Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 172 Exposing the Corrupt Officials

The piles of account books and files almost filled the side hall of the official residence. The air was already filled with the musty smell of old paper, and many of the file boxes were covered with a thin layer of dust. When they were put down, the dust was even more pungent.

"You'll all stay here and not move around until the investigation is complete."

Wang Kui and his clerks stood with their hands at their sides in the corner, their faces ashen, like prisoners awaiting trial.

"Student Lu, let's begin."

Fan Xiang pointed to the pile of accounts for grain, firewood, and wages.

The reason for not checking the salt tax accounts themselves is that the salt tax accounts of important salt bureaus like Yujing Bureau are reported directly to the Three Departments for review every year. Yujing Bureau must have carefully checked them before submitting them. Even if there is something fishy, ​​it is impossible to find out by checking on-site.

However, since so many people work and live in Yujing Bureau year after year, any problems with the tedious accounts of food, firewood, and wages will inevitably leave clues, no matter how carefully they are covered up.

The earliest account book that Lu Beigu can see is the "Salt Household Grain Payment Register" compiled by Yujing Supervisor in the eighth year of Tiansheng. From then until last year, all the account books were complete.

The account books used the "Four-Column Accounting Method" which had been in use since the fifth year of Chunhua reign of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. This method required reporting money and goods according to the four-column format of "original management, new receipts, disbursements, and current status". The handwriting was neat and clear, and the books recorded the amount of rations that were distributed to the cooks and their families each month according to the established practice.

At first glance, there seems to be nothing wrong with it.

However, Lu Beigu's gaze did not linger on the total, but quickly swept over the specific items under "already spent" and the cancellation records under "current".

He had some basic knowledge of financial auditing and knew that accounting fraud often lay hidden in the details, especially in seemingly standardized but actually unaudited original records.

Meanwhile, Fan Xiang sat upright in the main seat, slowly flipping through the other accounts.

Time slipped away as I flipped through the pages.

The only sounds in the side hall were the rustling of papers, the occasional suppressed cough, and the soft rustling of soldiers' armor plates rubbing against each other outside the door.

Wang Kui's forehead was constantly beaded with cold sweat, and he wiped it with his sleeve more and more frequently.

Lu Beigu's brows furrowed even more deeply.

Looking through the account books of the past twenty-five years, the first obvious suspicious point he found was that grain consumption had started to rise year by year in the last seven or eight years.

The grain distribution register also recorded the "grain payable and actual grain payable". However, unlike during the Tiansheng and Qingli periods, starting from the Huangyou period, there were records of "losses" almost every month of every year, with a variety of reasons - "gnawing by rats", "leaking on the road", "wetting by rain", etc. The probability of such unexpected losses was obviously much higher than normal.

Over the course of a year, the "wear and tear" alone is almost equivalent to a month's regular expenses!
Even more strangely, these loss records are often concentrated in a few specific granaries or transport batches, and the names of the officials in charge of handling them appear repeatedly.

Therefore, Lu Beigu reported this situation to Fan Xiang.

Fan Xiang remained silent after hearing this, only instructing Lu Beigu to continue searching for suspicious points.

The investigation continued until dark. After receiving several reports, Fan Xiang finally had Lu Beigu compile all the points of doubt and ask Wang Kui for answers.

"Supervisor Wang."

Lu Beigu looked at the account book and asked, "In July of the sixth year of Huangyou, 3,000 shi of millet were allocated from the Luzhou granary. The account records show that 700 shi were lost due to 'spillage' during the journey alone. Moreover, this situation has been common since then. As far as I know, for ordinary grain transport, 'spillage' losses of 10% are already the limit. Where exactly did this 'wasted' rice go?" Wang Kui's lips trembled: "This...this has been so long, I can't remember clearly."

"In what year did Supervisor Wang take office?" Fan Xiang suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this question, Wang Kui swayed, almost unable to stand, and dared not answer.

Lu Beigu gave him no chance to catch his breath. He quickly picked up the "Salt Household Registration and Population Records," a booklet that recorded the basic information, life, death, marriage, replacements, and other details of all registered salt workers and their families.

His fingers moved quickly across the pages of names, then suddenly he stopped.

“Supervisor Wang,” Advisor Lu Bei said, “this Liao man named ‘Yanga’ was recorded as having ‘died of illness’ in the winter of the first year of Zhihe. His son, ‘Yangsang,’ took over his place as a cook. This happened not long ago, didn’t it?”

"Yes," Wang Kui replied in a voice barely audible.

Lu Beigu turned the booklet toward Wang Kui, pointed to another spot with his fingertip, and spoke in a very calm voice.

"Then why is it that even now, the 'salt worker rations' under the name of Yan Ga, who has long since 'died of illness,' are still being drawn monthly? At the same time, there are also records of Yan Sang's withdrawals. How can a dead salt worker receive rations for several months in a row? And who is collecting these rations?"

"Moreover, this doesn't seem to be a matter of having the same name, does it? Several years ago, these kinds of contradictory records in the ledgers have already started to exist, such as this one, and this one."

— "Receiving a salary without working!"
The dead receive rations, the living impersonate them, and there's collusion between superiors and subordinates, with each level sucking the blood of the others!

Wang Kui's psychological defenses completely collapsed.

His lips trembled violently, but he couldn't utter a single word. He could only gasp for breath and angrily turn to look at a minor official behind him.

The minor official who was seen had a vacant look in his eyes, filled with despair.

At that moment, he was filled with regret.

If he had known this would happen, he should have been more careful when he was falsifying accounts, instead of being so perfunctory and careless. But he didn't know that someone would actually investigate this seriously! In the past, the imperial court only cared about the salt tax and didn't care about anything else. As long as the salt tax was paid in full, it was an open secret that those below would share some of the profits.

Lu Beigu put down the booklet, turned his gaze to Fan Xiang in the main seat, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Fan, based on what we have found in the accounts so far, there are problems such as inflated prices for grain and firewood, abnormally large losses during grain transportation, and long-term embezzlement of the rations of the kitchen staff. I would like to ask Lord Fan to call the people in charge of these issues for detailed questioning."

Then, he cupped his hands in greeting and stepped aside.

Fan Xiang slammed his hand on the table, his voice like metal and stone: "This is the root cause of the salt-eating insects, sucking the marrow and breaking the bones! The difficulty of the salt tax collection in Yujing and the hardship of the salt workers are all due to this! Immediately arrest the officials involved and interrogate them severely!"

He looked at Wang Kui, who had collapsed to the ground as soon as he finished speaking, and the few pale-faced, trembling clerks.

"Supervisor Liang!"

"Your subordinate is here!" Supervisor Liang could no longer contain himself. Upon hearing the voice, he immediately pushed open the door and entered, standing at attention with his hand on his sword.

"Take Wang Kui into temporary custody! Arrest the officials involved immediately! Separate them and interrogate them rigorously! I demand confessions and irrefutable evidence!"

(End of this chapter)