After the Xu family left, Zhou Quan and Li Mai moved back to their Li family's courtyard.
Of the original ten people who lived in the East Courtyard, only a few remain after Li Mai assigned them tasks.
The village arranged for four people to return. Now they live in the Zhou family's courtyard, feeding chickens and raising pigs. They live a leisurely life, cooking for themselves and helping Li Mai manage village affairs in the rest of the time. They couldn't be more comfortable.
Only then did the four realize that the prince had found them a way to retire in their old age.
The four people were: Shen Qu and Liu Guang, who were in charge of the dyeing workshop and the weaving workshop respectively; and Zhao Xiaomeng and Ma Jianiu, who were in charge of planting flowers next year. They were all in their thirties.
After learning that they were the stewards sent back by Li Mai, Zhou Zhong and Zhou Zhang met with the two stewards under Zhou Quan's arrangement and entrusted them with important matters. The younger ones then began to spend more time studying, striving not to embarrass Zhou Quan.
They also knew that the head stewards were all under the sister-in-law's command, and they were Zhou Quan's brothers, so as to be low-ranking stewards, they couldn't afford to be too disgraceful.
Zhu Qiang was given to Zhou Tao, Liu Yuan to Zhou Lin, and Li Mai also gave Zhou Lei a young man to accompany him while he studied. His name was Chu Hu, a man in his thirties with excellent martial arts skills, but he was missing an arm.
Zhou Lei is a scholar, so he is the least likely to be in danger. Even though Chu Hu is missing an arm, he is still more capable than the average person and can protect Zhou Lei without any problem.
When Zhou Lei moved to Zhou Lin's place, Chu Hu also moved there. In addition, Zhou Quan bought a boy of similar age to Zhou Lei to be his page.
Now, there are only three people left in the East Courtyard. One of them is named Lu Ban, who is fifty-four years old and the oldest. After Li Mai taught him how to keep accounts, he was assigned to Zhou Heng's side to help manage the accounts in the pomegranate shop. Zhou Heng only takes care of the workshop and the shop's sales, purchases, and goods, and acts as the manager.
Li Mai is also preparing to build up her talent pool so that if she feels like opening another clothing store next year, she won't be short of manpower.
The other two followed Li Mai, who personally taught them how to do business and manage affairs.
They are all in their late forties, which is the perfect age to be trained to be senior managers.
She plans to spend a year training them so that they can help her manage her business, giving her more time to spend with and care for her children.
These two people are named Qian Fugui and Jin Yulai.
Some people joked that Li Mai kept the two of them by her side because their names were auspicious.
But Li Mai smiled and shook her head.
Having a good name is one thing, but if someone lacks ability and isn't bright enough, raising them will only bring trouble upon themselves.
These two are different. Besides being skilled in martial arts, they are also exceptionally loyal and quick-witted.
During the two weeks that Li Mai taught them accounting, only these two people could easily understand the accounts. Li Mai felt that their intelligence was far beyond what she taught them.
Li Mai once again trusted his intuition and judgment, keeping the two people by his side and devoting himself to nurturing them.
What they need to learn is not just what others learn in parts, but a comprehensive learning process.
I estimate that after they finish their studies, they will be able to rival those old scholars in the capital. Moreover, they will have an extra skill: they will know how to do business and make money.
Both of them have health problems; one suffered an internal injury and cannot do hard labor or exert great strength.
The other one had injured his leg a few years ago and walks with a limp.
Li Mai plans to take them to see Master Niu one of these days to see if their condition can be cured. If it can't be cured with ordinary medical techniques, then she will use her spiritual healing magic to treat them after giving birth.
Li Mai even went so far as to spend money to invite several old scholars from the town to train them, and of course, Zhou Lei and Zhu Zhu were also trained at the same time.
Mr. Yang, who is skilled in painting; Mr. Lu, who is skilled in chess; Mr. Wu, who is skilled in music; and Mr. Yun, the head of the best academy in town, Changhong Academy.
Li Mai hired them, and they were paid by the lesson, which lasted two hours and cost ten taels of silver.
They can come and teach in their spare time, or these people can go to them to learn in their spare time. They can arrange a certain number of classes per month.
Of course, in addition to this high tuition fee, Li Mai also received two brocade robes and a scholar's gown from a gentleman.
Since Li Mai was so sincere, and they were only using their spare time to help teach these few people, they were naturally willing. Earning extra money seemed to be something that every capable person was happy to do.
Moreover, they were very moved when they learned that the two men, who were not much younger than them, were veterans who had retired from the battlefield and had been arranged by the prince to learn business from their younger sister, Li Mai.
As for Zhou Lei and Zhuzhu, they are Li Mai's brother-in-law and daughter, both clever and quick-witted, and the parents are willing to teach them.
All of these things were arranged by Li Mai before the end of the year, after Yun Chang got married.
The courses all start after the New Year.
Seeing how well Li Mai treated the steward, his younger brother, and his daughter, Zhou Quan felt happy but also a little melancholy, as if his wife had never intended to hire a tutor for him and teach him to become a capable person.
He decided that once they start school next year, he would use the excuse of protecting his daughter to go and audit her classes.
...
After their marriage, Yun Chang and Xu Changhuan stopped eating at the Li residence and instead cleaned up their own kitchen. Xu Changhuan brought along the chefs, maids, and guards who had served her since childhood. They were not short of people to take care of these household chores.
Yun Chang also asked Xuan Wen to buy a few old women to serve Xu Changhuan. Since Huanhuan was married to him, she would be a princess, so there was no reason for her to do the household chores herself. She only needed to manage the household.
Zhong Huichu and their officials and tutors also lived in the Yun Mansion.
Every day they would head straight to the back of the mountain as soon as they opened their eyes, hoping to get a result before the end of the year.
On the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, when Yun Chang and the others returned, their faces beaming with joy. They had already dug it up, and the gold content underground was very high.
This good news excited everyone.
Fearing that the news would leak out, Yun Chang asked her master, Elder Yang, to set up a concealment barrier and asked him to stay in the town to guard it. He decided that after the New Year, he would accompany Chu Yan and the others directly back to the capital to meet the Emperor and begin preparing for the next steps.
Old Master Yang naturally knew that this was a great thing for the country and the people, so he agreed to his apprentice's request.
These days, Old Yang is happy every day. Besides going to the mountains to cultivate at his regular time, he drinks, strolls around, and watches the excitement. The rest of his time is spent hoping that his disciple can become a father and he can become a grandmaster.
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