221, Friends Gathering

221, Friends Gathering

Two days later, when his father came back from outside the city, Lu Mingfei suggested to his father that they go out and look for people who had worked as managers elsewhere, or had opened their own shops and knew how to do business, and hire a few of them to come back home to work.

"If it's appropriate, we can put these people in our workshop to manage things. If the store needs more staff, we can also arrange for them to be managers in the store."

"Right now, our family's business is only in Kyoto Prefecture. If the business grows in the future, we'll need to arrange for some people to go out to other places. We can't have you running around all the time, Dad."

Lu Mingfei knew that in those wealthy and powerful families, the servants were trained from generation to generation, and the servants were assigned positions based on their skills.

Moreover, the servants and skilled laborers trained by wealthy families would not be easily sold out. For wealthy families, servants were also part of their property.

Their family does not have such a foundation, so when they need to hire people, they can only go outside to hire them, or buy people and train them themselves.

However, these days, most people who have some skills, especially managers, will not sell themselves into slavery.

So if they need someone to take care of things, they can only hire someone from outside.

However, there is one disadvantage of hiring a manager, which is that these days one place is far away from another, and it is inconvenient to travel by car. If they fail to visit shops and move around often, they may encounter those greedy people who take away all their shops and money in other places, and they may not even know it.

This is also the reason why those big families like to keep slaves. Because the indentures of the people they buy are in their hands, if those slaves dare to commit corruption and betray their masters, it is not illegal for them to be beaten to death by their masters.

However, even so, there are still servants in wealthy families who dare to covet their masters' money.

Not to mention the people we hire, who are not greedy for money, are few and far between. Rather than gambling on the other party's character, it is better to use rules and laws to restrain them.

It is not illegal to beat a purchased slave to death, but it is illegal to beat a hired person to death.

Of course, as a well-educated person who understands the law, Lu Mingfei would definitely not beat people to death for no reason.

"Also, Dad, if you can spare some time in the future, you can stay home with Mom. Although Mom has never said it, I know she definitely wants you to be home, and she has someone to talk to." Lu Mingfei knew that as he grew older, the relationship between him and his mother was not as close as before.

In addition, he had been studying and taking the imperial examinations in recent years, and the adults in the family were afraid that it would distract him, so his father and mother did not tell him everything about the family. His mother would not tell him anything that was bothering her.

"Well, I'll discuss this matter with your godfather later." Lu Youtian knew in his heart that what his eldest son said was right. He himself had been traveling frequently in recent years and had no time to accompany his wife and children or take care of the affairs at home.

Later, the father and son talked about things in the workshop.

On this day, Lu Youtian asked someone to invite Lu Qingfeng, Xu Yueniang and their family of three to their home for dinner.

After dinner, they drank tea and talked about the current situation outside the city, and also talked about the new workshop and hiring people.

Lu Mingfei also participated in the conversation between the adults and helped to come up with some ideas. However, because he still had to study and prepare for exams, he couldn't help with the family business. Moreover, the adults at home didn't dare to let him go out of the city.

He himself knew that it was too dangerous to leave the city at this time, and that staying in the city to study was the safest option.

Otherwise, if something happens outside, it may affect the exam in February next year, which will not only affect my future, but also disappoint my family.

Although he never studied for anyone, since he had invested so much time and hard work, he also wanted to get some rewards from it.

The adults take care of the household chores, so he just needs to concentrate on studying at home.

***

In mid-to-late October, on the day when the Imperial College was on holiday, Zhang Lingxuan, Ye Zhuoran, and their senior brother all made an appointment to visit their home.

Since he stopped attending classes at the Imperial College, Lu Mingfei hasn't been back for a while and hasn't been with his friends much.

Lu Mingfei was naturally very happy that his friends came to visit him. He led a few friends to the main hall to drink tea and asked, "How are you doing at the Imperial College recently?"

"When you're not around, we always feel like something's missing." Ye Zhuoran moved his stool next to Lu Mingfei, leaned on Lu Mingfei's shoulder, and pretended to cry, "What will I do in the future without you?"

"Let go of my hand, or I'll hit you!" Lu Mingfei raised his iron sand palm to remind someone that his hitting would hurt a lot!

Sure enough, after seeing the slap, Ye Zhuoran instantly returned to normal.

Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming watched Ye Zhuoran showing off, both with a smile on their faces.

Then the four of them talked about things in the Imperial College and the imperial examination in February.

Ye Zhuoran could not participate in the next topic because he failed the provincial examination this time and he had to take the provincial examination again in three years.

Seeing Ye Zhuoran quiet for a while, Lu Mingfei looked at Ye Zhuoran and said, "Listen to what we say. You may need it next time."

"I'll ask you when I need it. Right now, my mind is full of the provincial examination three years later, and I can't remember what you said." It would be a lie to say that Ye Zhuoran was not sad about this provincial examination. The four of them and their teacher went to take part in this year's provincial examination together, and he was the only one who failed.

Ye Zhuoran didn't tell anyone, not even Zhang Lingxuan. He went home and cried twice behind closed doors.

But he knew in his heart that this year's provincial examination was over and everything was settled. He could only cheer himself up, get back on track, and prepare for the provincial examination three years later.

"Are you really planning to stick with us forever? What if after a few years, we are no longer together?" Lu Mingfei asked.

Ye Zhuoran glanced at Lu Mingfei and then at Zhang Lingxuan. He had known Zhang Lingxuan since he was born, and the two had been inseparable for so many years. Later, Lu Mingfei and their senior brother joined the group. He had never thought that there would be a day when they would be separated.

Seeing that Ye Zhuoran had obviously not thought about this problem, Lu Mingfei could only cruelly expose Ye Zhuoran's dependence on them, "If we become officials in the future, not everyone will stay in Kyoto Prefecture."

Who knew that after hearing what he said, Ye Zhuoran said, "Then, then I won't be an official anymore, I'll just follow you guys."

“…” Lu Mingfei was speechless for a moment.

Fu Boming obviously didn't expect that Ye Zhuoran would even give up his official position in order to follow them, and he didn't know how to react for a moment.

Only Zhang Lingxuan laughed after hearing Ye Zhuoran's words.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Is there anything wrong with what I said?" Young Master Ye, who said this, didn't think he had done anything wrong. He even discussed with a few good brothers in a very naive tone, "If you become high-ranking officials in the future, take me with you."

"Then I won't have to work so hard in the future. It seems like it would be nice to just follow you guys and be a mentor to help you with your plans." Ye Zhuoran touched his chin and imagined that he would be a mentor to his friends in the future. It seemed like a good idea, right?

Lu Mingfei knew this friend. He knew that Ye Zhuoran didn't really mean what he said. In fact, he also knew that with Ye Zhuoran's personality, it would be difficult for him to stand alone and be a local official.

He also knew that Ye Zhuoran and Zhang Lingxuan had been together since childhood, and Ye Zhuoran had this personality to a large extent because he was spoiled by his little brother Zhang Lingxuan.

Everyone dreams of becoming a high-ranking official, but no one considers whether they're suited to the role. This is why so many top-ranked scholars throughout history ultimately failed to achieve the same success in officialdom as those who ranked lower than them. Those who understand how to study and pass exams aren't necessarily suited to officialdom.

"No, there's nothing wrong with it. Your idea is very good. The path that suits you is the best path." Lu Mingfei said with a smile.

"After we finish this imperial examination, we'll see how we perform. If we all do well in this imperial examination and the palace examination, by this time next year we'll all be officials."

"The next provincial examination is only two years away, but less than three years away. Zhuoran, you must work hard in the next two years. I'll organize my study notes for the provincial examination and give them to you later."

"Ming Fei, you are so nice!" Ye Zhuoran hugged his friend's hand and shook it, leaned on his friend's shoulder, and rubbed his head against his friend.

Lu Mingfei pushed away the head that was resting on his shoulder, looked at Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming and said, "Let's finish the joint and palace examinations first. We can discuss the future later."

If they all pass the provincial and palace examinations this year, the court will grant them official positions, and then it will be a question whether they can stay in Kyoto Prefecture.

In fact, the separation of several of them will come soon.

They drank tea here for a while, thinking it was almost noon, Lu Mingfei asked a few friends: "It's almost noon, do you want to eat with me? Or should we eat outside?"

"Let's go eat outside?" Ye Zhuoran was a person who liked to be lively. He finally had a ten-day break, so he wanted to go out for a walk.

Seeing that both Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming said they would listen to their opinions.

It happened that Lu Mingfei had stayed at home for several days without going out, so he went back to the house to get a thicker coat, put on a hat and gloves, and went out with Zhang Qi, Ma Ge, and a few friends.