In the afternoon, Liu Guangzuo, the chief inspector of Taicang Silver Treasury, and Qu Tongyang, the deputy inspector, convened the members of the Taicang Silver Treasury inspection team in a room in Wuyi Palace and held an inspection mobilization meeting. Zhu Ping'an and Si Nan, the supervisory censor, sat at the last seat.
Liu Guangzuo, the chief inspector of the Taicang Silver Treasury, was a man in his fifties, about the same age as Xu Jie. He had a square face and was full of righteousness. His beard and hair were combed meticulously. He sat in the first seat with his back straight.
Zhu Ping'an had a good first impression of Liu Guangzuo.
Compared with the chief envoy Liu Guangzuo, the deputy envoy Qu Tongyang is a bit wretched. I wonder if you have paid attention to the 12-second heartwarming video of Secretary Lei in a district of Chongqing a few years ago. Liu Guangzuo's appearance is 90% similar to the protagonist Secretary Lei in the video. He is just like Secretary Lei's long-lost brother.
Therefore, Zhu Ping'an did not dare to look Deputy Envoy Qu in the eye. If he did, he would be distracted and all he could think of was Secretary Lei.
Gao Rui, a doctor in the Office of the Ministry of Works, is a middle-aged official in his forties. He has a dignified appearance and a strong physique. At first glance, he does not look like a civil servant but more like a military general. However, from his words and deeds, Zhu Ping'an judged that Doctor Gao is a capable official with considerable experience in officialdom.
Sitting at the last seat was the Censor Si Nan, who was in his thirties. He looked like a typical censor and had an imposing manner.
In comparison, Zhu Ping'an, who was sitting at the end, had an ordinary appearance, the kind that could not be distinguished if thrown into a crowd; he was young and inexperienced; and he did not have any shining points that would be unforgettable... He was the most inconspicuous in the group.
"The Taicang Silver Treasury is the lifeline of the Ming Dynasty's finances. It is of great importance. I believe I don't need to say more about its importance. I believe you all understand how much His Majesty values the Taicang Silver Treasury. You must keep in mind His Majesty's instructions this morning. This inspection of the Taicang Silver Treasury is no joke. You must strictly perform your duties and investigate carefully, and don't make mistakes. If you falsify, do things perfunctorily, or do other inappropriate things, problems will be found in the next inspection. At the very least, your career will be ruined, and at the worst, your life and property will be in danger. Don't blame me for not reminding you. We are entrusted with the grace of His Majesty and this important responsibility. We must live up to His Majesty, the people, and our consciences. Do you agree?"
The envoy Liu Guangzuo was sitting in the first seat, his square face looking very serious. He tapped the table lightly with his fingers and spoke word by word.
"Yes." Zhu Ping'an and others nodded and said yes in unison.
Liu Guangzuo glanced at everyone and nodded slightly, very satisfied with their reactions.
"Lord Liu is absolutely right. His Majesty has entrusted us with an important task and we will do our best to repay the emperor's grace. This inspection of the Taicang silver treasury is the time for us to show our loyalty. We must rise to the challenge and hand in a satisfactory answer to His Majesty and the people." Deputy envoy Qu Tongyang followed up on the words of Chief Envoy Liu Guangzuo and added two more sentences with righteous words.
After looking at Qu Tongyang, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but think of the modern Secretary Lei. Although Deputy Envoy Qu's words were righteous and awe-inspiring, due to preconceived ideas, Zhu Ping'an always confused Deputy Envoy Qu with Secretary Lei, causing Deputy Envoy Qu's awe-inspiring speech to have a different meaning in Zhu Ping'an's ears.
But no matter what, this mobilization meeting got off to a good start.
The next step was the specific deployment of the audit work. It was obvious that Liu Guangzuo was very sad about this audit work. When deploying the work, he repeatedly emphasized discipline, responsibility, and integrity. He reiterated the importance and consequences of the audit work several times and asked everyone to take this audit work seriously.
Auditing the Taicang Silver Vault seems troublesome, but it is actually simple. It mainly consists of two parts. The first part is to count and compile the silver vault's books over the years and audit the book value of the Taicang Silver Vault; the second part is to count and compile the amount of gold and silver in the Taicang warehouse to check whether there is any deficit.
This mobilization meeting was focused on the deployment of work in two parts. Liu Guangzuo and others are experienced officials, so there will naturally be no problem with the inspection arrangements and deployments.
Seniority is important in the officialdom, and Zhu Ping'an knows that his words carry little weight, so he is mainly responsible for listening.
Liu Guangzuo, Qu Tongyang and others are all experienced officials, and Zhu Pingan understands his position. This time, he is here to learn and gain experience, or it would be more appropriate to say that he is just doing soy sauce.
When the mobilization meeting ended, there was still more than half an hour before the end of get off work.
Zhu Ping'an went to Sizhi again, but starting from tomorrow he would not have to use Wuyi'er Sizhi for the time being. He would wait until he finished inspecting the Taicang silver vault before using Wuyi'er Sizhi.
When it was time to get off work, Zhu Ping'an packed up his things and left the West Garden with Li Chunfang. He bowed to Li Chunfang outside and rode back to Linhuai Marquis Mansion with Liu Mu and Liu Dadao who were waiting outside.
When Zhu Ping'an returned to Linhuai Marquis' Mansion, Liu Guangzuo, the chief inspector of Taicang Silver Treasury, also got on the sedan chair back to the mansion.
The sedan chair was a small one carried by two people. In fact, Liu Guangzuo was a fourth-rank official, so theoretically the specification should be a large sedan chair carried by four people. However, because of the cost and labor costs of a four-person sedan chair, Liu Guangzuo still used a two-person sedan chair.
The Liu Mansion was far away from Xiyuan, in Tongzi Hutong, a remote area in the capital. By the time Liu Guangzuo returned to the Liu Mansion in a sedan chair, it had already darkened.
The reason why Liu Guangzuo bought a house in Tongzi Hutong is mainly because the housing prices here are relatively cheap. For this reason, Liu Guangzuo bought such a mediocre house in Tongzi Hutong last year.
When Liu Guangzuo returned home, his wife Zhang had already prepared dinner, and his two underage sons were sitting obediently at the table, waiting for Liu Guangzuo.
Liu Guangzuo was very surprised to see the table full of sumptuous dinner. His wife Zhang had always been virtuous. She knew that it was not easy for Liu Guangzuo to be an official, so she was relatively frugal at home. In the past, dinner was only three dishes, one meat and two vegetable dishes, but today there were five or six meat dishes alone.
What day is it today? This is not Zhang's style. Looking at the table full of chicken, duck, fish and meat, Liu Guangzuo was very surprised.
Zhang was dressed simply. Although she was only in her forties, she still had charm and exuded scholarly elegance and nobility.
Zhang was the daughter of Liu Guangzuo's teacher. She married Liu Guangzuo before he passed the imperial examination. She was well-educated, gentle and virtuous. She was a good helper in Liu Guangzuo's backyard, and Liu Guangzuo always respected her.
"Today is our last meal together as husband and wife. After this meal, I hope my husband will send me and our two sons back to my parents' home for the sake of our decades of marriage."
Zhang stood up and bowed, then looked up at Liu Guangzuo with mist in her eyes and spoke in a mournful tone.
Please leave?!
Wait, what's going on
Liu Guangzuo was confused for a moment. What happened? Did I do something wrong recently