Now in the eyes of Jin Ya Ren, Shen Qing is a kind-hearted and wealthy man who can bring him good luck! Not to mention how much he earned from selling the house and the hilltop from Shen Qing, those were just small changes. Shan Shenqing will build the farm in Dongshan and the road leading to Lantang Village, and he will get a lot of money from it. This is the big profit!
More importantly, when buying Dongshan, a generous gift was given to Shuban Yang. Although the gift was given by Shen Qing, Shen Qing himself had never met Shuban Yang. Everything was handled by the Gold Tooth man. Shuban Yang could not help but attribute this favor to the Gold Tooth man. When the government office opened its seal the following year, he gave the Gold Tooth man a huge benefit, and he also had many advantages in his daily life.
This is all thanks to Shen Qing. On the one hand, the Golden Tooth Man is sincerely grateful to Shen Qing, and on the other hand, he also wants to have a closer relationship with this God of Wealth. If he could act as a middleman and tie Shen Qing, Yang Shuban, and even the chief clerk to the same group, wouldn't he have both wealth and power? And he, a small errand boy, would also be able to gain many benefits.
People are driven by profit. Having tasted the sweetness, the Gold Tooth Man specially left a "generous gift" for Shen Qing.
"You have been in our Anping County for some time. I heard that you are not accompanied by a wife or family, but only the few children I bought last time to serve you. Many families have been interested in your marriage, but you don't care. How can this be possible? It's also because I haven't been thoughtful enough. Now I happen to have found two top-notch ones. You can bring them back to your house as a gift to you!" He led Shen Qing to the backyard with joy, and soon the servants surrounded two governesses and pushed a boy and a girl into the room.
Shen Qing's smile, which was full of anticipation for a great gift, froze little by little.
The man with the golden teeth was still unaware, and still said proudly: "It is thanks to you that Yang Shuban looked up to me, and this good deal fell into my hands!" He lowered his voice and approached Shen Qing and said: "Last autumn, the prefect of the city committed a serious crime, and his entire house was confiscated, including more than 200 family members and servants. The prefectural music bureau could not accept so many, and some of them flowed to the lower counties after the New Year. Thanks to you and Yang Shuban, it fell into my hands."
This was specially arranged by Secretary Yang. Otherwise, how could he, a private broker from the common people, get such a lucrative job even if he occasionally had dealings with the government? "I think this pair of siblings are indeed good-looking, and most importantly, they are clean people. I also remembered that there is no one to serve you attentively, so I specially intercepted them and kept them to honor you."
If we consider the current context, the Gold Tooth Man's action is the most grateful act. This brother and sister were originally illegitimate sons and daughters of a Tongpan family. Not only were they handsome, but the most important thing was that they had an extraordinary demeanor as they came from a prominent family. Fourteen or fifteen years old is the age when one can arrange marriages and understand the ways of the world. With a little training, whether she is sent to a brothel or sold to a rich man as a concubine, she will be a cash cow, and I'm afraid she will cost three to five hundred silver coins.
It’s not that the Gold Tooth Man doesn’t have more beautiful maids, but who knows if any of them have been taken in by the male master? None of them are as clean, noble and respectable as these two young masters and young ladies.
How much did Shen Qing spend to buy the house in the city? The total amount that the Gold Tooth Man earned from him, including the extra money he embezzled, was less than a thousand taels. But it was because of Shen Qing that he gained face in front of Shuban Yang and got this lucrative job. In addition to the brother and sister, he also recruited many first- and second-class maids from the Tongpan Mansion, as well as many male servants.
As the saying goes, it is better to marry a maid from a wealthy family than a girl from a poor family. These first-class maids are no worse than the beautiful girls from small families. They have to be top-notch in appearance to be able to serve their masters closely. After years of influence, their demeanor is first-class and incomparable to ordinary people. It is still a good profit to resell them!
He first prepared this generous gift for Yang Shuban and the Lord of the Chief Clerk. However, the Lord of the Chief Clerk was old and Yang Shuban had a fierce wife, so they were both unable to enjoy such a good fortune, so he just sealed it with a thick bag of silver and sent it to them. Mr. Shen was not short of money, so the man with the golden tooth took the initiative and very considerately left him a pair of beauties.
Shen Qing: …………
He was really speechless in his heart. Although he knew rationally that with the background and vision of the Golden Tooth Man, he was simply trying to please him with no other intentions, but when the same thing happened to him, Shen Qing just felt uncomfortable and awkward!
He was about to decline, but then he remembered something: "…They are the families of criminal officials. If I don't accept them, where will they be sent?"
The man with gold teeth was stunned. With such a beautiful woman, who was given to him for free without paying a penny, he wouldn't accept her? Are you still a man? He was surprised in his heart, but he still replied: "They were sent to our Anping County and were originally going to be put into a brothel. But if a noble person takes a fancy to them, it is okay to redeem them in advance."
Anping County is neither big nor small. There is only one official brothel, which is officially run. The rest are a few alleys where secret prostitution businesses are run, and there are brothels near the docks. These private ones are not large in scale and cannot be compared with the official brothels. The family members of the criminal officials were originally to be sent here to be official prostitutes, but Yang Shuban wanted to make some money, so he used some tricks to send them to the Jin Ya people in advance, and the two sides cooperated with each other. The gold-toothed man would sell it if he could, and those that couldn't be sold would be sent back to the brothel.
Hearing the word "brothel", the boy and girl standing in the middle of the room couldn't help but tremble.
Shen Qing pondered for a long time. Rationally speaking, he didn't want to accept the brother and sister at all. Firstly, Shen Qing was concerned about their status as the families of imprisoned officials. Secondly, these were two young masters and young ladies, who were delicate and frail, unable to lift anything, let alone work. They might even get into trouble, and people would have to clean up the mess for them.
Shen Qing just wanted to buy people, and he planned to buy those who, like him, came from poor backgrounds but were good at work.
But if he doesn't accept it, both of them will be sent to a brothel.
Shen Qing sighed. If he had never known about this, then no matter how many prostitutes and male prostitutes there were in the brothel, it would have nothing to do with him. But now that the person is in front of him, the decision is in his hands, and Shen Qing can't do anything to push that person into the fire pit.
Finally, he carefully looked at the two people standing in the middle of the room: they were indeed good-looking, but the key was their demeanor, which was different from the children who grew up in the village! He walked around the group for a while before asking, "What do you know? Since you are children of officials, can you read?"
Xie Miyun held her sister's hand, then looked up at Shen Qing. He had very complicated feelings, he was originally the young master of the Tongpan family, even though he was a bastard who was not much valued and favored, he had never been wronged at home and was raised with great respect until he grew up.
However, his family fell into poverty overnight, and following the man in front of him was the best destination for him and his sister - it was a thousand times better than being sent to a brothel or a music school!
He knew that the broker had kept them here just to please the young man in front of him. In fact, he should have been very proactive in trying to please the young man in front of him and begged him to keep him so as not to end up in that dirty place, but when the words came to his lips, Xie Miyun just couldn't say them or do them.
He glanced secretly at Shen Qing again. In fact, this man has a good appearance and demeanor, he is very tall and handsome. When he was imprisoned in the capital, he had seen those rich people who came to buy people. He was much luckier than his brothers and sisters...
Xie Miyun pursed her lips, lowered her head and said nothing. Xie Shijun beside her was shaking like a sieve. When she saw Shen Qing coming over, she shrank half of her body behind Xie Miyun.
The nanny under the Golden Tooth man behind him was already somewhat dissatisfied, and she stretched out her voice in a stern tone: "When the noble asks questions, the young man and the young lady should answer them. Why are you so rude? In this situation, do you still think of yourself as a daughter?"
Xie Miyun closed his eyes. The pressure of survival and dignity struggled back and forth in his heart. After a long time, he whispered, "I can read."
Shen Qing nodded, walked around the room again, picked up a book from the bookshelf, opened it and handed it to Jie Miyun: "Read it."
Xie Miyun took the book. He loved reading when he was at home. Although his brother could not take the imperial examination, his father thought that it was an elegant thing for his brothers and sisters to be able to read and write and have some talent, so he even invited a female teacher to come to the house to teach them. However, he had not touched a book since his house was searched. Holding it in his hands now, he felt as if he were in another world.
He calmed down, then looked at the book in his hand and read: "Anyone asked Wu Luzi: Which is more important, etiquette or food? He answered: etiquette. He asked: Which is more important, sex or etiquette? He answered: etiquette. He asked: If you eat according to etiquette, you will starve to death; if you don’t eat according to etiquette, you will get food. Is it necessary to eat according to etiquette?..."①
As he read on, his voice became more and more hoarse, and he felt that every word in the book was a question to him.
What does this person mean? He looked at Shen Qing with tears in his eyes. Was he pointing at him?
However, Shen Qing actually didn't understand at all.
He had only learned third-grade Chinese and had not yet read the Four Books and Five Classics, so he did not understand such profound content. But seeing that Jie Miyun looked calm and his sentences were fluent when he was reading, he naturally knew that he really could read and was not pretending, so he took the book away and handed it to Jie Shiyun.
Xie Shiyun was raised in the inner house since she was a child and had never seen a man outside. Now she was being stared at by so many people like a toy. She was so ashamed that she was about to cry, but she still recited a few sentences in a trembling voice with tears.
At least it's of some use. Shen Qing nodded: "Then stay."
Talent is extremely valuable, and he was worried that there were not enough literate people under his command, and that too few people could be used. Although these two siblings looked very troublesome, Shen Qing felt that they could keep them for the time being just based on the fact that they could recognize words and read such profound books. He planned to set up a school in Lantang Village, following the example of Shiqu Village. What was different was that not only men could study in his school, but women and boys could also learn to read and do accounting.
Although they could not take the imperial examinations, being literate could still give boys and girls more choices and a better life.
We can keep these two siblings for now. If they are well behaved and don't cause any trouble, we can send them to the village to be respected female or male tutors in the future. Wouldn't that be much better than ending up in a brothel?
Anyway, it was given to me for free by the Gold Tooth Man, so I don’t want to pay a penny!
After taking care of the affairs of the brother and sister, Shen Qing went to the Gold Tooth Man and bought some servants. The Gold Tooth Man called all the people he had under his command. This time the scale was much larger than last time, and the entire yard was filled with people. Some of them were very excited to see Jie Miyun and his sister. They must have been servants in Jie Miyun's house.
Shen Qing picked two maids who knew some simple words and had some experience in housekeeping, as he was in need of such management talents; the remaining eight people were four tall men and four young boys who looked to have grown up.
The two maids came from the Tongpan Mansion and their prices were not low. Shen Qing gave the money generously and asked the man with the gold tooth to help him find a few shops and set a time to open the starch sausage shop.
"Sir, are you going to do other business, or buy the shop and rent it out?" Hearing that Shen Qing was going to buy a shop, the Gold Tooth asked, "If you just rent it out, it won't be considered a business, and it doesn't have to be under your aunt's name."
He had never seen a man as wealthy as Shen Qing. Since he came to Anping County, he had placed thousands of taels of property under the name of an aunt. He felt really relieved!
Shen Qing shook his head and said, "No, I'm going to open a shop. I saw that the two shops I rented out opened a Cuihua shop, which is quite interesting. I plan to open one too. Women like this kind of thing. I'll open one for my aunt to play with. But the goods I have are much better than those in that shop. Please take the trouble to help me choose a shop in a good location."
"Cuihua Shop?" The man with gold teeth paused. The newly opened shop in front of Shen Qing's door had some background behind it. On the surface, it was doing Cuihua business, but there were some other private transactions behind the scenes. They had just opened their shop not long ago, and Shen Qing also wanted to do the same business. Anping County was so small, it seemed like he was stealing their business.
However, when Shen Qing took out the gifts for Lord Zhubu and Yang Shuban, the concerns of the people of Jin Ya were completely dispelled! There is some background behind that shop, but the chief clerk and Yang Shuban are no pushovers and are not afraid at all! The man with the gold tooth carefully stroked the crystal clear glass cup, he was so happy that his teeth were showing but his eyes were not, he felt that it was right to show filial piety to Shen Qing!
Even the Xie siblings standing nearby looked at Shen Qing twice. They both came from wealthy families and had seen a lot of good things. Liuli's family had some good things before, but they had never seen anything so clean and bright. They had a deeper understanding of Shen Qing's financial resources.
"Sir, since you have given me such a generous gift, would you like to personally visit the Lord Chief Clerk? I will introduce you to him!"
Shen Qing thought about it and finally refused. It's okay for him to pretend among the common people, but how experienced are those in officialdom? After meeting Hou Weimin, Shen Qing dared not to be arrogant. It would be more troublesome if he revealed his true identity. Then he waved his hand and said, "These things are nothing. You can deliver them to the master for me. I will find better things in a few days and visit the master." Shen Qing looked at the man with gold teeth and said, "Brother Jin, we have dealt with each other so many times that I trust you. I just came here and my foundation is not deep. As long as the master of the bookkeeping and the clerk pay a little attention to my shop, I will be satisfied."
Thinking of this, Shen Qing grabbed a bracelet that he couldn't recognize but didn't think was expensive, and casually stuffed it into the gold-toothed man's hand: "It's not worth much, just take it and play with it."
After all, he had just been given two beauties, so he had to show some appreciation...
Isn’t such a treasure worthless? ! The man with the gold tooth looked at the chalcedony bracelet in his palm with shaking hands. What was rare was that each bead was round and of the same size. I wonder what kind of skilled craftsman could have polished it!
How rich is this Mr. Shen? The man with the golden teeth put the bracelet in his arms, and he was even more in awe of Shen Qing, and he was more determined to cling to the thigh of this Mr. Shen.
Later, Shen Qing brought the person back to the house. His house was very big, with plenty of empty rooms. Even if most of them were filled with small commodities, they could still accommodate these people if they squeezed together.
Shen Qing did not intend to allow newcomers, including the Xie brothers and sisters, to enter the backyard, and they only lived in the second courtyard. Since the two maids came from Tongpan Mansion, Shen Qing continued to let them take care of Jie Miyun and his sister.
The remaining boys were brought up by Li Shuming and Liu Shuliang and lived in the back house in the front yard, while the girls and boys lived in the second yard. The room in the third courtyard was full of things, and only Peony and Begonia were left there to watch over it.
Xie Miyun was still thinking about the sentence "Must I do it with courtesy?" When he heard Shen Qing's arrangement, his body trembled slightly.
Shen Qing subconsciously assigned their original servants to take care of them just because they were once young masters and young ladies and were afraid that they did not have the ability to survive independently. However, he did not realize that Jie Miyun and his sister had now become his slaves. As slaves, how could they deserve to be taken care of by others?
Shen Qing's behavior seemed to confirm their identities as concubines and maids.
Even the indigenous people like Mudan were secretly looking at the Jie Miyun siblings with full curiosity.
"You guys stay here first, don't run around unless necessary, and don't snoop into locked rooms. The storefront in front will open in a few days, and I will assign some people to work there. Those who do a good job will be rewarded." Shen Qing gave a few instructions to the newcomers, and asked Mudan and the others to help watch over and lead these people. However, Mudan and others are young, and Shen Qing is afraid that they cannot control these newcomers. He plans to make more trips to the county town recently, or simply stay in the county for a few days, while arranging the opening of the starch sausage shop and observing the personalities of these newcomers.
But forget about it today. This is the first time that the starch sausage is delivered to the county town, and many people in the village are still waiting for news. Shen Qing looked at the sky. If it was any later, he would have to drive back to the village in the dark, which would be dangerous. "I'll go back first and come back tomorrow."
Seeing that Shen Qing was not staying here, the Xie brothers and sisters breathed a sigh of relief. Who would have thought that the next sentence, Shen Qing told Mudan: "Please clean up a room for me. I want to stay here for a few days in two days."
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