Chapter 304: The Marvelous Kitchen Chapter 326: Vase

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

After seeing Han Li off, and seeing that the hour of the third watch was approaching, Jiang Panguan hurriedly straightened his cap and clothes, and rushed off to find Shangguan.

Inside the room, Shangguan Liu Fushi was busy to the point of confusion.

It was the time for collecting the summer tax, but the silver and money had not yet been collected, and there were already places waiting to spend them—Jinghu Nanlu and Guangnan West Road suffered great droughts, followed by locust disasters, Jingxi and He Bei Roads, and the Jingji area also encountered a once-in-a-century great flood; how to reduce or exempt taxes, and how to relieve the disaster, all fell under the Ministry of Revenue.

Apart from the transportation of all relief grain, grass, and cloth, water affairs in various places also required silver, grain, and materials; the Capital Prefecture Office was reforming the street planning in the city, those who should move must move, those who should be moved must be moved, involving the correction of registered households, which also fell under the Ministry of Revenue; there were also farmland water conservancy, reclamation of wasteland, and the state monopolies on tea, wine, and alum; now all these were gathered together...

Although the trivial matters were handled by subordinates, just listening to them explain one by one and looking at those reports made him so busy his buttocks went numb—this was what happened from sitting on the official chair for too long, his ears buzzed, and his old eyes were about to go blind.

Among all these matters, the most disgusting one was Chan Prefecture.

The Court urged Chan Prefecture to hurry up and open the Liu Ta He, but that place said the Ministry of Revenue did not give money or materials, everything was delayed, which made the progress on the river unable to advance, and so on.

Thus Li Canzheng, Cao Xianggong, and others all sent people to urge them.

Apart from this side, Chan Prefecture was also the closest, and urgent memorials could make a round trip in two or three days; they came to the door every day to urge silver and materials, and said there was no manpower, not knowing where so many people came from to urge for money—with the time spent nagging here, wouldn't it be better to go to the river and carry a few baskets of stones, mud, and sand themselves?

The Minister of Revenue was fine, Vice Minister Fan was fine; they were high-ranking and powerful, and could ignore these, but although Liu Min was already a Vice Commissioner and very powerful and important outside, facing the trusted aides of the chief ministers, he could not give them too little face; besides, if things were dragged to the end, they still had to be solved.

He was annoyed to no end.

The door was crowded with people, entering one by one to present matters; finally they were all sent away, and seeing that the hour of the third watch was approaching, a clerk came running quickly to report.

"Sir, people from Chan Prefecture have come again, they are outside now; our men are stopping them, saying Sir is in an urgent meeting and cannot spare a moment for now—but just heard the guards report that they seem to have been seen at the Rear Gate as well..."

Liu Min almost vomited blood.

Chan Prefecture was not doing this for the first time; people blocking the front and rear doors was common.

He felt his head was about to split with pain; soon, another miscellaneous servant ran in, panting: "Sir! Sir! Vice Minister Fan asks Sir to go over for a moment..."

Today Vice Minister Fan entered the palace for an audience, and had just returned to the office not long ago, and now wanted Sir to go over.

Vice Commissioner Liu felt it was not good; he called the man closer and asked: "Do you know what Vice Minister Fan wants me for?"

The miscellaneous servant was happy to show his diligence, and said in a low voice: "I heard that as soon as Vice Minister Fan returned, he sent someone to tally the silver and materials allocated to Chan Prefecture..."

He also said: "Vice Minister Fan's complexion did not look good..."

Even before seeing the person, hearing the miscellaneous servant say this, Vice Commissioner Liu knew this time it was definitely about the Liu Ta He matter.

The previous few times Shangguan urged progress, he had helped block it from below; this time although he did not know what happened, hearing that Vice Minister Fan's complexion was bad, Liu Min dared not be negligent anymore.

He thought for a moment, called a clerk under him, and urged: "Go to the Left Wing and see, bring Jiang Panguan..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard someone at the door say: "Vice Commissioner, are you looking for me?"

Seeing that the person who came was indeed Jiang Panguan, Vice Commissioner Liu did not care to say anything else, and immediately asked: "How are the accounts for the Liu Ta He on your side? Vice Minister Fan has urged several times; I said that such things have not been done for many years, and cannot be calculated in a short while; what progress have you made now?"

Jiang Panguan hurriedly said: "This subordinate already has some clues here; tomorrow I can give a definite number!"

Vice Commissioner Liu frowned: "Cannot wait until tomorrow; whatever you have now, bring it to me first."

He also said: "You also speed up behind; if Vice Minister Fan urgently asks, I'm afraid we will have to give it to him tonight!"

Jiang Panguan hurriedly rang a bell and sent someone to get the documents.

Taking advantage of the time for someone to go back and forth to get things, he hesitated for a moment, and said: "Vice Commissioner, actually these days when this subordinate was calculating in the back, I also calculated Chan Prefecture's expenditures over the past one or two years; the numbers that Lv Zhongchang patted his chest and said back then, now whether it is silver, materials, or manpower, have all increased by four or five times or more; where is there still face to come and urge repeatedly?"

"No matter how accurate the calculation, no matter how little is given, we are the ones losing—we don't even know how much more he will want later; this Liu Ta He, calling it a bottomless pit is not too much!"

Vice Commissioner Liu frowned: "This is not something you and I can judge; since the Court has made a decision, we subordinates are just following orders!"

"Recently you all have worked hard above and below; I know you have been suffering these days; but the Liu Ta He has been under construction for nearly two years; the Court has invested countless manpower and resources; this is a critical moment; once stopped, all previous efforts will be wasted."

"Besides, recently the Huang He has risen violently; the River Regulation and Water Gates outside the city have all been used; to protect Jingcheng, the Liu Ta He cannot fail; don't look at Vice Minister Fan being so tough now; it's just a gesture; in the end, not only will we have to eat this hidden loss, but we will probably not end well either."

Vice Commissioner Liu was comforting his subordinates here, but the subordinates did not need his comfort.

Jiang Panguan said: "This subordinate is not a fool; I know I probably cannot avoid it; but I see Sir and Vice Minister Fan are very worried; privately I have also been pondering day and night, just wanting to share your worries—I have upper, middle, and lower plans; I don't know if Sir has the leisure to hear one?"

Vice Commissioner Liu casually responded with a sound; while listening to him speak, his hand had already started flipping through official documents, and took a palm-sized small booklet, copying the contents onto it, preparing to remind Shangguan when reporting later.

He cared about Fan You, so naturally he was somewhat absent-minded—Little Jiang was only suitable for doing dead calculations; he had never heard that this person was good at planning, nor was he the type with a good brain; he did not know who came up with these upper, middle, and lower plans to use for perfunctory purposes.

"... The powerful and noble, merchants and runners, everyone can participate; as for the items for buying bids, it would be better to take some wine taxes, monk and Taoist ordination certificates, land and property, etc.; most importantly, let people know that our Ministry of Revenue has already done its best, and taken out the things from the bottom of the box—just need to calculate the total in private first, cannot really suffer a big loss..."

"Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Personnel, Imperial Astronomical Bureau, Capital Prefecture Office... see what each place lacks... see what their reaction is..."

"... Cannot just rely on us to bear it; otherwise everyone will think it is our duty; if the people from Chan Prefecture come to the door to block again, we can also say that we have already reported it, but it is stuck at some office or some department... Is it that in the world, only they know how to disgust people??"

The pen in Vice Commissioner Liu's hand slowly stopped.

A leaf covers the eye, and Mount Tai is not seen.

I was too reasonable myself!

If...

He raised his head, looked across, and said: "What did you just say about buying bids?"

Jiang Panguan was originally carefully observing Sir's expression; at this moment seeing Vice Commissioner Liu change from indifference just now to attention at this time, he became excited all at once, and his face turned red; he repeated the words again.

"Monk and Taoist ordination certificates can only be sold in private, cannot be put on the surface; but this matter of buying bids for silver is somewhat interesting—what is the lower plan?"

Hearing Jiang Panguan finish the upper, middle, and lower plans, just at this time the miscellaneous servant who went to get the manuscript also returned; Vice Commissioner Liu immediately stood up, took the small booklet, and hurried to see Shangguan.

Sure enough, this time it was for the Chan Prefecture matter.

The Emperor and the Two Prefectures were anxious; Vice Minister Fan entered the palace this time, was questioned in turns for being idle and doing nothing, and was told he could not shirk responsibility anymore, otherwise he would be punished.

He said the requirements from above with a cold face, and also said: "I think the situation of the Liu Ta He is really not good; that Lv Zhongchang is like a headless fly, wanting to do this one moment and that the next; he probably has no idea in his heart at all; you must carefully check those accounts; even if given more, he will come to ask for more next time!"

He also said: "Chan Prefecture is really too outrageous; I don't know how they restrain their subordinates—this official just returned to the office, and at the crossroads they sent messengers to block and urge for silver..."

Vice Commissioner Liu hurriedly said: "Vice Minister, this subordinate has an idea..."

He took the essence of the upper, middle, and lower plans, removed the dross, changed it a bit, made it easier to implement, and said them one by one just now; finally he asked: "Vice Minister, what do you think?"

Vice Minister Fan pondered for a moment, then said: "Interesting. Discuss it among yourselves first and draft a set of regulations for me to see."

He added: "I'll suggest one thing to you—make good use of the Capital Prefecture Office. This involves the most and the widest scope, and there's Prefect Zhao there. Though he usually doesn't manage things well, his status is there; once he speaks, it's more effective than you and I painstakingly saying hundreds or thousands of sentences."

After Judge Liu left Vice Minister Fan's house, he immediately gathered several useful subordinates and reported the matter to his superior.

Soon, someone said: "The wine monopoly and tea monopoly can both be reduced a little. Things are valued for their rarity; surely merchants will be anxious to rush and buy!"

Another said: "At the Capital Prefecture Office, weren't there a major trafficking case and a gambling house case at the beginning of the year? I heard they involve over a hundred houses and shops, many in particularly good locations. If put up for bidding, surely someone will be willing to come!"

"Have they been handed over?"

"Not yet."

In a short while, a fast horse galloped toward the Capital Prefecture Office.

Early the next morning, Censor Cao Lingkun, whose name was Cao Lingkun, had just clocked in when Qin Jie called him inside.

Hearing the superior ask about the progress of the two cases, this man hurriedly explained: "The case details are indeed somewhat complex..."

He sighed for a long while.

Qin Jie asked again: "When will the case be concluded?"

Caught by the sudden question, for a moment Censor Cao actually had no idea at all, and could only grit his teeth and report a date.

Qin Jie was very dissatisfied, saying: "I don't care about your this and that. A case from spring, solved several months ago—there's no reason it still can't be concluded now, is there?"

Censor Cao had no choice but to grit his teeth and say: "Originally, those in charge of the two cases were mostly under Xin Feng, and learned some bad habits. I thought that in the future we'd still need some useful people in hand, so I had someone take over the cases. Because they were messy, and no one properly supervised the handover, for a while I couldn't quite get the hang of it."

Qin Jie, having mixed in officialdom for many years, heard many problems the moment the words entered his ears.

Usually it would be forgotten, but this time...

He frowned and said: "Those people under Xin Feng—many are good hands at handling cases. You should use those who should be used well. Don't delay important matters over a bit of personal grudge, or when blame comes from above, neither you nor I can bear it!"

That Censor Cao kept saying yes and yes. Before leaving, he couldn't help but quietly ask: "Sir, why is the conclusion of the case suddenly being urged so urgently? Did something happen?"

This wasn't something that couldn't be said. Qin Jie briefly explained a sentence or two.

After hearing this, Censor Cao almost wanted to curse in his heart.

He honestly returned to the Left Courtyard, called his subordinates and the people from those two cases over, and said: "Sort out the case files. In a while, call those original people over and hand it to them to..."

For a moment, almost everyone started arguing.

"Censor, the two major cases were originally for them to request merit and rewards—the good meat has all been eaten. Now we've finally taken them over and straightened them out, why hand them back again? Isn't that working for nothing for so long?"

"You ask me, I still want to ask you!"

Censor Cao cursed unhappily: "Usually you don't know to put your heart into it. Now the cooked duck has flown, and you come to cry at a funeral!"

"Censor! Censor, look, we're all brothers. Censor, help us think of a way. At most we have seven or eight days..."

Before this person finished speaking, Cao Lingkun shook his head.

"If it were another matter, or ordinary times, I would naturally say a word to you. But this time it's a special urging from above..."

"Censor, who knows which above?"

Hearing the other party refuse to give up, Censor Cao said impatiently: "Who else could it be! Your 'mother' wants you to conclude the case quickly! If you all put in some effort and could conclude the case in three or five days, why would I have to lose that face—later I'll still have to coax and beg to get people back!"

In the room, no one dared to chatter anymore, only sighing and groaning.

The Capital Prefecture Office has a father, and also a mother—these are the joking terms used by everyone below.

"Father" refers to the Judicial Department. Their biannual inspections—if something goes wrong somewhere, punishment follows, and no one can help but fear.

"Mother" refers to the Ministry of Revenue. The operation of the Capital Prefecture Office from top to bottom, all wealth depends on allocation from the Ministry of Revenue. If you accidentally offend them, they'll choke your neck, and there won't even be rice to eat.

Hearing that the speaker was from the Ministry of Revenue, who would still dare to chatter?

In a short while, the original teams of the two cases were called in.

Censor Cao smiled and said a few formal words, only saying his subordinates had other arrangements and had to go to other cases, asking the original people to help conclude the case quickly, so as not to delay progress, and so on.

Until Censor Cao and the others left, that group of people facing a room full of case files still couldn't quite react.

"What's going on? Earlier they insisted on driving us away, and now they want us back? Surely there's something fishy?"

"Why not ask Censor Xin?"

"Or ask Young Master Han?"

While a group of them were anxious, the Young Master Han they spoke of had already returned to his house.

It was already late, and Chen Fuzi was home early.

Han Li entered the door, greeted him, then asked for the storeroom key and went inside to search.

Chen Fuzi followed him in, saying: "What time is it now? Have you eaten? What are you looking for?"

Han Li said: "I remember Senior Brother originally had a box of flower vases here."

"What do you want flower vases for?"

"To put lotus flowers in." Han Li added, "White porcelain is best if available."