On the Difficulties of Escape in Ancient Times

Chapter 424 Accounting Office
Xiao Xiao said, "Report everything you find out."

In addition, the accountant reported what he found in the account book: "The account book records that the daily expenditure on rice and flour is 800 kilograms of brown rice."

"The biggest expense is medicinal materials, which cost about twenty taels of silver every day."

"One hundred and sixty-eight children have died of illness this year."

“The donated fabrics are not enough, so we have to buy a batch of fabrics every quarter.”

"I haven't had time to calculate the previous account books, but based on this year's account, the income is not enough to cover the expenses." The accountant in the mansion carefully glanced at Xiao Xiao, then lowered his head and said: "The account books match."

In the past, people said that the eldest young lady came from a poor family, knew nothing, and must be timid and unable to show off.

The accountant thought so at first, but since the eldest lady came into the mansion last year, it has been almost a whole year, and he has never seen her suffer any injustice.

He was able to reverse the lady's dissatisfaction with the eldest son out of wedlock, and get along well with Xiao Zhou. Now he is even more valued by the Queen.

How could such a person be simple? He is obviously very cunning.

Especially at this moment, when they told her such terrible news, this old lady could still sit there without changing her expression, which showed that she was definitely not an easy person to deal with.

This made him a little conflicted. He wondered whether he should remind her of the few places in the account book that were easy to tamper with.

But he was also afraid that his well-intentioned reminder would instead make the grandmother mistakenly believe that he had tampered with the mansion's account books in the past and enriched himself.

Of course, Xiao Xiao didn't believe that the Gu family would be so law-abiding.

There is nothing wrong with the account books, that is the biggest problem.

"Too many people died." Xiao Xiao also wanted to take the opportunity to see if there was anything useful in these account books: "Tell me, what is the biggest trick in these account books?"

The accountant on the farm immediately said, "Master, I think there must be something fishy about the medicinal materials. You can check it carefully."

The accountant of Haiweilou also quickly spoke up: "There are also records here. Although most of the cloth donated by the ladies is linen, there are also records of cotton cloth."

"We can go check where the cotton cloth went."

The accountant of the company was unwilling to lag behind: "Boss, I also think that there are too many dead children. We can go ask where the graves are and see if the graves match the children who died of illness."

He was quite bold to say: "According to the records, most of the deaths were among children aged 11 or 12. This is the biggest problem."

Several others chimed in: "Logically, younger children are more likely to get sick."

"Children aged 11 or 12 are already used to this place, so they really shouldn't be the ones who die the most from the disease."

"There must be something wrong here."

"Yes, yes, yes. Actually, the prices of old and new brown rice are different, but they are all recorded as new brown rice in the account book."

"But I checked it before, and it was full of stale brown rice."

"Although the difference is only two cents per pound, it's too much."

Originally, everyone was concerned about their positions and was afraid of arousing suspicion from their masters, so they did not dare to speak too clearly.

But when I heard someone clearly explain the trick, I was afraid that if I didn't say something useful, people would think I was stupid.

Xiao Xiao listened very carefully and kept everything they said in mind.

She is not omnipotent. She should listen to more useful things now so that she won't be regarded as a fool in the future.

After they finished speaking, Xiao Xiao nodded calmly: "What you said makes sense. I will ask my wife and husband to check it." "Now, please continue to check the accounts."

Several accountants were a little confused: Since the grandmother already knew that there was a problem with the account book, why did she let them waste time to continue investigating?
Xiao Xiao said in a gentle tone: "Of course, I want to trouble you all to find all the loopholes in the account book for me."

"Every profession has its own expertise. I believe that with your abilities, you will be able to seek justice for these two thousand poor children."

Everyone has selfish desires, but these five accountants are not evil-hearted people.

Don't ask her how she knew it, Li Yan told her.

The current owner is no naive person and he asks someone to secretly keep an eye on the accounts every year.

If you take advantage of the geographical location and do something minor, the host can pretend not to notice.

If someone is greedy and wants more than a hundred taels of silver, the evidence will be placed in front of the accounting office, and if the case is settled, the person will be thrown into jail and ordered to pay double the amount of the loss.

If you settle it privately, the compensation will be even greater, and you may even be kicked out of the house with nothing.

Just because the accountant of the Li Mansion has been able to work safely for more than ten years, we know that this person is not stupid.

When the accountants heard what the grandmother said, they were like being given an injection of chicken blood and started working seriously again.

It's definitely not that they love this job, but as the grandmother said, 'Every profession has its own specialties'. If they can't find the loopholes in the account books, then wouldn't they be just gaining fame in vain?

Xiao Xiao saw that the accountants had started to work seriously, and then she went to the main hall.

At this time, the women in the Gu family had almost finished greeting Madam Li, and happened to see Xiao Xiao coming out.

Mrs. Gu had previously heard her third daughter-in-law talk about the other two charity halls, and she thought it would be better not to meet Grandma Li before discussing a plan with her husband.

So she stood up and said goodbye: "You guys go ahead and do your work, we'll go back first and come back another day."

Mrs. Li did not try to persuade her to stay, mainly because she was tired after talking for so long.

Even though she and Mrs. Gu had a pleasant conversation, the relationship between the two families had not been on good terms before. She had to go over everything she said in her mind first, for fear that she would say something she shouldn't.

What's even more hateful is that Madam Gu's daughters-in-law would occasionally inquire about why the Queen stayed in the Li Mansion before she entered the Imperial Palace.

Anyway, Mrs. Li was almost angry with the questioning afterwards.

So when she heard that they were leaving, Madam Li said, "I won't keep you any longer. Let's get together again another day."

After saying that, he motioned to Xiao Xiao to accompany him to see them out.

But Xiao Xiao stepped forward and said, "Mrs. Gu and the grandmas, please stay."

She looked at them with clear eyes: "Third Grandma, how much silver is left in the charity? How much rice and flour?"

Grandma Gu San knew about this, of course. She felt that the people Xiao Xiao brought would definitely not be able to find out what had happened in the account book, so she said calmly, "Grandma Li doesn't know that the charity has always been in deficit, and it has been able to hold on until now because of mother's frequent help."

Madam Gu also looked at Xiao Xiao lovingly and said, "After you take over for a while, you will get used to it."

"But most of the ladies in our circle are kind-hearted. If the charity is short of money or food, you can just go to a few more houses and give them some help."

He also specifically mentioned which ladies like to donate.

Of course, if Xiao Xiao really came to the door, she would definitely be rejected.

Because those families are on good terms with the Gu family.