The Sword of Smiling and Proud

Chapter 16 Auditing
Guan Yuan saw that there seemed to be something urgent, so he asked:

"Brother, what's wrong?"

Seeing that it was him, Guan Xiu put down the account book, leaned back, and rubbed his eyes slightly, as if he had been sitting here for a long time.

"Hey, it seems that a big hole has been found." Guan Xiu said, and then explained to Guan Yuan in detail.

In the past few days, Guan Xiu attended the banquet every day. He thought it was an official practice, but he didn't really contradict it.

But the day before yesterday, at a banquet organized by wealthy businessmen in the city, Guan Xiu remembered that Hou Renying from the Qingcheng faction he met on the official road said that there were male and female thieves who robbed several large households in Nanyang County, so he asked one of the wealthy merchants the ins and outs of the matter. .

Unexpectedly, the rich businessman who was asked was embarrassed, and changed the topic after a few words.

Guan Xiu secretly felt that something was wrong, it wasn't because he was angry when someone's house was stolen, it would never be this kind of attitude.Turning around, he asked his colleagues in the county yamen. Unexpectedly, the colleagues said that there is no need to worry about such trivial matters, and they laughed a few times before going around.

The different attitudes of the two sides made Guan Xiu even more suspicious, so he began to look through the county files.

He first found the case file of the wealthy businessman surnamed Gong. He said that on the third day of the twelfth lunar month last year, the servants found the master's study and living room in a mess. It was obvious that a thief had been robbed. Master Gong hurriedly reported the case and took stock of the losses. .In the end, it was said that more than 300 taels of silver were stolen, and many land deed documents were missing.

After more than half a month, and approaching the end of the twelfth lunar month, several wealthy households reported one after another that their silver and valuables had been stolen.Some people said that they saw the thief's back, but it was a male and a female male and female thief.

So Nanyang County issued documents widely, offering rewards to catch the robbers, and Hou Renying, who was passing by, unveiled the list and volunteered to catch the robbers.

"Second brother, look at this file, do you think there is anything unreasonable?"

"It's fine that the thief stole Wenyin, why does he still like to read books, what's the use of taking it?" Guan Yuanqi asked.

"That's right, this is the strange part. All thieves generally love yellow and white things the most, followed by precious utensils, all kinds of soft things. After all, they can't be directly cashed out, and they have to sell the stolen goods. This is an additional risk. Didn't listen If the house was stolen and the title deed was stolen, the thief can’t openly use the title deed to collect rent, and there is no black shop that can sell the stolen goods for him.”

"Nanyang County said that these houses were stolen because male and female thieves committed a series of crimes. But look at this time, the first palace house was stolen at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, and there was no movement for more than a month, and the crimes were not committed until the end of the twelfth lunar month. What, then Are the thieves tired after stealing a house? Do you have to rest for so long?" Guan Xiu looked disbelieving, "If I were the male and female thieves, I would definitely steal several houses in a short period of time and escape early. How could I stay in Nanyang for so long? time!"

"Brother, you said that, but this matter is weird!" Guan Yuan said, "Then you suspect that these wealthy businessmen have reported false cases? But why did they do so?"

"I checked the records of the county files of these stolen rich households. Hey, they all have one thing in common!" Guan Xiu paused.

"These families are all large land-occupiers in the county. Not to mention the shops and houses in the city, just around Nanyang, six out of ten of the fields are owned by these few families."

"So I transferred Nanyang's tax records and land transaction records over the years from the warehouse. I was about to see what kind of ghosts and snakes these companies are. Second brother happened to be here, so you can help me take a look."

So the two of them closed the door and buried their heads in looking at the stack of files and books for a whole night. They did not get up to rest until noon the next day when the two brothers got dizzy.

The two stood in the courtyard, looked at each other and smiled wryly. There was indeed a problem, not a small one.

Since the reign of Hongzhi, these wealthy households in Nanyang either rented land to start a business, or engaged in business and transportation, all accumulated a large amount of wealth, and began to buy fertile land and annex land on a large scale.In the past few years, more than half of the fertile land in Nanyang has been taken up by these few families, but the government's tax revenue is not as good as every year.

These families, headed by the Gong family, have avoided paying taxes by concealing the land and falsely claiming that they were affected by the disaster for many years.Every county magistrate was either bought or framed. Anyway, they were relatives of officials and businessmen. They turned a blind eye and no one pursued it.

It can be seen from the account books and files that in addition to normal land transactions, the Gong family and others also used many shady means.Many poor peasants whose land had been seized sued the county government, causing them to get involved in many lawsuits.Judging from the dossier records, in the end, it was either nothing happened, or the plaintiff disappeared. Anyway, these wealthy households have been arrogant for many years.

Guan Yuan Guanxiu speculates that this robbery incident should be a thieves called catch thieves incident that was manipulated by the Gong family in order to destroy some previous land deeds that did not match the official records, and completely turn the land under their own name into black households.The rest of the family saw that the Gong family was like this, so they followed suit and came up with a story about the male and female thieves getting together.

Hou Renying foolishly accepted the arrest warrant and went looking for thieves all over the world.

It is estimated that several wealthy households have secretly surrounded the land that they have embezzled, and have given the county government enough benefits. Since then, they will no longer have to pay taxes. To be precise, there will be no shadow of these fields in official records in the future. up.

"It's so scheming, I have seen it for being rich and not benevolent!" Guan Xiu said.

"But now that they have destroyed the evidence, the sufferers probably won't be able to find it anymore, and we seem to have nothing to do with them." Guan Yuan patted his head in distress.

The two brothers looked at each other in blank dismay, feeling for a moment that they had no means to deal with these shameless rich businessmen.

The two felt clueless for a moment, so they went out to find something to eat.Before leaving, Guan Yuan was careful and packed up the evidence that the two of them had sorted out.

Guan Yuan and the two were looking for food in the county town, they saw many poor beggars in the streets and alleys, huddled in the corner, helpless.They felt pitiful, and gave some coins and scraps to some disabled beggars.

The two randomly found a wonton stand and sat down, discussing follow-up strategies while eating.

After Guan Yuan ate three bowls of wontons, he pulled Guan Xiu and got up to leave.

"Second brother, don't tell me, this wonton tastes good, tender and smooth, I will come again next time."

“Better not to come”

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Brother, have you noticed that when the shopkeeper served us wontons, the wontons just out of the pan were so hot that the shopkeeper was able to hold them steadily with his bare hands. I think the shopkeeper has a long breath and steady steps. He must be a master. Whether it is an enemy or not You still don't know, it's better to be careful."

"Hahahahahahaha, the young man has such good eyesight that he saw through He at a glance." Suddenly the old man's voice came from behind, and it turned out that he was the one carrying the burden and followed.With a load of several tens of catties on his shoulders, the man walked without missing a beat. He was indeed a master, as Guan Yuan deduced!
(End of this chapter)