xymnovel Chapter 15 A Muddled Account
Chapter 15 A Muddled Account
Two consecutive hours of intense labor left the two middle-aged men with graying hair feeling somewhat exhausted.
Sitting upright in the hall, Shen Ce completely ignored the two men's shifty eyes and simply savored his improved tea. After two pots of tea were changed, the two clerks finally finished checking today's documents.
The two men gave a wry smile, then placed the document on Shen Ce's desk.
"Registrar Shen, the remaining work of affixing seals to judgments still needs to be completed by you personally. We two dare not do so on our own."
The so-called "seal for judgment" refers to the act of writing a judgment or marking the document as agreed upon at the end of the document after the document has been reviewed. The judge would then affix a small tortoise-shaped seal to his signature, while the clerk would supervise the sealing process and record the information in the seal book.
Shen Ce took the document and pointed to it, saying, "Take out the documents involving money, grain, and personnel separately. As for the rest, you can judge them according to common practice. I will sign and seal them."
Anyone familiar with politics knows that as long as you control the money, supplies, and personnel, everything else is irrelevant.
Wan Lushi hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping himself. This Registrar Shen had brought him too much shock today. He was hardly like a "scholar". He quickly helped him organize the documents and whispered a reminder: "The Crown Prince moved from the former Prince Qin's residence to the Xiande Hall of the Crown Prince's residence. On the fourth day, due to military affairs, many places were damaged. The previous Registrar was promoted to another place and did not approve these memorials before leaving office."
After speaking, Wan Lushi looked at Shen Ce meaningfully.
Shen Ce was well aware of the intention behind this. His predecessor was afraid of getting entangled in the karma and did not take on these hot potatoes. Since it involved money and food, there had never been a clean one from ancient times to the present.
Today is his first time approving a document, so his colleagues naturally want to test his abilities and see how competent he is as a registrar. If he is lenient, he will certainly get his share of the profits afterward.
If he is impartial and incorruptible, and his colleagues are unable to complete their work due to insufficient funds and supplies, leading to punishment from his superiors or even the crown prince, everyone can simply shift the blame onto him, the registrar.
After thinking it over for a long time, Shen Ce decided not to get involved in their mess. He had plenty of ways to earn money himself, and there was no need to share with others.
Having made up his mind, he turned his gaze to the memorial on the table and read it aloud softly:
Twenty-nine tiles on the roof were broken.
There are eleven cracks in the wall, the longest being about six feet.
There are 37 stains on the wall.
Forty-five rare plants in the garden were lost.
Losses are tentatively estimated at 10%, food subsidies are provided, and labor costs are 500, for a total of 800 strings of cash.
Shen Ce glanced at it, then angrily threw the memorial on the table. He really thought he was just a soldier who knew nothing about the intricacies of the military.
Bulk material purchases are still calculated at market prices, but let's leave that aside for now. This lucrative opportunity is their private territory, and if we expose it, we'll likely face enemies everywhere.
The wages for hiring craftsmen were three feet of silk per day, which already included food expenses. Why was there another entry at the end? If Shen Wang hadn't gone to work in Xianyang City some time ago, I really wouldn't have known about this.
"Looking further down, I've never seen so much damage to the roof of a hall since he entered the Eastern Palace today. Could it be that the damage to one room was counted separately in multiple places?"
How much are they planning to embezzle?
If the official in charge of the household management department is to share the profits with me, he should have communicated with him privately before I issued the document. Now that the official has not even been seen, so many oversights cannot be explained by mere negligence.
Although Shen Ce was suspicious, he remained calm and wrote at the end of the document: "Suspected of being fraudulent, please reduce the amount."
Wan Shuling: ...
Upon seeing the memorial from the Ten Commanders' Office, Shen Ce became even angrier, reporting that two hundred swords were broken, forty suits of armor were damaged and one hundred and eighty-two suits of armor were repaired, and thirty-two horses had been killed or injured.
I came from Xuanwu Gate, how could I not know how many weapons, horses, and armor were lost?
This work was done so sloppily; they couldn't even write the approval document themselves.
Shen Ce took a deep breath, trying his best to calm himself down. He picked up the memorial on the table, turned to Liu Lushi beside him, and said, "Return this memorial to the Imperial Household Department and ask him if his subordinates were frightened a few days ago and couldn't even count. If so, I will approve the medical expenses."
"promise"
After receiving the memorial, Liu Lushu's expression was uncertain. After hesitating for a long time, he decided to deliver the message. He was determined to relay the message exactly as the registrar had said and said it. He left as soon as he finished speaking, otherwise he was afraid of being beaten.
Shen Ce focused his gaze on the memorial from the Ten Commanders' Office. After a moment's thought, he decided to lend a hand. He believed that General Cheng would not embezzle the money and would definitely use it to compensate the soldiers who were injured or killed in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
Directly approving it won't work; if the memorial reaches Wei Zheng, that old fogey will definitely scold him for being illiterate.
"Recorder Wan, I need you to make another trip to return the approval document from the Ten Commanderies. You can stay there and write it for them."
Wan Lushu, being an old hand in the household, immediately understood the intricacies of the matter. Shen Zhubu, being a former soldier, was naturally inclined to offer assistance. He chuckled and said, "Don't worry, sir, I know what to do."
After the chief clerk finished reviewing the memorial, it still needed to be reviewed by the junior master of the palace and the master of the palace. The chief clerk was only a seventh-rank official and did not have that much power. After Shen Ce signed and stamped the qualified memorial, he had the messenger carry it to the official residence of the two superiors.
Unlike the official residence of the registrar, the official residences of the two chief officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices were much more luxurious. They not only had icebergs, but also plum juice with ice. This made Shen Ce, a low-ranking official, very envious, and his throat tingled with envy.
Wei Zheng, who served as the fifth-rank tutor of the former Crown Prince Li Jiancheng, was not affected by this incident. Instead, he was highly valued by Li Er and appointed as the Junior Chamberlain, although his rank did not match the position.
Thin, with a gaunt face and a small goatee, that was Shen Ce's impression of him.
"I heard that you returned many memorials today from the Imperial Household Department and the Ten Commanders' Office requesting funds and provisions?" Wei Zheng asked Shen Ce while sipping his plum juice.
Shen Ce felt that his birth chart was not as strong as Wei Zheng's, so he made up his mind to stay away from him. He didn't want to be dragged out and whipped after his death. However, he didn't reveal the matter of the Ten Commanders' Office. It seems that this old man is not a bad person.
"Reporting to the Junior Chamberlain, if I see any unreasonable memorials, I will certainly reject them. I would not dare to trouble you with such matters."
"If you're going to do something, you must stick to it to the end. Remember not to waver. I hope you won't make me submit a memorial to impeach you in the future." At Wei Zheng's level, people naturally speak their minds and don't try to hide anything from him, a minor official.
After a long silence, Yuwen Shiji saw that Wei Zheng had fallen into his old habit again and was afraid of scaring Shen Ce, so he laughed and said, "You have just entered the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. You should familiarize yourself with the various procedures first. If you want to make a difference, that's fine, but you have to bear the consequences yourself."
Shen Ce's words in the main hall had naturally reached their ears. Yuwen Shiji was well aware of Shen Ce's intentions; young people are bound to be impulsive.
Shen Ce smiled and said, "I do have a plan in mind, and I will report to you two superiors tomorrow."