No way, no way!
He had already offended Lao Hu. He might be safer in the capital, but it was not certain how he would be retaliated against if he left the capital.
Su Wanying sent him out: "Ms. sir, come back early."
After Gu Chen said goodbye to his wife, he and Zheng Shiyuan embarked on the road to Dingyuan.
After arriving at Dingyuan, although there was no prior notice, Zhu Huan got the news from somewhere and greeted him at the city gate from afar.
Seeing them coming, they quickly came forward with officials from Dingyuan County to greet them, without smiling, and even flattered them with many kind words.
Finally, they were invited to eat, drink and have fun.
"You two royal censors, this journey has been really hard. I have already prepared a bottle of wine for you two to catch the wind and wash away the dust."
When the leader comes to inspect the work, he naturally invites people to have a meal first.
Gu Chen raised his head and looked at Zhu Huan, the man who could be called Father Zhu.
I saw that his appearance was not as good as that of Lao Zhu. He had a pair of rolling eyes that looked snobbish and a bit vulgar. He was obviously a villain.
Thinking of the things he had done again, Gu Chen felt that this sentence came from his heart.
Well, that makes some sense.
"I won't eat. Thank you for your kindness." Zheng Shiyuan refused to go and directly said with his hands: "Your Majesty asked us to come to check the tax revenue of Dingyuan County."
"There's no need to wait for me to take a look. It's better to look at the account book first."
Someone complained that this guy Zhu Huan actually dared to hide the county's tax money and then put it in his own pocket.
So Zheng Shiyuan was anxious and prepared to read the account book first.
"How bad is this?"
Zhu Huan naturally refused to agree. The censor came in a hurry, and his news was also in a hurry. Many things were not prepared yet.
"The two adults are busy with work. If the subordinates don't treat them well, wouldn't it be rude? You two adults should give them some face, right?"
Gu Chen looked at it and gave a thumbs up in his heart. This is the sophistication of human nature.
No wonder Zhou Yanru in the late Ming Dynasty never did business first when he arrived at the place. He would only eat and drink before playing a few games of mahjong.
Damn it, Lao Zhu, have you ever seen officials act like this?
"Master Zhu." Zheng Shiyuan said softly and hard: "We are of the same rank."
"You don't need to call yourself a subordinate. We are here to check your account, not as a guest. Naturally, we don't need your hospitality."
"It's better to ask your Excellency to lead the way to the Yameni Accounting Room and ask Master to move out the account book so that we can finish checking it and return as soon as possible to submit the report."
After so many years as a censor, what kind of monsters has he not seen?
Want to fool him?
dream!
"This...but..."
He didn't give himself face, and Zhu Huan was angry and annoyed, but he didn't know what to say.
It was hard to think of something to say to persuade, but Zheng Shiyuan blocked him again.
"Your Excellency has repeatedly refused to let me check the accounts. But are there some things that it is not convenient for me to know about at the Yushitai?"
The three pushes and four blocks obviously had a hidden agenda, and Zheng Shiyuan became more determined to work first.
Zhu Huan had no choice but to hold his nose and lead the way for the two of them.
The counting house of Dingyuan County is to the east of the county government office. There is a plaque with the words "East Accounting House" and a crooked word hanging on it.
There are four big characters written on it: "Integrity and integrity."
The handwriting is as crawling as earthworms, let alone a talented scholar like Zheng Shiyuan who was born as a Jinshi.
Even Gu Chen, a modern person who is not good at calligraphy, wanted to laugh a little after reading it.
"I wonder whose hand this calligraphy was made by?"
Zhu Huan had not studied for a few days. His father brought him to visit him after Lao Zhu ascended the throne. He learned all the reading and writing now.
You said that Lao Zhu is the same. It is not enough to give him a false official position. He must be made a county magistrate.
Isn't this a joke about the happy life of the people in a county?
Gu Chen said the first sentence of the day, Zheng Shiyuan glanced at him and said nothing.
"Sir, it was written by our county magistrate." The accountant replied quickly, and added: "The magistrate wrote this calligraphy on the first day he came to our county."
"Hang it here, saying that you must always be vigilant, serve the people wholeheartedly, and never take more grain from the people for your Majesty's sake."
Of course, by saying this, you can only deceive others, but you can’t deceive yourself.
Although he was greedy the most, it was much easier for him to follow such a county magistrate.
Therefore, he is still quite unwilling to see his county magistrate fall.
"It's really a miracle...um...Master Zheng...?"
Just as Gu Chen was about to say something sarcastic, Zheng Shiyuan hit him on the head.
"Work, you are here to do things for the court and the people of the world with your salary from the court, not to do these insignificant things."
Is this referring to Sang and Huai?
It means that he is talking about Gu Chen, but in fact he means that Zhu Huan has a salary from the court but does not think about business. Is he a human being in the officialdom?
The people in the counting house all understood and lowered their heads.
Zhu Huan, who had just come in, naturally heard it, and the smile that he had forced himself to raise dropped again now that he couldn't help it.
But he didn't want to offend the two of them, so he had to smile again.
"You two adults have worked hard to check the accounts. I have prepared good tea for you two adults. I also asked you two adults to show your face. How about you try this tea?"
Zheng Shiyuan did not speak, but looked up at Gu Chen and signaled for him to deal with it. Gu Chen stood up and cupped his hands.
"May I ask the county magistrate, how much does this tea cost?"
If it's too expensive, they won't dare to drink it.
"ah?"
Not to mention Zhu Huan, even the accounting gentlemen were confused by this question.
Gu Chen said again: "Excuse me, sir, how much does this tea cost?"
Not sure what they meant, Zhu Huan had to think carefully.
"This is Hangzhou's Yuqian Longjing. It's very fragrant. Can you two adults try it?"
You can’t, you won’t even drink your own tea, right?
Assi...
At this time, Longjing was so precious that he couldn't even afford half a catty of it with his monthly salary. This turtle didn't even care about his surname if he wasn't greedy.
It's a pity that he can't drink. Alas, being a disciplinary inspector is really boring.
All the good things are placed in front of me, but I can't touch them.
"No need, it's too expensive."
Gu Chen shook his head and took out the tea jars he and Zheng Shiyuan brought with them. They also had five hundred coins, which could buy two kilograms of loose tea.
"We all drink this. I wonder if adults can lend us some hot water?"
…
Zhu Huan felt that there was something wrong with these two people. What happened to drinking some tea?
Not giving face is really disrespectful!
After making tea, Gu Chen sat down opposite Zheng Shiyuan and started busy. While busy, he lamented the hard work of his career.
Not only do you need to be able to curse and refuse the temptation of money, but you also need to be able to check ledgers. In the future, you may even need to know something about the Ministry of War.
After all, the Ministry of War also needs censor inspections.
Fighting wits and courage with all kinds of powerful people, one accident can end your life.
Bitter!
