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

Liu Dalang turned around with a smile on his face, "My father is a rough man and doesn't understand the rules of the yamen. My two younger brothers are young and impetuous, so please don't take offense, Clerk Zhang."

He walked up behind Liu Dongqing and stopped. "If Clerk Zhang has any questions, just ask. I will answer what I know. I won't dare to say anything I don't know."

Zhang Sanlang nodded, invited him to sit down, and brought up the matter of the three hundred acres of land again.

Liu Da spoke in a low voice, as if recounting an old story, unhurriedly, "Zhang Yashi, you may not know this, but the Liu family and the Feng family have been close friends forty years ago."

"This story dates back to about thirty-five or thirty-six years ago. That year, Old Master Feng took Madam Feng to Zhangjiazhuang in the east of the city for a wedding banquet, and somehow they got engaged to the Zhang family. The Feng family had a thousand acres of fertile land in Linhe Township, and they gave five hundred acres as dowry."

He paused and glanced at his father.

Liu Dongqing's face was gloomy, but he didn't say anything.

"After Madam Feng married into the Zhang family, the Zhang family was in business and not good at farming. The five hundred mu of land was her dowry land. Apart from two hundred mu being donated to Yongning Nunnery, the remaining three hundred mu were managed by the old servants of the Feng family."

"Later, when Old Master Feng passed away and the old servants dispersed, the fields could not be left unattended. Madam Feng remembered that my Liu family had been engaged in farming for three generations and had several manure pits in Linhe Township. She knew best how to cultivate the fields, so she entrusted the fields to my father."

Liu Da tilted his head slightly in Liu Dongqing's direction. "After my father took over, he only managed it temporarily. The land still belongs to Madam Feng, and the rent is still paid by the tenants. The Liu family only takes the rent from the tenants and doesn't handle the land rent."

"The taxes, miscellaneous taxes, and corvée wages are all paid to the county granary in full every year, without a single arrears. Of course, Zhang, the clerk, has a relationship with my brother-in-law, Yan, the clerk, and I, Liu Da, would not dare to hide it from you."

"Over the years, my Liu family has transformed some low-grade fields into medium-grade fields, and medium-grade fields into high-grade fields. As the land grade has changed, we should have registered the land in the household register in a timely manner."

"But my father was in poor health those years, and I was young and ignorant, so it was delayed. If Clerk Zhang were to check the household registers, houses, and land records, I'm afraid it would still be old accounts and old land."

"This matter was handled improperly by my Liu family. Today, in front of Clerk Zhang, I'll make this clear: every penny of the taxes owed will be paid in full. As for the land that needs to be changed, I will go back and investigate and report on it another day."

After he finished speaking, he lowered his hands, took a half step back, and resumed his previous respectful demeanor.

Liu Dongqing then spoke, his voice softening slightly, "Zhang Yashi, my Liu family has served Datian for three generations, more attentively than anyone else. Madam Feng trusts me enough to entrust the land to me; that's because of decades of friendship between our two families."

"If you feel this is inappropriate, you are welcome to investigate. Ask any of the old tenant farmers in Linhe Township to see if my Liu family has ever cheated the Feng family out of a single grain of rice."

Zhang Sanlang leaned back in his chair. "I will ask the old tenant farmers in Linhe Township myself. I invited Old Man Liu here today to get to the bottom of things. Since the Liu family has a reason for managing the tenants, I naturally have nothing to say."

He tapped his fingertips lightly twice on the table, as if weighing something.

After a moment, he glanced at Liu Da, pondered for a moment, and forced a smile. "I cannot show favoritism in matters of land transfer. However, the Liu family has indeed put a lot of effort into cultivating the land over the years. Although the land has been well cultivated, a lot of its fertility has been depleted."

"In that case, I will send someone to Linhe Township another day to take a look at the fertility of those fields. If the soil fertility has indeed been overdrawn, we will not classify them as permanent, but will temporarily record them as temporary elevated fields, and tax them according to the original level. We will make further calculations once the soil fertility has recovered."

"Every spring and autumn, the household registration office sends people to the countryside to assess the land. When they reach Linhe Township, I will personally take a look. If the land is indeed well-maintained and the soil fertility is stable, then it won't be too late to formally register the land. Old Liu, what do you think of this?"

Sitting in his chair, Liu Dongqing's smile deepened after hearing Zhang Sanlang's words. He rubbed his lips with the back of his hand and glanced at Liu Da.

Liu Da stood behind him with his eyes downcast, his face expressionless. He simply cupped his hands in thanks and said, "Zhang Yashi is very considerate. I thank you on behalf of my father."

Liu Dongqing then turned his gaze back, his voice lower than before, "Since Clerk Zhang is willing to give me this face, I will naturally accept it. Another day, you can send someone to Linhe Township, and I will have Sanlang lead them to look after the fields."

He rubbed his hands on his knees, stood up with his hands on the handrail, and bowed slightly to Zhang Sanlang. "This old man is clumsy with words and spoke rashly just now. Please forgive me, Zhang Clerk."

Zhang Sanlang waved his hand, "Uncle Liu, you flatter me. Verifying household registration and land ownership is our duty. We must ask what needs to be asked and inspect what needs to be inspected. As long as the land tax is correct and the corvée labor is not insufficient, other matters are easy to discuss."

He paused, then remembered something and changed the subject, "However, there's another small matter. Who does the work at the latrines in the five alleys in the east of the city? That's your trade rule, I don't know and I don't intend to interfere."

"However, a couple of days ago, Mr. Shi, who sells vegetables in the neighborhood, said he wanted to lease the manure pit in Jinshi Lane to irrigate his thirty acres of vegetable fields, so he came to my neighbor, the old man Sun, the county magistrate."

"Old Master Sun couldn't bring himself to refuse, but he also didn't want County Magistrate Sun to use his official position to force him, which would break the rules. So, he asked me to pass on a message to Old Man Liu to mediate and let each of us do as we see fit."

Liu Dongqing sat back down in his chair and listened to him finish speaking. The smile on his round face remained unchanged, and he slightly raised his eyelids. "What does Clerk Zhang mean?"

Zhang Sanlang leaned back in his chair, spreading his hands. "The Shi family pays for the workshop to issue the gambling permits; that's their business with the county government. Whether the Liu family is willing to vacate an alley's cesspool for the Shi family is your business."

"Since Master Sun has spoken, it's only right for me, as a junior, to relay his words. As for whether it will succeed or not, that's up to Old Man Liu to decide; it has nothing to do with what we're discussing today."

Liu Dongqing tapped his fingers lightly on his knee, glanced at Liu Da, and said, "Zhang Yashi has delivered the message, and the old man understands."

He stood up again, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Zhang Sanlang, and said, "I'll go back and discuss this with a few of the old brothers in the business. Whether it works out or not, I'll have Dalang report back to you another day."

Zhang Sanlang also stood up and cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Elder Liu."

Liu Dongqing nodded, turned and walked towards the door. Liu Da bowed to Zhang Sanlang and followed behind him.

A low voice came from the corridor, "Father, what exactly is Zhang the Clerk trying to do?"

Liu Dongqing's voice was a little muffled than before, "We'll talk about it when we get back."

The footsteps echoed along the corridor toward the ceremonial gate.

Xu Fang watched as the Liu father and son turned the corner of the corridor before closing the door ajar. He turned back and asked, "Zhang Yashi, do you really want to go see those fields in Linhe Township?"

Zhang Sanlang folded up the piece of paper on the table with a few lines of writing on it. "I'll take a look, but there's no rush."

"Linhe Township?"

He suddenly remembered something, and after sending Xu Fang away, he closed the door to the signing room.

Zhang Sanlang walked to the innermost row of wooden shelves against the wall and pulled out the book on the left side of the third shelf.

The cover reads "Fang Guo Hu Feng," written in the handwriting of an old clerk from twenty years ago, the ink now tinged with brown.

He turned to Feng Jian's page.

Volume Four of the Records of the State of Zhenji in Juancheng County, by the Feng Family

Head of household: Feng Punian, fifty-seven years old, clerk of the county office.

People from Linhe Township in this county moved to Fangguo household in the third year of the Xiande reign of the previous dynasty.

Wang, the legal wife, was 49 years old and came from Wangjia Village, Linhe Township.

The eldest son, Feng Shangnian, was thirty years old when he went to the front office of the county clerk's office.

The second son, Feng Jiannian, was twenty-five years old and served as a household registration officer in this county.

The eldest daughter, née Feng, married Zhang Shiqing, a merchant from the east of the city, at the age of thirty-three.

The second daughter, née Feng, was twenty-one years old when she married Tian Zhenglong, the magistrate of the county, as his concubine.

Farmland: 1,280 mu of ancestral land in Linhe Township...

Note: In the fourth year of the Jianlong era, Feng Jian established a separate household but remained attached to this household registration.

Zhang Sanlang's gaze lingered on the name Feng Jian, quickly grasping the situation of the Feng family:

Feng Jian had an older brother, Feng Pu, who was the same Feng Clerk who died at the hands of Feng Scarface!

He also has sisters, but because they are already married, their household registration is not complete.

The elder sister married into the Zhang family; her husband was Feng Peilin. The younger sister was initially taken as a concubine by the county magistrate, but her whereabouts afterward are not recorded in the register.

Zhang Sanlang lowered his eyes and sighed softly. He had worked as a clerk in the clerk's office for ten years and had never known that Feng Jian and the Zhang family had this kind of relationship!