novelraw Chapter 99 : Ghost King (2)
Chapter 99 : Ghost King (2)
A skilled merchant does not keep all his ledgers in one place. Just as a rabbit digs three burrows to secure an escape route, they buy time by scattering and hiding them in all directions.
The problem is that without the ledgers, one cannot prove one's income and expenses. But that can be supplemented somehow by submitting the data later.
For now, one must buy as much time as possible to escape and avoid inspection.
There is an object called an hourglass that came from India. It is a tool that measures time with falling sand.
The owner of the Gaha Rice Shop now felt like he wanted to buy all the sand collected in the upper part of the hourglass with silver if he could. But unfortunately, he was not given such an opportunity to buy time.
'H-how does he know so well!'
That was a ghost. He strode over and, like the vanguard captain of Vaisravana, the Ghost King, he found the hidden ledger at once.
He regretted not having hidden it better. But who would have known that the scoundrel inspector of the Martial Alliance would come today? Even Jang So-gil himself did not know that he would come here today, so there was no way for the shop owner to know. Thinking about it again, there was no way to respond to such a surprise inspection.
"Hmm, hmm, I had a rough idea from the way the ledgers were organized. But this fellow, he's quite timid and yet diligent. He's made quite a bit from waste."
Jang So-gil, who had skimmed through the ledger, clicked his tongue. Yang Gwan, pressing down on the shop owner's shoulder, asked back.
"What is waste? It's the first time I've heard that word."
"Well, well. To think the Dharma protector of an inspector doesn't even know what waste is... Well, since I hired you as a strongman rather than a Dharma protector, I suppose you might not know."
"Yes. Since you treated me like a threatening Nio statue for intimidation, or a walking rope, or a strong black cow, it's only natural that I don't know. So what is waste?"
"Waste refers to the rice that is lost during transportation."
When paying taxes, there were largely three ways. One could pay with silver, rice, or specialty goods.
The majority of the common people paid their taxes with rice.
"The rice paid as tax is transported to the nearest government office or police bureau. Whether it's a carriage or a cart, when you load it for transportation, it's bound to shake, so you can't help but spill some rice, can you?"
"Wouldn't it be fine if you tied it up well with a sack made of hemp?"
"That sack made of hemp is more expensive than rice."
"Ah..."
"What they use on site is mostly rice sacks roughly tied with rice straw."
No matter how well a sack made by twisting hundreds of strands of well-dried rice straw was packed, there was a limit.
"When the weather is hot, the straw twists, and the rice grains dry and shrink, increasing the amount of loss. When it's cold, the road is a mess, so it spills. When it rains, it rains, when it snows, it snows, when mountain bandits appear, mountain bandits appear. They attach various reasons for losing the rice. All these acts are collectively called 'waste', and this is the main means of embezzlement for officials."
"What? What kind of embezzlement do you do with spilled rice?"
"Let's say there are ten sacks of rice as tax. While bringing it, you naturally spill a bowlful. That's something that can happen. No matter how thoroughly you manage it, a rice sack is bound to spill some rice. But what if you spill a bowlful and then secretly write down that you spilled half a sack?"
"You're secretly eating half a sack yourself."
If it was a petty embezzlement, it was a petty embezzlement. The embezzlers Yang Gwan had seen so far were big shots who played with thousands of silver taels, with the exception of one Three-Knot who had ruined his life trying to embezzle a mere forty taels. Seeing a person who embezzled spilled grain after seeing only such big shots, he couldn't help but think it was petty.
Feeling Yang Gwan's gaze, Jang So-gil shook his head.
"I know, I know. It's a petty embezzlement. But if you do this a lot, it becomes a considerable amount. The owner of this Gaha Rice Shop has made at least two hundred taels just from the amount of waste."
"Heo, to think he made two hundred taels from spilled rice!"
"From the looks of it, he seems to have touched the relief rice appropriately, and it seems he also resold the waste..."
Jang So-gil's finger stroked his own thigh. This was the same hand movement as when he was using an abacus, and it was a habit of Jang So-gil's when he was calculating in his head.
It was a movement he consciously did not do in a big scene, but now that his mind was at ease, the habit naturally came out. Jang So-gil, who had finished the calculation in one go, nodded his head.
"It'll be about three hundred and fifty taels."
The shop owner let out a silent scream. He had said it was a rough estimate, but it was because it was only five taels different from the original amount.
"H-how..."
"It's a piece of cake. I've done everything you've done."
As expected, a dog that has been beaten knows how to get beaten well. Yang Gwan, nodding his head, muttered lowly.
With a 'tak-' sound, Jang So-gil closed the ledger.
"Alright, then do you have an excuse for the embezzlement of three hundred and fifty taels?"
The shop owner obediently bowed his head. The enemy had skimmed through the ledger and had pinpointed the amount of tax evasion with an error range of five taels in one go. If he gave this monster more time and made excuses, an additional corruption that he himself had not realized might be revealed. In that case, it was wisest to just get beaten within the expected amount.
"I have none..."
Seeing that, Jang So-gil's eyebrows twitched.
"You admit it, right?"
There was a law called 'double jeopardy'. It was a law that made it impossible to argue again about a matter that had already been judged.
If Jang So-gil confirmed the collection now, it would be impossible to question the Gaha Rice Shop's three months of business even if more crimes were revealed later. So the judgment had to be careful.
'Well, this must be all.'
Even in Jang So-gil's eyes, there was nothing more to be gained. Although he had embezzled quite a bit, to embezzle more than this, he would have had to go to unreasonable lengths. If so, it would have shown in the ledger.
Given this petty owner's personality, he wouldn't have tried to go to such great lengths. Jang So-gil, who had finished his judgment, grinned.
"You're being so obedient, it's suspicious."
"I-it's not suspicious!"
"Suspicious guys always say they're not suspicious."
"Heueoeok-!"
"It's a joke, a joke. From the looks of it, this seems to be all, so I'll end the investigation here."
The shop owner let out a sigh of relief, as if he had resigned himself to ten years. Seeing his reaction, it seemed there was truly nothing more hidden. Jang So-gil, judging so inwardly, crossed his arms.
"Let the owner go, and untie the bundle you brought earlier."
"Ah, you mean this bundle."
When Yang Gwan untied the bundle, inside was a piece of paper with the words 'Do Not Touch' written in black on a bright red background. 'Do Not Touch' meant to absolutely not touch it. Seeing the paper, the shop owner's face collapsed miserably.
The 'Do Not Touch' paper meant seizure. If this paper was damaged, a fine of twenty silver taels would be imposed. So if the paper was attached, the object could not be used, and there was even an obligation to protect the paper from being damaged.
In a small white jar next to the bundle was glue, and Jang So-gil began to slather it on the paper and stick it on various objects. He stuck the paper on a chest of drawers and a splendid mother-of-pearl cabinet. He also stuck it on the rice sacks, which were a means of business. It was stuck on every valuable object here and there.
Watching the densely attached papers, Jang So-gil said.
"Now, since the owner is also a merchant, you know what this means, right?"
"Yes... I know."
All the furniture was unusable until the embezzled amount was fully paid.
Business was, of course, also impossible.
"The grace period is ten days. After that, an additional five pun will be added for each day that passes, and after a month, a forced execution will begin, so be careful."
Pay the money within ten days. If you can't, I'll dismantle the entire shop and turn it into money.
The shop owner, who had read his inner thoughts, bowed his head.
"I will be careful. Ghost King-nim."
It hadn't even been a quarter of an hour before his title had changed from 'scoundrel' to 'Ghost King-nim'.
* * *
He would walk around and enter any shop that caught his eye. After skimming through the ledger, he would expose the embezzlement like a ghost. In this way, Jang So-gil had exposed three cases of embezzlement in ten shops in half a day.
Since only the embezzled amount for three months was tallied, the amount was not that large, between one hundred and three hundred taels. Of course, that was by Jang So-gil's standards, and by the standards of others, it was a surprisingly large amount.
The next day was not much different. He entered ten shops and exposed two cases of embezzlement.
And there was one confession. The shop owner, who had seen Jang So-gil's face as he calmly entered the shop, let out a tremendous scream as if the world were ending, and then, prostrating himself and begging, confessed to the fact of his embezzlement.
The amount of his embezzlement was nine silver taels. The said amount was collected on the spot.
From the third day, the situation was a little different. The number of people who confessed increased, and the people who were exposed began to pay their taxes quickly, even though the grace period was far from over.
"Why are they coming already?"
"You can't do anything with a seizure attached. If you're going to pay the money anyway, it's better to pay it quickly. That way, you can do business."
"In that case, wouldn't it be better to pay taxes diligently from the beginning?"
"It's human nature not to know that until you've been hit once."
As the merchants who had been hit once lined up with silver taels and headed for the Martial Alliance, there was a group that was aiming for this time. They were the wandering ronin. Those who had briefly stopped in Luoyang while traveling here and there had targeted the merchants.
Certainly, the merchants were a delicious prey. Ordinary common people who didn't even know the 'mu' of martial arts were walking on the road with one hundred to three hundred taels of silver in their bosoms. Naturally, their bodies became sluggish, and they walked with short steps, glancing around. At a glance, it was the appearance of a plump duck walking on a rice paddy ridge.
With such delicious ducks walking in a line, there were bound to be those who wanted to make a score and leave. Those who had gathered with the thought of easily earning silver were whispering in a group at an inn in Luoyang.
But in reality, the number of cases that progressed to robbery was very small. It was because Jang So-gil had predicted this situation. So the A-rank martial artists of the Martial Alliance were on high alert and on standby to protect the merchants.
Many of the inns in Luoyang that the ronin were using as a meeting place were inns under the protection of the Martial Alliance. So if they were plotting to catch the ducks among themselves, it would immediately enter the ears of the Martial Alliance and martial artists would be dispatched.
There were also those who were plotting in the Great Cloud Guild's inn, which Jang So-gil had created by bringing in the cooks from the Western Great Mountain. Such people were immediately suppressed on the spot through Ye-er.
"Ye-er, you have to be gentle."
"Gentle... gentle..."
It wasn't that he was afraid that those guys would break something, but he was afraid that the inn would be destroyed by Ye-er's strength.
After subduing them so carefully and dragging them to the Martial Alliance. In front of the gate of the Martial Alliance, the line of ronin tied up like dried corvinas and the merchants walking with short steps continued endlessly.
When the promised five days had passed.
As Jang So-gil had boasted, the collected amount had exceeded two thousand taels.
(End of Chapter)