Chapter 143 Ministry of Revenue

West of the city, Cao Mansion, Kuiyuan.

I don’t know if I got used to getting up early a few days ago, but Cao Yong woke up just after Yinchu. Today is the first day he worked in the Ministry of Revenue. As a fifth-rank official, although logically speaking, the third-rank guard should be the fifth-rank doctor of the same level. However, the sixth-rank doctor is the chief officer of each department, and Cao Yong is a bit inappropriate in terms of qualifications and age. Fortunately, Mr. Kangxi is also a person who knows the truth and still keeps the position of Cao Yong as a third-rank guard.

From being a guard and accompanied by the guard and becoming an officer of the guard and a subordinate, Cao Yong rubbed his neck, and at least he sounded much brighter.

Now it is early winter, and it is still dark outside the window. Cao Yong put on his clothes and got out of bed, touched and lit the candles. As soon as he found the flint to light it, he heard the sound of the doors and footsteps in the yard.

Amethyst and Zhuer all got up and lifted the curtains and came in.

"It's still early? You've all got up?" Cao Yong asked with a smile.

Zhu'er went to take the water, Cui'er looked for a comb, and Zijing replied: "It was always this time in the past, and the servants woke up at the moment. They were originally thinking about letting the uncle sleep for a while, but when they saw the lights on, they knew that the uncle had also gotten up!"

Cao Yong washed his face, rinsed his mouth with green salt, and then sat down, Cui'er waited for him to comb his hair.

Amethyst put the new official uniform on his shoulders, held the beads, and put them on the table. Cui'er braided Cao Yong, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that the old man would be an official so young! I heard that officials all have to ride in sedan chairs. Will the old man also want to ride in sedan chairs in the future?"

Cao Yong thought of the rules of civil servants in Beijing. Except for the third-rank or above who can ride in a large sedan chair carried by four people, the rest were carried by two people, which was funny to think about.

Zi Jing heard this and said, "Yes, uncle, it's getting cold when we see it. It's not close to the yamen here. Should we also prepare an official sedan?"

Cao Yong hurriedly said, "Don't mention this again. Uncle Zhong had just been talking for a long time two days ago, and I tried hard to convince him. Now, I am not as a guard yet! If I ride in a sedan chair, I am afraid I will make people laugh!"

While talking, Chai'er and Huan'er came in with snacks. The time for office work in the ministry is the same as the morning court time. The winter and spring are the beginning of the Chen Dynasty (7 o'clock in the morning), so there was no need to go early. However, today is the first day of the lunar calendar, and all the officials above the seventh rank and above Beijing officials were going. Cao Yong had breakfast, changed his court uniform, and prepared to go early.

Seeing that Cao Yong was not wearing the string of coral beads, Zhu'er held it in both hands and said, "Uncle, there is this one!"

Cao Yong straightened the hat in the mirror, then waved his hand and said, "That's too eye-catching. The guards don't wear it, but they don't have it from the fifth-rank official!"

After leaving the second gate, it was getting brighter and Xiaoman was already waiting here and changed into new clothes. When he saw Cao Yong, he smiled and said, "The uncle's official uniform is really grand!" He said this, scratched his head and said, "But this pigeon is a bit fat!"

When Cao Yong heard this, he couldn't help laughing out loud and looked down. Xiaoman was right. The white squid of the fifth-rank civil servant's replenishment looks like a fat pigeon at first glance.

When he arrived at the front yard, the housekeeper Cao Zhong, Wei Hei Wei Bai, Wu Mao, and Wu Sheng were all waiting. Originally, Cao Yong wanted to save Wei Bai from his morning errands in the mansion and was a free agent or something, but Wei Bai didn't do it. He said himself that it was just this kind of strength that could serve as a guard and follower, but he really couldn't handle it.

The Ministry of Revenue is located on the east side of Tiananmen Gate, next to the palace wall. Because he wanted to go to the palace for the first time, Cao Yong did not go there, but went outside the Meridian Gate to wait for court.

There is still half an hour before the court meeting, but there are already many people outside the Meridian Gate, but everyone is standing in a relatively low position, and there are empty seats in front. Cao Yong knew in his heart that this is the rule. The more noble the prince is, the more he is, the more he is afraid he will step on.

Although it was not whispering, the officials waiting to attend court were still talking in groups of three or three. Although the grand ceremony today was not held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony as before, but in front of the Meridian Gate, the ceremony of promulgating the following annual calendar was held.

Cao Yong didn't know a few of those low-level Beijing officials; those higher-level Beijingers looked familiar, most of whom had met by chance at the Ganqing Gate when they were studying in the study room. Among them, there were several whom Cao Yong had accompanied the social events when Cao Yin came to Beijing last year. At present, he had no interest in coming forward to talk, but only looked at the men's clothes and stood behind the fifth and sixth ranks.

When he was a guard, he had attended a grand ceremony, but it was just a formality. Although it was solemn, it was very boring. The same is true today, it was just a formality, but it took him half an hour until the court was dispersed for two quarters of an hour.

Yesterday, when Cao Yong went to the Ministry of Personnel to handle documents, he carefully asked the Ministry of Revenue. From the east of the Meridian Gate, there were a row of high-walled courtyards next to the palace wall. The first one was the Ministry of Revenue, and the second one was the Ministry of Revenue.

There are special pen-paper-style duty at the gate of the yamen. After checking the waist sign, please sign in with the adults entering.

After entering the Ministry of Revenue, except for the main rooms, there were rooms surrounded by houses with different plaques hanging, such as "Jiangnan Department", "Shandong Department", "Huguang Department", etc.

In the Ministry of Revenue, except for the Manchu and Han Shangshu and the left and right ministers, they are all considered officials of the hall and deputy officials of the hall, such as the doctor, the official, the chief official, and the pen style.

The Holy Decree only asked Cao Yong to come to the Ministry of Revenue to serve as the Minister of Revenue, but the specific position on duty depends on the arrangements of the chief officer. Unfortunately, Shangshu Man was appointed by him yesterday and had not come to the hall yet. Shangshu Han was sick for a long time and only had a minister here, so it was difficult to arrange personnel directly.

It was not until the fourth day of the lunar month that the newly appointed Manchu Secretary Mu Helun took office that Cao Yong was assigned to the Fujian Department, and it was not until the official duty of the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue Department has a total of fourteen departments under the jurisdiction of Jiangnan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Huguang, Fujian, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou.

In addition to being in charge of financial-related affairs of the corresponding provinces, each department also has its own management. For example, the Jiangnan Department is also responsible for Jiangning, Suzhou Weaving and Distribution, Jiangning and Jingkou garrisons, and those who have not paid the surplus garrisons in each province have exceeded the limit. The Huguang Department is also responsible for provincial factory garrisons, Jingzhou garrisons, and the number of local garrisons in each province. The Shandong Department is also responsible for Qingzhou and Dezhou garrisons, and the military cashiers in the three eastern provinces, participating in the ticket tax, and inspecting the officials of the Eight Banners, Changlu and other salt garrisons. The Fujian Department is also responsible for the civil service tax, Tianjin sea tax, Dongxiling, Rehe, Miyun garrisons, Dairy cattle and horse herding orders, Civil and Military Township Association Trials, and Five Cities Relief Mills.

The chief officials of each department are doctors, and the ones who are doing business are in charge and pens. As the deputy chief officials, Cao Yong really had no plans to get started for a while, and the new official journey was to kick off in a leisurely manner.

On the fifth day of the lunar month, the day when the Cao family made a grand ceremony to the Prince Chun's mansion. Because the ceremony of passing the rituals through the letters needs to be held in the morning, Cao Yong took a day off and brought the betrothal gifts to the Prince Chun's mansion to make a grand ceremony. A few days ago, Cao Jia had already asked the Prince Chun's mansion for the size of the clothes and "small days" of the clothes, and then calculated the wedding date.

It was not that the Cao family deliberately luxurious, but that there were too many gifts that were given, which led to a huge gift-giving team.

Small betrothal gifts must be packed in big red boxes. The one-lift box has four layers, three feet long and one and a half feet wide, each layer is six inches deep, and each layer can only hold two gifts. There are not many things, and the first layer must be empty, so you can only hold a worship box containing a gift list. In this way, the box alone is already sixty-four.

According to the rules, there must be "goose cage", "fish pond", "water sea", etc., all of which are hexagonal column cages, and all the items must be symmetrical. Each container can only be filled with one pair, which is sixteen.

There are also ruler materials, clothes for all seasons, jewelry for the head, face, bedding, pork elbow, lamb legs, dried and fresh fruits... and the meticulous items are consumed by countless people.

Only in this way would Cao Yong feel that his family had few people. He would use all the men who could use them, and he would have to borrow some people from the Ping Palace to help him.

Although it was tedious and troublesome, the results received were good. Prince Chun and the concubine were very satisfied with this decent betrothal gift. Cao Yong also breathed a sigh of relief and finally did not work in vain. In Prince Chun's mansion, he had to make some courtesy ceremony and set the auspicious date for marriage to be the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month.

After returning to Cao's mansion, Cao Yong told Zijing that the people from Prince Chun's mansion would come to measure the size of the new house and make furniture in recent days, and asked her to have a preparation.

Seeing Zhu'er coming up with tea, Cao Yong remembered that he had seen the four-season clothes for the bride in the betrothal gift before. Although the clothes were not fat and thin at this time, they could tell the height. Judging from the size, the big princess was not too short. It could reach his shoulders, so it was about the same height as Zhu'er. He thought about it himself, and looked at Zhu'er again and measured it.

Cao Yong was unintentional, but Zhu'er was secretly embarrassed. She was embarrassed to stay for a long time because of the presence of Amethyst. She put the tea and took the refreshments, and then turned away.

Zi Jing saw it and shook her head secretly. Look at the little master, she would not take over the house before the wedding. And this is marrying the daughter of the Tian family, how can the people in this house be easy to do?

*

On the seventh day of the 10th month, the manager of the Prince Chun's mansion came to measure the size of the new house. Because the person in charge was the inner courtyard, the head of the house was sent by two nannies.

These two nannies, one is Ersuli and the other is Guarjia. They are both the top nanny in charge of the royal family and the confidant of King Chun Fujin. They come to work as a chore to measure the house, and they also have some intention of inspecting the people in Cao Yong's house. Do you always have to prepare for the eldest princess to marry? The Cao family has no relatives, so the eldest princess has to support the family. After all, she is still young. If anyone affects the status of the eldest princess, it is not tolerated by the royal family.

After hearing the doorman's report, Amethyst hurriedly welcomed the door.

The two nannies were stunned when they saw Zijing. That day, Zijing followed Cao Jia, and they had seen her. At that time, Zijing followed Cao Jia, and they thought she was the manager of Prince Ping's Mansion. When they saw it, they still thought that Cao Jia sent someone to help his younger brother, so they didn't care too much.

Although Cao Yi is waiting to marry a daughter and ignores family affairs, the two nannies should first meet her according to the rules. They first went to the bamboo courtyard to meet Cao Yi under the guidance of Amethyst.

Cao Yi said a few words of politeness, then introduced Apricot to the two nannies, and smiled and asked them to find Apricot if they had something to do, and asked Apricot to take them to the East Courtyard to measure the room.

Only then did the two nannies realize that Zijing was the "female manager" of the Cao Mansion. They couldn't help but look at Zijing, who was dressed up by her daughter. They looked at each other, and their thoughts were in their hearts.

After leaving the bamboo courtyard and entering the main courtyard, Madam Guarjia began to look at the arrangements everywhere and nodded secretly. No wonder the concubine praised the Cao family for being particular about doing things. The etiquette of small and big is extremely exquisite. Looking at the house, I know that the owner is a elegant person. I thought so, but there was no expression on the slightest expression.

Well, Madam Suri seemed to ignore the surrounding scenery at all, with a slightly dull smile and a plain tone. She asked Amethyst politely how old she is and what she cares about.

When she heard that the amethyst was twenty-three, Madam Essuri's surprised expression flashed across her face, and Madam Guarja, who had been silent, was slightly moved.

When Zijing saw it, she knew that the two of them had misunderstood, and she was a little embarrassed. A 23-year-old girl was in the house of the young master. It was difficult for anyone to misunderstand. Zijing first changed the topic and then explained her identity tactfully around the corner.

When the two nannies heard this, they were mixed with joy and sorrow. They were happy that this girl was not the one in the house of the princess, so they didn't have to worry about being favored by the big prince in the future; they were worried that this girl was so smart and was in charge of the inner house. If she had been as gentle as she was now, she would have to spend some effort if she wanted to suppress her.

After entering the room, Zhuer Cui'er and four maids came to greet the guests. The two nannies saw countless people. Seeing that the girls had never been taken, they were all happy for their own princesses. However, seeing that the few of them were all beautiful women and were gentle and gentle, they couldn't help but worry about the future.

Madam Guarja nodded slightly to Madam Essuli, and then began to instruct people to come in and measure the size of the house, and wrote them down one by one as the place where the box was placed. Madam Essuli called several people outside the house on the grounds of not being blocked. She chatted with several people with a few words, intentionally or unintentionally pressing them.
Chapter completed!