The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

"I guess there will be a lot of problems with the inventory tomorrow," Zhang Pingan had already anticipated.

Hua Wanli analyzed, "County Magistrate Lu is the head of a county. It's impossible for him not to be aware of these circumstances. But since he was so frank in handing over all the account books and was so cooperative, it shows that he must have some reliance in his heart."

"Bad accounts like these cannot be dealt with in a day or two. When I was taking inventory, I found that these problems have existed for thirty years. They are like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger. The recent accounts are balanced according to the previous accounts, and no problems can be seen. They can only be sorted out clearly during the handover," said the old accountant.

Green Bean saw it clearly: "The imperial court can't collect taxes, so in the end they have to levy taxes on the people under various pretexts. The only ones who suffer are the people!"

Hua Wanli said, "That's not all. Government assets are also tending to be lost. For example, the profits of profitable salt factories and shipyards have been declining year by year. Although this is also due to the bad social conditions, it is definitely not the only thing left. Especially since the court moved the capital, it is very obvious. Who has benefited from this missing part? No need to say it clearly!"

Zhang Pingan stood up and raised his hand, saying, "Thank you all for your hard work. Please don't make this matter public. I know what's going on. Tonight, I'll treat you all to dinner at the best restaurant in Ci County!"

"Thank you, sir," the accountants all bowed hurriedly.

On the way to the restaurant, Green Bean Eyes asked curiously, "Ping An, what are you going to do next?"

"When the enemy comes, we will fight him; when the water comes, we will block it with earth," Zhang Pingan was calm and composed.

He explained, "Like you said, this matter cannot be hidden from Magistrate Lu, but he is so calm, there must be something behind it. I have to see how he handed it over in the first place and learn from him!"

Green Bean Eyes and Hua Wanli were both sensible people, so they stopped asking questions after hearing this.

The next day came in a flash, and everyone went to count the warehouses and other government properties.

All the officials and clerks in the county were accompanying him.

The first are granaries and treasuries, which are of paramount importance.

Ci County is not a big place, but it is a well-developed county with a pretty good economy. It has been rated as a medium-sized county in previous years.

The annual land tax and miscellaneous taxes collected are about 30,000 taels. After deducting the amount to be handed over, about 20% to 30% is reserved for local expenses, which means that there will be about 6000 to 9000 taels in the silver treasury. Now there is only half a year left before the handover deadline, even if half of it is used, there will still be 3000 to 4500 taels left.

In addition, the silver from sea transport will be stored in the silver vault. According to Hua Wanli's calculation, there should be 9200 taels of silver in the silver vault now.

The people in the warehouse knew that they would come to check today, so they came early and waited by the side. The warehouse door was already open.

Zhang Ping'an and County Magistrate Lu led the way in, while Green Bean Eyes led the accountant to start counting.

The inventory was completed in less than half an hour.

Green Bean Eyes bowed and replied, "My Lords, the deposit and the account book are consistent!"

Zhang Pingan raised his eyebrows and looked over, his green eyes nodded slightly, indicating that it was okay.

Then everyone went to the granary, and Green Bean Eyes led the team to check it again. He also randomly used an iron pestle to check many of the sacks in the middle. It was indeed the grain in the shells that flowed out, and the quantity was correct.

After finishing all this, it was already lunchtime, and everyone returned to the county government office to eat.

Zhang Ping'an had to be extremely alert. If something was unusual, there must be something wrong. If the handover was too smooth, it would seem abnormal.

I don’t know if it’s what he thought.

He had secretly instructed Chibao to arrange for people to stake out near the warehouse.

Green Bean was knowledgeable and had the same idea as Zhang Pingan: "What if they take action?"

"I am still an official appointed by the imperial court, and I have the Qian family behind me. They will at least use courtesy before force. Be patient. If they are a fox, their tail will always show up," Zhang Ping'an whispered to comfort him.

After the meal, no one rested. County Magistrate Lu was anxious to take over and was eager to get rid of this hot potato immediately.

Everyone went directly to the shipyard, salt field, and pearl factory on the beach.

These three are considered to be very important pillar industries in the county.

It was still a bit chilly at the end of March, but fortunately the weather was good today. When the carriage drove to the pier from a distance, we could smell the salty and fishy smell of the sea.

The accompanying officials all took out their handkerchiefs and covered their noses.

The two leaders, County Magistrate Lu and Zhang Ping'an, were fine. They both came from farming families and had even come into contact with farm manure, so what was there to be afraid of?

"Sir Zhang, this is the salt field in Ci County," said Magistrate Lu, pointing to a busy scene not far away.

Then he stroked his beard and said proudly, "Speaking of which, our Ci County may not be very good in other areas, but fish and salt are much cheaper for the common people than in other places. It's also easy to make a living, and there are very few beggars on the streets."

Zhang Pingan was very supportive: "This is all thanks to County Magistrate Lu's good governance!"

The two men exchanged compliments on their official duties before heading off to inspect.

I saw a layer of white crystals emerging from the grid-like square fields on the seashore. That was coarse salt. After collecting the salt, it would be simply classified and processed.

Once the salt permit is signed by the higher authorities, salt merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas can come nearby and transport salt using the salt permit.

Those who are responsible for drying salt are specialized salt households. They do not have land and rely on monthly wages to make a living.

Men, women, young and old were all working in the salt field, including some children as young as five or six years old.

Most people have sores on their hands, which are caused by long-term contact with salt particles. Their faces are dark, dry and thin due to the sea breeze.

Seeing the inspectors coming over, the foreman quickly asked everyone to come up and salute.

Magistrate Lu was quite friendly towards his subordinates. After exempting everyone from formalities, he led his men to the salt warehouse.

Now is not a good time to dry salt. There are only less than two thousand stones of salt stored in the salt warehouse. It will be quick to count and there is still no problem.

Next, we went to the shipyard. The ships occupied a large area, which made it even more difficult to fake.

Since Zhang Pingan could think of it, there would probably be no problem.

But it was still shocking to see dozens of brand new masted ships.

There were even treasure ships that could accommodate nearly 500 people.

Following Zhang Ping'an's gaze, Magistrate Lu introduced the ship, "This is a special ship for the grain transport. I heard that it was specifically requested by Lord Zhou, the grain supervisor of the grain transport department. A total of 200 ships have been ordered, but less than half have been completed so far. Lord Zhang will have to keep an eye on the rest."

"It should be so. This is my job," Zhang Ping'an nodded. A thought flashed through his mind, so fast that he couldn't catch it.

The last place we visited was the Pearl Farm, which occupied a much smaller area than the Salt Field and the Shipyard.

Yu County Magistrate was in charge of the Pearl House. Fearing that Zhang Ping'an didn't understand, he explained with a smile, "Your Excellency has lived in the inland for a long time, so you may not know this. The Pearl House doesn't need a lot of space. Pearl divers usually go to the open sea to dig pearls by boat driven by yamen runners. This place is mainly used for registration and office work."

After saying this, he led everyone to the inner room where the pearls were kept. There was only half a box of pearls. It was not the pearl-fishing season yet.