In the warehouse of the Shanghai Shipping Department, an area was specially opened for the imperial reviewers to work. The abacus was crackling, and people were constantly walking around with account books.
In the office next door, the first and second leaders of the Municipal Shipping Department are all there. Compared with the fifth rank and sixth rank in the Ming Dynasty, the official rank of the Shipping Secretary and deputy promotion in the New Dynasty of Datong are the fifth and fifth ranks respectively.
The supervisors of provincial customs units are Congsipin.
Cao Benshu from the Supervisory Office smiled and said to the officials of the Municipal Shipping Department, "Don't be nervous, we won't arrest people randomly. If the Municipal Shipping Department has official business to do, you can go to work first. There is no need to stay here."
Stay with us."
Wang Cai, the chief official of the city's shipping department, smiled and said, "Although I am busy with official duties, I can still find time. You all have come from afar, how can the city's shipping department do your best to serve as a landlord? Tonight, I have prepared a banquet at Wanghai Tower.
.Shanghai is a small place, and it is certainly not as good as Nanjing. Censors, please forgive me. "Forget it about drinking. Let's check the accounts first." Cao Benshu looked at the officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Bank next to her. "How do you think this comes from?"
Zhou Shouyu from the Ministry of Finance said with a smile, "Censor Cao has the final say."
Wang Cai saw that these people were unwilling to show favor, so he tried to get close to "Cao Yushi", who was also a member of the Datong Society and was a low-ranking official. He also worked as a sword-carrying scholar under Mr. Xu (Xu Ying).
"Then we were colleagues before," Cao Benshu asked, "Why did you come to work at the Shipping Department again?"
Wang Cai said: "After the imperial court regained Jiangsu, many brothers changed careers. Xiaguan was a scholar before, and his ability to settle accounts was not bad, so he first moved to work in a bank. Not long after, when he encountered the construction of Shanghai Port and Kaifu, he was transferred to
I am a low-ranking official in Shanghai Shipping Department.'
Cao Benshu smiled and said, "That's right. This low-ranking official has already reached the fifth rank. He has been working in Shanghai and has never been transferred to other places." "I was transferred to Ningbo for three years, and now I am transferred back." Wang Cai
said laughingly.
Of course Cao Benshu knew the details about Wang Cai. He was originally from Shandong, and his family fled to Xuzhou to avoid the war. Now the whole family has moved back to their hometown. Wang Cai continued to get close to him there, and Cao Benshu chatted wordlessly.
Until the evening, the accountants from the Ministry of Finance and the bank came in and said, "There is nothing wrong with the accounts checked today. I guess there will be no problem if they are all checked. After all, they have to be checked every year. Any problems have been discovered long ago."
Cao Benshu immediately stood up, "There is no need to check the Shipping Department. I will go to the Shanghai General Affairs Department tomorrow. I have informed the Shanghai County Business Department and the Finance Department to cooperate and asked them to seal the accounts of various trading companies in Shanghai. When I arrived at the General Affairs Department, I slowly checked them one by one.
Transaction records. Also, the shipping company’s account books should be sealed to prevent another fire accident.”
From the Song Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty, China adopted the single-entry accounting method.
With the prosperity of business, the "three-legged account" appeared in the mid-Ming Dynasty, which was a transitional accounting method from single to double-entry. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the "three-legged account" developed into the "gantry account", which was a relatively rough accounting method.
Double-entry accounting method.
With Zhao Han's promotion of Arabic numerals and new mathematical methods, coupled with the boom in commerce and trade, the "four-legged accounting" finally appeared in recent years. It is a relatively mature double-entry accounting method. Compared with the accounting method hundreds of years later,
The accounting method definitely still has many flaws, but the basic principles are exactly the same.
Two years ago, the imperial court issued a decree that all government agencies and private trading companies must adopt "four-legged accounting" as soon as possible. There is only one year of study time. If private company accounting cannot be learned within one year, then it will be better to wait until it is learned.
Open for business again.
Anyway, the requirements for accountants are getting higher and higher. Many middle school graduates are not sure about being admitted as civil servants, so they simply go to work as accountants in various companies. Of course, there are also many lawyers, commonly known as litigants. Throughout the southern region
, the trend of litigation is getting more and more popular, and lawsuits are often filed. This is consistent with the Ming Dynasty.
Gantry accounting and four-legged accounting, these two double-entry accounting methods, are very conducive to business lawsuits. Each account book is evidence in the lawsuit. In comparison, the three-legged accounting and the traditional single-entry accounting method are basically useless when encountering a lawsuit.
Clear, a lot of content that can be used as evidence has not been written down. It is convenient to litigate, and of course it is also convenient to investigate the case.
Seven or eight days later, the chief judge and sentencing officer of Shanghai County were also called to hear the first case.
Cao Benshu took the investigation results and asked, "Where is Wang Fang?" "Where are the people?" A man who was almost fifty years old answered. Cao Benshu asked, "What position do you hold on the Changyuan?"
Wang Fang replied, "Cao Min is the boss of the Changyuan branch in Shanghai. The main office transports goods from Sichuan to Shanghai. Cao Min is responsible for selling these things."
Cao Benshu nodded in approval: "The accounts of your business are consistent with the records of the Shanghai General Affairs Department. This is very good. Your trading company operates legally and pays taxes according to regulations. I commend it on behalf of the imperial court."
Wang Fang said happily, "Your Majesty the Censor, you praised me. That's right." The smile on Cao Benshu's face faded, "Where is Lu Guang?" "The common people are here." A man in his fifties was so frightened that he almost knelt down.
Cao Benshu sighed: "I don't know how many scholars admire your ancestor Lu Shen. Every official who compiles history in the Hanlin Academy knows the name of Lu Ziyuan. It can even be said that from the Jiajing period to the Datong New Dynasty, all scholars who study history
They are all Lu Ziyuan's disciples and descendants!" Lu Guang lowered his head and bowed, "The ancestors have a poor reputation, and the descendants dare not rely on them."
"I dare not rely on you." Cao Benshu was also a scholar. He was so angry that he slapped the case and shouted, "If Lu Ziyuan is still alive, I will beat you unscrupulous descendants to death." Lu Guang was so frightened that he knelt down.
"Stand up, you don't have to kneel down when I'm trying the case!" Cao Benshu shouted. Lu Guangzhan stood up cautiously, but he felt that his knees were weak and he planned to kneel down again at any time.
Cao Benshu said: "Your Lu family's Fulong is Changyuan's largest business customer. Changyuan's account books can match those of the Shanghai General Affairs Department, but why can't they match those of Lu's Fulong?"
Lu Guang was afraid and didn't know how to answer.
Cao Benshu looked at the case file in her hand and asked, "Last year, Changyuan sold you a total of 3,000 kilograms of Sichuan tea. How come you only bought 1,800 kilograms of Sichuan tea in your account books? Where did the remaining 1,200 kilograms go to your Lu family children?"
Can you drink it all?" Lu Guang couldn't answer.
"And this raw silk. I sold you 600 dans of raw silk last year. Why are there only 400 dans in the account?" Cao Benshu patted the table and asked. Hey Tong!
Lu Guang knelt down again and cried, "Sir, please spare your life. For the sake of... for the sake of......, please just bypass the Lu family this time." "Oh," Cao Benshu suddenly laughed, "for the sake of...
For whose sake, you should make it clear." Lu Guang did not dare to speak. "Speak!" Cao Benshu roared.
Lu Guang's voice was as thin as a mosquito, "For the sake of...the eldest princess.
Cao Benshu finally became completely angry, "You are talking nonsense, how can the Lu family have anything to do with the eldest princess?"
Lu Guang actually explained in detail: "The Prince Consort is the great-nephew of Mr. Shaohu (Xu Jie), and Cao Min's uncle is Mr. Shaohu's grandson-in-law. Cao Min and the Prince Consort are of the same generation."
Cao Benshu was immediately speechless. What kind of crooked relatives are they?
After holding it in for a long time, Cao Benshu asked, "Why don't you say that Lu Xun of Dongwu is your ancestor? Let me take the punishment lightly for Sun Quan's sake." Lu Guang muttered, "Zhaohou (Lu Xun) is indeed the ancestor of my family."
Cao Benshu was too lazy to talk nonsense and asked directly: "Tell me, are these goods that are flying without tiredness in the account sold overseas? If they are sold overseas, how do you get the shipping department to release them?"
Lu Guang is still insisting, "It's all shipped in bulk in Shanghai."
"Local bulk goods in Shanghai must have a place to go," Cao Mushu said. "Whether it is sold to a firm or to the common people in your own store, tell me. I will check the account slowly." Lu Guang said, "It was sold to the common people."
.”
Cao Benshu was so angry that she laughed: "I traveled thousands of miles to buy raw silk from Sichuan and sell it to ordinary people in Shanghai. Do you think I am a fool?" Lu Guang was stunned and speechless.
Raw silk is abundant in the south of the Yangtze River. Shipping goods from Sichuan to sell them is probably equivalent to shipping coal from the northeast to Shanxi. Cao Benshu said: "Since you can't tell where the goods are going, we can only sentence you Lu family to smuggling." "Sir, spare your life."
!”
Lu Guang quickly shouted, "It's not smuggling, the Lu family is not smuggling. These goods were released by the Municipal Shipping Department." The only charges for shipping through the Municipal Shipping Department are tax evasion and bribing officials. As for smuggling, small quantities are exiled, but large quantities are exiled.
When beheading Cao Benshu, he asked, "Which official from the Shipping Department gave you permission?"
Lu Guang answered bravely, "The common people have not had any contact with the officials of the Municipal Shipping Department, but... the second son of Deputy Chen's family has some contacts with the common people. The second son of Chen will be given 10% of the tax evaded every year."
As for the officials of the Shipping Department, Master Chen will take care of them. "Go to the Chen family to arrest people," Cao Benshu immediately ordered.
The patrolmen and policemen from Shanghai County were seconded, and under the leadership of officials from the Supervisory Office, they immediately went by carriage to arrest the person.
About an hour later, the anti-corruption officer came back and said in a low voice: "The Chen family and his son committed suicide out of fear of guilt. There are a lot of ashes in the study. It may be that some incriminating evidence was burned. The ashes are already cold, so they may have been burned in the middle of the night or in the morning."
Cao Benshu sneered, "Okay, I'll commit suicide out of fear of crime. If I can't investigate further, I'll also arrest Wang Cai, the chief trade officer, and let people watch me day and night. Don't let this guy die too!"
The Datong court had special methods to prevent officials from committing suicide out of fear of crime.
As long as the evidence is conclusive, officials who dare to commit suicide in fear of crime will have their household registers confiscated and exiled. Moreover, in order to prevent family separation from being punished, those who separated within ten years will also be exiled.
After the promulgation of this policy, the number of criminals committing suicide decreased rapidly.
After all, even if so many people are arrested and exiled in a case that criticizes Tian Zheng, it will only harm the wife and children, and parents and brothers will not be punished. Once he commits suicide out of fear of crime, everyone on the household registration book will bear the blame!
Cao Benshu felt that this case was a bit big, and she would rather have her family exiled than commit suicide. I am afraid that some officials from the central government were involved behind this.
