"That's what you taught me. ”

Fan Jian sighed, his fingers rubbing slightly, feeling the tactile sensation brought by the piece of paper.

On the paper, a woman's head was drawn with charcoal, although it was only a few strokes, but it was very expressive to outline the woman's demeanor and appearance.

In particular, the eyes of the woman in the painting are so compassionate, gentle, and mischievous...... looked at Fan Jian, who was looking at her.

"Your Majesty asked the great painter to steal your portrait in the palace. Fan Jian looked at the woman in the painting and smiled and said, "But for me, your appearance has always been in my mind, very clear." ”

"Whenever I want to talk to you, I can't help but draw one. ”

"Draw the naughty you, the cold you, the sad you, the happy you. ”

"With so many of you, who is the real you? It's a pity that there is no way to ask you anymore. ”

Fan Jian sighed and handed the paper to the candlestick and burned it. He looked at the beautiful face that gradually disappeared into the flames, and said in a daze: "If His Majesty and I hadn't returned to our hometown in Lanzhou to spend the summer, I wouldn't have met you, and I wouldn't have ...... There's no more to come. ”

"Perhaps, I am still the painter who lingers in the Qinglou for the rest of his life. Master Shang Shu tugged at the corners of his lips and smiled self-deprecatingly: "You said that the world needs the profession of an artist. It's a pity that in the end, I became the one with the strongest copper smell in the whole Qingguo. ”

The flames on the piece of paper gradually burned to the center, leaving only a few gray and black scraps of paper.

"You've always treated me like the most trustworthy brother. Fan Jian finally said: "I am grateful for your trust, so don't worry, even if I don't have the ability to change too much, but at least, I will insist on standing in this Kyoto and watching Xian'er grow up gradually." ”

There was a soft knock on the door outside the study.

"Come in. Fan Jian said with a smile.

Liu Shi walked in with the cup of sour syrup, and gently rested on the desk, with lingering worry on his face, the things in the palace had already spread from Yi Gui Concubine to the family, and as the current hostess of the Fan Mansion, of course she knew what kind of predicament her master would face in the court tomorrow.

Fan Jian glanced at her and sighed: "Don't worry, Your Majesty won't treat me too harshly." ”

Liu's eyes flashed with a slight resentment, and he said softly: "If you miss the old feelings, how can you not be provoked by those little ones, and you want to check the household department, who among these six departments is clean from beginning to end?"

Fan Jian shook his head and said: "You have to believe in Your Majesty, it involves major affairs of the government and politics, of course, you can't ignore it." ”

Liu knew that the old man didn't want to continue this sad topic, so he nodded helplessly.

Fan Jian raised the bowl and said to the lingering smell of burning paper above the desk, "Respect each other." ”

Then drink it all.

Liu was slightly stunned, thinking to himself, who is this respectful master?

――――――――――――――――――――― second rì, the court will be held again, as expected, His Majesty severely criticized the poor performance of the household department in the past two years, and pushed most of the charge of the emptiness of the treasury to the head of the household department, because the household department Shangshu Fan Jian still said that he was ill, so no one in the household department could defend himself, and the leaderless household officials pitifully endured the attack of the Manchu civil and military forces.

The imperial court issued a clear decree and began to check the deficit of the household department over the years, which was specifically implemented by the Supervision Yuan, with the assistance of the Ministry of Officials, the Criminal Department, and the Dali Temple, and the general investigation affairs of Hu Daxue of Zhongshu Province under the door, and His Royal Highness the Prince picked up the missing and filled the vacancies on the side.

There was a rumor of the household inspection department, so this incident did not surprise people. But when this formation came out, the ministers still felt a little stunned, such a big battle, it seems that His Majesty really wants to make the household department suffer some hardship.

I don't know how Lord Xiao Fan in Jiangnan will react after knowing about this?

In the afternoon of the same day, the officials of the various divisions of the joint inventory began to be stationed in the Yamen of the Household Department, and the Kyoto garrison was responsible for the transfer of troops to take care of the warehouses and warehouses of the various treasury divisions, and the first object of the officials was the account problem of the Seventh Division of the Household Department.

For a while, the already lively household yamen on the side of the big locust tree became even more noisy, and there were a lot fewer officials who came to receive money today, but there were a lot more officials who came to check the money.

The officials of the household department were extremely nervous to welcome these officials who came to the inventory with a will into the ya, and they did not know that they tossed for a long time before vacating a sufficient number of Taishi chairs to invite the officials to sit down, and then the left and right attendants reported on the operation of the household department in the past two years.

Sitting in the middle, Scholar Hu and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not embarrass these household officials, and waited for the specific investigation to start with a few words of gentle exhortation, but the officials of the Ministry of Officials and the Criminal Department rarely found an opportunity to embarrass the old men of the household department.

Scholar Hu couldn't help frowning, knowing that the chiefs of these two departments were quite on the wrong path with the Fan family, if he didn't keep an eye on it, he was only afraid that the matter of the investigation would really become a means for the other party to attack dissidents.

In the face of such a big pomp, seeing that there were so many big people sitting in the hall, including the left and right attendants, all the household officials were a little defeated, and even felt a certain despair, now rì Fan Shangshu is not in the yamen, these household officials have a feeling of being isolated by the Manchu Dynasty officials, and they know that what they are about to face is the biggest hurdle in their careers and even in their lives.

The officials of the Supervision Yuan monitored the work of sorting out the account books, and after a while, they watched the old officials of the household department clear the account books in as many as seven large bamboo baskets, and everyone carried them to the lobby with great difficulty.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was taken aback by so many account books, and said in surprise: "With so many account books, one by one, when do you have to get it right?"

The left waiter of the household department said angrily: "Your Royal Highness, there are seven divisions under the household department, corresponding to the seven roads of the world's finances, and there are four Qing officials corresponding to the river work and other matters, there are three major libraries, and the seven workshops such as the Xishan Bookstore were also transferred to the management of the household department last year by the Inner Treasury Transfer Division, as well as the seventeenth warehouse field near the Kyoto Zuojin, as well as the Baoquan Bureau and the Qian Fatang responsible for minting money, as for the warehouse Yamen of Caowu, which is far away in Hangzhou, and there are ......."

The squire said cracklingly, and he actually talked about a cup of tea, and he didn't stop.

The prince's mind was confused when he heard this, and he quickly waved his hand to stop.

The ministers of the various ministries who came to the household department to check were dumbfounded, they had always only known that the household department was responsible for managing money, where did they think that there was such a complicated institutional setup below, and it seemed that it was not a matter of one or two days at all.

The squire said with a smile: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, at this time, the accounts of the ministry are still being cleaned up, and the seven baskets placed here are the accounts of the Shandong Road Silver Money Division, because a few days ago, Lord Shangshu was ordering the officials to be responsible for cleaning up the accounts on this road, so they moved out quickly." As for the total accounts, it will take at least ten days to clear out. ”

The prince was almost blocked by this squire, and he was almost sulky, and reprimanded angrily: "This palace doesn't care how many accounts you have here, and you don't care how many days it takes, but since Your Majesty has issued an order to investigate, your hands and feet had better be faster, otherwise don't blame this palace for secretly resisting your will to investigate!"

Who knew that the household servant still said meaninglessly: "Your Royal Highness the Prince, the lower officials naturally don't have the courage to do so, but since the ministers have come to check according to the emperor's order, they must always draw up a charter, which department to start checking from? In addition to the accounts, when will the number of silver stored in the inventory start to be counted? Millions of taels of silver, even if it is counted...... I'm afraid I'll have to count for days. ”

The prince waved his sleeves in annoyance, too lazy to fight with this mouthy official, anyway, when the problem is found, there will be no consequences for you.

Scholar Hu looked at it coldly on the first seat, and felt very strange in his heart, this household is under the care of Fan Shangshu, and it is really different from the rest of the departments, although Lord Shilang is not a minor official, but he dares to confront the prince in front of him like this, which is also too interesting.

He knew that the household servant was angry in his heart, and couldn't help but smile and explained: "Yu Shilang said that it is not bad, since it is an inventory, of course, it must be carried out in an orderly manner, and it is best not to interfere with the regular office of the household department." The whole country needs the money of the household department to move, and if it disturbs the household administration too much for the purpose of the investigation, His Majesty must not want to see it. ”

This squire surnamed Yu was obviously much more respectful to Scholar Hu, and said in a harmonious voice: "Listen to the orders of Scholar." ”

Since I don't know where to start for a while, we must first clean up all the accounts of the household department, and then transfer special officials to check.

At this time, an official suddenly said to Scholar Hu: "According to the lower officials, it is better to ...... Let's take a look at the accounts of the treasury and the Jiangnan Division first. ”

The house was full of silence.

What was stored in the treasury was the silver taels of the national treasury, and if the household department really transferred the treasury silver to Jiangnan, according to the inference of the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military affairs, it must have gone to the accounts of the Jiangnan Division. This official bluntly proposed to transfer the accounts of the treasury and the Jiangnan Division first, which was obviously in response to this rumor.

Scholar Hu was slightly stunned, and he couldn't find any reason to object, and he really wanted to know if the household department was really bold enough to privately transfer state funds to Jiangnan. After a brief discussion with the crown prince, he instructed the officials of the Supervisory Yuan to go with the officials of the household department to first adjust the accounts of the two places.

Nothing happened overnight.

The second rì has nothing to do.

The third rì has nothing to do.

From the very beginning, the Qingguo Imperial Court's inventory of the household department fell into the boundless ocean of account wars, and the officials who were bent on finding out what problems in the household department were instantly overwhelmed by the account books that were as many as the snow in the mountains.

Above the large lobby, the accounts were piled up into a small mountain, and the smell of dust from old paper filled the air, making it a little difficult for the officials to breathe, and the eyes were full of visually exhausting yellow paper and numbers, which dazzled these officials.

In the quiet inventory hall, there was the sound of turning pages, the sound of crackling and plucking, and the occasional sound of sipping tea.

Quietness is mixed with monotonous and repetitive sounds, and it is very hypnotic.

Therefore, although the inventory officers sitting on the chairs of the Taishi did not have to face the terrifying and complicated numbers with their own hands, they still felt physically and mentally exhausted, and chūn was very sleepy.

The officials of the various departments have been busy for several days, comparing the numbers in the account books, but nothing has happened.

Now what is checked is the number of warehouses and Jiangnan Division, and for the time being, I have not found a handle that can overturn the household.

This came as a surprise to everyone, even the Hu scholar, who was secretly inclined to the Fan family. With so many account books, even if they are not intentional, even if they are unintentional clerical errors, there must always be some to be normal, right? With such a huge amount of calculation work, has the household department not made any mistakes at all in the past two years?

The so-called water to clear then there is no fish, to clear the account is false, in this world it is absolutely impossible to save such a perfect account, if there is, then it must be a false account.

Scholar Hu thought so, and so did the investigation officials of the Criminal Department of the Ministry of Officials, so they became more and more vigorous in their investigation, as long as they could find the slightest loophole, they could pull their whole body and drag the entire household department off the horse.

However, when this warm but tedious afternoon was over, the officials of the various ministries who had buried themselves in the accounts raised their heads, looked at each other with great astonishment, and shook their heads at their superiors, which caused countless feelings of disappointment to swell in the hearts of the inspectors.

There is no problem, at least the household department does not have the slightest problem with the accounts of the Jiangnan Division and the treasury.

At present, the household is very clean, unusually clean, and clean like a virgin after bathing.

............" is not right. Yan Xingshu, the official who rushed to the household department this afternoon, shook his head and said to the scholar Hu beside him: "It's too abnormal. ”

Scholar Hu nodded.

Yan Xingshu squinted his eyes, thought for a while, and said, "Just check the accounts of these two places, of course you can't find a problem. Some people are not stupid, knowing that the court's suspicion is in this aspect, of course they have to wipe this aspect very flat. However, all the accounts and warehouses are under our control, and the physical objects and numbers must always match, if there is really a problem with the household department, then it must be smoothed out by the silver, I think...... In the next step, we can't just focus on these places, we should expand outward, check the seven divisions and the three major warehouses, and all the accounts must be checked together, and we will definitely find out the tricks in them. ”

Scholar Hu frowned and said, "Not to mention the difficulty, and it will take a long time." ”

As the prince listened from the sidelines, a strange feeling suddenly surged in his heart, could it be that none of these officials around him had reaped the benefits of the treasury under the jurisdiction of the household department? How could they all have such courage to expand the scope of the audit indefinitely? He thought about it, and also agreed with Yan Xingshu's opinion, being able to deal with the Fan family is the thing he wants to see the most now.

The news of the comprehensive settlement of accounts was quickly transmitted to Fan's Mansion by the household department, saying that Fan Jian, who was sick in bed, had the same expression, and only said to himself: "Artists make fake accounts, of course, they must strive for perfection, check it, the wider the investigation, the better, and the bigger the problem is, the better." ”