Chapter 476 A Family of纨绔 (Wán kù, a spoiled and dissolute family) Causes the Death of the Entire Court (29)
With Green Bamboo's help, Jin Shu was able to quickly find out the details of the accounts.
As the largest family in He'an County, the Jin family had a lot of complicated internal affairs and accounts. This was mainly because the family was large and many people relied on the Jin family for their livelihood. Every month, more than a dozen ledgers were handed in from outside that needed to be listed and sorted out.
If it were just the expenses of the Jin family of four, there would be no need for any account books.
By evening, Jin Shu had finished reviewing all seventeen internal affairs ledgers for the month.
What remains is the most complex calculation.
Green Bamboo thought that Jin Shu would need a long time to think, but to her surprise, Jin Shu told her to pick up a brush and dip it in red ink as soon as she finished tidying up.
“Circle all the details I mentioned and then hand them to the lady.”
Green Bamboo obediently did as Jin Shu instructed, and then delivered the account book to Madam Jin before nightfall.
"Have you finished watching it?"
Mrs. Jin looked at the thick stack of account books in front of her, somewhat incredulous.
Green Bamboo nodded.
“I’ve read them all. Miss said that from now on, she can handle these kinds of things, so Madam doesn’t need to worry about them.”
Madam Jin smiled helplessly, waved her hand to dismiss Green Bamboo, and then dealt with the shop's trivial matters for a while before having dinner. Just before going to bed, she saw the account book beside her and thought that since she was idle anyway, she might as well take a look. As soon as she opened it, Madam Jin, who had been leaning against the bed, immediately sat up, and her expression gradually became serious.
She turned the pages faster and faster, and when the magistrate walked in, he thought she was throwing a tantrum again.
"You've practically turned those ledgers upside down, and you're still going to look at them?"
"These are the accounts your daughter made, take a look."
Madam Jin tossed a book over, and the magistrate opened it while muttering to himself.
"My daughter? Which of my daughters is capable of doing the books? Didn't Chu Yao do all these books before?"
Wow, this ledger is beautifully done! So neat and tidy, it really doesn't look like something Chu Yao could do.
Who did it?
“Ah Shu”.
"Ah Shu? What are you talking about? How could she possibly keep an account book?"
Mrs. Jin frowned and shook her head, her expression complex, her heart filled with mixed feelings.
"Whether it was A-Shu who did it or not is no longer important. What's important now is that the old accounts in our manor have serious problems."
The county magistrate never cared about these things, so he never saw what the previous account books looked like.
"If the problem is big, then let's solve it. It's not a big deal."
"A deficit of three hundred taels in the accounts for a month, is that a minor matter?"
"Three hundred taels? How can there be such a large shortfall? My monthly salary is only seventy taels. How can our household be short of this much money every month?"
Mrs. Jin was a businesswoman, and she immediately noticed the problem when she saw the account books.
After reviewing the ledgers, her expression turned serious and her voice became cold.
"Your good niece did all the previous accounting, and I never doubted it. I always thought that the increased expenses in the mansion were due to the store's losses."
Now, what kind of nonsense are these ledgers?! They're incomplete, missing, and riddled with problems—last month's accounts are a complete mess!
The magistrate sat down, his expression somewhat unpleasant.
"You mean Chu Yao's problem?"
"Is it her problem? Isn't the information in the ledger clear enough?"
"You said it yourself, this is the ledger that A-Shu prepared. What does A-Shu know about bookkeeping? Why do you insist on pushing Chu Yao out as an outsider? Everything was fine before, why do you have to make such a simple thing so complicated!"
Madam Jin looked at him with a cold smile.
"We were doing just fine before? If things continue like this, the entire Jin family will be eaten away by termites!"
From today onwards, I will no longer let your good niece interfere in any matters of the Jin family!
Furthermore, I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and find out exactly what happened during the time I was not in charge of internal affairs!
——
That evening, the fruit trees that Jin Shu had planted in the garden sprouted.
This growth rate can only be described as phenomenal.
Even bamboo shoots after a spring rain couldn't be more abundant.
The seeds were not ordinary seeds, so it was normal for them to grow quickly, which was exactly what Jin Shu expected.
The next day, Jin Shu asked Jin Shou'an to send people to transplant all the fruit seedlings in the garden and deliver them to her yard on the outskirts of the county.
Jin Shu asked Jin Shou'an to buy this courtyard, and she only made two requests at the time.
It's in the mountains, in a remote place.
In such a location, one could buy a large courtyard with a garden for only twenty taels of silver. Although Jin Shu didn't know why Jin Shu bought it, Jin Shou'an rarely asked why, because as long as there were benefits to be gained, that was enough.
After the fruit seedlings were sent out, Jin Shu asked him again.
"Have you found the person I asked you to find?"
“Found them. They are all palace guards who have reached retirement age. As you said, they have all been arranged to work outside.”
“Doesn’t our mother own a gold shop? Find someone to buy three thousand catties of pig iron and deliver it to the gold shop. I need it.”
"Three thousand catties?! How can we buy that? Besides, we don't have that much money!"
Iron is no ordinary object; it is expensive, especially since Jin Shu wanted three thousand catties of it, which would be incredibly expensive!
"You don't need to worry about the money. I'll give it to you in a couple of days. You just need to find out more. Remember, tell everyone that the Jin family is planning to open a blacksmith shop."
"Would Mother agree if she found out?"
She won't know.
"How could she not know that you transported so much iron to the back of the gold shop?"
Jin Shu pursed her lips, looking a little impatient.
"She entrusted the management of the jewelry store to me, how would she know?"
Kim Soo-an froze for a few seconds, then dug incredulously into his ear.
"Are you serious? The gold shop has been handed over to you for management?!"
"If you have any questions, ask your mother, and then do as I say as soon as possible. Once it's done, this bag of gold leaves is all yours."
Jin Shu brought out all her best secrets.
Jin Shouan immediately changed his tune.
"Don't worry, girl, I've got you covered. Even if you want the moon, I can find it for you."
Who says the Jin family are all spoiled brats?
Jin Shou'an's competence is unparalleled; you'd be hard-pressed to find another like him anywhere else in the world.
Now those fair-weather friends I usually keep are coming in handy.
Jin Shu went to see the guards that Jin Shou'an had found for her.
There were more than seventy of them in total, and each of them had fought in battles.
Now that the country is at peace, these soldiers have all retired and returned to their hometowns.
Then, after a severe drought lasting for many months, their fields were gone, and they had no choice but to find another way to make a living.
So Jin Shu hired all of them for two taels of silver a month.
They clearly hadn't expected that the person who hired them at this critical juncture would be just a teenage girl.
Just as they were curiously looking around, they heard the little girl speak, her voice clear and melodious.
“Go back and each of you bring me ten more men who have been on the battlefield.”
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