From Concubine to Pharaoh [Transmigration Book]

Memphis Palace.

When Alicia woke up in the morning, she met the cat—no, the cat's mummy.

It lay across in front of Erich's pair of red leather slippers inlaid with amethyst, motionless.

No one can tell where it came from, and it will just appear in front of the bed of the First Princess.

Alicia looked down and felt that this cat mummy completely subverted her impression of mummy——

The mummy maintains the image of a squatting cat, wrapped tightly in linen.

Although it has been purified and dried, it is a mummy.But the whole mummy does not look shriveled, and is similar in size to a living cat.

The linen around the mummy is painted with extremely vivid colors, and the fine hair is outlined with a special small brush stroke by stroke.

Even the cat's face is drawn realistically and three-dimensionally - the cat's beard is curled up, and a pair of big amber eyes are staring, the eye kernels are shaped like date stones, as if staring into the distance.

It looked more like a living doll than a frightening corpse.

In later generations, in books and on screens, mummies unearthed from mausoleums are always disgraced, with little beauty at all.

But now the mummy in front of her was newly made and alive. It seemed that in the next second, it could jump up from the ground, climb to Erich's lap, and stretch gracefully.

Alicia almost said to the brand new cat mummy: I was almost like you once.

But Nanna and Urania were terrified, and immediately summoned all the guards and attendants, intending to inquire one by one, to find out who threw the mummy in front of the queen's bed, and whether anyone ordered it, and what was the intention behind it .

Alixi didn't care about these things: "No need, just find a proper place to put it away."

She did not intend to stay long in the Memphis palace.Therefore, he has no intention of rectifying the order in the palace, so he does not want to pursue this matter.

Unexpectedly, when she packed up and was about to go out, the cat mummy appeared again.

This time, it lay across in front of the first princess's sedan chair, blocking everyone's way.

The vice-captain of the palace guard who had never been on tour with the Pharaoh knelt down and begged repeatedly, begging the First Princess to show mercy and spare him and his subordinates a life.

Although Alicia was puzzled, she told Nanna: "Don't embarrass the guards—pass me this mummy."

Nanna has always been obedient to Elyse, she took the mummy with both hands, carefully handed it to Elyse, and asked in a low voice, "Do you think it will be a special item?"

When he was trapped underground in the Saqqara Palace, Knum, the god of craftsmen, possessed a special item—a mummy made of pangolins, which has certain divine power and can be used to make holes.

Therefore, Nanna should be wondering whether this mummy can be used as a tool in the same way.

Originally, Erich could ask the talisman Yumir about this matter, but today Yumir heard that she was going to the royal treasurer, so she politely declined——

Of course Erich would not force it, she knew that the premonition ability of the talisman was not weaker than hers, but Ymir probably had a premonition of something in the treasury that contradicted it.

So Alixi hugged the lifelike cat to face herself, shook her head and said, "Maybe I will treat it as a partner."

Since then, the cat mummy has been placed on Erich's huge sedan chair, accompanying her, arguing with her father who is the great priest, and finally got the opportunity to inspect the royal treasurer.

"You... you brought so many people to the Royal Treasurer?"

The great priest Dahoor stared straight at Erich's entourage.

Following Ailixi was the group card given to his daughter by the wife of the great priest, as well as several craftsmen and servants from Saqqara.

Alixi glanced back indifferently, and said: "They are all people who have lived with me in Saqqara, and I believe them."

Dahool looked confused.

Erich smiled and teased her father: "My daughter didn't go to the pharaoh's treasury, but just went to the treasury to look at the places where grain and account books are stored-do you expect these people to eat raw barley?"

Dahool was finally relieved, and greeted Elyse to the Royal Treasurer respectfully.But he was very respectful in front of Elyse, it's hard to say what happened behind Elyse's back.

Finally, Erich met the rumored royal treasurer.

This is a courtyard with an unusually large area, and the large courtyard is divided into smaller courtyards one after another to store different goods.

There are also roads dedicated to transporting goods leading to the Royal Palace of Memphis and avenues to and from various Nomes, and there is even a water terminal dedicated to the treasurer.

The clerks have their own independent rooms for office use.But the archives after finishing the work every day will be unified into a room dedicated to storing papyrus archives, and will be guarded by the pharaoh's guards.

Only when she saw it with her own eyes did Erich realize what a huge economy Egypt is.

The Royal Treasurer's house could not be seen as far as the eye could see. In addition to the clerks gathered in front of her, there was an endless stream of laborers transporting goods, and they did not stop their work because of her visit.

The Egyptian money and food system originated from the worship of the gods—the commoners cultivated the fertile soil left after the flooding of the great river, and more than half of the food grown would be sent to the temple as a sacrifice, dedicated to the gods, and prayed for the blessings of the gods The next year can continue to produce abundantly.

After Pharaoh became a god walking in the world, the worship of gods gradually turned to Pharaoh.

As the representative of the gods in the world, Pharaoh's responsibilities include: maintaining the order of Ma'at, organizing the army to defend the border, and allowing the people living on this land to live and work in peace and contentment.

As a price, the commoners handed over at least half of the food grown to Pharaoh.As a tax, in addition, they will work for the Pharaoh without pay for several months of each year as slave labor.

The grain turned in by the civilians was redistributed in Memphis—these grains need to support the huge expenses of the royal family, the army on the border, and the officials, temples, and clergy of Nome all over the country, and some of them need to be used as spares food for emergencies.

The post of Treasurer Clerk came into being.

Later, due to the continuous development of Egypt's economy, the transportation of a large amount of food caused a lot of trouble, and the taxes were gradually sent to Memphis in other forms: linen, gold, gems, spices, ivory...

The skills required of treasurer clerks are even more complex.And their records and calculations are becoming more and more incomprehensible.Over time, the clerks in the royal treasury almost all became hereditary positions.

Pharaohs, high priests, and high priests all have the right to appoint and remove clerks.But now the pharaoh and the high priest are both young, and the power to appoint and remove personnel is mostly in the hands of the high priest.

Of course, the Great Priest Dahoor never told his daughter Elyse about all this—

This is what Alixie came up with after she returned to Memphis, from various sources, and then pieced together the knowledge she acquired in the world outside the book.

"Your Highness, look, do you want the old minister to show you around? There are complicated affairs in the treasury. These clerks, you should let them do their work?"

The great priest Dahoor asked Erich graciously.

"Let them bring out all the accounts, I want to see—"

Erich sat on the sedan chair carried by 16 people, and said leisurely.

She had nowhere to put her hand, so she casually moved it to her side, but it ended up resting on the mummy of the cat she picked up halfway, with long and slender fingers, as if gently stroking the short hair on the cat's neck.Immediately frightened the clerks in front of her—

Of course, it was not because of the fact that the princess used the mummy as a pet, but because the princess wanted to check the accounts.

The great priest Dahor also broke out in a cold sweat on the spot.

After a while, the father regained his composure:

The first princess wants to check the accounts?

joke!Great joke!

His daughter has been raised as a beautiful trash since she was a child. She wants to check the accounts?She can neither read accounts nor do calculations. What does she use to check, face?

Thinking of this, the great priest knew it well, but on the surface he was terrified and respectful, so he said tremblingly, "Why did Princess Labor come here in person for such a trivial matter? The old minister will order them to check themselves, and if they find any mistakes, they will be punished immediately." Their salaries this year..."

The great priest had a very good plan in mind, let these clerks go through the motions, check the accounts, find two mistakes at random, catch the unlucky ones and bring them out to Erich, so that the first princess is satisfied.

Unexpectedly, Alixi raised the corner of her mouth and said with a smile: "I just can't trust them to check themselves—"

Great Priest: ...

"But in Memphis, apart from these clerks, no one knows how to keep accounts and count—unless you inform the pharaoh, some of the entourage around the pharaoh will, and the other nomes have their own clerks, and they will be transferred here. The king needs the king's orders and tokens..."

The great priest thought beautifully: as long as Elyse agrees to inform Pharaoh Delos, her power play in Memphis will be leaked.

No matter how stupid his daughter was, she would not agree to this idea-only to let the clerks check themselves, or at most check each other.

Unexpectedly, Alixi chuckled, and said in an understatement tone: "What's so difficult about counting? I have plenty of people here."

"If the clerks don't believe it, send a few people who can calculate the fastest to compare with my people."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire treasurer was in an uproar.

The clerks couldn't believe their ears, and many of them even felt that their cheeks were hot and they felt insulted.

The people who are the best at keeping accounts and counting the fastest in the whole of Egypt are all gathered in this courtyard, before the eyes of the First Princess.

The princess said harsh words and asked people to compare.

Compared with whom?And the bearers who carried her sedan chair, and the humble attendants and commoners behind her?

Just when the clerks were agitated, the great priest Dahor hurried back to be a peacemaker.

He quickly agreed: "The princess is motivating the fighting spirit of the clerks, so that they will continue to be loyal to the king—clerks, come on, show your skills to the princess."

At the same time, Dahool was winking at the few clerks standing at the front, telling them: Hurry up and come down, this is the princess who is going down the steps!

The clerks immediately agreed, looked at each other, and recommended five who were usually the most proficient in calculations, and among them was Brolin.

Brolin had a heart, and asked first: "Who are you playing against?"

He is not afraid of anything else, but he is afraid of competing with the princess herself. Even if he wins, he will have to give in to the princess. How wronged is that?

Alixie nodded to Nanna, and Nanna turned around immediately, and actually ordered five people out of the team.

Looking at the clothes they wore, two were commoners, one was a craftsman, and two were servants.Not only that, but one of the attendants was a woman.

The clerks were suddenly enraged again.Together, they nodded to the great priest Dahor, expressing their willingness to compete.

Seeing that Erich sent out the cards given to her by the wife of the great priest, the great priest Dahor naturally thought that there was no problem in this match, so he just went through the motions, nodded immediately, and immediately ordered people to come out of the storeroom. Take out ten stacks of papyrus ledgers.

These accounts are very simple. They are all the grains sent to Memphis by various nomes this year, in bags, and record in detail how many bags of grains are loaded on each ship that arrives at the port of Memphis.

The two parties agreed that those who participated in the competition only need to add up all the numbers on the ledger to get the total, and then they can declare completion.

There are a total of ten people participating in the competition, and each person is assigned the same number of accounts. The person who completes the calculation first needs to wait for the opponent to complete the calculation, and then exchange accounts with each other to verify the calculation of the other party.

The side with the shortest time and the most accuracy will win.

Bruce was sitting on the slate floor, with various counting chips prepared by his side.Opposite him was an attendant of the princess, whose name seemed to be Tabac, dressed in the color of the lowest-ranked attendant in the palace. Clearly from Upper Egypt.

How could such a humble commoner sit with him and compete?

He saw that the other party was not prepared for a single count.Instead, he just begged for two pieces of chalk from the treasurer—don't be fooled, Brolin thought.

Since the calculation results had to be recorded on a piece of papyrus, papyrus, ink and reed pens were placed in front of everyone.

Blulin suddenly saw Tabac on the opposite side asking the clerk who sent him the pen and paper how to use the reed pen.

At this moment, Brellin's contempt for Tabac from the bottom of his heart reached the extreme, and he couldn't even figure out why he had to sit with such a person at this moment, and what was the point of such a competition.

He turned his head to look at the colleagues around him, and saw that both the participants and the bystanders showed almost the same expressions as him.

"let's start!"

High Priest Dahor announced with a warm voice.

Unexpectedly, Nanna immediately choked him: "My lord, you are overstepping."

Among all the people present, only Elyse, as the highest-ranking first princess, has the right to announce the start.

The great priest's face froze, he quickly lowered his head, took a step back, and apologized to Alicia.

Alixi didn't care about the mistake of the big priest.But she also knew in her heart that at this moment, this father must have despised her to the extreme.

If she hadn't pulled the pharaoh's banner and appeared as the first princess, the high priest would never buy her.

You might as well settle this account slowly later.

For now, let's settle the treasurer's problem first.

So she didn't bring up the issue of overstepping again, and directly announced the start.

The ten people sitting on the slate floor in front of them and leaning over the low table to read the accounts quickly began to calculate.

Brellin quickly calculated and wrote down the intermediate results on papyrus with a reed pen dipped in ink.

He sneaked a glance at Tabak on the opposite side, and his pupils trembled instantly.

He counted two or three pieces of papyrus, and the other party had already summed up the numbers on a stack of papyrus and put it aside.

The eager-to-compete Bruin couldn't calm down at all. While he was doing the calculation, he secretly watched Tabac's calculation method. He saw that every time he took a page of the account book, he would use the chalk in his hand to scratch the ground. Next row of numbers, and then draw a few times with chalk to calculate the total and write it on the papyrus.

Brolin was terrified, and then forced himself to comfort himself, maybe the other party was just scribbling, how could anyone use such a short section of a few symbols to represent such a long and complex series of numbers?

He tried to stabilize his emotions, stopped looking at Tabak, and continued to focus on his calculations.

But who knows that not long after, a voice sounded in the courtyard, it was a clear and bright female voice: "It's over!"

Brooklyn froze.

The humiliation he felt was ten times, dozens of times that just now.

The first person to settle the accounts turned out to be a woman?

Even women count faster than him?

Brolin panicked, and immediately forgot where he counted just now.

But he quickly stabilized and started counting again—after all, he believed that the civilians and attendants on the opposite side were all bluffing, and it was impossible for anyone to calculate faster and more accurately than him.

The rule of the competition is that among the two parties, the person who calculates first exchanges accounts and checks the calculation results of the other party.

By the time Brolin was the first to complete the calculation as the clerk, four people opposite him had already completed the calculation.

Brook impatiently fetched all the accounts that the maid opposite had calculated, and carefully reviewed them—now the speed of calculation is no longer important, and the accuracy is the most important thing.

When he finished the calculation seriously, he flipped through the calculation results of the other party, and checked both sides——Brook's heart suddenly became half cold:

He, Brooke, has been a treasurer's clerk for seven or eight years, and he is no match for a woman.

Although the other party was a maid, the calculation was completely correct, and it took nearly half the time to calculate Brooke's calculation.

Brooke couldn't believe the race was going to come to this.

Yet he could not refute the conclusions clearly written on the papyrus.

Because the others hadn't finished counting, Brook could only wait for others to finish counting.

He deliberately stood up, took a detour, walked to the opposite side, and handed over the calculation results of both parties to the high priest.

Taking this opportunity, Brook came to the opposite side and glanced at the symbols drawn in chalk on the other side's ground.

After looking at it, Brook suddenly felt a chill in his heart—as an experienced clerk, he didn't know anything about the symbols written on the ground by the other party, and the calculations in horizontal or vertical columns.

Because of ignorance, so fear.

High Priest Dahor witnessed the entire treasury's fiasco with a gloomy face.At the same time, he heard his daughter chatting happily with the civilians behind him.

"After all, even children in our place can..."

A craftsman's triumphant show just passed Dahor's ear.

Even kids can...

Dahoore could hardly believe what he heard.

The first princess stayed in Saqqara for nearly a month. Who did she meet, what did she encounter, and what did she experience?

When he was in doubt, Dahoor heard Erich whispering in his ear: "Father, tell me, I'll let these people be in charge of the treasurer, okay?"