Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 11 Corrupt Officials
A cavalryman opened the box, revealing three layers of bamboo slips stacked inside. The bamboo slips were a turquoise color, clearly freshly made.

Yan Yi picked up a roll of bamboo slips casually, and Wang Mai's heart suddenly rose to his throat. Seeing the former hold the bamboo slips in his hands and play with them for a while, and then put them back into the box, he suddenly felt ecstatic.

"This kid really doesn't understand." Wang Mai breathed a sigh of relief.

Yan Yi turned his gaze to Cao Qiu, who was eager to try: "Mr. Cao, come and take a look."

It was not difficult for him to look at the account books, but he was now feeling angry and found it difficult to calm down.

Moreover, the bamboo slips of this era were written vertically, and there were no punctuation marks between words, so the reading experience was really not good.

Cao Qiu responded, fetched an intricately carved abacus, and calmly walked over to the elm box. His eyes, like Cao Cao meeting a married woman, or Liu Xuande meeting Kong Ming, shone brightly, as if he were at ease.

Wang Mai's heart began to lift again. "Excuse me, who is this gentleman? Does he need an official to explain it to him?"

Cao Qiu glanced at him contemptuously and said, "I'm the assistant clerk of the household department of this county. I'll call you if there's anything."

Wang Mai's eyes went dark, and he trembled as he asked, "Isn't Mr. Tian the assistant official in the Household Department?"

Cao Qiu snorted in his heart and disdained to answer. What a small village official!
He calmed down and began to focus on the scrolls of documents in front of him.

Wang Mai secretly groaned, vaguely guessing that there had been some personnel changes in the Household Department recently.

If Mr. Tian were here, he might protect the second one because they knew each other, but the one in front of him
His heart sank to the bottom and his hands and feet were cold.

As everyone waited, Cao Qiu flipped through the bamboo slips and fiddled with his abacus. A series of crisp, clattering jade clattered incessantly. When the sound abruptly ceased, the household official twirled his beard and smiled, "Young Master, a total of 287 refugee households have been newly incorporated into the nationality."

Upon hearing this, Fan Yan smiled and said, "This is great news. In just a few days, the population of Geqi Pavilion alone has increased by nearly three hundred households. Including other pavilions and subsequent refugees, the number of refugees entering Wucheng this time should be no less than fifteen hundred households."

Yan Yi smiled and nodded. This was indeed exciting news. As long as these refugees could be properly resettled, Wucheng's population could increase by one-seventh, potentially exceeding 15,000 households.

Wu County's fifteen counties had a total registered population of approximately 700,000. While Wu County, the county seat, was the largest, boasting nearly 30,000 households, the other fourteen counties ranged from 8,000 to 20,000 households. Even 15,000 households was considered a significant county, surpassing only Wu County, Lou County, Wuxi County, and Qu'a County.

But his good mood didn't last long. The smile on Cao Qiu's face quickly faded, replaced by surprise. "In the seven villages of Geqiting, there are a total of 302 vacant houses recorded. 183 of them have been confiscated, 17 of which have been pawned, and 156 have been rented out. Forty-seven of these houses belong to the same tenant, Zhu Gui."

Yan Yi sneered, "What a lavish act! He rented nearly fifty rooms by himself. Captain Du, have you heard of this man?"

"I have never heard of it." Du Qiu subconsciously glanced at Wang Mai, quickly retracted his gaze, and said solemnly.

Yan Yi's face darkened, his eyes stern. "Wang Mai, you were the one who recorded the contract. Tell me about this person's background."

Wang Mai's legs trembled. "I don't know this Zhu Gui. It's just that the house was available and Zhu Gui paid the full deposit. I didn't think much about it and rented it to him. I was foolish..."

"I'm afraid it's not just confusion."

Cao Qiu wanted to show off his talent in front of Yan Yi, so he immediately interrupted Wang Mai and turned to Yan Yi to talk freely.

"The person who recorded this deed did not record the rental prices by household, but instead calculated the rents of all the empty houses together. This alone is dereliction of duty! If my guess is correct, the person who drafted the deed must have secretly colluded with this Zhu Gui, first renting the forty-seven empty houses to Zhu Gui at a low price, and then letting him rent them to refugees at a high price. It's just that these two people are too greedy. Even if all the rents are combined, they can't cover up the loophole in the amount of money. The house prices in this county fluctuate greatly. This person probably wants to wait for a while, and then make a few arrangements, so that he can naturally get away with it. Whether what I said is accurate, you will know once you check it out." As soon as the words fell, a pair of scrutinizing eyes fell on Wang Mai.

Especially Yan Yi's cold glance, his eyes were as cold as ice, which made Wang Mai's hair stand on end.

Wang Mai felt an indescribable sense of unreality. Everyone in Wucheng knew that the young master of the Yan family was a playful and dissolute person. If he desired women, I would find them for him. If he needed money, I would also provide it. But why would he be interested in the household register? This didn't make sense!
"There's also a problem with Tian Jiaqi. The rent per mu is only eight dou, which is two dou and seven liters short." Cao Qiu continued to fiddle with the abacus.

Yan Yi laughed in anger, walked up to Wang Mai and looked at his fat face.

It's not that he doesn't allow his subordinates to take advantage, but first, you have to do your job well. Second, you must abide by the rules. If you can take the money within the rules, it's your ability; if you break the rules and do it recklessly, that's your problem. Finally, you have to be moderate and not overdo it.

This Wang Mai has nothing to do with it.

"Idiot!" He kicked Wang Mai to the ground and turned around in disgust: "Drag him away and investigate thoroughly! Send a few people to his house immediately and keep an eye on him!"

Two cavalrymen came over fiercely, picked up Wang Mai who was lying on the ground, and strode out of the backyard.

Wang Mai was so frightened that he was incoherent: "Young Master, please spare my life. I have already found two young ladies for you and will present them to you immediately."

A scream was heard, and a cavalryman swung his scabbard and hit him on the mouth.

Yan Yi paced back and forth in the courtyard. Just as his anger had subsided, a wave of sadness welled up in his heart. Wang Mai was just a village official, yet he dared to amass wealth so blatantly. What about the others?

"With frequent wars, soldiers looting, and corrupt officials exploiting the people, it's no wonder that bones are exposed in the wild and no roosters crow for thousands of miles." Yan Yi sighed deeply, his heart seemed to be shrouded in a layer of haze, and he felt extremely depressed.

Cao Qiu comforted him, "Young Master, don't worry too much. Just based on the two things you did today, most of the refugees here will be able to survive."

Fan Yan and others nodded in agreement.

"Just to survive?" Yan Yi frowned, looked at Cao Qiu, then at Fan Yan, and suddenly a strange feeling surged in his heart.

There was an indescribable calmness in the expressions of the two men as they spoke. Discussing the lives of the refugees was like discussing the weather today, nothing more, nothing less.

He felt a little dissatisfied, thinking that these two people were a little too indifferent.

But the next moment, he came to his senses and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Cao Qiu and Fan Yan had both grown up in this era, and they knew all too well what life was like for the common people. They'd probably seen worse things than this, and they'd become accustomed to them.

Although he accidentally broke into this world, he looked at this world with the knowledge of his previous life and compared this world with his previous life's living environment, so his reaction was naturally very different.

"Will I become like them in the future?" He fell into thought with some uneasiness.

(End of this chapter)