Chapter 524: You Jianru Scholars Are Just Pretending

The ministers shout "Long live, long live, long live Your Majesty" every day, wishing the Great Ming to last for ten thousand generations, with holy virtue renewing daily, holy government managed daily, and a cause of peace for billions of years.

What dynasty can have a cause of peace for ten thousand years? It is as unrealistic as people being able to live forever.

In fact, Zhu Yijun cares very much about the "Memorial on Returning Land" written by Zhang Juzheng. That memorial is the good prescription for governing the country that Zhu Yijun has been thinking about, but it cannot be pushed forward.

Throughout the dynasties, in their later years, they have been unable to allocate the means of production. For example, Jia Sidao's "Public Land Law" is a typical example. The "Memorial on Returning Land" conceived by Zhang Juzheng is actually the same as the idea of the "Public Land Law," both using currency to buy land and then recruiting tenants for public land.

The more beautiful the design of the system, the more unbelievable it is.

First of all, the process of distributing silver by the Great Ming Imperial Court began to be corrupted. Everyone took a share from it, making a fortune, and the silver might not even flow to the local level before it had already filled the holes in the government offices at all levels.

If the silver cannot reach the local level, and the land return order must be executed, various empty checks must be used to redeem the land. For example, what Jia Sidao used was "Huizi," which is paper money. To put it bluntly, it was forced confiscation.

In the process of this confiscation, the county government offices and yamen runners who specifically executed the political decree would be bribed by the wealthy to avoid the confiscation, while it was very difficult for the poor and laborers to maintain their livelihood, let alone bribe. Therefore, the confiscated land must come from the poor and laborers, not from the wealthy.

The 60,000 qing of land hidden in Jiangxi and the land measurement in Sichuan that has been slow to advance are all due to such reasons. Land measurement can only clarify the land property of the poor and laborers, while the wealthy use various means to hide it.

Even if this land is confiscated, can it really fulfill its wish and become a part of the redistribution of the means of production?

From Lin Fucheng going to Baoding, the situation he saw was that the Imperial Court's public land was leased at almost no cost, and then a new relationship of interest transmission was formed. The public land did not play the role of settling the displaced people at all, but instead became a catalyst for civil unrest.

Therefore, the "Memorial on Returning Land" is still shelved. The court officials have a tacit understanding and haven't even mentioned it. Only Wang Chonggu secretly used ship permits to get 30,000 qing of land. Coupled with the 60,000 qing of hidden land in Jiangxi that was confiscated, in the eleven years of the Wanli Reform, the Great Ming collected less than 100,000 qing of public land, which cannot be compared with the more than 70% of public land in the early years of the dynasty.

From the Northern Wei Dynasty to the land system of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were "permanent land" and "share land." Share land means that when a person dies, the registration is cancelled and redistributed. But once the share land was distributed, it was never collected back. The Great Ming also had a system similar to this, called public land and private land. The corruption of the military colony and guard system and the encroachment of public land are highly convergent.

As for the two Song Dynasties, the two Song Dynasties had no land system.

System designs all have space for redistributing the means of production, but throughout the dynasties, they have not been able to implement and execute them.

Cannot be executed.

The spring breeze of the eleventh year of Wanli, along with the slow opening of the gate of the Examination Hall, blew through the capital, while the annoying coal smoke still circled over the capital, carrying sand and dust from outside the Great Wall, blocking the sky and the sun. The metropolitan examination finally ended under the eyes of everyone, and the tense grading began.

Zhu Yijun received Wang Chonggu's memorial, discussing the official factory group construction and talking about Lin Fucheng's curse: the official factory group construction will inevitably fail like the military colony and guard system.

This curse tortured Wang Chonggu like a nightmare, and Wang Chonggu had to think about the possibility of this problem.

Zhang Juzheng, standing from the perspective of distribution, once mentioned that if the downward distribution is less than 30%, the official factory group construction will lose its vitality, and if it is lower than 10%, the official factory group construction will fall apart, just like the military colony and guard system.

And the content discussed by Wang Chonggu is also inevitable failure.

This gave birth to a paradoxical logic: when a matter can be discussed as to what form of failure it will take, it can instead avoid these failures, thereby making the day of failure come later. For example, the more one can discuss why the Great Ming will perish, the more the Great Ming will instead avoid risks and prolong its life.

The Wanli Reform, the Great Ming's national strength is flourishing. As a result, people like Hou Yuzhao and Lin Fucheng sing about its decline all day long, which is annoying, but there is no good way to deal with them. After all, what they say is the truth.

The fall of the Great Ming is a discussable problem. Zhu Yijun allows people to say that the Great Ming's world is not for ten thousand

generations, and can even discuss why it will perish.

Good medicine is bitter to the mouth but good for the disease; loyal words are harsh to the ear but good for the action.

In Wang Chonggu's view, the greatest danger to the official factory comes from the upper level. If the upper structure of the official factory, that is, the management level with technical background, is lower than 50%, it will be dangerous, and if it is lower than 30%, it will fall apart. Moreover, Wang Chonggu believes that this danger is common to the officialdom, that is, the proportion of lowly Confucian scholars who have no practical experience and only know how to talk empty words exceeds 50%, which will have a negative impact on the Imperial Court's decision-making. If it exceeds 70%, the Great Ming will die immediately.

Then Wang Chonggu reached a conclusion, which is: any collective, if its management level exceeds 50% and does not come from the grassroots, can prepare for reorganization. If it exceeds 70%, it can announce that it is hopeless, just wait for death.

The reason for this argument is that Wang Chonggu believes that the carrier of technology is people, not anything else.

This collective can be in any form, from small handicraft workshops to merchant groups, merchant firms, and then to the Imperial Court and the State, all of which are common.

Wang Chonggu's family has been doing business for generations, and he himself summarized the three stages of a collective.

The first stage, everything is waiting to be done. At the beginning of the formation, people with technical backgrounds have the loudest voice, and most of the management level has a technical background. Instead, they have no management talent, the financial system is almost non-existent, and it is a grass-roots team that eats meat in big chunks and drinks wine in big bowls. Grass-roots teams are the easiest to perish. Many private workshops among the people collapsed in the first stage because they did not cultivate a sufficient number of craftsmen, leading to insufficient productivity, closing down, and ending in a mess.

The second stage, flourishing. After the scale continues to expand, the management system, laws, and departments begin to improve, the financial system begins to improve, and personnel begin to show partial redundancy. At this time, it is also the healthiest state, because the management system is implemented, everyone's interests are guaranteed under order, and the financial system guarantees distribution. Everything is full of vitality and everything is competing.

Just like the current Yongding, Yongsheng, Xishan Coal Bureau, Songjiang Shipyard, and Nanyang Plantation, they are all in such a state. The backbone with technical backgrounds still accounts for more than 50%, and the entire official factory is developing healthily and orderly.

The third stage, dead but not stiff. The huge scale makes the transmission speed of perishing, no matter how fast it is, take time, and it will not collapse in an instant. And this time will be very long. The most significant feature of this step is that it is dominated by profit. In the composition of the upper structure of this collective, the management with technical background is less than 30%, mainly concentrated in the market.

Just like the Great Ming at this time, the Wanli Reform, it has been the eleventh year, but in Wang Chonggu's view, it is still in the stage of perishing the world, hovering on the edge of death.

The three stages of fighting for the world, sitting in the world, and perishing the world, the proportion of people from the grassroots has become a standard for measuring whether it will perish. Those responsible for decision-making do not understand technology, which is as strange as the supreme decision-making marshal of the army not understanding military affairs.

Zhu Yijun approved this memorial and sent it to the Ministry of Rites in the next chapter.

Wang Chonggu submitted this memorial, and the time node was actually very sensitive, because it was exactly when the metropolitan examination was being graded.

Whether to interfere with the results of the metropolitan examination based on this, and distinguish the Jinshi enrollment by background, immediately brewed a huge wave in the capital, and the discussion on this was one after another.

Zhu Yijun went out again under the name of the Huang clan of Penglai. Whether to use this as a standard for enrollment became a very hot topic in the capital, while the Examination Hall locked its gate to grade, unaware of the monstrous waves outside.

When the Examination Hall grades, no matter what happens, no one else can enter. Even if there is a sudden illness, they will be carried out of the Examination Hall and cannot participate in the grading. Only the Emperor's envoy can enter at this time. But in the two hundred years of the Great Ming Dynasty, there have been few cases of the Emperor arrogantly interfering with the imperial examinations, so the metropolitan examination was not affected.

The wind of public opinion this time was extremely strange. The Great Ming pen-correctors all supported distinguishing Jinshi enrollment by background.

Zhu Yijun turned into Young Master Huang again and came to the Taibai Building to watch the fun.

The Imperial Court had actually made a decision not to arrogantly interfere with the imperial examinations, that is, not to use top-down administrative power to interfere with the results of the Jinshi enrollment.

Instead, it adopted a bottom-up approach, investing more in education, letting more people read, and making the officialdom ecology tend to be healthy.

The people do not know about the Imperial Court's decision.

"They discuss and discuss, and there is not even one feasible method." Zhu Yijun went to the Taibai Building to watch the fun and listened to all kinds of people discussing. After listening for a long time, he didn't hear any method that made his eyes shine. The level of these people is indeed not as good as the court officials. At least the court officials came up with a method that was not the best and required huge investment but could be used.

Indeed, scholars from poor and laboring backgrounds will definitely be at a disadvantage in this competition. But once scholars at a disadvantage win in the competition, their ability must be extremely outstanding. As for their character, it is hard to say. The promotion mechanism of the officialdom under the "Examination Method" will never screen out scum.

"His Majesty says this, if they had a method, they wouldn't be sitting here talking, they would have sat in the Wenhua Hall long ago." Wang Qian answered with a smile. Not everyone in the Wenhua Hall is a good person.

Zhang Juzheng, Wang Chonggu, Wang Guoguang, Wan Shihe, and others cannot be considered good people.

Zhang Juzheng has a heart smaller than a needle and is vengeful; Wang Chonggu is a sycophant who usurps power and is still gathering wealth for the Imperial Court, a sycophant and a treacherous official, the Yan Song of the Wanli period; Wang Guoguang came from the Jin Party and climbed to the Wenhua Hall step by step with the help of the Jin Party, then turned around and stabbed them in the back, killing the Jin people without mercy; Wan Shihe bows and scrapes to the powerful, and his bones are softer than willow branches;

Overall, the four assistant ministers of the Cabinet in the eleventh year of Wanli, no matter which one, are all existence that makes people's eyes dark. But regardless of their personal character, their abilities are all top-notch and powerful.

The first and second wealthy young masters of the Great Ming capital are very interested in this lively scene of literati pulling hair.

"It seems there is no fun to watch today." The fun-loving Imperial Prince said with great disappointment. The gathering of this group of people has no tension. They are all very polite in talking about the classics, and they are all stopping at the surface, not daring to go deep into the government affairs at all. They are not brave at all like the lowly Confucian scholars of the Jiajing period. The lowly Confucian scholars of the Jiajing period dared to go to the Huangji Gate to petition.

Pulling hair is not hard, it is very boring.

Zhu Yijun was just about to leave when he heard a shout.

"You lowly Confucian scholars! Now you even want to occupy the good name of enduring hardship!" Lin Fucheng's loud shout came from a corner. Its volume made the entire Taibai Building quiet down a bit.

Zhu Yijun stopped. Zhu Yijun has always highly recognized Lin Fucheng's combat effectiveness. Clearly, Lin Fucheng had a quarrel with someone, and the quarrel was very deep, attracting the attention of most people.

Lin Fucheng rolled up his sleeves, his anger soaring to the sky, fire spraying from his eyes, pointing at a Confucian scholar in front of him, and said loudly: "You Jianru scholars are just pretending!"

"You support the Imperial Court in distinguishing Jinshi enrollment by background, isn't it just to complain about the hardship of your family background, and then talk about how resilient you are to reach the metropolitan examination?! You are simply swindlers who steal fame!"

Zhu Yijun looked at the Confucian scholar opposite Lin Fucheng, Zhang Xigao, a Jinshi of the third rank in the second year of Wanli. In the seventh year of Wanli, he was promoted from the Magistrate of Dianbai, Guangzhou, to Prefect, and three years later he entered the capital to become a Supervising Secretary of the Six Corridors. This promotion was clearly abnormal and was already on Hai Rui's supervision list.

"Isn't this fun coming?" Wang Qian was also happy. He was also here to watch the fun today. The Imperial Court had already made a decision. This kind of gathering would not affect the formulation of the Imperial Court's political decrees, and Wang Chonggu's memorial was not to interfere with the imperial examinations. He was just for the three-level school of the engineer corps.

Lin Fucheng scolded Zhang Xigao for stealing fame. This accusation was already tearing his face off, and the intensity was already very strong.

Facing Lin Fucheng's attack, which was almost abusive, Zhang Xigao flushed, pointed at Lin Fucheng several times, and then said loudly: "It is simply insulting to the literati!"

"What kind of literati do you have! And insulting to the literati!" Lin Fucheng sneered and said: "You lowly Confucian scholars, one by one, support distinguishing enrollment by background, isn't it just because you feel that those from the bottom background have no strength and are easy to manipulate?"

"The Great Ming suffers from the harm of academic factions. Your actions today seem to support the poor and laborers, but in fact, you are harboring evil intentions!"

Lin Fucheng opposed distinguishing Jinshi enrollment by background. The reason is that it will aggravate the prevalence of the teacher-student system. The lack of personal freedom caused by the teacher-student system is what Lin Fucheng, this liberal, strongly opposes.

"Lin Dashi's statement is interesting." Zhu Yijun expressed his approval of Lin Fucheng's point of view. The result of the court discussion on Wang Chonggu's memorial was also a similar view. Rude and arrogant interference will not bring good results, but will make things worse. Destroying the fairness of the metropolitan examination will lead to further corruption of the Great Ming situation.

Zhang Xigao was ashamed and angry, and said loudly: "Nonsense, groundless accusation! You, Lin Fucheng, have no sympathy for the poor and laborers! If the Imperial Court can stipulate the quota for enrollment by background, it will benefit the scholars from poor families in the world. You are stirring up such public opinion, isn't it just for your own insignificant liberal claims!"

"Saying I am a swindler who steals fame, I think you are the one. For your own claims, you have no sense of shame. You even oppose such a political decree that benefits the poor families. What is your intention!"

"You just don't want to see the Great Ming do well. It is not easy for a minister to propose such an injustice, but you are chattering endlessly!"

Zhang Xigao is a Censor. His combat effectiveness was released when he was not facing the Emperor or authority. He hit the nail on the head and rushed straight to Lin Fucheng's life gate. Lin Fucheng has criticized the Great Ming's current situation many times. Several travelogues in a row have all exposed the bloody facts, piercing through the splendor of the Great Ming's New Policy.

Just don't want to see the Great Ming do well.

"Zhang Xigao is unwise." Zhu Yijun said to Wang Qian in a low voice: "He is an official of the Imperial Court. Running to the Taibai Building to talk to Lin Fucheng is lowering his status, and he was scolded, which is even more a loss than a gain. No matter what Zhang Xigao says in the future, others will say, you were scolded by Lin Fucheng."

As a Censor with official status, he should try his best to avoid appearing in such occasions. Even if he wants to stir up public opinion, let the pen-correctors of major miscellaneous newspapers do it. That is equal. This kind of personal participation, in the future in the officialdom, he, Zhang Xigao, doesn't have to mix anymore. The sentence "You were scolded by Lin Fucheng" is enough for him to be ridiculed for a lifetime.

Wang Qian smiled and said: "Isn't it because the pen-correctors can't scold Lin Dashi? Lin Dashi doesn't mention other skills, but scolding people is truly top-notch."

Facing Zhang Xigao's counterattack, Lin Fucheng was not annoyed, nor was he in a hurry. Instead, he drank a sip of tea steadily, showing the style of a master. He looked at Zhang Xigao and asked with a smile: "Look, you are in a hurry again. What are you in a hurry for?"

"You also said I am insulting to the literati. As a Censor of the Six Corridors, running to the streets to scold people is losing the dignity of the Imperial Court."

Zhang Xigao was severely choked. He didn't want to come either, but he couldn't not come. He had a task. Drumming up support for distinguishing enrollment by background was his task. As a result, just as he stirred up a little wave, he met Lin Fucheng.

Lin Fucheng stood up and said: "Back to today's matter, we don't have to expose others' shortcomings. Let's talk about this distinguishing Jinshi enrollment by background and determining the quota. Is it really benefiting the poor families? I'm afraid not. I heard that Zhang the Supervising Secretary once served as a Magistrate in Dianbai. I don't have any practical experience to talk about, but I know that once this door is opened, the scholars from poor families will probably never have a chance to stand out."

Zhang Xigao was left speechless and thoroughly stifled; he had not wanted to come, but he could not refuse, for he had a mission—to clamor for support for distinguishing lineage in the registration of dependents. As it turned out, just as he had stirred up the slightest bit of trouble, he ran into Lin Fucheng.

"Isn't that right, Supervising Secretary Zhang."

"The powerful and influential will likely swarm in, using all sorts of means to seize the label of 'humble origins,' or even pin it upon themselves to secure fame and rank. This move will not benefit the humble at all; instead, it will cut off their path to the imperial examinations. Things like misattributing one's identity—which happens in land surveys, in the fraudulent use of tax exemptions, and even in the forging of monk certificates—could it not also happen with the two words 'humble origins'?"

The public land in Baoding Prefecture was falsely occupied. How did Wang Duxing of the Yao Mountain Wang clan rent 7,000 qing of land from Baoding Prefecture? That is 700,000 mu!

As soon as Lin Fucheng said this, everyone present frowned deeply. The concept of misattributing identity was something Lin Fucheng had distilled based on the scenes he had witnessed.

"Lin Dashi, we all understand everything else, but what is the saying about this ordination certificate?" Zhu Yijun asked suspiciously. Lin Fucheng actually had goods in his stomach, so he had to shake it and let him pour it out.

Lin Fucheng stopped showing off and hurriedly said: "At the time of the transition between the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, Emperor Huizong of Song liked the Daoist gate, and as the Daoist Lord of the Sect, he issued a decree that the ordination certificates of Daoist priests and monks could be exempted from taxes and labor services from ancient times. Later, this ordination certificate was more valuable than paper money."

"Our dynasty's ordination certificates can also be exempted from taxes and labor services, but in the first year of Jingtai, the Jing Emperor issued a decree to send the National Master Yang Chan Shi to outside the Great Wall to educate the Wala people, and then confiscated the issuance of ordination certificates."

When Lin Fucheng saw it was Wang Qian and Young Master Huang, he hurriedly said, "So it is Young Master Huang and Young Master Wang before me. My apologies, my apologies. I was too busy arguing with him. I heard a few days ago that someone was impersonating Young Master Huang and walking about the capital; the person was arrested. Young Master Huang, are you unharmed?"

Lin Fucheng didn't explain it very clearly, but Zhu Yijun still understood what was going on.

It was about the Zhengtong period. The Ming Emperor Yingzong conferred a title on a National Master, who was the Buddhist Yang Chan Shi. After the Tumu Crisis, the Jing Emperor Zhu Qiyu sent Yang Chan Shi to Wala to reform the Wala people. The logic was very simple: if gods and ghosts really existed, then Yang Chan Shi must be able to reform the Wala people with Buddhist dharma.

After that, the Great Ming confiscated the ordination certificates. One ordination certificate in a Great Ming temple was already remarkable.

This political decree of the Jing Emperor Zhu Qiyu to confiscate ordination certificates has been executed. This is also a manifestation of the rigidity of the system. Although it is not clear why such a strange prohibition was formulated, it is better to execute it. It is similar to: if you don't have the ability, don't modify the shit mountain code, otherwise it won't run, and you will be blind directly.

Zhu Qiyu is not stupid, and even has extremely strong ability. He was able to clean up the mess for the Ming Fortress Emperor Zhu Qizhen who caused a catastrophe. He couldn't do it without ability. But Zhu Qiyu is a good person. He ignored the cruelty of political struggle. After Zhu Jiamen returned to the capital, he clearly had the opportunity to kill them all, but he couldn't bear to take action.

A good person cannot be an Emperor.

The assistant ministers are not good people, and Zhu Yijun is not a good person. In just eleven years of Wanli, he started several major prison cases, set off the four major cases of Wanli, the Zhang Siwei case, the Kong Mansion case in Yanzhou, the Yang clan case in Xindu, and the Xu Jie case. Hundreds of heads rolled to the ground at every turn. Before his grand wedding, he was still watching the execution at the Meridian Gate. He liked to use cruel officials like Yin Zhengmao, Ling Yunyi, and Luo Bingliang. This is also the first label on Zhu Yijun, a tyrant, and then he is stingy.

"You continue, continue." Zhu Yijun waved his hand. After he figured out what the ordination certificate Lin Fucheng said was, he signaled Lin Fucheng to continue scolding people.

Zhu Yiliu doesn't like watching literati pull hair. He likes learning foreign languages in the Prince of Lu's Mansion.

It refers to the Zhengtong era, when Emperor Yingzong enfeoffed a State Preceptor, a Buddhist monk named Master Yang. After the Tumu Crisis, Emperor Jing, Zhu Qiyu, sent Master Yang to the Oirat lands to convert the Oirats. The logic was simple: if gods and ghosts truly existed, then Master Yang would surely be able to use Buddhist teachings to convert the Oirats.

"Humph, you wild village man, I have nothing to say to you! This is a major event that needs to be reported to the Heavenly Hearing. What is there to say to you? Didn't you say it yourself? I am an official of the Imperial Court." Zhang Xigao frowned, realizing that he had fallen into a trap.

Emperor Jing Zhu Qiyu's decree to collect and prohibit monk certificates has been continuously enforced; this is a manifestation of institutional rigidity. Although it is unclear why such a strange prohibition was established, it is better to continue enforcing it. It is much like the idea that if one lacks the ability, one should not modify legacy code, otherwise, it will fail to run, and one will be left completely helpless.

When the rules are favorable, talk about rules; when the facts are favorable, talk about facts. You Jianru scholars are nothing more than this.

"Isn't it just official status? Who doesn't have one? I am even two ranks higher than you. Look at what this is?" Lin Fucheng not only didn't give up the pursuit, but took out his fifth-rank Five Classics Doctor official status tooth plate, opened the red silk cloth on it, and showed it.

"Hmm?!" Zhang Xigao took a few steps forward, snatched the tooth plate, looked at the words "Five Classics Doctor," and his eyes widened. It was actually a real official status. He, Zhang Xigao, climbed for nine full years before climbing to the seventh-rank Supervising Secretary. A wild village man he looked down upon took out a fifth-rank official status.

"Counterfeit! It must be counterfeit!" Zhang Xigao shouted angrily.

"Under the eyes of everyone, I counterfeit official status. Do I think the Imperial Court's guillotine is not sharp enough? Give it to me, don't break it for me! I only have this one." Lin Fucheng took the tooth plate with a distressed face, and after confirming that it was not broken, he put it away with red silk cloth. In his heart, this tooth plate was very precious, although he had never used it.

Zhu Yijun said happily: "It's okay, if it's broken, I'll get you another one. It's simple for the Grand General's Mansion to get a tooth plate."

Young Master Huang was arrogant and domineering, and said clearly in front of everyone that this official status tooth plate came from the Grand General's Mansion. If Zhang Xigao had any integrity, he should have accused Young Master Huang of attaching himself to the powerful and giving and receiving privately.

But Zhang Xigao didn't. He flushed, flicked his sleeves, and chose to leave. This indignant departure represented defeat. Zhang Xigao really couldn't afford to offend the Grand General's Mansion. Let alone him, Zhang Xigao, the civil and military officials of the whole court didn't dare to offend them. It wasn't that they were afraid of Qi Jiguang. Qi Jiguang was a good-natured person when he returned to the capital, and anyone could bully him. It was mainly because they were afraid of the Emperor's unreasonable protection of killing on the street.

The reputation of the Grand General's Mansion was ruined by Young Master Huang again. Qi Jiguang was also happy to see it happen. As a Grand General who controlled 100,000 troops, his reputation was too good, which was disadvantageous to him. On the contrary, being arrogant and domineering and not recognized by everyone would not cause wariness, wariness from all sides. ===== CHAPTER 525 =====

"Isn't it just an official status? Who doesn't have one? I am even two ranks higher than you. Look at what this is!" Lin Fucheng, far from abandoning his pursuit, pulled out his own fifth-rank official status tablet as a Doctor of the Five Classics, and the red silk cloth covering it

was opened, revealing it to all.

"Hmm?!" Zhang Xigao took a few fierce steps forward, snatched the tablet, and stared at the words "Doctor of the Five Classics." His eyes widened; it was actually a genuine official status. He, Zhang Xigao, had climbed for nine whole years just to reach the seventh-rank position of Supervising Secretary, yet a rustic villager he looked down upon had pulled out a fifth-rank official status.

"It's forged! It is absolutely forged!" Zhang Xigao shouted in anger.

"With everyone watching, if I were to forge an official status, would I be implying that the imperial executioner's blade is not sharp enough? Give it back to me, don't break it! I only have this one." Lin Fucheng took back the tablet with a pained expression. After confirming it was undamaged, he carefully wrapped it back up in the red silk cloth. In his heart, this tablet was extremely precious, even though he had never used it before.

Zhu Yijun said cheerfully, "It's fine. If it breaks, we'll just get you another one. Getting a tablet from the Grand General's Mansion is simple enough."

Young Master Huang was arrogant and overbearing, stating clearly in front of everyone that this official status tablet came from the Grand General's Mansion. If Zhang Xigao had any integrity or backbone, he should have accused Young Master Huang of sheltering under the powerful and engaging in private favors.

But Zhang Xigao did not. His face flushed red, he flicked his sleeves, and chose to leave. This indignant departure represented an admission of defeat. Zhang Xigao truly could not afford to offend the Grand General's Mansion. Let alone him, the entire civil and military officialdom dared not offend it—and it wasn't out of fear of Qi Jiguang; Qi Jiguang was a pushover when he returned to the capital, someone anyone could bully. It was mainly the fear of the Emperor's unreasonable, street-level, blade-wielding protection.

The reputation of the Grand General's Mansion had once again been ruined by Young Master Huang, and Qi Jiguang was happy to see it happen. As a Grand General controlling an army of one hundred thousand, having too good a reputation was disadvantageous to him. On the contrary, being arrogant and overbearing, and not being accepted by everyone, was the only way to avoid being viewed with suspicion—suspicion from all sides.