The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 33
Yangzhou is very close to Nanjing. Jia Lian and others rode fast horses and set off in the morning, but arrived at Jinling City in the afternoon.

Walking along the spacious and quiet avenue of Stone City, it took less than half a stick of incense to arrive at Ning Rong's old house.

"Who dares to trespass on this place!"

The sound of galloping horseshoes by Jia Lian and others woke up the two drowsy gates of the Rongguo Mansion's old house. When they looked up and saw someone coming, they immediately scolded.

"Jia Lian!"

Jia Lian reined in the horse's reins, and after the hooves of the horse hit the ground, Fang calmly uttered two words.

"Lian...Second Master Lian...!" The two disciples saw the person coming, and they all trembled, and hurriedly greeted him.

"Don't open the door yet."

"Yes Yes Yes……"

……

"Uncle Jin, Uncle Jin~!"

Jin Cai was still sleeping in the manager's room, when she was woken up by the boys outside, she was very upset, so she cursed a few words.

The two servants directly pushed the door open and rushed towards him: "Oh, my Grandpa Jin, why are you still sleeping, Second Master Lian is here!"

"Who? Which Second Lord Lian?"

For a moment, Jin Cai thought she had heard wrong.

"How can there be a second Master Lian, that is, Second Master Lian, an old man who came down from the middle of the capital and just arrived, and now he has gone straight to the accountant with his people!"

Hearing this, Jin Cai almost fell off the bed, hurriedly put on his shoes, didn't care to put on his clothes, and ran outside with the two servants who were pulling him.

When I came to the outside of the account room, I saw that it was quiet here, and more than a dozen servants who were often on duty in the outer courtyard all gathered in the small courtyard here, and each of them secretly looked in.

Only then did Jin Cai slow down, tidy up her clothes, and then walked carefully to the hall.

Sure enough, after the big case, who else sat upright and flipped through the books, but Second Master Lian?

Jin Cai couldn't help panicking, she didn't know what happened, and the second master Lian came all the way to check the accounts?They actually didn't hear any news in advance!

Seeing that Jia Lian also noticed him, and looked over, Jin Cai quickly bowed and stepped forward: "I have seen the second master..."

"It's Butler Jin, long time no see."

Although Jia Lian was very polite to him, it made Jin Cai even more uneasy, and she didn't dare to do other actions, just hooked her body like that, waiting for Jia Lian's next instruction.

"Is this the general ledger for this year?" Jia Lian put down the account book he had roughly flipped through in his hand, picked up the new one next to him, and asked the old accountant standing beside him.

The old accountant was obviously also frightened by Jia Lian's surprise attack. He couldn't help wiping the cold sweat off his brow, nodded and said, "Back to Second Lord, this is exactly the account book for this year..."

Jia Lian also flipped through it casually, and finally asked: "According to the accounts reported by you, there should be more than 2 taels of cash left on your side. Why is the amount in this account much less now?"

Jin Cai hurriedly said: "Back to the second master, there are a few things that happened later that were not reported, such as the festival gifts sent to various households during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the birthday gifts prepared by the old lady of the Zhen family for her [-]th birthday, and the governor Master Zhang's family gave birth to a son, and prepared congratulatory gifts...these are recorded in the account book at the back, and the second master can check it."

Jia Lian nodded. He didn't come here to help Jia Zheng check the accounts. If he was right, he didn't want to care about it. He just remembered their reaction when he came here just now, so he laughed again: "That is to say, this The amount recorded on the account is correct, now there is enough cash in the treasury?"

"This..." Jin Cai's expression immediately became awkward.

If it was normal, he would have gone along with it, and would not have revealed any abnormality.But today the master's family suddenly attacked, and he still can't figure it out. What if something goes wrong and angers the master's family, wouldn't he put all his old faces in his life into it?
Sure enough, Jia Lian knew there was something wrong when he saw his appearance, and immediately said coldly: "Move out all the money in the treasury, and let me count it on the spot."

Jin Cai immediately knelt down in fright, "The slaves are guilty, please spare your life, Second Master Lian!"

Seeing Jin Cai like this, the other people in the hall either looked a little pale, or had expressions of gloating.

Jia Lian looked at the clean Jincai on Tong's body, and asked with a smile: "I just want to count the silver in the treasury, and I don't want to kill you. Why did I scare you like this? Could it be that the silver in the treasury is all Was it corrupted by your steward Jin?"

Jincai carved a few heads, "How dare a slave, it's... not to lie to the second master. Most of the silver in the warehouse today has been lent out by the masters in each room. In the warehouse today, there are only a few coins in total. Thousands of silver..."

As Jin Cai spoke, she explained the matter in "details".

It turned out that there were [-] households in the Jia family, but there are still [-] family members staying in Nanjing, but they are all branch concubines, basically without any foundation and family background. Not as good!

This kind of people, not to mention the [-]th house in Nanjing, even the other [-] houses in the capital with the Ningrong Second Mansion, are not in the minority.

Since life can't go on, we have to seek relief from the two governments.

In the past, the housekeeper reported to Jingzhong, who only dared to borrow if they agreed. Later, they started to ask for this, and they also wanted to ask for that. The heads of the Ningrong and Rongfu families cut off their thoughts.Except for some money and food to be prepared for those who are really weak during the New Year's Day, no other loans are allowed.

But the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and there are no serious masters in the two mansions staying in Nanjing, and there are silver in the warehouse, and there is always a way to get some out of collusion...

Of course, in Jin Cai's mouth, it was because they saw that the "masters" were really down and out, and couldn't stand the begging, so they agreed to lend them out.

Jia Lian looked at Jincai and joked, "Oh, they just borrowed it. If you are slaves, you can borrow some if you don't have it, and get a profit or something?"

"Well, there are some..."

Cash has extra value, and people of this era understand that.

Guarding so much money, it's no wonder they don't move their minds.Jia Lian even saw through at a glance that these slaves were probably the masterminds of this matter, and the reason why they pulled those people in the twelfth room was just because they were afraid that something would happen in the future, and the master would deal with them!

After all, although those people in the twelfth house are shabby, they are of the same family in the two prefectures. For the sake of the same family, they should show some sympathy.

Jia Lian then said: "Since that's what you said, show me the list of IOUs and so on. You can't. You have lent us all the money. We don't know who are the debtors, do we?"

Hearing that Jia Lian might get angry at any time, although Jin Cai was worried, she immediately asked someone to go to the manager's room to get the list.

Jia Lian took a look in his hand, then looked at Jincai, and asked curiously: "Oh, is the housekeeper Jin's family also short of money? What do you want to borrow the 200 taels of silver for?"

Jin Cai smiled mischievously: "The servant will return the money tomorrow..."

"Today."

"Yes, the slave will go home later and make up all the money owed..."

Seeing that Jin Cai was so knowledgeable, Jia Lian didn't plan to make trouble for him anymore. After all, he was Jin Yuanyang's father, so he was somewhat respectable.

After accepting the list, Jia Lian looked at the slaves around him: "Before the second watch tonight, I will make up all the money you borrowed from the treasury, and one or two taels of silver are missing... Butler Jin, tell me about the theft. What should I do if I embezzle the owner's property and send it to Yingtian Mansion according to the law?"

Cold sweat broke out on Jin Cai's head, but he still didn't dare not answer: "If it's light...you'll break your hand, if it's serious, you'll die with a stick..."

How strict the law is to slaves, if they are less than a few taels of silver, they should be shot with the rod!
Of course, if such a situation happened to ordinary wealthy families, they would not really report to the officials to deal with it. It would be embarrassing. They are fully capable of dealing with their own slaves!
There were a few people around who were also on the list. Hearing this, they immediately knelt down and said that they would definitely return the money today.

"As for the money borrowed outside..."

Jia Lian looked around and said to Jin Cai and the other managers: "Since the money was borrowed from you, it is up to you to get it back.

I give you three days, if you can't get it back, you guys come to make up, do you think it is reasonable or not? "

Several stewards who came over after hearing the news suddenly turned pale. How could they get it back in three days...

But Jin Cai immediately said: "Second Master, don't worry, within three days, the slaves will definitely get back all the money owed."

Jia Lian just smiled, "Apart from cash, do you also decide to move out and sell off those old things left by our ancestors?"

When Jin Cai heard this, she was even more startled, and quickly kowtowed: "Slaves, how dare you do such unlawful things, the second master can go in and have a look, but if there is one thing missing, the slave's life is up to the second master take it!"

Jia Lian nodded and said nothing more.

In fact, from the moment he entered the mansion, he noticed that the pavilions, pavilions, flowers, plants, trees, etc. in this mansion were well taken care of, and he thought that Jin Cai and the others took great care of the house.

It's true, although it's far away, Jingzhong will send managers down to check every year, so I don't worry about them turning the sky here.

As for borrowing money privately...

This mistake is neither big nor small.However, he is not the head of the Rongguo Mansion after all.

He's not like Wang Xifeng, who is so heartless, he helps others and housekeepers, and he helps to offend all the members of the big family.

Therefore, as long as he can establish his prestige, it is enough for him to go to war for these things now.

"I'm going to stay here for a few days. Help me pack a house in the front yard."

Seeing Jia Lian's calm demeanor, Jin Cai finally breathed a sigh of relief, and suggested that Jia Lian live in the main hall.

Jia Lian didn't accept it, and asked the extra people to go down, wrote a list to Jin Cai, and ordered: "You prepare another copy for each of me according to the specifications of the Mid-Autumn Festival ceremony. Starting tomorrow, I will visit the above in person. Several."

Jin Cai saw only a few houses, nodded, but said: "Although there are only a few houses, but in one night, I am afraid that the preparations are not complete, and many things have to be bought outside."

Jia Lian said: "Then it's okay to lower it a little bit. You just try your best to prepare, and I'll see you later."

Jin Cai agreed, and went down to arrange everything.

Seeing that it was still early in the day, Jia Lian recruited Zhao Sheng, Wang Teng and others, and said, "Go to the Yamen of Yingtianfu and ask if there is a young monk from Suzhou among the yamen servants and doormen."

The two of Zhao Sheng were amazed, and said with a smile: "Second Master is confused, how can there be a young monk in the yamen, if you want to find a young monk, you have to go to the temple."

Jia Lian glanced at them, making them shut up, and then said: "He sent it again. You just inquire secretly, and if you find someone, bring him to me."

Jia Lian only vaguely remembered that there was a well-informed young monk in Shuntian Mansion who seemed to know Xiangling's whereabouts.

I just don't know at this point in time, whether Xiangling and the kidnapper have arrived in Jinling, and whether they have run into the little monk.

We can only wait until we find someone.

Note: In order to facilitate everyone's understanding, let's talk about the concept of time in this book.

One breath ≈ two to three seconds;

A cup of tea ≈ 10 minutes;

A meal time ≈ 10 minutes;
One stick of incense ≈ three 10 minutes.

One quarter is 15 minutes, four quarters is half an hour, and eight quarters is one hour.

There is no need to be serious, there are different opinions, but they are not allowed in this book.

(End of this chapter)