On Tang Ning's first day at the Ministry of Household Affairs, he was greeted by a minister named Han.
There are two ministers on the left and right of the household department. The left minister Fang Zhe and the right minister are the middle-aged men in front of him.
Han Ming, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, looked at him and said: "Master Shangshu is busy with official duties. Everything written by Tang Xiu in the Ministry of Revenue is arranged by me."
Tangning cupped her hands and said, "Then I'll trouble you, Minister Han."
Han Ming smiled and said: "You're welcome, this is my job."
Tang Ning looked at him and asked, "I wonder if this official is in the Ministry of Household Affairs, what is his position?"
Han Ming said with a smile: "My Hubu yamen has four branches. The first is Hubu, which is in charge of household registration, land, and taxes; the second is Duzhi, which is in charge of rents and taxes, and is the general accountant; the third is Jinbu, which is in charge of the treasury, cashier, and balance.
Measurement; the fourth is the Cangbu, which is responsible for the military reserves of the world and the granary. The Lord Shangshu has said that he will first order you to take the post of chief and go to Duzhi Yamen."
There are four departments under the Ministry of Household Affairs, and each department has a chief, such as the chief of Duzhi and the chief of Cangbu. However, they are officials who are not in the ranks of the ninth rank. Tang Ning was compiled from Hanlin of the sixth rank. Naturally, this is not what Lord Shangshu meant by chief.
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Independent of these four departments, there are two heads of the household department, with official positions of the sixth rank. Tang Ning remembered that Tang Jing of the Tang family seemed to be the head of the household department after leaving the Hanlin Academy.
Minister Han looked at him and said: "Master Tang, I will take you to Duzhi Yamen, please."
Tang Ning extended her hand and said, "Servant Han, please."
The Hubu Yamen was very large, so Shilang Han led him into a Yamen and went straight into the innermost lobby.
Immediately, several people stood up, cupped their hands and said, "I've seen Minister Han."
Han Ming pointed at Tang Ning and introduced, "This is Chief Tang. You must have heard about it a long time ago. Lord Shangshu asked him to stay in your Duzhi Yamen first. You can't wait any longer."
After that, he pointed to the two officials and introduced: "This is Dr. Chen, and this is Mr. Wang Yuanwai."
The two of them bowed their hands and saluted: "Master Tang..."
After Tang Ning returned the greeting, Han Mingcai said: "Mr. Chen, I have important matters to attend to, so I will leave Director Tang to you."
Dr. Chen immediately said: "Don't worry, Mr. Han, I will make arrangements for Mr. Tang."
In the Duzhi Yamen, the fifth-rank Duzhi doctor is the only chief official, followed by the sixth-rank Duzhi member Wailang. Tang Ning is nominally a sixth-rank official, but he was temporarily appointed by the Minister of Household Affairs. Here,
Duzhi Yamen is still headed by Duzhi Doctor.
After arriving at the Ministry of Household Affairs from the Hanlin Academy, the privilege of having an office to oneself was no longer available. Tang Ning shared an office with Dr. Chen and Mr. Wang Yuanwai.
After clearing his table, he walked over, looked at Dr. Chen, and asked: "Mr. Chen, I wonder what I need to do here?"
Doctor Chen thought for a while and said: "The account books of last season have not been sorted out yet, and there is nothing important. I still have a separate account book here. If Mr. Tang has nothing to do, why don't you help me do the calculations?"
Tangning nodded and said, "Okay."
Doctor Chen took out an account book from the table, handed it to him, and said: "There is an abacus on the table. I'm sorry to trouble Mr. Tang."
There are many officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and there is only one Duzhi Yamen. There are dozens of people in the Lingshi and Jishi. Naturally, it is not the turn of the Shangguan to settle the accounts, but some of the more important sub-accounts and general ledgers still need to be handled by the doctor.
Calculate it yourself to avoid mistakes.
Tangning took the account book, sat back at the table, and picked up the abacus on the table, feeling a little dazed.
When he was in elementary school, calculators had become popular. The abacus was an old object that he had only seen under the box in the old dean's room. He had only seen it once in his life, let alone used it.
He doesn't need to calculate many things on a daily basis, and naturally he doesn't know how to use an abacus to solve things that can be solved with a few vertical equations.
So he really doesn't know how to use this thing.
He fiddled with it a few times, then found a piece of paper, used the abacus as a ruler, and typed a table on the paper.
Then he threw the abacus aside and started sorting out the accounts.
The account books of the Account Department still use the single-entry accounting method. Although this kind of running account is simple and convenient, it does not distinguish the incoming and outgoing. Each item is added up. Without a calculator, the workload is not small, and it is easy to make mistakes.
.
He transcribed the numbers in the account book onto the paper according to the discrepancies. If the discrepancies were equal, he would directly cross them out. If they were similar, he would take the remainder and put them aside. It was faster than flipping the abacus.
On the other side, Wang Yuanwailang leaned close to Mr. Chen and asked, "What is Mr. Tang doing?"
"I don't know." Mr. Chen shook his head.
Let's say he was settling accounts. He didn't even use an abacus. He said he wasn't settling accounts. He was actually flipping through the pages of the account book. He just pretended to be casual and went over to pour water, and found that he was drawing ghostly symbols on the paper.
After a few things, I was finally sure that he was not settling scores.
Wang Yuanwailang looked at it for a while and said in surprise: "Does he not know how to use an abacus?"
Doctor Chen shook his head and said: "How is this possible? The imperial examination requires arithmetic. He is a general talent like Mr. Fang. He must be good at arithmetic. How can he not know how to use an abacus?"
Wang Yuanwailang asked: "Then what is he doing now?"
"Whatever." Mr. Chen shook his head and said, "As long as he doesn't cause trouble, it will be fine."
He looked at the table and murmured: "Mr. Tang looks gentle and gentle, not like a violent person..."
Wang Yuanwailang said: "People should not be judged by their appearance. Mr. Chen, you still have to be careful. In this Duzhi Yamen, you are the only one with a higher official rank than the head of Tang Dynasty."
Dr. Chen thought for a while, with an eager expression on his face, and said: "Master Fang's previous rank was the same as mine, but he beat me up and he became the assistant minister. Do you think that if he beats me up, will I be able to do it next year?"
Promoted to be a minister?"
…
In fact, the longer Tangning stayed here, the more she realized the progress technology has brought to mankind.
With a small calculator, in less than a moment, he can get the results of his day's writing.
Without mobile phones and computers, daily life is also very boring. During the long nights, I can only hold Xiaoru and tell stories, hold Xiaoyi and talk about poetry...
When his wrist ached and he looked at the last number, he put down the pen, rubbed his wrist, and drank some water to moisten his throat.
A figure walked in from outside the door, looked at Mr. Chen, and said, "Mr. Chen, Mr. Fang is pressing hard, have you finished settling the accounts here?"
Doctor Chen put down his abacus and said, "Master Zheng, if you are in a hurry, it's over. I can send it to Mr. Fang tomorrow."
Chief Zheng shook his head and said: "Tomorrow is not possible. These accounts will be completed today. From tomorrow on, the general accounts of the previous season will be calculated and handed over to His Majesty within ten days. This matter cannot be delayed."
When Dr. Chen heard this, he felt regretful. The account book couldn't be completed in a day. He should have arranged for someone to do it earlier. This delayed the matter, and he had to bear the responsibility.
He stood up, walked to Tang Ning's desk, and said, "Mr. Tang, this account book..."
"It's done." Tang Ning rubbed her wrist and handed him the account book.
Doctor Chen looked at him, opened his mouth and said, "It's over, it's over?"
Tangning handed him a piece of paper and said, "This is the final result."
Dr. Chen glanced at the paper full of ghost-drawing talismans, and his eyes finally settled on a number, but he did not dare to hand it to Director Zheng.
If you delay the time, you will get a reprimand at most. If you make a wrong calculation, the problem will be serious.
"What kind of mess is this!" Manager Zheng next to him glanced at the piece of paper and said, "Mr. Chen, are you people in the Duzhi Yamen so negligent in their duties?"
Doctor Chen hurriedly explained: "Mr. Zheng, this is..."
Director Zheng waved his hand and said: "I don't care who he is, I can't go back until all the accounts have been settled today!"
Tang Ning stood up, looked at Director Zheng, and explained, "This account book has been calculated."
Director Zheng looked at him and said: "Don't think that you can get away with just making up a number. Bring your arithmetic book over and let me take a look."
Tang Ning did not have an arithmetic book. It was even more troublesome to explain the numbers and symbols on the paper. He shook his head and said, "They are simple accounts. Mental arithmetic is enough. No arithmetic is needed. If you don't believe it, ask someone to do it again."
Just do the math once."
"Mental arithmetic?" Director Zheng looked at him, smiled instead of angry, and said: "Who do you think you are? There are hundreds of accounts at least. You said you can do mental arithmetic. Well, I won't do anything difficult for you. You
If you can calculate the total from one to a hundred in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, I will not punish you for dereliction of duty today!"
"Five thousand and fifty."
Mr. Zheng had just picked up the tea cup, but before he could put it down, a mouthful of tea spurted out.
