high official

Chapter 31
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In the outside signing room, Sima Qiu said to Wang Xian: "Actually, you have misunderstood the old man. I sincerely want to help you find a manager. Who knows that Master Diao is against me. Although the old man is close to the old man, But it’s not easy to offend Mr. Diao, so I can only leave this seat empty first, so that you can compete fairly with his brother-in-law... But don’t worry, his brother-in-law is ignorant, how could he be your opponent, as long as you make a contribution , Guarantee that the Elder Master will choose you as the superior."

"I'm also ignorant..." Wang Xian was unmoved.

"You're different, you're a real person and you don't show your face." Sima Qiu kept putting on a top hat for him, and Wang Xian became more vigilant the more he was like this, and sighed: "Sir, if you have something to say, you can do it I'll do my best..."

"Hey, ghost spirit kid..." Sima Qiu said awkwardly: "It's like this, the elder is going to assign you to the household. This is a good job..."

"It is said that Li Sihu and my father are old enemies." Wang Xian said expressionlessly.

"Really?" Sima Qiu was taken aback, and said, "It's even more troublesome now."

"What was the original trouble?" Wang Xian asked.

"The original trouble is..." After Sima Qiu finished speaking, he realized that he had been tricked, and he couldn't help but smiled bitterly: "Forget it, let's tell the truth. Isn't it about to harvest autumn grain? According to the rules, the county must follow the yellow book , send people to the workshops and townships to instruct the directors of the workshops and villages to register and verify the house-to-house, and then sum up the amount of tax payable. Do you know what the yellow book is?"

"Uh..." Wang Xian thought for a while and said, "I'm not sure."

"Ahem." Sima Qiu couldn't figure it out. This kid was so smart but lacked common sense, so he had to patiently explain: "The Yellow Book, also called the Yellow Book of Taxation and Service, on which the township, name and family name are listed in detail on a household basis. , age, Dingkou, land and house, and assets are the basis for the government to verify household registration and levy taxes. But because of birth, old age, illness and death, there are many changes every year, so before the summer and autumn taxes, the county has to re-register and verify."

"Oh..." Let him say that, Wang Xian remembered that last month, the director of their Jishanfang came to check the situation of his house.I remember that at that time, the head of the workshop wanted to designate his family as "lower class and upper class", but the old lady yelled, saying that if you look at Fuyang City, who is worse than my family?The head of the shop was so scared that he quickly changed it to 'wait a minute'...

"A few days ago, the register of households was completed, and it was sent to the Elder Master for review before the case. The result made the Elder very angry." Sima Qiu said with a sigh: "According to the statistics of households, the number of household registrations in this county is actually higher than that in April. At that time, more than [-] households were reduced! The number of upper-class households has decreased by [-]%, and this county has not had any major disasters this year, so why did this happen?"

"Oh..." Wang Xian nodded, he understood a little.Eighty percent of the officials below and Li Jia had an affair and concealed some household registrations, so that the amount of tax collected by the county would be reduced.But when the people pay taxes, they don't have a little bit. The extra money and food naturally go into the pockets of officials and gentry, but let the county magistrate take the top.

"Actually, this is not the first time this kind of thing has happened," Sima Qiu continued: "For more than ten years, the number of household registrations in this county has been reduced every year. And the situation has intensified in the past two years. As of this time, in two and a half years, the number of household registrations in this county has decreased. The population of the county has decreased by 7000, and the upper-class households have been reduced by half..." He sighed and said, "This means that the county's tax revenue has been reduced by [-]%! Can the elder not be angry?"

Wang Xian nodded.In any dynasty, taxation was the main criterion for assessing local officials. Now the county's taxation is [-]% less.In front of his superiors, Wei Zhixian will definitely suffer.

In fact, it is more than just eating and hanging?Officials of the imperial court are examined every three years, and the tax revenue of Fuyang County has dropped sharply. If the magistrate of Wei County is labeled as incompetent, he will be demoted or even removed from office!
What's more, he has just been commended by the imperial court. If he loses face during the inspection, he will inevitably become a laughing stock in the officialdom. This is unacceptable to Wei Zhixian, who has just started his official career.

"So?" Seeing Sima Qiu pursing his lips and staring at him, Wang Xian could only ask in a low voice.

"So, the Elder Master returned the white book to the household, and re-checked it within a time limit." The yellow book is revised every ten years, and it is to be submitted to the imperial court. The local government's annual repair is called the white book, which is the official basis for tax collection.Sima Qiudao: "Although it has been five days and the pursuit is very urgent, but the elder knows that if there is no way to deal with them, I am afraid that my nephew will play the lantern at that time—as usual!"

"So..." Wang Xian knew that he couldn't dodge a knife anyway, so he asked directly.

"So, we want you to go to the house to collect evidence of their deception, so that the elder can punish them." Master Sima smiled and said: "You don't have to worry about losing your foothold in the future, you just need to give me the evidence secretly, Make sure no one knows you did it."

Sure enough, you made me a spy... Wang Xian was furious. You Sima Qiu, who gave birth to a son without an ass hole, your grandpa has been an official for a few years, and then left after patting his ass. I will stay in Fuyang County for the rest of my life. If this kind of thing gets out, I will become a traitor that everyone in Fuyang County shouts and beats!

At that time, his colleagues will hate him, the head of the village will hate him, the rich will hate him, and the common people will not speak well of him. Will he still be able to hang out in Fuyang?In this day and age, you can't immigrate casually, and you have nowhere to hide...

Although he greeted Sima Qiu's eighteenth generation ancestors in his heart, Wang Xian did not dare to refuse this fellow, offending him was offending the county magistrate, and he could not get along just the same.This is the sorrow of the little people...

"Let me go back and think about it..." Wang Xian scratched his head and said sincerely: "I went to work the first day, and I'm still in a daze..."

"No!" Sima Qiu said decisively, what a joke, if the old fox Wang Xingye knew, he would definitely not agree.He said in a deep voice: "Wang Xian, this is the trust of the elder. You have to answer on the spot whether you agree or not." He is the confidant of the Grand Master. If you don’t agree, hehe... the Grand Master is magnanimous, but I am very disappointed."

"Then, well..." Wang Xian nodded depressedly and said, "I will do my best."

"It's not about doing your best, but you must succeed!" Sima Qiu said in a deep voice, "Also, no one can tell this matter, including your father. If the news gets out, it's for you!"

"Understood..." Wang Xian nodded quickly and said, "I definitely won't tell anyone."

"You don't need to say goodbye to the Elder Master, just go back." Sima Qiu waved his hand and entered the inner lottery room.

Inside the room, Wei Zhixian had been listening with his ears stunned. When he saw Sima Qiu coming in, he asked, "Can it be done?"

"Xuan." Sima Qiu said with a sigh: "This kid is very cunning, he retreats as soon as he hears it..."

"Alas," Wei Zhixian said with a heavy heart when he heard the words: "People say, 'Let your officials be as clean as water, and the enemy's officials be as slippery as oil'. This Fuyang County is even more collusive with officials and officials, and they teamed up to deceive me as an outsider. Unexpectedly , Newcomers who enter the Yamen on the first day, all know which way to sit with their buttocks."

"Hehe, the dragon begets the dragon, and the phoenix begets the phoenix. This kid's family has a long history, so naturally he can't be regarded as a newcomer." Sima Qiu said with a sly smile: "But there are advantages and disadvantages. He is enjoying his father's connections. At the same time, he also inherited his father's enemy. I heard that Li Sheng, the housekeeper, and Wang Xingye are enemies that will never be separated for a lifetime..."

"You mean?"

"When he is beaten to death by Li Sheng, he will think of us." Sima Qiu laughed sinisterly, his goatee trembling and trembling, indescribably wretched.

"Sir, what a brilliant move!" Wei Zhixian said happily when he heard the words.

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After leaving the signing room, Wang Xian spit secretly.He just agreed to Sima Qiu, but it was just to deal with it, he never thought about becoming this second-five boy at all.

After clearing up his mood, Wang Xian returned to the official room, Liu Yuan stood up and asked, "How are you doing, where are you going?"

"Hufang..." Wang Xian smiled wryly.

"Ah..." Liu Yuan gestured to himself and said, "Look at my crow's mouth."

"What does this have to do with brother? It's my bad luck." Wang Xian shook his head.

"Hey, take care brother." Liu Yuan patted him on the shoulder, went in and told Wang Ziyao, and immediately a green-clothed official came out and said, "I'll take you there."

"Thank you, my lord." Wang Xiangong said.

"Let's go." The pawn ignored him and led Wang Xian to the opposite house.Household affairs are the most complicated, occupying two rows of houses.The pawn took Wang Xian to the middle room of the second row. After a notification, a tall, thin and gloomy official in green shirt came out to welcome him.

"Old Li, this is the book office newly assigned to your room. I brought it to you." The official said, and handed a stack of papers to the other party.

That person was Li Sheng, the housekeeper, he squeezed out a smile and said, "Brother Lao, let's go in for tea?"

"Let's wait another day. I still have something to do. I'll go back first." The pawn declined. It's not summer that needs to cool down. Who wants to drink tea with this cold, dead face.

"Alright." Li Sheng nodded, and when the pawn left, the only smile on his face disappeared, and he turned and went into the room and said, "Come in."

"I've heard too much of your notoriety! I can guess how you got in." After Wang Xian stood up in the room and Li Sheng sat behind the table, he started the training mercilessly: "The imperial court stipulates that officials should be filled with good people. You, a scoundrel with such a bad record, can sneak in! It's really ridiculous!"

Wang Xian lowered his head and sighed in his heart, Sima Qiu, I call you your ancestor...

"If you're smart, let your father think of a way to transfer you to another room." Li Sheng said coldly, "Otherwise, you and your father will look ugly just waiting for me to kick you out of this room!" As he spoke, he waved his hands and chased people away like flies: "Get out!"
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(End of this chapter)