It is normal for officials in the capital to move around each other, especially officials from the same yamen, who often get together to eat and have fun.

Chu Huan's situation in the household department is a bit special, since the first day he entered the household compound, in the eyes of many household officials, he is an outsider, it stands to reason that even if other Cao officials will not invite, the judges of Duzhi Cao should still take the initiative to invite Chu Huan to his home as a guest, if Chu Huan does not go, it is another matter.

However, because everyone knows that Hu Bufan, the head of the household department, seems to be very bad with Chu Huan, but no one in the ministry dares to be this bird, and they all know that if anyone invites Chu Huan first, I am afraid that they will offend Hu Butang, and then the life in the household compound will not be very easy.

Hu Bufan has never been ruthless to Chu Huan, it's not that he really can't find a fault, there are a lot of trivial things in Duzhicao on weekdays, if Hu Bufan really wants to find some faults or set up some obstacles for Chu Huan, it is also a matter between raising his hands, but Hu Bufan knows that Chu Huan was personally dispatched by the emperor after all, and to rectify Chu Huan, he must find a handle to kill, those small fights will not only not cause trouble to Chu Huan, but will even make Chu Huan more uncooperative in Duzhicao, which is not good for Hu Bufan.

However, other household officials, Hu Bufan wanted to rectify it, but it was much easier.

Lang Wuxuan, the household servant, invited Chu Huan to Lang's Mansion for tea, after this incident, many officials were thinking about whether they should also invite Chu Huan to have a meal, after all, this is a face-saving convention, although many people think so, but no one dares to take this step after Lang Wuxuan, you must know that there are not a few fools who are officials, and they can run errands in the six halls, most of them are good at observing words and feelings, Lang Wuxu and Chu Huan are close, many people feel a little weird, and some people even guess that it is very likely that it is the instigation of the ministers, So although there are predecessors, there are very few who really dare to get close to Chu Huan.

But no one thought that the household officials did not invite Chu Huan to make a post, but Chu Huan took the lead in placing a few posts in the Duzhicao compound, but the five judges of Duzhicao were invited.

Several judges received the post, they were in a dilemma, I don't know whether to go, sent someone to inquire, only to know that tonight Lang Lang Wuxu will also go to the banquet, thinking of Lang Wuxuan, several people discussed, and finally except for one judge to be on duty at night, the other four judges discussed how to go at night and what kind of gifts should be taken.

Although Chu Huan did not deal with Hu Bufan, after all, he was personally dispatched by the emperor, and he was the last time he was the first to do so, but several judges did not dare to slack off.

The four judges couldn't go directly to the Chu Mansion after they were on duty, and they had to prepare gifts, they didn't dare to offend Hu Bufan, but they didn't dare to be rude to Chu Huan.

After Lang didn't let go of his value, he didn't have so many scruples, took the car, and went to Chu Mansion first, and Chu Huan wanted to entertain guests, so he went back to the house one step earlier, and went to the Ximen Office first, there were too few people in the family, and Chu Huan wanted to transfer a few people from Wang Fu's side to take a hand.

After Wang Fu knew Chu Huan's intention, he didn't say a word, personally led the team, and transferred Sun Jingyi and other four or five Wu Jingwei who were on duty to rush to the Chu Mansion, led by Wang Fu and the white blind man, while arranging the banquet venue in the elegant hall, on the other hand, he sent people to the best restaurant nearby to order wine and food, and sent them back.

Lang Wuxu was the first to come to Chu Mansion, Chu Huan led him to a room, Lang Wuxu was already frowning and said, "Lord Chu, you came to me, you don't really want to have a meal, right?" ”

Chu Huan smiled and asked in a low voice, "Lord Shilang remembers that he said the red and silver book today?" ”

Lang Wuxuan was stunned for a moment, and then said in surprise: "Lord Chu, are you still thinking about the red and silver book?" He glanced out nervously, the doors and windows were closed, and he lowered his voice and said: "This thing can't be done, although the red and silver book can indeed put Hu Bufan to death, but ...... But there was no chance of getting the red and silver book. ”

Chu Huan asked with a smile: "Lord Shilang, in fact, there is a strange thing for the lower officials!" ”

Lang Wuxuan asked puzzledly, "What's the matter?" ”

"Is this red and silver book not the only one?" Chu Huan asked softly, "Lord Shilang is so familiar, does it mean that there have been this kind of red and silver books before?" ”

Lang Wuxuan pondered for a moment, and finally said, "Lord Chu knows what is recorded in this red and silver book?" ”

"I don't know!"

Lang Wuxu sighed lightly: "I told you before, although Hu Bufan is the head of the household department, but the household department has always been under the control of An Guogong, and I have people from An Guogong in the Household Department of the Sixteen Dao of Great Qin, and I am afraid that no one knows better than An Guogong about the financial revenue and expenditure of the empire. ”

Chu Huan bowed slightly.

"The annual income and expenditure of the household department is huge, and the operation of income and expenditure is much more complicated than what Lord Chu sees. Lord Chu is only looking at the accounts in Duzhicao now, but Duzhicao's accounts are only the tip of the iceberg, and many of the taxes paid by the local household department and the yamen will not be revealed in Duzhicao, and there are other ways to pay them. Lang Wuxu's expression was a little nervous: "In the simplest words, if the household department receives 10 million taels of silver every year, then the taxes actually paid from all over the country will definitely be more than 15 million taels, and if the household department spends 100 taels, in fact, the real expenditure will never exceed 500,000 taels." ”

Chu Huan was stunned for a moment, although he knew that the catty of the household department would definitely be very large, but he didn't expect that the gap between income and expenditure would be so big.

"Lord Chu, if there is not such a big gap, why is there always a shortage of silver in the household department, and the taxes are increasing again and again?" Lang Wuxu said softly: "In fact, the gap was still very small in the early years, and the action of the household department was not big, four years ago, Xuanzhen Taoist entered the palace, An Guogong resigned from the post of household secretary, and Hu Bufan served as the household secretary, since then, this mouth has become bigger and bigger." ”

Chu Huan touched his chin and said, "An Guogong took the initiative to resign from the position of the head of the household?" ”

"Yes!" Lang Wuxuan said: "An Guogong is both the secretary of the household department and the secretary of the province, it can be said that he is a very human minister, he resigned from the post of secretary of the household department four years ago, and only ran errands in the province, but the household department has never been out of his control. After a pause, he smiled strangely and said: "Actually, his resignation from the position of the head of the household department, in my opinion, is nothing more than letting Hu Bufan be a substitute for the dead!" ”

"For the dead?"

"An Guogong is a businessman, and he is very shrewd in doing things, and he often arranges things that we can't think of." Lang Wuxuan mentioned An Guogong, and the depths of his eyes showed a nervous look, and he said in a low voice: "There is a loophole in the income and expenditure of the household department, and it is impossible for the saint to know nothing, although An Guogong is very careful in the household department, he must still be worried that one day the emperor will take action against the household department." After he retreated, he had secretly made some moves, and many traces of the household that were unfavorable to him were skillfully erased by An Guogong, Hu Bufan sat in the position of the head of the household department, everything was still under An Guogong's orders, if the saint really wanted to investigate the household department in the future, Hu Bufan would naturally be a ghost for the dead! ”

Chu Huan said softly: "I'm afraid Lord Shilang has also been affected a lot by Hu Bufan!" ”

Lang Wuxuan looked a little embarrassed, and said, "I was also forced to be helpless, Lord Chu...... Lord Chu should be able to understand! ”

"Lord Shilang's distress, the lower officials naturally understand." Chu Huan nodded and said, "Actually, Lord Shilang is loyal to the saint, as long as the saint understands, many things will become unimportant. ”

Lang Wuxu nodded hurriedly, and said: "In the past few years, the deficit of complementarity has become bigger and bigger, just because the opening of income and expenditure is getting more and more open, and there is a lot of ironclad evidence in that red and silver book. Hu Bufan worked for An Guogong, and the dark income and expenditure of a large amount of silver were recorded in the red and silver books, and the accounts would be checked with the people on An Guogong's side every six months. ”

"I see." Chu Huan bowed his head and said, "Lord Shilang helps to calculate the red and silver books, so he naturally knows many things about it?" ”

Lang Wuxu's eyelids jumped, and he hurriedly said: "It's only a half-understanding, and only Hu Bufan knows about the specific affairs." His expression was a little unnatural, Chu Huan naturally knew that this kid was talking nonsense with his eyes open, those dirty and sloppy things in the household, this guy must be the vanguard, he knew a lot, but he also understood Lang Wuxu's mood, he wanted to get close to King Qi to escape the catastrophe of the household, but he didn't want to get involved too deep and tear his face in the face with the Han Wang's party.

Chu Huan groaned slightly, and finally said: "Lord Shilang, since this red and silver book is so important, there are two things that the lower officials don't understand!" ”

"Lord Chu, please speak!" Lang Wuxu tried his best to be very cooperative.

"Once this red and silver book is successful, it will be fatal to the Han Dynasty." Chu Huan said slowly: "That being the case, why hasn't the princelings ever had the idea of the red and silver books?" I've heard that there are a lot of powerful characters in the princelings, and there are many strange people under the prince, so why did they never think about the red and silver books? ”

Lang Wuxuan showed a little bit of triumph and said, "Lord Chu still thinks that everyone knows this red and silver book? To tell you the truth, even the Holy One cannot know the existence of this red and silver book. There are only a few people who know that the red and silver books exist, and I am one of those few people. ”

"In this way, An Guogong and Hu Bufan have a lot of trust in Lord Shilang?"

"I'm from Anyi Road, before An Guogong was from Long, my father used to be the account office under An Guogong." Lang Wuxuan said: "After the dragon, my father also followed An Guogong to follow the saint, so An Guogong still trusts me very much. ”

Chu Huan thought secretly: "An Guogong is afraid and can't imagine that you have such a relationship with him, so you sold him like this." Although Xin thinks that Lang Wu's character is extremely despicable, such a person is now of great help to himself.

"No wonder the princelings don't bother with the red and silver books." Chu Huan said with a smile: "If it weren't for Lord Shilang to remind me, how would the lower officials know that there would be such an account book." After a pause, he asked again: "It's just that Xia Guan still can't figure it out, that kind of account book can be said to be extremely hot, why does Hu Bufan still press his handprint on it?" If this is exposed, how can he get out of it? ”