Li Hanji, a casual official in Jingzhou, is 28 years old this year, and his casual official is also a family heirloom position. This spring, his father, a fifty-three-year-old official, resigned. Jingzhou Hu Cao engaged in picking him into Hu Cao.

Li Hanji stood on the ridge of Li He, a villager in Xincun, looking at his family's field. The green and yellow ears of wheat were heavy, and seemed to be better than the wheat he had seen in other counties.

Is it because of the waterwheels? This village is close to Fangju Creek, and it is indeed convenient to irrigate with water wheels.

"Who made those waterwheels?" Li Hanji asked the silent old man on the side.

Li He raised his head, his eyes full of confusion. However, when he heard that question, the confusion in his eyes disappeared, and he said in a brisk tone: "The waterwheel, Mr. Ma led someone to make it." ”

"Mr. Ma?"

"Mr. Ma is a talent invited back from Guanzhong. He will make waterwheels. And he made a watermill that was much better than I'd ever seen before. ”

"It turns out that these waterwheels belong to Zheng Sheng. Does he give it to you, and take money? Li Hanji asked in a casual tone.

Li He frowned: "Collect money? No. Moreover, these waterwheels do not belong to the Son. It is the money and powerful contribution of every family in our village, and Mr. Ma was asked to build it. ”

"Can you tell me more about it?" Li Hanji asked with interest.

"Mr. Ma's ink mill charges 300 yuan for building a waterwheel. Twenty-three waterwheels were built in our village, and each household contributed fifty-nine dollars. If you want to check, please go to the ink shop in Seventeen Mile Hill, where Mr. Ma's bill is recorded. ”

"Mr. Ma's mill? Mr. Ma is still a craftsman who grinds noodles? Li Hanji said in surprise.

"It's not the 'grinding' of grinding noodles, but the 'ink' of Mozi." Li He corrected.

"Ink Workshop." Lee Han-ki pondered.

"My lord, when are we going to measure the land?" A county soldier who followed him saw that he was chatting with the old farmer all the time, and couldn't help but say anxiously.

Li Hanji glanced at him: "Li Laohan's field is a total of one hundred and eighty-one acres. The Zhonghuang land next to it is thirty-four acres. Further to the left, Zhang Quande's land is one hundred and sixty-nine acres. Han Dao'an's land is one hundred and seventy-one acres. Zheng Sanli's land is 190 acres. It is not bad with the number recorded in the account book of Shunyang County. Let's go, the next piece. ”

The soldiers were stunned, "My lord, you haven't yet?" ”

"I can see the number of acres at a glance." Li Hanji said indifferently.

The soldiers were shocked.

"Li Laohan, I remember that your family has three Ding men and three Ding women, and you should have been granted 300 acres of land, what about those lands?"

"There's not enough land. Shouldn't you understand the difference between the actual and the supposed field better than me? Li He asked rhetorically.

"But didn't you reclaim this place yourself?"

Li He frowned, thinking that it was okay to tell him: "Because we now produce about three stones of grain per mu of land." ”

"Three stones? How can it be? Li Hanji was stunned: "The wheat field with the best harvest of the year can only produce more than two stones of grain at most, your field?" ”

"Believe it or not." Li He said.

Li Hanji looked at the wheat fields and felt that what he said was probably not much worse.

"But, that's three stone grains." Li Hanji continued to walk forward, silently calculating in his heart how much grain the Zheng family could buy if the grain fields in Wanquan Town were growing like this.

Li Hanji thought about the deed he saw, although it was a deed that had just been signed a few months ago, it was also written clearly and clearly.

Then there is actually nothing to check this account. All fields are recorded in Shunyang County.

And the fields that should be collected have also been collected.

They came here to find out if Zheng Sheng had underreported the land to the government. But they have been checking for so long, and they have not found anything missing.

Then the only thing that can find trouble is the deed agreed between the villagers and Zheng Sheng: Zheng's right of first refusal to purchase grain.

But this agreement is beneficial to the households. In the autumn harvest season, when ordinary grain merchants buy grain in the hands of households, which one does not lower the price?

But Zheng Sheng bought it at a fair price, and there is really nothing to blame.

Li Hanji even felt that Zheng Sheng was too good to these households.

He returned to Wanquan Town. Walking on the straight, clean, and wide bluestone road, I thought that this place was made by Zheng Sheng in a few years.

He suddenly had an idea: If Zheng Sheng made the history of Jingzhou, what kind of scene should Jingzhou be?

"But he's still young!" Li Hanji said softly.

He returned to the inn where Tochozo was. Several of the same servants as him returned, and they all looked at each other and saw the information in each other's eyes.

No problem.

Xiahouguan looked around at everyone and sighed: "I can't find it?" Then look at Lord Bo, can you find something! ”

Shang Zhun was tired.

As the biggest official in the investigation of the Zheng family's trading house, he could have been more relaxed. But he was afraid that someone in the Zheng clan would bribe his officials to hide the truth.

So he personally went out and counted from south to north.

Shang Joon started his journey like a visitor.

First, there was a workshop that was still under construction. It is said to be a silk weaving cloth workshop and a clothing workshop for making clothes.

Zheng still wants to expand? Shang Zhun felt a little strange.

It wasn't much to look at, so he moved on to the next place. Next up is the bookstore.

Shang Zhun looked at those small characters and copper frames, and the skillful operation of those craftsmen, and was surprised again: "It turned out to be printed like this!" ”

Shang Zhun checked the account books and found that the bookstore had been operating at a loss.

"But Zheng Sheng built a library."

Next was the wooden workshop, and Shang Zhun thought that the wooden chairs that were very comfortable to sit on should come from here.

"The wooden chair is comfortable to sit on, but the sitting posture is indecent." Shang Zhun thought to himself that he didn't like to sit on a wooden chair, because sitting on that wooden chair would easily expose some private positions. He also criticized the young people at home many times who liked wooden chairs.

"How much money is this business making?" After reading the account book, Shang Zhun realized how big Zheng's business was now.

Unfortunately, he did not find any omission by Zheng.

Further north is the paper mill. This is where Thorn Shi told him to focus on investigating. But he searched the whole workshop, and found no strange secrets in the paper mill, and the bill was not omitted.

Shang Zhun rechecked it three times, but he didn't find the slightest thing.

It's getting late.

Shang Zhun lost confidence in this operation.

The next day, he continued northward, inspecting the horse farm where Jingzhou horses were raised; I saw the carriage shop where the carriage was made; an iron workshop that produces all kinds of agricultural tools; There's a quirky, always drawing-a-man Mr. Ma's ink shop and a fireworks shop that produces fireworks.

Still no problem.

On the last day, he went to the northern foot of the Seventeen-Mile Hill and inspected the winery; a flavor shop that produces vinegar, sauce, etc.; the clear oil production place that made Zuixiangju famous-oil mill; A wheat mill where wheat grains are ground into flour to make excellent food, and a stone mill that produces abrasives.

He collected all the bills of Zheng's Merchant Square together, and carefully checked it again, but still found nothing. Cheng's Workshop's bills are clear and clear, and there are no errors or omissions.