Yuan Yao, Sima Lang, Luyan Cheng, and Ren Liqiu disembarked from their carriages. Wen Deng followed them with 20 guards as their escort.
"This is the old county office." Luyan Cheng pointed to an old building. "This building is where clerk Zhang Rong should be."
Yuan Yao looked at the old county building. While it was not dilapidated, it still needed a couple of coats of oil to look pristine.
An old man with white hair wearing white robe with a green border walked out of the building very slowly.
"Lord Yuan Yao, this humble servant welcomes you to this austere office. I am Zhang Rong, courtesy name Rong." He invited Yuan Yao with his hands clasped.
Yuan Yao returned the gesture with respect. "Elder Rong, please, as a new and inexperienced lord I'll depend on your wisdom."
As soon as they entered the office, rooms filled with parchments, bamboo slips, and papers welcomed them.
"Are these all of the documents concerning the Fief?!" Yuan Yao asked.
"Yes, my lord. These are the survey documents, tax documents, household registry, land deeds, and other government documents of your fief." Zhang Rong answered.
Yuan Yao turned to Ren Liqiu, "Liqiu, please go ahead with the preparations for the binding ceremony. Also send invitations to everyone who needs to be sent one." Then Yuan Yao looked at the clerk. "Elder Rong, would you please tell her for whom the invitations needs to be sent. And, after that, would you help us make sense of these documents?"
Zhang Rong slightly bowed and told Ren Liqiu the people, and families that needed to be invited to the binding ceremony. After that Zhang Rong explained the documents to Yuan Yao, and his subordinates.
The three scholars meticulously browsed through every document, burning the contents of it to their brains. They discussed how to better classify, and categorise them. They also discussed which information wasn't here, and which information they needed to collect.
It took three days to sift through all the documents. After that Luyan Cheng asked Zhang Rong, "Elder, are there any other matters that we missed?"
"You already know that parts of your fief were with two counties before. Le Hun, and Zhao Shun were the county magistrate of these two counties. They are known for good governance and benevolence. Some of the villagers, and tenant farmers have left the fief to respective magistrates area."
"That's quite the pickle," Yuan Yao spoke in worry. "Elder, are there any other issues? How do you advise to resolve this? I believe the most thorough way is to revise the household registry by surveying everyone."
Zhang Rong shook his head lightly, "The most thorough method would be to survey everyone in the fief." He let out a small sigh. "The sowing season will start soon, you won't be able to finish the survey before it begins. And with farmers toiling in the fields all day, the local gentry houses can easily forge the number of farmers they employ. Also with the coming of rains the rivers will also flood making traveling difficult. In my opinion, it might be best to ask each village elders, and landlord family heads about how much they have."
Yuan Yao was skeptical about the advice, "Wouldn't the landlords forge the numbers anyway? How would directly asking them solve this problem?"
"My lord, you are the scion of the Yuan family. You're taking them into your confidence which is an opportunity for them. If they squander that opportunity for a few coins, surely they'll regret it later. So, that's why they'll not lie to you." Zhang Rong explained.
Yuan Yao thought about it seriously, then he exchanged looks with Sima Lang, the latter then proceeded to put forth his own idea. "Elder Rong, you said the previous magistrates were famous for their benevolence and governance. My lord cannot prove the latter immediately, but if my lord distributes the food to all who come to Azure Dragon Crossing Shrine during the three days of the binding ceremony, we can kill two birds with one stone. We can showcase the benevolence of our lord, and also we can get a rough estimate of how many people are in the fief. Later, even if we ask the landlords, and village chiefs about the headcounts we will immediately know if they shortchange us."
Zhang Rong's cheeks twitched imperceptibly, "Lord Yuan, if you let the village elders, and landlords know about your intention of distributing the food for three days, they might send you the grains and some small games, and fishes they've caught."
Yuan Yao looked at the old man and nodded. "We'll do as the elder instructed. I'll bid you farewell for now, let us meet at the shrine a week later."
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Yuan Yao and the retinue boarded their carriages and departed back to the Yuan mansion. Luyan Cheng asked the question he was haunted by after the previous conversation.
"Sima Gong, would you enlighten me about why you revealed that our lord would distribute food at the shrine. Wouldn't it be far better if the clerk didn't know about it."
"Mozhi, it might seem counterintuitive to you that I revealed the lord's intention of counting the people that came to receive the food. But consider this scenario, if we didn't reveal it to him he would come to know it anyway before the ceremony. Such a big movement of grains and people wouldn't be secret. This would tell him we don't trust him, and give him a legitimate reason to not to aid us. But since we revealed it to him he can't say that, and we can monitor the villages and estates during the ceremony to know if anyone has leaked our intentions. If we find out that a leak has occurred, and landlords haven't allowed a good chunk of people to come to the shrine, who would be the prime suspect?"
"It would be the clerk." Luyan Cheng answered, a light bulb went off in his head. "The clerk would not let this slip lest he was accused of colluding with the landlords to defraud the government. He might also misdirect these landlords by stating 'the lord just wants to show his care for his subjects'."
"Exactly, we should return to the mansion and prepare for the ceremony. Mozhi, can you get some local people to monitor the landlords?" Yuan Yao asked. "Also, Wen Deng, hunt some deers." He ordered.