"His Royal Highness King Yan?"
"Really King Yan?"
"A few months ago in Chaishikou, I saw His Highness the King of Yan's face from a distance, and it seemed that he looked a bit like..."
"Common people meet His Highness the King of Yan!"
"The common people meet His Highness the King of Yan..."
Immediately, all the village chiefs knelt down to greet Zhu Di with fearful expressions on their faces.
Zhu Di glared at Li Wang, Zhu Liang and others, and then spoke to the chiefs with gentle expressions on their faces.
"Okay, elders, please get up!"
"Thank you, His Highness King Yan!"
After everyone stood up, they quickly turned to Zhu Di and begged for mercy with a look of fear on their faces.
"The people like Cao Min implore His Highness King Yan not to blame the county magistrate. The county magistrate sometimes behaves differently from ordinary people, but he is sincere in what he does. He is never greedy for ink. He is definitely an upright official!"
"Yes, please don't misunderstand His Royal Highness King Yan. The county magistrate has never been greedy for a cent of the people, but he is still thinking about it..."
Zhu Di nodded slightly, "Please rest assured, elders, I just happened to pass by here and saw the elders gathered in front of the county government office, so I asked out of curiosity!"
Hearing this, all the village chiefs couldn't help but laugh with ridicule, "Please forgive me, Your Highness King Yan, we are all waiting here to sign the verification IOU!"
"Sign a reconciliation IOU?"
Zhu Di was a little confused.
"Your Highness, this is the IOU to obtain the amount of food from the township from the county magistrate!" an elder explained in a low voice.
"I see!"
Zhu Di nodded slightly, "Everyone, wait a moment while I go in and take a look around!"
After saying that, Zhu Di walked directly to the county government office with curiosity on his face.
When Zhu Di walked along the crowd corridor to the largest public house in the county government office, the door of the public house opened and five or six old men walked out. Each old man was holding a wooden box tightly. Without looking at Zhu Di, he went directly to the people around him. The familiar old man said hello and hurried out.
Several old men who were already sitting at the door waiting quickly walked in.
Seeing this, Zhu Di took two quick steps and followed in quietly.
"This young master..."
On the side, several old men who were waiting stared and wanted to catch up.
Li Wang, Zhu Liang and others behind him quickly stepped forward to stop him and whispered his identity to Zhu Di.
The eyes of the old men suddenly widened, but under the attention of Li Wang and others, they had to continue sitting down in frustration!
In the public house, Guo An had already been surrounded by a group of old men, and he did not notice at all that an uninvited guest had sneaked into his county government house, which was as tight as an iron barrel!
"Thirty dan? Old man Wang, even if you add up your two little grandchildren, you only have a family of seven. How dare you ask for an IOU for thirty dan? Even if I give you so much, you can eat it all. Well? Can I still take it back?"
"No, no more than twenty stones!"
"Huh? Old man Wang, you, the old man, made a special trip to see me happy today? I remember that there are only two people in Wang's family, Wang Ada and his mother. How dare you ask me for an eight-stone IOU? Six stones at most!”
"besides……"
As he spoke, Guo An's anger began to rise, and he banged the table in anger.
"You all should remember this. Even if one person eats freely for one day, he will not be able to eat a stone's worth of food for a month. I am still young and am not an old fool anymore. Don't give me exaggerated rewards!"
"If you give me an exaggerated report, I will drive you all back, calculate the number carefully, and come back to see me tomorrow or the day after!"
"Scribe Ding, please inform all the chiefs outside about what I have said. If anyone wants to fool me again, he will go back to me and learn how to keep accounts. Once you have mastered it, you can fool me again..." …”
"Yes, County Lord!"
"Hmph, you and a bunch of old men still want to fool me with the accounts? I have no other skills, but I am not afraid of anyone when it comes to keeping accounts. Even if you go back and practice for a few more decades, you won't be able to do it. You are no match for me!"
The old men in every village were laughing.
At this point, they really admire the little county gentleman in front of them from the bottom of their hearts!
"Um?"
Suddenly, Guo An flipped through the ledger in his hand again, his expression darkened, and he slowly stared at the old man in front of him.
"Chief Wang, how many households are there in your township? How many people are there?"
Seeing Guo An suddenly become so polite, all the old men suddenly became quiet.
Especially Wang Shoushi, his face was full of anxiety.
"Reporting to the county magistrate, there are a total of 110 households in Caomin Township, with a population of 560 people. In addition, there are 30 widowers and lonely people who cannot afford the service!"
Guo An said directly: "In this case, that is 590 people!"
Wang Shoushi said: "Hui County Zun, that's exactly what it is!"
Guo An asked quietly: "How much food will a family of 590 need at most for three months?"
"this……"
Wang Shoushi's face was full of shame, "The county magistrate forgives me, this is a huge number, and the common people have not counted it!"
Guo An sarcastically said: "Really? Let me calculate it for you. Even if a person can eat two kilograms a day, it will be sixty kilograms in one month, and one hundred and eighty kilograms in three months. Even if it is two stones .
Not to mention 590 people, if we calculate it as 600 people, it will only be 1,200 stones in three months!
Why did your account book turn out to be 1,600 dan?
Wang Lichang, since I took office, I have never treated you and other Lichang and Grain Chiefs harshly!
Moreover, seeing that you, the district chief, and the grain chief have to work hard for the people of the entire township, I will try my best to provide you with some benefits, especially in terms of work!
Even if you want to borrow grain, I will allow you, the village chief, and the grain chief to borrow an extra two or three stones!
I really don’t understand why you have to tamper with this account book despite all my instructions.
Treating me as a fool, just to get an extra four hundred dan by force? "
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. The poor people definitely didn't do it on purpose. It should have been the villain who registered a few more households when he was registering!"
Wang Shoushi quickly defended.
Guo An asked quietly: "How do you know that you have registered a few more households, instead of registering a few more shi of grain for each household?"
"..."
Wang Shoushi's face suddenly turned pale, "Your Majesty, please excuse me, but the common people are frightened of hunger! Among the thirty widowers and lonely people in Cao Min Township, half of them starved to death!"
County Lord, have you ever gone hungry?
I don’t know how afraid these people who have been hungry are of starvation!
It was freezing and snowy, and it was as cold as standing in an ice cellar. Not to mention, there was not even a single grain of food in the house to satisfy my hunger.
Even the bark and grass roots of trees ten miles away from the village were stripped naked by the villagers and eaten.
However, there is still not enough food for the villagers!
In just one winter, more than twenty people starved to death, and as for the children who starved to death and froze to death, there were even more..."
Hearing this, the old men around him seemed to think of something, and their eyes turned red!
It's a pity that Guo An has never seen this kind of situation, let alone experienced it, and he won't accept this trick!
He smiled coldly, "Old Wangtou, this is not the reason for you to make false accounts and deceive me!"
"Did you know that the more grain you borrow, the more you will have to pay back next year? Moreover, if you have borrowed all the grain, where can other people in the countryside go to borrow grain?"
"The common people know their mistake!"
"If you make any mistakes, you will be punished. You can go back and give this account book to me to sort it out. I will see you again tomorrow!"
"Thank you, Lord County!"
…
