Chapter 2046 - The Person Eating Empty Rations

Observing the situation—which had just stabilized—about to dissolve into chaos again, Xiao Zishan rapidly stood. "What everyone states makes sense. I didn't consider matters thoroughly previously. Then... how about this?" Xiao Zishan composed himself, waited for the surrounding clamor to subside somewhat, and continued, "First, we still need to construct dedicated official vessels. Second, everyone's private yachts naturally shouldn't be delayed. But regarding the shipyard situation, everyone just heard—it's operating at full capacity. Besides, ships require design, which consumes time. So the expedient solution for now remains utilizing Great Wave's ships, which everyone has taken previously. We can reserve a VIP cabin or charter the entire vessel for you. At that time, key positions aboard will be replaced by Security Bureau personnel. As for hazardous waters, if Great Wave proves inconvenient, you can take Navy non-combat vessels..." Xiao Zishan glanced toward the Navy Elders, thinking: I've provided you a ladder; if you insist on obstinacy and provoking collective anger, don't blame others.

"Excluding transport ships, Navy non-combat sequence vessels also include dispatch ships, survey ships, and so forth. Speed is adequate, though the environment is average. If you take them, we will specifically instruct the captain to prioritize Elder safety and mission completion as primary objectives, but the accompanying Elder must also obey the captain's arrangements. At that time, our Navy will also dispatch combat vessels for escort. If enemies are encountered, your vessel retreats first, letting the warships engage. As for those willing to board warships, they must unconditionally obey the captain and refrain from interfering with combat." The Navy contingent's half-step retreat provoked another buzz, but this time it proved relatively reasonable, so no one rose to challenge them.

"Why differentiate between reserving a cabin and chartering the ship when taking Great Wave's liner? If merely reserving a cabin, what if Great Ming death-squads infiltrate aboard? Not all Great Wave crew members have passed the Political Security Bureau's rigorous investigation. Killing someone at sea is considerably easier than on land." Someone redirected to the initial concern.

"No need to charter a vessel every instance—too wasteful..."

"I likewise believe chartering a ship at every opportunity is excessively wasteful. If transporting cargo and personnel together, acceptable. But to charter an entire vessel for a single Elder is truly..." Obviously, some preferred adhering to revolutionary frugality.

"I think it's preferable this way: borrow from the original maid subsidy practice. For official business trips utilizing private commercial ships, the General Office will provide travel subsidies comparable to charter costs—how about that?"

"Per individual or per trip?"

"Per individual, naturally."

"What about non-official business? For instance, if I wish to take my child to Guangzhou for leisure..."

"Self-funded." Just as everyone presumed this wrangling concluded, Wu Nanhai, who had been silent, suddenly indicated he wished to speak. "I believe Director Xiao's principle is excellent. If not taking public vehicles or ships for official business, the General Office pays. For private matters, the General Office helps arrange and coordinate, with the General Bodyguard Bureau responsible for safety. These costs are self-funded. Otherwise, wouldn't busy individuals unable to depart suffer loss?"

Wu Nanhai's words provoked another buzz. Everyone spoke simultaneously, but obviously all were indicating they belonged to the "busy individuals unable to depart" category, so they naturally praised the Minister of Agriculture's proposal. Wu Nanhai continued: "Also, regarding the self-built private yachts mentioned earlier. I believe the General Office can pay to lease everyone's idle yachts when travel vessels are needed—naturally, entirely voluntary. This would benefit both public and private interests."

"We can design and manufacture several sets of modular Elder standard cabin kits, easily installed and dismantled, sparing everyone the concern about cabin issues when selecting ships..."

"We will prioritize listing this portion of expenses in this year's extra-budgetary expenditure and disburse it promptly..."

The meeting concluded quite successfully. The Navy preserved the "engage upon sight" doctrine; the peripheral Elders satisfied their self-esteem and security concerns; the Finance Sector avoided disbursing substantial dividends... Everyone was content. The sole dissatisfied parties were the tax department—Salina's matter was inexplicably sabotaged by this unrelated affair.

Though sabotaged, Ai Zhixin believed opportunity still existed: after all, the opposition wasn't as vociferous as he anticipated. However, Zhang Xiaoqi stated in her letter that she remained like a Daoist cultivator—aside from executing her duties well, she didn't appear to care about such matters, nor did she care where she worked.

"Perhaps she hasn't genuinely planned to accept us people in her heart," Zhang Xiaoqi wrote at the conclusion.

"If she hasn't accepted us, so be it," Wang Qiyi reflected. "But Chief Cheng's calculation is truly shrewd, winning both ways. As for the Navy bunch—carrying the sedan chair for others aside, they were sold yet still happily counting currency." Naturally, perceiving through it without articulation, Wang Qiyi muttered internally while redirecting his attention back, turning his gaze to the Lin family report delivered by Yao Yulan and the others last night on the table.

Wang Qiyi retrieved the report from the desk and perused it again. This marked his third reading. Overall, the composition was somewhat awkward, with numerous typographical and grammatical errors. But fortunately, the logic proved clear and straightforward, and the event description was detailed. Particularly lacking the "boots and hats" (prologue and epilogue formalities) of old-timeline report materials, reading it felt refreshing.

The Lin family's principal businesses were basically fronted by Guiren Residence, but whether purchasing or supplying, the actual transaction parties were those wine shops and tea houses in which the Lin family held substantial shares. The parties employed handwritten notes stamped with Luo Zhixiang's private seal for transactions, with absurdly chaotic pricing. Inputs and outputs were recorded in ledgers, but typically large input and small output—situations where a dan of rice cost ten or twenty taels of silver were commonplace. When questioned, the response was "poor management, purchased expensively"... The Lin family pursued this simply because the bulk of their business profits didn't derive from these commodity transactions whatsoever. "Large input, small output" could effectively inflate operating costs, so even if revenues from various businesses were recorded normally, the calculated profit was negligible, or even operating at a loss. As for the Lin family, naturally there were no dividends to collect, naturally poor as church mice. Taxes? Impossible.

"Heh, operating in debt—concept quite advanced." Wang Qiyi examined the Lin family balance sheet transcribed on the attached page, thinking they genuinely didn't take the Council of Elders seriously. We are hair-thieves; are we easier to manage than Ming clerks? It appears for the catering service industry, levying based on turnover is more appropriate...

"Little Hu!"

"Here!"

"Summon Team Leader Yao and the others to my office!"

Wang Qiyi's office wasn't spacious; once Yao Yulan and the other two were seated, it seemed full.

"I've read your report. Excellent—written clearly and logically. So, how do you believe we should proceed with this task next?" Wang Qiyi dispensed with pleasantries and went straight to the point.

"Reporting to Director Wang, we..."

"Team Leader Yao, sit down, sit down and speak."

"Understood..." Observing Wang Qiyi gesture for her to sit, Yao Yulan adjusted her clothing somewhat awkwardly and settled back on the sofa. "After discussion, the three of us concur we can approach from two aspects."

"Mm, which two aspects? Briefly explain." Wang Qiyi appeared attentive, all ears.

"First, make tax adjustments to current accounts, particularly cost categories, to re-verify profits. The objective is determining precisely how much dividend the Lin family extracted. But the workload is relatively substantial, requiring temporary deployment of personnel with accounting foundations to assist."

"That poses no problem. I can arrange verifiers and transfer some personnel from accounting undergoing rotation to the front lines to review."

"Thank you, Director Wang. The second aspect is expanding the investigation scope to verify long-term large accounts receivable. This is to accurately grasp their operating income and determine how much business tax was evaded. We employ the cash basis; this method of maintaining accounts on credit should be suppressed."

"Expand the scope to where?"

"Based on the payers of substantial receivables. Removing those not under Council governance, approximately twenty households remain. But some of these individuals aren't on our inspection roster, and some are out of town."

"That's no concern. Ignore those in Ming territory. For anyone under Council governance requiring investigation, you possess inspection authority. For those out of town, compile a roster later, and I'll authorize external investigation letters for you. Anything else?"

"Director Wang..." Yao Yulan hesitated and said, "Just now downstairs, Comrade Chu and Comrade Xu also mentioned a matter. I didn't hear very clearly. Let them report to you."

"Then let me speak first." Observing Wang Qiyi redirect his gaze to her, Chu Xiaoran didn't demur. "Actually, there's another relatively reasonable and legal method to transfer funds, which is eating empty rations—ghost employees..."

Eating empty rations? Wang Qiyi realized he genuinely hadn't considered this dimension, habitually assuming this corruption exclusively occurred in military and government agencies.

"Some establishments have ten or more individuals on the ledgers than actually employed. Because most shop assistants in the Ming don't receive monthly salaries, the numbers are impossible to verify..."

This situation was actually reflected in the "Basic Situation Report of Industry and Commerce." In this timeline's catering business, employees—"waiters," "tea servers"—generally weren't paid wages by proprietors, relying on tip sharing and other in-store earnings for income. Naturally, the proprietor wouldn't issue payroll records.

But on current tax registration forms, these shop assistants and waiters who previously received no wages suddenly all possessed wages, and not insignificant ones.

"...These individuals generally receive higher profit shares than those who actually labor, and most change designations annually. Some establishments simply fabricate a few elderly masters therein, paying absurdly elevated monthly wages, three-festival bonuses, and year-end profit shares. The shop's profit distribution to others is simply openly transferred through these fabricated name rosters," Xu Zhewei added. Obviously, the establishment where he served as accountant was considerably larger than Chu Xiaoran's family's, and he comprehended the stratagems better.

Wang Qiyi nodded. Nothing new under the sun; seventeenth-century tricks are executed identically in the twenty-first century. "Then what's your recommendation?"

"We suggest coordinating with the Police Bureau to verify employee numbers in several larger wine shops and tea houses. The basic data registered during Guangzhou's liberation transferred from the Police Bureau only contains aggregate numbers, but examining the remarks, the Police Bureau possesses the count of hired workers and family members for each establishment. I believe this can serve as a foundation."

(End of Chapter)