"What if someone wanted to curry favor and changed a number or two, or deliberately chose only the best locations? How would we deal with that?" Previously, Chen Xi might have pretended not to see anything, but now that won’t do. In such cases, a single error in the data could be enough to doom the people of an entire province.
"Classify the harvests into normal years and years of disaster, and treat bumper years as normal years. Use the average grain yield of the last normal year as the benchmark for the current normal year’s yield, and for the third normal year, take the average of the previous two normal years, and so on." Liu Ye had certainly considered the drawbacks of this method. With his divergent thinking, he would definitely view the situation from multiple angles to ensure that there were no severe loopholes. This method of taking the average from across the realm may be cumbersome, but its advantage lies in its stability.
"I knew you wouldn’t have overlooked such a glaring issue," Chen Xi breathed a sigh of relief. With this method of calculating the world’s average, unless everyone across the realm went mad, there wouldn’t be any significant problems with the data.
"We’ll just have separate accounts," Liu Ye said, nodding calmly and confidently.
"That could work," Chen Xi thought the method was satisfactory, requiring only some manual work each year, with no other significant issues.
"Speaking of accounts, it reminds me..." Chen Xi finally remembered the double-entry accounting system that he had been intending to mention but kept getting sidetracked. He hadn’t used it for years since college; he only remembered a few phrases like ’debits must equal credits,’ yet he believed, even with just that phrase, someone could almost get the hang of it.
Don’t underestimate the intelligence of the ancients. Frankly, other than vision and experience, you really don’t have any advantage over them. As for calligraphy, children from noble families could outclass you by a long shot—just as the penmanship of today’s computer generation is far inferior to that of twenty years ago, and theirs, in turn, pales against what was standard seventy years prior...
And when it comes to classical studies, to put it bluntly, today’s masters of Chinese classics would struggle to get a job as a janitor at the Imperial Academy in ancient times. The entire era breathed classical studies, the speech and demeanor, even the surrounding environment were infused with the spirit of classical studies. A master of the present would likely be out of their depth there; the gap is too wide, a scenario akin to an amateur mixing it with professionals.
Because of this, even in such an era, despite having a legitimate noble lineage and memories from the past, Chen Xi had always maintained a habit of speaking little and doing less. He reckoned that once the situation stabilized, he would switch to speaking even less and doing nothing at all. After all, with such a large group of people, his absence wouldn’t make much difference.
"Ziyang, have you noticed how problematic the current running accounts are? There are too many loopholes, and they’re hard to check. I recently heard a vegetable vendor saying, ’Money exchanged for goods, equal value in both,’ and it felt could be applied to the accounts. Look into it for us, will you?" Chen Xi yawned as he imparted that phrase to Liu Ye, figuring it wouldn’t take long for him to figure it out. See, it’s just a phrase; how simple.
"Money exchanged for goods, equal value in both... equal value in both... equal value in both..." Upon hearing Chen Xi’s words, Liu Ye seemed to undergo an epiphany. As he tapped on the table, he started scribbling and sketching on paper.
"It’s up to you, Ziyang, keep it up, I’m leaving first," said Chen Xi as he turned and headed to the rear courtyard of the Political Office, greeted by a succession of saluting civil officials. He then ordered his men to prepare all the account books; as soon as Liu Ye insisted on processing all the account books, there should be no hesitation in handing over all the unsettled accounts to him.
In Chen Xi’s view, this was to let Liu Ye thoroughly test his newly developed accounting method. He was willing to provide the account books generated recently within his prefecture, and perhaps half of Qingzhou, as a part of the Prefectural Governor’s half-year auditing responsibility. Life was truly wonderful~
About ten days later, Liu Ye had coined a new accounting method and called Mann Chong over. In front of Chen Xi, he verified all the account books again and loudly proclaimed his intention to promote this system throughout the Great Han. Little did he know that Lub Su, sitting to the side with his face covered, felt utterly embarrassed, as if he had been shamed all the way back to his grandmother’s house. Liu Ye, that fool, had been lured into Chen Xi’s trap again, and thus the most substantial responsibility of the first half of the year had been taken care of by Chen Xi.
"Congratulations, congratulations, Ziyang is truly a rare genius; with this Liu-style accounting method, your fame will surely spread throughout the world!" Chen Xi said with a sincere smile on his face, and indeed he meant it, for how could he not smile sincerely at someone who had helped him verify the accounts of the past six months?
"Hahaha, congratulations to us both, if not for Zichuan’s phrase ’the equality of money and goods,’ I would not have thought of this accounting technique. Hahaha, let’s go, I’ll send a message to the Ministry of Clan Affairs right away so they can appreciate my new accounting technique. I, Liu Ziyang from South Huai River, will also have a day when my name is known throughout the world." After verifying the accounts, Liu Ye was in a state of madness, akin to Fann Jin passing the imperial examinations.
Chen Xi might find this madness foolish, but Lub Su could understand completely. The pursuit of fame in ancient times vastly outweighed the pursuit of profit! A technique like Liu Ye’s that could benefit the common people could indeed make most people lose their wits with excitement. Moreover, with this fame, as long as Liu Ye didn’t act too recklessly and didn’t often provoke the emperor, various troubles would definitely not adhere to him, and even if he occasionally committed some indiscretion, there would be a multitude of people willing to help shoulder it. That is the advantage of being a Noted Scholar...
"Boning, Zijing, come along as well. As for those clerks who falsified accounts, I’m in high spirits today, give me face and give them a chance at life. Send your men to give them a warning and let it be," said Liu Ye, turning to Lub Su and Mann Chong excitedly.
Originally, Liu Ye had hoped to shock Chen Xi after completing the audit and then let Mann Chong deal with the offenders. However, after a thorough verification of the accounts, Liu Ye had an epiphany. Nothing else mattered anymore, for compared with the old accounting method, he was certain to make his name immortal!
When compared to immortality, punishing people felt utterly discordant. Like a sage granting forgiveness to the whole world, although he was not a sage, for a good omen, he should pardon these unlucky individuals whom he had rooted out.
"Light offenders get a warning, severe offenders will be dealt with according to the law!" Mann Chong said sternly, seemingly giving no face to Liu Ye. Yet, those who knew Mann Chong understood that this was already showing a lot of face; otherwise, everyone would be dealt with according to the law!
"Alright, let’s go drink. I have some fine wine at home! I’ll invite everyone. Once my new accounting method is out, corrupt officials will have nowhere to hide. Hahaha, let’s go!" Liu Ye’s integrity had waned, but mainly because Liu Bei often indulged these individuals, so they felt no pressure about skipping out on work and directly called their friends for a gathering. Sadly Jian Yong and Liu Yan had gone to Jingzhou; otherwise, they could have roped in two more people for a lavish feast. (To be continued. If you work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian ), give monthly passes, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)