Black Lotus Concubine's Case-solving Notes

The gatekeeper walked westward until he arrived at the government office of Jingzhao Prefecture. He whispered a few words to the guard on duty and then hurried in.

At the corner of a small alley across the street, there stood two people, one in green and one in blue.

Qing Shu, who was wearing a blue shirt, was surprised and said, "I really can't believe that the boss behind Linglong Fragrance Shop is actually the governor of Jingzhao Prefecture, Mr. Zhou?"

Feng Jia's eyes also darkened a little.

"I have a bold guess!" Qingshu suddenly said.

"Tell me about it." Feng Jia said as he walked back along the alley.

"Look, young lady. Three years ago, Lord Zhou took office. That was also the year when the three members of the Yu family came to the capital from Langya to buy Xiangshan. According to what Cui said, I dare to guess that the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture is actually in cahoots with that guy named Tang?" Qingshu said as he followed Feng Jia's steps.

Qingshu felt terrified. "This is what I guessed. In their plan, Linglong Fragrance House first approached the Yu family to collect spices. The wealthy Tang family then pretended to rent out Xiangshan to lure the Yu family into the trap, but broke the contract when the harvest came. When the Jingzhao government received the complaint from the Yu family, they deliberately dragged their feet until the Yu family could not deliver all the goods from Linglong Fragrance House and owed a huge amount of compensation... The two contracts plus the obstruction of the Jingzhao government directly trapped the Yu family. Not only did they not rent Xiangshan, but they also had to make spices for the Fragrance House for free to pay off the compensation!"

Qingshu only stated one of Feng Jia's guesses, there were two more.

One is whether the wealthy man surnamed Tang really exists or whether this man surnamed Tang is just a trick created by the governor of Jingzhao Prefecture, and the real operator is only Mr. Zhou.

Second, is this Jingzhao Prefecture official really the boss behind the scenes? Or is he just a cover, and the real beneficiary is someone else?

Because she remembered that the original Lord Zhou had a son, so it would not be the turn of the current nephew Lord Zhou to inherit the throne. What unknown secrets were hidden in this?

But what is certain is that Yu was indeed trapped. Without help, it would be very difficult for her to get out of this trap on her own.

"There's something wrong with this oil. Xiangfang won't let the Yu family go. You do a favor for me. Just do it..." Feng Jia whispered in Qingshu's ear.

Qingshu's eyes lit up and he immediately nodded in agreement.

Feng Jia then asked, "Are you familiar with the old housekeeper of the Prime Minister's Mansion?"

Qingshu said, "Miss, are you talking about Steward Meng? He was brought here by the Madam from her family. He was originally the chief steward of the Earl of Yongyi's mansion. Steward Meng is steady and capable. Everything in the Prime Minister's mansion, from the business to the furnishings, has to go through Steward Meng's hands. He is also highly regarded by the Prime Minister. But why are you asking about him, Miss?"

An idea vaguely appeared in Feng Jia's mind, but she had not yet obtained substantial evidence and could not easily draw a conclusion.

So he shook his head and said, "I'm just curious, why is it that a steward of an outer mansion must have such great ability for my father to hand over such a large business in the Prime Minister's Mansion to him?"

Qingshu thought for a moment and said, "The Prime Minister's Mansion is involved in many industries, and each of them has taxes. However, there were rumors that this housekeeper Meng is a good accountant and can reasonably avoid taxes, so the Prime Minister trusts him very much!"

It turned out to be the case.

Feng Jia smiled faintly but said nothing more. That night, she knocked on her father's study door with a bowl of soup.

Prime Minister Xie Qian was checking the account books at the moment. Seeing Feng Jia coming, he smiled a little, "The teacher I invited to teach you today, Mr. Li, and your father praised you, saying that you have great literary talent, can compose a poem in five steps, and are also good at chess and painting. In particular, a delicate chess game stumped Mr. Li. Could it be that you have attended a school in Shicheng?"

Feng Jia shook her head. "Zhao'er never went to school. He just loved reading when he was young. He envied other children of the same age as me who went to school. He would occasionally sneak into the town's private school to listen to lessons. As time went by, he listened more and more, and he learned some of them."

"Just listening in?"

Feng Jia nodded.

Xie Qian was a little surprised. He thought that he could be so powerful just by attending the class. If he was raised by his side and received the best education like his own sons and daughters, what would happen?

Xie Qian felt a little regretful that he had sent her to Shicheng, but fortunately the Wang family in Shicheng died in the fire, and Xie Lanzhao was able to return to Beijing and became his pawn.

"Father, it's late, please take care of yourself. I asked the kitchen to prepare some tonic for you. Drink it while it's hot." Feng Jia put the plate in her hand on the table and glanced to the side: "Father, is he looking at the account book?"

Xie Qian did not refuse. He picked it up, took a sip, and then nodded.

"But here... why is it different from what Mr. Li taught me?" Feng Jia pointed at a place as if unintentionally.

"Dad, look, we used to impose two taxes on the population, namely the tax on the head of the population and the tax on miscellaneous items, which were collected once in spring and summer. But starting five years ago, the two taxes were merged into one. According to the tax law, officials with a rank of third rank or above can be exempted from the head tax for their families, and those with military service in the family can be exempted from the miscellaneous tax on their servants at 30%. But why does this account book still show the two taxes separately? And my father is a second rank official, and my third brother is also in the camp with General Shen. Logically, these taxes should be exempted or reduced."

Xie Qian picked up the account book and flipped through it, and it was just as Feng Jia said.

A few years ago, he handed over all the accounts of the mansion to Manager Meng. Manager Meng was steady and efficient in his work and never let Xie Qian worry about anything, so he only glanced at the account books at the end of each month and did not do any detailed calculations.

"How could Manager Meng make such a big mistake?" Xie Qian frowned.

"There's something strange here, too," Feng Jia pointed at another spot and said, "For the land tax, our dynasty uses a stepped tax system for fair distribution, which is divided into seven levels from top to bottom. That is, the higher the number of acres, the higher the harvest, and the higher the tax rate. However, natural disasters have occurred frequently in recent years, and the emperor has sympathized with the tax and changed it to ten levels. According to the number of acres of land in the Xie Mansion in this account book, the interest rate should be around seven, but this one is ten. Father, with this conversion, the extra tax paid by the mansion every year has exceeded 10,000 taels of silver."

If the difference in the capitation tax was only a few taels of silver, Xie Qian could still shirk the blame by saying it was caused by Manager Meng's carelessness. However, the difference in the land tax was actually a thousand taels, enough to cover the monthly expenses of a thousand households.

Besides, these are only what we found out. What about those that we didn’t find out?

Xie Qian's eyes darkened. Although he was the prime minister, his duties were more inclined towards diplomatic affairs with other countries. Taxation had always been the responsibility of the three departments and six ministries, so he was not clear about the specific circumstances of the tax reform. He did not expect that someone would take advantage of this loophole.

However, Xie Qian did not rush to draw a conclusion. He just closed the account book and said to Feng Jia, "I didn't know that you could read the account book?"

Feng Jia smiled and said, "This is all thanks to Mr. Li. He and I were chatting today and happened to talk about taxes. I found it very interesting, so I took note of it. I just saw it and said something without thinking. I just want to ask for an explanation. If I said anything wrong, please punish me, father."

"No, you said it very well."

Xie Qian shook his head, but his hands behind his back gripped the account book tighter and tighter.

It’s just that some people in the mansion had bad intentions.