Chapter 183: Finding a Different Way Finding a Different Way
This was Su Fengzhang's first day in the Ministry of Revenue, and everything seemed to be going smoothly.
Compared to the difficulties faced by Hanlin Xiao when he first entered the Hanlin Academy, Lord Ding, who was in charge of receiving him at the Ministry of Revenue, was extremely polite, almost giving Su Fengzhang the illusion that his entry into the Ministry of Revenue was a popular choice.
This Lord Ding is the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. In terms of status, qualifications and official position, he is higher than Su Fengzhang. The fact that he can sit in this position shows that he is not an ordinary person.
Now the Minister of Revenue Xu Siyuan is still seriously ill at home. I don’t know whether he is recuperating or reflecting on his mistakes. The fact that this person personally came out to receive Su Fengzhang shows the attitude of the Ministry of Revenue towards him.
Looking at the specially tidied house, Su Fengzhang's vigilance increased. As an airborne soldier, being treated with a cold shoulder was not scary, but what was scary was this sudden enthusiasm.
Lord Ding didn't seem to notice his caution and said with a smile, "Lord Su, are you satisfied with it? If there's anything you're not satisfied with, just tell the subordinates to change it."
Su Fengzhang bowed his hands in thanks: "Everything is perfect, and I have to thank you, Lord Ding, for your trouble."
"I'm new here, so if there are any shortcomings, please feel free to give me some advice, Master Ding."
Lord Ding laughed heartily, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Lord Su has accompanied Prince Cheng on diplomatic missions, repeatedly achieving remarkable feats. He is now a favorite of His Majesty and Prince Cheng. I only joined the Ministry of Revenue a few years before you, so how can I be said to be giving you guidance?"
Su Fengzhang said, "Master Ding is a senior official in the Ministry of Revenue and holds the position of Left Vice Minister. I still have much to learn from you."
Up to this point, they could be considered to be living in harmony. Lord Ding secretly thought that if Su Fengzhang was sensible, it would not be difficult to do what Minister Xu ordered. Anyway, he did not want to be the bad guy.
Who made Su Fengzhang born in an ordinary family, but now he is the favorite of His Majesty? All the civil and military officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty know in their hearts what the consequences will be if they go against the favorite of His Majesty.
Before Lord Ding could even breathe a sigh of relief, Su Fengzhang immediately said, "It's better to do it today than today. I have something I want to ask Lord Ding."
Lord Ding saw that he was being polite and said with a leisurely smile, "Lord Su, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will tell you everything I know."
Su Fengzhang bowed deeply and said, "Since that's the case, I'll be bold enough to do that."
"A few days ago, I went to the Ministry of Rites and learned that the border troops' compensation has been delayed. Lord Liu from the Ministry of Rites bluntly stated that the national treasury is empty, and the Ministry of Revenue is dragging its feet on disbursing the money, forcing them to delay the matter."
"Master Ding, is this true or false?"
When Lord Ding heard this, his expression changed. He originally thought that Su Fengzhang was gentle and kind, and looked like a good-tempered person. Who would have thought that the first question he asked after just entering the door would be so tricky.
Could it be that they didn't give him a warning, so this guy is going to ruin the show?
Lord Ding was full of thoughts, but he sighed deeply and said with some worry, "Lord Su, now that you are the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, it's okay to be frank with you about this matter."
"Border troops' pensions are a major matter. The emperor has already spoken for it. How dare the Ministry of Revenue delay payment?"
"But the treasury has been empty for years. The war with the Xianbei lasted a year, not to mention the rewards His Majesty will give later. With everything going on like this, how can the treasury afford any money?"
"To be honest with you, Lord Su, the treasury is now completely empty. We can't even take out a single ounce of extra silver."
As Lord Ding spoke, he seemed overcome with grief, even wiping away tears. "Everyone's been asking the Ministry of Revenue for money, but the Ministry's money doesn't just come out of thin air. They're all cursing Minister Xu, but they don't know how much effort he's put into supporting the national treasury over the years. He's been working so hard, and that's why he finally fell ill."
Everyone in the court knew that Minister Xu had to fall ill at home because the Crown Prince took action and there were problems with the military supplies sent out by the Ministry of Revenue. However, the Emperor did not want the matter to become too big a deal and suppressed it, which led to the current situation.
The prince was under house arrest, and although Xu Siyuan was not stripped of his title as Minister of Revenue, he was kept at home on sick leave.
I have to say that the current emperor is really good at fooling people, and he actually suppressed it like this.
Su Fengzhang narrowed his eyes and asked, "The weather in the Great Zhou was good, why did it come to this?"
Lord Ding said earnestly, "People outside say that, but who knows the difficulties faced by the Ministry of Revenue? Lord Su, you've just arrived. If you stay in the Ministry for a long time, you'll understand the pros and cons."
"I have little patience and I'm afraid I can't wait that long." Su Fengzhang raised his eyebrows and said.
Lord Ding wondered what he was going to do. Was he going to make trouble in front of the emperor?
But even if a quarrel broke out, Lord Ding was not afraid. Their Majesty only liked to hear good things and never bothered about these trivial matters. Anyway, as long as the palace was not short of money, if a quarrel broke out, the Majesty would probably still feel that Su Fengzhang had lost his face.
If this is the case, Su Fengzhang will be disliked by the current emperor and will be useless in the Ministry of Revenue. Lord Ding thought so and hoped that Su Fengzhang would make a big fuss about this matter.
He smiled and said, "Master Su, what do you want to do?"
Su Fengzhang said bluntly, "Sir Ding, please find the national treasury account books for the past ten years. I want to check the accounts."
Lord Ding's face twitched. He obviously didn't expect Su Fengzhang to be so bold. He actually dared to propose the idea of checking the accounts on his first day in the Ministry of Revenue. Was he trying to expose the truth?
He hesitated for a moment, then soothed, "Master Su, the account books from the past ten years would fill up a whole room. Even if I gave them to you, you wouldn't be able to finish reading them in a short time. It would be pointless to waste your time and energy on them."
Su Fengzhang smiled and asked, "Master Ding, as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, am I not allowed to look at these account books now?"
Seeing that he was so tactless and didn't listen to his kind words at all, Lord Ding was also angry, and his face turned cold. "Forget it, Lord Su is right. You are the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue. It's not a big deal if you want to see the account books."
"Master Su, please wait a moment. I will send someone to sort out the account books. Then you can change it yourself."
"Master Ding!" Su Fengzhang called him.
Lord Ding looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Why, Lord Su, are you regretting it again?"
Su Fengzhang shook his head and said, "I don't regret it. I just thought that ten years wasn't enough. It would be better to sort out all the account books since Your Majesty ascended the throne. This will save you from troubling Lord Ding later."
"You! Sure, Lord Su doesn't mind the trouble, so I naturally won't mind it either." Lord Ding sneered.
As soon as he left Su Fengzhang's presence, Lord Ding's face was filled with anger. He cursed in his heart, "This kid doesn't know his place. He wants to open a dyeing house just because he gives him a little disdain."
"If it weren't for Minister Xu's order not to make things difficult for him, I would have taught him a lesson."
"Look at the account book, huh. I'd like to see what you can figure out."
As expected, Lord Ding ordered people to collect all the account books after the emperor ascended the throne and pile them up in Su Fengzhang's room. There were so many account books that the room next door had to be vacated as well.
Not only that, while sending people to prepare the account books, Lord Ding also sent out all the officials in the Ministry of Revenue who were good at accounting. He sneered in his heart: "Without these people, I wonder how you can do the accounting."
Lord Ding's action was not really because he was afraid that Su Fengzhang would find out anything wrong. In fact, even if the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue were carefully counted over the past few years, there would be no problem with them.
Xu Siyuan's ability to hold the position of Minister of Revenue for so many years was not solely due to nepotism. How could he have left behind such an obvious handle as the account book?
Everyone knew that Minister Xu must have secretly gained a lot of advantages for the Fourth Prince, but he washed these things clean and there was absolutely no mistake to be found in the account books.
At this time, Lord Ding sent the man away, not so much because he was worried that Su Fengzhang would really find out the problem, but rather because he wanted to cause him some trouble, so that he would not think that he was so arrogant just because he had Prince Cheng backing him.
What Lord Ding didn't know was that he had completely misjudged Su Fengzhang's idea.
There is definitely nothing wrong with the Ministry of Revenue's account books on the surface. Su Fengzhang has lived two lives and is familiar with some financial operations. How could he not understand this? He is not a naive newcomer in the officialdom who thinks he can find flaws from the account books.
He found all the account books on the first day, not because he wanted to find any problems. Even if he found any, could he trip Minister Xu by himself? It would not benefit him at all.
To be honest, even if he found solid evidence, with the emperor's biased and protective character, he would definitely not make things difficult for Minister Xu and the Fourth Prince. Who knows, he might be the one who would suffer the consequences.
Not to mention that although he had no good feelings towards the Fourth Prince, there was no direct conflict between the two of them. He even had a good relationship with the Xu family. Why would he bother to make things difficult for him?
The most urgent task is to solve the problem of the empty treasury. It is impossible for Minister Xu to transfer silver from other places, so he has to find a way to get the silver.
Su Fengzhang looked at the mountain of account books and raised his head to look at the clerk who was carrying them.
The clerk shrank his neck and said fearfully, "Master Su, Master Ding said unfortunately, the officials in charge of the accounts at the Ministry of Revenue are out on business and may not be able to come back to help for a while."
Su Fengzhang raised his eyebrows slightly. He was not surprised that Lord Ding turned around and tripped him up. He said very good-naturedly, "If that's the case, then I'll take a look myself. Okay, you can go down."
The clerk left quickly and breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the door. He thought to himself that Lord Su dared to go against Lord Ding on the first day he joined the Ministry of Revenue. He thought he was a person with a hot temper, but he didn't expect that he looked quite gentle and didn't seem like the kind of domineering person.
This is good. When gods fight, the little devils suffer. He was really afraid that Lord Su would be furious after knowing about this. He was just a small errand boy. Even if he suffered, he would have nowhere to seek justice. It was even more impossible for Lord Ding to uphold justice for him.
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The author has something to say: A new article is out~Everyone can catch up~This time it is a sweet love story
Honey Trap
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