The empress is wild and cool, and I'll help her secure her throne

After the court was dismissed, Ye Qianxuan and Kong Zhongzhi took a carriage to Taichang Temple together.

"Today, I was just about to bring up the matter of investigating the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, but the Empress interrupted me by calling you."

"I'm really sorry that I couldn't help you, little friend Ye. It was you who brought it up."

Kong Zhongzhi said this a little embarrassedly, feeling even more sad that he had lost the opportunity to let Ye Qianxuan write a poem for him to advise Yingzi.

Ye Qianxuan knew what Kong Zhongzhi was thinking, so he cupped his hands and said, "If Dean Kong hadn't brought me to court, I'm afraid I wouldn't have had the chance to bring this up!"

"Ye is already very grateful!"

"When this is over, Ye will definitely give a poem to Dean Kong to express his gratitude!"

Kong Zhongzhi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he patted Ye Qianxuan's shoulder and laughed:

"Friend Ye is indeed straightforward!"

"What do you think about this audit, Mr. Ye?"

"I do have some ideas, but I can't tell you until I get to the Ministry of Rites." Ye Qianxuan laughed.

"Uh... okay!" Kong Zhongzhi shook his head, obviously not quite believing Ye Qianxuan's words:

"There is corruption and deficit in the Ministry of Rites. That's inevitable! However, their accounts are bound to be numerous and messy. It will probably be difficult to investigate them all in a short time. You must be mentally prepared."

Kong Zhongzhi just didn't believe that Ye Qianxuan also knew numerology.

"Okay." Ye Qianxuan just smiled but didn't answer. Instead, he changed the subject and asked, "Dean Kong, is Dongzhou short of food?"

"Yes! In the Eastern Zhou territory, crops can't be harvested twice or even three times a year like in the Southern Wu, nor do we have vast grazing pastures like in the Northern Liang!"

"So every year, disaster relief and war supplies account for half of the national treasury's expenditure!"

"What's the reason why Ye Xiaoyou suddenly asked this?"

Kong Zhongzhi asked doubtfully.

Ye Qianxuan waved his hand: "Nothing, just asking casually."

Sweet potatoes can solve the problem of food shortage.

This crop has a short growing period, high yield, strong adaptability, and its roots, stems, and leaves are all edible. It is the best solution to the food shortage in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty!

However, Ye Qianxuan still had too few sweet potato vines in his hands, so he could only wait until the next time the plant ripening array could be used to obtain a large amount of sweet potato vines.

Therefore, there is no point in talking to Kong Zhongzhi now.

Soon, their carriage arrived at Taichang Temple.

At the door, Duan Zhenggang had already been waiting there with a dozen men and women.

Duan Zhenggang bowed slightly when he saw Kong Zhongzhi and introduced him, saying, "Mr. Kong Siqing, these are all accountants I selected from various government offices!"

"Greetings to the Minister of Rites."

Everyone saluted in unison.

Kong Zhongzhi nodded, and then led everyone straight to the Ministry of Rites!

When he arrived at the Ministry of Rites, only Li Liang, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, and lower-level officials from the Ministry of Revenue were there to greet him at the door.

"Your humble servant, Li Liang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, pays homage to the Minister of Rites and the Governor of the Nine Gates!"

"Your humble servant greets the Minister of Rites and the Governor of the Nine Gates!"

The lower-level officials of the Ministry of Rites saluted together.

"Where's Minister Bai? Where's Minister Yuan?"

Kong Zhongzhi asked with a slight frown.

Although everyone's rank is similar, this time he came to check the accounts under the order of the Empress!

No matter how much objections Bai Haiqiu and Yuan Weizhong have, they should lead their subordinates to welcome them at the door!

This is the rule!

As a great Confucian scholar, Kong Zhongzhi naturally attaches great importance to rules!

"Kong Siqing, forget it, let's come over and check on him. It's normal for him to have some emotions!" Duan Zhenggang said nonchalantly.

Ye Qianxuan looked at Kong Zhongzhi and shook his head slightly.

There's no point in talking about rules, it will only make you lose face.

Seeing that both of them had this attitude, Kong Zhongzhi had no choice but to snort coldly at everyone in the Ministry of Rites and led his people directly into the courtyard of the Ministry of Rites!

The account books of the Ministry of Rites for the past ten years were all placed on the ground in the yard, full to the brim, covering an area of ​​about one acre!

Although Kong Zhongzhi was mentally prepared, he still felt a little scared after seeing these complicated account books!

How to check so many account books?

Duan Zhenggang was also speechless - OK!

This time, it's all talk and no action, and in the end, the investigation will definitely not be able to continue.

"Minister Kong, Admiral Duan, these were moved here by the Shangshu Lord. The Ministry of Rites' accounts are all here."

"The Minister said that the accounts have been managed by Minister Yuan for many years, and he didn't expect them to be so complicated. He asked me to apologize to you two on his behalf."

Li Liang, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, appeared respectful but said with a smug look on his face.

Well, I haven’t started checking yet!

Everyone in the Ministry of Rites has put the blame on the Right Vice Minister of Rites!

And looking at Li Liang's smug look, he seemed to be certain that the Minister of Rites and the Governor of the Nine Gates would not be able to find out anything!

"understood."

Kong Zhongzhi said this coldly, then waved his hand, signaling everyone in the Ministry of Revenue to leave.

Li Liang led his men out, and Kong Zhongzhi immediately said, "All accountants begin checking, and report any problems to me!"

More than a dozen accountants immediately began to look through the account books!

Duan Zhenggang was a military officer, and he got a headache when he saw the words, so he sat down next to them and drank tea.

Ye Qianxuan also took a few account books and looked through them. The accounting methods in them were very primitive, and there seemed to be some habits unique to the accountant, so they looked messy.

"Mr. Kong Siqing, these account books are so messy!"

"Yes, Kong Siqing, there is no way to check this!"

"If we have to sort this all out, it would take at least twenty years for just a dozen of us to figure it out!"

In just one hour, these accountants were already complaining bitterly!

Kong Zhongzhi had also learned some numerology, and after looking at the account book, he knew that it was more complicated than he had imagined. He frowned and said, "No wonder the Ministry of Rites is so careless. There's no way to check this account!"

It took twenty years to sort it out, and the opportunity is gone!

Unless more accounting staff are added!

But these are all the accounting offices in the entire capital city. Do we need to mobilize more from outside?

Kong Zhongzhi subconsciously thought of Ye Qianxuan, but when he turned around, he found that Ye Qianxuan was concentrating on reading an account book, and was scribbling on his hands from time to time.

Kong Zhongzhi was shocked for no reason!

No way!

Could it be that Ye Xiaoyou even knows how to check the accounts?!

He immediately stood up and walked behind Ye Qianxuan, and found that Ye Qianxuan was writing strange symbols on a piece of white paper with a brush - 12345...

"What is this symbol? A totem?" Kong Zhongzhi asked curiously.

People of this era naturally cannot understand Arabic numerals.

"This is a simplified number. It is easier to write than 1, 2, 3, 4, and it is more convenient to check accounts." Ye Qianxuan said with a smile, matching Arabic numerals with ancient Chinese numerals.

"This... is quite clever!"

"Well, the symbols are very different from each other, and they have fewer strokes. Using these symbols instead of numbers is indeed a good way to omit time!"

"However, using this shorthand notation instead of numbers doesn't work! Even if we just omit the time, it will still take at least fifteen years to sort out the accounts here!"

When the other accountants came over, they first affirmed Ye Qianxuan's innovative way of counting, but still spoke very pessimistically.

Ye Qianxuan stood up and said, "Everyone, I have a new way of keeping accounts, and I want you accountants to learn it!"

"According to this new accounting method, we can sort out all the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue in three days!"

At that moment, everyone's eyes turned to Ye Qianxuan, and there was silence for a moment!