Chapter 758 Reward

After dinner, Zhou Shuren took his son to the study and checked on the progress of his grandchildren. He had been too busy these days and seldom went home, so he neglected his children a lot.

Zhulan went back to the house and took out the box containing the banknotes. There were not many banknotes in the box. She took them out and counted them. Including the small change, there were less than seven hundred taels left. She took out five hundred taels at once, and there were less than two hundred taels left. It had been a long time since she felt that she had not enough money to spend.

I've been spending a lot since coming to Beijing recently, and my monthly salary has doubled since Zhou Shuren was promoted, so I'm a little tight on money.

Although I received a lot of gifts at the banquet, they were all items and could not be used as silver. This little silver is not enough for the autumn harvest, as the expenses in the capital are too high.

When Zhou Shuren came back, he saw the banknotes on the table and only took the four hundred taels. "I haven't had a chance to use the money you gave me last time. Four hundred taels is enough."

Zhulan, "You should get ready. You didn't have the chance before because the Ministry of Revenue was busy. Now that the Ministry of Revenue has some free time, you will definitely be treated to a meal."

"There isn't much money left at home!"

Zhulan, "Don't worry about home. I'll have Steward Ding go to the fishing ground tomorrow to process some of the fish in the ice cellar, and we'll have the money."

Zhou Shuren, "Deal with it in advance!"

"Yes, I originally wanted to wait until the end of the year to process it and sell it at a good price during the New Year. Now my family needs money."

Zhou Shuren put the banknotes into his purse, "It would be a pity to deal with it in advance."

Zhulan also felt pained, "Fish prices are cheap now, and I've lost a lot of money!"

Zhou Shuren took off his coat and said, "My salary is not enough."

"It's very useful. Without your salary, our family would have run out of money long ago."

Zhou Shuren saw Mrs. Song and the maid coming in, and said quietly, "I'm getting old, and I can't stand staying up late anymore. It's hard to make up for the effort. Fortunately, I finally made it through, and I can sleep more soundly in the future."

Zhulan covered the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and glanced at the maid. This person was in such a mess. "I haven't seen the master for a few days. Why do I feel that the master's hair has become much grayer?"

After a pause, he told Mrs. Song, "Cook black rice porridge tomorrow morning."

Mrs. Song: "Yes."

Zhou Shuren washed his hands and said, "I've lost a lot of hair!"

Zhulan was distressed and said, "You have to take good care of yourself. I think your father has lost weight."

Zhou Shuren, ".......Yeah."

Mrs. Song and the maid left. Zhulan stopped performing. When the footsteps faded away, Zhulan lowered her voice and asked, "Do you want to sell yourself out for a reward?"

Zhou Shuren took off his shoes and said, "Well, don't hold your hopes too high. It all depends on the emperor. However, I don't think there is much hope. The officials of the Ministry of Revenue have all made contributions. The probability of rewarding me alone is too low. Even if I have a good idea, I am the official of the Ministry of Revenue, and these are what I should do."

Zhulan pulled the pillow over and said, "I don't have any hope either. It's better if you fail miserably, so that people won't think you are made of steel."

These days, she could see that her husband was tired and she felt distressed.

Zhou Shuren lay down, "It's still more comfortable at home."

Zhulan went downstairs and blew out the candles, "Then have a good rest."

Zhou Shuren fell asleep quickly. He didn't feel at ease in the Ministry of Revenue. Without a wife by his side, he had too many things on his mind and had not had much rest.

The next day, at the Ministry of Revenue, as soon as Zhou Shuren arrived, he saw a queue forming. From the way they were dressed, it could be seen that those in the queue were merchants. The rewards from the Xu family stimulated the merchants.

Zhou Shuren entered the Ministry of Revenue, and work had already begun in the courtyard.

After waiting for a while, various departments came to deliver silver donations. Although not as much as the merchants, it was still a considerable amount of silver. Not counting the emperor's 100,000 taels, the crown prince contributed 10,000 taels, and several princes contributed 5,000 taels. The dukes and marquises did not contribute more than the princes.

Xiao Qing felt that this was the happiest day since he became the Minister of Revenue.

In the afternoon, the amount of money donated by each merchant was less. Some of these people were small merchants, and some felt embarrassed to donate some because most of the money had been donated.

Zhou Shuren counted the amount, "Sir, this is the amount donated this morning."

Xiao Qing took it and looked at it. "One million, six hundred and fifty-five thousand taels of silver. This is just the silver from this morning."

Zhou Shuren, "Yes."

Including the Xu family's money, it was more than two million taels, which was a huge sum of money.

After Xiao Qing was excited, he said, "This amount cannot be known to outsiders, otherwise, there will be more reasons to ask for money."

Zhou Shuren stood up and said, "Sir, I will go back first."

"good."

As soon as Zhou Shuren walked out of the door, he saw Eunuch Liu, "Why are you here at the Ministry of Revenue?"

Eunuch Liu said politely, "I am here to convey the emperor's instructions."

Zhou Shuren heard it and said, "Please come in, eunuch. The minister is here."

Eunuch Liu nodded, "Sir, please go ahead."

Not long after Zhou Shuren returned to his room, the Minister called all the officials of the Ministry of Revenue above the fourth rank to come over.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Xiao Qing began to speak, "The Emperor has seen the hard work of the Ministry of Revenue. Rewards will be given to everyone in the Ministry of Revenue, according to rank. The third rank and the third rank will receive 300 taels of silver, the fourth rank and the fourth rank will receive 200 taels, the fifth rank and the fifth rank will receive 100 taels, the sixth rank to the seventh rank will receive 50 taels, the eighth rank to the ninth rank will receive 20 taels, and those below the rank will receive 10 taels of silver."

Xiao Qing paused and continued, "Right Assistant Minister Zhou Shuren has just taken office, but he has solved the problem of the Ministry of Revenue's shortage of silver. The emperor has specially rewarded the Right Assistant Minister with an extra 200 taels of silver. I hope the Right Assistant Minister can continue to work hard for the court."

Zhou Shuren thanked him hurriedly, but thought in his heart, the emperor really knows how to calculate, five hundred taels is exactly the silver he donated!

This was a happy event for the Ministry of Revenue and the news soon spread throughout the ministry.

Zhou Shuren did some calculations and found that the Ministry of Revenue had the most departments among the six ministries, and also had the most officials, especially those below the sixth rank. Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue donated the most money. He quickly worked out the accounts and found that the emperor's reward was only two-thirds of the donation!

The emperor is the emperor!

In the evening, Zhou Shuren came back, and Zhulan still asked with expectation, "Is there any?"

Zhou Shuren took out the banknote and handed it to his wife, "Yes."

Zhulan's eyes were filled with surprise. There really was one. Then she was stunned. It was actually a reward of silver notes. She counted five hundred taels and asked, "This?"

Zhou Shuren was changing his clothes, "The entire Ministry of Revenue got a reward..."

After Zhulan heard this, she said, ".......I'm convinced."

Zhou Shuren asked, "You didn't send the housekeeper to the fishing ground!"

"Not yet. I said I wasn't looking forward to it, but I was still looking forward to it in my heart. So I thought one or two days wouldn't make a difference, so I thought about letting the butler go after two days."

Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "This money should be enough."

Zhulan smiled and said, "Add your salary and it will be enough."

At the Mansion of Marquis Yao, Yao Yao was ready to go home. She had been with her mother to take care of her younger brother for a whole day. Her younger brother had been plotted against, and he finally went out for some fresh air but was pushed off the pavilion, hitting his forehead on a rock. He was still unconscious.

Yao Yao stood up and said, "Mom, I'm going back first. I'll come back tomorrow."

Bai's eyes were swollen from crying, and she said in a hoarse voice, "Okay."

Yao Yao glanced at her brother and felt regretful. If she hadn't given him the drug, his weakness wouldn't have killed him. He walked in a daze without looking at the road. When he bumped into the servant at the door, the maidservant hurriedly supported him, "Miss, are you okay?"

Yao Yao frowned and stared at the servant that was taken away by the other housekeeper. This man looked a little familiar.

There is one more chapter. It's getting late. Let's read it tomorrow morning.

(End of this chapter)