Another World's Imperial Examination Official Path

"Grandpa, can we just forget about it?"

Sima Jincheng felt depressed while listening. Although he didn't like Li Chun, it didn't mean that he was willing for Yu Wenhong to snatch Li Chun from him.

Especially with the past grievances between them, Sima Jincheng felt even more unwilling.

Sima Zhishang frowned, and looked at Sima Jincheng displeased.

If it wasn't for Sima Jincheng this time, their Sima family wouldn't have suffered such a big blow.

Now that Sima Jincheng hasn't reflected on himself and wants to make trouble, of course he will be unhappy.

"Jin Cheng shut up!"

Sima Weibo reacted, and immediately scolded Sima Jincheng, explaining to him: "This is a marriage bestowed by the emperor, if we go to provoke trouble, those who know will know that we are going to deal with Yu Wenhong, and those who don't know will think that we are against you." The emperor is dissatisfied!"

Especially since Yu Wenhong just came back now, Yu Wenchang must have felt guilty for him, and wanted to make up for it, and even went so far as to hold the wedding according to the prince's specifications.

Who dares to make trouble at this wedding, isn't that just slapping the emperor Yu Wenchang in the face?

Sima Jincheng pursed his lips, his face was gloomy, he was already dissatisfied with the emperor Yu Wenchang, of course he didn't dare to say this, so he could only keep silent at this moment.

"You just stay in the mansion honestly for me during this time, and you are not allowed to go anywhere!"

Sima Zhishang was also afraid of Sima Jincheng's ability to cause trouble. Now that they are in internal turmoil, nothing can happen again.

So Sima Zhishang decided that he wasn't going to let Sima Jincheng out until he got married and gave birth to his son.

Sima Jincheng's face was full of displeasure, and Sima Weibo pushed him, so he reluctantly agreed: "Yes, Grandpa!"

"How is Chuzhuang in the household department now?"

Sima Zhishang shook his head and ignored him, but looked at Sima Weibo and asked.

"According to Wu Mingyu, this Chu village is now staying in the value room to settle accounts every day, without doing anything else."

Sima Weibo thought for a while and said, "It's just that there are so many ledgers, he and Zhang Yuanbin can't possibly read them all. At the end of the month, Wu Mingyu can take a random ledger for assessment and make a credit for them."

"Well, although Chu Zhuang is young, he has a very deep city, and sent someone to keep an eye on him all the time, lest he cause any trouble."

Originally, Sima Zhishang didn't take Chu Zhuang seriously, but with Chu Zhuang's gradually revealed resourcefulness and Yu Wenchang's fancy to Chu Zhuang, it was obvious that Sima Zhishang had regarded him as a real opponent. treated.

"Don't worry, father, there are people watching outside their duty room, and we know exactly what they did in the household department." Sima Weibo said immediately.

"Ah."

Sima Zhishang shook his head. Although Chu Zhuang was an opponent, he was not the main opponent. The main opponents were the crown prince and the Xue family.

"The prince's party is very active now. You have to pay attention in the court. If you find an opportunity, you must suppress one or two, and you can't let them take advantage of this opportunity to rise." Sima Zhishang ordered.

"Yes, father." Sima Weibo also knew the importance of this matter, so he immediately responded.

……

"Now in the court, the prince's faction and the eldest prince's faction are fighting fiercely. Every day they go to court, they have to impeach each other."

Yu Wenhong came to Chuzhuang at the end of the month and told Chuzhuang about the situation in the court this month.

"Did it affect your second brother?"

Chu Zhuang had expected this situation a long time ago, and was not curious, but worried that it would affect Yu Wenhong.

Yu Wenhong has just recovered his identity now, and he has no foundation in the court. If he gets angry at this time, there will be no one in the court to speak for him.

"It's not."

Yu Wenhong shook his head, he kept his duty this month and didn't say a single unnecessary word in court.

Both the crown prince and the eldest prince were afraid that they would push Yu Wenhong into the other side's camp, so they didn't attack him, but they fought hard.

After all, although Yu Wenhong has no foundation, he is a prince after all.

No matter whether it is the crown prince or the eldest prince, if there is an extra prince to support them, it will definitely do more good than harm for them.

"That's good."

Chu Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief. After this period of time, their counterattack can officially begin.

"Yuan Bin and I have basically checked the account books of the Ministry of Accounts last year."

Chu Zhuang took out a small box, which was filled with account books one by one, sorted together by month and category.

"Your speed is fast enough."

Yu Wenhong looked at the box of ledgers in front of him with a surprised expression.

Although he knew that Chu Zhuang's mathematics was very good, he was still shocked by the calculation of so many accounts within a month.

Listening to Yu Wenhong's words, Yunmengxi sighed slightly, with helplessness and distress in his eyes.

In order to organize these books, Chu Zhuang's daily hard work can be seen in his eyes.

This month, Chu Zhuang only slept for less than three hours a day, and the rest of his time and energy, except for teaching Guo Wen and the others, were spent on these books.

Over the past month, Chu Zhuang has lost a lot of weight.

Chu Zhuang looked at these books and nodded slightly. Although it was a bit hard work, he was very satisfied with the results.

"Guess, how much money did the household department lose to the national treasury last year?" Chu Zhuang asked looking at the two of them.

"This……"

Yunmengxi and Yuwenhong looked at each other, then shook their heads, they really couldn't guess this.

"A total of more than five million gold coins."

Chu Zhuang took out an account book and briefly explained to them the various places of deficit.

"This……"

When Yu Wenhong heard this amount, his heart couldn't help trembling.

It seems that the annual tax revenue of the treasury is only this amount. In other words, these people have lost all their tax revenue?

Where does the country have money to help the common people?

"These are all on the bright side, and there are also some invisible losses."

Chu Zhuang shook his head slightly, and picked up another ledger.

The country's land is subject to taxation, but Chu Zhuang found that the taxation of ordinary people is very heavy, and basically all of them are collected back.

But for some big landlords, the tax is necrotic every year. There are various reasons for not collecting it, and there is not even any punishment.

The big landlords in this era, to put it bluntly, are some aristocratic families and bureaucrats.

These people protect each other and exploit the country year after year, which leads to more and more poverty.

According to this trend, if the people are pushed into a hurry, then only the princes and generals are waiting for this country, and it is better to have a terrible situation.

"These people are so disgusting!"

Yunmengxi was very angry when he heard these numbers.

Chu Zhuang patted the back of his hand and comforted him: "Tomorrow/I will meet the emperor and present these books to him."

"It's just that there are many officials and personnel involved in this matter, and everyone is very prestigious. Even the emperor may not be able to catch all these people." Yu Wenhong showed a worried look.

As the saying goes, outnumbered, if the people involved in the account book are only the top and bottom of the household department, then it is okay to say that Yu Wenchang can take this opportunity to control the household department.

However, these accounts in Chuzhuang not only involve the officials of the Ministry of Households, but also [-]% of the big landlords and families in the world.

After all, except for a few Qingliu families, who in the general family would not evade taxes?

Chu Zhuang's exposure of this matter undoubtedly caused public outrage. If the emperor has no way to punish these people, then these people will definitely find an opportunity to deal with Chu Zhuang.

"Don't worry, of course we don't want to catch all these people."

Chu Zhuang had already prepared for this, explaining: "Officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs who are involved in covering up cases and making false accounts and embezzling, of course, need to be punished. As for the other big landlords, give them a deadline to repay three If the taxes are paid for five years, then the matter can be ignored.”

When the deadline is up, if these people don't pay back, they can also pick a few thorns to make an example of others.

I believe that as long as you are a smart person, you will not end up being ransacked and wiped out for such a small tax.

Chu Zhuang is not afraid of offending people right now, he wants to take advantage of Yu Wenchang's reign to stabilize the court as much as possible and fill up some loopholes that can be made up.

In this way, after Yu Wenhong came to power, they can develop the country with great strength.

"Although the taxes for three to five years are nothing against them, they are all the amount that everyone can afford, and they will not confront the court just because of the money."

Yu Wenhong nodded slightly, obviously agreeing with Chu Zhuang's words.

"As soon as the account book comes out, the First Prince's faction will definitely be in turmoil. Then we can take the opportunity to release Sima Jincheng's criminal evidence!"

Chu Zhuang squinted his eyes, and took a two-pronged approach. This time, the Sima family will never turn around again!

"I have already arranged the manpower, and I can do it at any time!"

They had already started planning for this matter as early as last year, and now they can finally do it.

"Sima Jincheng has committed so many evil deeds, and now we can finally give him a real punishment."

Yunmengxi thought about Sima Jincheng's viciousness recorded in the booklet, and a flash of anger flashed in his eyes.

Sima Jincheng relied on his family background to commit crimes. If such a villain cannot be punished, then God would be too unfair!

Several people in Chuzhuang discussed the details and made sure that there was nothing wrong with the plan, so they prepared to leave.

"By the way, second brother, have you set a wedding date yet?"

Chu Zhuang sent Yu Wenhong away and asked by the way.

"It's already been decided. The wedding date is set in August. I'm afraid it will be one step ahead of you."

Yu Wenhong and the others had already sent someone to pick up Bai Jiting, but the journey was far away, and Bai Jiting would have to wait until October at the earliest.

So Chu Zhuang and their marriage had to be at least after October.

Chu Zhuang had already made preparations for this. Although he was anxious to marry Yunmengxi as soon as possible, he wanted to give him a perfect wedding without leaving any regrets.