Chapter 891 Sorting out
County Magistrate Tang flipped through the things in the bundle. He did not look at the account books and letters, but instead looked at the deeds from the government office.
Manbao and the other two stared at him with sharp eyes, waiting for him to explain.
County Magistrate Tang glanced at County Magistrate Yang, who nodded slightly. County Magistrate Tang then pointed at the paper in his hand and said, "This is a mountain deed. Do you know what a mountain deed is?"
Manbao said, "As the name suggests, it's the title deed to the mountain."
County Magistrate Tang paused for a moment, then nodded. "That's right, but this mountain deed is the part that's kept at the government office." He pointed to a small symbol in the lower right corner and said, "Do you know what this is?"
The three of them shook their heads together.
"This means there are iron ore in the mountains."
County Magistrate Yang also nodded. "It must have been discovered later. County Magistrate Bai marked it here, probably intending to redeem the mountain and allow the imperial court to mine it."
"According to our Great Jin Laws, no one except the imperial court is allowed to open a mine privately. If a private property has a mine, it must be reported to the imperial court, and the government must issue a document granting permission for mining. Both parties must open the mine together. I just looked it up, and I don't see any stubs of such documents."
County Magistrate Tang then turned to look at other things. The more he looked, the heavier his heart became. He handed the booklet to County Magistrate Yang to read, and then he opened the letters.
Manbao and Baishan immediately came over to watch together.
County Magistrate Tang glanced at them but did not stop them.
There were nineteen letters in total, and the identities of the people who came and went were of different kinds, including ministers in the court, members of the royal family, and even some big businessmen.
County Magistrate Tang read all of them carefully. Seeing that the three people beside him were looking at him with sharp eyes, he handed the letter he had read to them, and the three people immediately took it and read it.
County Magistrate Tang shook his head and started to sort out the books with County Magistrate Yang.
There were so many things that they couldn't finish reading them all in a short time. They could only flip through them roughly, then look carefully at the front, and distinguish between this one, which was the list of people connected to the King of Yizhou, this one, the account book of the river workers embezzled by the King of Yizhou, this one, the account book of the iron ore mined, and that one, the book of his grain purchases...
They sorted them out, and the three children over there also read the nineteen letters carefully. They also took out a piece of white paper and listed a lot of things, extracting the correspondents and the main content of the correspondence so that people could understand it at a glance.
Bai Jilang put these papers directly on the back of the letter so that they would know which letter was mainly about what.
County Magistrate Tang was moved when he saw this. He immediately placed the account book on the table in front of them and said with a smile, "Come, come, I will teach you how to read the account book. Do you know what these are?"
The three of them had just finished reading the letter and were still shocked by its contents, shaking their heads in confusion.
County Magistrate Tang smiled like the old woman in the village who coaxed them into helping bundle firewood, and said softly, "It's okay, I'll teach you."
County Magistrate Yang glanced at him, shook his head, and looked out the window. Only then did he realize that it was already getting dark. He twisted his neck, stood up, and said, "Alright, go out for a walk and wake your eyes. Even if you need help, there's no need to rush."
County Magistrate Tang thought what he said made sense, and was about to leave as soon as he collected his things. However, Manbao and Baishan were very anxious, "Why don't you talk first? We are not tired at all."
County Magistrate Yang couldn't help but sigh, "There are still people who are eager to find work."
He taught them, "Don't rush things. We've come this far over the past decade, why rush now? The more anxious you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes. Come on, let's go for a walk first."
Wan Tian stayed behind to guard the study, and they ran into Cui as soon as they left the yard.
Cui smiled and said, "I was just about to invite you guys. It's time for dinner."
They actually stayed in the study for the entire afternoon. County Magistrate Yang smiled and nodded, then took them to dinner.
The dinner was very sumptuous, and Cui also prepared wine, obviously to welcome County Magistrate Tang.
Zhou Silang had spent the entire day squatting outside the study with Wan Tian Mingli, feeling utterly bored. He glanced at County Magistrate Tang, then at his youngest sister, and asked, "Man Bao, when do you guys decide to go home?"
Manbao thought about it and realized that it would take quite some time to sort out so many things. He looked at Bai Shan uncertainly and said, "Five days?"
Zhou Silang said, "Then I'm going home tomorrow. I have to tell my parents so they don't worry. My family is busy with farming, and my sister-in-law has closed the shop and is coming home to help. Otherwise, I could just tell her directly. By the way, do you want me to tell my family?"
He turned his head to look at Bai Shan and Bai Erlang.
Bai Erlang nodded timidly, "It would be best if Brother Zhou Si could go and tell my father."
Even Bai Shan nodded and said, "Thank you, Brother Zhou Si."
Zhou Silang agreed nonchalantly, not feeling that it was difficult at all. After all, he was just doing what he was told, and in the end, when they returned home, they would be the ones to be punished.
County Magistrate Tang then told County Magistrate Yang, "I will leave after noon the day after tomorrow."
County Magistrate Yang nodded and looked at Cui. "Tell the kitchen to prepare some easy-to-eat midnight snacks and send them to us later."
Cui didn't understand what they could do with three young boys and girls that needed to be done overnight, but she nodded anyway.
Everyone had dinner and went back to the study without any delay.
County Magistrates Tang and Yang felt that time was limited, so they each took an account book and captured one person to teach.
Magistrate Tang apprehended Bai Shan and said, "This is an account book for iron ore mining. It contains the date, mining volume, inventory, and shipping time. However, it was probably recorded privately, so it's a bit disorganized, and there are some missed times. I need you to calculate the average daily output, then calculate the monthly total, and add the total amount mined for the entire month..."
Bai Shan understood, "Is this to calculate how many weapons they have refined?"
County Magistrate Tang paused and patted his head. "There are so many questions. Let's sort out the booklet first."
County Magistrate Yang grabbed Manbao and took out three booklets for grain purchases. He said to her, "Although these three booklets all record grain purchases, the entries are very disorganized. Look, there are notes in the middle: this one is for Jiashan'ao, and this one is for Anshan. I need you to re-list them, showing which one is for Jiashan'ao and which one is for Anshan, and how long the gap is between them. It would be best if you could calculate the approximate amount of grain spent in each area each day."
Manbao understood immediately, "This way we can calculate how many people are in Chujiashan'ao and how many are in Anshan, right?"
Magistrate Yang paused and nodded. "Yes, these books are very mixed. You must sort them out carefully to avoid miscalculations. Miners and soldiers are different."
Manbao nodded solemnly.
County Magistrate Yang then handed Bai Erlang a thick booklet and said, "This is the booklet containing the money embezzled from the river workers by the King of Yizhou. This should be the original booklet, as it's not too messy. But I need to list all the people who have owned it. Please help me list it."
Bai Erlang trembled with fear, "I, I don't understand."
County Magistrate Yang smiled gently at him and said to him, "Don't be afraid. I'll give you a sample. Just follow it."
The next update will be around 8pm
(End of this chapter)
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