Chapter 475 A Family of纨绔 (Wán kù, a spoiled and dissolute family) Causes the Death of the Entire Court (28)
“In recent years, all seven shops in the Jin family have suffered losses, and business has been difficult. I plan to increase revenue and reduce expenditure in the inner quarters of the Jin family.”
Madam Jin sighed sadly. She didn't expect Jin Shu to understand much, but after all, she was her own daughter, and there were some things she could only say to her.
“Increasing revenue and reducing expenditure is a good approach, but in my opinion, given the current unpredictable weather, the best approach is to first stockpile food, then build granaries and train a team to guard them.”
Mrs. Jin sighed.
"Heaven is not letting people live. There are more and more refugees in He'an County. I'm afraid life will not be easy in the future."
"There will only be more refugees, and He'an County will be overcrowded sooner or later. At that time, no one will be able to survive."
Jin Shu's words made Madam Jin glance at her again.
"If we don't accept them, aren't they doomed?"
"It's not that we don't accept it, but that we accept it in an orderly way. Others may not know, but Dad should know best that recently, cases of burn victims being robbed have been occurring more and more frequently in the county."
In the past, such an incident might not have occurred even once a year in the entire county.
"When the number of refugees exceeds the population of He'an County, riots and chaos will erupt on the verge of breaking out."
Jin Shu issued the warning in a calm and composed tone. Madam Jin felt a tightness in her chest, as if a stone was pressing down on her heart, causing her a heavy discomfort and panic.
"Don't worry about this, your parents will handle it."
"Yes, it's always good to be prepared."
Madam Jin stared intently at Jin Shu for a moment.
"Mother should have sat down and had a good talk with you like this a long time ago. My A-Shu has grown up. All the things that happened before were Mother's fault."
"Mom will change from now on, Mom will never hold a grudge against you again."
Jin Shu didn't care about Madam Jin's attitude towards her, but if the mother and daughter could reconcile, it would be easier for her next plan.
“Mother, I’m idle at home all day. If you have any things you can’t handle, you can leave them to me.”
Knowing that Madam Jin was concerned about her eyes, Jin Shu quickly added.
“Although I can’t see, I can hear. It’s not a good idea to keep living like this in a daze. I want to help as much as I can.”
Mrs. Jin looked at her with a gratified expression and nodded slowly.
"Alright, the autumn banquet is approaching, and I do have a lot to do. Here's what I'll do: I'll have someone deliver this month's internal affairs ledger to your courtyard. If you want to learn, I'll come to your courtyard and teach you when I have some free time."
Don't force yourself. Do as much as you can, take your time, there's no rush.
For someone who is partially blind to handle such complex accounting matters would be an impossible task for anyone else.
But for Jin Shu, it was really not a difficult task.
It will definitely take some effort, but as long as we can achieve our goal, that's fine.
That evening, Madam Jin briefly explained the steps and methods of the liquidation to Jin Shu in Jin Shu's courtyard.
Madam Jin didn't expect Jin Shu to be able to organize the accounts for the month in a very organized way, but as long as she could have something to do and learn something, it would be good for her.
Moreover, if she marries and becomes the mistress of the house, she certainly cannot be completely ignorant of accounting matters.
After Madam Jin left, Jin Shu told Green Bamboo to drop what she was doing.
"Come here, can you read?"
Green Bamboo looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and then shook her head.
I only recognize a few.
“You only recognize a few? That’s okay. Come here and I’ll teach you a few symbols. Then you can use these symbols to sort out the accounts in the ledger.”
Green Bamboo was a little flattered and sat down nervously. Then she watched as Jin Shu spread out the Xuan paper in front of her and wrote down ten special symbols with her brush.
"One, two, three, four, five... Do you recognize them?"
"I recognize it."
"Income and expenditure records... Do you recognize these characters?"
"I only recognize a little bit... but I can learn."
Green Bamboo is a smart, timid, and cautious person who has suffered hardships. Now that she is by Jin Shu's side, she can finally enjoy happiness. Therefore, no one is more suitable to be Jin Shu's eyes than her now.
"Come on, let me teach you how to recognize the words on the ledger first."
"Miss... how did you know these words on the ledger?"
In the past, Green Bamboo would never have dared to ask, but now that she intends to study hard, she must ask seriously, otherwise the young lady might suspect that she is being lazy and shirking her duties.
"When my mother came today, she read all the words on it to me."
"Miss is really amazing."
This is not flattery, but genuine admiration.
Of all the people in the world, Green Bamboo admires his young mistress the most. She is intelligent, calm, decisive, and mysterious.
Of the entire Jin family, the young lady is the smartest.
Being personally instructed by the young lady, Green Bamboo was on edge, completely focused, afraid that she would be disliked by the young lady for being too stupid.
But to her surprise, Jin Shu's patience was far greater than Green Bamboo had imagined.
On the white Xuan paper, the black brushstrokes are vigorous and powerful. The simple characters look like the work of a master, containing a strong and elegant style, like a dragon coiled around a pillar.
Green Bamboo stared at Jin Shu for a long time. The look in her eyes was no longer just worship of humans, but even more devout than praying to gods and Buddhas.
As someone who has been partially blind since childhood, to be able to master calligraphy to such an extraordinary degree, even Green Bamboo knows how much effort and dedication it must have taken.
"Miss, your handwriting is so beautiful!"
"With consistent practice over time, you can do it too."
Jin Shu wasn't being modest; after all, she had lived for so many years and cultivated so many hobbies, one of the most effective for self-cultivation being calligraphy.
If she still doesn't look good after practicing for tens of thousands of years, then Jin Shu might as well kill herself by banging her head against a wall.
In this way, Jin Shu wrote down all the words involved in the account book and had Lü Zhu copy them.
After she had gotten to know them quite well, she wrote down the numbers one through ten directly on a piece of paper.
I can understand the green bamboo above.
But she had some trouble understanding these strange symbols below.
"What's this?"
"Replace the numbers one through ten, one is 1, two is 2... and so on."
This number is called 0, and it's used for counting.
Green Bamboo watched in amazement as Jin Shu simplified the complicated accounts into two simple formulas.
The entire page was eventually simplified to just three strings of symbols.
"What you need to do now is convert all the accounts for this month into the Arabic numerals I taught you, and then report them to me one by one."
“Miss, I have never heard of this counting method before. The accounts are truly clear at a glance.”
This method was designed to allow Green Bamboo to quickly review and simplify the accounts before reporting them to Golden Bamboo.
She didn't need to worry about so much; she just needed to list all the income and expenditure in the ledger, and the rest of the settlement was a piece of cake for Jin Shu.
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