delicious little cook

Chapter 730
After only reading a few pages, Bai Kou was embraced by Gu Yun from behind, and a few wet kisses fell on his cheeks.

"Have you figured it out?" Bai Kou asked.

"Think clearly, let's go to the theater." Gu Yun held Bai Kou's hands and intertwined with her fingers, "Sending my people to protect my aunt and cousin may not be a good one, in case something happens to me If people take action to solve it in time, they will definitely have to be questioned why they are here. I am wronged, but I can't bear to let my guards follow suit. Who cares who Gu Chan will marry in the future, I haven't seen them earning money for the family. Reputation, and I have to worry about their scandals being known by outsiders, so I am not burdened by this."

"Alright, you have the final say, of course Zhong Mingyuan doesn't know anything about the second bedroom's housework."

Gu Yun kissed Bai Kou, then let go of her hand and turned her around so that the two of them faced each other, with a hesitant expression on their faces.

Bai Kou raised her eyebrows, "Any other orders?"

"that……"

"Which one?"

"Where's that guy this morning?"

"It's set up."

"You stayed?"

"of course."

"Is his handwork that good?"

"Yes." Bai Kou suddenly became serious, and waved a finger, "With his craftsmanship, it is at the level of the exclusive craftsman of the Ministry of Industry."

"So strong?"

"There are a lot of gadgets he made himself in his luggage. If he can make what I want this time, I'll hire him as a long-term worker." Bai Kou suddenly changed his nympho face again, "He's so handsome, He is good at workmanship and takes care of others. He knows how to walk on the outside and let women walk on the inside when walking on the street. He is really a gentle and considerate man."

Gu Yun's face suddenly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

At this moment, Qinglan's voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"My lord, there is a message from the palace across the door, urgently requesting you and Guanshi Bai to come over to discuss something important."

"Hey?!"

Bai Kou's expression changed, and he pushed Shizi away suddenly, and quickly put on his shoes and went out. Gu Yun was stunned for a while, and then went back to his bedroom to change clothes. After a while, he and Bai Kou both dressed up and left. .

The two of them walked to the gate of Chengjun Prince's Mansion. There was already someone waiting at the door, and they led them to the main room of the guest courtyard. In the main hall was not only Gong Zhangji, but also a man dressed in navy blue silk. There are some inconspicuous patterns on the belt, which is the most commonly worn clothing material for male stewards of rich families, and there are mud spots on the hem and shoe surface, obviously just returned from traveling outside.

In addition, there were two screens with four leaves standing in the hall. When Gu Yun and Bai Kou came in to greet each other, Ning Peilan's girl came out from behind the screen and welcomed Bai Kou to the back.

Behind the screen was a large square table, and Ning Peilan sat on one side. When she saw Bai Kou coming in, she took her hand and sat down sideways, and quickly and simply explained the reason for this urgent meeting.

"The village that Gu Yun rented out went back and forth. The one outside is Manager Rong who is in charge of negotiating leases with the five villages. I asked you to come here to listen to him tell the story of the incident again."

Bai Kou was a little surprised at once, but she calmed down quickly, and didn't ask the villagers why they backtracked. She just asked the girl to bring her some writing paper, then took out the pen she carried with her and put it on the table, waiting to take notes.

Manager Rong also finished meeting with Gu Yun earlier, the palace chief invited Gu Yun to sit down, and after the maids served tea, Manager Rong purposely stood next to the screen so that the hostesses and guests on both sides of the screen could hear him clearly. if.

At the beginning, the land purchased by these shareholders was adjacent to five natural villages that had lived and multiplied for generations. In order to maintain land integrity and reduce future disputes, Bai Kou came up with the idea of ​​renting out the entire village and hiring villagers to incorporate the village's land into three villages. Under the leadership of a major shareholder.

Gong Changji and Shi Tianmin each recognized two slightly smaller villages, and gave the largest one to Gu Yun. Although the village is on the east bank of the river, it does not rely on water, but the village was named after its location, and it was called Hedong Village. .

Originally, Ning Peilan sent the experienced Manager Rong of the Ning family to negotiate lease and employment matters with the five villages. The land rent and labor wages were all at the same price. Although there were bargains during the negotiation process, they were successfully negotiated in the end. The former villagers took advantage of the middle of the night to open up wasteland and turned the wasteland into raw land in order to get more rent based on the standard of raw land.

The fact that the villagers secretly plowed the land had long been expected by the shareholders, and they didn’t take it seriously. The fish scale map of the village is in the house of the yamen. The size of the village and the amount of arable land are displayed there. The fish scale map is used as the standard It is the most uncontroversial, but the shareholders are willing to give the villagers a chance to increase their income, and pretend to be blind to their hasty land reclamation.

However, as a result of their frantic land reclamation, there may be insufficient labor force during spring plowing, and there is not enough manpower to tend the land. According to the reward and punishment clauses in the contract, if the crops are not planted well, the annual reward will be deducted. Getting land rent and wages, and watching others get richer rewards, is enough for the villagers who are so respectful and face-saving, to make them lose the mood of celebrating the New Year.

In view of the benefits of free water conservancy works, the five villages have signed a 50-year land lease contract, and the rent is paid on a quarterly basis. Manager Rong went out this time to pay the first rent of this year, but the matter was not completed. He rushed back in a hurry.

Hedong Village turned its back on its word, refused to recognize the signed contract, and insisted that there were traps in the clauses. In fact, the whole village had been cheated by dignitaries and turned into private property. Under such remarks, Manager Rong and his party were almost moved by the excited villagers. The beating was violent, but luckily the land adjacent to Hedong Village was Gu Yun's own land up to the river bank, and there were people sent by the Duke of Ye State to work there. After hearing the news, he hurriedly invited Gu Yun to come over to discuss the matter.

After listening to Manager Rong's story, Gu Yun felt baffled at first, and then deeply worried.

"I don't know the reason why the villagers in Hedong suddenly turned against each other. What if they encourage the villagers in those four villages to tear up the contract together? The villagers in those four villages have already received the money, so it's not easy for them to spit it out." Gu Yun didn't know if it was himself. Yan Ziyu was still seeking Gong Changji's opinion.

"It's easy to get the money. Just asking them to pay back the money can scare the villagers in those four villages from making noises, so that we can free up our hands to focus on solving the problems in Hedong Village." Gong Changji was relatively optimistic. .

Gu Yun nodded, agreeing with Gong Changji's opinion, then turned to look at Guanshi Rong, and asked him some details about what he saw in Hedong Village, such as the trouble, did the village chief and the prestigious elders in the village Followed by booing, and who took the lead in making trouble, etc.

Manager Rong happened suddenly in Hedong Village. When he was preparing to pay the rent in the yard of the village chief’s house, he realized that the atmosphere was not right, so he didn’t mention the payment. He only asked about the land and the preparations for spring plowing. When the excited villagers gathered around to ask for an explanation, they ran away desperately, and were finally rescued by the people of Lord Ye's mansion, and the group came back intact.

During the whole process, Manager Rong naturally remembered the few young people who spoke out and provoked trouble, but the village head and elders did not intend to persuade the fight to be a mediator, but just stood silently.

"Hmph, the elders don't say a word, they acquiesced to this farce." Gu Yun got angry and reached out to tap the screen, "Bai Kou, what do you want to ask?"

"I'll ask whose family those young people belong to. Can Guan Rong tell the story?"

"I know. I'm the one who negotiates in the five villages. I know all the common acquaintances who belong to that family."

"Okay, tell me carefully, and I'll take notes."

Manager Rong recalled the incident carefully again, and read out all the names of the people he remembered, who was the child of whose family, who was the relative of whose family, and Manager Rong told him everything he knew.

Bai Kou didn't speak any more, and buried himself in copying down the relationship between these characters, and then drew the position map of the characters on a piece of white paper. At the front, he has the loudest voice and is the most aggressive, but only his clothes and appearance, and his accent is the accent of the village. He can also call the names of the people around him, but Manager Rong doesn't know his name.

The girl turned the picture outside for the men to see, and then asked Manager Rong if he had any impression of this new face.

"Oh, I really don't remember it. I must have never seen it. Otherwise, I would never have forgotten such a young man who can make trouble. It’s too late.” Manager Rong shook his head angrily.

"But when you went to negotiate, it was the slack season. Maybe some villagers took the opportunity to go out to do odd jobs and they might not be in the village. Now that they come back to spring farming and hear about the new situation in the village, it is possible to encourage everyone to tear up the contract." Bai Kou spoke slowly. guessed.

"Bai Guanshi, the possibility you mentioned is absolutely impossible. The contract is signed by each family. Because it is a 50-year long contract, and at the same time, the villagers are hired as farm laborers, so all men, women and children in the family who have reached the age of 15 have signed. , without omission, I can say with certainty that the possibility you said earlier is not true."

"Oh, if that's the case, then I was indeed wrong. I don't know anything about the farm at all, and what I said just now is a bit taken for granted."

"The white manager is polite."

"That's the case." There was a soft sound of a chair behind the screen, and then Bai Kou came out, "My lord, we have to cut through the mess quickly, and we can't let the other four villages follow suit and sign the contract. If you say tear it up, tear it up, how can the villagers have such confidence that the dignitaries will not pursue it to the end?"

Gu Yun stood up abruptly, startling Gong Changji and Guanshi Rong.

"Are you saying that someone is behind this matter?"

"I didn't say that, I just said how can the villagers have the confidence to fight against the dignitaries? The dignitaries who rented five villages are either the sons of princesses, the princes of the clan, or the sons of the princes. The villagers If you still dare to violate the contract and renege on your promises, then if you speculate with common sense...?"

Before Bai Kou finished speaking, she just winked at the three men present.

Gu Yun and Gong Changji tightly pursed their mouths with unsightly faces, Guan Rong took two steps back without revealing anything, covered his mouth lightly and did not dare to say anything, he had understood Bai Kou's words in his heart.

If the villagers were really instigated by someone behind their backs, it is true that only noble people with noble backgrounds than the three major shareholders can make the villagers so confident and bold.

(End of this chapter)