Li Junche stretched out his hand to help Wen Jinhe turn the page, "You Zhicheng is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. If he is not even half as capable as the Queen, he will occupy that position in vain. Nowadays, the Beidi Kingdom is in dire straits. If those ministers continue to act as before, they will soon be You won’t be able to keep up.”
Wen Jinhe pursed her lips and pressed her hand on the ledger, "It seems that Archer values him quite a bit." You Zhicheng used to be Li Yuheng's man, but now Li Junche not only doesn't suppress him, but also encourages him. This is what he means.
In the carriage, Wei Zhengxu stared at the sad-faced Fei Yi. He didn't know whether to comfort him or himself. Fei Yi wanted to build roads, and the Ministry of Industry must allocate manpower to him. Just now, the Empress said that she would speed up the New Taipei District "Since we are cooperating with the Ministry of Finance, you should go to the Minister of the Ministry of Finance to discuss the money matters. He is probably more troubled than you now."
Fei Yi raised his head dully and asked carefully: "I heard that Master You is very stingy?"
……
Wei Zhengxu glanced at him, his turbid eyes were even more blurry at this moment, "He is not easy to talk to when the treasury is out of money, but this time the emperor's mission is assigned to you two, he is not just concerned about money."
Fei Yi stared at his boss's expression and sighed heavily.
Household Department.
As a minister, You Zhicheng sat in his office room, staring at the account book opened to the last page in front of his desk. After thinking for a long time, he started to make an abacus.
When Fei Yi came to the door, the tapping sound of abacus beads in the room had not stopped.
"Master Fei, you're here." You Zhicheng stopped what he was doing and gestured for Fei Yi to sit on the chair in front of him.
He used his pen to make a few strokes on the booklet beside him and then stopped.
"You Shangshu should know the reason for your visit, right?" Fei Yi looked away from the account book. Was he counting money?
"Alas..." You Zhicheng sighed heavily, "I know."
The emperor is testing him! If he did well, he would not mind his previous help to King Heng at all. If he did not do well, he would be squeezed out by his subordinates. Those two ministers from the household department were sent by the emperor to monitor him.
Fei Yi rubbed his robe with his hands, feeling a little restless, "The official has finished discussing with Mr. Wei, and the personnel from the Ministry of Industry have been dispatched. I wonder what Mr. You has planned now?"
But never tell yourself that you have no money.
You Zhicheng also knew that he couldn't avoid this matter. The longer he delayed it, the more he might make the emperor unhappy. He pushed the account book in front of Fei Yi, "The treasury only has so much left. We still have to use it for the New Year. We You have to find a solution elsewhere.”
Although there are still two million taels left, money needs to be set aside to run the court. There are so many people to support. This year's tax money will not be sent to the treasury until January next year, which is still three months away.
And that money will definitely be used for other purposes, such as road construction expenses. The emperor said that he would use money from the treasury, but he actually asked You Zhicheng to find a way on his own.
This is all because the Queen is so awesome. She sold most of the houses in New Taipei District before they were built, which made their household department look useless.
Fei Yi didn't think so much. He just wanted to know how much money he could move. "How much can we move with two million li?"
You Zhicheng stared at him steadily, "One hundred thousand taels."
Fei Yi leaned back with his upper body, exerting too much force and almost losing his center of gravity and falling, and shouted loudly: "So few."
The officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs who were working outside subconsciously looked into the room and saw You Zhicheng and Fei Yi, the minister of the Ministry of Works, sitting across from each other. One was calm and the other was panicked. What were they talking about?
You Zhicheng stood up and said, "If we want to get money from the treasury to build roads, it will definitely not be enough. We have to think of other ways."
Fei Yi was panicked, he might not be able to pay, "What can I do?"
You Zhicheng was speechless, "I haven't thought of it yet."
……
The two looked at each other as if in a stalemate.
Outside the North and South City.
Song Xing'an, Zhao Qianming and Jian Shuyang rode in the Song family's carriage, which was very large and spacious.
Zhao Qianming opened the curtain of the car window, and the carriage had already stepped onto the smooth and hard cement road. Looking out, he saw clearly divided fields and gray cement ditches next to them. The water in them was very full, but it was a little yellow.
"I didn't expect that everything outside Nancheng would look like this."
Jian Shuyang couldn't help but look at him, "Brother Zhao, have you been to Nancheng before?"
Zhao Qianming simply hung up the car curtain so that he could see the situation outside the window. He nodded and replied: "I came here three years ago. I was really poor at the time."
In the dry fields, he squatted under the big trees on the roadside and chased the refugees passing by the carriage. At that time, he didn't even dare to stop the carriage for fear of being robbed. Now he is a different person.
Seeing the city wall from a distance, the driver pulled the reins and stopped, "Sir, come out and take a look. This city wall is higher than the capital, and it almost reaches the sky."
Song Xing'an got out of the car and stood on the frame, "Brother Jian, we are very lucky."
Jian Shuyang nodded dully, how did the old emperor Wen Yanru give birth to a child? Several princes were so unsatisfactory, but the third princess left in the cold palace was so outstanding, no wonder the country perished.
The carriage entered through the city gate, and the three of them had their eyes opened.
Jian Shuyang thought of the three houses he bought and murmured to himself: "New Taipei District will be built like this. It's really worth it."
Zhao Qianming looked at the two of them and couldn't help feeling a little envious. Why was he not in Nancheng?
After Song Xing'an and Jian Shuyang got off the bus at the gate of the government office, Song Xing'an asked the driver to take Zhao Qianming to Huyue City and then back.
"Brother Zhao, our two cities are so close to each other. We will have more visits in the future." Song Xing'an said goodbye.
Zhao Qianming nodded, "That's how it should be."
After the carriage left, Song Xing'an's tone suddenly became very serious, "Brother Jian, the task given by the Queen is really difficult. The other twelve cities in the north are all built like the southern city. This is really very difficult."
Jian Shuyang nodded. Only when you see Nancheng with your own eyes can you feel the excitement and prosperity here. The Queen's fiefdom is really good.
"I have been waiting day and night for the two of you to come." Mu Mingqian, wearing official uniform, walked out of the inner hall and looked at the two young people. He felt that he could finally return to the capital to reunite with his family.
"Master Mu." Song Xing'an and Jian Shuyang held their hands.
The servants served tea.
Mu Mingqian sat on a chair and stared at the two of them, "According to your appointment letter, the time for me to hand over Nancheng's affairs to you is supposed to be three months, but the Chinese New Year is coming in more than two months. I want to get you acquainted with me as soon as possible, so that I can go back to the capital before the new year, so I don’t have to come here again after the new year. I wonder if that can be convenient.”
This stipulation in the appointment letter was added by Wen Jinhe at the suggestion of Li Junche. From now on, all court officials in the Beidi Kingdom will hand over their duties for three months. Otherwise, as before, the previous person will leave and leave a pile of documents to be handed over to the next person. Not only is it a waste of time, but it also misses a lot of things.
