Chapter 238: Affairs in the Black Mountain Estate (2)
Translator: Iris
These days Gu Tingye only came back at night twice. It seemed that the review job in the military camp gradually got busy. Lots of the military camps had freeloading problems and the inspection results of the arms depot weren’t very good. Every time he went back to the estate, he would ask Minglan if she had any difficulties. Minglan didn’t want to trouble him, so she only told him that everything was fine. Gu Tingye was exhausted every night since he had been on the run the whole day and night, so most of the time he would fall asleep right away.
The third day, after the inspection in the estate, the Cui Brothers and Meng handed in the brochures which recorded everything about the estate clearly. The actual area of the Black Mountain Estate was six hundred and ninety acres more than what had been recorded, and there were also a few tenants who hadn’t been registered. What was more, some zealous persons exposed that those stewards including Ba Laofu had all bought farmlands outside of the estate, but such land property of them were registered under their relatives’ names.
Ba Laofu and other stewards knelt in front of Minglan, not even daring to wipe away their sweats.
Minglan sat there while leafing through the brochure slowly and saying in a flat tone, “You used to be the servants of a guilty official. When your former master’s mansion was confiscated, the other servants like you were sold, but you guys were appointed straightly to the estate. Now that everything in your former master’s mansion was confiscated, I wonder how you managed to possess so much of your former master’s property. What a bunch of great servants!”
Her voice sounded calm but her words were quite frightening. All the stewards kept kowtowing and begging. Ba Laofu, whose forehead got purple and swollen, raised his head and said, “We were being so silly at that time. We know we did the wrong thing. Madam, please have mercy on us. We’ll sell those farmlands right away and give you the money we get...”
“Nonsense! You think Madam is coveting your few bucks?” Danju scolded him loudly.
The few stewards continued kowtowing. Minglan stared at them and then said in a softer tone, “All right. You all used to work in Duke Ling’s mansion for a long time. After all those years’ toils, it’s reasonable for you to have some savings.”
The looks on the stewards’ faces became eased after they heard Minglan’s gentle words. However, the next second Minglan continued in a strict tone right away, “However, you concealed the actual acreage of the farmland and kept many tenants to yourselves secretly, which means you do have violated the family rules. If I forgive you for this, what if everyone else imitates you? Our family would be in a mess then. This is tough...”
The landlords and stewards were all ill at ease, waiting for their punishments. After Minglan saw their faces turning green and pale, she thought it was enough. Then she said gently, “All right, I’ll deal with you guys after Master finishes his business.”
After saying that, she ordered two stewards who were in charge of the accounts in Gu’s Mansion and a few guards to guard those landlords and stewards. Then she left the Black Mountain Estate with all the account books and registers of names. That night, Minglan and Gu Tingye met each other in the Ancient Stone Estate. Seeing that Gu Tingye was in a good state, Minglan then told him about what had happened today.
“Should we give the extra farmlands to His Majesty?” Minglan asked with a serious look. After all, when she was a little girl, she always turned over the money she had picked up to the authorities.
The man who had just frowned couldn’t help but smile, saying, “Did His Majesty tell you the acreage when presenting you with the estate?”
Minglan shook her head.
“We have already found the servants who concealed the facts. We are not the ones that forcibly occupied the citizens’ farmland. Why are you being so afraid?”
Minglan found those words quite reasonable. Then she started to dry Gu Tingye’s wet hair with a towel. Gu Tingye was surprised at how calm she looked. Then he asked, “You are not angry after they have lied to you?”
“... I really am not very angry.” Minglan raised her head and pondered for a while, continuing, “Although they have embezzled some silvers and farmlands, they know how far to go. After all, they never treated the tenants so harshly.”
After these days’ inspection, Minglan found most of the tenants in the Black Mountain Estate actually lived very well. They didn’t need to sell their children, nor were they starved to death.
In brief, the impression Minglan had for those landlords and stewards in the Black Mountain Estate was: Not bold, but loving to commit petty crimes.
Since that was the case, the servants in the estate who hadn’t made huge mistakes were not sold but given to the meritorious officials.
Of course, Minglan didn’t have confidence in the efficiency of the servants in the ancient times at all.
Those servants in the mansion whose contracts were in the hands of their masters or madams could still have regular wages and even get extra rewards if they were favored by their owners. So their efficiency could be guaranteed more or less. However, it would be a very complicated problem if those servants managed a manor. The failure of the ‘big-pot’ distribution system proved one thing: humans were always driven by profits. The rewards and punishments were always necessary.
Those stewards who handled large sums of money could make the manor a prospering place through their hard work. However, the servants whose personal liberty was restricted couldn’t possess their own property. That was against the laws of economics and the human nature.
The most important thing was figuring out how much Ba Laofu and other stewards had embezzled. If the number was not that big, they could still be forgiven. After all, according to Minglan’s observation during these days, the Black Mountain Estate had been taken good care of. Besides...
Minglan sighed, “The people we can trust now are so few. Can you remember if there are any loyal servants in the masnsion of Marquis Ningyuan? Anyone reliable could actually...” She didn’t believe Old Madam Qin was capable of winning over everyone in Marquis Ningyuan’s mansion. There were still some servants whose families had served in the mansion for generations. After all, Gu Tingye could still be regarded as their master.
After Gu Tingye remained silent for a long while, he nodded slightly. Then he changed the subject, “The reputation of the Black Mountain Estate is not bad. If you see anything inappropriate there, you can decide how to deal with it and tell Hao Dacheng to do it for you after we get back to our own mansion.” He paused and then pointed to the ground, “This estate is different. Tomorrow I’ll leave you a group of soldiers.”’
Minglan stopped what she was doing and said smilingly with her head tilted, “It’s fine. I already have enough guards.”
She was pretty satisfied when the Tu Brothers held everyone in awe.
Gu Tingye raised his eyebrows and said nothing with a smile, thinking, ‘She has a clear head and great insight, but still lacks experience.’
He pulled Minglan over and pressed her onto the bed. While he gave a kiss on her little red lips, he felt her smooth and tender skin though her thin clothes, which left his heart throbbing a bit. Then he said in a raucous voice, “Have you recovered?” When saying this, he put his hands into her clothes.
Minglan felt her body becoming limp from the rubbing. She then said with her super red face, “... I, I... I still...”
However, the man’s large hand only became more and more aggressive. She got flustered and said in a hurry, “You, you, you... You have to change three horses a day. Tomorrow is also a busy day for you. We’d better not... do that. You should have a good rest.”
“Little stammer, why are you so panicky?” Gu Tingye couldn’t help but chuckle. Then he rolled over and lay on the bed. As he held Minglan in his arms, he asked with a smile, “I am just asking you. Do you get me wrong?” With a teasing look in his black eyes, he still pretended to be serious.
Minglan, “...’
--She really wanted to scratch him!