Chapter 184: Looking Through the Account Books
In the Ministry of Revenue, Su Fengzhang was flipping through the account book in the room. This was originally a normal thing. If it weren't for his amazing speed, it would not have attracted the attention of others.
Under the influence of the spiritual spring water over the years, Su Fengzhang has been able to hear and see with sharp eyes and ears. It is no exaggeration to say that he has a photographic memory. What's more, his five senses are beyond ordinary people.
Normally he would restrain his five senses, but at this moment he activated them all.
Rather than saying that he was looking at the account book, in the eyes of others, Lord Su, who had just joined the Ministry of Revenue, looked like he was flipping through a book.
He was flipping through the pages like an illiterate child, so fast that he couldn't even read the account book, and he probably turned to the next page without even seeing the words clearly.
A group of idle clerks crowded at the door to peek in. The more they watched, the more puzzled they felt, and they couldn't help but mutter to themselves.
"Do you think this Lord Su is really looking at the account book, or is he just joking?"
"This can't be an account book. At this speed, the words are hard to read. How can you calculate the account book clearly?"
"The best accountant in our Ministry of Revenue can probably calculate about a dozen ledgers a day."
"I've never heard that this Lord Su is proficient in mathematics before, or is he deliberately playing a trick on us?"
"Not really. He's the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue after all. He has nothing to do. What good would it do him to offend Lord Ding? Besides, he's the one who's been tossing around reading all this time."
"Perhaps when Lord Su asked, he didn't expect there would be so many account books, and Lord Ding sent all the accountants away. Lord Su didn't want to lose face, so he just bit the bullet and flipped through a few of them, just to consider it a review."
"That makes sense, but this matter can't be hidden from others. Isn't this just deceiving others and favoring yourself?"
After all, no one believed that Su Fengzhang could really see these account books clearly. Not only were the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue complicated, but there were also a large number of them accumulated over the years. Not to mention someone who had just joined the Ministry of Revenue, even Minister Xu might not be able to sort them out.
That day, Su Fengzhang was looking at the account book from morning to night, or rather, flipping through it. Except for getting up every half an hour to stretch his muscles and drink some water, he didn't even step out of the house.
The next day, Lord Ding also heard about Su Fengzhang's situation. The old man was immediately delighted and said to his subordinates, "Lord Su is young and energetic. He wants to make achievements right after joining the Ministry of Revenue. This old man is giving him a chance."
But he was thinking in his heart that even if Su Fengzhang forced himself to finish reading the account book, it would probably be in trouble. Everyone in the Ministry of Revenue knew that this person was going to lose face if he forced himself to do so.
But he was happy to see the joke, while Su Fengzhang was extremely patient. For the next five days, Su Fengzhang came to the house at a certain time every day to look through the account books, and did not leave the yamen until the sun went down.
If the account books of the Ministry of Revenue were not strictly prohibited from being taken out, he would probably have taken them back to continue looking at them. Seeing him flipping through the account books so intently, those who had been making fun of him felt sorry for him.
Some even said, "Should we go in and help? We can't let Lord Su watch all the time by himself. He's going to go blind from watching."
"This is not good. Lord Ding has said that we are not allowed to go in to help." Obviously, in their hearts, Lord Ding's authority is more important. When Minister Xu is not here, Lord Ding is the person in charge.
"Hey, you said, this Lord Su is a favorite of His Majesty and Prince Cheng. Prince Cheng is now favored by His Majesty, even more so than the Fourth Prince was back then. If Lord Su insists on making things difficult for Lord Ding, who will win?"
"You're saying this here, you're not going to die. If you want to die, don't drag me along."
"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this anymore. No matter who it is, it's not our business to get involved."
"But tell me, are Lord Su and Prince Cheng really in that kind of relationship? Lord Su doesn't look like..."
Regardless of the rumors outside, Su Fengzhang still looked at his account book as usual. Such a fast accounting was also a challenge for him. He felt drowsy when leaving the Ministry of Revenue every day.
There were too many things in his head. If it weren't for the spiritual spring water, Su Fengzhang would probably have collapsed in a few days.
Seeing that he was busy all the time, leaving home early and returning late every day, and always looking thoughtful when he got home, Su Zhao and the others couldn't help but feel worried.
It was just a matter of the imperial court. Su Zhaoshi knew that she didn't understand it, and it would be useless even if she asked. She just roasted meat and made soup every day, hoping that her son would eat more, or at least stop losing weight.
It took Su Fengzhang a full half month to go through all the account books. Of course, as soon as he opened a page and realized that it was not what he needed, he just turned it over.
Now, all the account books in the room have disappeared, leaving only a few thin account books on Su Fengzhang's desk.
Not far away, Lord Ding also heard about this. He called the clerk who was moving the account books in and asked, "It's only been half a month, and Lord Su has already finished reading all the account books?"
The clerk scratched the back of his head and said helplessly, "Master Ding, how would I know this? But Master Su has indeed been looking at the account books in the room these past few days. When he came over this morning, he asked me to put the account books back."
"He finished reviewing over ten years of account books in just half a month?" Lord Ding said in disbelief. "That's impossible! Even if the entire Ministry of Revenue were to review them together, they wouldn't be able to finish in a year or two."
Lord Ding was very familiar with the number of those account books. You know, that day Su Fengzhang insisted, and Lord Ding was angry, so he asked people to move all the account books over instead of just sending the general ledger.
The clerk also said, "Everyone thinks it's impossible. Could it be that Lord Su is tired of it and can't stand it anymore?"
Lord Ding felt that this was highly likely and nodded, saying, "That's certainly possible. Although Su Fengzhang holds a high position, he's still young, having only just come of age. It's understandable that he couldn't hold on."
"But now that he's returning the account book, does that mean he's ready to admit defeat?"
Lord Ding always felt that Su Fengzhang wanted to look at the account books as soon as he arrived, which meant that he was trying to compete with him.
Thinking of this, Lord Ding couldn't help but smile, and said, "Minister Xu also said that this Right Assistant Minister is not simple. In my opinion, he is just a young boy."
Suddenly, the clerk called out, "Master Ding, although Master Su asked for the account books to be returned, he left a few volumes behind."
Lord Ding frowned: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? What account book did he leave behind?"
For a moment, Lord Ding couldn't help but worry, thinking that Su Fengzhang might have really found some flaws. If so, it would not be good. The Fourth Prince lost face in Yunzhou and even lost an ear. After returning, although His Majesty still doted on him, he did not withdraw the punishment on Minister Xu and his attitude was ambiguous.
It would be bad if Su Fengzhang caught us, so Lord Ding quickly asked, "What account books were left behind?"
The clerk shook his head and said, "I haven't seen this clearly, but it looks like an old debt."
"An old account?" Upon hearing this, Lord Ding became even more worried. In the early years, Minister Xu was not yet Minister Xu, and Concubine Xu was not yet Concubine Xu. It is not impossible that some clues were left behind at that time.
Thinking of this, Lord Ding couldn't help but vent his anger and curse, "Why didn't you take a closer look?"
The clerk felt very aggrieved. He was just a clerk who ran errands and moved things. Su Fengzhang was the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He was the one who dared to pick a fight with Lord Ding on his first day in the Ministry. How could he dare to ask or even look?
Lord Ding cursed a few times, but realized that it was useless, and he couldn't let anyone search Su Fengzhang's house now.
He frowned, but finally stood up and said, "Forget it, I'll go and see it myself."
After saying this, he walked directly to Su Fengzhang's side, and sure enough, he saw several account books on the table. The cover of the top one was yellowed, and it must have been there for many years.
Lord Ding, who considered himself familiar with the Ministry of Revenue, couldn't recall what the account book belonged to. Was it for farming? Or mining? It couldn't be for taxes, because he knew all those account books.
When Lord Ding entered, Su Fengzhang showed no surprise at all. He stood up and said with a smile, "How did Lord Ding find time to come here? I haven't seen you for a few days, and you are still as radiant as ever."
Lord Ding laughed heartily and said, "I heard from my subordinates that Lord Su has already finished his accounts. His speed is so fast that even those boastful accountants can't match him. Could it be that Lord Su has some secret?"
Su Fengzhang laughed and said, "There's no secret. Lord Ding just misunderstood. I was just looking through the account book and didn't intend to check the accounts, so it was a little faster."
Lord Ding said, "Lord Su, you're joking. An account book isn't the Four Books and Five Classics, nor is it a vernacular travelogue. It's extremely dull. What's so interesting about it? Could it be that you can even see the silver?"
Unexpectedly, Su Fengzhang nodded and smiled after hearing this, saying, "This is because we have the silver. If we can get this silver back, it will not only help us solve this crisis, but also fill the national treasury again."
Lord Ding was genuinely surprised this time, and asked curiously, "There's such a good thing, Lord Su, you can't say that casually, I will take it seriously."
Su Fengzhang took out the account book and said, "How dare this humble official joke about the national treasury? Lord Ding, why don't you take a look at it yourself? You will understand what this humble official means after you read it."
Lord Ding walked over and looked down. When he saw clearly the contents recorded inside, his expression became strange. He raised his head and looked at Su Fengzhang again. This time, the fear in his eyes disappeared. He looked at a fool.
"Master Su, are you serious about this idea?"
Su Fengzhang asked with a smile: "Is there something wrong?"
"Of course this is inappropriate. This money..." Lord Ding seemed to have thought of something midway and smiled kindly, "If Lord Su can get this money back, it will help the Ministry of Revenue resolve a major issue."
Su Fengzhang nodded and said, "That's what I thought too. If that's the case, then I'll do it."
Lord Ding added, "Since this was Lord Su's idea, and Lord Su is the Right Vice Minister, I'll leave this matter to you. I'm really not good at this, so I won't burden Lord Su."
Su Fengzhang narrowed his eyes and agreed immediately: "No problem, Lord Ding, just focus on your own business."
He came in a hurry and left happily. When he returned to his room, Lord Ding sneered and said, "Su Fengzhang, you are asking for death yourself. You can't blame others."
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