Just as everyone in the restaurant was singing "Serve the Country with Loyalty" while arm-in-arm.
Qin Da hurriedly walked into the restaurant, walked quickly to Qin Ming, and whispered in his ear:
"Sir, there is an official from the Ministry of Revenue at the door asking to see him. He claims to be Dai Zhou, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Zi Shu has already led him to the front hall."
Qin Ming slapped his forehead when he heard this.
After the court, I was busy talking about the drill and completely forgot about the household affairs.
Qin Ming saluted several generals in the restaurant and said:
"Uncles, please continue. My nephew is going to receive Dai Shangshu. He will come back later."
When Duke Li Jing heard this, he waved his hand and said:
"The affairs of the household department are more important. My nephew is just busy."
Li Xiaogong reached out and patted Qin Ming on the shoulder and said:
"Don't worry and go about your business. Uncle will take care of them here for you."
Xue Wanche stood upright, lowered his head and muttered softly:
"Dai Zhou, this guy came at the wrong time."
When Qin Ming heard this, he saluted Li Xiaogong and said:
"Then there's Uncle Li."
A few moments
Qin Ming strode into the front hall.
Dai Zhou, who was sitting in the guest seat, immediately stood up with a smile on his face when he saw Qin Ming coming in.
"I don't know, I don't know that the Qin County man is eating at this time. He is busy with official duties. It's really annoying."
Qin Ming bowed and said:
"Dai Shangshu said something serious. They are all serving the imperial court. Why bother talking about it? Dai Shangshu, please sit down and drink some tea first."
Dai Zhou smiled and waved his hands when he heard this and said:
"There's no need to drink tea. Mr. Qin County, let's do business first."
Qin Ming was stunned for a moment, and then said to Dai Zhou:
"Okay, let Shangshu Dai sit down for a while, and I will ask someone to move the money to the front yard."
Dai Zhou's face burst into laughter when he heard this, and he kept nodding his head in approval.
After a while
The servants of the Qin Mansion moved boxes of copper coins to the front yard.
Dai Zhou looked at the officials squatting in the courtyard of the Qin Mansion doing inventory with a smile on his face.
Qin Ming tried to persuade Dai Zhou to enter the house several times, but to no avail, so he could only stay with him in the yard.
There was little gold and silver in the Tang Dynasty, so the main currency in circulation was copper coins.
Even if the Ministry of Household Affairs sent five officials over, it took half an hour to count the "merely" 10,000 copper coins.
This is the first time Qin Ming has experienced such a battle since time travel. In the past, Xiao Changxi managed the copper coins in the mansion, so he knew how much money there was in the mansion.
But I never thought that counting money could be so time-consuming.
After thinking about it, Qin Mingchao Dai Zhou asked:
"It takes so long to count just 10,000 guan, so wouldn't it take even longer for Datang to collect taxes every year?"
Dai Zhou nodded slightly, stroked his long beard and said:
"Mr. Qin County, you don't know something. It would be simple if the taxes only collected copper coins. Last year, nearly half of the taxes in the Tang Dynasty were paid in cloth and grain. It would be more time-consuming and laborious to count them."
"Coupled with the vast territory of the Tang Dynasty and the difficulty of officialdom, taxes from many peripheral areas were not collected into the national treasury until the second year."
Qin Ming murmured after hearing this:
"In this case, it is indeed quite troublesome. It would be simple if there was a bank. If there is no bank, even if there is a bank, it would be great!"
Because Qin Ming's voice was relatively quiet, Dai Zhou didn't hear it very clearly. He only heard some fragments of words, so he asked curiously:
"Bank? What is that? Is it related to money?"
Just as Qin Ming was about to explain, the voices of Li Xiaogong and others came from the door of the front yard.
Qin Ming bowed to Dai Zhou and said:
"Excuse me, sir, and please forgive Dai Shangshu."
Dai Zhou, Li Xiaogong and others had been officials in the same palace for many years, and they immediately recognized their voices.
What's more, when he arrived at the Qin Mansion, he already knew that these people were guests of Qin Ming.
But rather than chatting and spanking with them, he preferred to watch the officials count their money, so he did not go to the backyard to look for them.
Now that I have heard several people's voices, it would be rude not to show up again.
So Dai Zhou smiled at Qin Ming and said:
"I'll go with you. It's time to say hello to these killers after being here for so long."
After saying that, the two of them walked out of the courtyard side by side and bumped into Li Jing and others.
Everyone in Qin Ming Dynasty bowed and said:
"My nephew didn't expect that it would take so long to count the copper coins. Please forgive me, uncles."
Yuchi Gong helped Qin Ming up, patted his shoulder and said:
"My dear nephew, what are you talking about? The house is entertaining you with good wine and delicious food. How can I and the others blame you?"
The others also echoed, and a trace of surprise flashed in Dai Zhou's eyes. He did not expect that Qin Ming had such a good relationship with the generals in the court.
In private, they all refer to each other as uncle and nephew, and this is also true even for Duke Wei Li Jing, who never gets close to his colleagues in court.
Thinking of this, Dai Zhou had to reassess the abilities of Qin Ming, a young county man.
After everyone greeted each other, Li Jing took the lead and said goodbye:
"My dear nephew, it's getting late, so I will stay here soon. Remember to come to my house as a guest when you have time some other time."
Li Xiaogong, Qin Qiong and others also said goodbye after hearing this, and also invited Qin Ming to visit the mansion when he was free.
Among the people, only Yu Chigong didn't mention a word about inviting Qin Ming as a guest. He didn't know whether he forgot or what happened.
Qin Ming politely asked for a few words, and then led a group of people out of the gate of Qin Mansion.
At this time, on the street outside the door, the carriages of the Ministry of Household Affairs were all filled with boxes that had been moved from the Qin Mansion.
Dai Zhou was the stranger to Qin Ming among the group, so he was the first to board the carriage back to the government office.
Then there are Li Jing, the Xue brothers, Qin Qiong, Yuchi Gong and others.
Qin Ming put everyone on the carriage one by one and presented them with pastries from the mansion.
Finally, Qin Ming walked to the carriage of Prince Hejian and said with a smile:
"Uncle Li, in addition to the pastries in the house, I have a box of goods here. I discussed it with the princess earlier, and I have to trouble my uncle to take it back with me."
After speaking, Qin Ming pointed to the wooden box behind him, which Qin Da and Zi Shu were dragging.
Li Xiaogong frowned when he heard this, pointed at the wooden box and said doubtfully:
"Danyang? What's in here? Soap?"
Qin Ming shook his head, and then told the story of meeting Princess Danyang and the young prince at the Dongshi Garment Shop a few days ago.
Li Xiaogong nodded when he heard this and said:
"In that case, let's put the box on the carriage."
After speaking, Li Xiaogong looked around and saw everyone else getting on the carriage, so he pulled Qin Ming behind the carriage.
Qin Ming didn't know why and asked:
"Uncle, do you have something to explain to your nephew?"
Li Xiaogong nodded, pointed to the mansion next to Qin Mansion and said:
"My dear nephew, have you ever visited that house after all this time since you moved here?"
Qin Ming turned around to look, then shook his head and said:
"My nephew, I have only lived here for a few days and have not sent anyone to visit the neighbors. Is it possible that there are people in the government who are officials in the court?"
Li Xiaogong breathed a sigh of relief and whispered:
"It's best. Nephew, remember, try not to associate with the people in that house in the future."
"Why?"
Li Xiaogong hesitated for a moment, then waved to Qin Ming, gesturing for him to come closer.
Seeing that the dignified Prince of Tang Dynasty was so cautious, Qin Ming thought it was a very hidden matter, so he moved forward to get closer.
Li Xiaogong looked around, then lowered his voice and said:
"The former Queen Xiao lives there!"
Qin Ming's eyes widened when he heard this, and he blurted out:
"Xiao Meiniang?"
........
