Chapter 353

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

He had just said everything was done by himself alone, and moments ago had agreed in one breath to submit on time; if he now went back on his word and claimed he couldn't finish, wouldn't he instantly expose himself and show his weakness?

So how could he salvage the capable image he had painstakingly built?

Cai Xiu clutched the manuscript, walking out of Tuo Tuiguan's office with uneven steps.

One mouth speaks above, legs run ragged below.

Compiling and calculating data was a complex, tedious task; the difficulty of the mathematics itself was already considerable, but compared to that, the sheer volume of calculations was even more terrifying.

Cai Xiu had always excelled at writing and was famous for his poetry; in his view, "technique" was a minor path, so he had not spent much time studying it—nor did he have that much time to study it.

A day has only twelve hours; with many literary gatherings and social engagements to attend, and proper Confucian classics and coursework to keep up with, there was naturally little time left for such minor techniques.

In fact, not only in mathematics, but also in law and in archery and horsemanship, Cai Xiu was not particularly outstanding.

He returned to the storeroom; by now everyone else had already clocked out and left the office, cold and deserted, with only him alone.

Looking at the room full of official files and materials, it was obvious that even just organizing the corresponding content would take a great deal of time.

He sucked in a sharp breath.

By himself, unless he worked himself to death, it was impossible to finish!

He could not sit and await destruction!

Sitting in the official chair, he did not rush to work but kept pondering.

After much thought, he did indeed come up with an alternative method—Li Zhai wanted so many categories of data; it was obvious most of them would never be used, merely serving as a comparison.

He could simply calculate one or two of them seriously, and slap together the rest; when reporting, with a bit of guidance—eloquence was his strength—he could naturally lead the superior to choose the set he had done seriously before, or simply choose the statistics done by his former students; thus, he would have turned in his work and made a name for himself!

Several days later, he brought the manuscript before Tuo Tuiguan.

The latter cared greatly about these calculated statistics, pointing to the contents and asking how they were calculated, how the results were obtained, and so on, in a round of questioning.

The calculation method was already quite troublesome, and through Cai Xiu's mouth, it became even more complex to the heavens.

Tuo Tuiguan had the clerks record them one by one, offered some encouragement, then urged him to hurry and draft the document for submission.

Drafting documents was Cai Xiu's strength; he already had something from last time, needing only slight changes, so it was actually written in no time.

But this time, he did not give it to Tuo Tuiguan—the latter's eloquence was ordinary and he was unfamiliar with the situation; if he slipped up anywhere, Cai Xiu himself would be implicated.

Moreover, what if he didn't mention his own name?

One must know that now was a rare opportunity to make an impression.

He had long since inquired about the situations of various families and knew very well that Li Canzheng's household had a young lady guest, soon to reach the age of marriage, and was currently selecting a fine son-in-law.

Choosing a son-in-law from the examination list was always the favorite pastime of scholars; he himself, whether in appearance, talent, conduct, or character, was outstanding in every way, merely lacking an opportunity to make himself known.

If he could gain Li Canzheng's favor and become the son-in-law of the Li family, then those young masters from side branches and collateral lines, those servants and lackeys coming to demand accountability, upon seeing him, would probably kneel and kowtow at once—how could they dare act as they did today!

Knowing that after Li Zhai took charge at the county office, he also lodged at the rear office at night, and most of the time ate from the public canteen—for this reason, the office had specially hired two new cooks.

However, the superior's actions were hard to fathom; sometimes he had people send food to the office, sometimes he went to eat at the canteen himself.

Cai Xiu spent two hundred coins, found a menial to help keep watch, and when Li Zhai finished eating at the public canteen and was on his way back, he clutched the manuscript, waited halfway, and stopped him.

He wore a brand-new set of clothes, with a cap and boots, looking truly fine in appearance and bearing; he stepped forward and performed a salute, first offering greetings, then giving his name and origin, saying: "Student received the statistical task from the superior's hands, responsible for calculating grain, fodder, and supply distribution in the city; at present, there are a few places I do not quite understand. Since the superior is not present, and knowing this matter is truly urgent, I have no choice but to come and disturb Canzheng!"

He actually bypassed Tuo Tuiguan and came to report on his own.

No matter how he dressed it up or performed, Li Canzheng, having been an official for many years, could not fail to see the intentions of the man before him.

Officials: some do not like subordinates who are too rigid and conventional, who cannot produce a sound even with two slaps; others do not like subordinates who overstep their bounds and meddle in their superiors' duties.

However, Li Canzheng was broad-minded; as long as a subordinate had talent, he did not mind whatever their conduct or temperament.

At this moment, seeing Cai Xiu's fine appearance, and hearing he was a Taixue student with some literary reputation, he vaguely felt this was a young man taking initiative and striving forward; he took no offense, paused slightly in his steps, asked him to rise, then pointed ahead, gesturing for him to walk forward, and asked as they walked: "Which part is unclear?"

Cai Xiu then voiced several points of confusion; the questions he raised were fairly substantive.

Li Canzheng answered them one by one.

Cai Xiu asked further in detail.

When the question-and-answer was concluded, Li Canzheng inevitably asked how many people were currently doing this task, and whether there were any difficulties.

Cai Xiu said: "The others have all been transferred to the Six Routes Transport Commission; a few are sick or injured in bed, or in poor spirits and cannot be pressed; at present, only I, the student, remain—but I am young, and serving the country, the dynasty, and the common people is exactly the time not to spare my body or my strength!"

"Moreover, Canzheng works even harder; compared to that, I count as nothing!"

Leaving aside everything else, this student had elegant bearing and fluent responses; in just a short while on the road, Li Canzheng had developed some liking for him.

He then asked again about the other party's progress.

Cai Xiu took out the manuscript he had long prepared in his sleeve, saying: "Actually, it has already been calculated, and I have carefully checked it..."

Ahead was the office; Li Canzheng led his people into the room, took the manuscript, and flipped through it briefly.

Cai Xiu hurried forward, secretly took a deep breath, preparing to seize the time; once the other side had glanced through it once, he would step forward to explain how he had calculated it and what he had thought.

But before he could open his mouth, he saw that when Li Canzheng turned to the last page, his originally gentle expression slightly stiffened.

Cai Xiu was skilled at observing expressions and colors; he hurriedly lowered his head to peek, only to see that the other side had already seen the content he had added afterward as filler, made up to pad the numbers.

Although some of it was fabricated, it was by no means nonsense; rather, it was deduced by himself based on other data, just simple and crude, with some differences.

These numbers, laid out on paper, were just numbers; logically, a glance by the eye would easily be led by the text, and with his own explanation...

"Is something missing here? Were the numbers of the two battalions of militia and patrol soldiers sent to the Southern Side Duanyun direction included?" Seeing Cai Xiu give a vague answer, Li Canzheng shook his head: "If they were included, the grain and fodder consumption should not be this figure."

He said, and pointed to one of the figures: "This is also not right. The Imperial Guard and the militia both use Song Clan military rations sent from Jingcheng; consumption should be less than half of ordinary rations. How is it that the two categories calculate out to almost the same amount consumed?"

Cai Xiu's scalp went numb.

He vaguely had an impression that among the grain and fodder there was indeed a category called Song Clan military rations; at the time he had thought it strange—military rations are military rations, so what was the point of adding a family name?

But the quantity of this so-called Song Clan military rations was very small, merely one-tenth or one-twentieth of the other common dry rations currently in storage, so he didn't take it to heart, nor did he carefully check the files, simply calculating it as ordinary dry rations—who would have thought that dry rations and dry rations could actually be different??

He very much wanted to think on his feet, but asking such detailed questions, how could he give a perfunctory answer?

Just as he was sweating with anxiety, he heard hurried footsteps outside the door; Cai Xiu looked up and saw the visitor, and was truly startled to the bone, his sweat as if sucked into his pores and spat out again, sticky and cold—it was Tuiguan Liao who had come upon hearing the news.

After the latter entered the door, he hurried forward to return the salute and greet, saying: "Canzheng, this subordinate has several matters to report!"

Speaking, he glanced at Cai Xiu, looking very surprised, and said: "Eh, Little Cai is here too?"

Li Zhai had served as an official in the Revenue Department many years ago and was skilled in mathematics; at this moment he flipped through a few pages, swept his eyes over them, and found several obviously wrong places, naturally not bothering to spend more thought.

But the one opposite was after all a Scholar of the Imperial Academy, a young latecomer; Li Zhai, as a superior official, would not openly rebuke him face to face and ruin his own reputation.

Seeing Tuiguan Liao come over at this moment, he said: "You are the superior official; the things that should be guarded must still be guarded seriously—how can we let a student junior grope around blindfolded?"

Speaking, he pushed the manuscript back in front of Cai Xiu and said: "There are quite a few errors inside; go back and carefully calculate again. This is a matter of grain allocation within and outside the city. If done well, it can save countless grain and not waste a single bit. If there are too many errors and omissions, and they are truly used by careless people, the harm would be great—this is when you display your abilities, so put your heart into it!"

Hearing these words, Cai Xiu felt angry, annoyed, and ashamed, yet dared not speak.

Just as he wanted to say a few more words, there were footsteps outside the door again, deng deng deng, through a wall and a door, one could feel the person's urgency.

It was a miscellaneous servant with sweat all over his head, panting heavily.

"Canzheng! Canzheng! The xiang troops and the Imperial Guard have started fighting! Du Zhi Shi rushed over, but for some reason couldn't persuade them, and even seemed to take sides, almost injuring someone. Commander Cui said to have Canzheng preside over justice—the person is already at..."

The "at" character had just fallen when there was a clamor of voices behind; one person walked in from the courtyard gate, taking large strides, as if after a few steps he had reached the door—it was Commander of the Palace Guard Cui Jizhong.

Upon entering, this man looked left and right, saw Li Zhai, and walked over, immediately clasping his fists and returning a salute, calling out: "Li Canzheng! The Song Clan military rations were originally our Imperial Guard rations. The xiang troops say divide then divide, say take then take, not even giving a greeting—isn't that a bit excessive?"

Soon after, Du Zhi Shi hurried in behind, calling out: "Canzheng! This time it is grain distributed by the prefecture. The Song Ji military rations brought by the Imperial Guard have long been eaten up. The Imperial Guard goes to disaster relief, aren't the xiang troops also going to disaster relief? The Song Clan military rations are dry rations allocated by the court—how can the Imperial Guard eat them but the xiang troops cannot?!"

Both brought several soldiers, here one sentence, there one phrase, making the room buzz with noise.

"Who doesn't want to carry light things when going out? The Imperial Guard has eaten Song Clan dry rations for so long—why can't they eat something else?!"

"The Imperial Guard soldiers are taller, eat more, and consume more—naturally, whoever can withstand hunger should carry it!"

Li Zhai listened for a while with two big heads, only then figuring out they were all fighting over grabbing the Song Ji military rations.

It turned out that when Commander Cui Jizhong brought a group of Imperial Guards from Jingcheng to Chan Prefecture, he brought a recipe for Song Clan military rations and many ready-made dry rations.

Chan Prefecture didn't think much of it at first, but after going out together, seeing that the Imperial Guards didn't need to put much dry rations in their bundles, while their own larger and heavier bundles had dry rations all eaten up, the Imperial Guard wasn't anxious at all and still had leftovers—who wouldn't be curious?

Upon asking, they learned the origin of the new dry rations, and the xiang troops immediately exploded.

Anyway, it's all equally unpalatable—who wouldn't want to carry something lighter when traveling? Eat something that withstands hunger a bit more?

Coincidentally, when this batch of Song Clan military rations was delivered, that Du Zhi happened to be there, and before notifying the Imperial Guard, they carried them away together. When the Imperial Guard came to collect the rations, they found the place empty—how could they agree?

Hearing them cursing each other like dogs tearing birds and splashing rottenness here, Li Zhai had no time to care about Cai Xiu.

Since Commander Cui Jizhong had also come, he naturally could not be slighted; moreover, since whatever army was now very important, he only exchanged two sentences with Tuiguan Liao, then stood up to go say a few words.

His fair words had not yet left his mouth when, by such coincidence, someone outside rushed in like flying, calling: "Sir! Sir! The riverway has sent a report—the riverway has sent someone to report!"

Li Zhai immediately dropped the quarreling few and said urgently: "Where is the person?"

Only a breath later than the reporter, a soldier covered in sweat entered and said: "Canzheng! Sir sent me to report—the lead ship has arrived, only saying the river is open and the water is smooth, the grain transport fleet will follow shortly!"

Li Zhai had not yet spoken when the quarreling few heard the person report and quietly settled down one by one, turning to look. Commander Cui Jizhong stood at the front and couldn't help asking: "Opened? Really opened? Wasn't it said before that many places had no water and boats couldn't pass?!"

Once the river opens, grain, fodder, and supplies can be continuously sent in, and the prices in Chan Zhou Cheng won't keep skyrocketing.

Li Zhai relaxed a little, but dared not fully relax, asking: "Who is supervising this wave of transport ships?"

The man said loudly: "It is Han Li of the Six Routes Transport Commission leading the supervision!"

Visibly, Li Zhai relaxed a great deal and asked: "Did Zheng Yan send a letter?"

There was no letter.

Hearing there was no new letter, with the riverway not far from the Zhou Ya of Chan Prefecture and the dock further ahead, taking advantage of noon, he said: "Go! Let's take a look!"

A group of people forgot about quarreling, and no one was anxious to preside over justice anymore; they all followed along.

Meanwhile, Cai Xiu stood at the back, holding his manuscript in his hand. He had already been about to leave, but upon hearing the two characters "Han Li," his feet seemed to take root, and he stopped at once.

That Han Li again??

This scoundrel, why does his ghost refuse to disperse, he's everywhere??

How is his luck so good—going to open the river he met Wang Jinghe, everything went smoothly, now he's avoided Liu Ta He, and from the transport matter he gets to show his face again, making Li Zhai, a Canzheng, call him "Zheng Yan" warmly and intimately, yet who knows what tricks he used behind the scenes!

Seeing Li Zhai look so satisfied, Cai Xiu was even angrier inside. Then he thought—grain has arrived, his hard work for so many days, what he wrote for so long, isn't it all poured down the drain??

If he had known, he shouldn't have stopped this Canzheng halfway just now!

He felt both regret and annoyance in his heart, but seeing everyone go to look at the transport ships, though his teeth itched with hatred, his feet couldn't help but follow.

But this time he had only walked two steps before someone stopped him.

"Tuiguan Liao?"

He was stunned.

Tuiguan Liao looked at him with a smile that wasn't a smile and said: "You heard what Canzheng said just now. Time is tight and there are many matters now. Don't delay—hurry back and finish the tally!"

Cai Xiu was bewildered and said: "But the transport ships have arrived—do I still need to calculate here?!"

"Transport ships are transport ships, and unified allocation is unified allocation. How can these two be confused?" Tuiguan Liao sneered. "In the future, when reporting upward, report to me, and I will report. If there is a next time, I'll have no choice but to send you back to Taixue!"

This practice was clearly grinding him down!

Cai Xiu was so angry his liver ached, but the other side held official identity and used Li Zhai's words to suppress him.

In the past, he was the one threatening other students—if they didn't do well, he'd write back to the academy. Now someone threatened to send him back to Taixue, and he had no power to fight back.

Before he could recover, the person opposite said again: "Calculate carefully. If you make mistakes and omissions like today and get pointed out by Li Canzheng again, you're a junior and don't fear losing face, but if it gets out, I care about my reputation—don't let people laugh at me for no reason!"

Tuiguan Liao finished speaking, didn't even lift his eyelids, and strode away. From the direction and speed, he was clearly chasing after Li Zhai and the others.

Cai Xiu stood in place, feeling dizzy wave after wave.

If he had gained Li Canzheng's favor, the man surnamed Liao naturally wouldn't dare to manipulate him. But who would have thought...

What should he do now? In the dormitory, next door was a group of young masters who spoke sarcastically to him. In the office, above was the Tuiguan he had just offended, and then there was Li Zhai's commentary... this commentary, surely it wouldn't get out, would it??