On the first day of taking office, nothing seemed to happen.
Except for Jin Chun and the others, everything seemed to be moving on track.
But accidents always come very suddenly.
On the second day after taking office, Zhao Chen was called aside by his right servant Ma Hu as soon as he arrived at the Hubu Yamen.
"Master Shangshu, something happened!" Ma Hu said to Zhao Chen with a worried look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Chen asked.
"Master Shangshu, all the five hundred thousand guan of silver retained by the Ministry of Revenue was lost overnight."
"The whole warehouse is empty."
"Just now the Ministry of Industry came over with documents and asked us for the five hundred thousand silver coins to build a dike east of the river."
"Now that the money is gone, how can we pay the bills?"
Ma Hu was also worried to death at this moment.
He, the right minister of household affairs, is responsible for the affairs of the warehouse.
Every day he goes to the warehouse to take inventory.
After taking stock yesterday, I followed Zhao Chen to the banquet, and then had a day off in the afternoon.
When he came to take stock of the treasury again today, Ma Hu found that he had not seen any of the 500,000 guan of silver left in the treasury.
This year, the Tang Dynasty treasury only has half a million coins left.
The emperor had previously planned to let the Ministry of Revenue receive the money and send craftsmen to build embankments east of the river.
As a result, today the Minister of Household Affairs came to ask for money with documents from the Ministry of Works, but the result was this.
Ma Hu's mind is now filled with thoughts of death.
The remaining 500,000 yuan were missing, and the emperor would definitely put him, the person most responsible, on the head.
But where is he going to get the money now?
"All five hundred thousand silver coins are missing?" Zhao Chen frowned when he heard this.
Five hundred thousand guan, even if it is pulled by a horse-drawn carriage, it will take dozens of carts.
Zhao Chen immediately thought that there was a spy in the Hubu treasury.
But even if it was a mole, there was no way he could drag away dozens of cars worth of money without making any movement.
"They are all gone. My subordinates have already searched through the inventory, but still found nothing."
"Master Shangshu, this subordinate is guilty of death. Please save me, Master Shangshu." Ma Hu and Zhao Chen begged.
The disappearance of half a million guan of silver will be fine if it is recovered. Once the emperor finds out about it, it will be a capital crime for him.
It can even affect family members.
"Don't worry, let's go meet the people from the Ministry of Industry first." Zhao Chen waved his hand and walked to the living room of the Ministry of Revenue.
Ma Hu followed behind, his face full of worry.
…
"What's going on with you? I brought the documents with the saint's will."
"When will this money be handed over to me?"
"The situation in Hedong is critical. If we delay it for one day, it will become even more dangerous. If something happens, can you afford it?" shouted the minister of the Ministry of Works and the officials from the Ministry of Revenue in front of him in the living room of the Ministry of Revenue.
Officials from the Ministry of Revenue did not dare to take issue.
He also didn't expect that all the five hundred thousand silver coins that were in the treasury yesterday were gone overnight.
"Secretary Qi, if I keep saying anything, I'm afraid you won't be able to get the five hundred thousand gu silver today." Jin Chun, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue, slowly walked over and said with a smile.
"What's the meaning?"
"You dare to disobey me?" Qi, the Minister of Industry, stood up with a stern look on his face.
"Of course not." Jin Chun waved his hand and said with a smile: "The news just came that the five hundred thousand silver coins stored in the household treasury disappeared overnight."
"Shilang Qi can't get this money."
"Gone?" Qi Shilang's expression changed again.
"Why is it missing?"
"Fifty thousand yuan, that's life-saving money for the people in Hedong. Without money, what's the use of just sending people from the Ministry of Industry?"
"It's the rainy season now, and the canals in the east of the river may burst at some point."
"What did you do?" Qi Shilang said angrily.
He was worried about the people in Hedong, and also angry that the Ministry of Household Affairs had made such a big mistake.
"The money was still there yesterday morning, but at noon yesterday, our new Minister Zhao invited all the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs to a banquet, and then in the afternoon, all officials took another half-day off."
"I guess it happened at that time." Jin Chun said lightly.
Although he didn't point it out directly, in his words, there was a suspicion that Zhao Chen was responsible for the five hundred thousand silver coins.
"By the way, the person in charge of storing money is Ma Hu, our right minister of household affairs."
"You guys, they are coming!" Jin Chun added, pointing to Zhao Chen and Ma Hu who came in front, and said to Minister Qi.
Zhao Chen and Ma Hu came over and saw Jin Chun standing aside with a smile.
"Jin Chun, did you do it?"
"Fifty thousand guan of silver, you are so brave." Ma Hu couldn't hold back and questioned Jin Chun at that time.
Of course Ma Hu suspected Jin Chun.
Five hundred thousand guan of silver went missing, and I, the right minister of the Household Department, was definitely the first person responsible.
The emperor will definitely punish him severely.
This is Jin Chun's revenge for abandoning him yesterday.
As for Zhao Chen, the Minister of Household Affairs, such a big thing happened on the first day he took office.
After being exposed, he, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, could not hope to be as stable as Mount Tai.
This is clearly Jin Chun's plan to kill two birds with one stone.
"Shilang Ma, this matter was caused by your own mistake. What does it have to do with me?"
"Did you see that I robbed half a million dollars of silver or something?"
"You have neglected your duties and are blaming me, Minister Ma, you are so naive." Jin Chun shouted coldly.
He would not let Ma Hu frame this matter on his head.
"you……"
"Zhao Shangshu, my Lord Shangshu and you are old acquaintances. These five hundred thousand silver coins will also be used to build rivers and dams east of the river."
"Now that half a million guan of silver is missing, it's a very important matter. Zhao Shangshu would like to give me an explanation." Qi Shilang looked at Zhao Chen, cupped his hands and said.
This matter must be resolved.
If something happened to Hedong, he, the Minister of Industry, would not be able to escape his involvement.
"When do you plan to set out for Hedong?" Zhao Chen and Qi Shilang asked.
"At three o'clock tomorrow," Qi Shilang replied.
"Tomorrow at the North City Gate, at the end of the day, I will have someone deliver five hundred thousand silver coins into your hands." Zhao Chen said.
Minister Qi was stunned.
He didn't quite understand what Zhao Chen meant.
Five hundred thousand dollars will be handed over to him tomorrow.
Zhao Chen was planning to retrieve the stolen money in one day.
Or should he, Zhao Chen, pay for the 500,000 yuan himself?
I don't understand, I don't understand. As long as I can take the money to Hedong tomorrow, nothing will happen.
"Tomorrow, I will be waiting at the city gate."
"Farewell!" Qi Shilang and Zhao Chen held hands.
As Minister Qi left, a sneer appeared on Jin Chun's face.
"Zhao Shangshu is so confident, is he planning to spend 500,000 guan of silver from his own pocket to support Hedong?"
"Zhao Shangshu is really the God of Wealth in our household department."
"I admire you, the official." Jin Chun stood aside with a strange look on his face, his face full of teasing.
It is simply impossible to recover the missing five hundred thousand silver coins in one day.
Jin Chun didn't believe that Zhao Chen could do it.
This means that tomorrow, Zhao Chen will have to take money from his own pocket to fill this hole.
As for Ma Hu, the right servant of the Ministry of Finance, he is dead!?