Early the next morning, the central gate of Han Mansion opened wide.
Han You was woken up by Wang Hai before he woke up, and learned that the young prince Zhou Yan had arrived, bringing with him more than forty people.
When Han Bairen was about to go to court, he thought the emperor had sent the imperial guards to raid his home and exterminate his family.
A sleepy-eyed Han You came to the main hall and laughed dumbly.
The young prince Zhou Yan was sitting on the main seat, his short legs dangling, which was very embarrassing because his father was sitting next to him and flattering him.
"I have heard about the reputation of the prince for a long time, but I never thought that such a handsome young man, with a nose and eyes, can be said to have the appearance, the majesty and the... the appearance."
Zhou Yanqiang smiled happily and said: "Lord Han, everyone in the street knows how upright and upright Mr. Han is. I have admired him for a long time."
"Hey, what the people said can't be taken seriously." Han Bairen was quite proud and waved his hands repeatedly, "Can't take it seriously."
"Take it seriously." Zhou Yan said seriously: "The words of the courtiers may not be taken seriously, and the words of the Confucian scholars may not be taken seriously, but if they are the words of the common people, they must be true."
Han Bairen's pupils changed slightly, and he nodded and said: "The words of the people are the truth... Well, that's right. After hearing His Highness's words, I felt like a thunderbolt struck my head, and I suddenly became enlightened."
After finishing speaking, Han Bairen stepped forward and poured a cup of tea, and Zhou Yan thanked him repeatedly.
Sitting back on the stool, Han Bairen nodded and praised: "His Royal Highness is indeed well-educated and sensible, even at such a young age...so well-versed."
"Not too young."
Zhou Yan, who doesn't like people saying that he is young, grinned and said, "I will be twelve this year."
"Oh?" Han Bairen was quite shocked: "You are already twelve at such an age. You have grown up so well. I admire you."
Zhou Yan opened his mouth and was stunned for a long time not knowing how to answer these words.
Fortunately, Han You came. As if seeing a savior, Zhou Yan jumped off the stool and ran over, first giving a salute and then winking.
Seeing that the current prince respected his great eldest son so much, Han Bairen nodded secretly. It seemed that His Highness had never seen any real great scholars.
"Dad, you go to the government office for work. I will accompany His Highness around the city for a while, and check how much each shop sells."
"Okay, okay."
Han Bairen said politely: "The heat is quite strong in the morning, so your highness might as well stay in the house to escape the heat. Your Highness and You'er are brothers. Don't be polite, just treat it as your own home."
"Sure." Zhou Yan laughed dryly: "Then Master Han, walk slowly."
"Okay, Your Highness, please stay."
After saying that, Han Bailiang, who was wearing official robes, took Wang Ping and left.
Han You was overjoyed, and Zhou Yan was even led astray by his father.
Zhou Yan couldn't wait any longer: "Sir, how are we going to collect taxes today? We have brought all the guards and students here."
"Not urgent."
Han You shouted toward the door: "Wang Hai, go to the study and get the bamboo slips on the desk."
Wang Hai ran away, and after a while he brought over a dozen bamboo slips.
Zhou Yan: "This is it?"
"Zhou Lu." Han You laughed, picked up two bamboo slips and held them in his hands: "Specializes in treating barking dogs. If they bark again on the same day, they won't charge a penny."
These bamboo slips record the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and they also contain laws related to taxation and silver.
Raising the bamboo slips, Han You waved his hand: "Elbow, today I will give His Highness a small shock from the collection."
Outside the Han Mansion, forty-five palace guards, including Zhang Zhuo and Guo Peng, stood in four rows, dressed in different styles.
Han You who walked out was a little dissatisfied. He was well-dressed, but his temperament and figure were not good. He was tall and round, unlike ordinary people. He seemed to be plundering ordinary people.
Standing next to the stone lion, Han You began to explain the task: "Leave five people to guard His Highness, and the others will go to Nanshi for ten days. Within ten days, the number of customers who visited all Nanshi stores every day, and what they bought, roughly Write down all the money you spent, and remember to change shifts. Don’t keep the same people looking at the same stores for ten days and have to take turns to keep tabs on them.”
A group of guards looked at each other, and Zhang Zhuo asked: "How many customers went to buy things and what they bought. It's easy to handle. But how do we know how much it cost?"
"You're stupid. You don't know how to ask for the price first. After you go in, you ask everyone one by one and write it all down. Then you can see what kind of goods the buyer took when he left."
The guards suddenly realized, Han You waved his hand: "Go now, whoever is exposed will have one month's salary deducted."
In this way, Guo Peng led the group of guards away, and there were still five left. Zhang Zhuo took them to protect Zhou Yan.
The prince can travel by sedan, but Zhou Yan came in a carriage because he was too slow.
Two people, one large and one small, got on the carriage. Except for Zhang Zhuo and Wang Haihai who were driving, the other four guards were on horseback.
Zhang Zhuo turned around and asked, "Where does Mr. Han want to go?"
"River of Flowers."
Zhang Zhuo was shocked: "Going to whoring at this time... to Huahe?"
"The day's plan lies in the morning, the Flower River, and the Liuhua Pavilion. Let's go."
Zhang Zhuo raised his whip and the carriage moved slowly.
Wang Hai next to him had a proud look on his face. He went to the brothel three times in three days and once a day. The most impressive thing was that he asked who else was there before he even spent his money.
Han You in the carriage was a teacher for the first time, so he took the time to teach Zhou Yan.
Checking taxes is not difficult, but collecting them is difficult.
Let’s talk about the easy ones first. You can check everything you want. How much does a store sell in a day and how much does it sell in a month? It’s very easy to check.
The difficulty lies in the word "receive". What is collected is not tax, but face, human relations, tacit understanding, friendship or enmity.
Zhou Yan knew all this, but what he didn't understand was how confident Han You was in collecting all the taxes.
"What your Majesty said is that I, or the Jingzhao Mansion, want to deposit the collected tax money into the Treasury of the Ministry of Revenue. I cannot do this job."
Zhou Yan was frightened: "If you can't do it, how dare you, sir, accept the request from your father?"
"I can only do half, at least, I can only do half for now." Han You said with a smile: "I will tell the emperor to tell the court how much should be collected and how much has been concealed, instead of collecting it in person. If the emperor and the court If the court dares to accept it, I can accept it. If they don't dare to accept it, why should I die?"
Zhou Yan was thoughtful and understood, but only half of it.
The so-called "official business" is like this, whether to do it or not, to do it well or not, to do it well or not, to do it but not to do it, and to do it even if it is not done. There are many things to pay attention to. This is the case in officialdom. Official business is not just official business. In many cases, it is to let the person who handles the official business People are satisfied.
The carriage soon arrived at the Huahe River. Han You and Zhou Yan got out of the carriage, and everyone got on the small boat and rowed towards Liuhua Pavilion.
How can ordinary people come to the flower boat at this hour, but there are quite a few people who stay overnight and get off the boat.
Yanliu, which still retains its charm, is seeing off guests. Zhou Yan, who has never eaten any good pork, his eyes lit up: "This place is much better than that of Xianglai Pavilion."
Yanliu saw someone boarding the ship, and when she was confused, she saw it was Han You, with an ugly look on his face.
When we were here the day before yesterday, Han You just got off the boat and a girl happened to recognize him.
This girl used to be a member of another flower boat. The number one card on the flower boat was played by Han Youbai, and she was recognized when she left.
Yanliu knew that he was so angry that he thought he was a junior in the family of a minister. His feelings were that of a scoundrel young man from the Palace of Jingzhao. He was famous for his virtuous behavior. He was not the first to refuse to give money to a girl after playing with him. Finished.
Yanliu walked up with squinting eyes. Before Han You could speak, Yanliu sneered and said, "Hey, who do you think you are? Isn't this the prince who claims to be the son of the Shangshu family?"
Han You's face was full of shyness: "It's annoying to expose someone so quickly, but I didn't say that I was the son of the Shang Shu family."
"That's all, I'm too lazy to grind my teeth with you." Yanliu pointed to the boat: "I'm sorry for not sending you far away, but I, Liuhua Pavilion, will not pick up Mr. Han, this big Buddha."
"Let's not talk about the fact that I've given you a top-notch package. Let's talk about why you don't accept me as a place that opens its doors to welcome guests."
"You think I'm stupid, your reputation..." Yanliu's face was filled with contempt: "Don't you know it, Mr. Han himself?"
"There are good and bad reputations. It used to be the old one, and now it's the pervert."
Han You hugged his arms and bared his fangs, and shouted loudly: "Jingzhao Prefecture is inspecting taxes. All relevant practitioners stand in two rows!"
