Fan Mi and Yin Rong saw that Xin You had already found food, and they knew that it was no longer feasible to blackmail the people with food.
They could only sit there quietly on their knees, waiting for the end of the people's discussion.
Xin You looked at Fan Boyu. He obviously didn't know that Xin You was already preparing to operate on him.
"Carrying Boyu." Xin raised his voice again.
Everyone was quiet, and Xin You already had a bit of majesty at this time.
Even Fan Boyu, who had always been arrogant, couldn't help but shudder.
"Why are you calling me?" Fan Boyu asked.
Xin asked again: "How much land does our Xinyi have? How much public land is there?"
Fan Boyu breathed a sigh of relief, it turns out he was asking this question.
He skillfully named some numbers.
"Xinyi has only had so much land since ancient times." Fan Boyu said.
Although he was always against Xin You, he was still very clear about his duties.
"Well, he is worthy of being Master Zai." Xin said again.
Fan Boyu still didn't understand why Xin asked him these questions.
But Fan Mi's expression changed slightly, and he had noticed something.
"Gentleman, what exactly do you want to ask?" Fan Mi said.
"Master Zai is responsible for measuring our Xinyi land and calculating our Xinyi tribute, so I just made a few inquiries." Xin said again: "By the way, I remember that Master Zai is also responsible for our caravan in Xinyi, right?"
Fan Boyu was stunned for a moment, then lowered his voice: "Yes."
"Then can you tell everyone about our business affairs in Xinyi this year?"
"Xinyi doesn't have much output, but I help everyone exchange grain or wine for some other materials. Every time the merchants' accounts are kept in the township school, what's there to say?"
Unexpectedly, Fan Boyu did not tell what happened in the caravan as before.
Xinyi’s business system is still a very ancient public-feudal monopoly system.
The things that merchants can sell are only part of all goods, such as various grains, vegetables, bird feathers and animal hair, etc.
The public town is responsible for selling wine, furs, livestock, etc.
Merchants usually buy various goods in the city and then sell them in other cities.
Those specialized goods are collected in the city and sold together.
The profits after the sale will be divided proportionally between the city and those who contributed the goods.
These specialized goods, like Qi's salt and iron, are hard currencies with high profits.
Caravans are generally composed of ordinary merchants and other small officials responsible for commerce. Xinyi's caravans are led by the families of the three elders in turn.
Generally speaking, the members of the Sanlao family are only responsible for managing the accounts, and the businessmen are actually responsible for the specific operations.
"Businessman Mao Yi." Xin spoke again.
The crowd of Chinese people squeezed out a lean man with two dark eyes. He looked around, and finally his eyes fell on Fan Boyu's face.
Fan Boyu frowned slightly, finally feeling that this matter was not simple.
"Maoyi, how much millet did you sell last year?" Xin asked again.
"It's not much. I collected 150 shi of millet from each family in Xinyi, and sold it all in Ganlu. Half of it was exchanged for money, and the other half was exchanged for pottery and some agricultural tools."
"Oh, besides grain, what other goods did we sell?"
"There are also the goods traded in the city, animal skins, livestock and wine."
"Oh, and what about the accounting of what was sold?"
"Because we want to share profits with the people of the country, the deeds for the sale of these goods must be handed over to Master Zai and are not in the hands of our merchants."
In fact, merchants are only responsible for running errands, and they have no involvement in the specialized goods.
A trace of cold sweat broke out on Fan Boyu's head.
No matter how stupid he is, he still knows what Xin is going to do.
Because he made a lot of money from these "payments"!
Chinese people know how to count, but most of them don't know how to read.
Every time Mao Yi sells a piece of goods, he will make a written contract with the other party.
All these deeds were in the hands of Fan Boyu, and the proceeds were distributed to the people of the country according to the numbers on the deeds.
Fan Boyu deliberately lowered the prices of some honest and illiterate Chinese people.
Anyway, they couldn't read, so they couldn't understand the words on the deed.
Therefore, these deeds will never reach the hands of the Chinese people, and they will all be placed in Fan Boyu's home.
The euphemistic name is: safekeeping.
Occasionally, someone would find that the price of their own items was different from others or from previous years, so Fan Boyu would just find an excuse to fool him.
For example, the wear and tear on the road, being soaked by rain, or this year's "market".
The literate people in the city are basically the family members of the three elders.
They colluded with each other and tacitly concealed the true number in the contract.
The Chinese people who have been out of service for a long time have never felt anything wrong.
After all, many Chinese people will never have the chance to leave Xinyi in their lifetime.
They have always lived in a relatively closed environment and have difficulty accepting external information.
Only those who can frequently travel to other cities know what the prices of various commodities are every year.
Even if someone occasionally finds something wrong, they will be "taught" to varying degrees by a big family like Fan Boyu.
Who dares to continue asking?
Several big families joined forces and completely deceived many Chinese people.
And Xin You knew there was something fishy going on very early on, but he had no concrete evidence.
This rough technique can easily leave flaws.
In other words, a few big families have been squeezing the Chinese people for a long time, and they don't even bother to use more sophisticated means to deceive the Chinese people.
Who gives them the right to speak?
Xin You's ancestors were also aware of the problem.
After all, the Xin family has been studying for generations, and they also have to check the deeds.
But if the Xin family wants to manage Xinyi, they must rely on the families of the three elders.
Therefore, no one has ever exposed this matter. The money earned for no reason is called "road money."
It means the money you can get as long as you are a businessman, which is also the "errand fee".
Over time, this kind of thing has become a "hidden rule" in Xinyi.
The reason why Xin You took action on this matter was because he knew that this was the Achilles heel of the Sanlao family.
It would be one thing if it were an open regulation that Fan Boyu could take a cut of the profits every time he went on a "business trip."
But deceiving the Chinese people and lowering the prices of their goods is another matter.
"I'd really like to know how much our Xinyi furs in recent years can be sold outside." Xin said again: "Master Zai, can you please take out the deeds for selling the furs so that I can take a look?"
"This..." Fan Boyu was already a little panicked: "Things like books and deeds have been piled up in my home all year round. Some of them have been eaten by rats, and some have been damaged by rain. I can't even see them clearly."
"Oh, that's it." Xin said again: "Well, I remember that our Xin family captured a black bear last year when we visited our family. You went to Ganlu to sell that black bear skin. How much did it cost?"
"I remember selling it for eighty yuan." Mao Yiyi said, "I have Ganlu's hostage as witness."
Merchants who want to sell things must obtain the consent of the Zhongsi Market in Ganlu Market. The prices and management fees are all set and cannot be faked.
"Well, after taking into account the fees paid for Ganlu Market, your losses along the way, and the fees paid to your merchants in the city, how much is left?" Xin continued to ask.
"...Seventy-four coins should be returned to Yi Zhong." Mao Yi replied.
"What?! Give me back the seventy-four yuan?!" At this time, Xin Wang, who had captured a black bear, stood up: "Didn't you say that the bear skin was sold for sixty yuan? After all the expenses, give me thirty yuan, Yizhong
Did you take twenty-five cents?"
Xin Wang pulled Mao Yi's clothes and asked.
Mao Yi looked aggrieved: "I'm just a businessman, selling goods from Xinyi to Ganlu. Ganlu charges 10% of the tax, and I earn 10% of the remuneration. How can I be wrong?"
"But I only got thirty yuan, which is not enough to buy one stone of food!" Xin Wang was furious.
Mao Yi stopped talking, and everyone's eyes gradually focused on Fan Boyu.
After all, it was Fan Boyu who gave Xin Wang money in the end.
"Fan Boyu, did you lie to me?" Xin Wang pointed out angrily.
Fan Boyu's eyes flashed: "What bearskin? I remember selling it for sixty yuan! How can we let a businessman talk nonsense?"
"I'm not talking nonsense! I just sold it for eighty-two yuan! There are not many black bear skins a year!" Mao Yi bit Fan Boyu and refused to let go.
"Mao Yi! Have you really thought it through?"
At this time, Fan Mi couldn't sit still anymore and stood up to threaten Mao Yi.
"I am a businessman from Xinyi, how can I be a citizen of Xinyi after my term has expired!? Fan Boyu took the payment for the bear skins from me, deliberately lowered the price, and took away the extra 14 yuan! This is not only the case with Xinwang's family,
He does this in every other business! After a business trip, he took away nearly a hundred dollars in profit from the goods you entrusted him to sell!" This chapter has been completed!