What Do These Eunuchs Want

Wang Hao took a deep look at Zhang Wuji, then turned to Sun Li, his tone carrying obvious favoritism: "Companion Sun, you have served me since childhood, and I know you understand the rules. Since you have spoken up today, it must be something crucial concerning the state. Speak, I absolve you of any crime."

With the emperor's golden words, the smile on Sun Li's face grew even brighter, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes squeezing together.

He turned around and bowed deeply to Wang Hao. His tone instantly became mournful and indignant, as if he had suffered a massive grievance. This highly skilled old eunuch was quite the actor: "Your Majesty is wise! Although we slaves are physically incomplete, our hearts are completely and utterly tied to Your Majesty! Watching Your Majesty toil day and night over the empty treasury and border emergencies, unable to even enjoy your meals, our hearts ache as if they were being twisted by knives!"

As Sun Li spoke, he actually managed to squeeze out two drops of tears, wiping them away with his sleeve. Then, he abruptly turned around, his gaze shooting toward Minister of War Tie Zhan like lightning, the sorrow on his face instantly transforming into a chilling gloom.

"Just now, Vice Grand Councilor Zhang said that the Bureau of Equipment and Communications bears heavy responsibilities, and that the courier stations across the world are the lifeblood of the Great Zhou Dynasty." Sun Li reached into his robes and pulled out a prepared red-covered booklet.

"When I heard these words, I took note of it and had Wei Zhongxian, the Director of the Eastern Depot, thoroughly investigate this 'lifeblood' of the Great Zhou!" Sun Li suddenly raised his voice, hitting the hearts of the officials like heavy hammers. "I wouldn't have known if I hadn't checked, but upon investigating, I was truly terrified!"

"Last year alone, the worldwide courier stations under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War reported a massive deficit of two million six hundred thousand taels of silver to the Ministry of Revenue!"

As soon as this number was revealed, the civil and military officials in the court, especially those from the Ministries of War and Revenue, instantly turned pale.

Sun Li raised the red booklet in his hand and smashed it fiercely at the feet of the Minister of War, sternly questioning: "Two million six hundred thousand taels! How many years of military pay could this money provide for the soldiers at the borders?! You lords of the Ministry of War keep saying that the courier stations are important state instruments for transmitting military intelligence, but what I see is that countless low-level station attendants have been owed wages for over a decade, unable to even get a full meal. Some attendants have even been forced into dead ends, having to sell their sons and daughters!"

"How are today's courier stations being used to transmit military intelligence? They are clearly bloodsucking entities providing free food, drink, entertainment, and government carriages to you high-ranking officials and aristocratic lords!"

"Sun Li! You... do not spit venom and falsely accuse people!"

Minister of War Tie Yi, sweating profusely, suddenly jumped out. The deficit of the courier stations and their free abuse by aristocratic families was a tacit, unspoken rule within the civil official faction. Whenever anyone's family returned to their hometown to visit relatives or traveled to take up a new post, didn't they use the court's station carriages? Didn't they eat the station's free banquets? Although he despised evil, he could not oppose so many officials; otherwise, how could the Ministry of War function normally in the future? He himself would be stripped of real power by these people.

But how could such a thing be brought out into the open!

The Right Vice Minister of War, who oversaw the Bureau of Equipment and Communications, roared with false bravado: "The stations consume a massive amount of resources along their routes. Horses, fodder, and road repairs—which of these does not require money? Furthermore, officials using the stations while traveling on public business is a grace bestowed by the court! Eunuch Sun, how dare you secretly change the concept here and slander the court's appointed officials!"

"Traveling on public business?"

Cao Zhengchun, the Seal-Holding Eunuch of the Imperial Horses Directorate who had been standing behind Sun Li like an iron tower, suddenly let out a cold sneer.

He took a large stride forward, his bell-like eyes fixing deadly upon Right Vice Minister of War Zhang Ping: "Lord Zhang, I would like to ask you! Last month, your mother-in-law from your hometown in Jiangnan traveled all the way to the capital to see her daughter, bringing over thirty carriages of top-quality Jiangnan silk along the way! She used the highest level eight-hundred-li expedited tallies issued entirely by your Ministry of War!"

Cao Zhengchun took a step closer, his terrifying oppressive presence making Zhang Ping retreat again and again: "What? Lord Zhang, was your mother-in-law coming to the capital to resell silk also transmitting urgent military intelligence for His Majesty?! Is this also considered traveling on public business?!"

"I... you..." Zhang Ping was choked so hard by this revelation that his face and ears turned red. His lips trembled for a long time, but he forcefully could not squeeze out a single word of rebuttal.

The surrounding civil officials were also dead silent. The informants of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were pervasive. For this kind of matter, as long as the emperor wanted to investigate, no one's hands were completely clean.

"Your Majesty!"

Cao Zhengchun did not give Zhang Ping a chance to breathe at all. He abruptly turned and fell to his knees before Wang Hao with a heavy thud, roaring loudly: "Since this group of scholars in the Ministry of War cannot manage the courier stations of the world well, and since they only know how to line their own pockets and oppress the station attendants! Then let this mess be managed by our Inner Court!"

Cao Zhengchun suddenly raised his head, his rugged face written with undisguised lust for power: "This slave boldly requests an edict! Strip the Ministry of War of all jurisdiction, personnel rights, and financial rights over the Bureau of Equipment and Communications and its three thousand four hundred courier stations worldwide! From this moment on, hand them over to the joint command of the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Imperial Horses Directorate! This slave dares to make a military pledge: within three years, not only will we not need a single cent from the court, but we will also make the worldwide courier stations hand over a dividend of one million taels of silver to Your Majesty's inner treasury every year!"

Inside the grand hall, it was as if all the air had been instantly sucked dry.

Everyone, including Zhuge Huaijin and other officials of humble origins who had just been feeling smug about the establishment of the General Tax Administration, now all stood stiffly frozen on the spot as if struck by lightning.

What did this gang of eunuchs want?

The Inner Court actually wanted the Ministry of War's Bureau of Equipment and Communications? They wanted to control the world's courier stations, official roads, and logistics lifelines?

This meant that from now on, the transmission of every official document of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the route of every military deployment, the transport of every batch of supplies, and even the whereabouts of every official would all have to pass through the hands of this gang of eunuchs!

This was ten times more terrifying than establishing the General Tax Administration just now! No matter how ruthless the General Tax Administration was, it was still an internal matter among civil officials; but handing the courier stations over to these eunuchs was equivalent to forcefully gouging out the eyes of the civil official faction and grafting them onto the emperor!

"Absurd! This is simply the biggest joke in the world!"

Zhang Wuji could no longer maintain his calm and composure. His eyes instantly became bloodshot. Like an enraged old lion, he recklessly charged out of the formation, pointing at the noses of Cao Zhengchun and Sun Li and cursing them out, even forgetting that his martial arts were no match for Sun Li.

"The courier stations are vital instruments of the military and the state! They are the eyes, ears, and throat of the court! How can they be handed over to the greedy, nation-ruining hands of you castrated vermin!"

Zhang Wuji abruptly turned and threw himself prostrate before Wang Hao, his old tears flowing freely, his voice shrill to the extreme: "Your Majesty! Absolutely not! Eunuchs have no descendants, and therefore their greed knows no bounds and their actions are extreme! If they are allowed to control the courier stations, cut off the avenues of speech, and steal military secrets, the foundations of this Great Zhou Dynasty will surely be doomed beyond redemption, Your Majesty! Even if this old minister has to smash his head against this dragon pillar and die today, I will never agree to such an act that disrupts the laws of the court!"

"We ministers second this! If Your Majesty insists on employing these vile eunuchs, we shall have no choice but to dash our heads in death as an apology to the realm!"

This time, it was not just the officials from noble families; even a number of officials from humble origins knelt down in succession. When facing their natural enemy—the eunuch faction—the civil bureaucracy displayed an exceedingly rare sense of unity.