After coming out of Prince Wu's Mansion, Zhang Ximeng took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, then smiled at Jiang Nan and said, "How are you? How do you feel?"
Jiang Nan's face was sullen, her smart eyes flickered twice, and she whispered: "It seems that Mr. Li is a little disappointed."
"It's not just a matter of disappointment! He's just hoping that I'll have bad luck... After all, you've done me a lot of favor!"
Jiang Nan was startled and quickly said: "It was Prime Minister Zhang who promoted me. Even though I have been in a humble position, I am still confused. I don't know what to do."
Zhang Ximeng thought for a while and said with a smile: "Your branch office is becoming more and more important. I am about to explain some things properly."
Zhang Ximeng and Jiang Nan returned to the check-in room. After sitting down, Jiang Nan poured Zhang Ximeng a cup of tea... or milk tea!
"Xiang Zhang is right. Drinking this is indeed a double pleasure. Mr. Zhang drinks it often, right? I made it according to Mr. Zhang's recipe, but I didn't want to put in the West Lake Longjing tea. I used Pucha."
Pu'er tea is not an ordinary tea, but a tea from Yunnan. In the late Ming Dynasty, it also had a name, Pu'er.
Zhang Ximeng uses West Lake Longjing tea to make milk tea, which is nonsense. Jiang Nan uses Pucha to brew it, which is much better than Zhang Ximeng in color and taste.
"Yes, you girls are very attentive and skillful." After Zhang Ximeng praised him, he said: "I have told the lord about it, and I will educate all the officials next, so you have to be mentally prepared."
Jiang Nan was startled, "Prime Minister Zhang, are you going to evaluate the wise and foolish?"
"No, the emphasis is actually on education...the most important of which are rules and laws." Zhang Ximeng explained patiently. He took Jiang Nan as an example and told it to Lao Zhu, just in time to tell her his thoughts and listen to her opinions.
"Officials assisting the country and governing the people must follow rules and act in accordance with the laws... For example, if the Ministry of Household Affairs collects land taxes, does it mean to exploit the people, break their bones and suck out their marrow? Does the Ministry of Punishments approve killings and beheading oligarchs, does it count as indiscriminate killing of innocent people? There are also Du branch offices
, in charge of finance, and to supervise all officials, does it make things difficult for others, or even kill people?"
Jiang Nan frowned, "Of course this doesn't count!"
"Then why doesn't it count? Have you ever thought about it?"
Jiang Nan shook his head, "I don't know about my humble position."
"Take the land tax and commercial tax as an example. Do you know how it is distributed?"
Jiang Nan did not hesitate and immediately said: "North and south of the Yangtze River, under the rule of King Wu, there are two taxes every day in summer and autumn, totaling 6.5 million dan in tax and grain, of which 3 million dan are required to raise soldiers, as well as official salaries, river construction, settlement of refugees, and pioneering wasteland
Reclamation, establishment of schools and education.”
Zhang Ximeng nodded, "These things can be roughly summarized as taking from the people and using them for the people. Even the biggest leader's army is to protect the existing achievements. There are enemies on all sides. If there is no strong military force, how can we protect it?
People, how can we make the food stored in our granaries safe? Our mission this time is to make one thing clear to the officials... What we are doing is the right thing and it is reasonable!"
Jiang Nan thought about Zhang Ximeng's words, what came to mind, her heart shook, and she whispered: "Including Du Zhi?"
"Well! This is what I want to tell you. Only by being upright can you be arrogant... The power you hold in your hands is not a tool for you to enforce justice for heaven and satisfy your grudges. It is also not a tool for you to fear, feel guilty and blame yourself, and dare not face it.
The burden... you, me, and even more officials, we are all public servants of the world!"
"The world's public weapon?"
"Yes! We care about good and evil, but we care more about fighting chaos... We shouldn't have too many ideas. In other words, our most important mission is to ensure that the decisions made by the superiors are properly implemented and executed perfectly. We don't take credit or take credit.
Self-aggrandizement, thoughtfulness, and thoughtfulness are just...a humble public weapon in the world!"
The more Jiang Nan listened, the more confused she became. She tried hard to understand what Zhang Ximeng meant, but she always felt that there was a contradiction, but she couldn't tell what was wrong.
Or maybe it’s the realm of a prime minister!
"Prime Minister Zhang, I will consider it carefully...but what should we do now?"
"It's very simple. Just settle all the accounts related to the Household Department immediately, find out how much corruption and violation of the law Li Menggen has committed, prepare them as soon as possible, and bring them out as soon as the lord needs them."
Jiang Nan nodded repeatedly, "I have already calculated it before, and I can send it to Zhang Xiang tomorrow."
Zhang Ximeng was overjoyed and said, "By the way, Jiang Tiju, I see that your subordinates are very efficient and have many iron abacus. Where did these people come from? Are they from your family?"
Jiang Nan smiled, "There are indeed three people here who are the old accountants of the Jiang family, but the real source is still from the princess."
"princess?"
"Yeah!" Jiang Nan nodded, "The princess is really a hero among women. She has adopted many orphans over the years, many of them girls. If she hadn't been the princess, she would have either died or fallen into the hands of bad people and been sold off.
Went to the brothel... Also, many of the humble subordinates in the accounting office came from the Yangzhou brothel. Zhang Xiang strongly advocated closing the brothel and banning the boat painting in recent years, which is really a great merit! "
Hearing this, Zhang Ximeng pondered a little, "I wanted to ban him, but he kept banning me repeatedly. Isn't this what Li Menggeng fell into?"
Jiang Nan pondered for a while, but smiled and said: "Prime Minister Zhang, if there is no ban, it will be ten times and a hundred times more serious... In fact, Prime Minister Zhang cares about good and evil the most!"
Zhang Ximeng pondered slightly. He also had a very complicated identity. In terms of position, he was the Right Chancellor and Zhu Yuanzhang's assistant. He was a humble public instrument used to hold the fruits of Wu King's profound thoughts.
But from another perspective, he is also the revered Master Zhang and the first person to propose the redefinition of the principles and principles.
The former values the control of chaos, while the latter values good and evil.
So who do you want to be?
Is he an official who just goes with the flow and goes along with the crowd, or is he Zhang Zi who takes action and pursues the truth?
Zhang Ximeng actually couldn't tell.
"In a word, handle your own affairs well and move forward courageously. We are doing the right thing, so we can be fearless!"
Jiang Nan nodded vigorously, "I understand this sentence!"
In a blink of an eye, the next day, Jiang Nan had calculated the accounts clearly. She was going to give it to Zhang Ximeng, but there was no one in the check-in room.
Prime Minister Zhang has a rest today, but he wants to see what happened yesterday.
With no choice, Jiang Nan could only hold these account books, get on the carriage, and go to Zhang Ximeng's residence.
Mentioning Zhang Ximeng's mansion, Jiang Nan couldn't help but think of the big thief Lu Qiuyun. Not only did he not steal any money, he also left Zhang Ximeng a piece of gold.
Is the dignified prime minister's residence really so humble?
The Zhang Mansion was right in front of them. After getting off the carriage, Jiang Nan came in easily after the announcement.
To be honest, this yard is nice and spacious... but it is a bit too simple. In the front yard, there is a green brick corridor, and rapeseed is planted on both sides. It just so happens that the weather is getting warmer, and a few rapeseed flowers have just sprouted, and they are bright yellow.
, and the bees are busy, which is really interesting!
Does the prime minister grow rape flowers?
It’s really yours!
Jiang Nan stepped inside and reached the second-floor courtyard. There were only a few laurel trees here, a few stone pillars placed under the trees, and even a knife and gun rack.
Didn’t you realize that Mr. Zhang is also good at martial arts?
She went to the living room and sat down, looked around, and she was surprised again. Zhang Ximeng's place was mainly made of bamboo, which was very disappointing.
For a dignified prime minister, who is so favored and holds a high position, it is appropriate to have some fine mahogany furniture in his home. No one will say anything.
But Zhang Ximeng’s place is actually the cheapest bambooware, which is really surprising!
She looked up suddenly and found that there were many words on the wall. Looking carefully, she found that they were all written by Zhang Ximeng himself. Among them were two sentences... It is better to eat without meat than live without bamboo!
Jiang Nan couldn't help but laugh, this explanation was quite appropriate!
Just when she was about to look down, Zhang Ximeng came from behind. He said with a smile: "I just took a look at the garden behind. I am going to build a sheep pen and raise a few goats. I will use the goat milk to make milk tea." , the taste is guaranteed to be better.”
Jiang Nan really didn't understand, "Xiang Zhang, how can you raise sheep yourself? This is too simple."
"simple?"
Zhang Ximeng was really stunned and couldn't help laughing at himself: "I said Jiang Tiju, do you have any misunderstanding about the word simplicity? Have you ever seen the simple method of raising sheep by yourself just to drink milk tea? Have you seen it? Have you ever seen the simple method of planting rapeseed by shoveling the flower bed just to see the rape blossoms? Have you ever seen the simple method of having your own vegetable garden in Jinling City, so you can grow whatever you want to eat?"
Zhang Ximeng feels that his residence is too big, with three-story courtyards inside and outside, front and back gardens, and a cross-yard, which can basically guarantee his own vegetable supply.
As long as that bastard Zhu Ying doesn't come to steal the food, he doesn't have to go out to buy it.
This is Jinling City!
How expensive is land!
The future courtyard for junior students at the base of the imperial city... Just such a place is valuable in itself. If it is made splendid, painted, and a lot of mahogany and ivory furniture is placed in the room, it will not be called grand. That's called a nouveau riche!
The bamboo has knots and the reeds are pure. These are the supplies that suit his status.
Besides, it’s not true that there are no valuable things in his house. If you go to Dongkuoyuan and take a look, there are six houses, all of which are filled with various collections of books. Even the books from Prince Wu’s Mansion are not as comprehensive as those in his house.
Jiang Nan frowned, could he have misunderstood?
She simply didn't dare to ask any more questions, so she could only talk about official business with Zhang Ximeng. The two of them chatted about various issues in the Ministry of Household Affairs until almost noon. Zhang Ximeng smiled and said, "Well, I'll get some noodles, and I'll just use the ones from my house." Picked green vegetables, boiled two poached eggs laid this morning, just this bowl of noodles, it's so authentic!"
Jiang Nan is in a mess again. Can this guy cook noodles?
Facts have proved that Zhang Ximeng really knows how to do it, and he still has a hair that does not end, and is very thin. With green vegetables, crispy radish strips, sesame oil, and poached eggs, it really makes people want to eat.
"This bowl of noodles is much better than King Wu's. What's in his bowl? Just two more poached eggs!"
Zhang Ximeng is very proud. His life is indeed much more comfortable than Zhu Yuanzhang's.
Jiang Nan could only lower his head and eat the noodles. Not to mention, they were really delicious. Maybe this was simple and honest happiness! Zhang Xiangzhen was not an ordinary person.
At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded outside, as if many people were coming. Zhang Ximeng put down his bowl and chopsticks and looked outside.
I saw Lao Zhu in front, Li Shanchang following beside, and many civil servants and generals behind. Everyone looked around Zhang Mansion and were all amazed.
Zhu Yuanzhang stopped, looked at everyone, and sneered: "How about it, it opened your eyes? We just took you to Li Menggeng's mansion, which is also the residence of Prime Minister Zhang. How do you feel?"
Yang Yuangao hurriedly bowed and sighed: "Your Majesty, a camellia plant in Li Menggeng's mansion costs hundreds of thousands. Who would have thought that rapeseed flowers are planted in Prime Minister Zhang's mansion! With such integrity, I'm afraid there are virtuous ministers from ancient times.
Not as good as Zhang Xiang!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Don't rush to flatter me, just look around. What if Mr. Zhang is different from his appearance and hides valuable calligraphy, paintings and gold and silver treasures at home? You all should take a good look!"