"What a pity, there are still so many left to eat."
Zhu Ping'an burped, touched his bloated stomach, glanced at the food on the table, then stared at Taicang doctor Zhao Dingtian and sighed with regret.
What the hell are you looking at me for? Why are you staring at me? Can't you change someone? I've just forced myself to eat seven or eight slices of fat meat and two bowls of dumpling soup. I'm already full before, and I'm going to vomit if I eat any more.
When Zhao Dingtian saw Zhu Ping'an's eyes, he felt nauseous.
But Zhu Ping'an was still very enthusiastic, and it was all shown in his eyes. It seemed that he was wondering why Zhao Dingtian, such a big man, only ate so little.
Doctor Jia, who was standing by, quietly kicked Zhao Dingtian under the table and gave him a look.
Zhang Guanku, who was sitting in the first seat, also looked at Zhao Dingtian "kindly".
Still eating
Zhao Dingtian was almost crying, but his face still had an expression of "touched" and "I can still eat", and he continued to eat the food on the table, eating it with such delicacy.
At last, he covered his mouth with his hands, left the table and quickly ran to the kitchen, leaned down in a remote corner, and vomited all over the place...
Of course, this scene could not be seen or heard in the kitchen...
After Zhao Dingtian left, Zhu Pingan turned his enthusiastic eyes to Doctor Jia...
Don't look at me, don't look at me... The others at the table were afraid that Zhu Ping'an would look at them with "enthusiastic" eyes, as if Zhu Ping'an was a jinx. The "miserable condition" of Doctor Zhao just now made them, as bystanders, feel a severe stomachache...
They had just had their fill of delicacies from land and sea at the "Midnight Diner", and as they were used to such delicacies, these cabbage and tofu tasted like wax. It is important to remember that "it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality".
Fortunately, Zhu Ping'an's "enthusiasm" came to an end after Doctor Jia, which made the others at the table breathe a sigh of relief.
After lunch, Zhang Guanku asked someone to clean up a room for Zhu Ping'an so that Zhu Ping'an could rest for a while and take a nap.
Zhu Ping'an naturally refused Zhang Guanku's kindness. I came to inspect the Taicang Silver Vault. I can sleep anywhere else. Why should I sleep in the Taicang Silver Vault? What if it gets out that I inspected the Taicang Silver Vault and the first thing I did was to eat, and the second thing I did was to sleep... Then what would I become? People would laugh at me behind my back and call me a pig.
A pig, inspecting the Taicang silver vault
What a joke.
After all, people have preconceived ideas. If this rumor spreads outside, it will be in vain no matter how hard I try to inspect the Taicang silver vault. Who would believe the inspection results of a pig
When it comes to matters of principle, Zhu Ping'an always likes to take the initiative, draw a clear line between right and wrong, and never cross the line.
This is what the saying "A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall" means.
"There are very few young officials nowadays who are as dedicated to their duties as Zihou. You should learn more from Zihou, do your duties more attentively, and do well the tasks you are responsible for." Zhang Guanku highly praised Zhu Ping'an and took the opportunity to give instructions to his subordinate officials in Taicang.
At first, Zhang Guanku called Zhu Ping'an "Lord Zhu", but now after having a meal, he called Zhu Ping'an "Zihou".
Although it's just a change of name, the relationship has indeed improved a lot.
"Of course, of course..." Everyone nodded in agreement, looking united and positive.
"How about this, let Doctor Jia take Zihou for a walk in Taicang first, so that he can have a general understanding of Taicang, and then start the inspection work. What do you think, Zihou?" Zhang Guanku smiled slightly, looked at Zhu Ping'an and asked.
"Everything will be arranged by Master Zhang."
Zhu Ping'an curled the corners of his lips and bowed in reply.
Zhu Ping'an was so tactful that everyone in Taicang was naturally very satisfied.
"In that case, I'll trouble Doctor Jia." Zhang Guanku smiled and nodded, then looked at Doctor Jia.
"Master Zhang is wrong. What's the trouble? I have heard of Zihou's title of the top scholar for a long time, but I have never had the chance to meet him. Today, Master Zhang and Zihou have given me this opportunity. I am so happy. Haha, Master Zhu, please follow me. I know this Taicang Silver Vault very well. I will definitely take Master Zhu to have a good look and make sure that no corner will be missed."
Doctor Jia volunteered with a smile and stretched out his hand to make a gesture of invitation to Zhu Ping'an.
"In this case, I'll trouble you, Doctor Jia." Zhu Ping'an bowed to thank Doctor Jia, and then bowed to Zhang Guanku and others to say goodbye.
"No trouble, no trouble." Doctor Jia replied with a smile, leading the way, "Zihou, this way please."
The Taicang Yinku warehouse area covers hundreds of acres, which is about 3/4 the size of an ordinary university campus. It is very large.
Of course, this is just the silver warehouse area. The Taicang granary is even larger, dozens or even hundreds of times the size of the silver warehouse. There are more than 700 Taicang granaries in Tongzhou alone.
The Taicang silver warehouse area is separated from the Taicang grain warehouse, armor, cotton and linen, pigment, banknote and other warehouse areas for security reasons.
"Zihou, our Ministry of Revenue's Taicang Silver Vault was established in the seventh year of Zhengtong. It is specially used to store gold and silver. Together with the Changying Vault of the Imperial Household Department, the Jieshen Vault of the Ministry of Works, and the Silver Vault of the Guanglu Temple, they form the silver vault of our Ming Dynasty. Of course, the Taicang Silver Vault of our Ministry of Revenue is the most important. When it was established, the Taicang Silver Vault was mainly used to bear military expenses. Of course, it is different now. The first thing to bear is the annual allowance of the Nine Frontiers, that is, to issue Taicang silver to help the Nine Frontiers. This item alone is not a small amount. During the Zhengtong and Jingtai years, it was only more than 100,000 taels. During the Hongzhi and Zhengde years, it increased to more than 400,000 taels. Now, it is at least 600,000 or 700,000 taels every year, and sometimes more than 1 million taels... In addition, the Nine Frontiers asked for additional requests, which is hundreds of thousands of taels. Last year, Datong Town asked for an additional 700,000 taels!"
While taking Zhu Ping'an around the Taicang Silver Warehouse area, Doctor Jia told Zhu Ping'an about the origin and current situation of the Taicang Silver Warehouse.
Zhu Ping'an was a very good listener. He listened attentively and responded with "um" or "ah" from time to time, looking like he was listening seriously.
"The next is official salaries and military pay, the so-called 'rice in exchange for silver for dukes, officials in the capital, and soldiers in the garrisons inside and outside the capital', this amount is now about 700,000 taels per year, and it is increasing."
"There is also the supply to the inner court. Since His Majesty ascended the throne, not counting the decree issued the day before yesterday to 'allocate 200,000 taels of silver to order Master Tao to perform the ritual of calming the spirit at Jianyuan Yue in Wudang Mountain,' more than one million taels of silver have been taken from the Taicang warehouse and deposited into the inner court treasury."
When Jia Langzhong talked about supplying the inner court, he was very cautious and his voice was much lower. After he finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Ping'an and said with emotion, "So until now, the financial resources of our Taicang silver treasury have become increasingly scarce..."