Chapter 1969 - A Nearly Perfect Conclusion

In Zhang Xiaoqi's assessment, this already represented a process simplified beyond further reduction. Though she'd proposed the requirement of remitting tax funds within forty-eight hours, subconsciously she still preferred tax revenue not remain overnight in the hall. Without money on premises, numerous troubles could be avoided. Consequently she monitored the summarization phase intensely, personally supervising in the Tax Accounting Room alongside Nan Wan'er, hoping to complete summarization early and dispatch today's tax funds to Delong promptly.

Yao Yulan was perspiring slightly. She and Liu Cui bore responsibility for final tax fund verification. Now others were already resting and chatting, yet on her end, regardless of how she calculated, the accounts showed a surplus of over four hundred yuan.

Liu Cui had wanted to report to the Chief from the outset, but Yao Yulan had restrained her. She didn't wish to alert the Chief prematurely. First, she needed certainty she hadn't committed a calculation error. Second, if her figures proved accurate, then one of the preceding colleagues had erred. She genuinely didn't want to assume the villain's role. She hoped to calculate and cross-reference various ledgers to identify the problematic household, then allow them to re-verify and register. But before completing her calculations, Zhang Xiaoqi detected the anomaly, approached, and inquired, "What's wrong?"

"Report to Chief!" Caught off guard, the conditioned reflex forged through long-term Political Security Bureau training made her stand immediately and respond with full voice: "The accounts show a surplus of four hundred twenty-one yuan."

"Good, sit down. Let's examine this." Zhang Xiaoqi was momentarily startled. This Yao Yulan—Wu Mu and others had provided her with a briefing—was a "covert cadre." Born into an exemplary naturalized citizen family, her parents had actively defected to the Senate. Theoretically, her political rating should be very high, yet she'd been designated a "covert cadre"—according to her husband Wang Qiyi's deduction, perhaps because she wasn't suited for professional political security work.

This young woman possessed a somewhat proud temperament. Wang Qiyi hadn't favored her and had transferred her here, euphemistically termed "strengthening supervision during the tax collection process." Zhang Xiaoqi didn't reach for an abacus but summoned all the young women over, seizing this opportunity to explain the simplest error correction on site. Business volume had been modest today; she estimated this surplus likely resulted from merely an error registering a particular taxpayer household's tax category in the ledger. No major issue. After explaining the methodology, she allowed them to verify independently. She had no intention of criticizing anyone. In her view, these young women already performed outstandingly. One had to recognize that before this, never mind using abacuses and constructing tables—few possessed even a minimal cultural foundation.

The entire tax fund summarization work proceeded fairly smoothly. Including voucher closing reports, everything was completed before 4 PM.

"Nan Wan'er, go to the duty room and check whether the people from Qiewei have arrived. If they've registered, notify them to prepare for vehicle loading to Delong."

Since tax funds remained primarily cash at this stage, daily tax fund remittance became a significant challenge. Back in Lingao, Ai Zhixin had planned a "Tax Police Corps" imitating the Nationalist Uncle's model, but unfortunately it was shot down along with Wudaokou's "Vault Guard Company" and "Financial People's Commissariat Special Service Bureau." The rationale: "The Senate does not approve of departments establishing independent operations and conducting separate activities. The construction of enforcement agencies must be unified in approach and planned comprehensively. Shan Daoqian's Traffic Court and Traffic Police aren't allowed either. You people blatantly seeking to control armed forces—is that acceptable?"

However, daily escort of substantial cash sums required resolution. Relying solely on the Fubo Army and National Army proved obviously unrealistic; both belonged to the military and might have mobilization drills even absent combat missions. Beyond that, applying for deployment required coordination with military authorities. Even if they could be deployed, if different units arrived for each escort, Delong and the Tax Bureau would likely lose their minds. Later, the National Police assumed this responsibility. Each escort adopted the method of "advance application, nearby assignment," jointly escorted by the Police Mobile Unit and local police station.

But this method actually remained inconvenient. It also involved coordination issues between both parties. Finally, leveraging the opportunity of Qiewei Escort Bureau restructuring into a comprehensive security company, Qiewei stepped forward to form an armed escort team.

The team was nominally under Qiewei Security but actually under the jurisdiction of government departments at all levels, primarily the Finance Ministry. It could only engage in escort operations and possessed no law enforcement powers. This finally solved the problem of transporting large cash sums for Delong and the Finance and Tax Bureau; simultaneously, it resolved the placement problem for those military veterans of limited capability who had no advancement opportunities whether remaining in service or discharged to civilian life.

The escort team assigned to the Guangzhou city Finance and Tax Bureau was a small squad—eleven personnel and two specially modified Red Flag carriages. Escort personnel were all equipped with shotguns, wearing only blue uniforms—dyed with the most common local indigo dye—bearing two enormous Song-style characters "Qiewei" on the back.

Originally Ai Zhixin had also applied for a dedicated cash transport vehicle, but after calculating potential daily tax volumes, Cheng Dong suppressed the application: "Save costs for the revolution. If you genuinely encounter large tax amounts, borrowing from Delong temporarily will suffice."

Today's tax funds, excluding checks, didn't even fill the smallest cash box with the received currency, so the escort team needn't assist with moving it. After securing the combination lock, Zhang Xiaoqi boarded the carriage with Nan Wan'er and three others. The amount today was modest with checks constituting the majority, so they bypassed remitting to the Delong Bank vault at Da Shijie, proceeding directly to the Guangzhou Branch. The Guangzhou Branch wasn't distant from the Salt Administration Office. The five women had just warmed to the topic of the latest fashionable dresses in Lingao when Zhang Xiaoqi spotted the Delong sign.

Just as the carriage stabilized, Meng Xian approached to greet them: "Director Zhang, Sister Zhang, was my timing satisfactory?"

"Thank you, thank you President Meng for personally coming to welcome us."

"Listen to yourself. This is the inaugural official tax payment of our Great Song. How could I not attend a newly opened enterprise? Besides, even without this, just for you, Elder Sister, visiting, I must keep you company." Meng Xian had long shed the appearance of a fresh university graduate after years in Guangzhou, becoming increasingly smooth. Ushering them inside, Meng Xian intended for the two to find a quiet space to drink tea and converse, leaving the tax remittance work to specific personnel. After all, the process had been simplified to the extreme, so naturalized citizen cadres should manage without difficulty. But Zhang Xiaoqi insisted on witnessing on site, appearing concerned. Precisely because it was simplified to the extreme, Zhang Xiaoqi felt more anxious. During earlier discussions with Meng Xian, he'd stated he came from a finance background and wasn't particularly versed in the intricacies of the finance and tax system, so he could help review, but Zhang Xiaoqi had to formulate the plan herself.

Nan Wan'er helped the Delong teller unload the tax funds from the carriage, waited for Zhang Xiaoqi to unlock the combination lock, and both parties counted the total amount together before signing the transfer slip. Then she extracted the Summary Payment Slip from her satchel and handed it to Delong staff. Delong staff first totaled the amounts on each Summary Payment Slip, then compared against the tax funds on the transfer slip. Upon confirmation, they commenced registering the amount of each Summary Payment Slip and accepting the tax funds. After completion, they stamped the Remittance Received seal on all copies of the Summary Payment Slip and returned the first copy (Tax Authority Remittance Copy) to Nan Wan'er.

"Director Nan, this is the remittance receipt. Please come to collect the treasury entry receipt at a convenient time tomorrow."

"Finished?" Meng Xian leaned over and inquired.

"Chief Meng, our business here is temporarily concluded," Nan Wan'er replied respectfully.

"President Meng, the business on your end isn't finished. Don't forget what we agreed: remittance is remittance, treasury entry is treasury entry. For treasury income, both remittance account income and expenditure must be processed. Don't mix them again. Also, the second copy is the Remittance Bank Retention Copy, and the third copy is the Entry Treasury Retention Copy. Bind these separately; don't lose them. Tell your people to have the fourth copy ready; we'll come for it early tomorrow morning..."

"Certainly, certainly, no problem Director Zhang. I'll immediately supervise them closely to execute it properly. Good, good, good..." Observing Zhang Xiaoqi about to enter lecture mode again, Meng Xian didn't politely invite her to stay for dinner and hastily escorted this elder sister out the door. He reflected that when this middle-aged woman commenced her lengthy instructions, they truly proved endless.

Rushing back to the Collection Hall without pause, it was already approaching closing time. Zhang Xiaoqi provided some instructions and proceeded with Nan Wan'er to the hall's rear, to the Tax Statistics Division inside the Bureau courtyard. Now front-desk operations had concluded, but the Tax Statistics Division's work had just begun. The eight face-to-face desks in the office were all occupied. At a glance, those with the fastest progress were obviously Xu Zhewei and Li Hongyu, responsible for vouchers. Because the organization remained currently simple with few personnel and hall/treasury combined, the work pressure on the voucher accountant in the Bureau agency was very modest. They needed only perform outbound registration when the Hall voucher accountant came to claim new tax receipts, and conduct monthly closing according to the Hall accountant's closing manual at month-end. Consequently the two also moonlighted in tax fund ledger registration and tax receipt cancellation work.

"Director Zhang." Seeing Zhang Xiaoqi walking toward them, Xu Zhewei immediately stood. He was a standard Shandong fellow, around twenty years old, appearing quite distinct in a room filled with young women. Like the vast majority of Shandong people under Australian Song rule, he was also "spoils" from the Engine Operation. In Lingao, Xu Zhewei first encountered his former young master Wang Xinglong and cousin Wang Jinchun, later worked in a factory, and then because he could read and calculate, was recommended into the vocational school finance and tax program when Cheng Dong was recruiting everywhere. Now he'd become a cadre. The series of transforming circumstances in a few short years often gave him an unreal sensation. Like now, conversing with a genuine Chief under the gaze of a room full of young women.

"Sit, everyone sit." Seeing everyone rise as soon as she appeared, Zhang Xiaoqi hastily gestured downward with her hands. "Continue working, I'm just observing." Saying this, she walked to Xu Zhewei and Li Hongyu's desk and leafed through the ledger. Apparently the Hall accountant had already visited; the declared amounts and invoiced amounts for today had already been entered in the ledger.

"Director Nan, complete the cancellation for today's remittance as well, then you may return."

"Understood, Director Zhang."

Next update: Volume 7 - Two Guangs Strategy Part 84

(End of this chapter)