Eat the whole family? I emptied the storehouse of the Marquis' Mansion and married the crippled

Chapter 306 The Stubborn County Magistrate

Watching the old man leave with the guards, Ye Jintang said, "It seems that Ningchuan Prefecture is more complicated than we thought. If we hadn't been stuck in Yunliang County by the heavy snow today, we wouldn't have found out even if we came to Ningchuan Prefecture. How could someone be so bold as to blatantly increase taxes?"

"Who said it wasn't true? I know that few of the officials below are clean. They will all embezzle some money to some extent. But I didn't expect that they have been so cruel and crazy."

Raising food prices will undoubtedly force the people to rebel. If everyone can't get enough food to eat, what's the point of keeping their lives?

"Let's go and meet the Yunliang County Magistrate and see what he has to say."

When Xiao Mo brought so many people through Yunliang County, the county magistrate Zuo Yongqing received the news at the first time. He did not dare to delay and immediately went outside the city to greet them in a sedan chair.

He went to the camp outside the city, and Xiao Mo went into the city to eat, and the two happened to miss each other.

When Zuo Yongqing saw Xiao Mo entering the city, he immediately turned back to look for him.

As luck would have it, the two teams met right in front of the rice store.

"Your humble servant Zuo Yongqing greets His Majesty."

Zuo Yongqing was just a ninth-rank official, and the highest-ranking official he had ever seen in his life was the prefect. He was so happy to meet Prince Xiao Mo today.

Not everyone can see the prince if they want to.

"Get up, Lord Zuo, I have something to ask you. I don't know where the county government office is. Please lead the way and we will go to the county government office to talk."

"Yes, Your Majesty, please come this way."

Zuo Yongqing was extremely surprised and immediately started to think about it. He had been a county magistrate for more than ten years and had never had the opportunity to climb up. If he could treat the King of Qin well, maybe the King would promote him if he was pleased.

Zuo Yongqing immediately ordered the servant beside him to go back to the county government office to make some arrangements, so as not to make it too shabby and upset the King of Qin.

The group arrived at the county government office in a mighty procession.

The entire Yunliang County was very poor, and most of the houses in the county were made of stone. There were almost no overly luxurious ones, but the county government office in front of him was built very well.

The vermilion gate, the wall more than one meter high, the beautiful red tiles, and the spacious rooms all tell everyone that it is unique.

As Ye Jintang walked into the county government office, he looked at everything inside. The entire county government office was really out of place with Yunliang County.

In winter, you can still see a touch of green in the county government office, and even a field of blooming wintersweets. However, across the wall, the people in the county are having a hard time making ends meet. Some people cannot even survive the winter because of the high food prices and cannot get enough food.

Zuo Yongqing took everyone to his study to discuss matters. As soon as the door was opened, a wave of hot air hit them in the face. There were two large braziers in the room, and it was warm and comfortable as soon as they entered.

After everyone was seated, Ye Jintang glanced at a bottle of wintersweet on the small table and thought that Zuo Yongqing looked like a decent person, but his heart was actually a dark one.

Zuo Yongqing, with a smile on his face, personally served tea and water to Xiao Mo, looking very servile.

Xiao Mo didn't take this kind of minor official seriously at all. After sitting down, he went straight to the point and asked about the price of flour.

Zuo Yongqing, who was smiling just now, almost broke his smile. He smiled and explained, "Your Highness, you don't know that Yunliang is located in a remote area, and crops don't grow well. Wheat is only harvested once a year, and its yield is not high. This is why the price of flour in Yunliang remains high. I have no way to deal with this matter."

Hearing Zuo Yongqing say this, Xiao Mo was so angry that he laughed. It seemed that Zuo Yongqing's position as a ninth-rank official was not in vain. He had a lot of rhetoric to fool people. If he had not heard it in advance and knew why the price of flour was so high, he would have been cheated by him.

"Master Zuo, this excuse is quite good. Even though the farmland around Yunliang is thin, the output of grain is relatively small. Then why is the price of grain shipped from other cities so expensive?"

"This is because other cities are far away from us. It takes a lot of manpower and material resources to transport them to Yunliang. Naturally, the price of the food will be higher after it is transported to Yunliang."

Zuo Yongqing was about to explain when the teacup in Xiao Mo's hand flew out and hit him hard.

"A bunch of nonsense."

"Your Majesty, please spare my life. Everything I said is true. I have not lied to you. Please understand clearly."

"Well, since I've asked you to investigate, I'll ask you how much tax you'll charge for shipping 100 kilograms of wheat from other places?"

"This this?"

Zuo Yongqing naturally did not dare to say that he had privately increased the taxes, because he knew very well that as long as he admitted it, not only would he lose his official hat, but he would also lose his life.

"Speak quickly!"

"I have followed the court's request and only collected five cents in tax for every 100 catties of wheat."

When Xiao Mo heard Zuo Yongqing say this, he laughed. He really dared to say that.

"Okay, come here, go get me the tax account books of the county government in previous years. I want to see how much tax silver Lord Zuo collected."

The Yunliang County government office was only the size of a palm, and the guards brought the tax account books in a short while.

Xiao Mo is very good at leading troops in battle, but if you ask him to look at the account books, he probably wouldn't be able to tell what the problem is even if there is one.

"I'll come and see."

Ye Jintang took the initiative to step forward. She was not good at fighting, but if she were to look at the account books, no matter how powerful the accountant was, he would definitely be better than her.

"Sorry to trouble you, Brother Qinglin."

Xiao Mo looked at Ye Jintang with a smile.

In the lobby of the county government office, the sound of Ye Jintang fiddling with the abacus was heard. Zuo Yongqing, who had been kneeling on the ground, breathed a sigh of relief. There were two sets of account books in the county government office. The one that was just searched out was specially used to deal with inspections from higher-ups. Even if the person in front of him was good at accounting, he would definitely not be able to find any loopholes.

However, he did not know that no matter how skilled an accountant is, there will always be more or less loopholes when cooking the books. An outsider may not be able to detect them, but for an expert it is not a big deal.

Besides, Ye Jintang knew the problem of tax silver, so he would pay more attention to grain tax when looking at the account books.

After just two cups of tea, Ye Jintang discovered the first problem. He took out a vermilion pen and quickly wrote down the errors and omissions in the accounts.

Zuo Yongqing was shocked when he saw Ye Jintang holding the red pen. He was not sure whether Ye Jintang had really discovered the problem or was just trying to scare people.

As time passed, Ye Jintang marked more and more problems, and Zuo Yongqing was so scared in the middle of winter that he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Your Majesty, I have read most of the account book. It is full of loopholes. This must be a fake account."

"Sir, please do not slander me. These account books are absolutely true. Your Majesty, please understand."

"You can find out whether the account book is authentic by searching it."

As he spoke, Ye Jintang whistled toward the door. Xuetuan, who had been wandering around, heard the call and immediately ran over.

Zuo Yongqing was so frightened when he saw such a big white cat that he knelt on the ground. If there had not been enough people in the house, he would have really thought he had seen a tiger in the county government office in broad daylight.

"Xuetuan, take a look and see if there is such an account book in the county government."

Ye Jintang put the account book in his hand under Xuetuan's nose and let him sniff it carefully.

"Meow..."