Gui Yuxia looked at Da Niu like this, and explained again: "Brother Da Niu, you see, I have become the deputy director of the Engineering Department, so many craftsmen have come to congratulate, and those businessmen who do engineering have also come to congratulate, what is this for?" It's not because I have power in my hands. In the future, can that craftsman be promoted to a first-class craftsman? Which craftsman can be a steward? Any businessman can stop the project, I can speak, and even some things are my decision, do you say that this is not a big right? If I had been in Da Chu, I would have used my brain a little and collected some bribes, and there would be no problem in earning 1,000 taels a year. If you have a darker heart, there is no problem in earning three thousand taels. Then if every official is like this, don't you make the county lord's city like those cities in Dachu? The poor suffer, and the officials don't care about the lives of the people? ”

Da Niu hurriedly said, "Oh, you can't do such a thing? I said, how can these people be so kind to congratulate you, no, I have to return all these things to them. We can't do anything to be sorry for the county lord. The county lord is our great benefactor. Also, I used to hate those corrupt officials who expropriated and extorted money the most, and we ordinary people were all miserable by them. You can't be like that. ”

Gui Yuxia smiled and said, "I definitely won't be like that." The county lord gave us so much money just to prevent us from becoming like that. Also, if one day, some of us can't control themselves and become such a person, who is the county lord, who is the smartest person in the world, and he can't detect it? When the time comes, not to mention the loss of the errand, but also to lose the head. Who can't get along with themselves? ”

When Da Niu heard this, he hurriedly said: "So strict? No, I'm going to get all these things back. That's right. From now on, I will supervise you, and you must not become like that. We're living a quiet life now. ”

Gui Yuxia hurriedly said: "Don't worry. These people's gifts don't have to be returned in full. When the water is clear, there are no fish. Some people are also reasonable. For example, those vegetables, fish, meat and other things that our relatives took, we should not return them, and write them down, so that there will be things in the family in the future. Let's just go and give a similar gift. It's a courtesy. And the craftsmen. Some of them belong to my apprentices' families, and some belong to the families of my female workshop workers. If such a person is giving fish, snacks, etc. We also take it, write down whose family it is, and we will also go to the ceremony when there is a happy event in their family in the future. As for those who have ulterior motives, the gifts given are too expensive. We will find them out and give them back one by one. And tell them. If this happens next time, we will report it to the county lord, and when the time comes, it won't look good. ”

Da Niu listened. It makes sense to hurriedly say, "Okay, today, I'll let those slaves go and work in the fields by themselves." I'll take care of these things at home. Thankfully, I was on board for a few months. I was idle and had nothing to do, and I learned to read. Writing, or you really can't do it. Go to work. The county lord must have given you a lot of things to do. ”

Gui Yuxia said: "Now that our yamen has just been established, there are indeed many things, but at this time, there are still things I want to discuss with you." ”

Da Niu hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Gui Yuxia said: "Didn't you say a few days ago that you want to buy more Japanese slaves and buy some more land? He also said that there was a difference of several hundred taels of silver. This time, as soon as I heard that I could withdraw my money in advance, I went to withdraw some of them, and I took the opportunity to ask the county lord how our plan was. The county lord also praised you for being a person who can use your brains. She said, "You've seized the opportunity." Taking advantage of the fact that now, the population of our Qingchun City is not large, and there are still a lot of wastes to be rebuilt, you can reclaim more land, and in the future, don't keep some of the nearby places, sell them all, and you can earn several times the price. Leave a few thousand acres away, plant something, get a manor, and use it as a foundation. Don't think about making money by farming, you still have to do business. After listening to the county lord's words, I agree with your idea even more. Let's do what you say, and then go and buy land and buy Japanese slaves. Therefore I went and withdrew half a year's worth of six hundred taels of silver. However, you can't use all these 600 taels to buy land for you, buy Japanese slaves, and keep half a year's expenses. Because I have withdrawn half a year's salary, and I will not be able to receive it until half a year later. Except for these, the rest is for you, you go and do what you think. ”

Da Niu was very excited when he heard this, and said, "Thank you for supporting me so much." Originally, I was not very firm in my judgment of myself, but since the county lord said so, I must work hard and strive to reclaim more land, and after making money, I will build a manor of several thousand acres as the county lord said, and then, with the rest of the money, I have to find a business. You have become an official, I have to work hard, I can't let you compare. Actually, I can't use this amount of money. I'm going to use another thousand taels of silver. This thousand taels of silver can also buy a thousand acres of land, as well as Japanese slaves, seeds, tools, etc. In this way, I estimate that I can sell timber for seven or eight hundred taels of silver. This thousand acres of land, because there are many Japanese slaves, I think I should be able to work faster, maybe it will be all done in two months. At that time, we will not have to buy Japanese slaves, but we will directly use the money to buy another 1,500 acres of land, and when the timber on this 1,500 acres of land is cut down and reclaimed, it is estimated that we can sell it for more than 1,000 taels of silver, and at that time, we can pay back the 1,000 taels of silver owed to the bank. In this way, we will have 500 acres of land next to the city, and 3,500 acres of land a little farther away. Wouldn't we just reach the county lord's plan to build a 3,500-acre manor, and then, find an opportunity to sell the extra 500 acres of land that is close to the city, and then have the capital to do business? ”

When Gui Yuxia heard that it really made sense, she laughed and said, "Brother Niu, you have a good plan, so let's do it." By the way, I have given you all these silver papers, and I will take out ten taels of silver paper from our deposit and hand them over to the county lord's mansion. ”

Da Niu was surprised and asked, "What are these ten taels for?" It's always the county lord who sends us money, how can we pay the county lord back? ”

Gui Yuxia smiled happily and said, "This money is my redemption money." Am I not from the palace? At the beginning, the emperor gave me to the county lord, and I was the slave maid in the county lord's mansion. Thanks to the county lord, he promoted me to deputy director, this is an official of the imperial court, where can a slave be served? Naturally, they are going to redeem me. Actually, give me a ransom, where can ten taels of silver solve the problem? Even a hundred taels is not enough. However, where would the county lord really ask for my money, it was just a formality. Therefore, it was only a symbolic receipt of ten taels of silver. ”

Da Niu also followed happily and said: "Then, as soon as these ten taels of silver paper are handed over, you will be a free man?" No longer a slave? ”

Gui Yuxia pursed her mouth and said, "Brother Da Niu, thank you so much, you can still marry me knowing that I am a slave." You know, if I have always been a slave, our children and grandchildren will be slaves in the future. But you don't dislike me at all. Well, now that I am a civilian, our descendants will be civilians in the future. No, I am an official, and in the future our descendants will be the descendants of eunuchs. Therefore, we must work hard, you make more money, build a foundation, and I will work hard to repay the favor of the county lord. In this way, our future generations can have a better life and not have to suffer as much as we lived before. ”

Da Niu was also very happy when he heard it. Suddenly I felt full of energy, and I was about to say something, when I suddenly remembered something and said: "By the way, you are going to the Yamen, and I will also buy land and Japanese slaves, what should I do in this family, it seems that it is very urgent to hire someone to do housework." ”

Gui Yuxia said: "This, when I received the appointment to the official position, I thought of it. In the future, I'm afraid I'll be very busy, because the city is under construction, and there are so many things that one person has to use for ten people, and I may not have time to come back to eat, let alone take care of you. So, I thought about it, now that my family is not short of money, I should hire a few people to work for our family. I'm afraid one person can't finish it. You see, at that time, I'm afraid that there will be more than a dozen Japanese slaves alone, how can one person cook and wash, how can he finish it? Also, the hired person must know the roots, or we don't know that neither of us is at home, and we don't know that this person has moved our home. ”

Da Niu thought about it, so he asked: "Then who do you think is suitable?" ”

Gui Yuxia said: "I had a few candidates in mind yesterday. You know, the New Year will be in a few days, after the New Year, the county lord said, sixteen years onwards, the school will start classes, when the time comes, many old people in our city, do not have to take care of the children, naturally there are more people who are free, I am going to hire a few such people, to do housework for us, pulp washing, needlework and sewing are hired a few people. For this period of time, I want to let my father and mother and Jin Xia's mother-in-law work for us for a few days. All three of them are very close to our home. My father and mother are just across the wall from our house, and Jin Xia's house is at the back of our house, which is very close, and they are now busier than taking care of the children, so we simply let them bring the children to our house to take care of them, so that they can do housework for us and take care of the children at the same time. After the Chinese New Year, when the children have gone to school, how about we ask Jin Xia's mother-in-law and the old tits of a few relatives I am optimistic about to do the work for us? I'm going to pay them five hundred dollars a month. (To be continued)