"Zihou, please come this way. It's quite quiet here and no one will disturb you. It's convenient for you to check the account books."
Doctor Jia from the Taicang Silver Treasury led the way and took Zhu Ping'an to a row of low rooms inside the silver treasury. He opened a door and extended his hand to invite Zhu Ping'an in.
This is a row of old houses. They are not high, only two or three centimeters higher than Wu Yi's residence. They look like abandoned warehouses and have probably not been inhabited for a long time. There is an eerie feeling when standing in front of the house.
"Thank you, Lord Jia, for your concern." It was indeed quite secluded. Zhu Ping'an took a glance, curled the corners of his lips slightly, and bowed to thank Doctor Jia.
"Zihou, why are you being so polite to us? Come in and see if the room is suitable. If not, I will change places with you. If it is suitable, I will have someone move all our Taicang's account books for the past three years to you." Doctor Jia said with a smile.
Zhu Ping'an also smiled and followed Doctor Jia into the room. The room was not small, about 40 square meters. It should have been cleaned yesterday. It was quite clean inside, but the lighting was not very good. There was only one window in the 40-square-meter room. Although the sun was shining outside, the room was not very bright.
The room was rather spacious, with no extra furnishings except for a table by the window, two chairs, and a small bed with a brand new thin quilt and mat.
"This mat and bedding were specially brought from home by Zhang Guanku because we were worried that Zihou would be tired from checking the account books and would not be able to rest well. With this mat and bedding, Zihou can take a nap when he is tired..." Doctor Jia said as he stood in front of the bed.
"Please ask Lord Jia to thank Lord Zhang on my behalf." Zhu Ping'an bowed again.
"You see, Zihou is being polite to us again. Then should I have someone bring the account books over?" Doctor Jia shook his head and smiled, then looked at Zhu Ping'an and asked.
Zhu Ping'an naturally would not object.
"Then please wait a moment, Zihou. I will have the account books and some tea and snacks delivered to you."
Doctor Jia smiled when he saw this. He turned around and left after he finished speaking, with a smile still on his face as he walked out.
This house was "carefully" selected by them. After much deliberation, they chose this one yesterday. Apart from the advantage of being secluded, other aspects such as lighting, comfort, ventilation, heat dissipation, etc. are as bad as could be.
The room is fine now, but when the sun gets higher, it will be as hot as a boiler room and there is no ventilation. It is torture to stay in it. You will sweat profusely after a while. Even putting an ice basin is useless. It is like living a year in there.
In the afternoon, the sun finally set and the room was not so hot anymore. However, the room had poor lighting to begin with, and as the sun set, the room became even darker. How could I see the account book clearly
Was this room chosen to trick Zhu Ping'an
Not really.
The reason why they chose this house was just to make Zhu Ping'an unable to stay in this room, to influence Zhu Ping'an subtly, and let Zhu Ping'an check the account books quickly, just for show, and go through the process quickly to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
After all, Taicang belongs to the national treasury and is responsible for more than 80% of the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue and expenditure. The account books are simply vast and endless. If they are carefully audited, not to mention Zhu Ping'an alone, even if a few more accountants are transferred, it will take several days to finish.
Therefore, they came up with this method to urge Zhu Ping'an to conduct the inspection quickly and just go through the motions.
Just think about it, so many account books, such a bad house...
"Master Zhu, please enjoy your meal."
Not long after Doctor Jia left, someone brought tea, fruit, and snacks and placed them on the table one by one.
Zhu Ping'an nodded in thanks, poured himself a cup of tea, and sipped it while observing the room.
It is secluded indeed, but the room is low, the light is poor, the ventilation is poor, and there are no trees outside. I think when the sun rises higher, the room will be very stuffy... ...
Doctor Jia and his men are very thoughtful.
But what does that matter
When I was a child, the house in Xiahe Old House was not as good as this one. When my family moved out of the old house, we lived in a thatched house for a while. Also, when I left Xiahe Village to start the imperial examination, I lived in a woodshed and an attic. In comparison, the environment of this house is not bad.
“So when Heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility on a man, it must first make his mind suffer, his muscles and bones hungry, his body toiled, and his abilities enhanced…”
Zhu Ping'an muttered to himself while drinking tea.
Just after drinking half a cup of tea, Doctor Jia came in with four storekeepers. The storekeepers worked in pairs and carried a large box together with a stick as thick as a bowl. The four storekeepers carried a total of two boxes of account books.
The box was very big. When it was put down, the ground shook for a moment. The two boxes put together looked like a bed.
"so much... ... "
Zhu Ping'an put down the cup and exclaimed in surprise.
"Haha, these, plus the one box from Zhang Guanku, are only for this year. Doctor Zhao and his team are currently packing up last year's and the year before last's. They will be delivered soon." Doctor Zhao explained with a smile.
"It's just that this year..." Zhu Ping'an seemed to be stunned.
"Oh, this is a bead plate. It's convenient for you, Zihou, to use for auditing." Doctor Zhao nodded with a smile, then handed the abacus in his hand to Zhu Ping'an, "I just asked for it from the accountant. Take a look and see if it works."
Zhu Ping'an took the abacus and reached out to try to fiddle with it.
Doctor Zhao watched Zhu Ping'an fiddling with the beads without blinking, and the smile on his lips became even more intense. He could tell at a glance that Zhu Ping'an did not know how to use the abacus. His gestures and methods of fiddling with the beads were completely those of a layman.
"Then Zihou, you investigate first. I'll go see how Doctor Zhao and the others are doing." Doctor Zhao said with a chuckle.
"Hmm..." Zhu Ping'an nodded, still studying the abacus and struggling with the beads.
Upon seeing this, Doctor Zhao smiled and said goodbye and left.
Doctor Zhao left the room, headed west, turned two corners, and arrived at the storage room about 150 meters away from Zhu Ping'an's room. There were many people in the storage room, including Zhang Guanku, Doctor Zhao, and five treasurers, as well as several accountants gathered together. The atmosphere was generally relaxed but a bit serious.
"You are all the most senior accountants in Taicang. These account books have all passed through your hands. Tell me, can anyone find any problems with these account books?" Zhang Guanku asked the accountants.
"No problem, absolutely no problem, don't worry, Lord Zhang. Everyone has their own specialization and we have been dealing with account books for half our lives, so we have the confidence that as long as it comes from our hands, there will be absolutely no mistakes." An accountant in his forties patted his chest and made the promise.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Guanku nodded and looked at the most experienced and oldest accountant in the account office.
This white-haired accountant is the most famous accountant in the capital, and is well-known in the accounting world as "Ghost Hand Zhang", implying that his accounting skills are superb and beyond human standards. He has never failed in his life and is the leader in the accounting world in the capital.
Seeing Zhang Guanku's gaze, "Ghost Hand Zhang" stroked his gray beard and smiled proudly, "Haha, I dare not say anything else, but just talking about these account books, no accountant in the whole capital can find any problem."
With Ghost Hand Zhang's assurance, Zhang Guanku and others were completely relieved and the atmosphere became even more relaxed.
When Doctor Jia mentioned that Zhu Ping'an couldn't even use an abacus, everyone in the room couldn't help but laugh.
"After the account books passed through Accountant Zhang and us, even if we invite several other most famous accountants in Beijing and give them a month, we guarantee that they will not be able to find the problems, not to mention him, a layman who can't even use an abacus. Haha..." The accountant in the room laughed.