Chapter 92: What? Our Great Ming Dynasty Is About To Perish? 【 Monthly Ticket Bonus Update 3 】
Outside the bedroom of Old Zhu in Huagai Hall.
Zhu Yunwen, holding a bowl of ginseng soup, was stopped outside the room by Yun Ming.
“Eunuch Yun, I heard His Imperial Grandfather has woken up. This grandson is burning with worry and personally brewed some ginseng soup to serve him. Please announce my arrival.”
Zhu Yunwen’s tone was sorrowful, and his demeanor was extremely humble.
Yun Ming glanced at him expressionlessly, then glanced at the soup tureen in his hand, and said in a calm, unruffled voice:
“Your Highness’s filial piety is commendable, but His Majesty has just woken up, and the imperial physicians are inside taking his pulse. They have ordered that no one is to disturb him. Your Highness, please return.”
The sorrow on Zhu Yunwen’s face stiffened, and he quickly said:
“Eunuch Yun, this grandson will wait outside and will absolutely not disturb His Imperial Grandfather’s treatment. I only beg that His Imperial Grandfather can have a sip of this grandson’s sincerity later.”
“Your Highness.”
Yun Ming’s voice turned a few degrees colder, with an unquestionable tone: “His Majesty’s command cannot be defied. Please return.”
Zhu Yunwen hit a solid wall. Looking at Yun Ming’s unyielding face, he felt a surge of anger but dared not act out. He could only force a smile and say, “Then this grandson will wait outside and absolutely will not disturb His Imperial Grandfather.”
He tightly covered the soup tureen with his palm. Even though it burned his hand painfully, he refused to let go.
Yun Ming, standing by, saw all of this. He felt approval in his heart but remained outwardly impassive.
At the same time, Old Zhu was leaning against the dragon couch. His complexion was still sallow, but his eyes were sharp and intimidating, showing no signs of grogginess.
The imperial physician tremblingly finished taking his pulse and bowed, saying:
“Although His Majesty’s pulse is still weak, it is stabilizing. He only needs to rest and recuperate, and must not get angry again.”
“My life and death are not for you to worry about.”
Old Zhu interrupted him with a hoarse voice and waved his hand: “Get out and brew the medicine.”
The imperial physician felt as if he had received a great pardon and scrambled out.
“Yun Ming.”
Old Zhu suddenly spoke.
Yun Ming, outside the door, immediately responded: “This servant is here!”
“Go and summon Jiang Huan!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Yun Ming bowed and was about to turn to leave when he suddenly heard Old Zhu’s voice again: “Is Yunwen outside?”
Yun Ming hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Zhu Yunwen and said, “Replying to Your Majesty, His Highness the Second Imperial Grandson was worried about your health and specially brewed a pot of soup to see you. This servant was afraid of disturbing you, so I did not let him in.”
“Meddlesome.”
Old Zhu said the two words with an unclear tone, then added lightly, “Let Yunwen come in. I am feeling a bit thirsty.”
“Yes.”
Yun Ming agreed, then smiled at Zhu Yunwen and gestured, “Your Highness the Second Imperial Grandson, please.”
“Thank you, Eunuch Yun.”
Zhu Yunwen’s heart was filled with joy, but on his face, he respectfully expressed his gratitude to Yun Ming, which made Yun Ming feel as if he was basking in the spring breeze.
Soon, he stepped into Old Zhu’s bedroom.
“Imperial Grandfather!”
When he saw Old Zhu sitting by the bed with a sallow complexion, looking as if he had aged ten years, his eyes immediately reddened, and his voice was choked with emotion: “Are you… are you alright?”
“Silly child. I’ve already fainted three times from anger, how could I be alright?”
Old Zhu chuckled self-deprecatingly, then beckoned to Zhu Yunwen: “Come, come to your Imperial Grandfather’s side.”
“Yes.”
Zhu Yunwen, with a mournful expression, walked to Old Zhu’s bedside, holding the bowl of ginseng soup that had burned his palms red, and offered it to Old Zhu:
“Imperial Grandfather, it must be a bit cold by now. It’s all this grandson’s fault for being useless, not even being able to make soup properly…”
“Heh heh.”
Old Zhu smiled warmly. Without saying much, he took the bowl of soup, picked up the ladle, scooped a spoonful, and put it in his mouth. The taste was rich with ginseng, and the sweetness was perfected by the precise heat control.
“Mm, not bad.”
Old Zhu nodded with satisfaction. Just as he was about to chat with Zhu Yunwen about family matters, Yun Ming’s voice sounded from outside the door.
“Your Majesty! Commander Jiang is here!”
“Let him in!”
Old Zhu changed the subject, holding the bowl of ginseng soup, and stared intently at the doorway. Zhu Yunwen held his breath and remained still.
“Your Majesty!”
Jiang Huan entered. His gaze quickly flickered to Zhu Yunwen, and then he bowed respectfully to Old Zhu.
Old Zhu then said calmly and indifferently: “During my period of unconsciousness, did anything happen?”
“This…”
Jiang Huan hesitated, as if worried whether Old Zhu could withstand the news. However, feeling Old Zhu’s sharp gaze, he braced himself and reported:
“Replying to Your Majesty, indeed something happened during your unconsciousness, and it was a world-shattering event.”
He first gave Old Zhu a heads-up, in case he fainted again from anger later.
But Old Zhu picked up the soup ladle again nonchalantly and said lightly:
“Speak. I also want to hear what could be more earth-shattering than me fainting three times. Tell me so I can be surprised again.”
Jiang Huan managed a rare, forced smile before taking out a small booklet and reciting like he was enumerating treasures:
【 Just five hours ago, Zhang Biao, with Shen Lang and others, went to the Ministry of Revenue Office under the guise of demanding their salaries to conduct their so-called ‘audit’ work.】
【 At the second ke of chen shi, they broke open the main gate of the Ministry of Revenue!】
【 Zhang Biao personally announced the specifics of Fu Youwen’s embezzlement of Zhejiang embankment funds, withholding of northern frontier military pay, and sale of old grain from official granaries!】
【 Not a single detail was missed!】
【 Vice Minister Fu collapsed on the spot! Zhang Biao ‘confiscated’ the Ministry of Revenue’s storeroom as collateral, taking thirty-five tables and chairs, seven boxes of documents, and even the pots, bowls, ladles, and basins from the kitchen were not spared! The estimated value exceeded ten thousand taels!】
Σ(°Д°|||)
Thus, Old Zhu got his wish, looking at Jiang Huan with a stunned expression.
Jiang Huan, as if he hadn’t seen Old Zhu’s jaw-dropping look, continued reciting with an indescribable feeling, bracing himself:
【 At the first ke of si shi! The Ministry of War! They climbed ladders onto the roof of the Ministry of War yamen!】
【 Minister Ru attempted to intimidate them by using those old soldiers who received pensions. However, Zhang Biao directly presented the accounts, which instead ignited the old soldiers’ resentment!】
【 Immediately after, Zhang Biao used pot soot mixed with lard to write Minister Ru’s crimes on the white walls and pillars of the Ministry of War Hall!】
【 Item by item! Selling eliminated military equipment from Liaodong for three thousand five hundred taels! Kickbacks from the procurement of winter clothing for the Capital Garrison! Shortfall of thirty thousand shi in military farming grain for Shaanxi-Gansu! Embezzlement of empty positions! Allowing personal retainers to fraudulently claim military pay from the Capital Garrison! All with dates, locations, and involved individuals!】
【 Minister Ru, terrified, burst into tears on the spot and begged for mercy!】
【 The old soldiers, shocked by the accusations, completely defected to Zhang Biao and then forced Minister Ru to open the Ministry of War yamen, allowing Zhang Biao and his men to enter.】
【 Subsequently, they took forty sabers and twenty sets of leather armor from the Ministry of War’s arsenal, and even three wooden anti-cavalry obstacles used for drills were carried away!】
【 Finally, they used the confiscated items as collateral to pay off the “greasy heads” who owed wages and distributed them to the old soldiers and their families who had heard the news, and then sent them away.】
【 The reason given was that they feared His Majesty would implicate the old soldiers and their families upon waking.】
【 At the third ke of wu shi! The Ministry of Personnel!】
【 They revealed the Ministry of Personnel’s crimes of selling official positions, corruption, and falsification one by one, terrifying Vice Minister of Personnel Zhai Shan, who collapsed on the ground and begged them to enter and audit!】
【 Finally, they entered the Ministry of Personnel’s confidential archives and recorded all the performance appraisal and official promotion archives made by the Ministry of Personnel over the years on the walls and pillars of the Ministry of Personnel yamen, exposing the Ministry of Personnel’s ugliness to everyone, utterly shaming them!】
【 At the second ke of wei shi! Duke Cao’s Mansion! Zhang Biao led his men to audit the main gate of the Duke of Kaiguo’s Mansion!】
【 Duke Li Jinglong, terrified, quickly welcomed them into the mansion. In the end, the Duke was forced to donate thirty thousand taels of silver!】
【 The Duke claimed he had no silver, so Zhang Biao threatened to ‘confiscate as collateral’ and directly took the Duke’s collected pre-dynasty calligraphy and paintings, jade artifacts, antiques, and even the curtains were dismantled. The front hall of Duke Cao’s Mansion was almost emptied!】
【 However, it wasn’t over. He then forcibly woke the Duke, who had fainted from anger, invited them to a meal, and then left triumphantly.】
【 At the sixth ke of shen shi! Marquis of Wuding’s Mansion! Old Marquis Guo Ying feigned illness and refused to come out!】
【 Zhang Biao actually climbed the wall with acupuncture needles and a short axe! Threatening to perform ‘acupuncture and axe therapy’ on the Marquis!】
【 Old Marquis Guo, terrified, ‘recovered’ from his illness on the spot and voluntarily donated three thousand taels of silver! Begging them to leave quickly!】
【 And now! At the initial ke of you shi!】
Jiang Huan’s voice began to tremble:
【 They are now marching mightily towards the Ministry of Works yamen! Tens of thousands of citizens are watching along the way! The cheers are thunderous! They are using the pretense of ‘demanding salaries’ and ‘auditing,’ but in reality, they are raiding and plundering!】
【 The Six Ministries’ yamens and the mansions of nobles are all in a state of panic. Yingtian Prefecture has fallen into chaos!】
Boom boom boom—!
This series of news, like thunder from the heavens, each more violent than the last, struck fiercely into Old Zhu’s bedroom!
Zhu Yunwen’s face turned ashen, and he stood frozen.
Even though he was an expert at disguise, he was now terrified beyond his wits by this abstract, absurd, yet terrifying ‘mobile audit.’
This was no longer lawlessness; this was an attempt to uproot the pillars of the Great Ming Dynasty!
Silence!
The entire bedroom plunged into a deathly silence.
These precise timings!
These shocking details!
This scene, like locusts passing over, like a scroll from hell!
Could this truly be happening under the Son of Heaven’s gaze, under the eyes of the Hongwu Great Emperor?!
Old Zhu’s body had already begun to sway precariously when Jiang Huan reported that the Ministry of Revenue had been emptied.
Upon hearing about the Ministry of War’s crimes written on the walls, the Ministry of Personnel’s social death, the confiscation of Duke Cao’s mansion, and being forced to host the ‘perpetrators’ for a meal, and the Marquis of Wuding being so terrified that he was startled awake from near death and donated three thousand taels, his lips trembled like leaves in the wind.
Finally, upon hearing the words ‘marching towards the Ministry of Works yamen,’ ‘citizens cheering thunderously,’ ‘everyone in panic,’ and ‘Yingtian Prefecture has fallen into chaos’—
The Great Ming Dynasty in his heart had collapsed!
The glorious Great Ming! The prosperous Hongwu era!
The Six Ministries and nobles! The pillars of the nation!
In just a few short hours!
In broad daylight!
By a madman!
Leading a group of poor scholars with abacuses and chamber pot lamps!
Kicked down doors like bandits, one by one, and emptied their homes!
Tearing apart all dignity and honor!
This was no longer abstract; this was naked collapse!
It was the disintegration of order, a doomsday scene!
“Crash—!”
A crisp, piercing shattering sound suddenly broke the deathly silence of the bedchamber.
The now lukewarm ginseng soup and porcelain shards scattered across the floor.
Old Zhu, however, was oblivious.
His entire being seemed to have lost its soul. His face was so pale it was devoid of any blood. His lips trembled, and his eyes widened as if about to burst, filled with extreme shock, fear, and a bewilderment from the complete collapse of his worldview.
Audit
Emptied
Confiscated
Forced Donation
Each of these seemingly ordinary words, when combined, was so shocking and audacious.
Zhang Biao, that bastard.
How dare he?!
How could he?!
Is he really going to ruin our Great Ming?!
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【 Oh, and please don’t skip chapters. I’ve added some foreshadowing in each one. It’s not filler; some plot points are necessary! Otherwise, it won’t be satisfying later.】
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Additionally, I’ve calculated that we currently have 8000 monthly tickets. According to the previous extra chapter rules, one extra chapter for every 500 monthly tickets added.
Starting monthly tickets were around 3500, which calculates to seven extra chapters. Plus three extra chapters for the alliance leader, totaling only ten chapters.
At my writing speed, that’s only two or three days. Brothers, give me some strength! Vote for more monthly tickets and let me unleash my primordial power.
