Chapter 35 Senior brother is kingly, Su Mei is domineering (please read and vote for me!
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Auditing accounts is not a simple task.
What's more, in this era of backward arithmetic, the accounting gentlemen can only use abacus to assist in arithmetic.
Although Ouyang Rong knew some advanced mathematics, he was not superior to the accounting clerks who made a living by calculating accounts. He could pick up an account book and spot loopholes at a glance, and then lead his brothers to raid homes.
He only received a basic education, and this is just a job for him.
Fortunately, Ouyang Rong has cultivated a relatively familiar and comfortable team.
When he first took office and decided to work for relief, he approached Diao County Magistrate for help. At that time, most people in the county government thought that he was just working on a whim, and not many people were willing to go to the outskirts of the city to work hard with him.
Youshui's service to the victims is thankless - the county magistrate may seek fame, but they, the old oilmen, do not seek fame.
But after all, Ouyang Rong was also a county magistrate, and in the local government, officials at the highest level suppressed people, so Diao County Prime Minister had no choice but to find someone for him, and arranged for a group of idle scribes from the six government offices to work with him.
When Ouyang Rong saw this group of scribes at the first glance, he knew that they were all guys who were not very popular in the county government-either they were young in appearance, or they were in their late teens and early twenties.
But later, in the suburbs of the city, Ouyang Rong took them to count the refugees' household registration food every day, and set up a disaster relief camp along the way. After some time and effort, Ouyang Rong unexpectedly discovered that he was doing a pretty good job.
Yes, the stupid green clerk may not have experience, but he is very malleable and energetic. In addition, Ouyang Rong is also an old painter, and he is full of blood;
As for the old scribes who are still being squeezed out in their 70s and 80s, what they lack in most cases is not ability. On the contrary, they have strong professional abilities and rich experience. The reason why they are marginalized by superiors and colleagues is because they are not flattering to their superiors and have stubborn and eccentric temperaments.
.
It's so funny that I don't know whether Diao Xiancheng did it intentionally or not. The two types of people sent to deal with Ouyang Rong are quite complementary, and they are both the most capable in the county government...
Old Cuitou was such an old scribe. Ouyang Rong got to know him when he was preparing to build a disaster relief camp and gathering scribes for a meeting.
At that time, Ouyang Rong took office as a new official, and enthusiastically proposed some grain distribution plans that seemed too idealistic in practice. The other scribes present nodded in agreement. Only this old Cui Tou, with a thin body and a pointed chin,
Without caring about the face of the new county magistrate, he pointed out that this method of distributing grain would create a bottomless financial pit, and the more than 10,000 kilo of rice in Longcheng's rice warehouse would not be enough to fill it.
Ouyang Rong was not too annoyed. He asked for advice on the spot and was convinced with good evidence. Later, he directly asked the old Cui to lead six new scribes to manage the silver and grain of the 24 disaster relief camps on the outskirts of the city.
finance.
Ouyang Rong also later learned that the very detailed financial account books of the Longcheng County Government's annual inflows and outflows were made by this old Cui Tou. He was obviously not the chief accountant of Cao, the County Government Office, but was responsible for "tying up the accounting books".
Now, when he opened the east warehouse to settle accounts, Ouyang Rong declined the people from Hucao and Cangcao under Diao County Prime Minister. The people sent to replace him were the scribes from the disaster relief camp headed by Old Cui Tou...
The sun was setting in the west, and Longcheng County, which had just recovered some vitality from the flood, was shrouded in darkness, as if it had fallen asleep with the setting sun.
Looking down from a high altitude, there are only sporadic lights in the courtyards of rich families; because poor families do not light their lamps immediately in the evening, and take advantage of the hazy sky in the distance to finish their meal in front of the door and go to bed, which can save a lot of lamp oil.
In the past, the county government compound on Luming Street, where the lights were supposed to be turned off, was now brightly lit. Especially in the east warehouse, where no one except mice had ever given warmth in the past, the door was heavily guarded, and inside were busy scribes at their desks.
them.
Ouyang Rong sent away Diao Xiancheng, who was not smooth-talking and always testing. He and Yan Liulang, who had a full lunch box in their hands, returned to the east warehouse.
The east warehouse is a building similar to a warehouse, with thick walls and only a skylight the size of a human head on the roof, but it is also tightly closed, so as long as the door is guarded, not even flies can fly in.
After delivering a box of dinner to Captain Qin, the soldiers pushed open the heavy door. Ouyang Rong glanced at the people at the door who were concentrating on settling accounts at several tables. He silently walked into the room, turned around lightly, and stood before Old Cui.
He stopped and looked behind him.
This old scribe who was not popular in the county government was actually not that old, but everyone called him Lao Cui Tou.
He wore a melon-skin hat, and his gray hair was combed meticulously. He seemed to have bad eyesight, and his thin face tried to get closer to the page of the account book, as if he was trying to insert his pointed head into the book.
However, this old gentleman is good at writing in small regular script, and his writing is indeed dignified, smart and tasteful.
Ouyang Rong was slightly emotional. Seeing that it was almost time, he put the lunch box on the table in front of Lao Cui, the first clerk, and said with a smile:
"Eat first, then worry about it later. I'm going to trouble you all tonight."
Everyone else agreed to stop writing, but Old Cui didn't even raise his head. He didn't put down his pen until he finished writing and got up to eat.
Ouyang Rong and everyone gathered together to pick up vegetables and eat, and said curiously:
"Old sir, are you a local?"
Old Cuitou shook his head, "He came to escape disaster in the famine years."
"Have you never thought about going back to your hometown?"
"No worries, nothing to go back to."
"I heard from Rokuro that you adopted a pair of orphans at the disaster relief camp."
Old Cui Tou paused with his chopsticks and said, "Give it to someone else to raise. The conditions are better than here."
Ouyang Rong nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
Just accompanying the accounting clerks to finish their meal, he asked while collecting the lunch boxes: "How soon can the Liu family's accounts be settled?"
Several other young scribes looked at Old Cui Tou.
The latter said calmly: "I won't sleep tonight and will check it out tomorrow morning."
"Okay, then I have a lot to do for you tonight."
Ouyang Rong nodded, immediately stopped disturbing everyone, helped pack the lunch boxes, and left Dongfu Library with Yan Liulang.
He went back to Meiluyuan, explained to his aunt, and then returned to the county government office with a quilt in his arms under the latter's worried eyes.
Yan Liulang saw this and asked blankly: "Mingfu, what are you doing?"
In the lobby, the young magistrate spread out the bedding on a long table, spread it carefully, and "made the bed."
"Well, I'll accompany Mingfu."
"No, you take people to Meiluyuan and protect your aunt."
"Then Mingfu you..."
"Junior sister and General Qin are both here. It's okay. Besides, I'm an official of the imperial court. If anyone really dares to take risks... That's fine. We don't have to settle the account and just go knock on the door and send warmth."
"Okay, Ming Mansion, pay attention to safety."
"Go ahead."
…
Luming Street, a simple mansion with no stone lions.
Xie Lingjiang, dressed in sharp men's clothing, naturally pushed open the door and walked through the winding corridors and various elegant gardens. However, when he passed a quiet pavilion in a certain garden, he happened to catch a glimpse of a familiar figure.
"What is Sister Su looking at?"
Su Guo'er, with wet red plum blossom makeup on her eyebrows, was sitting on the porch, enjoying the gentle evening breeze, reading a book. The maid with a steamy face next to her held a lantern to give her light.
"Poems of Tao Yuanming." Without raising his head.
"Tao Yuanming?"
"Um."
"Well, I remember that this person seemed to be a famous person in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. By the way, he was a county magistrate in this county hundreds of years ago. How many days ago..."
"Eighty-one days later, I resigned." Such a treasure trove.
"Yes, I think I heard it mentioned by senior brother."
Su Guo'er, who was just perfunctory at first, suddenly closed her eyes and asked: "Sister comes from a well-known scholarly family in Jiangzuo. Longcheng County is also considered Jiangzuo. Has the Xie family in Chen County collected this person's scattered poems for hundreds of years?"
"A poem by Tao Yuanming?"
Reading at night in the corridor, the stunning girl with a cold and aloof temperament suddenly straightened her slender waist, leaned forward slightly, stared at her and said:
"Yes, for example, a short poem called... Returning to Lai Xi Ci?"
Xie Lingjiang thought about it carefully and shook his head:
"I loved poetry when I was a child. I often read some of the solitary collections of poems in the Catkin Pavilion at home, but I probably haven't seen this poem about returning home in my memory. Why is Sister Su suddenly interested in this?"
Su Guo'er's bright eyes dimmed a little as they were reflected in the light.
She didn't answer, but asked casually: "Sister Xie looks very happy, but what's the happy event?"
Who would have thought that it would just hit Xie Lingjiang's itch for chatting.
The noble daughter of the Xie family did not pay attention to Su Guo'er's change of subject. She smiled and recounted what her senior brother had done today, and at the end she did not forget to add:
"Refresh yourself tonight and search your house tomorrow."
When Su Guo'er heard the plans of the young county magistrate in front of her, she couldn't help but look in the direction of the county government office. She was quite surprised and silently reflected on certain things...
However, after hearing Xie Lingjiang's last enthusiastic words, she raised her eyes to look at Sister Xie and shook her head slightly.
Su Guo'er lowered her eyes again and opened the book to read.
Xie Ling Jiang slightly raised her eyebrows, "What does it mean when Sister Su shakes her head?"
"It's nothing interesting, it's just..." Su Guo'er said softly: "Sister Xie, it's better to be more careful these days, and in addition, don't go out as much."
"Why?"
The girl with plum blossom makeup in the corridor tried her best to tactfully say: "A strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. Sister, do you know why?"
"explain."
"Because of arrogance."
Xie Lingjiang's tone was cold: "Sister Su has the nerve to call others arrogant."
"no the same."
"Just the same."
"There is a difference in arrogance. For example, I will be arrogant towards Liu, but I will not be slow."
"So you are not senior brother."
Xie Lingjiang shook his head, "Senior brother only does things that are fair and upright, because justice can only be done upright and upright. Once you take power, you can't help but rob the whole family. How is this different from bullying and evil gentry? It's just a higher level.
They are just bullies and evil gentry, disguised as justice."
"Your senior brother is so fair and arrogant."
"Those who pretend to be benevolent with force dominate, and those who act benevolently with virtue are kings." This lady wearing a crown and a sword raised her head and held the sword: "This is not arrogance, senior brother, this is the kingly way. And Sister Su, you are domineering."
"Senior brother will definitely suppress you." She was determined.
"Kingdom must have a king of destiny. There is no other company in the world who understands the words "winner and loser" better than us."
Su Guo'er murmured softly and shook her head stubbornly: "Anyway, sister Xie should go out less these days. You can spend more time with my grandma these days..."
Before she finished speaking, she discovered that the noble lady of the Xie family in front of her was missing. She raised her head and followed Cai Shou's curious gaze:
I saw Xie Lingjiang, who seemed to have come back to rest, decisively returned to the original route, and went out again...
Su Guo'er turned around and said, "Sister Xie is more stubborn than brother Xie."