Chapter 741: I have an idea

Inside the palace walls, Zhou Shuren's feeling of entering the palace again was different from all the previous times. The first time he was excited and nervous, the second time he was much more relaxed, and the following times he was calm. But now he felt the burden on his shoulders, as the Minister of Revenue was in charge of finances, and the responsibility was heavy!

Zhou Shuren looked at Lord Xiao who was walking in front of him. Lord Xiao was over sixty years old, and compared with the ministers of other departments, Lord Xiao looked older, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyebrows were the deepest.

Soon they arrived at the Zheng Palace. Lord Xiao brought Zhou Shuren into the palace. Lord Xiao said, "I have seen the emperor."

Zhou Shuren followed closely behind, "I have seen the emperor."

The emperor was in a good mood. "My two dear ministers, please stand up."

Lord Xiao stood up and took the account book, "Your Majesty, these are the accounts of the national treasury this month."

The emperor looked at the account book on the corner of the table. He didn't want to look at it. In fact, even without looking at the account book, he had a good idea of ​​the national treasury. Well, although there was not much silver in the treasury, "Put it here!"

Lord Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. The treasury really didn't have much money. He took out all the money he had saved. When he thought about applying for a voucher for money, he got a headache. "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue really has no money."

The prince remained silent. There were less than 220,000 silver coins left in the national treasury. It was indeed that there was no silver left. This silver coin was kept for emergencies.

The emperor pointed at the table and looked at Zhou Shuren, who was like a background board. "My dear Zhou, do you have anything to say?"

Zhou Shuren knew the result, but he was still calm. "I just took office and don't know much about the Ministry of Revenue. I dare not make any judgments. Please give me a few days to familiarize myself with the Ministry of Revenue."

The emperor was not disappointed. This was Zhou Shuren. "My dear minister, you should get familiar with the Ministry of Revenue as soon as possible."

"I accept your order."

The Emperor then said to Lord Xiao, "It has been raining heavily in Jiangnan, and the money has been squeezed a lot. You should find a way to come up with another 100,000 taels."

Mr. Xiao was a little dizzy, "Ten thousand taels?"

"One hundred thousand taels."

Lord Xiao's eyes went dark. "Your Majesty, I am not crying poor. The Ministry of Finance has not been home for a long time. They need money everywhere. I really have no money!"

The emperor patted Mr. Xiao on the shoulder and said, "I believe you can think of a solution."

Zhou Shuren looked at Mr. Xiao's face, which looked like he had lost all hope in life, and fell silent. This was his future!

Lord Xiao's heart was bleeding. One hundred thousand taels, the reserve silver in the national treasury, could not be touched. The army had returned to the court, and the relief money was the top priority. The river flood also concerned the people. He could not help but grab a handful of hair, "Your Majesty, I obey your order."

The emperor silently looked away. It had not been easy for Xiao Qing over the years, but it was still not the time to leave!

After leaving the palace, Zhou Shuren looked at Lord Xiao, who was counting on his fingers, "It's almost time to pay salaries again."

Zhou Shuren heaved a sigh in his heart, the Ministry of Revenue was really miserable, so if he wanted to live a good life in the future, he still had to have a full wallet!

Ministry of Revenue, Lord Xiao got off the carriage and calmed down, then introduced Zhou Shuren one by one. Lord Qiu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, is fifty years old this year, a few years older than Zhou Shuren.

Afterwards, he met many doctors and then Mr. Xiao went back to work.

Mr. Qiu introduced Zhou Shuren to the Ministry of Revenue. "There are many departments in the Ministry of Revenue. It is impossible to recognize them all at once. It will be the same when we report. You and I will work in this room."

The Ministry of Revenue had no money, but its decoration was not bad and the room was spacious.

Zhou Shuren said, "I just arrived at the Ministry of Revenue and don't know much about it. I want to take a look at the information."

Mr. Qiu pointed at the bookshelf and said, "All of this is the Ministry of Revenue's information, which is classified according to the departments. Just look for what you want to see according to the category. I have some accounts to settle, so I'll be busy now."

Zhou Shuren thanked him and said, "You go ahead and do your work."

Mr. Qiu was not polite either. He was really busy, and it was not easy for him to spare such a long time to accompany Zhou Shuren.

Zhou Shuren was looking for information with a purpose. The Ministry of Revenue was the Ministry of Bribery and Punishment, a continuation of the previous dynasty, which was in charge of storing the finances confiscated by the government. Although the department had ambassadors and deputy ambassadors, both of whom were only ninth-rank officials, they were in charge of a lot of finances.

Before Zhou Shuren took office, he said that he would not use his brain, but he knew in his heart that he would have to face it sooner or later when he arrived at the Ministry of Revenue. So after getting to know the various departments of the Ministry of Revenue, he set his sights on this department.

Zhou Shuren took out last year's records. The specific financial lists were kept in the Ministry of Penalties. There were only statistical amounts here. The money confiscated from the property had already been put into the national treasury and spent. Now only the items were left.

There are really a lot of accounts in the Ministry of Pollution, arranged by year. Zhou Shuren looked at them year by year, and then recorded the total number of each year. After reading them all, Zhou Shuren clicked on the data he had recorded.

Zhou Shuren looked up at the Left Vice Minister, who was still checking things with his head down. He did not disturb him and stood up and walked out. He wanted to take a look around the Ministry of Revenue. He just had a rough look and today was his first day in office, so he was not in a hurry.

When Mr. Xiao heard the headline of the report, he didn't even raise his head to indicate that he understood. "You don't have to follow me secretly."

"yes."

After Lord Xiao and others left, he raised his head. He hoped that Zhou Shuren could really come up with some silver. Looking at the folded paper on the table, his heart ached again. All these required silver!

Zhou Shuren wrote down the locations of various departments in the Ministry of Revenue and got to know some of the officials before returning.

Lord Qiu looked up and smiled, then lowered his head. It was fake that he had no resistance to Zhou Shuren, but it was also true that he hoped Zhou Shuren would share the pressure. Zhou Shuren was valued by the emperor, Lord Xiao was promoted, so who would be the Minister of Revenue?

But since Zhou Shuren came to the Ministry of Revenue, his danger has been reduced. Silver is used everywhere now. If a major flood really happens in the south and the Ministry of Revenue cannot provide the silver and is punished, Lord Xiao will be fine, but it is hard to say what will happen to him.

Lord Qiu was in a very complicated mood and could hardly concentrate on the account book in front of him. He was really jealous of Lord Zhong!

At Zhou's residence, Zhulan met Yao Yao. The maids in the room left. Zhulan was a little surprised and said, "We have been in Beijing for many days. I thought you would avoid us. I didn't expect you to come to my house in person."

Yao Yao said, "My husband and I are also helpless. On the day my husband met you, he drank two extra glasses of wine that night. I have always wanted to come and see you, but the timing was not right."

She decided to come here after discussing it with her husband for a long time.

Zhulan smiled and said, "I am very happy that you can come. Now that you are married, what are you going to do with the business that you asked the Zhou family to set up?"

Yao Yao stood up and greeted, "I'll have to trouble the Zhou family again."

She doesn't think that everything will be fine after getting married. This is a way out, and she must keep this way out.

Zhulan smiled and said, "Okay."

Yao Yao didn't want to stay any longer, so he chatted for a few more sentences and then left.

Zhulan watched Yao Yao leave, and waited for Mrs. Song to come back and said, "Looking at her complexion and the tone she used when she mentioned Shi Qing, these two get along well."

Mrs. Song replied, "Miss Yao is a very intelligent person, and Mr. Shi Qing is also a man of great potential."

It would be strange if these two people didn't get along!

(End of this chapter)