I, Sun Shan, and the Imperial Examination

Sun Shan entered the granary, and the granary ambassador opened the grain ring.

Gui Ge'er pulled a grain probe from his back, poked it into the grain pen, and pulled out a pile of grain. Sun Shan grabbed a handful, examined it carefully, and then took a bite.

Very dry, acceptable!

Gui Ge'er probed from different angles again, and Sun Shan continued his examination.

Still very dry, but acceptable!

Of course, it was impossible for Sun Shan to verify each grain pen one by one, so they could only sample grain pens from one grain warehouse.

Gui Ge'er casually pointed to a grain circle. The granary official opened it, and Gui Ge'er inserted a grain probe inside, bringing out more grain.

Sun Shan examined it carefully, picked out a piece and took a bite. It was very good, very dry.

The first grain warehouse was inspected and found to be without problems.

The next one was tested, and there were still no problems.

Grain Scouts

Wang, the county magistrate who was following behind Sun Shan, yawned, extremely bored.

Wu, the magistrate, shared the same sentiment, noting that this was the first time he had ever seen such a conscientious county magistrate.

I was already very busy with official duties, and now I'm even busier.

Lord Sun not only conducted the inspection himself, but also dragged important officials from the yamen to do it together.

It's best to witness it together.

Wu, the clerk, really wasn't interested. After all, he had been slacking off for so many years, and no matter how hard he worked, he still couldn't get promoted. So what was the point of working so hard?

It's better to just give up and stay idle until retirement.

It wasn't that Wu, the magistrate, didn't want to make money; it was just that there was a local magistrate, Wang, who held a higher official position, more power, and more influence than him.

What could Wu, the clerk, do?

So County Magistrate Wang ate the meat, while he ate some soup and pocketed a little silver.

However, things have changed. It has become more difficult for Magistrate Wang to make money, which has made things difficult for him as well.

It wasn't that Wu, the clerk, had no objections; rather, it was that Wang, the county magistrate, had no objections either, so his opinion was completely unimportant.

If the second son doesn't fight with the eldest, then the third son certainly wouldn't dare to.

Wu, the magistrate, has always been timid, and now he's even more of a couch potato, completely resigned to his fate.

As Wu Zhubu followed Sun Shan, he secretly criticized Sun Shan.

Suddenly everyone stopped, and the air became quiet.

Wu, the clerk, raised his head and met Lord Sun's sharp, venomous triangular eyes. He was startled and looked around in confusion.

What just happened? Why is Lord Sun's face as black as charcoal?

They then found Ambassador Cang kneeling on the ground, trembling. Chief Clerk Wu stared in horror.

Oops! Why are you spacing out? What did you miss?

Sun Shan stared coldly at Ambassador Xue and asked coldly, "Ambassador Xue, explain to me properly why the grain in this grain pen is moldy and sprouting!"

Sun Shan inspected each granary one by one, and all of them passed inspection, putting him in a very good mood.

During the last random inspection of the grain warehouse, by sheer coincidence, a substandard grain ring was found, and my heart, which had been soaring, instantly plummeted to the ground.

The cockroach effect: when you find one cockroach, there are countless others lurking behind it.

Sun Shan just did a random inspection. Could there be bad rice hidden in the grain pens that weren't inspected?

Ambassador Cang fell to the ground, crying and pleading his innocence: "Your Honor, I'm innocent! I... I don't know what happened! Your Honor, I... I absolutely did not switch the grain! I... I swear, if I replaced the good grain with the bad rice, may I be struck by lightning and go to the eighteenth level of hell!"

The Granary Commissioner was a low-ranking, miscellaneous official responsible for the daily management of granaries (such as the Ever-Normal Granary and the Reserve Granary).

This includes the collection, storage, distribution, and accounting of grain.

Sun Shan has now discovered that some of the newly collected grain tax was of poor quality, and Xue Cangshi is the person primarily responsible and cannot escape blame.

Sun Shan stared intently at Ambassador Cang like a venomous snake.

If oaths were effective, what would be the point of the Great Qian Law?

Sun Shan asked coldly, "Confess and you will be treated leniently, resist and you will be punished severely. Envoy Xue, I advise you to tell the truth and not to make a futile struggle."

Ambassador Cang was so frightened that he trembled and curled up in fear.

He repeatedly cried out his innocence: "Sir, I... I really don't know why this happened! The grain was perfectly fine when it was put into the warehouse, how could it have become moldy and sprouted? Sir, I really don't know!"

Xue Cangshi felt truly wronged; he had not exchanged any grain, much less accepted any substandard rice.

Each sack was carefully inspected before being put into the granary.

Did he really not know that a black rice grain circle suddenly appeared?

Could it be that someone is framing me and trying to take my place?

Ambassador Cang thought and thought, trying hard to think of who would replace him.

Could it be Magistrate Wang?

Ambassador Cang stealthily glanced at County Magistrate Wang.

I am one of Inspector Liang's men. Does Magistrate Wang intend to replace him with one of his own?

Yes, that must be it.

The most suspicious person here is County Magistrate Wang.

Lord Sun is from out of town. He is young and seeks promotion by going out of town. He will not stay in Yuanlu County, so there is no need to appoint one of our own people.

Furthermore, Lord Sun doesn't have many of his own people. His group of guards surrounds him for ten hours a day, so there's no time for them to come out and relieve him.

Wu, the magistrate? He's also from out of town, and has been suppressed by Magistrate Wang for so many years that he's long since given up.

Guarding the granary was a lucrative post. Wu, the magistrate, was not the most capable. Only a local like Inspector Liang, who had his own "army," could compare with a local like Magistrate Wang, who wielded immense power.

No one else has that ability.

After much thought, only Magistrate Wang could have the motive to frame him and take his place.

Xue Cangshi was filled with resentment and desperately wanted to call for reinforcements, but unfortunately, Inspector Liang had been assigned by Lord Sun to patrol the entire county.

With my backer gone, what should I do?

Thinking about this, Xue Cangshi became even more suspicious that it was all a conspiracy by Magistrate Wang.

Taking advantage of Inspector Liang's absence, they lured Lord Sun to inspect the grain.

What a brilliant move to use someone else to do the dirty work!

If Magistrate Wang knew that Envoy Xue was thinking this way, he would definitely slap him to death so that he would never think about it again.

He's innocent! Magistrate Wang, how could he do such a thing?

Guarding the granary is a lucrative post, but not so lucrative that you'd offend Inspector Liang and bring down Granary Envoy Xue.

Moreover, he was Xue Cangshi's direct superior, and he was responsible for collecting grain taxes.

Now that there's a problem with the grain depot, he can't escape responsibility either.

Oh my god, this Xue Cangshi is such a pig-headed idiot.

If you can't analyze the pros and cons, please don't, lest you embarrass yourself.

Ambassador Cang has been protesting his innocence, insisting that the grain was intact when it was stored in the granary. Now that something has happened, perhaps someone took advantage of his inattention to replace the good grain with the bad rice.

Sun Shan turned around and stared at Magistrate Wang with an imposing air: "Magistrate Wang, how do you explain this?"

How can Magistrate Wang explain this? Everything was fine when it was put into storage, but suddenly it went wrong. It seems like it has nothing to do with him, right?

Magistrate Wang also protested his innocence, saying, "Your Honor, I have no idea. The grain was perfectly fine when I collected it. I have no idea why it turned out to be substandard."

County Magistrate Wang and Granary Commissioner had the same idea: someone must have taken advantage of everyone's inattention to replace the good grain with the inferior grain.

As for who this person is?

Needless to say, they must be people from the government office!

Aside from the government offices, who else would dare to come and exchange grain?

If you have the guts, you might as well steal or rob; why bother with all this?

It was an inside job that secretly switched the grain. When it was discovered after a while, they would use the excuse of improper storage.

Anyway, it's not like the first time the granary has been poorly maintained, so one more time won't make a difference.

Moreover, grain warehouses also have a certain rate of loss.

The mole didn't expect that Lord Sun would come to inspect the warehouse as soon as it was put into storage.

They didn't give the mole any time to create space.

County Magistrate Wang thought and thought, then suddenly looked at Envoy Xue.

He is the most likely traitor!