Han Xiufeng's explanations one by one can be called no matter how big or small. The father and son of the Yang family were afraid that something would be missed, so they asked Han Xiufeng to find a pen, ink, paper, inkstone and take notes while listening, listening very carefully, remembering very carefully, and the morning passed unconsciously.

The father and son of the Yang family wrapped the account books and official documents on the table with cloth, and left with great gratitude, leaving behind three money tickets when they left.

Pan Er's eyes were sharp, and the father and son of the Yang family couldn't help but smile as soon as they walked away: "Fourth brother, a bunch of account books can be sold for one hundred and sixty yuan, and there are seventy or eighty taels of silver, you are easy to do this business, and it is so easy to make this money!" ”

Han Xiufeng explained to the father and son of the Yang family all morning, and his mouth was dry, he picked up the teapot from the corner and poured a bowl of herbal tea, and drank a few big sips in a row, before he wiped the corners of his mouth and asked, "Brother Pan, do you think I just sell a bunch of account books?" ”

Pan Er is a young shopkeeper in Tongxing, don't look idle all day long, in fact, he is shrewd, just pretending to be stupid. Seeing Han Xiufeng staring at him closely, for fear of being underestimated, he simply sat down on the opposite side of the Eight Immortals table and poured a bowl of tea, holding the tea bowl and said, "Of course it's not just a bunch of account books, you sell rice bowls, and sell rice bowls to them." ”

To his surprise, Han Xiufeng actually sighed and muttered, "I really can't bear to sell my job like this." ”

"What is there to be reluctant to, you are going to the capital to make a confession, and it is useless to keep those account books."

"That being said, you don't know how hard it was to get a job! When it comes to Bao Xie, there are many people who keep it, and even the guys in the inns and teahouses near the official warehouse dare to pat their chests and give people a guarantee ticket to help go to Nadi Ding Yin. At first, it was said that 17,800 yuan was worth one tael of silver, and the fire consumption was only 40% or 50%, and when the money reached their hands, it changed again, and the most could be counted as 80% and 90%. When this kind of thing happens, the people want to cry without tears, the money has been given, and what they ask for is given or not? ”

Han Xiufeng finished drinking the tea in the bowl, and then said: "This is not bad, no matter how much you say about the fire consumption, the Diding silver is finally accepted, and it will not be blamed." The most hateful thing is that those turtle sons who take other people's money but do not do anything, give the taxpayer a fake receipt but do not pay taxes on behalf of the taxpayer. If the yamen were to be held accountable, they would slip away, and the taxpayers would be forced to pay the arrears of taxes. ”

"I've heard people talk about this kind of thing, and some people have been fooled before we went to the horse." Pan Er touched his chin and groaned again: "No wonder my father said that people outside are sinister. ”

"Actually, what I want to say is that it's not so easy to make others believe in you, Brother Pan, think about it, how old I was five or six years ago? He has no hair on his mouth, he can't do things well, and he doesn't have an industry in the city. If you are a tax collector, do you dare to give me the money and let me pay the tax for you? ”

"Don't dare! Don't you dare to kill me! ”

"That's it." Han Xiufeng lifted the teapot and poured half a bowl of tea, and said with a wry smile: "At that time, in order to make people believe me, I really broke my mouth and broke my leg." I can only walk dozens of miles to the countryside and talk from house to house, and it would be good to talk about ten households. ”

"And then?" Pan Er asked curiously.

"This is no different from your family opening a pawnshop to do business, as long as it becomes one, there will be a second and a third, and the reputation will come slowly."

Pan Er thought that Bao Xie's money was not so easy to earn, so he thought about it and asked puzzledly: "Fourth brother, how many tax households are there in the county, and there should be a roster in the yamen." Whoever paid the land and silver didn't pay it, there should be an account book in the yamen, and the eldest man will know it when he flips through the account book, which is a reason for my family to go out to collect the accounts, why didn't he let the officials go to collect it? ”

Of course, Han Xiufeng knew what he really wanted to ask, and couldn't help laughing: "Brother Pan, why do you mean that the eldest master gives us people the opportunity to handle it?" ”

"Yes, if I were the eldest master, I wouldn't be able to get a penny from those guarantees!"

"Brother Pan, how can paying taxes be as simple as you think. The yamen has a book of taxation, which is what you call a register and account book, but that was decades ago! It is supposed to be rebuilt every ten years, but the longest tenure of the old men is only three or five years, and the acting ones may only be a few months. Thousands of miles of officials are only for money, they finally make up for the shortcomings, and they can't be busy making money, how can they do this thankless job. ”

"The books of the tax collection are decades old?" Pan Er's face was incredulous.

"Well," Han Xiufeng nodded, and added with a smile: "And there is only the name of the household in the whole tax book, and the lord of the tax household does not know where he lives." So even if he knew who owed taxes, he might not be able to find them. ”

"The eldest lord doesn't know, but the six-room scribe should know."

"It's not necessarily, it's like I'm from Cili Jiujia, but I'm not familiar with Cili. Besides, even if we know everything, why should we tell him? We are not melon babies, why are we smashing our own jobs? ”

Pan Er groaned: "You know, the eldest master also knows that you know? ”

Han Xiufeng nodded with a smile: "So to speak." ”

"Since the eldest master knows that you know, what do you say if you ask?"

"We'll say we don't know."

"Aren't you afraid that the big master will hit your board?"

In front of him, he was going to go to the capital to confess together, and in the future, he would have to eat together in the yamen, Han Xiufeng felt that he should tell him some of the rules in the yamen, and explained: "Didn't I tell you yesterday, the six-room scribe, no, it is the nine-room in our Ba County." In short, the scribes who work in the yamen are not paid, and even paper, pens, and candles need to be brought. ”

"But this is to grab money from the old man!"

"This is said in the point, a county is so big, there is so much oil and water, the scribe and the servant make a little more, the big lord will have a little less, of course he will not be happy. But the scribe has no salary, and if he forces the scribe to have no way to live, who will work in the yamen? ”

Han Xiufeng paused, and then said: "Let's put it this way, those officials hate us scribes, but there is no good way to take us." In their words, if you slow down, you will do everything for personal gain, and if you are in a hurry, you will retire with a piece of paper. There are hundreds of things to do every day, and it is difficult to let them go, which is a hidden thing that officials cannot say explicitly. ”

"Fourth brother, I don't know anything, but I can barely guess what it means. You have been helping the yamen before, so naturally you will help the scribe speak. But you don't help now, you are going to the capital to confess, and when you fill the vacancy, you will be an official, and I will be your long-term follower. I think we need to think carefully now about what to do with those scribes in the future, otherwise they will all take away the money, and we will not be working in vain! ”

"Brother Pan, you want to go far enough." Han Xiufeng couldn't help but laugh.

"Fourth brother, I'm thinking about you!" Pan Er put down the tea bowl and said with a smug smile: "In the words of you scholars, I can't remember what this is called." ”

"Plan ahead."

"Yes, yes, yes, it's a rainy day, my dad always talks about it. Fourth brother, this is not a trivial matter, we really have to plan early, take precautions, and I will also help you keep an eye on those black-hearted turtle sons when the time comes! ”