It's the evening of another day, the second hall of the county government. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Jiang Chong, as the master of the county's money and grain affairs, was really busy during this period of harvesting autumn grain. From time to time, there are autumn grains delivered from the towns below waiting for him to inspect and put them into storage, and there are also many official documents waiting for his chief bookkeeper to approve and decide.

At this moment, in front of Jiang Chong, there was an official document waiting for approval, and in front of the case, there was also a household clerk standing in front of the case who was reporting to him the situation of the day's grain collection, which village had delivered the grain, and which village was short of how many catties of grain, all of which needed to be known to him, the master bookkeeper, and decide whether to continue to urge grain according to the situation.

In fact, he has been so busy these days, sometimes even after the release of the government, he has to be busy in the public house until late at night. Since Jiang Chong has the power of the county in charge of money and grain in his own hands, he must get used to the busyness at this time, and he used to enjoy the feeling of holding the economic power of a county.

It's just that today's Master Jiang is obviously a little absent-minded compared to the past, not only did his eyes not fall on the official document in front of him, but even he turned a deaf ear to the report of the subordinate, and his eyes just kept glancing out of the door, as if he was waiting for something.

The scribe also clearly sensed the strangeness of his superior, so he hurriedly reported the situation of the day and left the house. At this time, another scribe walked in, but he was not in charge of important matters such as collecting taxes, but mainly sorting out the account books of the county government over the years.

But as soon as he saw him coming, Jiang Chong stood up abruptly and said with a solemn face: "Can you find out?" Lord Yang, what account books did he transfer? ”

It turned out that early this morning, Jiang Chong got a piece of news that made him a little nervous, and the county commander Yang Chen had been checking the various files in the county government since yesterday, as if he was looking for something. At this time, Master Jiang, who already had a ghost in his heart, felt nervous, and he immediately asked his scribe in charge of the account books and files of the Yamen to pay close attention to see what Yang Chen was checking and whether it would affect him.

When the scribe saw him like this, he didn't feel a little nervous, and coughed dryly before he said, "My lord, the county respects that he checked the account books of the county government treasury and grain depot. The focus is on the grain entry and exit situation in our county......"

"What? He actually found out that he was on the regular closing position? Jiang Chong only felt a tightness in his heart, and his face turned even paler. It wasn't until I picked up the tea that had been cooled and poured most of the cup that I was able to stabilize my mind.

This Chang Ping position is an official warehouse set up by the people under the rule of famine and starvation in ancient times in order to prevent famine and starvation. Every year after the autumn harvest, a part of the grain will be stored in the standing flat for emergencies. Once there is a disaster year, the government will allocate the grain to help the victims, or use it to stabilize the rising food prices due to the famine, which can be regarded as a rare means of macroeconomic regulation and control in ancient times.

It is precisely because the grain in the regular closed warehouse will only be used after a disaster, that it has become the target of some ill-intentioned people to enrich the public and private. Because as long as it is a normal year, the regular closing position will only be in and out, and the grain is just a number there. On the contrary, those grains that have been stored for three years or more will be dumped by the government because of mildew.

Since this is the case, some people in the yamen have turned their brains to the grain that is often closed. Anyway, it's useless to leave the food empty, so it's better to sell it for your own benefit. As an official in charge of money and grain affairs in Zhuji County, Jiang Chong naturally did not do this kind of thing, especially the Li family behind him, and he got a lot of benefits because of it.

So when he heard that Yang Chen actually started to investigate Chang Ping's position, Jiang Chong seemed very flustered.

"Your Excellency...... The lord ...... "The scribe saw that Jiang Chong was a little distracted, and his heart was also a little nervous, so he quickly called twice, which made him come back to his senses." After a little pause, he waved his hand: "You can go." Remember, don't let a third person know about today's events, or ......"

"Yes, the little one understands." The scribe has been in the county government for a long time, how can he not know what to say and what not to say? After agreeing, he withdrew with a lot of heart.

At this time, Jiang Chong had no intention of dealing with official business anymore. Seeing that the sky was dark, when it was time to release the office, he closed the official document in front of him and left the county office with slightly heavy steps.

After Jiang Chong left the yamen, he did not go home, but came to the Li family's mansion by himself.

Although this Li family is as famous as the Xuan family, and is collectively called Li Bancheng and Xuan Bancheng in Zhuji, but in fact, if the family background is solid, they are far better than the Xuan family. This can be seen from the overall pattern and style of the Li family's mansion.

After the simultaneous interpreter entered the Li family and was ushered into the study to wait, Jiang Chong, who can be called the third person in Zhuji County, was extremely restrained, and he didn't even take a sip of the water in the cup in front of him, just looked out of the door uneasily, waiting for the person from the Li family.

After waiting for half an hour, two men in their forties and fifties, who looked a little similar, walked into the study. The person in front has a long white face and a dignified appearance, it is Li Chenggang, the current head of the Li family, and the person who follows behind has a bit of a fierce spirit, but it is Li Chenggang's third brother Li Chengjin.

As soon as he saw the two of them coming, Jiang Chong put away his somewhat anxious expression, and hurriedly got up to greet him.

"Yo, what kind of wind is this that actually blew you here." As soon as Li Chengjin saw him, he joked with a smile.

Li Chenggang was much more serious than his younger brother, and after walking to the main seat and sitting down, he looked at Jiang Chong: "But has the county government encountered any trouble?" ”

Jiang Chong nodded hurriedly, and when he was about to say something, Li Chengjin laughed again: "I heard that there are two more errands in our county office, or Yang County Ling personally found them, but is it true?" ”

Jiang Chong glanced at Li Chenggang, saw the other party nodding, and then said, "If you go back to the third master, it's exact." The two people named Ruan Tong and Wang Hai are fellow villagers of the county magistrate, and because something happened in their hometown, they found our county. ”

"Hey, why can't you stay in your hometown, you won't believe this boss, right? Eighty percent are the helpers found by Yang County. Li Chengjin's face sank as he spoke: "Why don't you obstruct it?" Seeing that Yang County's power in the county government is getting bigger and bigger, aren't you Jiang Zhushu panicking? ”

"This ...... I do feel a little uneasy. However, I can't say anything about this kind of thing. After all, several people in the county government are all county magistrates, or they are in charge of the classics. And the new Dianshi Yu Ping didn't dare to compete with the county commander. Jiang Chong hurriedly excused himself.

Li Chengjin wanted to say something, but was interrupted by his brother with a wave of his hand: "Okay, everything has happened, and it's not interesting to talk about it." This matter is indeed no wonder Master Jiang, if it weren't for the stupid man who won the trick and lost the official, then how could Yang Chen have today's momentum. Yu Ping didn't have the support of the Xuan family behind him, so he had to rely on Yang Chen's support behind him, so naturally he wouldn't refute his face. One or two officials can't change the current situation. After a pause, he looked at Jiang Chong: "Tell me, what are you here for today?" Seeing that you are in such a hurry, it should not be a small matter, right? ”

As soon as he asked this, Jiang Chong suddenly left his seat, knelt down to him and said, "I hope that Li Yuan will help me!" ”

Seeing him suddenly like this, the Li family brothers were obviously stunned, and Li Chenggang hurriedly said: "Master Jiang, why are you like this, hurry up!" You are an official and I am a citizen, we can't afford such a heavy courtesy! Although he said so, he didn't mean to get up and avoid it, let alone step forward to help Jiang Chong up.

It wasn't until Jiang Chong kowtowed to him that Li Chenggang gave his brother a look, and the latter went over to pick him up, and at the same time asked, "What is the serious thing about this, forcing you to be like this?" ”

Jiang Chong naturally didn't at this moment, and he didn't dare to care about the other party's behavior, but said with a bitter face: "The lower official just got the news that Yang County ordered to check the accounts of the county government in the past two days, especially the inspection of Chang Ping, which is even more detailed, almost three years ago......"

This time, even the faces of the Li brothers became solemn. Over the years, their Li family has benefited from the regular liquidation, and naturally knows what the situation is in the warehouse now. After a little hesitation, Li Chenggang said: "Although things are a little troublesome, you don't have to be so anxious. It's not like we haven't encountered such a situation before, can we fool the past if it's different? ”

Jiang Chong understood what countermeasures he was referring to, and used sediment instead of grain to be placed in the warehouse to be tested. They did succeed in this trick several times, but this time he was not sure: "I thought this time was different from the past, and this method was not feasible." That Yang County Commander is a shrewd person, and he can't rub sand in his eyes, once he sees the problem, he is afraid that he will be ......."

"And in your opinion, how should you deal with it?" Li Chenggang also knew that Yang Chen was different from those previous county orders, not only because of his shrewdness, but also because now that he had a certain reputation in the county, even the Xuan family couldn't do anything with him, so the Li family naturally had to deal with it carefully.

When Jiang Chong heard him say this, his heart was a little calm, so he said carefully: "In my opinion, there is only one way to make up for the shortage of grain in the warehouse." ”

"Make up for the shortage of food...... This hole is not small. How much food do you think you'll need to cover up this time? Li Chenggang asked with a slight frown.

"Xia Guan has already calculated before, and now the grain in the warehouse is less than thirty percent of the books, if Yang Zhixian can't see the problem, how can he ask for about five hundred stone of grain!" After Jiang Chong reported this number, he looked up at Li Chenggang very uneasily, he knew very well that this number was quite large, and even the Li family might not be able to accept it calmly.