Chapter 240: Head of the Six Thieves

【On the road of exile, the people of the world have long hated him to the bone.】

The peasants and merchants along the way, upon hearing that Cai Jing was passing, none would sell him food, and some even hurled stones and cursed at him.

Cai Jing, the prime minister who once ate a bowl of soup and demanded the slaughter of hundreds of quails, finally, on his way to Hainan, starved to death in a ruined temple in Tanzhou (now Changsha), at eighty years old.

When he died, only a few copper coins lay by his side, and no one claimed his corpse.

His descendants were also many exiled and executed, and his family assets eventually scattered in the wars.

The final scene is filled with irony and desolation.

White‑haired and gaunt Cai Jing, curled up in a corner of the dilapidated Tanzhou post station (or ruined temple), with an empty broken bowl beside him.

He stretched out his hand, begging a morsel of food from passing pedestrians and nearby shopkeepers, and the only response was contemptuous stares, angry curses, and flying clods of earth.

In the end, he died of exhaustion amid hunger, cold, terror, and endless remorse; his body was hastily buried and soon forgotten.

Only his infamous titles "Head of the Six Thieves" and "Starved Prime Minister" linger, stinking for ten thousand years.

【Assessment of Total Corruption:】

Historical records lack precision, yet his land holdings amounted to five hundred thousand mu, his residence surpassed the imperial gardens, and his lifestyle was extremely extravagant.

He also, under the prestige of prime minister, openly sold offices, monopolized lucrative industries, and pursued financial plunder.

In the past twenty years, the wealth he amassed, counted in silver, reached the tens of millions of taels, truly Wealth Can Rival a Nation.

His greed was not merely hoarding wealth but a national disaster, directly causing people's livelihoods to decline, wars to erupt, foreign invasions, accelerating the fall of the Northern Song; his sins far exceed the amount of gold and silver!】

【Reason for Ranking: Talent outweighs virtue, leaving endless calamities.】

Under the guise of a master of calligraphy and a capable financial minister, he acted as a great parasite stealing the nation and a treacherous minister misleading the state.

Four times prime minister, ruling for seventeen years, he drove the Northern Song to the pinnacle of decadence and corruption, and with his own hand plunged it into the abyss of destruction.

His enormity of corruption and depth of national disaster are rare in history!

The "Head of the Six Thieves," starved to death by the roadside, truly exemplifies heavenly justice, retribution without flaw!】

Observers of all realms, especially the rulers, officials, and commoners of the Song dynasty, watch with eyes tearing, their anger blazing!

Han dynasty, Chang'an.

Liu Bang watches, grinding his teeth in fury,

"My dear! This old fool, his heart is truly black! Being prime minister like this is harsher than any business!"

"Selling offices, seizing land, tearing down people's houses to build gardens… and finally starving to death? Damn! That's truly satisfying!"

"But this Emperor Huizong of Song is truly a blockhead, letting such a thing ruin the realm?"

Xiao He, heartbroken, shakes his head repeatedly,

"Governing a state is like cooking a small fish; how can it be so brutal and greedy?"

"Competing with the people for profit, imposing heavy levies, this is cutting oneself off from the people, the path to disaster!"

"The fall of the Northern Song truly lies in Cai Jing, and also in Huizong's folly!"

Ying Zheng wears a face full of murderous intent and contempt,

"Useless! All are useless! The emperor is useless, the prime minister is a huge parasite! If Great Qin used such people as ministers, I would personally tear them apart, exterminating ten families!"

"Five hundred thousand mu of fields? Demolishing hundreds of civilian houses?"

"Good, very good, give those fields to the people whose houses he tore down, and demolish all his pavilions and towers; use the timber and stone to repair the Great Wall!"

"Starve to death? Too cheap for him, he deserves slow torture!"

Great Tang, during the Zhenguan era.

Li Shimin, angry, paced back and forth in the hall, pointing at the celestial banner and shouting to his ministers:

"Look at this, this is a treacherous minister ruining the nation! This is the fate of being hostile to the people!"

"Prosperity and abundance? Covering up peace! Plundering the people's flesh and fat to satisfy the emperor and personal desires, such twisted doctrines can actually sway the ruler's heart?"

"If any minister in Great Tang dared this, I need not wait for the banner; I will be the first to cut him down!"

"No, I will bind him in the bustling market, and let the people he harmed drown him with a mouthful of spit each!"

Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and others also wore sorrowful faces,

"Earlier there was Shi Chong battling for wealth, later Cai Jing misgoverning the nation; decadence and corruption truly herald a nation's ruin."

"Future rulers and ministers should take this as a deep lesson."

Song dynasty.

In the Bianjing imperial palace, Zhao Kuangyin's complexion could no longer be described as merely unsightly.

He looked at the banner showing his descendants' realm, ruined by such a "master of calligraphy," leaving the people in misery and wars erupting.

In the end even the capital was breached, the emperor captured, and he felt a suffocating oppression in his chest, nearly spitting blood.

"Scoundrel! Worthless thing!"

Zhao Kuangyin suddenly smashed the jade axe in his hand onto the ground, shattering it.

"My… my realm has been ruined by such unfilial descendants and traitors?!"

"Cai Jing? What a Cai Jing! Good calligraphy? Beautiful characters are useless! His heart is black!"

"And that scoundrel Zhao Ji! Being emperor like this, he'd be better off becoming a painter!"

He spun around sharply, his eyes bloodshot, staring at Zhao Pu and the civil and military officials in the hall.

"Did you all hear? Did you all see? Cai Jing! Head of the Six Thieves!"

"Selling offices, seizing land, demolishing houses, starving the people! He himself starved by the roadside! This is the fate of a great glutton!"

"Zhao Pu, draft an edict for me, no, record it in the 'Treasure Instruction', to pass to future generations:

All descendants of the Zhao family who become emperor, if they draw near treacherous flatterers, stay far from virtuous ministers, indulge in unrestrained decadence, and exploit the people, they bring about their own destruction!

For ministers, if they emulate Cai Jing, whose greed and corruption ruin the nation, the world shall punish them together! Everyone may eat their flesh!

Zhao Pu and the ministers, terrified, hurriedly knelt: "We shall remember! May Your Majesty's anger subside!"

Ming Dynasty, Hongwu period.

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry he could not speak; his eyes stared fixedly at the scene on the celestial screen of Cai Jing starving to death, and his fingers cracked loudly.

He suddenly looked at Zhu Biao and the princes, his voice hoarse and cold.

"Biao, Fourth, you all see clearly. How far can a corrupt official be greedy? How far can they be wicked? They not only covet money; they can bring down a nation!"

"This Cai Jing, and that Huizong, are your best mirrors! Look closely; will you become like them in the future?"

"We'll speak the ugly truth first: any descendant of our old Zhu family who dares to imitate Huizong—building flower‑stone towers, repairing ruined gardens, employing a treacherous minister like Cai Jing—won't escape us, not even as ghosts! Hear that?!"

Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and the others shivered, quickly kowtowed: "Your son humbly remembers the father's teachings! We would never dare forget!"

Qing Dynasty, Kangxi era.

Xuan Ye also wore a solemn expression, sighing: "The Song ruled by culture, yet perished because of the greed of its civil officials."

"Cai Jing and his kind are truly the scum among scholars; their talent is just enough to serve their treachery."

"In later generations, when employing people, virtue precedes talent; this is the ultimate principle."

"Mingzhu, Suo E Tu, both of you should always keep a vigilant and stern heart."

Mingzhu and Suo E Tu bowed and agreed, their hearts shivering at the thought of Cai Jing's 'starving to death' fate.

Northern Song, Zhenghe era (Cai Jing was chancellor, Huizong on the throne).

Bianjing City, Cai Jing's "West Garden".

A grand poetry gathering was being held in the garden.

Cai Jing, in plain clothes, with a group of flattering scholars and his junior guests, admired flowers and stones, drank wine and composed poetry, thoroughly enjoying himself.

He had just presented a batch of rare stones to Huizong, receiving many rewards, feeling proud and satisfied.

His sons Cai You and Cai Tao, among others, kept him company nearby.

Suddenly, the celestial screen manifested, displaying Cai Jing's crimes over the next twenty years, the Northern Song's calamities, and his own fate of starving by the roadside,

bare and in every detail, under the bright daylight, the whole of Bianjing and the entire world saw it!

The laughter and chatter at the poetry gathering abruptly ceased.

Everyone seemed frozen by a binding spell, staring blankly at the celestial screen.

Then, their gazes slowly turned to Cai Jing on the main seat.

Cai Jing's smile on his face froze completely, the blood color fading at a visible speed, turning as pale as paper.

The wine cup in his hand went "crack" as it fell to the ground, shattering, the fine wine splashing onto his luxurious robe's hem.

He felt a cold current surge from the soles of his feet up to his celestial crown, his limbs icy, his whole body uncontrollably trembling.

"No… no… this is slander! It's a frame‑up! Someone is trying to harm me!"

Cai Jing shouted hoarsely, his voice sharp and piercing, yet full of fear.

He tried to stand, but his legs went weak, and he fell back down.

The scenes on the celestial screen were too realistic; his corrupt methods, his forced demolition of houses, his forged accounts to claim double salaries, even the filthy thoughts in his heart, were all exposed one by one!

And the tragic sight of starving by the roadside…

"Father!"

Cai You and Cai Tao were also terrified, stepping forward to help.

The junior guests and servants in the garden now looked at Cai Jing with eyes full of shock, contempt, fear, and a hint of… satisfaction?

So this seemingly upright, all‑powerful Minister Cai was actually such a person in private? He even starved to death?