Brother Rong of Red Mansion

Chapter 119: Worship the ancestors and become the clan leader!

"Sir, this villain has no intention of doing this."

In the Xiangnan Hall, Wu Jinxiao was startled when he heard Jia Rong say this and immediately knelt down.

While kowtowing and crying, he said:

"Everyone knows that it is bitterly cold outside the Pass.

"The wind is sharper than a knife, and when the weather is cold, your urine freezes into ice. Occasionally, Tatars come south to attack the grass valley, which is really dangerous.

"My master is the lord of Ningguo Mansion and the hereditary lord of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He doesn't enjoy the glory and wealth of the sacred city, but he wants to go outside the pass to drink in the wind and eat snow.

"The villain is worried about the master's health. He has absolutely no selfish motives..."

Jia Rong smiled, helped him up and comforted him, saying, "I see, I wrongly blamed you. Your worries are not unreasonable. But I am a descendant of the Ning Kingdom, a hereditary fourth-grade general Wu Yi, and a guerrilla in the Beijing camp. We have to go into battle to kill the enemy later. Why does this little hardship matter?

"I heard that you are suffering outside the customs and come here every year to report disasters, so I thought I would take a trip and see with my own eyes how you live. If there is really a difficult place, I can also spare my strength to help you.

"You don't know, this time I helped Ling go south and saw the life of the rural people in Jinling. It was really hard. They didn't even have serious farm tools, let alone cattle. I couldn't bear it, so I helped them buy and replace them. A batch of new farm tools were built, and a cattle rental shop was established. A batch of cattle were purchased, which was cheaper than the government rent, and subsidized their rented farmland. The tribesmen all said that this was a great good governance."

Jia Rong held Wu Jinxiao's generous hand and comforted him with a warm voice.

He just talked about the same old thing and repeated what he said to appease the village leaders a few days ago.

This time, Jia Rong met with the village leaders and revealed his intention to visit. As expected, the village heads all frowned and began to offer good advice, with their polite refusals clearly evident.

In this regard, Jia Rong all follows the same routine.

First, scare and beat them to break their courage, and then release your kindness and explain what you really mean, which is the so-called "beat a stick and give a sweet date".

The effect is very good.

All the village leaders were frightened, and then they were very grateful, thinking that Jia Rong was "kind-hearted". Knowing the difficulties faced by farmers in the countryside, they couldn't help but kowtow to Jia Rong gratefully.

It wasn't until I walked out of Ningguo Mansion and the cold wind blew that I woke up.

Then with a complicated expression, he looked back at the south hall, feeling a deep sense of awe in his heart, and secretly praised Jia Rong's powerful methods.

He also became more and more in awe of Jia Rong, and no longer dared to be perfunctory and fool around to get through.

Now, Wu Jinxiao feels the same way.

In the past, when he came to Ningguo Mansion to pay rent, which time was it not a routine matter and he passed the test safely? The master of the house didn't care about them, and they just did it perfunctorily. After seeing the master and paying the rent, he accepted the banquet from the house, gathered with the village heads, had a few days of eating, drinking and having fun, and then returned home happily.

But this time, Jia Rong actually turned against him and directly doubted his loyalty.

This is so scary!

When you work for the government, the biggest fear is that the master will suspect you of having second thoughts. As long as there is a hint of criticism and the master feels uncomfortable, he may replace you.

Therefore, all the resistance in Wu Jinxiao's heart disappeared, and he kowtowed and cried directly to show his loyalty and dispel Jia Rong's doubts about him.

The effect was very good, Jia Rong was relieved and confided the truth to him.

This made Wu Jinxiao feel that Jia Rong, unlike Jia Zhen, was a real person who did things.

For a moment, his back felt cold and a layer of cold sweat broke out. He secretly decided to go back to Zhuangzi, appease the tenants, give them some benefits first, and stop their mouths. Then make the account books from previous years smooth and tight, and sort them out again.

When you work as the head of a village in the countryside, you have to say that there is nothing wrong with you and that you are loyal and serve the government.

How is that possible!

These village heads are actually big landowners, and the farmers on the farms are actually their slave tenant farmers.

The master of the house takes 70% of the rent, but privately they take 80% or 90%.

Exploited layer by layer, their lives were extremely luxurious. In addition to paying the rent to the government, there is still a lot left over every year. Eating, drinking and having fun in the place is more comfortable than the ordinary gentry.

If this is replaced by the master, he will even become depressed.

It was really too late to cry.

So no matter what, we must restore Jia Rong's trust in them.

After all, Wu Jinxiao still wants to pass the head of Heishan Village to his son, grandson, and great-grandson.

His ancestors also passed it down to him in this way.

Jia Rong nodded with a smile, comforted Wu Jinxiao, and briefly told him a series of "good deeds" he had done in the countryside of Jiangning County, Jinling.

He only said that Wu Jinxiao burst into tears and praised the master for his compassion and his ability to manage the family. If we can really replace it with new farm tools, we will get a subsidy for farming cattle. He patted his chest and promised that next year's spring and autumn rent would definitely be more than this year.

Jia Rong was very satisfied, and then ordered someone to set the meal and asked his servants to lead Wu Jinxiao down to eat.

******

Looking at Wu Jinxiao's leaving figure, Jia Rong's smile gradually faded away. What he didn't tell Wu Jinxiao was that in the countryside of Jiangning County, in addition to doing "good deeds", he also whipped people with a whip himself, and also ordered the guards to beat many people with sticks.

They also used coercion and inducement to make the "side branch masters" who oppressed the poor tribesmen fearfully spit out a large sum of money to subsidize the poor tribesmen and tenants. ——The money for buying new farm tools and buying cattle comes from this.

******

After meeting Wu Jinxiao, the autumn rental project for farmland in various places was completed.

The rest is to summarize the income of each store, which is also a troublesome matter. Jia Rong has to personally review the accounts every morning.

Reviewing your bills can be a huge hassle.

Jia Rong had never learned anything before, so he could only bite the bullet and start slowly, learning and practicing at the same time.

Jia Rong felt a headache every time he saw the densely packed ink bills. He couldn't help but want to visit his father-in-law and ask the accounting office of the Ministry of Works and Maintenance Department to settle the accounts for him. Clear out all the "dirty things" in the accounting room, and severely deal with the minions who embezzle public funds.

But he suppressed his violent emotions.

He couldn't even read the account books of Ningguo Mansion clearly. If he went to Beijing camp, how would he manage the logistics and supplies for the hundreds of thousands of people in Beijing camp? Once the military power is tightened, how can we govern the world for the Supreme Emperor and His Majesty?

Rely on others? Leave professional matters to the professionals?

The words are so.

But at least, the ability is your own.

You need to have a rough understanding of it yourself first, and you can’t let everyone else below you fool you.

Therefore, Jia Rong suppressed her emotions and carefully reviewed the bills every morning. Occasionally, I would pack up the account books and take them to the Qin Mansion to visit my father-in-law. Ask him for tips on auditing the books.

My father-in-law, Qin Ye, is a repairman of the Ministry of Industry and has been in charge of the repair department for many years, so he naturally has real abilities.

I saw Jia Rong visiting him and asking for advice on how to review accounts. He always treated him with courtesy and worked tirelessly to make progress. Qin Ye and his wife were very happy and thought Qin Keqing had married a good husband. Brother Rong is a capable and ambitious man who will surely achieve great things in the future!

So, Qin Ye gave everything to him.

Even though the new year is approaching, the Ministry of Industry is still busy with everything.

Qin Ye still took a lot of time to personally teach the method of reviewing account books in the study room, pointing to the number of bills on the account books.

In this way, Jia Rong reviewed the accounts faster and faster, figured out the "doorway" inside, and saw more things from the account books.

Just from the account books, Jia Rong figured out the reality of Ningguo Mansion. I know in my mind whether every person in charge is loyal or traitorous.

"Don't be in a hurry. Take your time. When the slaves in the Clan Academy are successful in their studies, we will clear out the unruly slaves in the mansion and make room for them."

Do things first and then act.

There can be no rush.

When he took office, he was the first prime minister and first assistant. That was Chongzhen.

Even if you want to behead, you must make sure you have a team in hand that can stabilize the political situation and replace it at any time.

Otherwise, if people are replaced, it will not be as stable as before, and it will only become more and more anxious, and the government will become more and more corrupt.

This is also the reason why Jia Rong temporarily tolerated it, resigned, and "coexisted peacefully" with Lai Sheng and other servants of the old forces in the mansion. ——He currently has no good slaves in his hands who can be replaced.

So, we have to wait a while.

A few days have passed since the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, and time flies to the twenty-ninth twelfth lunar month.

On this day, everything was in place. Both Ning and Rong mansions had their door gods, couplets, signs, and peach charms repainted, giving them a completely new look.

From the main gate, the ceremonial gate, the hall, the warm pavilion, the inner hall, the inner three gates, the inner ceremonial gate and the inner gate to the main hall, the main entrance is wide open. The vermilion color of the steps on both sides shines high, like two golden dragons. .

"Tomorrow, on New Year's Eve, we will open an ancestral hall to worship our ancestors. As the acting patriarch, I can finally become a regular official!" I saw the lanterns hanging high in the ancestral hall, reflecting the bright light. Jia Rong stood under the corridor of the main room of Ning'an Hall, clenching her fists and secretly showing a hint of expectation.

After all, the acting clan leader is not justified. Only after he has been ranked in order of ancestor worship and reported to his ancestors can he become a full-time official and officially become the head of the Jia clan.

Now that he has become the head of the Jia clan, he has the power to control the affairs of the Rongguo Mansion.

How exciting!

(End of this chapter)