HLnovel Chapter 329 Account Book 3
Chapter 329 Account Book 3
In the study, four accountants took out all the account books and classified them according to different types.
When sorting out the account books, they soon discovered that some of them were wrong.
"Your Majesty, Madam, we have been deceived by Hua Cailiang. Among the more than 20 boxes of account books, only 4 boxes are from the last three years. Some of the other account books are from the past five years, and some are from 5 years ago."
The accountant handed several account books to Xiao Mo and Ye Jintang for inspection.
"I was wondering if Hua Cailiang was so cunning and treacherous that he would hand over the account book just because he was frightened. It seems like he is waiting for us here."
"Unfortunately, we didn't want to carefully calculate the accounts from the beginning to the end, but to look at the tax items. It would be better if he sent the ones from ten years ago. In this way, we can understand how much extra tax revenue Ningchuan City has collected in the past ten years."
Ye Jintang picked up an account book and looked through it. The book in her hand recorded the income from road passes five years ago.
"Hua Cailiang is being too clever for his own good. He doesn't think we don't know that these account books are fake."
Xiao Mo also found it very funny. Even a small county magistrate knew to make two sets of account books. How could Hua Cailiang be so honest and only have one set of account books? He was not a three-year-old child, so he would not be so naive.
Ye Jintang had no shortage of accountants, and within half an afternoon, all the twenty or so boxes of account books had been flipped through.
"Hua Cailiang is really interesting. Ten years ago, 10 people in Ningchuan City had travel permits, and ten years later, there were still only 1 people who had travel permits. It seems that some people have not left the city for nearly 10 years in order to save money. It must be difficult for them."
Looking at the number of people and the amounts counted in the account book, Ye Jintang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Could it be that when they were making the account books, they just made up nonsense without using their brains at all?
"Ningchuan City had 10 permanent residents 6 years ago. Over the years, the country has been peaceful and there has been no war. The population has grown to 10. Although many of them are refugees, it is unlikely that only 1 people have applied for travel permits. This account book is too fake."
"There is also city tax. There were more than 10 stalls in the city 2 years ago. After 10 years of development, there are still more than 2 stalls. It seems that Ningchuan City has not developed at all in the past ten years. Hua Cailiang's term as city lord is really in vain."
As they spoke, Ye Jintang and Xiao Mo burst into laughter.
"Hua Cailiang just copied the old account book to save trouble. I noticed that some of the tax totals are actually the same."
"These account books are just for tricks. We need to find a way to get the real account books."
"If you want to get the real account book, you have to wait until the Hua family falls. Otherwise, it will be difficult."
"When Shi Bin took people to get the account books, many people followed him. He wanted to go to the warehouse but was stopped outside. Hua Cailiang was so careful, the account books in the city must have been carefully kept. After all, if the real account books were exposed, Hua Cailiang would die ten thousand times and it would not be enough."
"Maybe he put the account book in the basement."
Being reminded by Ye Jintang, Xiao Mo frowned slightly.
"It's not impossible. If we can get the account book when the basement is emptied, I think it will be much easier to deal with Hua Cailiang."
Speaking of the basement, Ye Jintang and Xiao Mo felt a little worried for a moment. The City Lord's Mansion was heavily guarded, how could they sneak into the basement without being noticed?
And as for the token, Xiao Mo had no spies in the City Lord's Mansion, so no one helped him get the token, let alone the key to the basement.
There is no rush for this matter, so the two can only wait for news from Lechuan.
Hua Cailiang saw that Xiao Mo didn't make any move after getting the account books, and thought that he was scared after seeing those account books.
"Master, the winter solstice is coming in a few days. Will you still preside over the winter solstice sacrifice this year?"
Mrs. Yang asked about this matter while having lunch.
"Where is the King of Qin, where can I get a turn?"
"The emperor is the same. There are so many rich lands, but he didn't give them to the King of Qin. Why did he give Ningcheng Prefecture to the King of Qin? Our lives are worse than before."
Madam Yang was also very depressed. Ever since the King of Qin came to his fiefdom, other ladies in the city were not as warm to her as before, especially the Wei family. She fell in love with the Wei family's legitimate daughter and wanted her youngest son to marry her as his principal wife. However, the Wei family refused on the grounds that the legitimate daughter was too young. It was obvious that the girl was about to reach the age of marriage, so how could she be young?
In the final analysis, the Wei family became so bold because they saw that the Hua family was about to lose power.
"Madam, don't worry. If Xiao Mo makes me angry, I don't mind sending him to see the late queen as soon as possible."
Hua Cailiang looked at Madam Yang and continued, "How are the people I asked you to prepare going?"
"Everything is ready. I estimate that Qiuyan will go to the palace with Duan Linghui in the next two days. Qiuyan is smart, so this will definitely work."
"Well, as long as Xiao Mo and Ye Jintang become alienated, we will have an opportunity to take advantage of it."
Hua Cailiang had someone check and found that all of Xiao Mo's expenses came from Ye Jintang. If the two became enemies and Xiao Mo's source of money was cut off, he would be troubled by money no matter what he wanted to do in Ningchuan City. He would take this opportunity to get rid of him.
Duan Linghui and Duan Feng did not go into the city with Ye Jintang. Duan Feng knew that Duan Linghui had inappropriate thoughts about Xiao Mo, so he specially asked someone to send Duan Linghui to Ningchuan City in advance.
Later, when Xiao Mo and his group came, although Duan Linghui made a fuss several times, wanting to see Xiao Mo, she was stopped by Duan Feng every time.
He thought that as long as he stopped Duan Linghui's thoughts, she would be obedient, but he didn't know that she had never given up from the beginning to the end.
"Linghui, your brother is at least a sixth-rank military commander, and you are also a daughter of an official family. Why do you always dress so plainly?"
Mi Qiuyan wore a pink coat and skirt and a gorgeous velvet flower on her head. With her pretty face, she looked like a fairy.
In contrast, Duan Linghui was dressed very simply, with only a silver hairpin on her head and no other jewelry.
"My brother always says that we often have male guests at home, and it's inappropriate for me to wear too flashy clothes."
"We girls don't dress up for those stinky men. Linghui, you are so young and beautiful, you should dress up nicely. Come, let me comb your hair and put on some velvet flowers to see if you look good."
Mi Qiuyan is the legitimate daughter of a minor official. She ostensibly approaches Duan Linghui because she has a crush on Duan Feng, which is why she frequently visits the Duan family to find Duan Linghui.
In fact, she is just a chess piece in Madam Yang's hand. As long as she can do the things she has assigned her, the Mi family can rely on the Hua family to prosper.
Mi Qiuyan not only has a good-looking face, but also a pair of skillful hands.
In a short while, she helped Duan Linghui get a new bun, and put the velvet flower on her head into her bun, and even gave her her clothes and asked her to try them on.
Duan Linghui, who was gloomy just now, suddenly became beautiful and charming.
Looking at herself in the bronze mirror, Duan Linghui was extremely happy.
"Alas, I don't know if that man will be so lucky in the future and be able to marry Linghui home as his wife."
Mi Qiuyan stood behind Duan Linghui and looked at herself in the bronze mirror with a smile.
"I'm afraid I'll be alone for the rest of my life and never be able to marry someone I love."
Duan Linghui, who had a happy face just now, immediately frowned. She had been thinking about Xiao Mo in her heart, but now...