Lai Junchen was both the Governor of the Capital and the Minister of Agriculture. Between these two positions, the Capital Governor was naturally more powerful. It was also the position that Lai Junchen cared about the most. Therefore, he had been handling official business in the Capital Governor's office for the past few days. Especially since it was the New Year, he had a lot of work to do. That was why he only reported to the Sinong Temple today.
Lai Junchen was in his office, flipping through some backlog of official documents to familiarize himself with the work he was responsible for. Tang Xiaoxiao suddenly pushed the door open and came in. She laughed and said, "Minister Lai, can you handle the work at hand?"
Lai Junchen looked up and saw that it was his office. He quickly stood up and said, "Minister Lai!"
Tang Xiaoxiao said with a smile, "From the perspective of the Sinong Temple, worthy brother Lai is my subordinate. But from the Capital Governor's side, you and I are both officials of the same palace. There is no difference in who is superior. You don't have to be so polite. Worthy brother Lai, the Capital Governor's office is especially busy. If you really can't handle it, you can let your subordinates handle it. Mingxi and Li Jun, the two Minister of Agriculture, have been working in the Sinong Temple for many years. They are very experienced. I have specially assigned them to worthy brother's side. They can be your left and right hands and help you share some of the work. "
Lai Junchen smiled and said, "Thank you for your care, Minister Lai. Little brother is new here. I hope Minister Lai can give me some pointers!"
Tang Xiaoxiao laughed and said, "I don't dare to give you pointers. You and I will work together to take care of the Sinong Temple. Just don't make any trouble and make His Majesty unhappy." Tang Xiaoxiao said and took out an official letter from her sleeve. She handed it to Lai Junchen and said, "Come, worthy brother. Take a look at this."
Lai Junchen took the letter and looked it over. It was a notice from the Political Affairs Hall, ordering the Sinong Temple to step up their inspection of various places during the Spring and Shangyuan period, so as to ensure that the palace's various supplies would not be delayed. Lai Junchen did not understand this matter very well, thereupon he asked Tang Xiaoxiao, "Minister of Finance, what is this?"
Tang Xiaoxiao said, "Many of the Palace's Zhangjiao come from the Si Nong Si's subordinate bureaus, supervisors, storehouses, and gardens. During the New Year's Festival, these Zhangjiao must not have any mishap. Therefore, during this time, you and I must go everywhere to check the supply situation, to ensure that there is no problem with the supply."
Lai Junchen still did not get the gist of it, so he smiled and said, "I have just been appointed and do not know much about the affairs of the Sinong Temple. May I ask, Minister of Finance, what do we need to do?"
Tang Xiaoxiao said, "For example, we need to check the capital's several large warehouses and check the accounts to ensure that the treasury is full. Otherwise, the people in the capital won't be able to buy rice during the festival, or the officials in the capital won't be able to distribute the grain. That would be a big mess. Furthermore, during the New Year's Festival, we need pigs, cows, and sheep for the imperial court's offerings, vegetables, fruits, and wine for the banquet, bamboo reeds, silk, and satin for the decorations, and charcoal for the heating of the palace and yamen... These are all provided by our Sinong Temple, so we need to ensure that the reserves are sufficient. "
Lai Junchen thought it was something important, but when he heard that the task was so trivial and there was not much profit to be gained, he immediately said with a troubled expression, "Aiya, Minister of Finance, these things are numerous and extremely trivial. I'm afraid that it will take three to five days to check them all. Moreover, the capital governor has many things to do, so I really can't split myself..."
Tang Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "Although these tasks are trivial, if any of them are delayed, it will be a disgrace to the imperial family. Although these tasks are trivial, they are incomparably important. However, I also know that the capital governor is very busy, so I will naturally take care of these matters. It's just a few more steps to run and a few more places to check. How can I let Brother Lai do all the work? "
Lai Junchen was overjoyed and quickly bowed and said, "Aiya, Minister of Finance, I can't thank you enough for taking such care of me!"
Tang Xiaoxiao hurriedly waved her hand and said, "It should be so, it should be so. Brother doesn't need to be so polite. It's just that our Sinong Temple's gardens and warehouses are scattered all over the place. Time is pressing, so I have to set off immediately to check out the various places. Brother has just taken office, so I originally planned to go to the Dragon's Gate with you tomorrow and drink a cup of wine at your wedding, but I can't go now. "
Hearing Tang Xiaoxiao's words, Lai Junchen felt a bit embarrassed. He was the one who had just been promoted and was treating, but he had to trouble the chief official of the yamen to go through the wind and snow to check out the various places.
Lai Junchen hurriedly said, "If it weren't for the fact that I have already set a date with my colleagues, I would have gone with Brother Tang to check out the various gardens and warehouses. Now I have to trouble Brother Tang alone, I really feel sorry. How about this, after the Lantern Festival, I will hold a special banquet in my mansion to express my gratitude to Brother Tang!"
Tang Xiaoxiao hastily declined and said, "No, no, Brother should congratulate you for your promotion, but I have official business to attend to and cannot delay it. It's already impolite of me to not be able to attend Brother's banquet tomorrow, how can I be so thick-skinned as to ask Brother to treat me again? How about this, after the Lantern Festival, I will hold a banquet to celebrate Brother's promotion. "
Lai Junchen had no interest in the position of Minister of Finance, so naturally he would not regard Tang Xiaoxiao as his competitor. Now that he saw that Tang Xiaoxiao was taking care of him and could be regarded as a very tactful official, he was very happy in his heart and did not show the slightest bit of his usual arrogance. The two of them competed to treat each other. In the end, it was Lai Junchen who won and sent Tang Xiaoxiao out in a friendly manner.
Tang Xiaoxiao walked out of the courtyard where Lai Junchen's office was located and stood still in the snow. He stroked his beard and smiled contentedly. He knew that tomorrow there would be a fierce battle on the Dragon's Gate Mountain. It was a pity that he could not see it with his own eyes. However, he was somewhat afraid of either of these two fierce tigers, so he did not dare to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. After thinking it over, he decided that it was better to stay away from them.
…
Near dusk, Dianshi Hu Chen sneaked into Lai Junchen's detention room. After a while, the door opened, and Dianshi Hu ran out with his head in his hands. Then, an inkstone flew over Dianshi Hu's head and smashed into the wall with a "Pa" sound, breaking into pieces.
Lai Junchen's roar immediately came from the opened door, "Yang Fan, how dare you! You still dare to provoke me in such a state. Good, good, good! If I don't make you beg for death, I won't be called Lai Junchen! "
Hu Chen ran far out of the door and then stopped with a lingering fear. He looked back and spat on the ground fiercely and cursed in a low voice, "You really don't know what's good for you. I came to tell you with good intentions, but you scolded me. What a mad dog!"
As he spoke, a person came from afar. When he came close, he raised his chin and asked arrogantly, "Is Lai Shaoqing's office here?"
Hu Chen looked at the person's official robe. In terms of rank, the person was several ranks higher than him. He did not dare to be negligent and quickly cupped his hands and said, "Lai Shaoqing's office is in the house behind. I wonder which yamen's official you are from? Do you need me to report on your behalf?"
The person said in surprise, "I am Lai Shaoqing's old friend. I never need to report when I enter a room!" After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and walked away. Hu Chen was extremely angry. Looking at the person's back, he spat on the ground again and secretly cursed, "Fish look for fish, shrimp look for shrimp, turtles look for turtles, they are all the same!"
The person who came was Imperial Censor Wei Suizhong. When he was a ruffian, he had a good relationship with Lai Junchen. Just as he said, he had never treated Lai Junchen as an outsider. Wei Suizhong slowly entered Lai Junchen's office and saw that the room was in a mess. The four rooms of the study room were scattered all over the floor. Lai Junchen's face was livid and he was still angry.
Wei Suizhong couldn't help but be surprised. He quickly smiled and said, "Prefectural magistrate, which blind person made you angry?"
Lai Junchen glanced at him and sat down angrily. He slammed the table and said, "Isn't it that Yang Fan? How dare he! How audacious of him! If it wasn't for the fact that Your Majesty knows about the grudge between him and me, I would definitely make him Lianyao's accomplice and grind his bones to ashes! "
Wei Suizhong said in surprise, "Yang Fan? Wasn't Yang Fan demoted to Dragon Gate to grow vegetables? How did he provoke the prefectural magistrate? "
Lai Junchen briefly explained what happened. When he got to the part where he was angry, he cursed again. He was so angry that his face was distorted and his muscles were trembling. He said, "I will never forgive him! I will never forgive him! Sooner or later, I will put him in prison, tie up his little wife and rape her in front of him! Hehehehe … "
As Lai Junchen said, he seemed to fall into madness again. He smiled ferociously and there was a kind of abnormal madness in his eyes. Even though Wei Suizhong had followed him for a long time, he still felt a chill in his heart when he saw his abnormal gaze.
Wei Suizhong thought for a moment and said with a bitter face, "Prefectural magistrate, his hot spring soup supervisor doesn't provide accommodation and food. What should we do? Isn't this a loss of face for the prefectural magistrate? "
Lai Junchen said disdainfully, "What can a mere hot spring soup supervisor do to me, Lai Junchen? I am his immediate superior now! "
Wei Suizhong said, "Yes! Yes, we naturally have to vent our anger. But even if we live in the Dragon Gate Palace, we won't have time to prepare the food, dance and other things needed for the banquet. "
Lai Junchen looked at the wide open door. The sky was already dark. He couldn't help but frown and said angrily, "Then what should we do? Do you want me to prepare my own food and drink tomorrow and take it all the way to Dragon Gate? "
Wei Suizhong quickly smiled and said, "How can we do that? Prefectural magistrate, don't worry. Suizhong will think of a way. "
Wei Suizhong lowered his head and thought carefully for a while. Suddenly, he patted his thigh and said, "I have an idea!"
Lai Junchen looked at him and said, "What?"
Wei Suizhong smiled and said proudly, "Prefectural magistrate, don't ask too much. Just go to the Dragon Gate banquet tomorrow and leave everything else to me! Prefectural magistrate, don't worry. I, Wei Suizhong, will definitely make everything perfect and let the 'barbecue banquet' of the prefectural magistrate be glorious! "
…
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