Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

In the following days, the entire capital and even the bureaucratic system of the entire empire seemed to be thrown into a high-speed furnace.

The sign for the "Post-War Audit Office" was quickly put up, and Qin Ming even transferred some of his "Tingfeng Guards" to the office to oversee secret investigations and evidence collection. The censors of the Metropolitan Censorate were energized, carrying imperial edicts and conducting inspections everywhere.

For a time, the treasuries of various governments were thoroughly checked, account books piled up like mountains, corruption cases were exposed one after another, and the heads of once prominent figures fell to the ground. Carriages of confiscation of property drove through the streets of the capital from time to time, attracting onlookers and discussions from the people. While they applauded, they were also filled with deeper awe for the cruel emperor on the throne.

The Ministry of Works and the Grain Transport Office were in chaos. Officials almost lived on the riverbank and conscripted laborers to dredge the river day and night. The grain ships soon resumed their travels, and the prices of grain and salt fell.

Officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue stayed up all night counting documents and verifying the treasury silver and military equipment. The process, which used to require layers of approval and delays of several months, is now almost smooth sailing, and the resentment in the front-line military towns has quickly subsided.

A purge storm that swept across the government and the country, under Qin Ming's personal promotion, quickly cleansed the corruption and inertia that had grown in the body of the post-war empire with astonishing efficiency and ruthless methods.

After a brief deviation, the wheels of the empire were brought back onto their cold and efficient track by a pair of powerful hands.

Late at night, Qin Ming remained in the Imperial Study, reviewing a mountain of memorials and secret reports from the Audit Office. The flickering candlelight illuminated his stern profile and those deep, seemingly tireless eyes.

The external threat of war had subsided, but the internal challenges of governing a vast empire never ceased. For him, this was just a change of battlefield.

And his knife is still sharp.

Qin Ming's return was a thunderous arrival, like another winter storm sweeping across the heart of the empire after the flames of war in the north. Those five coldly worded decrees, imbued with murderous intent, were no empty threats. The might of the emperor, under the awe-inspiring gaze of the black-armored cavalry, became a tangible pressure, weighing heavily upon every court official.

A sign reading "Post-War Audit Office" was hung overnight in a secluded courtyard formerly belonging to the Imperial Household Department at the foot of the Imperial City. The gates were dignified, guarded by cold, stoic veterans drawn from the Black Armor Army. Their eyes were like hawks, and they heard no laughter, only the occasional clang of armor plates colliding. The censors of the Metropolitan Censorate, once self-proclaimed incorruptible or self-protective, were now entrusted with unprecedented power and pressure. Accountants from the Privy Council and the Ministry of Revenue arrived, carrying mountains of account books and ledgers. The clatter of abacuses relentlessly flowed day and night, like the ticking of a clock.

Qin Ming even transferred some of his most mysterious "Tingfeng Guards" to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Like the emperor's eyes and ears, they silently infiltrated various ministries, prefectures, and even the marketplace, gathering evidence and gathering information. Suddenly, officials at all levels, both inside and outside the capital, felt a sense of unease. The old customs of buck-passing, bickering, and feasting and socializing came to an abrupt end, and working through the night became the norm.

The storm first started from the Ministry of Revenue.

A case of embezzlement involving disaster relief grain funds from three northern prefectures was first uncovered. Conclusive evidence implicated seventeen officials, ranging from the brother-in-law of a Ministry of Revenue vice minister to petty clerks in local prefecture warehouses. These officials colluded to inflate the number of disaster victims, resell government grain, and even dared to impose a so-called "transportation loss fee" after His Majesty's decree of tax reductions.

When the case file was presented to the emperor, Qin Ming wrote in red ink a single word: "Behead."

The next day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, at Xishikou.

Seventeen heads rolled to the ground, blood staining the scaffold. The confiscated property, the gold and silver alone, filled dozens of carts and was transported to the imperial treasury. His family members, young and old, were shackled and escorted out of the capital, wailing and wailing, to exile three thousand miles away in the wilderness.

The capital was shaken.

Soon after, a fourth-rank grain inspector at the Canal Transport Office was dismissed from his post, imprisoned, and given fifty lashes of the cane, for failing to dredge the canal, thus delaying the transport of grain for three days. The execution took place right outside the Canal Transport Office. The crackling of the cane and the shrill howling of pain left all the onlookers pale. After the beating, the man, already near death, was thrown directly into the imperial prison.

A director of the Ministry of War's Arsenal, accused of embezzling funds for the manufacture of military equipment and passing off inferior goods as superior, was found to have connections with several ironware shops in Beijing. Not only was he immediately executed, but the shops involved were also sealed, their owners exiled, and the Minister and Vice Minister of War, for negligence, were fined a year's salary and suspended for two weeks.

Thunderous measures were taken without mercy. His Majesty, in the most bloody of ways, declared zero tolerance for corruption, dereliction of duty, and negligence. The once complex web of relationships was rendered fragile and vulnerable before the absolute power and force of the emperor. The reality of beheadings and confiscation of property was more intimidating than any moral sermon.

The atmosphere in the court was rectified. Efficiency was unprecedentedly improved. Official documents that once took months to process now received a response within three days. Payments that once required numerous rounds of processing were no longer demanded.

However, not all problems can be solved quickly and decisively. Some deeper, more hidden problems are beginning to surface quietly under the iron fist.

On this day, the Privy Councilor and the Minister of Revenue jointly requested an audience, their faces solemn.

"Your Majesty," the Privy Councilor bowed as he presented a secret report. "The Audit Department has thoroughly investigated the disbursement of rations and salaries to military garrisons across the country and has discovered something peculiar. For the past six months, the salary requests from the Southern Frontier Zhennan Army and the Western Frontier Longyou Army have been roughly consistent with the troop roster. However... according to secret investigations, the actual number of troops in these two areas may be less than 70% of the registered troop numbers."

Qin Ming took the report and glanced at it, his eyes suddenly sharp as a knife: "Empty salary?"

"I dare not make any rash judgments, but... I do have some doubts," the Minister of Revenue said in a low voice. "Moreover, the military commanders in both places have reported losses due to 'bandit suppression' and 'climate change', and the cumulative figures are quite significant. Even more puzzling is that the reported losses of military equipment in both places are far beyond the norm."

Qin Ming was silent for a moment, his fingertips tapping on the dragon case. Eating up empty salaries and falsely reporting losses were long-standing military malpractices, a practice that had existed throughout history. However, on such a large scale, and involving a crucial border town, this was no small matter. This wasn't just embezzlement; it directly weakened border defenses.

"Your Majesty," the Privy Councilor added, "General Wang Ben of Zhennan and Li Chong, the Governor of Longyou, are both... both of you who were among the first to join Your Majesty in the uprising, and they have made great military achievements..."

The words were not finished, but the meaning was clear. To move these people would involve too much, and it might chill the hearts of the old ministers.

Qin Ming's eyes flashed coldly, and without the slightest hesitation, he said, "Achievements are achievements, and faults are faults. There is no room for parasites in my army."

He immediately issued an order: "Issue an order! Send the elite 'Tingfeng Guards' secretly to Southern Xinjiang and Longyou with my personal order to conduct an on-the-spot investigation of the actual number of troops and military equipment! Instruct the Privy Council and the Ministry of War to immediately review all recent military documents in the two regions for verification and inspection! I require conclusive evidence!"