Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 46 No more pretending

"What are you going to do?" everyone asked hurriedly.

"In the past two months, I have moved all the gold and silver jewelry from the farm. Only a small amount of the 40,000 strings of cash in the Dingzi Treasury is left. As for the IOUs, I burned them a long time ago." Ren Yuan replied calmly:
"As for the land deeds and house deeds, they are in the county. County Magistrate Xie can retrieve them at any time. It's useless to burn them."

After a pause, he said in a deep voice: "In the next few days, I will distribute the tax grain promised to the people to them, so that the private wealth of the village will be basically spent."

"You are really good at spending money!" Tian Liangzi praised him from the bottom of his heart, and this was by no means derogatory. He had seen everything Ren Yuan had done in the past two months, as well as the earth-shaking changes in the village.

He finally realized that money can be spent in such a meaningful way. That's why he copied the example in Xiangbei.

Tian Liangzi was truly convinced, otherwise he would not have put aside his pride and come to help tonight.

"But most of the money and grain in the village have not been used. They are all the public property of the Xie family. Logically, I have no right to use them." Ren Yuan added: "I originally planned to use what I have learned in my life to empty them out bit by bit. But now I have to change my plan!"

As he spoke, he spoke word by word: "I am going to dig a big hole for those two, the kind that will make it so difficult for them to turn over in their lifetime!"

"Okay, okay, let's trap him to death!" Guys like Hua Limao and Huang Laoer, who are eager to create chaos in the world, immediately rubbed their hands in excitement.

"However, there are still a few problems. Please help us think of solutions." Ren Yuan asked everyone for help again.

"No problem!" Tian Liangzi responded cheerfully, "Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. Let's come up with some ideas together."

~~
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

During these seven days, the visit to Xianxiang has been peaceful and nothing unusual has happened.

But for County Lieutenant Xie, this was the most blatant provocation!

This time he was too lazy to pretend, and led a large group of people straight to Xiejiazhuang. When he saw Ren Yuan, he asked him bluntly, "Why is there no movement?!"

"Uncle Sixteen, I think this is too against the harmony of nature." Ren Yuan said in a cowardly manner, "I just can't do it."

"Bah! You know nothing. Do you think you can harm the harmony of nature?" County Lieutenant Xie spat fiercely and asked, "Where are the jars?"

"I lost it." Ren Yuan said timidly.

"You!" County Lieutenant Xie was immediately furious, pointing at his nose and cursing, "You stubborn thing, what do you think of my warning? Do you think I'm just trying to scare you?!"

"My nephew dare not." Ren Yuan said, shrinking his neck.

"Don't dare? I don't think you dare!" County Lieutenant Xie stopped talking to him and said, "I warned you at the beginning that if you can't handle it in seven days, get out of Xiejia Village! You can say it and not do it, but I can't go back on my word!"

"I now order you to immediately hand over the management of Xiejiazhuang and escort the coffins of my aunt, cousin and nephew back to their hometown for burial!"

"Uncle Sixteen, please forgive me this time. I will never dare to do it again..." Ren Yuan, who had always been a fearless person, was finally frightened and burst into tears.

"There won't be a next time!" Lieutenant Xie was heartless and said without question: "I'll give you one night to pack up, and I'll send someone to take you off tomorrow morning."

After saying that, he waved his hand like he was shooing away a fly, and two strong warriors carried the collapsed Ren Yuan down.

"It has to be father! This kid dares to act dumb, isn't it because he relies on the fact that he is on the family tree, and father has no excuse to deal with him? Are you dumbfounded now?!" Seeing Ren Yuan being dragged away like a dead dog, Xie Ji was delighted:

"If he dares to refuse, he will be unfilial! Then he can be directly sent to the capital and handed over to the elders of the clan for punishment!"

"Hurry up and count the treasury." County Lieutenant Xie did not respond and ordered Xie Ji, "If there is any deficit, it will be charged to that kid. Make him sign and seal before he can leave."

"Yes." Xie Ji responded excitedly, went out to call the few accountants he brought with him, and went to check the warehouse happily.

"Look carefully, this is our territory from now on!"

~~
After a rough check all night, Xie Ji reported at dawn the next day with red eyes: "Father, the treasury has been checked and 60,000 copper coins are basically consistent with the account." "Only 60,000 copper coins?" Xie County Lieutenant was not satisfied: "What about their family's private property?"

"Not a penny left." Xie Ji also said with a painful look on his face: "I asked the boy, and he said he spent it all. I don't know if it's true or not."

"Almost." Thinking about what he had seen and heard before, County Lieutenant Xie cursed distressedly: "What a loser!"

"Fortunately, he hasn't had time to touch the money in the public treasury." Xie Ji comforted his father, "It's none of our business if he spends his own money."

"Well, at least there is one more reason to stop him from managing the farm." Xie County Lieutenant sighed depressedly. Fortunately, there are also many ways to embezzle the money in the public treasury.

"What about the granary?" he asked again.

"The three public warehouses are full of grain. It would take at least ten days or half a month to move all of them out for inspection. Lao Zhou and his team did a random check and roughly estimated that there were 120,000 shi."

"Yes." County Lieutenant Xie nodded. This was the number on the account.

"Of course, there is not a single grain of food left in the private warehouse." Xie Ji sighed lightly.

"That's normal. That kid dared to disobey orders, so he would definitely transfer the property. It's better to empty it out, so that people won't say that we are the ones who have wiped out the whole family." County Lieutenant Xie could only comfort himself. Fortunately, the autumn harvest had begun, and the grain produced from tens of thousands of acres of fertile fields would soon be delivered to the warehouse.

"Do you want to make that kid spit out some more?" Xie Ji was ready to go. He had learned a lot from his surroundings and was familiar with some torture techniques.

"Forget it. Too much is as bad as too little." County Lieutenant Xie shook his head.

"Father is really kind and righteous." Xie Ji praised him, and then reminded him: "But should we wait until we have completely checked the granary before letting him go?"

"There's no need for that. Just let him sign and seal on a piece of white paper." County Lieutenant Xie said calmly.

~~
After Xie Ji came out, he went to Ren Yuan's room, slapped a thick stack of handover documents in front of him, and said viciously: "Sign it quickly, and get out after signing."

"Do I have to sign every one of them?" Ren Yuan asked worriedly.

"Of course, how can we make such a big manor without clear handover?!" Xie Ji slapped the table and said, "Hurry up."

Under Xie Ji's urging, Ren Yuan had no choice but to pick up the pen and sign.

Every time he signed a name, Xie Ji would quickly turn the page and ask him to sign the next one. It took him a whole meal to sign all the names.

Xie Ji immediately picked up the pile of documents, and after confirming that they were correct, he said to Ren Yuan who was rubbing his wrist, "The carriage is waiting outside, let's get on the road."

"Hey, hey." Ren Yuan nodded timidly, picked up his bag and stood up.

When he arrived at the courtyard, he took one last lingering look at Zhuangzi, and then was pushed into the carriage.

More than a dozen strong men also mounted their horses. They were going to escort Young Master Xie and his party to Kuaiji.

The leader of the group bowed to Xie Ji and said goodbye. Xie Ji nodded slightly and gave him a sinister look.

The owner nodded heavily, turned his horse's head, and shouted loudly: "Let's go!"

However, the convoy, surrounded by more than a dozen riders, had to stop just as they drove out of Xiejiazhuang.

The wide boulevard was filled with a huge crowd of people. The common people, carrying the elderly and children, holding baskets and carrying baskets on their backs, looked at Ren Yuan's carriage with sad faces.

ps. Third update, thanks to the third leader. Three updates for four consecutive days, the climax is coming, everyone please vote for the monthly ticket!!!

(End of this chapter)