Chapter 449
Seeing the obsequious attitude of the bailiff towards Zhan Feiyu, Zhao Shensuan’s face instantly turned extremely unpleasant. He finally realized that Zhan Feiyu was someone he could not afford to offend.
“Miss Zhan, how about…?” the bailiff asked, a sly glance cast at Zhao Shensuan.
In the blink of an eye, the once arrogant Zhao Shensuan had been reduced to “fish meat,” his fate resting on Zhan Feiyu’s whim. The others in the room dared not even breathe.
Zhan Feiyu glanced at the pale-faced Zhao Shensuan. “The matter at hand is more important.”
Zhao Shensuan, having narrowly escaped disaster, lowered his head with a sheepish expression, concealing the anger in his eyes. Shi Fan, however, remained calm, not taking the opportunity to kick Zhao Shensuan while he was down.
A quarter of an hour later.
“Open the chests and begin inventory…”
“Send all the calligraphy and paintings and books over here. Be gentle, lest they get torn.”
“Wrong, wrong, this side is only for registering medicinal herbs. Doctor Li, please come take a look…”
From the prefect and vice prefect down to the ordinary clerks, everyone in the prefectural office was running around frantically, quickly inventorying the wealth seized from the Jin family and registering it.
At the desks, a dozen accountants rapidly worked their abacuses with one hand and wrote with the other. At a desk in the corner, Zhan Feiyu, not using an abacus, was no slower than these accountants.
In the inner chambers, Prefect Zheng, who had just returned from the outer hall, had a hoarse throat from speaking too much over the past two days. He disregarded his composure and downed a cup of tea in one go. “I’d heard before that Zhan Feiyu was skilled in mathematics, and it truly is a well-deserved reputation.”
“Take a look at the accounting method she proposed,” Prefect Yao said, putting down the main ledger. His expression grew increasingly complex. The previously cumbersome accounts were now presented clearly in neat rows and columns.
Prefect Zheng, though responsible for criminal justice, was also a Jinshi scholar and thus proficient in mathematics. He naturally understood the convenience brought by this new accounting method, realizing it would be difficult to create false accounts in the future.
“Should Your Excellency report this to the imperial court?” Prefect Zheng asked, putting down the ledger. The Ministry of Revenue could completely adopt this accounting method.
“I will discuss it with Zhan Feiyu,” Prefect Yao stated. This was Zhan Feiyu’s achievement, and he naturally would not claim it as his own. Thinking of Zhan Feiyu’s reputation in Minhe Prefecture, he could only hope to salvage some of it.
…
“Thank you all for your hard work. Dinner has been prepared. Please follow me this way,” the bailiff announced again. “You can also rest for half an hour after the meal.”
After a morning of busy work, everyone, from the constables and yamen runners responsible for moving goods to the clerks who inventoried and registered everything, including Zhan Feiyu who did the final calculations, was exhausted. Only when they put down their pens did they feel the severe ache in their wrists.
The aroma of food wafted from the northern wing rooms, making the group about to dine feel as if they could eat a whole ox. Coupled with the tight schedule and the need to continue working in the afternoon, they no longer cared about their manners, picking up their chopsticks as soon as they sat down.
“Miss, have some soup first,” He Nuan said, handing over a bowl of soup and then taking out the other dishes from the food box.
Compared to the other tables laden with a mix of meat and vegetable dishes, Zhan Feiyu’s three dishes and one soup were clearly more refined, and there was also a plate of pastries and a plate of fruit.
Zhao Shensuan withdrew his gaze and spoke sarcastically, “I heard that the officials from Longzhou are eating the same meals as us. Our chief accountant truly has an impressive background.”
The lean old man, Accountant Hu, sneered, his lips twitching. “Prefect Yao is the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Longyou Circuit, a second-rank official of the court. And this little girl eats better than Prefect Yao? Hmph, it’s just borrowing prestige.”
“Zhao Shensuan, that young man from the Shi family has likely found a backer,” Accountant Wang muttered worriedly, putting down his chopsticks. “If the Shi family rises again, where will we stand in the future!”
Zhao Shensuan and the others looked over again. Seeing Shi Fan sit down opposite Zhan Feiyu, their faces instantly turned extremely unpleasant.
No matter how much they slandered Zhan Feiyu verbally, Zhao Shensuan and the others knew that Zhan Feiyu was a distinguished guest they could not afford to offend.
She was just a ten-year-old girl. Even with the title of Xiucai, what of it? Several of them in the accounting department were also Xiucai, and Zhao Shensuan would have passed the provincial examination if not for his bad luck.
Yet, Prefect Yao had appointed such a young girl as the chief accountant. Despite their unwillingness, none of them dared to question Prefect Yao’s orders and obediently followed Zhan Feiyu’s arrangements.
During the inventory of the account books earlier, Shi Fan had assisted Zhan Feiyu, and now he was using dinner to curry favor. With the Jin family fallen, and without their suppression, if Zhan Feiyu lent a hand, the Shi family would surely rise again!
Accountant Hu, his eyes glinting sinisterly, fiddled with the jade thumb ring on his finger. The accountants earned only five taels of silver a month, and if they worked for small shops or businesses that were not doing well, they would only receive three taels.
This thumb ring alone cost fifty taels. How could he afford it with just his wages? He had merely tampered with the account books. However, once the Shi family rose again, if the industry practices changed, it would be impossible to create false accounts to skim money.
“To cut off someone’s financial path is like killing their parents. It is best for the Shi family to remain as they are,” Accountant Hu said, his withered old face contorted in a grimace. “Back then, we could use the Jin family to ruin the Shi family. We can still do so now!”
Zhao Shensuan and the others did not speak, but their gloomy expressions revealed their intentions. None of them were willing to see the Shi family rise again!
Zhan Feiyu did not notice the expressions of Zhao Shensuan and the others. He Nuan, however, did. They were just accountants who could work abacuses and calculate. He Nuan glanced at them and then looked away, planning to remind Zhan Feiyu after the meal.
“You want to learn my accounting method?” Zhan Feiyu asked, looking at Shi Fan, whose face was filled with shame but whose eyes were exceptionally firm. She smiled and agreed, “This must be reported to the imperial court, and it is likely to be promoted. You can follow me to learn for these few days.”
“Thank you, Miss,” Shi Fan said, his face flushing with excitement.
Even if it were to be promoted in the future, learning it now would put him one step ahead. Especially with the fall of the Jin family, their shops would inevitably change hands. When new owners needed accountants, this would be an opportunity for the Shi family.
As night fell, the sky grew dark, but the yamen remained brightly lit. The inventoried chests of wealth, after final checks and calculations, were to be sealed and temporarily stored in the prefectural yamen’s treasury.
Zhan Feiyu had already finished summarizing the day’s account books. The more than ten accountants, along with the bailiff and over twenty officials and constables, had been busy all day, yet they had accounted for less than one-fifth of the assets.
This was only for the Jin family’s ancestral home and their visible properties and shops. It was estimated to take about ten days, and this did not even include the Jin family’s assets in various prefectures. Completing everything would take at least a month.
“Prefect asks Miss Zhan to go to his study,” Xiao Zibai had previously felt that Zhan Feiyu’s success in winning the top three positions in the imperial examinations was partly due to Scholar Gu. However, after witnessing Zhan Feiyu’s swift and accurate mathematical skills today, Xiao Zibai finally believed that Zhan Feiyu, the child prodigy, was not just a false reputation.
Zhan Feiyu closed the account book and said to Shi Fan, “Follow the bailiff to the treasury to perform the final inventory and calculations.”
“Yes,” Shi Fan replied. Although he was a few years older than Zhan Feiyu and had started working with an abacus at the age of five, he was truly impressed by Zhan Feiyu’s mathematical talent.
…
Zhan Feiyu had already finished summarizing the day’s account books. The more than ten accountants, along with the bailiff and over twenty officials and constables, had been busy all day, yet they had accounted for less than one-fifth of the assets.
This was only for the Jin family’s ancestral home and their visible properties and shops. It was estimated to take about ten days, and this did not even include the Jin family’s assets in various prefectures. Completing everything would take at least a month.
“Prefect asks Miss Zhan to go to his study,” Xiao Zibai had previously felt that Zhan Feiyu’s success in winning the top three positions in the imperial examinations was partly due to Scholar Gu. However, after witnessing Zhan Feiyu’s swift and accurate mathematical skills today, Xiao Zibai finally believed that Zhan Feiyu, the child prodigy, was not just a false reputation. Zhan Feiyu had already finished summarizing the day’s account books. The more than ten accountants, along with the bailiff and over twenty officials and constables, had been busy all day, yet they had accounted for less than one-fifth of the assets.
This was only for the Jin family’s ancestral home and their visible properties and shops. It was estimated to take about ten days, and this did not even include the Jin family’s assets in various prefectures. Completing everything would take at least a month.
After witnessing Zhan Feiyu’s swift and accurate mathematical skills, Xiao Zibai finally believed that Zhan Feiyu, the child prodigy, was not just a false reputation.