"Returning to the uncle, all the villagers and households outside are sin slaves in the government. Naturally, we cannot be lenient to them. If they fail to produce, they will definitely be severely punished. The uncle has a bodhisattva heart, but those sin slaves may not be kind enough to accept it."
Several village owners on the outskirts of Shenjing arrived early. Someone said to Jia Rong aggrievedly: "We village owners only think about the house and have no other thoughts."
Jia Rong laughed coldly. This sound made several village owners have a premonition that something bad was going to happen. They had vented their anger before Uncle Rong arrived, and the rent on each village was underreported. All other production cuts are attributed to natural disasters.
Uncle Rong said: "You are so fat in the village for the sake of the house? Since it is so troublesome for you to manage Zhuangzi, then you don't have to stay in Zhuangzi in the future. This year, you Shenjing Zhuangzi combined , only a few thousand taels of silver a year. Apart from that, there are only a few chickens, ducks, fish and geese. It is indeed a hard job to think about it. Just replace it with someone. There are many supervisors in the Ningguo Mansion, so cut a few out and replace them. Got you."
"this……"
What the village owners are most afraid of is this kind of thing. Although their power in the village is already strong, Ning Guofu is so angry that he wants to replace them. There was nothing they could do. Only one person said: "Master, think twice. It's difficult to manage the small farmers on the farm. If there are new people, I'm afraid they won't be able to do everything in a year or two."
"Then wait for one or two years. If anyone fails to take care of the situation in the past two years, we will continue to replace people." Jia Rong had made up his mind to implement the rotation system, and said: "General Manager Lai, will the house be in charge this year?" Give them a pair of the account books investigated by each village to see which village has paid rent that does not match the account books?"
When did Ning Guofu do this? The five village owners were really panicked at this moment, and they knew nothing about it.
Lai Sheng was stunned. There was no account book in his hand, and he looked at Uncle Rong in confusion.
Jia Rong suddenly said: "Oh, I was in a hurry today and forgot to ask you to get the account book. But I still remember that Jia Juan and Jia Qin were punished by the clan for spreading rumors earlier. . Later, they provoked everyone to leave the chickens and dogs, and others stopped interacting with them. So in the middle of the year, they found me and gave them this job. But I really don’t know if I don’t check. I was shocked when I checked. Dear Zhuangzi He really knows how to live a good life and is very resourceful."
Does Ningguo Mansion really have account books?
Several villagers were extremely nervous. Over the years, they relied on their ancestors' close relationship with the Ningguo Mansion to get the position of director of the village. Later, the masters in the mansion became more and more irrational, and the rent they paid each year also fluctuated, and they extracted a lot from it.
Jia Rong said: "Don't worry, since you all say that I have a Bodhisattva heart, your ancestors also followed Ning Guogong through life and death, how can you forget this friendship. Therefore, I will not pursue things that have happened over the years. I will just use the money to buy them off." It has affected the relationship between you and the mansion. However, I am in charge of the mansion this year, so I cannot afford to pay less for this year’s rent. Also, when you move out of the village, you cannot take away a single copper from the mansion."
The village owners were dumbfounded!
Can't you take away even a single copper plate? This...the ancestors of these village owners have been managing the village and have been running the village. All their income from previous generations of business operations was finally invested in the Tao Manor, as well as for food and clothing. Thinking that they would be able to get a sum of money from the rent every year, and their status as slaves could not buy private property, so they lived a life of dissipation and extravagance on the farm.
It doesn't matter to them that they can't take away the copper coins.
A few people still have luck in their hearts. As long as they take away a few coats, a few calligraphy and paintings, and a few tables, there will be a big surplus.
Jia Rong said: "You don't have to worry too much, they are probably already at your village."
"them?"
"Yes, Jia Juan and Jia Qin, they are accompanied by several supervisors of Ningguo Mansion: He, Lu, Shi, Zhang, Kong, Cao, Yan, and Hua. I was afraid that there was not enough manpower, so I asked Aunt Lian of the West Mansion. Lai Wang and Lai Xi can help." Brother Rong said softly.
This is a big battle to confiscate homes!
Lai Sheng was shocked by Uncle Rong's words. Because he didn't know about this at all. Wei Zhuan asked: "Why haven't you heard any news?"
"Oh! I just decided temporarily this morning." Uncle Rong said calmly, "It's not a big deal, I just want to see how much wealth the Mei, Sheng, Lin, and Diao families have accumulated in the five villages over the years. "
Examples can be found in everything in the world, but Rong Geer still found inspiration from the crisis of confiscating the Jia family's house.
Since the emperor will be able to raid the Jia family in the future, by the same token, why didn't the Jia family first raid the homes of these village owners who were acting treacherously? I remember that when King Zhongshun sorted out the household deficit, even the Prince's Mansion of Beijing County was almost sold off. He just wiped away the moths in Ningguo Mansion, which was much worse than the Thirteenth Master.
Master Thirteen is really a good teacher.
At this moment, the Mei brothers, Sheng, Lin and Diao were like ants on a hot pot, restless but helpless. I heard Mei Maobing, the eldest brother of the Mei brothers, begging for mercy: "Please have mercy, sir. My old servant has been working conscientiously since I accepted this Zhuangzi and has never done anything out of the ordinary."
Brother Rong sighed: "Master Mei, I know the situation in the village. But he is not as deceitful as the other four villagers. But Master Mei, look at the chair sitting under him, look at this room I am afraid that some of the furnishings inside may not even be owned by Ning Guo. Where did these items come from, I think the owner of Mei Manor should know."
"This..." Mei Maobing was stunned and smiled bitterly in his heart. These objects have nothing to do with him, but were accumulated by his ancestors and fathers, although some of them were given by Ningguo Mansion. But most of them are purchased from the annual rent.
"Every owner of the village, don't worry. Your family will be taken care of by the government. There are several small houses in Ningrong Back Street. You can move there first." Jia Rong didn't want to talk nonsense to them anymore. , and then said: "As for the owner of Plum Village, I will continue to act as the village owner for the time being. If the situation of each village improves next year, it will be okay even if I mention you as the prime minister of several villages in Shenjing and let you be the head of the village."
It made Mei Maobing surprised first and then happy.
Brother Rong looked at the envious and jealous expressions on the faces of the other people, then chuckled and said to Mei Maobing: "I heard that you have a young son, who is only five or six years old now. As long as you manage these Zhuangzi well, , I will go to the Yamen to cancel the slave status of your young son, and I can also take him to the Jia family to study for free, and it is not certain that he will donate his official status in the future."
For these village managers who collect rent from the village, this is the biggest temptation.
As expected, Mei Maobing was smiling happily and had nothing to worry about. Even her younger brother didn't care.
Uncle Rong said again: "However, you can't live in this garden anymore. You can live in another village, and this garden will be left to Brother Qiang and the others from the kiln factory."
How could Mei Maobing know about the manor? As the saying goes, freedom cannot be bought with a lot of money. Even if you lose everything to buy freedom for future generations, it is still worth it. Not to mention that there was still hope of becoming an official, so he knelt down and kowtowed to Uncle Rong.
Lai Sheng looked at Mei Maobing. He finally understood what the uncle meant by this move, it was just to scare him first and then reward him with some benefits. Let these village owners work wholeheartedly for Ning Guofu and stop thinking of crooked ideas.
Sure enough, the other four, Mei, Sheng, Lin, and Diao, knelt on the ground, crying and shouting that they knew they were wrong and only asked for mercy from Uncle Rong.
Although these people can live freely in the village, they are only in the village. Their status as domestic slaves is their eternal shackles, and no amount of money can break them, not to mention that most of the money comes from the rent of Ningguo Mansion.
"Uncle, please give them another chance." Mei Maobing looked at his younger brother and finally couldn't help but plead.
Uncle Rong glanced at him sideways, nodded and said: "Since Meizhuangtou has begged for mercy, I will give you another chance. As long as the four villages can be taken care of in the next three years, the past will no longer be pursued."
Several people looked happy, but Brother Rong said: "However, the money and goods on the manor will be emptied today. It doesn't matter, as long as you do it well, you can do it just like Meizhuangtou. Mention his name, and he will be sent to a free school in the future, and he will be released from the Yamen at the same time."
What a great trick! Not only were all the personal properties of the five village owners confiscated, but the five grateful owners were also allowed to continue their work. Lai Sheng sighed inwardly. He couldn't help but re-examine Uncle Rong, and made up his mind to talk to the eldest brother of Xifu in a more polite manner, so as not to blame the Lai family in the future.
It is not easy for one of the Lai family to leave their nationality. In the future, they still hope to rely on the Ning and Rong mansions to donate an official position.
Lai Sheng also didn't want to see the Lai family's efforts over the years fall short.
After Brother Rong left the manor, all the owners of the Ningguo Mansion took a breath and shouted that they were lucky. But several people were already sitting there slumped, their hearts going through all the changes, and they had already lost their strength.
Que'er watched the whole process and said with a smile: "Master is so smart, he scared these guys just like that."
Brother Rong shook his head, took out an account book from his coat, and said meaningfully: "I don't mean to scare them, I know a lot of things. There is solid evidence for Zhuangzi's ghosts. It's just that If we remove them temporarily and replace them with others, they may not be able to do as well as these people. So we only confiscated their belongings and let them continue to work for Ningguo Mansion. "
Que'er felt a little uncomfortable being looked at by Uncle Rong and said, "Uncle Rong is thoughtful."
Lai Sheng listened to the conversation between the two and felt more uncomfortable than Queer. It turns out that the uncle still doesn't trust him, and he didn't reveal anything about such things. He sighed softly, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Jia Rong ignored what Lai Sheng and Que'er were thinking. When she returned to the kiln, she learned that the Qin family father and son had a lively chat with Jia Qiang and even left reluctantly.
Qin Zhong and Brother Rong said, "Sir, can you go to my sister's house to help me plead for mercy? I know this well. Even if I work hard on economics, history and policy, I may not be able to become a scholar. It would be better to come to the kiln to study stones and do something for my sister and brother-in-law." Trivial things."
Don't want to be an official? Want to be a craftsman?
"Is this what you really think?"
Qin Zhong hesitated for a moment and said, "I felt happy after looking at the stone. I also heard about what Second Master Qiang was doing in the kiln. I don't know why there were thousands of thoughts in my mind. I thought this was more interesting than reading classics and history. It’s also more practical than classical stereotypes. Master also said that I have talent, so it’s not a bad idea to come and help in the kiln.”
Brother Qiang came over, took Jia Rong's hand, and said in an intimate manner: "Brother Rong, just agree to Brother Zhong's wish. Brother Zhong just came today, and he gave him a lot of ideas. Even Mr. Qin and Zong Cheng and other craftsmen also recognize it.”
Jia Rong had no choice but to let the Qin family and his son live in the manor for a few days before listening to their ideas.
When I returned to Ningguo Mansion, I saw a long motorcade lined up outside the mansion, with large and small goods tied to it.
Jia Qin came up to take the credit and said, "I've made a fortune today. From the homes of those old beheaders, I took tens of thousands of taels of goods in total."
