Emulating Jiajing

The purge had ended, and the heavy doors of the Ganquan Palace were finally pushed open slowly.

The cold wind from outside swept in, blowing away the heavy stench of blood. Wang Hao leaned back on the dragon throne, his fingers gently massaging his throbbing temples. However, his eyes were astonishingly bright, like burning stars in the dark of night.

The bloody slaughter just now did not make him feel fear; instead, it allowed him to experience an extreme thrill of holding the power of life and death. But he was not blinded by this thrill. As a transmigrator who had read countless histories, he was very clear about the current situation.

The shameless faces of the civil and military officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony today were still vivid in his mind. The national treasury was empty, and the border was in a state of emergency. Instead of thinking about how to solve the problems, they forced him, the emperor, to pay out of his own pocket, and even wanted to take the opportunity to usurp his imperial power.

If he acted like a reckless youth and personally went down to debate and wrangle with those old foxes in the court, that would be utterly stupid. The emperor was born to be a supreme arbiter. How could he shamelessly fight in the ring with his ministers?

"Jiajing..." Wang Hao muttered this name softly, a profound smile appearing on his lips.

The Jiajing Emperor of the Ming Dynasty did not hold court for more than twenty years, yet he played the civil and military officials in the palm of his hand. What did he rely on? He relied on eunuchs! He relied on the Brocade Guards and the Eastern Depot!

Let these eunuchs bite people and fight with the civil officials! The civil officials scolded the eunuchs as the eunuch faction and powerful eunuchs. To protect themselves, the eunuchs could only cling tightly to the emperor's thigh and become the sharpest blade in the emperor's hands. Raise the rank of the Directorate of Ceremonial and forge them into the "Cabinet" of the inner court. Let the Directorate of Ceremonial do the red-inking, and let the Eastern and Western Depots arrest people. Let these slaves do all the dirty and tiring work of taking the blame, offending people, and getting their hands covered in blood!

The emperor only needed to sit behind the scenes, control the overall situation, and hold the ultimate power of life and death!

Figuring this out, Wang Hao's mood instantly improved.

Just then, Hai Dafu led a few trusted young eunuchs, holding thick account books, and walked briskly into the hall. Although the fat eunuch was still coughing, his originally pale face was flushed with extreme excitement.

"Reporting to Your Majesty!" Hai Dafu's voice trembled with excitement as he knelt heavily on the ground. "We have struck it rich! Your Majesty, great joy!"

Wang Hao raised an eyebrow and sat up straight. "Have you finished counting? How much was confiscated in total?"

Hai Dafu held the account books high above his head and reported in a trembling voice, "To reply to Your Majesty! After a preliminary inventory, just from the estates and private treasuries of Liu Xi, Wang An, Fulin, and twenty-four other seal-holding eunuchs, we have confiscated a total of... twenty-eight million taels of silver! And one hundred and twenty thousand taels of gold!"

"Hiss..."

As soon as these words came out, even the always expressionless Brocade Guard Commander Pei Jingzhe could not help but gasp.

Twenty-eight million taels of silver! One hundred and twenty thousand taels of gold!

The national taxation of the Great Zhou Dynasty, even during good weather and prosperous years, was only sixty million taels! These damn eunuchs had actually scraped together hard silver equivalent to half of the Great Zhou's taxes right inside the palace! And this did not even include the manors, fertile fields, pawnshops, calligraphy, paintings, and antiques they had just confessed to, which had not yet been confiscated!

Wang Hao was stunned.

He knew these people were greedy, but he never dreamed that so much money could be confiscated! Adding the one hundred million taels of silver principal he already had in his system space...

"I am so poor right now that all I have left is money!" Wang Hao laughed wildly in his heart. The gloom of being forced into a corner by Zhang Taiji and his gang in the Hall of Supreme Harmony just now was instantly swept away.

With this money, what did the barbarian-blasting cannons in the Northern Territory matter? What did the disaster relief grain in Jiangnan matter? He could smash those Tartars to death with silver and fill the floods of Jiangnan with steamed buns!

"Besides gold and silver," Hai Dafu continued to report, "there are also six hundred thousand acres of premium irrigated land around the capital, one hundred and twenty prime shops in the capital, and all kinds of rare pills, high-level talismans, and divine weapons that fill thirty large warehouses!"

Wang Hao slapped his thigh and laughed out loud. "Good! Good! Good! These giant rats died a worthy death! They saved up so much wealth for Us over the years, We thank their ancestors to the eighth generation!"

Seeing the emperor's great joy, the eunuchs below were also beaming with delight. The newly appointed Sun Li, Wei Zhongxian, and others immediately knelt on the ground in unison, shouting, "Your Majesty's vast fortune reaches the heavens! Long live the Great Zhou!"

Words of flattery echoed in the grand hall.

After Wang Hao's hearty laughter, his eyes regained their clarity. He knew that an emperor does not deploy starving soldiers. Since he was eating meat, he had to let this pack of mad dogs under him drink some soup, so they would bite harder when commanded.

Our glory shall never be enjoyed alone!

"Pass down Our decree!" Wang Hao waved his large hand heroically. "Those who have merit in protecting the emperor and purging the inner court today shall be heavily rewarded!"

"Sun Li, Wei Zhongxian, Cao Zhengchun, Yu Huatian, Cao Shaoqin, and Hai Dafu, the six of you will each be rewarded with fifty thousand taels of silver! Bestowed a bottle of Heaven-rank low-grade Rejuvenation Pills from the inner treasury! You may each choose any Heaven-rank low-grade cultivation technique from the imperial martial treasury! The other seal-holding eunuchs will receive ten thousand taels each."

The six grand eunuchs trembled with excitement. Fifty thousand taels of silver was no small amount, and it was bestowed by the emperor, obtained openly and aboveboard. Not to mention the top-grade spirit stones and supreme cultivation techniques!

"This old slave thanks Your Majesty for your heavenly grace! We are willing to be ground to dust for Your Majesty!"

Wang Hao's gaze turned to Pei Jingzhe, who had been standing ramrod straight. This Brocade Guard Commander not only held the fort today but also personally executed the cruel punishment of lighting the sky lantern. He was absolutely a good blade.

"Pei Jingzhe!"

"This subject is here!"

"As the Commander of the Brocade Guards, you accompanied Us to encircle and suppress the rebels and eradicate the anomalies the day before yesterday. Your contributions are indispensable! We reward you with fifty thousand taels of silver and bestow upon you an imperial gold medallion, allowing you to enter the palace for an audience at any time! Furthermore, your position as Commander of the Brocade Guards is promoted from upper third rank to lower second rank!"

On Pei Jingzhe's eternally unchanging icy face, an unconcealable excitement finally emerged. From upper third rank to lower second rank seemed like only half a grade, but it was a massive chasm for military officials. More importantly, he felt the heavy trust of the emperor; this was true imperial favor!

"This subject, Pei Jingzhe, thanks Your Majesty for your profound grace! This subject's embroidered spring blade shall only be drawn for Your Majesty in this life! Should anyone dare to defy the Son of Heaven, this subject will surely sever them!" Pei Jingzhe knelt on one knee, his voice ringing like a great bell.

The money was in place, and both grace and might had been applied.

Looking at the pack of fierce beasts at the base of the steps, their eyes shining as if they were ready to rush out and tear apart the enemy at any moment, Wang Hao put away his smile, his gaze becoming incomparably sharp.

"Now that the rejoicing is over, it is time to get down to business."

Wang Hao slowly swept his gaze over the crowd, his voice echoing in the spacious hall, carrying an unquestionable imperial will.

"At the Grand Court Assembly in three days, We will launch an unprecedented major case! We will use the blood of those corrupt officials to pay homage to the ancestors of the Great Zhou, and to reshape this bright and clear world!"

"For the next three days, We want you to turn this imperial capital of the Great Zhou completely upside down for Us!"

"Since we are going to handle a major case, it must be an ironclad case! A dead case from which it is impossible to ever turn over!"