In danger, he traveled through time to save her, and the black-bellied prince doted on her

"Youzhou has strong soldiers and horses, but if Yanzhou and Zhuozhou surround me, the six northern tribes will betray me, and I will be in a dilemma. I need food and silver to fight, and the spring plowing has just begun. Emperor Hui is also waiting for the grain harvest."

"If you want to open up the East-West Zhuohu Trade Road, you must first meet the Governor of Zhuozhou. The Governor of Zhuozhou's surname is Sheng. Why do I feel that he is somewhat familiar?"

Mu Jinan took out the letter sent by Yao Zhengqian, who told her about this governor: "Sheng Yuanjing was quite diligent in paying taxes in the past few years, but he has become more and more cunning in recent years. It must be Xu Yueshan who colluded with him."

"If this overdue tax silver can be recovered, it can be used as military pay."

***

The residence of the Zhuozhou governor, this courtyard was built in the Jiangnan architectural style. The white walls were a little damp in the spring rain, and the green tiles were covered with moss. The two men walked into the moon-shaped gate.

This man in black clothes, who is about forty years old, is tall and strong, with a ruddy complexion and an honest face. This person is Sheng Yuanjing.

The man next to him was in his thirties and looked nonchalant. He was Zhang Yanhe's cousin Zhou Sili. Zhou Sili served as the Minister of Revenue and the Vice Minister of War. After his cousin passed away, he became more restrained.

Zhou Sili knew that he was now like a knife in Emperor Hui's hand, and he could kill anyone he pointed at. He didn't dare to refuse at all. It didn't matter what position he held, he had to do whatever the emperor asked him to do.

Well, he felt that the foolish and stupid Emperor Hui actually asked him to come to Zhuozhou to inspect taxes, but Emperor Hui did not let Yan Zhoudu, who was familiar with taxation, come here.

Yan Yi is in Zizhou, Mu Jinan and Yan Zhoudu are friends, and Emperor Hui is worried that the two will collude, so he sends Zhou Sili, who can't even settle the accounts, here.

Emperor Hui only sent Zhou Sili to conduct this tax inspection.

Sheng Yuanjing had already treated Zhou Sili to delicious food and wine. Zhou Sili touched his round belly and smiled: "Thank you for the hospitality, Lord Sheng."

Sheng Yuanjing led Zhou Sili into the house. He bowed all the way, with a very low posture, and pointed to the many account books on the table: "Master Zhou, please check the accounts."

Zhou Sili felt a little sleepy after the meal. He dozed off while flipping through the account book at the table. Before he had moved his hands a few times on the abacus beads, he fell asleep with his face propped up.

Seeing this, Sheng Yuanjing poured him a cup of tea and said with a smile: "Sir Shangshu, this is the nourishing tea of ​​ginseng, red dates and wolfberry from the Xilu tribe. Have a cup of tea to refresh yourself before checking the accounts."

Zhou Sili had seen some good stuff from Empress Zhang, so he said with a smile, "This ginseng has many pearl dots, reed bowls, and ring patterns, and the ginseng whiskers are long, so it must be a ginseng from a relatively old age. The wolfberries are plump and bright red, and they look like they were carefully selected. Are the wolfberries from the Xilu tribe?"

Sheng Yuanjing bowed his head and said, "Sir, it's Northwest wolfberry."

Sheng Yuanjing sat next to Zhou Sili with a short drum stool, pointed at the three rows of beads on the abacus from right to left, and moved the wrong beads back:

"Sir, I don't know how to use an abacus, but I've heard that the number of beads is five up and one down. The account book shows 331 taels of silver. From left to right, you should only need to move three beads down, three beads down, and one bead down."

"You don't need to put a bead on each of the hundreds, tens and ones. This way you'll get seven hundred and seventy-five taels of silver."

Zhou Sili doesn't know how to count, but he has a habit of dialing two beads and treating five as one, so the total amount will never be less than in the account book.

Sheng Yuanjing previously thought that Zhou Sili did not understand account books, and thought: "This method of defaulting on debts can collect a lot of taxes. No wonder Zhang Zhao recommended him to be the Minister of Revenue."

When he took the officials to the restaurant to collect taxes, he also put on two beads and put the knife to his neck. Merchants had a low status, so how dare they argue with the queen's cousin?

Zhou Sili put his legs on the table and drank ginseng tea slowly. Sheng Yuanjing said that he didn't know abacus, which was to give him some face.

In official circles, tactful words are all about being humble and respectful. When the superiors see talented and wise people suppressing their anger and trying to please them humbly, they feel proud in their hearts. However, the other party should not be too servile, as this will make the superiors appear broad-minded.

Zhou Sili didn't say anything more. He took a sip of tea, chewed the red dates, and spit the red date pits onto the account book.

Sheng Yuanjing reached out and picked up the date pit, still smiling: "It was my negligence."

Sheng Yuanjing brewed tea by himself, this time he chopped the red dates and selected a better ginseng. Outside the house, "black clouds turned like ink but did not cover the mountains", and in the distant harbor, "white raindrops jumped into the boats like pearls". Inside the house, a raging fire was burning, tormenting his body and mind.

Sheng Yuanjing brewed tea while watching Zhou Sili settle the accounts. He continued to dial the second bead. He understood his meaning and offered the new tea to Zhou Sili: "Drink tea, sir."

Zhou Sili did not take the tea. It was a fact that Zhuozhou owed taxes, and the money must be recovered. Of course, he had to put on airs and got up and left the room: "I'll check again tomorrow. I'm tired."

"Yes, sir." Sheng Yuanjing sent Zhou Sili away in a gentle voice. He returned to the house and looked at the account book that was messed up by Zhou Sili. His black eyes were filled with murderous intent.

A tall, masked man with deep eyes came out of the dark room. He asked, "Is Zhou Sili really incapable of calculating?"

Sheng Yuanjing picked up the teacup and poured it out. The ginseng that looked like a human fell face down on the ground with its arms and legs broken. The scalding hot tea burned the jujube peels, making a sizzling sound. The strong wind blew the apricot tree outside the house, whose buds had fallen, and the ground was covered with brittle branches.

Sheng Yuanjing has been in the officialdom for many years. In his eyes, those officials who pretend to be sophisticated and pretentious are nothing but mantises stalking cicadas while the oriole is waiting behind.

Sheng Yuanjing chewed ginseng and moved the wrong beads back with his fingertips: "After all the hardships, there will be happiness. Let's face the sun and wait for the flowers to bloom."

"Your Majesty has shown all his love for Empress Zhang, otherwise he would not have killed her. Zhou Sili is not even a watchdog. He made a mistake in moving the beads, intending to collect double the tax. He embezzled a large amount of money before being abandoned by Your Majesty. If there is a real war, the court will not be able to investigate the embezzlement."

The man asked, "Then would you like to give him some money, sir?"

Sheng Yuanjing looked to the north. He heard that the one who was in charge of Youzhou now was a princess who could not only work as a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue, but also fight in the battlefield. He was guarding the seaport trade, had overdue taxes for many years, and could still be the local emperor in Zhuozhou. He must have some abilities.

Sheng Yuanjing gently turned the abacus and smiled darkly: "Prince Xi also wants this money, but what can she give me? I am not short of money, and I am in a high position."

***

In Youzhou City, Mu Jinan looked at the invitation that was sent back. She wanted to invite Sheng Yuanjing to Youzhou, but Sheng Yuanjing made his attitude clear and asked King Xi to go to Zhuozhou for a meeting.

Gu Wenxuan rushed over after hearing about this. The situation in Zhuozhou was unclear, and an old fox like Sheng Yuanjing was in two minds. He said, "Your Highness must not go to Zhuozhou. If Sheng Yuanjing sets a trap and hands you over to Emperor Hui, all our efforts will be wasted. Jin Chong said that you must stay in Youzhou."

Mu Jinan was short of military rations. She wanted to open up the trade route to Zhuozhou and also wanted to capture Zhuozhou before attacking Sheng An. She sent people to inquire about Sheng Yuanjing's family background.

"Sheng Yuanjing is the only son in three generations, and his son is dead. This kind of person is a stabbing seedling in the back that will kill both of us. He can form an alliance with anyone, but he can also betray his allies at any time."