Chapter 96: Qiao Niang asks someone to help check the account book
Yun Qiao happily took the account book that Chen Jingyan brought over, and also followed Master Sun to look at the account book.
This account book appears to be correct on the surface, but there are some problems that Yun Qiao is not in a position to point out right now.
"There's nothing wrong with the account book, but where does the money for purchases come from? The farm is self-sufficient, so why would we need to buy anything from outside?"
Master Sun stepped forward slowly and said, "My aunt, you don't know this. Every year, the Marquis or the old lady will stay at the manor for a few days. This is what they are talking about."
Yun Qiao nodded thoughtfully, then said:
"Master Sun, please cross this out directly. From now on, I will be responsible for the income and expenditure of this farm. The Marquis trusts me and entrusts me with the management, so I naturally cannot let it go unnoticed."
Of course, that's what it says on the surface.
In fact, all the income of this farm belongs to Yun Qiao, otherwise why would she work so hard to take care of these trivial matters.
Master Sun looked at Yun Qiao and wondered what Aunt Qiao was thinking.
Such a huge manor was given to this concubine Qiao directly. I really don’t know what the marquis was thinking.
She is just a concubine. Even if you want to give her property, you don’t have to give her a farm, and you don’t have to give her a farm on the outskirts of the city.
This farm belongs to the Marquis' mother. The second wife has been dead for many years, so naturally no one cares about the affairs of this farm.
The Marquis doesn't have time, the old lady doesn't want to take care of it, and the wife of the eldest wife wants to take over, but what does this manor have to do with the eldest wife? It's not the eldest wife's turn.
The properties that the masters did not care about were handed over to the accountant, a man named Sun.
He was the only one who could see the account books for more than ten years and the profits and losses clearly. Unexpectedly, the marquis suddenly handed over this large farm in the suburbs to Aunt Qiao.
It seems that the Marquis is bewitched by the beauty of the woman in front of him.
Master Sun didn't dare to think too much or say too much, as saying too much would reveal his true identity. It would be better for him to just listen to whatever Aunt Qiao said and not do it in private.
Master Sun continued to nod in response.
Yun Qiao didn't ask any more questions and told him to put the account books here for now because she wanted to take a look.
The farm in the suburbs was huge, but Yunqiao had no idea how big it was. She just wanted to know more about it.
Master Sun put down the account book, walked out of Lanyuan, and looked back.
"Bah, no matter how favored you are, you're still a concubine who can't lay eggs. You can't read a few words, and you still want to learn to read the account book. Even if I give you the account book, you won't be able to see it clearly."
It’s true. Master Sun is an old hand who has been doing accounting for decades. Yun Qiao really can’t understand the account books he made.
She saw it clearly, so couldn't she ask an expert to take a look?
Since she was free these days, Yun Qiao privately asked an old lady who was good at housekeeping to help look at the account books.
Men are not allowed to enter the inner house of the Marquis' Mansion, as it will cause gossip.
But it is okay to hire a nanny.
The old maid Yun Qiao hired was no ordinary one. She had worked in the palace before and was very skilled in using an abacus and keeping accounts. This old maid's family originally lived a pretty good life.
The senior palace maid left the palace and was given a husband's family. After marriage, she was hired by a wealthy family as a nanny. Naturally, she earned a lot and had both fame and status.
But this mother's son was a useless person. He spent all the family's money on eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, and even forced the old man to death.
Finally, this mother's son had his legs broken, and he started to get on the right track and work as a carpenter.
Yun Qiao got two shops from her aunt Zhou. One was a rice, flour and miscellaneous grain shop, and the other was a department store.
This department store sells wooden stools, chairs, tables and other items, so I got to know Zhang Mama.
After a few visits, we became familiar with each other.
"This account book appears to be fine on the surface, but in reality, there are many useless items written in it. It turns out that the person who did the accounting secretly embezzled money."
"If you don't believe me, please check the items I've circled. There's another better way to compare the accounts, and that's to compare this one with the manager's."
Yun Qiao asked, "What if the account book on the farm is the same as the one made by Master Sun?"
The Marquis has not been in charge of the affairs of the manor for many years and has left them all to Master Sun.
There is no guarantee that Master Sun might steal in secret with the manager of the farm for profit.
Yun Qiao had no idea whether Master Sun had stolen anything, but what was certain was that Aunt Xu and her family at the farm had definitely stolen a lot.
According to what Xu Meixiang said at the farm, the Xu family bought an old house in the countryside.
I just don't know where this Aunt Xu's hometown is.
Mother Zhang responded to Yun Qiao's question:
"If that's the case, it's not easy to investigate. It would be very troublesome if you wanted to investigate. They were covering for each other. My wife just took over this farm, and if she wants to manage it all at once, it will be troublesome and time-consuming.
It would be better to start with accounting first, and only take care of a few major and profitable industries, and keep them in your hands. As for the rest, leave it to them.
Once you're familiar with the operations of the farm, you can take them all back. By then, you'll have cultivated a few trusted confidants so you can kick out those who don't work for you."
Yun Qiao nodded and said softly, "I was confused before and didn't know what to do. Now after listening to what mom said, I know what I should do from now on."
"Mother Zhang, I would like to ask you for a favor."
Mother Zhang said hurriedly, "Madam, just tell me, if you hadn't taken my son's carpentry job, he would still be a good-for-nothing. Now he can do his job well. I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"I want Mother Zhang to buy me two maids, to take good care of them and teach them some manners."
Mother Zhang asked, "But does Madam want to use it to keep the Marquis?"
Some concubines or wives would select a few obedient servants and teach them the rules of serving, so that they could help their masters serve the men in the house when they had something to do.
Only then did Mother Zhang wonder if Yun Qiao thought the same way.
Yun Qiao immediately said, "Mother Zhang, I don't want to use this method to keep the Marquis. I don't care much about love and affection, but I like to think about making money. I didn't have the conditions before, but now that I have this opportunity, I want to raise a few confidants."
"Mother Zhang will help me. Money is not a problem. I want someone smart and able to calculate."
Mother Zhang laughed and said, "Young lady, you are looking for someone to learn how to eat like me."
Yun Qiao also started laughing.
"I dare not. Isn't this respecting you as my master?"
Yun Qiao wanted Zhang Ma to train her some accountants, and she only wanted women. Regardless of appearance, they had to be literate and able to calculate and do math.
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