Chapter 43: The Results of the Household Seizures Are Out

Zhu Youjian turned to Wang Tiqian and Tian Ergeng.

Wang Tiqian glanced at Tian Ergeng, then stepped forward and bowed. "In reply to Your Majesty."

"Since receiving the decree on the twenty-fourth, this slave has worked jointly with the Embroidered Uniform Guard to seize the households of the traitorous eunuch Wei Zhongxian, Madam Ke, and all their partisans, and to clap them all in chains."

"The gold, silver, land deeds, properties, antiques, calligraphy, and paintings found in their residences have all been inventoried and entered into registers — the sums are beyond reckoning."

He paused, then raised his voice slightly.

"Only after this seizure do we truly see how their greed had become second nature, how they gnawed at the state and harmed the people — it makes one's hair stand on end! Your Majesty's sagely brilliance illuminates all, piercing through ten thousand li — this is truly a blessing for the Great Ming, a blessing for the common folk!"

Zhu Youjian gave no sign of approval or disapproval. He merely extended his hand coolly. "Bring the register."

"Yes."

Wang Tiqian responded, drew a thick ledger from his sleeve, held it in both hands, and had a junior eunuch beside him convey it up onto the imperial desk.

Zhu Youjian took the register and flipped it open casually.

A single glance, and the tip of his brow lifted almost imperceptibly.

The contents of the register were actually presented in tabular form.

Column by column, row by row, crisp and clear.

Names, gold and silver, acreage of fields, curios and antiques… every category sorted, all at a glance.

Zhu Youjian's gaze could not help but lift from the ledger as he shot a sidelong look at the two men below the dais.

Wang Tiqian still wore that utterly unruffled expression, his head slightly lowered.

Tian Ergeng beside him, however, was visibly nervous.

A flicker of something strange passed through Zhu Youjian's mind.

This kind of table — he had drawn it by hand only a few days ago, when he made Wang, Wei, and Tian hand over the list of the eunuch faction.

He had not imagined that Wang Tiqian could apply it here so quickly.

This bootlicking… felt rather satisfying.

No wonder the man had been able to hold the Directorate of Ceremonial for seven full years, standing firm no matter how the situation shifted in between, even when Wei Zhongxian's power towered over all.

A clever man.

Good. I like clever men.

Clever men are often useful — perceptive and afraid to die. Nothing better.

Thoughts raced through Zhu Youjian's mind, but his face betrayed nothing. He merely lifted his head a fraction, and his gaze settled back on the register.

He skipped straight past the dense catalog of items in front and turned to the page that totaled the gold and silver.

The first line: Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian… gold and silver seized, totaling two hundred forty-six thousand taels.

That very first figure made Zhu Youjian's brow furrow instantly.

Two hundred forty-six thousand taels?

Wei Zhongxian, who bestrode the court and the realm, who was hailed as the Nine Thousand Years — this was all they had seized from him?

This was far, far from the figure he had expected!

He raised his head and fixed his gaze straight on Wang Tiqian.

Before he could even open his mouth, Wang Tiqian seemed to have already read his thoughts and spoke first: "Your Majesty, do you feel the amount of silver seized from the traitor Wei is too small?"

Zhu Youjian said nothing, only nodded, the scrutiny in his eyes deepening by three parts.

Wang Tiqian met Zhu Youjian's gaze without flinching or evading it. "In reply to Your Majesty, when this slave and Commander Tian first began the investigation, we shared Your Majesty's doubt. Only after extensive verification on many fronts and interrogating his stewards and servants did we understand the reasons."

"Since seizing power in the third year of Tianqi, the traitor Wei did indeed take bribes and bend the law, amassing colossal wealth. Yet the man… also spent money like water."

"First: when the late emperor still lived, in order to secure imperial favor, the traitor Wei repeatedly donated to the privy purse to aid border military funds — no less than over a hundred thousand taels in total."

"Second: the man was by nature fond of luxury and obsessed with pomp. Every time he went out on procession, his retinue stretched for several li, banners fluttering, attendants massed like clouds — the expense was enormous."

"Third: he was a devout Buddhist. He built temples on a grand scale both inside and outside the capital, had gilded statues cast far and wide, and would casually donate tens of thousands or over a hundred thousand taels of silver at a time."

"Fourth: to cultivate a reputation for integrity, he also donated funds to build bridges and pave roads near the capital region, to display his benevolence."

"After all these outlays, by the time we arrived to seize his property, the ready silver in his residence indeed amounted to only two hundred forty-six thousand taels."

Wang Tiqian's voice was steady and clear. Every word was reasoned and substantiated, as if he were stating a fact beyond dispute.

Zhu Youjian watched him in silence, not uttering a word.

Wang Tiqian returned his gaze with perfect openness, his eyes limpid, without the slightest trace of guilt or evasion.

Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.

Tian Ergeng beside him felt he was about to suffocate.

Just as the oppressive atmosphere reached its peak, a smile suddenly bloomed on Zhu Youjian's face.

"Ha ha…"

He laughed, breaking the silence in the hall.

"Tiqian, you have done very well."

He spoke warmly: "To have investigated so meticulously shows your loyalty and ability fully. Henceforth, in my presence, you need no longer call yourself 'this slave.' 'This inner minister' will do."

This sudden praise and favor caught even Wang Tiqian off guard.

He hurriedly knelt and knocked his head on the floor. "Your Majesty overpraises me! This slave is Your Majesty's household slave and would never dare overstep. The words 'inner minister' — this slave truly dare not accept them!"

Zhu Youjian waved a hand, gesturing for him to rise.

In his heart, he had not actually fully believed Wang Tiqian's words.

That Wei Zhongxian's expenditures were enormous was a fact.

But exactly how enormous they were — that account was probably impossible to clarify.

But he believed Wang Tiqian was a clever man.

A clever man should not, and could not, at such a critical juncture, try to fool him with such clumsy methods.

Even if he meant to embezzle, he would never start with Wei Zhongxian, the fattest, most conspicuous, most attention-grabbing piece of meat.

Of course, the crux of the matter was…

Even if Wang Tiqian really had embezzled, what could he do about it right now?

He had just ascended the throne; his original retinue was nothing but a pack of misfits. He could only use one force against another like this.

Until a core of trusted followers truly his own was built up, he had no choice but to employ them.

Even if it was only temporary.

"Rise," Zhu Youjian said flatly.

"I thank Your Majesty." Wang Tiqian obediently got to his feet.

As if he had seen right through Zhu Youjian's thoughts, he went on to add:

"Your Majesty, though the traitor Wei had little ready silver, his landholdings and properties are astonishingly vast."

"Beyond the four thousand one hundred qing of imperial estates granted by the late emperor, we have also uncovered and seized over one thousand six hundred qing of prime farmland he had annexed throughout the capital region."

"Furthermore, this slave has already dispatched riders posthaste to his hometown of Suning in Hejian to investigate the clan's landholdings there. I expect a report within days."

"Mm. Well done." Zhu Youjian nodded approvingly. "Be thorough. Leave nothing out."

"This slave obeys the decree."

Zhu Youjian's gaze returned to the account book, continuing its sweep downward.

Li Yongzhen… gold and silver confiscated, totaling five hundred twenty-eight thousand taels.

At the sight of that figure, Zhu Youjian's pupils sharply contracted.

Li Yongzhen?

A brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and he had embezzled more than double what Wei Zhongxian himself had?

Damn! No wonder the original host's Prince Xin Residence took two years to build and still wasn't finished!

You really have guts of steel!

Zhu Youjian continued scanning the remaining names.

Cui Chengxiu… eighty-four thousand taels.

Zhou Yingqiu… seventy-two thousand taels.

Further down were Xu Xianchun, Cui Yingyuan, Ni Wenhuan, and other such small fry, with confiscated amounts ranging from six thousand to ten thousand taels.

At the very end of the ledger, Wang Tiqian had thoughtfully summed up the grand total in vermilion ink.

—One million sixty-seven thousand four hundred sixty taels.

One million sixty-seven thousand…

A flicker of undisguisable disappointment passed through Zhu Youjian's eyes.

Too little.

It was truly far too little.

In his original calculations, rooting out the eunuch faction should have yielded at least three to five million taels of silver.

He had never imagined it would be this paltry.

The military payroll for Liaodong, the payroll for the Nine Border Garrisons, disaster relief in the northwest — which of these was not a gaping hole measured in the millions?

This pittance, scattered out there, wouldn't even raise a ripple.

A discrepancy this enormous could not be explained away simply by Wei Zhongxian's lavish spending.

Had he killed too few people?

The thought flashed through Zhu Youjian's mind, but he dismissed it just as quickly.

To stabilize the court and ensure a smooth transition,

and to prevent the Donglin Faction, once restored, from using the anti-eunuch banner to erode his own authority, he had to limit the scope of the purge.

In a certain sense, the so-called eunuch faction of today was, in fact, the most useful.

Still, more money was always better. He would have to find a way later to make them cough it up without upsetting the balance of court politics.

How best to go about it?

His fingers tapped unconsciously on the imperial desk, producing a soft "tok, tok, tok."

Just then, Wang Tiqian suddenly knelt forward and prostrated himself on the floor. "Your Majesty, this subject is guilty."

The motion instantly startled the other three men in the hall.

Zhu Youjian's fingers stopped. He opened his eyes.

In a flash, he understood exactly what Wang Tiqian was about to do.

"Oh? Where does your guilt lie, Tiqian?"