ and was specially appointed as Commander of the Imperial Guards!
Note: This illegitimate son was sickly and had never practiced martial arts. His mother was the concubine of a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel. For this promotion, the Marquis’s estate donated a library, and the head of the library was the instructor of the said high-ranking official.”
“Boom!”
It seemed like an explosion from within the wall, followed by fierce arguments and shouts of ‘Stop talking!’, ‘Quick, stop him!’.
“Fourth entry!”
Shen Lang was practically roaring, he wanted precisely this effect:
“Zhang Moumou, formerly Director of the Ministry of Justice, was evaluated as: ‘Stubborn and insubordinate, repeatedly offending superiors, demoted to the remote border of Yunnan.’
Note: Zhang Moumou had investigated a murder case that implicated…”
Shen Lang deliberately paused, letting the Ministry of Personnel officials inside hold their breath, before stating decisively, “involved the steward of a certain imperial relative of the current Emperor, hence he was suppressed!”
Rumble—!
This entry was a bombshell, directly implicating the Imperial Family.
Although not explicitly named, it was enough to make everyone speculate wildly and panic.
“Fifth entry…”
“Stop reading! Please, stop reading!”
Finally, a sound of complete collapse came from within the wall, no longer from a single official, but a mixture of many pleas and cries.
Each of these entries, when read aloud, was a scandal that could shake the imperial court and lead to the extermination of clans.
They couldn’t understand how these deeply hidden notes had fallen into the hands of this madman!
Seeing their past deeds about to be completely exposed, with each entry more shocking and more deadly than the last, the psychological defenses of the Ministry of Personnel officials completely crumbled.
Amidst this chaos and desperate wailing, a voice, choked with tears and hoarse with effort, rose above the din, shrieking:
“Quick! Quick, go to the Censorate! Go and invite the Grand Censor—!”
