A thousand years apart, the way of accounting must be very different, but it never leaves its roots. After all, it is still only a record of numbers. Moreover, the way of accounting in the Song Dynasty was far less complicated than that of later generations. Therefore, even if Sun Tu did not understand accounting, he could still figure out these seemingly complex account books and quickly capture the problems.

As he spoke, the shopkeeper Xin, who was already trembling in front of him, was even more shocked and smiled stiffly, "General... General, where do you start this?"

"Why, do you have to point out the problem?" Sun Tu put the account book on the desk casually and said with a smile: "You remember clearly that in the past, the number of grain and rice in and out is often extremely large in two years, but when winter approaches, this number suddenly decreases by less than 30% of the weekdays. What is the reason?"

While talking, Sun Tu had already stood up and walked slowly to Manager Xin. The two were of a very different height. He looked at each other almost with a high tone, and his tone was stern: "If it were other shops, there might be a peak season or off-season. But the grain and rice business is different. Who can not eat?"

Just this question made Manager Xin dizzy and could not come up with a suitable reason. As for the officials of Kaifeng Prefecture, they looked at Sun Tu with surprise. They really couldn't understand why he, a general who led the army to fight, was so familiar with the matter in this account. He could only take a look at it for a while and know it as if he had known it.

But Sun Tu's words were not finished yet. He continued, "There is another strange thing. I found that the price of grain and rice you used to import and export in the past two years is too different. The purchase price of stone rice the year before was 800 yuan, but by last year it became 600 yuan. What's the reason?"

Listening to Sun Tu revealing the flaws one by one, Manager Xin was finally completely panicked. When his knees were weak, he had already kneeled down: "Governor Sun, please spare me, the little one, the little one is just on order. These accounts were all asked by the owner to make a balance. I have never taken any benefits in this matter. General Sun is clear..." As he said that, he even kowtowed.

This scared Sun Tu. He didn't expect that he would scare people like this if he pointed out the flaws, because this matter was not too big, it was just that there was something wrong with the grain shop itself. But when his eyes swept to the solemn expressions of the Kaifeng Prefecture officials beside him, he realized that the matter seemed to be a little serious.

The key to this problem is food, because it is a guarantee of peace for a country. Because the Song Dynasty did not have a large area of ​​land in the north, it attached great importance to this point, so it attached great importance to the grain derivative of wine and imposed heavy taxes. It could only be sold if the government allowed it.

Even wine is like this, so the transaction of grain is naturally valued by the government, especially in Tokyo, a metropolis with a population of one million. The supply of grain is even more stable. Whether it is a good harvest or a disaster, the court will control the relevant grain prices. This is the iron rule that the owners of grain shops must follow. If anyone violates it, it is a serious crime.

However, these are all things on the surface. In private, various means have emerged one after another. Now, the court has turned a blind eye and as long as it doesn’t catch a handle, it will be fine. But now it’s different. Sun Tu has seen through the account book in his hand that there is a big problem with the price of food in and out of this grain shop. In two years, this number actually fluctuates by 200 people per stone. This is already a huge problem. As long as it is reported, everyone, including Shopkeeper Xin, will be punished for serious crimes!

Sun Tu, a military man, naturally did not know about the people's livelihood, but the people in Kaifeng Prefecture knew it well, so they were so cautious at this time, and Manager Xin was even more scared. He thought that his method of doing accounts was clever enough, and that the relevant numbers were not eye-catching in the middle of every month, but who would have thought that Sun Tu only looked through the problem after just a moment of checking it, and the charges were completely implemented.

Although Sun Tu was not sure about it, it did not prevent him from asking a question: "Whether you are guilty or not depends on your attitude of admitting it next. Tell me, why is there such a big deviation? What shameful things did your grain shop do?"

This is what other officials want to know the most, so they all stared at Manager Xin to see how he replied. Manager Xin didn’t have the courage to hide it anymore, but could just explain it truthfully: “If you go back to the general, the villain will only take care of the business in the store on weekdays and then keep the accounts. I can’t get involved in the business that can really make money in our store. I didn’t even know that this was happening the year before.”

Sun Tu did not interrupt his self-disclosure, but just looked at him with a faint look, waiting for him to get to the point. Perhaps because he was intimidated by Sun Tu's pressure, the man said again: "In fact, the price of our selling of grain has always been in the government's regulations, and we dare not have any deviations. But this is just on the surface, behind the scenes, we sold a batch of grain to the Gu family store at a high price, which is more than twice the market price..."

"There is such a thing? Why did the Gu family businessman raise the price of grain so high? Is it to make good friends with your master?" Sun Tu said curiously.

"This is impossible." An official next to him couldn't help but interrupt, "The Gu Family Trading Company is a big business in my Tokyo city. Even the people from Kaifeng Prefecture will not be flattered. How could they deliberately make friends with Yan Ziliang, an imperial guard officer with little real power?"

Sun Tu nodded and looked at Manager Xin again. But this person shook his head timidly: "I really don't know this little one. But because the price of grain and rice in and out has to be kept in the account, and the government has to check it out, the boss ordered me to settle the account. After two years, there was no problem..."

Sun Tu nodded and looked at the people in Kaifeng Prefecture again. This matter was actually their responsibility, but he was so easily confused by someone. I don’t know what they think. After feeling Sun Tu’s gaze, these people blushed a little, but at this time they could only pretend not to know. They raised their faces and asked, “What a tricky talent. Since you knew that your boss had a problem, why didn’t you report to the official early.”

"Little, the villain dare not..." Manager Xin shivered immediately and quickly exonerated himself: "My boss is an official, and the Gu family's business is even more powerful. How could a little person like me offend?"

Unexpectedly, he would have blocked the store to prevent the Yan family from escaping, which caused Sun Tu to quickly change his established ideas and looked at the people from Kaifeng Prefecture and said, "You guys, do you have any ideas about this?"

"This..." The few people looked at each other, but felt a little embarrassed.

If this is a problem they discovered by themselves, at most they would find out the Yan family and then close the case quickly. They would never dare to really reach out to the Gu family's business. The Gu family is really powerful and has a backer in the court. Not to mention them, even the prefect Zhou may not be able to deal with it.

But now, with Sun Tu by his side, the situation is completely different. If he and others want to make a big deal worse, he is reluctant to do so, and he will probably put himself in and the entire Kaifeng Mansion. This is a consequence that they can't afford. Moreover, based on Sun Tu's impulse to lift the table, as long as he really wants to investigate, no one can stop him.

Seeing that they were still hesitating, Sun Tu could no longer wait: "Everyone, look at your reaction just now, you will know that the price of grain is of great importance. Since this Gu family business does this, it will inevitably have something shameful. If they are willing to collect grain at a high price, they will definitely have a way to sell it at a higher price. This is a threat to my Tokyo and even the Song Dynasty. This matter must be investigated. Do you think what I said?"

"What Yue Hou said..." After looking at each other, the few people could only nod helplessly to admit.

"And since this matter has been exposed, I think with the Gu family's hands and eyes, maybe they will know everything after today and then cover up their crimes and make it impossible for us to investigate. Do you think this is reasonable?"

Several people nodded again. This is common sense. If anyone knows that such a big thing has happened, they will definitely try their best to cover up their mistakes, and at least minimize the blame. Sun Tu said at the moment when they nodded: "Since that's the case, I think that this matter can no longer be delayed. We should immediately surround the relevant shops of Gujia Store to search people, and then report them to the court after they have obtained all the evidence of the crime. Everyone, this is a good opportunity to make great contributions. Are you willing to go with someone?"

After saying this, everyone was stunned. The plot was wrong. We are not dealing with the Yan family matter, why did we get involved in the Gu family business? And we are so anxious that we don’t give anyone any chance to prepare or ask their boss?

"Mr. Yue, are you too anxious? The Gu family after all..."

"It is precisely because they have a backer in the court that they cannot slow down, otherwise things will only be more difficult to solve. It is said that soldiers are the most powerful. Since there is a problem, you should face him immediately!" Sun Tu almost shouted Oli and walked out immediately.

Several people wanted to stop them, but they didn't know where to stop them. In addition to being a little panicked, they were also a little excited. Maybe this was really an opportunity to make contributions. Thinking in their hearts, they followed them unconsciously.

These people didn't know that Sun Tu made such a seemingly reckless decision, which was actually to completely mess up the water and deduct more charges from the Yan family. In this way, the military ration corruption case could be shattered so much that those stakeholders dared not stretch their claws.
Chapter completed!