Chapter 267 Let Me Try
After the early morning roll call at the Ministry of Revenue, Min Yuangang arrived at the door of his office and saw Zhao Shengping waiting there with a small basket in his hand.
"Morning, Lord Min!" Zhao Shengping's face immediately broke into smiles as he saw Min Yuan.
Min Yuan nodded to him as if nothing had happened, pushed the door open and walked in, with Zhao Shengping following behind.
"Master Min, these are apricots that are a specialty of my hometown. They are very fresh and were delivered by express horse at midnight yesterday. I brought some for you as well. They are all washed."
Zhao Shengping opened the basket and saw the yellow apricots inside were round and cute, yellow with a hint of red, and had been washed clean.
Zhao Shengping diligently put the apricots into the plate and arranged it, but did not rush to put it on the table. Instead, he took out a handkerchief and carefully helped Min Yuan wipe the table before putting the apricots on it.
"Hey, Shengping, there are servants to do these jobs, why be so polite?" Min Yuan said with a smile, but did not stop Zhao Shengping.
"The servants are clumsy at work, how can they be as careful as me?"
Zhao Shengping was helping Min Yuan with his work with a smile on his face. The other party's call of "Shengping" just now really made him very happy.
What does this mean? It means that the leader is not alienated from me!
Min Yuan took a sip of tea and suddenly asked as if he remembered something: "Um...how is the progress of the list of merchants in the capital?"
In recent years, the imperial court has relaxed restrictions on people engaging in business. This statistics is also the court's attempt to see how much these merchants can contribute to the court's tax revenue, so as to adjust the next national policy.
Zhao Shengping's eyes rolled. He followed Min Yuan around all day long, and he knew Min Yuan's thoughts like a mirror.
"Your humble servant and I are all concerned about this! However, our Ministry of Finance has a lot of work to do, and at this time... it is inevitable that we are unable to do what we want."
Min Yuan nodded with satisfaction, "Well, you can't just focus on one thing when doing things, you have to distinguish the primary from the secondary."
"Your Excellency's suggestion is so true, it's like an epiphany!" Zhao Shengping paused, then said with some concern: "But if I can't finish it on time, will the Minister blame you..."
Min Yuan waved his hand, "Don't worry about that."
Min Yuan naturally knew his immediate superior well. Although he said that the Emperor wanted to review the report, in reality the Minister only intended to understand the situation first and then report it to the Emperor. The deadline was not that rigid.
If Qiao Youyou, as the supervisor, fails to complete the task on time, the Minister will naturally be disappointed in her and let someone else supervise the matter. In this way, Qiao Youyou's future life in the Ministry of Revenue will be difficult.
As for myself, I was just too busy to handle the affairs and failed to examine the abilities of my subordinates. It was at most a minor mistake of employing the wrong people, and the Minister would not take it to heart.
…
When Zhao Shengping returned to the office, everyone else was already busy.
Several other officials who were assigned to assist Qiao Youyou looked up and saw him, and they all smiled knowingly.
Zhao Shengping moved a chair and sat down, then picked up another copy of Yunzhou's tax account. Before he opened it, a slender hand pressed on the account book.
Zhao Shengping raised his head, frowned and said, "Mr. Qiao, I told you that I have more urgent things to deal with. You can't--"
"I know." Qiao Youyou's big eyes flickered. "So, you go ahead and do your thing. Since you don't have time to deal with the accounts in the capital for the time being, just give me all the account books."
Zhao Shengping was stunned and didn't understand what she meant.
Qiao Youyou clapped her hands in front of everyone, attracting all attention.
Then she asked everyone to hand over all the account books and files assigned to them to her.
"Mr. Qiao, you don't want to... handle it by yourself, do you?" Zhao Shengping looked at Qiao Youyou strangely.
Is this guy out of his mind?
This is the tax details of merchants in all industries in the capital. There are more than thirty books for this quarter alone. Even if there are ten people working together to settle the tax, five days will be enough.
How could it be possible for her to be alone?
Qiao Youyou smiled slightly and did not respond to Zhao Shengping's words. Instead, she urged everyone to gather the account books.
The others didn't understand what was going on, but they were naturally happy to have some free time, and they rushed to pile the work they were originally assigned to on the desk in front of Qiao Youyou.
Soon, the small desk was piled high with things, leaving no room for the inkstone.
Qiao Youyou was a little surprised that the small table couldn't accommodate the whole thing. She started to have a hard time and looked around to see if there was a bigger place.
Zhao Shengping came forward "enthusiastically", his tone somewhat tentative.
"Mr. Qiao, it's really too crowded here. Our Ministry of Revenue has a rarely used office building, which is spacious. How about I take you there?"
"Okay, thank you." Qiao Youyou agreed without hesitation. Fortunately, she didn't want to see the faces of these people.
It’s best to move out. Out of sight, out of mind!
Zhao Shengping was so curious about what Qiao Youyou wanted to do that he simply found a wooden box and put dozens of account books into it. He carried the box and brought Qiao Youyou to the door of the office.
It was not a long distance, but Zhao Shengping was sweating profusely as he walked. On the way, many colleagues from the Ministry of Revenue looked at him.
Zhao Shengping put down the box and took a few deep breaths. "We're here... right here. There's only an official from the Hanlin Academy here to contact you. He won't disturb you. But - Mr. Qiao, I mean, are you really planning to do all this by yourself?"
As he said this, he patted the heavy wooden box.
"Let me try!" Qiao Youyou raised an eyebrow at him and said with a grin.
Zhao Shengping also laughed, but tried his best to make his laugh not look so gloating.
"Okay, okay, Mr. Qiao is a young and talented man. I think it will be no problem for him to settle these accounts in the remaining three days! Then we will wait for good news from Mr. Qiao."
Looking at Zhao Shengping's back which had become somewhat hunched due to trying to hold back his laughter, Qiao Youyou snorted disdainfully and pushed open the door in front of her.
The morning sun shone in from behind her, instantly lighting up the entire room.
It also illuminated Wenren Yuebai's slightly pale and cold profile behind the desk.
"Hello, see you again!"
Qiao Youyou walked into the room and greeted Wenren Yuebai very naturally. As expected, she saw several other tables in the room, which were much larger than the ones in her previous office.
She picked a seat at random that looked newer, sat down, moved the account books up, and stacked them up.
Since she came in, Wenren Yuebai's pen has never fallen down. His eyes moved slightly as Qiao Youyou walked, seeming a little confused.
The look in her eyes when she greeted me just now... No, not just this time, but also the previous times I met her, I always felt that something was not quite right.
The look she gave him was very normal, but it lacked the pity and sympathy that he had long been accustomed to.
For some reason, the door of the office had clearly been closed, but the sunlight seemed to still linger on her, as if it could dispel the gloom in the room.
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