No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 69 Hidden Tricks
Su Ze walked into the Yasi Hall. Ah Zhang pulled out a few account books from the pile of account books and said to Su Ze:

"Master Taoyuan, please look at these accounts."

Su Ze looked at the account book that looked like a heavenly book, his eyes went dark, he pushed the account book away and said:

"You better tell me about it."

"The names of the lessees of these properties do not match the names of the people from whom the plundering marriage officials collected rent."

Su Ze took a look and immediately understood what was going on.

This should be what is called a sub-landlord.

The officer in charge of renting out the store's properties is Sun Dayou. This is a lucrative job. He rents out those public rental houses that are easy to rent out to his accomplices, and then rents the houses out to people who really need a house at a higher price, and can easily make a profit from the difference.

This is also the most typical rent-seeking in store and house management.

Therefore, Sun Dayou was the fattest among the three officials and also benefited the most.

Su Ze asked:

“How many properties like this are there?”

Ah Zhang immediately said:

"Eight hundred sets in total."

Eight hundred sets is quite a lot.

The store house is a public rental house, which is much cheaper than private housing on the market, so the second landlord can make money as long as the sublease price is cheaper than that of private housing.

According to the statistics of Dian Zhaiwu, the average monthly rent of Dian Zhaiwu's properties was "200 wen", which means that the average monthly rent was wen.

The rental price in the normal market is much more than that. If Su Ze’s original small courtyard is rented out, the monthly rent can reach 500 Wen.

For a house, there is a rent-seeking space of 300 wen a month, which is three strings of coins a year.

And for eight hundred houses, that would be more than two thousand strings of cash a year.

This is already a considerable amount.

Ah Zhang took out some account books and said:
"There are also problems with this. This money is the rent that the plundering officials have recorded as having been credited to the accounts, but it is still in arrears in the public accounts of the store and house affairs."

Su Ze took the account book. This should be Feng Youcai's way of making money.

The marriage official collected the rent with the money he plundered, but it was embezzled by Feng Youcai, the collusion officer, and it was still shown as an arrears in the general ledger of the store and house affairs.

This is also a common way for government officials to make money, and it is also a method that Cai Xiang reminded people of in "The Ceremony of New Officials Taking Office".

Su Ze asked:

"how much is it?"

Ah Zhang picked up the abacus, quickly played with the beads, and said to Su Ze:

"Last year alone, there were 3,000 strings of cash."

Su Ze was secretly shocked. He didn't expect that Feng Youcai, who looked skinny, was actually the fattest rat in the entire store.

Moreover, his behavior was even worse than Sun Dayou's. This behavior of misappropriating rent was not a good thing. The people had clearly paid the money, but he embezzled it. No wonder the store and house affairs had so many arrears that they couldn't collect them. There were so many such confusing accounts that even the store and house affairs officials themselves probably couldn't tell.

"Where is Xiuxuan Commander's account?"

A Zhang said:

"Generally speaking, there are no problems. There are some people who have been receiving salaries for years without working, but many of them are owed money over the years."

Su Ze nodded. It seemed that among the three arresting officers, Wei Tong was the most clean.

With the evidence in hand, Su Ze can settle the score later.

Looking at the mountain of account books, if I didn't have A Zhang, it would probably take me months to figure out the tricks.

This is also the reason why these colluding officials dare to profit from it. Most officials actually do not understand the specific affairs, and in order to avoid problems in their own examinations, they need to rely on these clerks to do things.

When we want to deal with them, we can't produce any concrete evidence, so we can only allow them to grow stronger.

A Zhang said again:
"Also, there are problems with the leasing of these properties." Su Ze picked up the contracts handed over by A Zhang and asked doubtfully:

"What's wrong?"

A Zhang said:

"These houses on Jixiang Street were rented out immediately after the previous tenants moved out."

"Normally, properties that have been vacated need to be repaired and cleaned by the election commanders, and then a notice will be posted to rent them out again."

“These apartments are renting out too quickly.”

Su Ze nodded and said:

"So Sun Dayou also profited from this?"

A Zhang said hesitantly:
"But the tenants and rent payers of these properties are the same, and the renters paid six months' rent in one go."

Su Ze thought of Jixiang Street, which was a shop and house property close to Nan Ya and one of the best shops and house properties.

I think a few days ago there was talk of a demon monk causing trouble in a shop, and that was on Jixiang Street.

Looking at the time of rent termination, it was indeed a month ago, which was exactly when Yang Zong mentioned the ghost incident on Jixiang Street.

Yang Zong also said that the houses on Jixiang Street were particularly easy to rent because they faced the Southern Yamen. Renters would not easily give up the lease, and even subletting the houses would still be profitable. If it weren't for the demons, these houses would never have been vacant.

However, some people couldn't wait to rent the house where the ghost was haunted, and they felt that there was something fishy going on.

Could it be that Sun Dayou was playing tricks and then drove out these original residents to make a profit?
But if you think about it carefully, it's unlikely.

Many of the people who can rent in Jixiang Lane are officials working in the Southern Court. No matter how brave Sun Dayou is, he would never do such a thing.

He has more than 800 houses available for rent. Is it necessary to start in Jixiang Street?

The store and house affairs department is just the most inconspicuous government office in the entire Southern Court, and he cannot afford to offend these people.

Su Ze said:

"Pick out these properties as well. Don't sort them out yet. Instead, organize the evidence of Sun Dayou and Feng Youcai's embezzlement."

A Zhang agreed, and Su Ze left the Peach Blossom Spring.

But Su Ze had just returned from Peach Blossom Land when there was another knock on the door.

Su Ze put on his clothes and opened the door. He saw two familiar faces, one fat and one thin, and he was about to close the door immediately.

The fat captain stretched out his hand, grabbed the door panel, and said with a grin:

"Su Tiju! Mr. Su! Please don't close the door!"

The two people who came were from the Imperial City Bureau. The fat one was Captain Li, and the thin one was his military leader.

Su Ze was involved in the demon book case "thanks to" these two people. Last time he finally brought down Lu Yijian, Su Ze and the two of them parted ways.

He came to visit me again today, so it must be something bad.

But Li Dutou was a thug from the Imperial City Division after all. He held on to the door tightly, and Su Ze couldn't close it. Seeing his flattering and frivolous smile, Su Ze could only say:

"Come in and talk."

The thin military leader behind him was carrying a lot of gifts. After entering the yard, Li Dutou immediately said:

"I heard that Mr. Su moved to a new house. This is a gift from Li!"

Su Ze said unhappily:

"If you have something to say, say it quickly. Don't come here and talk nonsense."

Seeing that Su Ze's attitude had softened, Li Dutou knelt on the ground and said:
"Please, Mr. Su, help us two!"

Su Ze felt a little soft-hearted for a moment. These two funny guys were also the few people he had dealt with after traveling through time. He said:
"Tell me, what unfortunate case have you been involved in again?"

(End of this chapter)