Jia Rongfei didn't want to, but there were many guests and relatives at home, and he would have to go to Ningxixuan to accompany those gentlemen later. The princess didn't wait for him. She wore a bright coat and cloak, carried a hand warmer, asked the people around her to hold umbrellas, and went into the snow.
A touch of beautiful color walks among the white snow, unmoved by the wind and snow.
Uncle Rong quietly looked at the scenery downstairs. Before he went to Ningxixuan, a mother-in-law came to tell him that people from Heishan Village had returned.
"It's a coincidence." Uncle Rong laughed and asked, "Is Butler Lai back, or some other guy."
"It's the housekeeper. I heard from the messenger earlier that housekeeper Lai has brought back a lot of things."
Can you not bring something back? There is still a lot of money from Ningguo Mansion in Heishan Village, and the land rent has not been paid this year. When Uncle Rong left the vicinity of Tianxiang Tower, he saw Second Master Lian and Zhou Rui, the steward of Rongguo Mansion, rushing out of the mansion.
"Where are you going, Uncle Lian? Why don't you continue playing in Ningxixuan?" Uncle Rong called from afar.
Jia Lian turned around, unable to hide the smile on his face, and said happily: "The New Year is almost here, the village head of Heishan Village finally sent over the rent, otherwise there will not be enough money for the New Year this year."
Uncle Rong also knows the recent situation in Rongguo Mansion. Don’t look at a garden like this. It only costs money to repair it. Taking care of it every day consumes a lot of money every month. There are also the masters, wives, brothers and sisters in Rongguo Mansion. With so many servants around them, the monthly payment for food, clothing and monthly expenses is not a small sum.
In the past two years, there have been a lot of invitations to drinks, and now the Rongguo Mansion really doesn't have much cash. The Chinese New Year is another big event, with two banquets a day. The banquets are arranged from the first day of the Lunar New Year to after the Lantern Festival.
"Uncle Lian is going to entertain Zhuangtou. Coincidentally, the renters from Heishan Village here have just arrived. I can't guarantee that they are here together."
Jia Lian hurried to Xifu.
Uncle Rong also went to see Lai Sheng. The old housekeeper was dusty and had snow on his head. Brother Rong smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Chief Manager."
"It's not hard." Lai Sheng had already heard the news about Uncle Rong's promotion, and he hadn't returned home for many days. When he saw the uncle, he was a little cautious. He forced a smile and took out the list from his arms.
"According to the uncle's instructions, this year I only gave away the rent of Heishan Village and some animal specialties, totaling ten thousand taels of silver." Lai Sheng carefully looked at Uncle Rong's face and said, "Wu Jinxiao also wanted to come, but Mr. Jiu was I took him to Kyaktu to make a deal with the Eros people. Master Ji and Uncle Qin are also thinking about me, so they specially asked me to send a few pieces of Eros's fox and mink furs to him."
"It's hard for them to still have this intention." Looking at the items on the list, although there weren't many valuable items, Uncle Rong was satisfied. I looked at those big furs again, each one was exquisite. The uncle smiled softly and said: "These things are available in Heishan Village, so why buy them from Eros?"
The trade between Dayan and Eros has always been based on exports, with very few imports. Eros winter clothes and hats are available in Northern Liao and Mongolia, and other products are more abundant in Dayan than Eros.
However, Eros is high and cold, and species are rare, especially tea, rhubarb, and silk. And because of the eating habits of the Eros people, tea and rhubarb are essential items for the Eros people, so the Eros people responded with great enthusiasm to the Dayan trade.
Lai Sheng replied cautiously: "These fur coats were obtained from the Eros nobles. They are exquisite in shape and excellent in keeping out the cold."
Uncle Rong curled his lips and said: "Next time, just exchange for gold and silver. Of course, if you have a flame water pump and other Western novelties, you can also exchange them for it. If you can find fortification works, etc., even better; if you can translate the book into Chinese Words are the best.”
Lai Sheng replied: "When I get back to Heishan Village, I will send a letter to Master Ji and the others."
"Don't be in a hurry to go back. Let's wait until spring begins. You will have a good year in Shenjing this year. As long as you are away, you will have to spend more time with your family." Uncle Rong said calmly, "You have also worked hard in the past two years. Pick some things from the list and send them home, and also send a copy to Aunt Lai. Your contribution will not be forgotten in the house. While I am in Beijing these two months, I will also teach your two sons how to make some housework. In charge of things."
When Lai Sheng heard this, he was surprised, happy, and helpless. I feel that the uncle is overthinking and worrying that he has evil intentions in Heishan Village. The Lai family is living under the Lian Liang Mansion. Even if he is far away, he can have evil intentions.
He slowly knelt down and said his thanks, then saw the strange color on the uncle's face.
I just listened to the uncle saying: "It's cold on the ground. Get up. After drinking hot tea to warm yourself up, I went to the back street to find a few things. Although I don't know if Uncle Jian and Brother Qin have brought anything, we will also send it. A condolence. Please go over and tell them about their situation in Heishan Village, so that their family can feel at ease."
After Lai Sheng heard this, he immediately realized that he had thought wrongly. The uncle kept the two children in charge of the house not simply to control him, but to ask him to monitor Mr. Jia Qian and Mr. Jia Qin.
He also thought that Jia Juan had two more relatives in his family, while Jia Qin only had a widowed mother in his family. If Jia Qin really sees the outside world and comes back unwilling to do so, he may not be able to find out and control this person whenever he takes advantage of him in Heishan Village.
This is giving him an order to supervise him.
General Manager Lai Sheng replied: "No need."
Uncle Rong said with satisfaction: "Don't worry, there may be a group of people who will have to follow you to Heishan Village next spring. You can lead them boldly. If there is anyone who disobeys, Heishan Village is also a good place to bury people." "
The snowy day was extremely cold, and Manager Lai's blood ran cold as he listened. Sansan asked: "Who should they be?"
"A group of shameless dead people, if nothing else, there is one person you should know. You will know it when you meet him later." Uncle Rong waved his hand and sent Lai Sheng away, and then called Butler Shi to deliver the things to the warehouse. inside.
The news of renting from Heishan Village somehow reached Tianxiang Tower. Baoqin talked to the old lady about his past experiences along the West Sea. How could a blonde beauty who read poetry books thoroughly and talked about the Five Classics be able to compose good poems? .
Uncle Rong was listening next door, curling his lips slightly. There's a lot of excitement next door, but here it's deserted. I took a nap against the smoker in the room for a while, just in time for the afternoon banquet.
The building has just become lively again.
Jia Lian just came upstairs and found Uncle Rong. He frowned and said, "These old beheaders are in charge of seven or eight pieces of land in the mansion. They only sent more than 5,000 taels of silver this year. This or two Years ago, we paid out a lot of money, but how can we only get more than five thousand taels?"
Uncle Rong also frowned after hearing this. He remembered that Rongguo Mansion received more favors than Ningguo Mansion. When the Duke of Rongguo succeeded to the throne of the Second Duke, Rongguo Mansion received twice as much land as Ningguo Mansion. Why is the rent this year only half of that of Ningguo Mansion?
"Can you tell me the reason?"
Jia Lian said bitterly: "It's just that this year's harvest is not good, there are droughts, floods, and hail. I'm afraid I will have to tighten my belt to fight famine this New Year."
