Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 15 Servants ([-])

"I'll save it later, thank you, Master Gao." Wen Desi just thanked him and didn't talk about anything else.

Gao Ju saw that they didn't want to say more about his ship, so it was inconvenient to ask.Only the servants guarding the house came to see: a middle-aged couple led a pair of thirteen or fourteen-year-old boys and girls, and they all came to kowtow to pay their respects.

"This Fang family, although they are not born in the family, are people who I saved from Jiangxi many years ago. They are all loyal and reliable people."

Hearing what the master said, the family kowtowed again and again.

"No, no." Gao Ju ordered, "These masters will be your masters from now on, and you must serve them wholeheartedly."

"Yes, the young ones know!" After saying that, the whole family came to kowtow to Wen Desi and his party, "The young ones have seen the master."

"This..." The three of them were startled and stood up.They are all modern people, and suddenly everyone in this big family kneels on the ground and kowtows to you, and no one will get used to it.

"This is their body deed." Master Gao took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve, "They are all sold out, and the distinguished guests can drive them as much as they want, so don't worry too much."

"This is the deed of this house." Master Gao took out another document, "It was originally said that it is inconvenient to buy the house on behalf of the distinguished guests. If you don't like this poor house, please stay here temporarily."

"This..." The three looked at each other.This businessman has a lot of hands!Although his intention of donating a house and servants to win over is very obvious, but the boldness of his actions shows his sincerity.

However, if you think about it carefully, this pie that fell from the sky has no connotation.

The house is his private house, and he knows all the details, if he wants to visit and monitor secretly, he will be in the dark, and the traveler will be in the open.

This family has been kept by him for many years. If they say they are loyal and reliable, it is for him, not for them, a group of unknown maritime merchants.If it is placed beside them to monitor, then every move, every word and deed of the traverser is completely under his control

This feeling is like living in a glass house and still naked.

In addition to winning over them, Mr. Gao tried to control them in the palm of his hand.As for why they did this, it was obvious that the goods they brought brought great profits to Mr. Gao.

Originally, I just wanted to buy a house as a foothold in Guangzhou, and then slowly expand after traveling.Now they got a house and servants for nothing, and the development of the matter was far beyond their expectations.

However, rejection is not the best policy.Xiao Zishan made some calculations, anyway, there will be no more cross-trade activities.As long as you act carefully every time, you will not reveal your secrets.After crossing, how to carry out the activities in the city of Guangzhou can be reckoned with.Right now, it's better to stabilize Master Gao and let him sell more goods for them.

They exchanged glances with each other.Wen Desi bowed his hands to thank him and accepted the deed.He took out another tael of silver and counted it as a reward for kowtow to recognize the Lord.

Master Gao was very happy to see that they had no objection.Instruct the servants to transport all their silver and goods to the new house.He also ordered people to send a lot of food and clothing, and he was very attentive.

Xiao Zishan discussed with Wen Desi and Wang Luobin in a low voice, and they felt that if they came, they would be safe.You might as well take a good inspection of this house first, see how to use it, and get to know the slaves by the way.He called the servant over for questioning.

The male servant looked quite old, Xiao Zishan reckoned that he must be over 50 at least.Seeing him coming to stand and serve, his hands were drooping, and his face was full of respect.Wen Zong and Wang Gong were both a little uneasy, but Xiao Zishan held his breath, took a sip of tea first, remained silent for a while, and then began to ask questions.

The male servant's real name is Liu Mingqing.He was originally from Jiangxi, and he farmed about ten acres of land. In the 45th year of Wanli's reign, due to the local flood, he lost his harvest and fled famine.When the whole family was lying on the side of the official road waiting to die, Mr. Gao happened to come back from Nanjing to sell goods, and took in more than a dozen victims of the disaster as slaves. He was lucky to be selected, and he has been a slave in Gao's family ever since.

After arriving at Gao's house, he adopted the main surname, so he became Gao Qing, and his wife's name was Gao Xian. The husband and wife both worked as odd jobs in the outer courtyard of Gao's house, and they only moved here to guard the outer house less than half a month ago.

As for his age, he was actually in his early forties.He didn't know how old he was exactly.Xiao Zishan knew that many farmers in the old days didn't know their exact age, so it's not surprising.

"It's better to guard the house here than to be a handyman in the mansion, right?"

Gao Qing smiled wryly and said: "If you go back to the master, there are few jobs here that are free and unfettered, but livelihood is difficult."

It turned out that he and his wife worked as servants in the mansion, although each person's monthly income was only two taels of silver, food was free, and they were all spent in the big family room in the public house.Since he came here to work as an errand, his monthly salary has increased to five yuan, but he has to start a business by himself. The daily necessities, rice, oil, salt, and vegetables are all his own expenses, and his children can't afford to eat.When the children of the thirteenth and fourteenth years can eat again, it is really difficult for the family to live on seven renminbi.

Wen Desi asked: "Why, the children have no wages, don't they also belong to Mr. Gao?"

"The children have never been on errands," Gao Qing shook his head repeatedly, "not on errands, the house does not send money and rice, and they all rely on their mothers to support them." He sighed again, "I wanted the girl to go to the inner house to work on errands. Anyway, I can still earn a regular amount of money, but the girl is not good-looking, so I have been unable to pick it up. I entrusted the housekeeper to the lady, and I have to ask for ten taels of silver. How can my family save so much money!"

This corruption really has a long history and is pervasive.The three people present all sighed with emotion.Even being a maid costs money.However, it is not surprising to think of the series of public relations activities carried out by the Liu family in order for Wu'er in "Dream of Red Mansions" to be able to work as an errand in Yihongyuan, a public institution in the Grand View Garden.

"Now you come to work with us, are you willing?" Xiao Zishan asked in a slow voice.

Gao Qing glanced uneasily at these sea merchants who were dressed in bad clothes, and replied: "The little ones are servants, there is no one who is willing or not. They are the men of the masters, but according to the masters at their beck and call."

Xiao Zishan nodded, ordered him to lead the way, and inspected the whole house first.The house is not big, and every entry has a pattern of one light and two darks. The first entry is the living room and study room, the second entry has a building, which is the living room, and the third entry is equipped with a kitchen, firewood room, mule and horse shed, and its own well. .Although the house is not new, it is very well built, all of which are built with green bricks and are very solid.Because it is used to avoid disasters in emergencies, the furniture and furnishings in the room are very simple, but the daily necessities are indeed very complete.There is also a lot of rice, bacon, dried fish, and firewood, rice, oil and salt sent from Gaozhai in the kitchen.Gao Qing handed over the gift book and asked the gentlemen to check it out. Wen Desi was not interested in these at first, but just wanted to say: "Give it all to your family." Before he could say anything, he saw Xiao Zishan holding the booklet and looking over it.

(End of this chapter)