Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

Zhou An quickly replied, "Uncle Zhang wrote a godparent agreement last night, officially acknowledging A-Yun as his goddaughter. My name is the guarantor on the agreement."

Zhou Quan's eyes lit up, and he patted him on the shoulder again, "Good! Very good! Don't be like your mother, so short-sighted. The Second Master executed corrupt officials in Tanzhou; that took courage!"

"Even if someone in the court impeaches me and I'm transferred to be a county magistrate, I'll still be a local official. I'll be promoted every three to five years, and becoming a prefect or vice-prefect is no problem! How is my future insecure? Your mother's vision is like a hen crowing at dawn! Humph!"

This time he wasn't angry; it just slipped out unintentionally. After he finished cursing, he grinned, unable to suppress the smile on his face.

Zhang Sanlang was standing under the eaves. Hearing this, he turned around and left without disturbing the people inside.

This week, An really went all out for A-Yun.

Jiang Laocheng's intention in inviting Zhou Ji to marry into his family was precisely to continue the family line.

Madam Jiang now has three sons. If she returns Zhou An to the Zhou family to continue the family line, she can resolve the resentment that has lasted for many years.

Although being born into a minor official family might be criticized by some for hindering one's career, as long as one has the ability, this is insignificant. Besides, Zhou An might not even pass the imperial examination.

However, after he was adopted into the Zhou family genealogy, he no longer had a good life in the Jiang family.

Zhang Sanlang knew Zhou Quan well; this guy had no ties and had never saved any money.

On the day his stipend was distributed, he would rush to the bookstore in the south of the city. In the past, when he didn't have much money, he would buy some printed anthologies, encyclopedias, and Cheng Wen's works.

After being promoted to clerk a while ago, he rode a donkey to a bookstore in Puzhou City to buy an official edition of the "Wenxuan" (Anthology of Literature)!

They even had to pawn their clothes to make up the difference because they didn't have enough money.

The result was that he walked back to Juancheng shirtless!

When he returned to the city, he ran into Fang Zhong'an, who was on his way to the post station. Zhou Quan was too embarrassed to say that he had pawned his clothes to buy books, and only said that it was too hot and he had taken off his outer garment, which was then draped over the donkey's back and blown away by the wind.

Fang Zhong'an then asked him where the donkey had gone, and Zhou Quan lied again, saying that the donkey had become stubborn on the way and that he had sold it.

Later, Fang Zhong'an found out the truth and informed Zhang Sanlang as if it were proper news. He didn't spread it around, which saved Zhou Quan's face.

Ordinary printed books, printed on bamboo paper and bound in thread, have about a hundred pages and cost between three and five hundred coins, which is not cheap.

Officially printed books often consisted of classics, historical texts, or collections of famous writings. They were printed on thick paper, with exquisite bindings, and a set of several volumes could cost three to five strings of cash. Local bookstores didn't have many officially printed books; one had to go to the bookstores in the prefectural city to find them.

In short, Zhou Quan is very poor!

According to Fang Zhong'an, he was the only clerk in the county government who still drank porridge every day!

Zhou An was adopted into his family genealogy...

At 2:45 AM, the door to the household room was pushed open.

Xu Fang entered first and stepped aside to make way for him.

Behind him followed a short, stout old man, dressed in a gray-blue silk robe with a black silk sash around his waist and black satin boots. His hair was neatly combed, his round face was fleshy, and his eyes were dark and bright. This was none other than Liu Dongqing, the man from the slanted-back row.

He glanced around the room as he entered, then his gaze settled on Zhang Sanlang. He cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Zhang Clerk, I am Liu Dongqing. I'm from the east of the city, and I make a living working for the county government."

Two more young men squeezed in behind him.

They were all short and stout, with round faces, dressed in short, fine brown clothes with their cuffs tied up. Each one of them looked more smug than the last. They didn't even look at anyone when they entered the room. They would lean against the wall, cross their arms, and stand with their chins raised.

Xu Fang walked up to Zhang Sanlang's desk and lowered his voice, "Zhang Clerk, the people have been brought. Liu Erlang and Liu Sanlang insisted on coming along, and I thought that with two more people, we might be able to get more information, so I took the liberty of bringing them."

Zhang Sanlang nodded and pointed to the chair opposite him, "Old Liu, please sit down."

Liu Dongqing didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down in the chair, the legs creaking. He rested his hands on his knees, a smile on his face.

Zhang Sanlang pulled out a ledger from the corner of the table and opened it. "Old Liu, I've invited you here today to ask about something. Why are you managing the three hundred mu of land under Madam Feng's name? As far as I know, Old Liu has no dealings with her."

Liu Dongqing's smile remained unchanged, even rising slightly at the corners of his mouth. "Zhang Yashi's question is rather strange. If Madam Feng is trustworthy enough to entrust me with managing her land, which law of this dynasty does that violate?"

He glanced down at Zhang Sanlang, held up three fingers, and said, "The summer and autumn taxes, the old man paid on time and in full. The corvée's fees, not a penny less, went to the county granary. It's all clearly written in the household register, what's there to ask?"

Zhang Sanlang leaned forward slightly. "Uncle Liu, I am the clerk of the Household Registration Office. The Household Registration Office is in charge of the county's land ownership records. Who owns the land, who manages the tenants, and where the rent goes are all within the scope of the Household Registration Office's investigation."

"Those three hundred acres of land are registered under the name of the Feng family in the land register, but the actual tenant is Mr. Liu. The household registration office has the right to inquire about the tenant management relationship in order to verify whether the land rent is accurately recorded and whether the two taxes are paid on time."

"This is not a criminal trial, but a routine inspection by the household registration office. The person in charge of cleaning the latrines of each household in the east of the city is not the steward of the estate. This is an unusual situation, and the household registration office needs to confirm it to prevent anyone from using the guise of temporary management to evade the allocation of corvée labor."

"Furthermore, why does the Feng family trust you so much? Three hundred acres of land is no small amount. Entrusting such a large business to the Liu family means either you saved her life or you have something on her."

Liu Dongqing's smile faded. "Zhang, you've gone too far. The old man didn't steal or rob. He was just managing a tenant's rent and was getting paid as a tenant manager."

"Madam Feng is a woman and it's inconvenient for her to go out often. Now that she's a nun in a temple, the fields need someone to look after them. If you feel this is inappropriate, you can ask Madam Feng herself."

Zhang Sanlang's face darkened, and he was starting to lose his temper.

But before he could even get angry, Liu Erlang had already walked over from the wall. "Father, why bother talking to him so much? Our family manages the land, we've paid the taxes and performed our corvée duties, why is the household registration office asking us all these questions?"

Liu Sanlang followed behind him, arms crossed, a smirk playing on his lips. "Exactly. An accountant, trying to boss us around?"

The two men stood on either side of Liu Dongqing behind him, their four eyes fixed on Zhang Sanlang.

There was a moment of silence in the room. Xu Fang took half a step forward, intending to go out and call for help.

Footsteps suddenly came from the corridor, and in the blink of an eye, a short and stout figure dressed in a gray official's uniform appeared at the door, and the light in the room dimmed for a moment.

Zhang Sanlang's face showed a slight surprise, but he recognized him as Liu Da, the county warehouse owner and the brother-in-law of Yan Yasi!

He glanced at the Liu family father and son and immediately understood that Liu Dongqing was Liu Da's father!

Sure enough, Liu Da took two steps forward, cupped his hands in greeting to Zhang Sanlang, and said, "Zhang Yashi, my apologies. I heard that you were questioning my father and two good-for-nothing brothers, so I rushed over."

Liu Erlang had just opened his mouth to say something when Liu Da turned his head and glared at him, "Get out!"

Liu Erlang closed his mouth.

He glanced at his older brother, then turned and left.

Seeing that Liu Da was angry, Liu Sanlang quickly followed his second brother out.