The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 586

However, Chunlan was not qualified to handle letters from officials of Zhang Cong's rank; she needed to report directly to Zhou Chu.

"Zhang Bingyong..."

Zhou Chu accepted Zhang Cong's visiting card, muttering Zhang Cong's name to himself.

"Ignore it."

After reading the post, Zhou Chu said...

Zhou Chu hadn't seen Zhang Cong for two or three years, and he had no idea what Zhang Cong was thinking or doing now.

However, the accounting report that the Ministry of Revenue submitted to the Emperor today was enough for Zhou Chu to give Zhang Cong a good talking-to.

Whether this accounting report was Zhang Cong's idea or not is not important. What is important is that Zhang Cong was the Minister of Revenue at the time, and he had to take the blame.

Zhou Chu did this partly to warn Zhang Cong, and partly to show the officials in the Ministry of Revenue.

Only in this way can the officials in the Ministry of Revenue see their attitude and dare not act recklessly.

After returning home, Zhang Cong waited for a long time without receiving a reply from the Zhou family. He couldn't help but smile bitterly, knowing very well that Lord Zhou was dissatisfied with him.

As for the reason, Zhang Cong knew better than anyone else; it was nothing more than the previous memorial.

As the saying goes, one should fulfill one's duties in one's position. As the Minister of Revenue, he had to take the blame for the memorial on cost accounting no matter what.

"I'll send another visiting card to the Zhou family tomorrow morning."

Zhang Cong looked at the steward and gave him instructions.

"Yes, sir."

The steward said respectfully.

When Zhang Cong was in Jiangnan, he learned a lot from Zhou Chu. Although Zhang Cong was much older than Zhou Chu, Zhou Chu was shrewd, steady, and methodical in his dealings with officials. Both Zhang Cong and Yan Song learned a lot from him.

Zhang Cong had served as the governor of Southern Zhili for two or three years, and was no longer the Zhang Cong who had just entered officialdom. Now, Zhang Cong was calm and composed, and did not become impatient because Zhou Chu did not reply to him.

He knew very well that this was an opportunity for him to show his attitude to Lord Zhou. By sending visiting cards every day, he could demonstrate that he was still the same Zhang Cong who followed Zhou Chu's lead.

The next morning, Zhou Chu received another visiting card from Zhang Cong, but he didn't even look at it and just tossed it aside.

"My lord, haven't you seen Lord Zhou?"

Inside the Ministry of Revenue, the Vice Minister of Revenue looked at Zhang Cong with some anxiety.

Zhang Cong glanced at the Vice Minister of Revenue but remained silent.

The Vice Minister of Revenue immediately realized his mistake and hurriedly bowed respectfully.

"Please forgive me, Your Excellency, I misspoke."

Zhang Cong put down his cup upon hearing this.

"Are you in a hurry? If so, go and deliver the invitation to the Zhou residence yourselves."

Zhang Cong sneered.

"What are you saying, sir? How could we dare to send a formal invitation to Lord Zhou?"

Other officials chimed in.

"Since you dare not, then just wait and see. If it weren't for your greed that led you to write such a memorial, would His Majesty and Lord Zhou be angry with me?"

Zhang Cong patted the table and said.

He is, after all, the Minister of Revenue, the head of the Ministry of Revenue. He should show his subordinates a kind face when he should, and when he shouldn't, he should maintain the dignity of the Minister of Revenue.

Upon hearing this, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue fell silent, too terrified to utter another word.

"Just wait patiently. Lord Zhou represents the Emperor, and Lord Zhou's attitude represents the Emperor's attitude. Don't you understand? Lord Zhou has probably already read this memorial."

As he spoke, Zhang Cong took out the rejected memorial and slammed it on the table.

Upon hearing this, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue became even more fearful. If the emperor hadn't shown the memorial to this commander and had let it pass, they dared not imagine what Zhou Chu would have done after finding out about it.

They will likely have a place in the Zhaoyu prison.

"Your Excellency is wise and mighty. It is all our fault for being ignorant and arrogant. From now on, if Your Excellency points east, we will never go west."

The Vice Minister of Revenue was a master of changing his expression; at this moment, he was fawning over Zhang Cong with a face full of obsequious flattery.

Moreover, the filming was extremely cheesy.

These words might not have been a problem if spoken in private, but the fact that the Vice Minister of Revenue could say them in front of everyone without batting an eye made the other officials in the Ministry of Revenue feel uncomfortable and extremely embarrassed, while the Vice Minister of Revenue wore an extremely serious expression.

This made everyone else feel even more awkward, but no one dared to say a word.

Hearing this, Zhang Cong, as the one being flattered, was extremely pleased. Of course, he knew how nauseating the words were, but for the Vice Minister of Revenue, a third-rank official, to say such shameless things in public made Zhang Cong truly enjoy what power brought him. Zhang Cong only enjoyed it, so how could he feel embarrassed?

The third day was a small court assembly. After Zhang Cong went to court, he couldn't see Zhou Chu anywhere and couldn't help but feel disappointed.

The main topic of discussion at the small court assembly was none other than the construction of the railway. During the assembly, Yang Yiqing, beaming with pride, explained to the officials the specific operation of the train and the steam engine. He did not know the underlying principles and could only give a general overview.

"Your Excellency, I have heard that this steam engine and train were made by your grandson, Yang Shengzhai?"

As soon as Yang Yiqing finished speaking, the officials who wanted to flatter him appeared. There were countless people in the court who wanted to curry favor with Yang Yiqing, but the key was how to do it and how to make this old fox like Yang Yiqing extremely pleased.

Clearly, this person had grasped the essence of it all; with just one sentence, Yang Yiqing could no longer suppress the smile on his face.

“Shengzhai was just involved. Many of his other classmates were involved as well. Whether it was the steam engine or the train, it was all Zhou’s idea. Shengzhai was just Zhou’s student. He was not worth mentioning.”

Yang Yiqing said it was nothing to mention, but his mouth was stretched to the back of his ears in a wide grin.