Because Song Yao and Li Yu didn't stay overnight, Tang Ji had a comfortable sleep.
Today was the day when the second volume of "Journey to the West" was released. He was supposed to go to Ji Ran Bookshop, but thinking of Zhu Linyuan's sneaky appearance outside Linxuan Pavilion yesterday, he always felt that something bad was about to happen, so he
Arrive at Jianghai Chamber of Commerce.
Tang Ji jumped off the carriage and was about to walk into the building, but was stopped by Pang Qing behind him.
"Young Master Tang." Pang Qing grabbed the horse's rope and stroked the horse's head. Seeing Tang Ji turn around, he continued: "Miss will be receiving distinguished guests these two days. She asked me to tell you that everything in the building is the same.
Leave it to you...including Zhu Linyuan."
Tang Ji was slightly surprised. Zhu Linyuan was one of the four deacons and was on an equal footing with him. Yue Shuhua actually gave him such great power. Was he really not afraid of rebellion?
Having said that, what kind of distinguished guest would she be able to receive in person?
Shaking his head and not thinking more, Tang Ji smiled and replied: "I understand."
Soon, Tang Ji walked into the building. A waiter rubbed his eyes to make sure he was not dazzled, then he quickly raised his hands and saluted: "Mr. Tang, I haven't seen you for a while."
"Really? I've been a little busy recently." Tang Ji waved his hand casually. He had indeed not been here for a while. When he said this, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Yue Shuhua.
He earns a high salary but is absent from work all the time. If he can be written down in history, then future generations will definitely evaluate him as "the first person to catch fish".
After chatting with the waiter for a few more words, Tang Ji went upstairs.
Just when he was about to open the door to the room where he was on duty, he found Qi Zheng appearing behind him and said politely: "Deacon Qi."
"Young Master Tang, you don't need to be polite." Qi Zheng returned the courtesy politely, stroking his white beard and continued: "Young Master Tang, make preparations, the year-end audit will begin in two days."
Year-end audit?
Tang Ji raised his eyebrows lightly. Ever since the Jianghai Chamber of Commerce had a false accounting incident in April, Yue Shuhua had decided to conduct a large-scale audit at the end of every year. But it was only September now. What the hell was going on?
Then, he asked doubtfully: "Isn't it only September?"
"I originally wanted to check the accounts at the end of winter, but considering the holidays at the end of the year and the pre-holiday business, I followed Deacon Zhu's suggestion to check a part of it first in September, and leave the bills after September to check again at the end of the year.
Let's relieve some pressure on your accounting office." Qi Zheng explained patiently.
Tang Ji didn't take it seriously at first. After all, he had to do the accounting work once a month, but after hearing the words "Deacon Zhu", his eyes showed a look of caution: "Deacon Zhu's suggestion?"
Qi Zheng nodded and said: "Yes, it's a credit to him that he thought of it in advance, otherwise you would be busy at the end of the year. This audit requires not only the accounting, but also the statistics of the treasury, so even if you do the accounting without an abacus, it will still cost a lot of money."
Less effort."
Tang Ji looked intently at the railing in the distance. Only Yue Shuhua knew about Zhu Linyuan for the time being, so Qi Zheng felt that it was normal and reasonable. However, he smelled a hint of conspiracy, retracted his thoughts, adjusted his expression, and smiled.
: "Thank you, Deacon Qi, for reminding me. I will make arrangements in advance and be prepared."
"That's good. I still have something to do, so I'll go and get busy first." Qi Zheng greeted and walked downstairs.
Tang Ji did not open the door to the room again, but instead walked towards the accounting room at the top of the stairs.
The two accountants who were sitting among them saw him and hurriedly bowed their hands.
The accounting room is similar to other rooms, except that there are more shelves for storing bills, and there is a small brass door at the innermost part of the room.
Tang Ji waved his hand to indicate that there was no need to be polite. After casually looking through the recent bills, he asked, "Where are the account books for the past few months?"
One of the white-haired old men asked back: "Mr. Tang, those account books have been sealed. Why do you ask?"
Tang Ji replied: "Oh, I will start the year-end audit in advance soon. I want to check it first to avoid mistakes."
"This...if you want to view the sealed account books, you need the permission of Shopkeeper Yue." The old man reminded in a low voice.
Tang Ji didn't ask any further and planned to talk to Yue Shuhua.
At this moment, the door was opened again, and Pang Qing walked in with a smile, handed a copper-yellow token into his hand, and said: "You walked too fast just now. This is what the lady asked me to hand over." your."
After Tang Ji took it, he looked back and forth. The sign was very simple. On the front was the logo of the Jianghai Chamber of Commerce, with only the word "月" in italics on the back. He played with it and asked, "What is this sign?"
Before Pang Qing could answer, the white-haired old man spoke first: "This is the shopkeeper's order."
The two accountants looked at each other. They were a little confused. They couldn't figure out why Shopkeeper Yue would hand Tang Ji the most powerful sign in the entire Jianghai Chamber of Commerce.
Could it be that this guy really took down the shopkeeper?
Tang Ji had so many thoughts on his mind, he raised the corner of his mouth slightly, raised his hand to show his sign, and said, "Can I check the accounts now?"
"Of course." The white-haired old man nodded. Seeing the shopkeeper, Ru Ru met the shopkeeper himself. This was a rule established a long time ago. He stood up quickly, walked a few steps, pushed open the brass-colored wooden door, and turned sideways to Tang Tang. Ji gestured and said: "Master Tang, please."
Tang Ji walked in. There was no decoration in this room. There were only a few boxes with similar seals. When he took a closer look, he realized that the dates of the account books were written on them. There were no ink marks. He quickly found the most recent ones. Choose one of the monthly account book boxes, tear off the seal, and lift the lid.
But there are no account books in the box, and the dust at the bottom of the box is visible to the naked eye.
Before Tang Ji could ask any questions, the white-haired old man's eyes widened and he shouted in shock: "Impossible, this is impossible!"
Then, he quickly opened all the boxes for the other months. Except for August, all the account books from January to July were gone. The old man was so frightened that his legs went weak and he collapsed directly to the ground: "The account books clearly It's sealed here, who stole it? Who on earth... uh uh uh!"
His angry shouts became louder and louder, but Tang Ji covered his mouth before he finished shouting.
"Stop yelling, let me ask you, who has the key to the accounting room?" Tang Ji had been able to determine who the person who stole the accounting books was, and the purpose of the other party's doing this was probably for him.
The white-haired old man calmed down slightly and replied: "The accountant's key is in the hands of the king's accountant, and the four deacons also have one."
Accountant Wang is the second accountant and is in charge of the account books. This guy shouldn't be able to steal the account books. After all, it was found out that he was mainly responsible.
From this point of view, Zhu Linyuan did this.
A trace of despair flashed in the eyes of the white-haired old man, and he murmured: "It's over, it's over. If the shopkeeper knows that the account books are lost, none of us accounting gentlemen can escape."
Suddenly he remembered something and raised his eyes to look at Tang Ji, as if grasping the last straw: "Mr. Tang, they say you have a photographic memory. You must still remember the contents of those account books!"
The corner of Tang Ji's mouth twitched. He did have the archives of those account books in his mind, but it was time-consuming and laborious to copy hundreds of account books. He slowly stood up and said: "Don't bother me. There is no one else but you and me in this matter."
Other than that, don’t let the third person know about it for the time being.”
The white-haired old man looked at him with a puzzled expression: "What are you going to do?"
Tang Ji showed a mysterious smile: "Of course we will catch the rat who stole the account book."