Great Ming Through the Eyes of a Lowly Accounts Clerk

He woke up in the Hongwu era of the Great Ming, as a low-ranking clerk in the county yamen responsible for money and grain.

Looking at the account books, riddled with signs of corruption, he broke into a cold sweat. This was the age of Zhu Yuanzhang. Anyone caught would have their skin stripped off and stuffed with straw!

To save his life, he spent the night falsifying the books. But the very next day, the Embroidered Uniform Guard summoned him to the capital.

Seated on the Dragon Throne, Zhu Yuanzhang tossed down the “new accounting method” he had devised and asked coldly, “Explain how this method makes embezzlement so easy to spot.”