Great Zhou Wensheng

Chapter 157 God-level Sima, a new broom sweeps clean!

The next day.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated.

After a drunken feast at Mingyue Tower, the newly appointed scholars, still savoring the fine wine and nectar, set off on their journeys to various prefectures, counties, and towns in Jiangnan.

The official road was filled with speeding carriages, carrying these newly rich men in black gauze hats to their first stop for practical political observation.

Only Jiang Xingzhou's new green horse carriage, provided by the governor's mansion, was still tied up under the old locust tree in the backyard of the Jinling Inn.

He had no mansion or property in Jinling City, so he could only stay at the Jinling Inn.

The waiter wiped the counter, stealing a glance at the scholar who had the top-class room in the Jinling Inn all to himself—

Yesterday he was the top scholar in the Jiangnan provincial examination, admired by thousands in Jiangnan Province.
This morning, I am the Prefect of Jiangnan Circuit. I am leaning alone against the carved railing of the inn window, reading "The Administration of the Prefectural Governor's Office" amidst the morning mist drifting from the Qinhuai River across the way.

On the desk of the top scholar, there was a document from the governor's office for his political internship, the sealing wax of which was dazzlingly red in the morning light.

"Sir, when we go to the governor's mansion later, should I go and prepare the carriage in advance?"

The waiter finally couldn't help but ask.

Jiang Xingzhou paused, the page stopping at the chapter on "Taxes".

He gazed at the dissipating mist outside the window and suddenly chuckled, "No need. The government office is right across the street. I'll walk to the office and take a stroll around Jinling City while I'm at it."

As the first rays of dawn broke through, Jiang Xingzhou's brand-new Sima official robe swayed slightly in the wind, and the fish-shaped tally at his waist tapped lightly with each step, producing a clear and melodious sound.

After strolling through the bustling streets along the Qinhuai River, enjoying a hot meal of dumplings at a street stall amidst the morning's lively atmosphere, I walked along the bluestone official road to the government office.

Before the vermilion gate of the Jiangnan Circuit government office, the guards on duty bowed respectfully.

Jiang Xingzhou passed through the triple ceremonial gate, where the government office was bustling with activity.

The junior officials, carrying stacks of official documents, moved between the various offices of the government office, their steps hurried yet orderly.

"Greetings, Jiang Sima!"

Upon seeing Jiang Xingzhou, all the minor officials stopped and bowed.

This government office, located between the Confucian Temple and the Imperial Examination Hall, was quite elaborate in its design.

The main hall was solemn and dignified, the second hall was spacious and bright, and the side rooms were lined up one after another.

Although it is not as grand as the government offices in the capital, it has more of an imposing presence than the government offices in Nanjing.

Jiang Xingzhou nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the busy crowd.

Several young clerks, their foreheads glistening with sweat, meticulously organized the documents in their hands.

Jiang Xingzhou's office, the Sima's quarters, suddenly appeared before him—separated from the governor's official residence by only one wall.

Morning light streamed through the window, revealing that the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were all prepared on the table, and even the incense burned with a faint scent of agarwood.

This official residence of a fifth-rank Sima (a military officer) clearly demonstrates his special status.

As the second assistant to the governor, Jiang Xingzhou was responsible for assisting the governor in handling state affairs, such as taxation, justice, and civil administration.

There was also a military assistant, responsible for troop training and city defense.

The documents piled on the desk included autumn grain registers and soldier rosters, proving that this position required both civil and military skills.

The position of Sima of Jiangnan Circuit not only requires him to inspect various prefectures on a regular basis, but also allows him to temporarily take charge of the administration of a prefecture if the prefecture becomes vacant.

This Sima seal should have belonged to Du Shangjun—Du Sima, who repeatedly distinguished himself in the Battle of Taihu Lake.

Now that the war on Taihu Lake has been quelled, the imperial court issued a decree promoting him to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Jiangnan Naval Forces, overseeing the Taihu Lake water conservancy project.

The cinnabar in the seal box was still fresh, but the person had already gone to take up his post.

The vacant position of Jiangnan Circuit Sima in the government office became a coveted post that everyone secretly coveted.

According to regulations, the vacancies can only be filled after the imperial examinations in the spring of the following year, when the Ministry of Personnel selects officials.

Governor Wei Guanlan, with a stroke of his pen, ordered Jiang Xingzhou to temporarily assume his post for six months under the pretext of "internship and observation of government affairs".

Jiang Xingzhou flipped through the mountain of documents on his desk. On the desk, a celadon teacup held a pot of Longjing tea, with wisps of steam rising from it.

The phrase "internship observation of politics" is quite complex and requires careful study.

This was originally a probationary position for newly appointed candidates in the imperial examinations, where they could simply observe and do nothing.

Simply "learn and observe" government affairs to accumulate enough experience for next year's autumn examination.

In this way, there is no need to take responsibility for administrative mistakes.

Of course, during these six months, as the acting Sima, he still held the official seal and fish tally of the Sima, and had real power—he could handle Sima government affairs.

If he wants to work hard, no one will stop him.

After all, the governor's office had a lot of affairs waiting for the Sima to handle, and it would be troublesome to have them piling up on his desk.

"Lord Jiang, the accounts for transporting military provisions to the north have been delayed for five days. We need to review the accounts as soon as possible and affix the official seal before the grain transport ships can set sail and leave the ferry."

The north urgently needs grain; there can be no delay.

Would you like your seal affixed?

The clerk, Hu Wanjin, respectfully presented a lacquered box containing dozens of thick account books, and hesitated to speak.

Previously, the position of Sima was vacant and no one filled it.

If Sima doesn't do his work, all the affairs will be pushed to Li Huai'an, the Prefect.

However, Li Huai'an, the Prefect, was also burdened with many other matters and was quite reluctant to take on Sima's work.

"Put it down and let me take a look."

Come back and collect it in half an hour after I've finished approving it.

Jiang Xingzhou's gaze fell on the stack of yellowed account books.

He could have easily "practiced political observation" and spent his days leisurely enjoying tea;

But the stack of ration books stained with rice paste in front of them was a clear reminder that every day of delay meant that the northern border army might be short of rations for another day.

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, Hu, the clerk, bent down even more. He glanced at Lord Jiang and saw his long, slender fingers turning a page of the account book.

Hu Wanjin left Sima Gong's office, walked through the corridor, and returned to the side hall where the officials conducted their business.

As soon as he entered, several minor officials from the Sixth Division approached him excitedly, their eyes gleaming, their voices low and their expressions varied.

"Brother Hu, has Commander Jiang really taken over the ledgers for transporting military rations to the north?"

Someone couldn't help but ask.

Truly experienced officials would never easily touch such unfamiliar ledgers.

"Isn't it?"

Hu Wanjin shook his head, somewhat surprised, and lowered his voice even further, "This new official, before even getting the job done, dares to touch such a hot potato...!"

"Tsk tsk, you've got some nerve!"

Another person clicked his tongue and said, "If there's a mistake in these ledgers, at best he'll be demoted, at worst he'll be punished! How dare he take on the responsibility of approving the ledgers all by himself?"

"When Du Sima was in power, he still had to gather three or five senior officials and repeatedly check the records for ten days or half a month. How could he possibly finish counting this thick stack of account books?"

Someone chimed in, their tone tinged with schadenfreude, "Does a mere provincial graduate really think his pen can turn stone into gold?"

"Even if his poems and essays are excellent, can they be used as an abacus?"

Some people scoffed, "These ledgers can't be understood just by being good at writing."

The crowd whispered amongst themselves, their eyes darting about, some mocking, some worried, and some waiting to see a good show.

Although these officials were also graduates of the imperial examination system, they could only work as minor clerks in the governor's office, accumulating seniority year after year, waiting for the seemingly distant opportunity for promotion.

Jiang Xingzhou, a young man who had just passed the provincial examination, was favored by Governor Wei Guanlan and was appointed as the Sima (a military officer) as soon as he entered officialdom, becoming their superior. How could such an opportunity not make people envious?
In the imperial examinations, some people passed with flying colors and rose to high positions, while others studied diligently for years but remained in low-ranking positions.

Comparing yourself to others is truly infuriating!
At this moment, everyone felt a pang of jealousy, yet also a hint of schadenfreude.

"Just wait and see!"

Within half an hour, our Lord Jiang will be overwhelmed by those account books and will surely come to ask us 'old folks' for help.

"Of course, they'll have to spend some silver to treat us lowly officials to a good meal at Mingyue Tower."

An elderly official with a white beard, Sun Shenwei, slowly sipped his tea, crossed his legs, and said calmly.

He had been entrenched in the clerk's office for decades, with no hope of promotion, but he was highly respected among the six clerks because of his seniority and experience.

"That's right! If you want to use us lowly officials, you have to spend some money and treat us to a few good meals! Otherwise, we can't just do our hard work for nothing."

His words drew nods of agreement from the crowd, their eyes gleaming with anticipation for a good show.

These disgruntled minor officials—though unwilling to accept their fate—wanted to see the newly appointed Jiang Sima make a fool of himself.

No prefect or military commander could calculate those intricate ledgers without the help of the clerks in the clerk's office. Jiang Xingzhou's slender fingers turned the pages, his gaze sweeping over the densely packed figures of grain and fodder.

After turning to the last page of the ledger,
His brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

The problem isn't the complexity of the accounts, but rather the crude method of bookkeeping—

Single-entry bookkeeping – only records the increase or decrease of income and expenditure, without the strictness of double-entry debit and credit.

For example, "In the fifteenth year of Tian Shou, Jiangnan 'collected' 30,000 bolts of silk for labor and taxation, and 'distributed' 5,000 bolts of silk for military repairs."

Such records abound, seemingly well-organized, but in reality riddled with flaws.

For example, 5,000 bolts of cloth!
If someone were to change the amount in the ledger to '6,000 bolts', it would be completely undetectable, impossible to check the accounts, and the whereabouts of the extra 1,000 bolts of cloth would be unknown.

Such bookkeeping is like a pot of paste; even if ten clerks spend half a month copying and proofreading, errors and omissions are still inevitable.

And what if the final balance of the 'income' and 'expenditure' accounts doesn't match!

That would force lower-level officials to find ways to make up for the deficit.

Jiang Xingzhou lightly tapped the table with his fingertips, but his thoughts had already drifted to another time and space—where there was a method called "double-entry bookkeeping," where each transaction corresponded to both debit and credit entries, with detailed accounts and a balance between debits and credits.

If this method can be used to reorganize the accounts, then this muddled account should be able to be settled!
With this in mind, Jiang Xingzhou casually picked up a blank ledger, dipped it in ink, picked up his pen, and began to reorganize the ledger on the spot.

As the top scholar in the preliminary examination, the top scholar in the county examination, and the top scholar in the provincial examination, his talent was unparalleled in Jiangnan.

Dealing with these account books, which required no talent, was a piece of cake for him.

It is easy to use simple writing techniques such as "photographic memory", "reading ten lines at a glance", "writing ten lines in one stroke", and "writing in one go".

The teacup was still warm.

The old hundred-page ledger has been transformed and reorganized into a new ledger under his pen.

The messy accounts of single-entry bookkeeping gradually transformed into well-organized double-entry bookkeeping.

The figures used for bookkeeping were also simplified.

Every income and expenditure was matched with a corresponding debit or credit, and every loophole was filled with rigorous accounting rules.

Jiang Xingzhou put down his pen and sipped his tea. He saw a thick old account book and a thin new book sitting side by side on the table—one was a muddled account, and the other was a clear account.

With experience, practice makes perfect, and Jiang Xingzhou became increasingly adept at handling old debts.

"Wow~"

On the newly written ledger, the ink still wet, the pen moved swiftly and powerfully, like lightning.

In less than half an hour, dozens of old accounts had been transformed into a brand new set of ledgers under his pen.

However, when he carefully checked the new accounts, his brow furrowed even more deeply upon seeing the results.

Sure enough, the accounts were full of loopholes, and the hidden deficits were alarmingly large.

The hidden treasures are so deep that a single stroke here yields three hundred shi (a unit of dry measure), while a single stroke there yields five hundred shi!

Although they are small amounts, when accumulated, they amount to hundreds of thousands of shi (a unit of dry measure).

The deficit on the books is alarming, exceeding 20%.

The ledgers clearly recorded that one million shi of grain had been deposited into the warehouse, but the actual number of grain transport ships was only eight hundred thousand shi.

The shady dealings involved are either due to accounting oversights or someone lining their own pockets!

If he rashly stamped the Sima seal on the account book to approve it and let the grain transport ships set sail north, and then the north discovered that there was a shortage of grain, wouldn't the deficit of 200,000 shi be attributed to him?
—The deficit will definitely have to be filled in the future.

At that point, I'm afraid even if I go bankrupt, I still won't be able to fill this hole!

Moreover, it is very likely that the record of "embezzlement" will be left in the Ministry of Personnel.

"You bastard!"

Jiang Xingzhou couldn't help but curse under his breath in anger.

"Could it be that since the old Sima Du Shangjun has just left office, someone below him is trying to make a fortune while the Sima position is vacant?!"
Even if a new official takes office, he will not be familiar with the accounts in a short period of time.

This shipment of one million shi of military rations was urgent and needed to be sent to the north!

The approval process is extremely short!
Perhaps this embezzlement can be swept under the rug!

Fortunately, he had been careful and had thoroughly reviewed the accounts using modern ledgers. Otherwise, he would have been ruined by this messy accounting before the results of the autumn imperial examinations were even released!

Inside the official's office, Hu Wanjin timed the time perfectly, and only after half an hour had passed did he leisurely arrive at Sima Gong's office.

"Has Lord Jiang reviewed these account books?"

Hu Wanjin asked cautiously.

However, as soon as he asked the question, he felt it was unnecessary.

He leaned forward and tentatively asked,
The words were barely out of his mouth when he realized they were superfluous—he saw Jiang Xingzhou leisurely sipping Longjing tea, with dozens of old account books on the table untouched.

Hu Wanjin's lips curled up almost imperceptibly.

Also!

How can these dry accounts compare to a poem or essay full of talent?
The densely packed numbers, with hundreds of pages in a single volume, are enough to make one dizzy just looking at them, let alone understanding the intricacies of the text.

Lord Jiang is a distinguished and noble scholar who achieved the top score in the provincial examination in Jiangnan. He is not a minor accountant or clerk. How could he have the patience to look at these things!
"If Your Excellency is still worried, would you like to have some of the senior clerks in the clerk's office help to check the account books?"

He was about to speak.
But then Jiang Xingzhou suddenly put down his teacup and looked at a stack of exquisitely bound new account books on the table.

"Secretary Hu, I would like to ask for your guidance."

Jiang Xingzhou spoke calmly, pointing to the old ledgers, "These ledgers have accumulated one million shi of grain."

Why is it that only 800,000 shi of grain were paid out?
"Is this discrepancy of 200,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) due to theft by rats in the warehouse, or someone embezzling funds?"

"The difference...two hundred thousand shi?"

Upon hearing this, Hu Wanjin trembled, cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead, and his face turned ashen.

These account books were all submitted by the officials below him, and he just flipped through them casually before sending them over.

To thoroughly investigate the matter, at least five experienced accountants would have to put aside their work and spend half a month verifying the facts.

But those old officials, without orders from their superiors, how could he be mobilized at will?

"How did you calculate this deficit, sir?"

Hu Wanjin asked in a trembling voice.

"The newly audited accounts, now reviewed by this official, clearly show the deficit!"

Jiang Xingzhou pushed over a stack of neatly bound new account books.

Hu Wanjin carefully opened the book and found it filled with accounting symbols he had never seen before.

Those perfectly straight tables and the meticulously symmetrical arrangement of numbers clearly indicate some kind of accounting method never before heard of.

The more he looked at it, the more alarmed he became. The ledger was as airtight as an iron barrel, unable to hide even the slightest mistake.

Every single shortfall of several hundred shi (a unit of dry measure) was recorded.

Upon turning to the last page, he found it written in a familiar, old-fashioned bookkeeping style that he could understand:
[Accounts of Grain Transport from Jiangnan Circuit to the North, Year 15 of the Tian Shou Era]

Collection: One million shi of rice collected from various prefectures and counties in Jiangnan.

Branch: 800,000 shi of rice delivered to the granary

[I owe 200,000 shi (whereabouts unknown)]

The vermilion annotations were bright red and glaring, and the four words "whereabouts unknown" were like a sharp sword hanging over one's head.

Upon seeing this number, Hu Wanjin's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to his knees.

His mind went blank, and he could hardly believe his eyes.

Jiang Sima had only just taken office, yet he was able to completely clear out the mountain of account books in just half an hour?
How can this be? !
Let alone ordinary accountants, even the most shrewd and calculating old officials in the Ministry of Revenue would never have such ability!

He felt a chill run through him and cried out in panic, "Your Excellency, please understand! I knew nothing about this matter! Why don't I immediately summon all the senior clerks in the clerk's office and recalculate the accounts?"

His forehead was covered in cold sweat.

If Jiang Sima believes that he was the one who interfered, and this blame is pinned on him, he might even lose his life!
Jiang Xingzhou sneered, abruptly stood up, and with a flick of his sleeve, said, "Inspect the accounts? No need! What I want to inspect are the grain transport ships!"
"Send the order: dispatch ten senior clerks from the Civil Service Office and one thousand yamen runners from the Prefectural Government to the canal wharf immediately to count the grain and fodder!"

His eyes were like knives, and he said, word by word, "I want to see who has the audacity to embezzle these 200,000 shi of military rations!"

"Yes!"

How could Hu Wanjin dare to delay?

He staggered back to the clerks' office and urged them repeatedly, "Quickly! All clerks on duty, come with me! — Go to the grain transport dock and count the grain and fodder on the grain ships!"

He knew that Jiang Sima was truly enraged.

If the truth about the shortage of 200,000 shi of grain is not found out immediately, there will likely be a bloodbath today!
(End of this chapter)