Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 240: Just a Village Woman
Qianqing Palace, warm room.

The cabinet and Emperor Hongzhi were listening to the financial report of the Minister of Revenue Qin Hong. Many core financial secrets were known to everyone in the entire empire.

Qin Hong analyzed the local finances of each provincial government based on the monthly profit situation, comparing not only the operating conditions of each month this year but also last year.

The financial data of the Ministry of Revenue can reflect a lot of things. The emperor and the cabinet not only want to know how much money is left in the Ministry of Revenue, but also need to find out the various problems of each provincial government within a year from the financial data of the Ministry of Revenue.

However, many of the month-on-month data fluctuate greatly, making it difficult to compare them in detail. The same is true for analogies, where the data fluctuate greatly every month and require a lot of time to analyze.

When Zhu Houzhao came to the warm room, Qin Hong was about to stop the financial report, but Emperor Hongzhi said: "He is the crown prince, it is time for him to listen, you can speak."

"Houchao, come here."

Emperor Hongzhi waved to Zhu Houzhao, motioning him to sit down next to him, and whispered, "Listen carefully, don't think it's boring. I will teach you after you finish listening."

Zhu Houzhao whispered, "Father, I will leave the palace tomorrow."

Emperor Hongzhi signaled him not to speak and to listen attentively to the report from Qin Hong of the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to listen carefully.

After Qin Hong finished talking about the financial data of a provincial government, he handed the account book to Emperor Hongzhi. Zhu Houzhao looked at the account book casually out of boredom.

This is the account book of Nanzhili. In June of this year, Nanzhili rented 13 express delivery outlets at one time and paid 12,000 taels of silver.

Zhu Houzhao interrupted Qin Hong and said, "Nanzhi's profit in June was much lower than last year, and also much lower than other months this year. Is the large fluctuation due to the leasing of express delivery outlets?"

Qin Hong smiled and said, "The prince is smart, that's exactly the case."

Zhu Houzhao said: "Your accounting method is wrong. You paid a year's lease fee in one lump sum, but the monthly rental cost is actually only one thousand taels of silver. So the cost for that month should be only this one thousand taels, not the entire twelve thousand taels of silver."

"Of course, if you keep accounts this way, the profits of a certain month will fluctuate greatly. You have to apportion them."

This is what Zhu Houzhao heard from Chen Ce, and he learned and applied it immediately. He didn't know if it was correct, but it felt similar anyway.

Suddenly, the warm room fell into silence.

Qin Hong looked at Zhu Houzhao blankly, and Emperor Hongzhi said, "I told you not to interrupt Qin Aiqing's report. Shut up now."

Qin Hong said excitedly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, what the prince said is true, it will wake me up from my dream!"

"Yes, the prince is right. This cost should not be included in the current month, but should be spread over the twelve months. This is the only way to keep the data stable."

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince has provided me with a new idea for accounting in the Ministry of Revenue!"

Emperor Hongzhi asked Qin Hong in confusion, "Does what he said make sense?"

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince's suggestion is a revelation to accounting and business data!"

Emperor Hongzhi narrowed his eyes, glanced at Zhu Houzhao vaguely, and then said to Qin Hong: "Go on."

The three cabinet elders looked at Zhu Houzhao in confusion. If they had previously suspected that many of Zhu Houzhao's strategies and policies came from Emperor Hongzhi, today it was very strange. This obviously did not seem to be the work of Emperor Hongzhi.

It seems that there really is an expert behind the prince!

In the past, they even suspected that Yang Tinghe and Jiao Fang were coaching the prince behind the scenes, but now it seems that this is obviously not the case, and judging from the emperor's reaction, it seems that he already knew who it was.

After Qin Honghui finished his work, Emperor Hongzhi left him alone.

"If Lord Qin has time to go to this place, you may want to discuss some financial issues with him."

Emperor Hongzhi wrote down an address and gave it to Qin Hong, and told him, "His name is Chen Ce." "Don't tell anyone else about this."

Emperor Hongzhi knew that Zhu Houzhao must have learned the casual remarks from Chen Ce just now. He didn't know how many abilities Chen Ce had. He even had his own unique views on finance. This person... Emperor Hongzhi didn't know what to say.

The only regret was that the last time he sent the imperial physician Liu Wentai to treat Chen Ce, the bad news he brought back was that Chen Ce really would not live for a few more years and his physical condition was getting worse day by day.

Qin Hong was a little surprised. He wondered who this man named Chen Ce was and why the emperor valued him so much... Well, the underlying meaning of the emperor's words was that the crown prince's theory just now could not have been taught by this teacher named Chen Ce?
……

Early in the morning of the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Houzhao came to find Chen Ce early, and the two walked towards the plum garden.

Shuntian Express was on holiday, and Tang Yin had not been back to Suzhou Prefecture for almost a year. After sorting out the account books and telling all the funeral arrangements with Madam Wu, he asked for leave from Chen Ce and planned to return to Suzhou Prefecture to celebrate the New Year this year.

Mrs. Wu bought some gold ingots and paper money and went to the outskirts of Peking alone.

Her mother and brother were killed in a robbery, but she was the culprit. Afterwards, she collected the bodies, which was considered as repaying the other party for raising her.

At the end of this year, she went to the wild grave outside the city to pay tribute to the other party, and since then, they have settled their grudges.

Mrs. Wu held an umbrella and entered Peking from the north city.

The area outside the north city is relatively desolate, and occasionally you can see a few old farmers carrying firewood into the city to sell.

Everywhere you look outside the city, it's desolate.

In a pavilion, two men and one woman were resting.

Madam Wu entered the pavilion and cleared the snow off her body, otherwise her leather boots would get soaked if she kept walking.

This place is still some distance away from the South City.

"This young man is quite handsome. Let me play with him first before you take any action?" a woman in the pavilion spoke.

"What are you doing? How much money do you earn after each trip? Kill them early and take the money back to have a prosperous new year." A middle-aged man said casually.

Only the old man remained silent. He frowned and scolded, "Don't talk nonsense. People may hear you."

"How can an outsider be barbaric? Oh, there is a little girl, what does she know about barbarism?"

A gust of wind blew, and a scroll flew into Mrs. Wu's hands.

Madam Wu looked at the man in the scroll, thought for a moment, handed the scroll to the three people, and asked in a gentle voice, "Do you have anything to do with him?"

The old man frowned and asked, "Do you know him?"

Madam Wu nodded and said, "Yes, he came to North City to give out porridge before, and everyone in North City knows him."

"Can you take us to find him? Here, these three dollars are for you to guide us."

Madam Wu said "oh" and asked uncertainly, "Do you have anything to do with him?"

"It has nothing to do with you, so don't ask around." The old man scolded.

Madam Wu could only smile shyly.

The three looked at her warily, but the middle-aged man in the team said indifferently, "She's just a village woman. Master, don't be so nervous."

(End of this chapter)