After a male student transmigrated into the body of a widow,

Chapter 158 Imminent

Gu Lin still hadn't told Zheng Hao about the caravan escort matter. Initially, after returning from Uncle Jin's house with Lin Xiaoyao, he wanted to find Zheng Hao to ask about Niu Qiang and the escort agency, but he couldn't find him. After waiting in the front yard for a while, seeing that he still hadn't returned, Gu Lin had no choice but to leave first, planning to look for him again the next day.

However, after entering the Ministry of Revenue, Zheng Hao was so busy that he was nowhere to be seen. In the past, after finishing his shift at the Hanlin Academy, he would go home and have a meal with Gu Lin, but these past few days, he had not been seen at all. In the following days, when Gu Lin went to the front yard, he would just pass by Zheng Hao.

Knowing that the other person was busy, Gu Lin did not disturb them further.

He wasn't in a hurry; after all, setting up a caravan wasn't something that could be done overnight.

However, Gu Lin did not intend to put all his eggs in one basket. He asked Lin Xiaoyao to look for reliable escort agencies in the capital. If they could not find a suitable escort agency and escorts, he would go to discuss it with them when Zheng Hao had time.

After making his decision, Gu Lin turned his attention to Uncle Jin.

It goes without saying that the leader's position in the caravan is crucial. Before hiring Uncle Jin, although Gu Lin and Lin Xiaoyao were busy setting up the caravan every day, they knew very little about it and were just feeling their way in the dark, so the caravan was always set up at a slow pace.

However, Uncle Jin, who was an expert in this area, was different from them. After agreeing to form a caravan with them, he not only quickly found them a reliable interpreter on the first day, but also planned their itinerary within a day after learning where they wanted to go on their trade journey.

After making all the arrangements, Uncle Jin had put in a lot of effort. Lin Xiaoyao, who was standing nearby, was very perceptive and poured a cup of tea for him.

After drinking, Han Jin said to them, "Although the route is very important for the caravan, we cannot ignore other aspects. During the journey, we may encounter bandits, but remember, not all of these bandits are arsonists and plunderers."

"Aside from a few ruthless bandits, many bandit strongholds would not kill any passing caravans. Different strongholds had different rules; some required the caravans to pay a certain toll, while others required them to leave 30-40% as tribute."

At this point, Han Jin paused, not continuing. He then asked Gu Lin and Lin Xiaoyao, "Think about it, why don't those bandits rob all the goods and money of passing caravans?"

Gu Lin pondered for a moment, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. After a while, he said, "The caravan has a large number of people, mostly guards and able-bodied men, totaling several hundred. A typical bandit stronghold also has several hundred people, including the elderly, women, and children. If the bandits want to plunder and clear out the caravan's goods, the caravan will not be afraid and will definitely fight them to the death."

Gu Lin continued, "Even if those bandits have blood on their hands, the caravans are no match for them. But there are more than one caravan passing by. If those bandits fight the caravans to the death every time, they will suffer heavy casualties. It would be better to charge the passing caravans some tolls."

“There’s one more thing,” Gu Lin said.

Han Jin asked, "What is it?"

Gu Lin didn't speak up himself, but instead turned to Lin Xiaoyao beside him and asked, "Xiaoyao, did you figure it out?"

Lin Xiaoyao pursed her lips and said, "I have some thoughts, but I don't know if what I'm thinking is the same as what the boss is thinking."

Gu Lin waved his hand, not minding at all, and said, "Just say it."

Knowing that the other party genuinely didn't care about these things, Lin Xiaoyao said, "If bandits loot all the goods of passing caravans and massacre them, no caravan will dare to pass through that road in the long run, and consequently, there will be no continuous flow of money. Therefore, any smart person would not cut off their own source of wealth."

After a pause, Lin Xiaoyao added, "Although all of this is ill-gotten gains."

Upon hearing the other party's insights, Gu Lin smiled, clearly indicating that his thoughts were similar to Lin Xiaoyao's.

However, Han Jin, standing to the side, poured cold water on their enthusiasm.

“Since those bandits have become outlaws, their hands are stained with a lot of blood. People who deal with killing all year round will slowly lose their humanity. They have no integrity, are unpredictable, and can change their minds at any time. The worst thing for a merchant to do is to entrust his life to the little mercy that bandits have left.”

The matter of guards that Gu Lin and Lin Xiaoyao had discussed a few days ago was brought up by Han Jin: "Guards are the foundation for a caravan to travel safely. Some well-established caravans have guards who are trained by their own families from childhood, and they have specially hired martial arts masters to teach them kung fu."

Upon hearing this, Gu Lin smiled wryly and said, "Uncle Jin, how can our humble family compare to their wealth and power?"

Han Jin glanced at him and said, "Of course I know."

"I'm just reminding you that if you still want to travel as a merchant this year, it's best to set off in the summer. Otherwise, if you wait until the fall to travel, the caravan will likely have to spend the winter outside. In the freezing cold, the caravan's journey will definitely slow down, and there may be a shortage of supplies when spending the winter in the countryside."

It's already June. If what they said is true, and they want to travel and do business this year, they should set off this month. That way, after their business trip is over, they can return to Beijing before winter to celebrate the New Year.

Gu Lin frowned slightly. Then, arranging guards for the caravan was urgent.

After thinking it through, Gu Lin looked up at Han Jin and said, "Uncle Jin, keep a close eye on the formation of the caravan these days. I'll take care of the guards in the next few days."

Han Jin nodded.

.

Although Zheng Hao was only temporarily serving as the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he also held the position of Supervising Censor and had just impeached the Prefect of Qingzhou. Therefore, regardless of what the people in the Ministry of Revenue thought, they did not make things difficult for him on the surface.

Faced with this situation, Zheng Hao seemed oblivious to anything amiss and went to the Ministry of Revenue for his shift as usual.

Since Emperor Jian'an had ordered him to enter the Ministry of Revenue to audit the accounts, he only focused on auditing the accounts and ignored everything else.

An official approached Zheng Hao and reported, "Lord Zheng, these are the tax revenues from various regions this year, as well as the account books for the Ministry of Revenue's external expenditures in recent years."

Zheng Hao said, "You can leave after you put down the account book."

Upon hearing this, the official immediately instructed the clerk behind him to put down the account book before leaving.

Zheng Hao raised his eyes and looked at the junior official in the same room: "Go and find a few people to come over and check the account books together."

The official bowed and said, "Yes."

After a while, the clerk brought in seven or eight people. Zheng Hao distributed the account books and asked them to check them carefully and write down any discrepancies they found.

Then, Zheng Hao picked up an account book, opened it, and looked at it. He checked the account book very quickly, without reading it page by page. He could turn the page in almost two blinks.

However, no matter how fast he looked through it, it couldn't keep up with the eight large boxes of account books.

Two more people were called over, and after several days, all eight boxes of account books were finally checked.

The clerks also wrote down the discrepancies they found in the account books after checking them and handed them to Lord Zheng. Afterwards, with his permission, they all left.

After everyone left, the last minor official handed the account book to Zheng Hao. He hesitated slightly before finally handing it over.

At the same time, he whispered to the young man in front of him, "Lord Zheng, take a look at the account book in my hand, it is related to the Red-Clad Army."

Zheng Hao took it, lowered his eyes slightly, opened the account book handed to him by the clerk, and focused his gaze on the place marked by the other party.

Seeing that Lord Zheng was staring at the place he had marked without saying a word, the clerk felt uneasy. However, a resolute look flashed in his eyes. If he could seize this opportunity to curry favor with Lord Zheng, who was highly regarded by His Majesty, his future would be limitless. In fact, it was very likely that he would not have to be a clerk for the rest of his life.

The minor official carefully considered his words and said to Zheng Hao, "Lord Zheng, not long after the palace examination, His Majesty adopted the strategy proposed by the newly appointed scholars in answering the policy questions to recruit the Red-Clad Army."

The ledger in your hand records the silver spent on pacifying the Red-Clad Army. A few days ago, the Ministry of Revenue transferred 100,000 taels, but not long after, the army suppressing the Red-Clad Army sent word back to the capital that the silver was insufficient. Subsequently, the Ministry of Revenue sent another 600,000 taels of silver in installments.

The imperial examination was only two months ago.

Zheng Hao asked calmly, "Didn't you say that the Ministry of Revenue couldn't even provide enough food and supplies for the Zhenbei Army? How come it was able to send 600,000 taels of silver to the army suppressing the Red-Clad Army?"

Looking up and seeing that no one was passing by outside, the clerk approached Lord Zheng and whispered, "This 600,000 taels of silver was sent to the Southern Red-Clad Army to appease them before the Zhenbei Army sent people to urge them to provide military supplies and provisions."

Zheng Hao's eyes revealed deep emotions. The Zhenbei Army's provisions and supplies were sent to the border at fixed times. However, if what the clerk said was true, and the Ministry of Revenue disregarded the Zhenbei Army and diverted the funds for provisions and supplies to appease the Red-Clad Army, then this behavior was truly incomprehensible.

However, given that the army sent to suppress the Red Army was able to hold out against the unarmed Red Army for nearly a year, and had personally experienced the Qingzhou Prefecture tax silver case shortly after entering the court, Zheng Hao felt it was not surprising that the Ministry of Revenue had misappropriated the Zhenbei Army's military supplies and provisions for the Zhenhong Army.

However, it remains unknown whether the 600,000 taels were used to recruit the Red-Clad Army or were misappropriated by someone with ulterior motives.

Zheng Hao turned his head slightly and looked at the anxious clerk beside him, saying, "Starting tomorrow, you will come and help me continue to check the account books."

"As for the accounts of the Red Army, this matter is of great importance, and I will consider it first."

Upon hearing Lord Zheng's words, the junior official was overjoyed and promised not to speak recklessly outside.

Then, with Lord Zheng's permission, the minor official also went off duty.

Looking at the ledger in his hand, Zheng Hao fell into deep thought.

Emperor Jian'an issued an edict appointing him as the acting assistant director of the Ministry of Revenue. When Zheng Hao entered the Ministry of Revenue to audit the accounts, he realized that the matter was not so simple.

After the Qingzhou Prefecture tax silver case is solved, the Ministry of Revenue will be in a state of panic and everyone will feel insecure. Under such circumstances, even if they had colluded with local authorities to embezzle tax silver, they will quietly return the embezzled tax silver to the national treasury, taking advantage of the opportunity deliberately given to them by Emperor Jian'an.

This was a tacit understanding between Emperor Jian'an and his court officials; there was absolutely no need for Zheng Hao to temporarily serve as the Assistant Minister of Revenue and continue to investigate tax revenues in various regions.

On the surface, this decree was meant to allow Zheng Hao to temporarily assume the position of Assistant Minister of Revenue, seemingly as a way to promote someone the decree favored.

However, on the very night he received the imperial edict, Zheng Hao understood Emperor Jian'an's meaning.

Emperor Jian'an wanted him to enter the Ministry of Revenue to investigate the names of tax silver in various regions and to audit other accounts.

After several days of verification, although there were some discrepancies in the tax revenue and other accounts in various places, none of them were major issues. The only problem was the 600,000 taels of silver used to pacify the Red-Clad Army.

In just two months, 600,000 taels of silver were spent, while the Red Army's annual grain and fodder did not exceed 200,000 taels.

After closing the ledger, Zheng Hao returned home with a normal expression.

As he entered the courtyard, a servant stepped forward and reported, "Sir, your husband has come looking for you and is waiting inside."

These days he's been busy, and although he knows Uncle Gu has come looking for him, Uncle Gu has already turned off the lights and gone to sleep every time he gets home from work.

When he left for his shift in the morning, the other person was still asleep, so if you calculate carefully, the two of them had not seen each other for seven or eight days.

He spoke, asking the servant, "Has my husband had dinner yet?"

The servant replied, "No, my husband came to the front yard to look for you as soon as he returned."

Nodding slightly, Zheng Hao thought for a moment and then instructed, "Go to the kitchen and have them prepare a stir-fried vegetable dish, braised prawns, garlic ribs, Dongpo pork knuckle, and Eight Treasures Soup. That's all. Now that the weather is getting cooler, don't serve any more cold dishes."

The servant replied, "Yes." Zheng Hao thought for a moment and added, "Prepare another bowl of milk and peach gum."

The ingredients for Bazhen Tang are all medicinal herbs. Uncle Gu doesn't like the taste of medicinal herbs, but Bazhen Tang is good for his health, so let's use milk and peach gum to sweeten it.

Seeing that the master had not given any further instructions, the servant acknowledged and then ran to the kitchen.

Upon entering the room and passing the screen, Zheng Hao saw a slender figure sitting with his back to him. The person's elbows were bent and his head was slightly lowered, as if he were reading a book.

Fearing that Uncle Gu might be startled by suddenly speaking while he was engrossed in his work, Zheng Hao approached him and softly called out, "Uncle Gu."

Immediately putting down the geographical map in his hand, Gu Lin turned around and exclaimed with delight, "You're back!"

He sat down next to the young man and saw that the man had almost finished reading the geographical map in his hand, so he knew that the man had been waiting for him for a long time.

Zheng Hao lowered his eyes slightly and apologized to the young man: "The Ministry of Revenue has been busy these days, and I have been unable to spare the time to neglect Uncle Gu. I hope Uncle Gu will forgive me."

Gu Lin paused. The other person's words seemed to make sense, but for some reason, hearing the apology made Gu Lin feel a strange feeling.

Speaking again, Zheng Hao diverted Gu Lin's attention: "Uncle Gu, is there something you need from me?"

Upon hearing Zheng Hao's question, Gu Lin stopped paying attention to what the other person had said earlier.

In fact, if he were more sensitive and observant, he would have noticed the strangeness in Zheng Hao's words. The word "neglect" has always only appeared in the relationship between husband and wife.

This often refers to a man who is busy with other things and neglects his wife and husband.

It's rather strange to use this between elders and younger generations.