Beautiful step by step

Chapter 120

Bearing the expectations of his father and emperor, he rushed back all the way, through the Gobi, grasslands and plains. It took almost a month's journey to come, and it took Duan Wang only less than ten days to return to Beijing.

To express his gratitude to the secret guard who helped him take shortcuts and change horses along the way, Duan Wang jumped into the household department without even thinking about it.

Emperor Qinglong has been in power for many years, and the account books of the household department have accumulated as many as the coast.Diving into the mountain of account books with enthusiasm, Duan Wang realized how small his personal ability was.Although he appeared as an idle prince in the past, he is not bad in knowledge.The father attaches great importance to the education of the prince, and the masters of the six arts of a gentleman are all top in the country. Even if he is naughty and playful, under such a strict high-pressure policy, just cramming him is enough to make him a talent.

What's more, he is not considered playful, he has been guided by his mother and concubine who has read poetry and books since he was a child, and the homework of his peers is not difficult for him.

Originally, he was full of confidence in his talents, and he also easily completed the few errands entrusted by his father before.However, when he devoted himself to this audit with full confidence, he discovered that those who had mediated with a certain uncle's concubine and his concubine's natal family due to the uneven distribution of benefits and made endless noises, and rejected a certain lion's request for a budget out of the six films, these things are really trivial play tricks.

In vain, he claims to be good at dealing with interpersonal relationships, and quick-witted to find budget loopholes.Now that he really came across Dai Viet’s pocketbook—the Department of Accounting, he had just reached the tip of the iceberg, and he was almost overwhelmed.

From the Minister of the Household Department down, every official in the Yamen is an old fritter.Talking is impeccable, but doing things is a "delay" tactic.

He wanted Northwest account books for nearly 20 years, and he was very cooperative.In such a vast Northwest, 20 years of account books are piled up in several rooms.The warehouse door opened, and dust that could be seen with the naked eye rushed out.The officials looked at him apologetically, and at his insistence began to go in to sweep the ashes.After sweeping the dust all night, I finally showed him some ledgers in a corner.

To what extent are the corners?

He said that he wanted the account books of Jiuquan County, and the household officials were not ambiguous at all, so they gave him the account books of Jiuquan County government government expenditures.

Lighting a candle, I looked through the account book with anticipation. On the first page, Zhang San’s family was building a new house. The tiles accidentally fell to Li Si’s next door, smashing the vat of Li Si’s pickling vegetables, and the whole jar of pickles flowed out. to the ground.The government stepped forward to mediate and sentenced Zhang Sanjia to compensate Li Sijia [-] copper coins.The focus is on the back. This mediation dispatched a total of four yamen servants, one scribe, the total amount of pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and the three expenses added up to a total of five taels of silver.

"It takes five taels for this matter?"

The officials of the Ministry of Officials waiting on the opposite side answered in detail: "My lord, you don't know something. The folks are not as good as the yamen in our capital. All affairs in the yamen are done in accordance with the law of Da Viet, and the affairs of the people are based on personal favors. This kind of small dispute is definitely fair. Reasonable, mother-in-law said mother-in-law is reasonable. Yamen servants not only had to appease the emotions of the two families, but also drove away the people who watched the excitement, and finally even asked the elders of the clan to dispatch. Although there are only a few records in the file, there must be many twists and turns .”

During the process of his explanation, Duan Wang casually flipped back while nodding.Sure enough, as he expected, the whole book was full of such trivial matters.

Seeing that the other person said it was almost the same, he closed the account book.

"Finished?"

"That's pretty much the case."

"The Ministry of Household Affairs has really been tasked with heavy tasks these years, and everyone must have worked hard."

The subordinate officials shook their heads embarrassedly: "I dare not be, we are just doing our duty to eat the king's salary and be loyal to the king."

The scene is really good at talking, Duan Wang grinned: "Do your duty? Then you will do your duty again. When I come here tomorrow, I want to see the summary of all the funds allocated by the imperial court to the northwest over the years. If you can't see Now, this king really has nothing to do with you."

Speaking of this, the king paused, raised his eyebrows and looked at the faces of his subordinates.Although the person in front of him stood up straight and lowered his head, his drooping shoulders still showed his indifference.

"Of course, this king has never tried to manipulate you. The whole capital knows that this king is the most leisurely on weekdays. Many people whisper behind their backs, saying that this king is just a good baby, and his biological father is the emperor."

The subordinate officer looked terrified: "His Royal Highness Duan Wang is serious, who knows that you are both civil and military."

"Both civil and military?"

Duan Wang sneered, and leaned on the table with one hand, he turned his head and touched his chin with the other hand, with a provocative expression on the face of a big shirtless tattooed man raised by the water transport gang leader.

"This king feels that they are telling the truth. The greatest ability of this king is to have a good father who holds great power in the world. It doesn't matter if you push back and forth, and this king can't do anything to you, but my father will definitely not I will let you go."

Putting down these words with a face full of resilience, Wang Duan walked out the door without looking back.

When he got to the door, he stopped and turned his head, speaking word by word.

"Tomorrow morning, remember the account books of the Northwest over the years? If you can't remember, this king will really sue, black, and file a lawsuit with the emperor."

Flicking his sleeves and twisting around, he subconsciously pulled into his arms, but it was in vain.The folding fan he usually used to pretend was not there, he frowned regretfully, walked out of the household office quickly, and got on his horse.

Although he put down harsh words in the household department, there was always a cloud of cloud in his heart.Witnessing the boldness of Northwest officials, he even comforted himself that the capital city under the emperor's feet would never be like this.Unexpectedly, when he came back this time, he realized that the world is as black as crows.The reason why Beijing officials are usually good is because they are good at putting on a show.When it really came to the point of injury, the rotten nature under that layer of painted skin was undoubtedly revealed.

After all, he was still young, and he was doing almost everything, and he seldom cared about political affairs in order to avoid his father's suspicion.Now it's time to get serious, his two tricks can't deal with these old fritters who have experienced many battles.

How to do?
Walking the horse to the end of the road, there is a three-way intersection in front of you.The left side leads to the imperial palace, the front leads to Duan Wang's mansion, and the right side is Wen Shihou's mansion.

The mother and concubine are not in the capital, and the 1 "staff" in the palace who only know how to play cockfights and run dogs to enjoy themselves will be useless. Maybe he should go to his grandfather's house to ask.Just as he reined in the rein and was about to turn the horse's head, the sound of hooves suddenly came from the left.

"Fourth Emperor Brother,"

A bright yellow figure came riding in the night, how could it be him?Frowning, King Duan got off his horse in the next second, facing the prince who came up to him with admiration on his face.

Tie a thousand, he said respectfully: "My brother, please greet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Reining in the horse and walking to the front slowly, the prince got off the horse, his expression was full of satisfaction, but his tone was full of helplessness: "How many times have I said, you and my brother don't need to be polite, just call me second brother."

Don't you need to be polite?Duan Wang, who was kneeling on the ground, showed a mocking face.When he didn't know the true nature of the prince, he pretended to be an elegant face with both civil and military skills and a magnanimous mind in front of his father and all civil and military officials, but in reality he was smaller than anyone else behind the scenes.The eldest brother Wu Wang, who has led troops to fight for many years, beat him in hunting in Qiushou, and even made him black face.If he really didn't see the outside world, he would call his second brother casually while riding a horse, and he would definitely be tricked by him behind his back.

"Thank you, Second Brother Prince."

"Fourth brother, you really don't listen to it no matter how many times you say it."

The prince stepped forward and put his arms around King Duan's shoulders, and the two brothers asked kindly: "Should the fourth brother be patrolling the grassland with the emperor now? Why did he appear in Beijing?"

I still have to ask about this!
Duan Wang's mood is so complicated, can this person be more fake?The emperor's father ordered the prince to supervise the country on this west tour.After so many days, would he not know about the fire in Youzhou and the corruption in the Northwest officialdom, these two things that made the emperor furious?
Feeling helpless, he absolutely has no intention of being emperor.Although he knew that no one would believe this sentence, but he was educated by his mother and concubine since he was a child, so he saw it more thoroughly than ordinary people.The father has so many sons, who hold the military power like a king of martial arts, who are just like a prince, and who are good at wooing all officials like the six emperor's younger brothers, none of them are better than him.Although his grandfather's family had a high reputation, such things as fame did not have an advantage at all when it came to taking the heir apparent.

Whether to maintain the current situation, to be a leisurely prince who is favored by his father and loved by his brothers, or to try his best to seek a big position with almost negligible possibility.These two options are clear to anyone with a little brain.Although some people can't control their desires, they can.

Complicated thoughts flashed through King Duan's mind, and when he faced the prince again, his expression was still serious and respectful.

"The fire in Youzhou almost burned down the entire city. This was probably caused by someone with a heart wanting to burn the account books. The account books implicated corruption in the Northwest officialdom, and the father was furious. He ordered his ministers to go back to Beijing to check the Northwest account books for many years."

"And this."

Still pretending...Take a deep breath, since the crown prince is pretending, Duan Wang can only continue to pretend.

"Hey, the second brother of the prince also understands the younger brother. I'm just an idle prince. I haven't come into contact with such important matters. I went to the household department just now, and I really can't do anything about those people. I was so ruthless just now that I wanted to sue my father. But the father is far away in Youzhou now, even if you file a complaint, it will be beyond your reach. One second I was still worrying, and the next second your timely rain will arrive."

"Oh?" The prince elongated his voice.

Duan Wang's eyes were full of trust: "Although the father is not here, there is no elder brother in the capital. In the past, my elder brother loved us younger brothers the most. Now you must help me."

After finishing speaking, he leaned up to the prince and said in a low voice: "Father said that corrupt officials are the worms of the country. What they are greedy for is not the father and the prince's brother. If you don't help me with this matter, whoever will help me."

After being told the truth frankly by the fourth emperor brother, and being praised so much, the prince's heart went directly to the clouds.In the past, he saw this fourth brother who was ignorant and ignorant, and only knew that he was pleasing to the eyes of the ordinary people who quarreled with ordinary people over recipes. Now he is said to be the next emperor. The heart is like drinking snow water in the dog days, ironing from the inside out.

Patting the fourth brother on the shoulder, he promised: "This matter is on the second brother's shoulders. The fourth brother came back in a hurry. Your palace has nothing prepared, so go back to the palace with the second brother first."

Being dragged back to the palace by him, the fourth prince was so disgusted that he refused in every possible way to live in Concubine Shu's Yikun Palace.There was no dream all night, and when he woke up early the next morning, the head of the mother and concubine's palace told him: Wu Shangshu went to the palace of the crown prince early in the morning.

(End of this chapter)