I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 225 Shen Nian's New Die-hard Fan: With this method alone, Ziheng can go down in history.

October 17th, at dawn.

North of the Daming Gate, on the west side, at the Ministry of Revenue, officials began to arrive at their offices one after another.

Liu Sijie, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Pang Shan and Feng Xuan, the Assistant Ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, learned from the clerks guarding the yamen that Shen Nian had not gone home the night before, having been busy until the fourth watch of the night, and had fallen asleep on the soft couch in the tea room of the Right Vice Minister's Hall.

Inside the Left Vice Minister's Hall.

Liu Sijie looked at Pang Shan and Feng Xuan, her face ashen, and asked, "All the documents I asked Shen Youtang to handle are in your hands, and the canal transport settlement documents were also drafted by you. Even if he made some modifications and copied them again, he didn't need to work all night long. Who is this for?"

"This humble official...this humble official...I never expected Shen Youtang to act this way. This is really inconsistent with his usual reputation!" Pang Shan said helplessly.

Feng Xuan's eyes darted around, and he said, "Lord Zuo, why don't you go and see for yourself what Shen Youtang did last night?"

Liu Sijie paused for a moment, put her hands behind her back, took a deep breath, and looked at the two of them.

"When you drafted the canal transport accounting documents yesterday, did you keep a copy?"

Pang Shan hesitated for a moment.

"Yes...yes, but, Lord Zuo, Elder Yin ordered the two of us to assist Shen Youtang. The two of us were to write the accounting documents, and Shen Youtang would revise them and submit them. It's not exactly a mistake, is it? He's new here, so shouldn't we just turn a blind eye to this?"

Pang Shan was clearly terrified of offending Shen Nian.

"Humph!"

Liu Sijie snorted coldly.

"I hate evil as if it were my enemy, and I cannot tolerate even a grain of sand in my eyes. You are afraid of offending him, but I am not afraid of offending him. In the Ministry of Revenue, I will not allow such a pretentious and hypocritical person to exist. I must teach him a lesson, otherwise, if his all-nighter gets back to the cabinet and to His Majesty's ears, he will think that we are incompetent and that only he is tireless in his dedication to public service day and night!"

After the implementation of the self-examination system, a large number of officials, from local areas to the capital, emerged who were "busy but achieved nothing, or even busy but useless."

They consume two to three times more public candles per month than their colleagues, and they stay up far more often than their colleagues, yet they have not achieved any political success.

However, as long as they have connections above them or bribe the clerks around their superiors to spread rumors and create a persona of "diligent work and dedication to public service," their careers will be much smoother than those of other officials.

Liu Sijie felt that Shen Nianchu entered the Ministry of Revenue because he thought he was not good at accounting, so he thought he would make a name for himself by being diligent and take shortcuts in order to be promoted again as soon as possible. However, his behavior was really too ugly and he treated everyone else like fools.

The impression Shen Nian had of him in the past has completely collapsed.

Immediately, Liu Sijie strode towards the office of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, with Pang Shan and Feng Xuan following closely behind.

……

After a while.

The three arrived at the tea room of the Right Vice Minister's Hall.

Shen Nian lay sprawled on the soft couch, dressed in a plain undergarment, with a brocade quilt draped diagonally over her stomach.

The official robes, hat, and belt were all hanging on a chair to the side, while one of the official boots lay on the ground and the other on a table not far away, clearly having been kicked out with the foot.

Shen Nian snored evenly, soundly asleep.

"This is truly an insult to scholarship!" Liu Sijie said with a dark face.

Liu Sijie, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, developed a meticulous habit of doing everything because he dealt with accounts and figures for many years.

He was very clean and always did things in an orderly manner.

The requirements for officials under the Ministry of Revenue were very strict, and the officials they disliked most were those who were forgetful and careless.

He demanded—

On the desk of the Ministry of Revenue, the pens in the pen holder must be wrapped in cotton paper and placed with the ends facing down, and the abacus must be returned to its original position after use.

No document submitted to him for review could contain a single typo, a single ink smudge, or a single folded page.

Officials are strictly prohibited from chatting during official business hours, and the time spent in the yamen (official residence) for using the toilet or drinking tea shall not exceed half a quarter of an hour.

Within the government offices, the possession of any unnecessary personal items is prohibited.

……

Anyone who violates the rules will be severely scolded by him.

Shen Nian turned the tea room into a bedroom and threw her clothes around in a mess, which greatly displeased Liu Sijie.

And this moment.

Pang Shan and Feng Xuan, officials from the Ministry of Revenue, focused their attention on Shen Nian's face.

He had a handsome face, fair and delicate skin, no wrinkles around his eyes, and, most importantly, a head of thick, black hair.

This made the two of them very envious.

Both of them had fallen ill due to overwork, and different doctors had told them the same thing: those who frequently stay up late tend to have thinning hair, look older, and are more likely to die young.

Since the implementation of the self-examination system, everyone in the Ministry of Revenue has aged, and their hair has become increasingly sparse.

You can't tell unless he's wearing an official hat.

But every time they looked in the mirror at home, they felt they couldn't stay up late anymore, or they would really die young.

However, the tasks at the Ministry of Revenue at that time could not be completed without staying up all night.

Pang Shan and Feng Xuan had just reached the age of forty, but in the past two years they had aged like people in their fifties.

Shen Nian has delicate features and thick hair, and looks even younger than a twenty-year-old student at the Imperial Academy.

The two men, after observing Shen Nian's appearance and demeanor, came to the conclusion that he was completely out of step with the other officials in the Ministry of Revenue and was not suited to stay there.

"Cough cough... cough cough...!"

Liu Sijie coughed a few times, intending to wake Shen Nian, but Shen Nian was sleeping very soundly and did not react at all.

"Cough cough!"

"Cough cough!"

……

Liu Sijie coughed a few more times, and seeing that Shen Nian still didn't react, she said angrily, "The national land survey is not yet finished, how can the officials of the Ministry of Revenue be in such a good mood to sleep so soundly!"

Pang Shan and Feng Xuan, on the other hand, were quite envious of Shen Nian's sleep quality.

Liu Sijie walked quickly to Shen Nian and began to shake Shen Nian's shoulders. After shaking her several times, Shen Nian finally woke up groggily.

Upon seeing Liu Sijie, he quickly stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "Lord Zuo, my apologies! My apologies!"

Liu Sijie said irritably, "This is a tea room, not a bedroom. Lord Shen may sleep at home, but not here. Besides, is this how official robes, hats, and boots are arranged?"

"I was wrong, I'll clean up right away, I'll clean up right away!" Shen Nian said as she put on her official robes.

He did not respond to Liu Sijie's criticism.

Liu Sijie asked, "Lord Shen, how is the drafting of the grain transport accounting document coming along?"

"Almost done! Almost done. I've stayed up until the fourth watch just to do this. After I wash up, I'll... then I'll report to Lord Zuo. Physician Pang, Physician Feng, you should also listen. I've made some improvements that will benefit the writing of all the Ministry of Revenue's accounting documents in the future!"

"Yes!" Pang Shan and Feng Xuan bowed and cupped their hands, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes.

I didn't expect Shen Nian to speak so arrogantly. He's only just arrived at the Ministry of Revenue, and he's already preparing to instruct the officials there.

Looking at Shen Nian's busy and disorganized appearance, Liu Sijie said, "Lord Shen, let's meet in the Left Vice Minister's Hall in a quarter of an hour!"

Liu Sijie had just caught a glimpse of the Right Vice Minister's Hall covered in papers and found it quite disgusting. Therefore, she wanted Shen Nian to go to the Left Vice Minister's Hall so she could give Shen Nian a severe scolding.

"No problem! No problem!" Shen Nian said with a smile, speaking in a very amiable manner.

As Liu Sijie, Pang Shan, and Feng Xuan stepped out of the teahouse, they heard Shen Nian say to a clerk beside him, "Quickly tell the chef to make me a bowl of wontons, and add plenty of vinegar!"

"Yes!"

"The meeting is in fifteen minutes, and he's still thinking about getting special treatment?" Liu Sijie gritted her teeth.

His meticulous nature clashed with Shen Nian's easygoing personality, leaving him constantly on the verge of exploding with anger.

If it weren't for the fact that Shen Nian had repeatedly offered valuable suggestions to the court and was of the same rank as him, he would have kicked Shen Nian out of the Ministry of Revenue long ago.

……

About fifteen minutes later, Shen Nian arrived at the Left Vice Minister's Hall carrying a stack of rolled-up papers and a document on canal transport accounting.

He placed the wads of papers on the long table in the middle, then picked up the canal transport settlement document and handed it to Liu Sijie.

"Lord Zuo, this is the accounting document written by Physician Pang and Physician Feng yesterday. I haven't changed a single word. I feel that the content of this type of document is too bloated. Not only is the accounting complicated and time-consuming, but it also affects His Majesty's reading. I think we should change the document template for the Ministry of Revenue and even for local prefectures."

"Where is your template?" Liu Sijie asked.

"belch!"

at this time.

Shen Nian couldn't help but let out a burp, and a strong smell of pork and scallions wafted out, causing Liu Sijie to cover her nose.

"Lord Shen, you wouldn't dare to be so presumptuous in the cabinet or before the Emperor! If this is just empty talk, I... I will definitely impeach you before His Majesty!" Liu Sijie was somewhat annoyed.

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Shen Nian looked helpless. He was indeed too tired last night, and he had eaten the wontons in a hurry. Otherwise, he would not have made such a rude mistake.

immediately.

Shen Nian pulled a roll of paper from the desk and slowly unrolled it.

Liu Sijie, Pang Shan, and Feng Xuan looked at what was displayed on the paper and were all somewhat bewildered.

On a large sheet of paper, on the far left are two long, horizontal and vertical lines. Above these lines are three pillar-like bars, each with three layers. Above these bars are curves of varying thicknesses and colors.

Above this image are some numbers, and below the image are lines of small text annotations.

It looks very neat.

However, it seems to have nothing to do with the canal transport settlement documents.

Liu Sijie glanced at it and then glared at him, saying, "Lord Shen, were you a carpenter before you entered officialdom? This strangely shaped blueprint can replace accounting documents? If you're joking, this joke is far too far. I don't have time to play your nonsense!"

After saying that, Liu Sijie got up to leave.

"Lord Zuo, give me a quarter of an hour. Every piece of data from the Ministry of Revenue is related to people's livelihood. How could I be fooling around!" Shen Nian said seriously.

Liu Sijie immediately sat down again.

Shen Nian called out to the two clerks not far away, "Come on, you two, hold up this big piece of paper!"

Immediately, two clerks raised up a large sheet of paper, and Shen Nian began to explain.

"Lord Zuo, and the two senior officials, the official documents of the Ministry of Revenue mostly contain data, which is cumbersome and messy. It is troublesome to compile and report, and the listeners need to spend a lot of energy to understand them. It is time-consuming and laborious, which affects efficiency. It would be better to visualize them and combine text and graphics. This will undoubtedly improve efficiency a lot."

“Look closely at this diagram. I have drawn three long pillars, each with three layers. These three layers, from bottom to top, represent the amount of grain to be transported, the amount of silver to be transported, and the total amount of silver for the construction of the transport boats and river works.”

"The first graph shows the total silver paid in spring, the second in summer, and the third in autumn—the data from this reconciliation document. From this graph, we can clearly see the changes in various types of silver paid in spring, summer, and autumn, with increases and decreases, making comparisons very easy. These curves of different sizes and colors show the trends in the amount of grain transported, the amount of silver paid in silver, and the total amount of silver paid for the construction of grain transport boats and river works, respectively. With this graph, there is no need for us to use nearly three hundred words to explain where more silver was spent, where less silver was spent, where there was a deficit, and where the silver and grain consumed exceeded the silver and grain approved by the court..."

"These two lines, the left and right lines can represent time, daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly. Let's assume one space is a month, then twelve spaces are a year. The up and down lines can represent the increase or decrease in the amount of goods or money. I didn't draw the bottom of this diagram. If I were to draw it completely, it would be a cross-shaped coordinate axis that can represent many things."

……

"Let me give you an example. For instance, river officials would record the number of grain transport boats passing through the locks each day in written form. It would often be like this: 1st day: 23 boats passed; 2nd day: 35 boats passed; 3rd day: 58 boats passed (the number surged, and the reasons were investigated in detail)... The Ministry of Revenue would also see these kinds of documents when they finally checked the number of grain transport boats. It was extremely laborious. But if we used this kind of bar chart, we could just make one bar chart each month and then add text annotations below it. It would be easy to store and easy to see the trend of change."

……

"Furthermore, most of the current accounting documents of the Ministry of Revenue are distinguished by the color of the document cover, with some dots and triangles as symbols. The content is extensive, but there is a lack of summarization using such charts. This kind of bar chart can also be used for land surveys. Each county can draw a map, marking the various types of land surveyed that month, then sign it, and submit it to the prefecture. The prefecture then submits it to the province for compilation. Finally, the Ministry of Revenue will have a clear measurement map, which can then summarize the land survey situation of each province again. There is no need to use an abacus for accounting..."

"This map can be used to represent not only the grain transport and land surveying, but also the border town pay, warehouse supervisors, imperial magistrates, imperial princes, officials, salaries, granaries, military garrison pay, salt laws, tea laws, currency laws, customs, and miscellaneous taxes in provinces, prefectures, and counties."

……

As Shen Nian spoke earnestly, Liu Sijie, Pang Shan, and Feng Xuan, who had initially been dismissive and puzzled, became very focused.

The current documents and ledgers of the Ministry of Revenue already have land parcel numbers, mileage numbers, and are arranged in order of height. There are even clearly classified four-column lists (old management, new receipts, dismissals, and actual assets) and long scroll-style Yellow River waterway marking maps.

However, most of them are text-based and lack this more visual coordinate system thinking.

Seeing that the three of them understood some of what he had said, Shen Nian immediately took out the other types of graphics he had drawn.

“There wasn’t enough time last night, so my drawing wasn’t rigorous enough. The previous one was a combination of bar chart and line chart, mainly to present the comparison of amounts and trends. This is a pie chart. At the end of this year, the revenue and expenditure categories of Taicang can be compared using this pie chart, which directly shows the proportion of each category. In addition, there is this complete cross-shaped coordinate system, which can be used to represent various data items from deficit to profit.”

……

Last night, while drawing, Shen Nian actually thought of Arabic numerals, which would be more convenient to use in conjunction with coordinate axes.

But after thinking it over, I decided not to take it out for the time being.

Because counterfeiting was rampant during the Ming Dynasty.

The Ming Code explicitly states that documents containing a large number of numbers, such as the Ministry of Revenue's account books, grain transport documents, and land registration, must use "壹贰叁肆" (one, two, three, four), and even "一二三四" (one, two, three, four) are not allowed.

In addition, abacuses and documents are written vertically, while Arabic numerals are written horizontally. People cannot accept this in the short term.

Shen Nian did not promote it.

After Shen Nian finished explaining, she looked at the three people who were still somewhat stunned and asked, "Was it because... I spoke too fast? Did I not explain it clearly?"

"No...no...no, Ziheng, you explained it very well. Let me study these diagrams again and think about it carefully!"

His way of addressing Shen Nian suddenly changed, and his tone became more respectful.

“Me too!” Pang Shan and Feng Xuan said at the same time.

Immediately, the three of them began to study the several drawings that Shen Nian had created.

Shen Nian sat to the side, closed her eyes, and prepared to take a nap.

About half an hour later, Liu Sijie suddenly started crying.

He first sobbed softly, then his voice gradually grew louder, and he burst into loud wailing.

He cried but did not speak.

This startled Shen Nian, Pang Shan, and Feng Xuan, who immediately tried to comfort them and inquired about the reason.

Just as Shen Nian was about to order someone to summon the imperial physician, Liu Sijie finally stopped crying.

His eyes were red and tears streamed down his face as he looked at Shen Nian.

"Ziheng, these diagrams are excellent and ingenious, especially this invention called the coordinate system. It looks like two intersecting lines, but... it can hold a lot of data. If I had known about this method earlier, the Wanli Accounting Records might have been compiled long ago. This method should be vigorously promoted! Vigorously promoted!"

Liu Sijie is proficient in mathematics and is knowledgeable in the field.

The charts and coordinate systems that Shen Nian mentioned can reduce the workload of officials from the bottom up.

When two government departments compile the same data, they can simply compare the types of charts, which is convenient and quick. Moreover, when the cabinet and the six ministries conduct inspections, the results are clear at a glance. If there are any errors or omissions, they can be identified by comparing the amplitude of the line graphs.

When many government offices look at the Ministry of Revenue's data, what they really want to see is the comparison of data in charts and graphs, rather than a lot of data and explanatory text.

This method saves time, effort, and trouble.

This would at least reduce the amount of candles consumed by the officials in the Ministry of Revenue by half each month.

Seeing Liu Sijie's high praise, Shen Nian knew that her hard work last night had not been in vain.

Currently, there is indeed a severe shortage of this kind of numerical-graphical thinking.

"Last night was rather rushed, and I haven't yet formed a complete teaching plan for this method in my mind. I will write a complete teaching plan in the next two days and explain it in more detail to the officials of our Ministry of Revenue. This method can be used by the court and by ordinary people. In addition, coordinate axes and charts have great extensibility. I believe that if they are handed over to the court officials who are proficient in mathematics, they will definitely play a greater role!"

Liu Sijie looked at Shen Nian and suddenly bowed deeply to her.

"Lord Zuo, this junior is unworthy of such an honor!" Shen Nian quickly interjected.

"You deserve it. I was being narrow-minded. I thought you were slacking off and was even thinking of scolding you. I apologize!"

Pang Shan and Feng Xuan also bowed and clasped their hands in greeting to Shen Nian.

The two looked at Shen Nian with admiration, and even wanted to kowtow to her.

Shen Nian's move will bring tangible benefits to the officials of the Ministry of Revenue. Their number of all-nighters will be greatly reduced, and their efficiency will be greatly improved.

"Ziheng, with this method alone, you will be remembered in history. In the future, you can do whatever you want in the Ministry of Revenue. You are the benefactor of all those who compile accounts!" Liu Sijie grabbed Shen Nian's hand, her eyes glistening with tears, and she was extremely excited.

Only those who do the bookkeeping can truly understand what Shen Nian's actions today will bring them.

(End of this chapter)