Bai Zhiyue was not in a hurry. She talked to each of them one by one and said honestly, it was impossible to expect these people not to be greedy or take advantage of her just by relying on their loyalty.
Especially the shops in other counties, there are more or less greedy people. There are also problems on the farm. They don't take too much profit from her, but they squeeze the income of the tenants. She has agreed to split the profits with the tenants in a 4:6 ratio, which is also a relatively popular way of sharing profits.
However, the managers of two large farms took it upon themselves to change the ratio to 37, squeezing the tenant farmers' shares to enrich themselves.
This is all the information Doudou has communicated with.
She didn't say it out loud, and only gave rewards to a few people who had no major problems.
At this time, Qinglian came back with the real account book he had found.
"The ladies are all here!"
When Hu the shopkeeper saw the box, blood rushed to his head. He stared at Bai Zhiyue in disbelief with his eyes wide open.
"Madam, what are you doing?"
"Of course, we have to check the real accounts. I don't like looking at fake accounts."
"No, this~ Madam, listen to me."
"Well, you can make it up, but I'll tell you whether you want to or not!"
Hu, the shopkeeper, knew that he could no longer hide it, so he said
"How did you know? Who betrayed me?!"
"This lady can find out anything she wants to find out."
"Impossible, no one knows except me, not even my wife, who is secretly watching me!"
Bai Zhiyue ignored his calculations. Not to mention the past six years, he had embezzled more than 40,000 taels. In the beginning, he only dared to embezzle 2,000 to 3,000 taels a year. Later, his ambition grew, and he became more and more greedy. At the most, he embezzled nearly 16,000 taels.
"Oh, you thought you could cover it up by making a secret account book. How comfortable is your big house, and how beautiful is your concubine? Before it's under my name, how you covet it is none of my business, but once it's in my hands, it's mine. If you covet it, not only will I take it back, but I'll also send you to jail."
"Come here, take the evidence to Yingtian Prefecture and accuse him of falsifying accounts and embezzling a huge amount of his master's money."
"yes!"
Manager Hu was really scared now. The prison cell was a black hole that ate people. Not to mention whether people could get out alive, the prison cell would just peel off the skin layer by layer.
"Madam, please forgive me. I will pay you back with interest. Please forgive me this time. I will never do it again!"
"Everyone is responsible for their mistakes. Small mistakes are minor, but big mistakes can cost you your life."
"Gag him and drag him away, and gather up his belongings; they were all bought with my money."
"Yes, ma'am."
Bai Zhiyue looked at the other managers again
"You all know what you've done. Considering your hard work, I'll give you a chance today. If you try to get away with it, Shopkeeper Hu is a precedent."
Several people with more serious problems were sweating profusely in the middle of winter.
"Thank you, Madam, for letting us go. We will go back and sort it out immediately, make up for what is missing, and never make the same mistake again."
Bai Zhiyue didn't want to replace all of them. Firstly, she didn't have that many people, and secondly, they were all experienced in the job, and she didn't know if others could do the job as well.
We have no choice but to use this method to make them feel a little scared and worry less in the future.
"We'll see what happens in the future. This lady isn't unkind. I'll treat this little bit of profit as a reward for you, but you need to think carefully about what to do next. As I said, those who do well and increase profits will receive additional rewards."
"Yes, we will do our part wholeheartedly."
It's impossible to do it wholeheartedly, but just try your best to earn more money.
All the managers were sent away, and only the shopkeeper Xu was left there, still engrossed in reading a storybook.
"Shopkeeper Xu"
Qinglian called out a few times, but received no response, so she had no choice but to walk over and pull him.
"Go back and watch it later!"
"Don't disturb me, I'm seeing the most important part!"
Qinglian had no choice but to snatch the book from his hand
"Give it back to me now, I haven't finished reading it yet!"
"Shopkeeper Xu, could this be sold?"
"He's so talented, and his writing is so wonderful. Where did you find such a talent, madam? Could you introduce him to me?"
He is the villain in front of you, but unfortunately you won’t believe it even if I tell you.
"He doesn't want to see outsiders, so forget about the introduction. But I can ensure that the books won't be interrupted."
"It's a pity that I didn't have the chance to see it, but as long as it's a book like this, the more the better. I'll have a few copies copied out when I get back. While I'm engraving the plates, I'll copy small quantities to sell. Every day of delay means a day's less profit.
I will go back now. Where are all the people? "
"Isn't it? You're the only one left, and you won't listen no matter how I call you."
Qinglian laughed at him
"I'm so engrossed in it, I feel like I'm being scratched by a cat until I see the end."
"Go back and finish reading it, otherwise you won't be able to sleep today."
Just as I was about to go back to the courtyard for lunch, Hongying came back in a hurry.
"Madam, Shopkeeper Hu's case has been sent to the government, but they've been reluctant to take it. They say our case involves a large amount of money, and until the investigation is complete, the money and property must be temporarily handed over to the government for safekeeping. We'll talk about it when the investigation is complete."
"Mother, they're using their power to coerce others and try to seize our property. It's true that the government values power the most. When I was a first-rank marquis, there was no such talk, but now their attitude has become like this."
"Oh, the Marquis has surrendered, and Su Chengang has become like that again. Who will still take me seriously? Everyone wants to take a bite. Don't worry about eating your fill first and then go find them. I want to see who dares to swallow my silver."
After eating and drinking to their heart's content and letting Doudou take a nap, Bai Zhiyue took him to Yingtian Prefecture.
The prefect was trying a case, and a rich young man and a woman were kneeling on the ground.
"Sir, I, Qian, want to sue him for breaking my family heirloom jade. It's a precious item that has been passed down for generations in my late husband's family. If I weren't really struggling, with my children needing food and drink, and my son needing to go to school, I wouldn't have pawned the family heirloom jade.
When he saw the jade in a pawnshop, he loved it so much as if it were a treasure and wanted to take a look at it. The woman saw that he was well-dressed and thought that he could afford to buy it, so she let him take a look.
But he dropped it as soon as he took it, and the precious jade shattered into pieces. How can I face my late husband and ancestors? I had to pawn it, but I always had a chance to redeem it later. Now it's broken into pieces like this. Please, sir, help me."
The rich young man became anxious when he heard her words.
"My Lord, she's lying. The jade wasn't broken in my hands. It was clearly dropped to the ground when she handed it to me."
Gao Fuyin slammed the gavel
"Don't speak unless I ask. Now, Qian, you tell me. Do you have any witnesses to what you say?"
"The pawn shop clerk can testify!"
A fellow beside him knelt down and replied,
"Sir, what I saw is exactly the same as what Qian said."
The rich kid was furious
"You're talking nonsense! I clearly reached out to take the jade, but it fell before I even caught it. It never reached my hand."
"They are setting up a trap."
"How could mother guess so accurately? It is indeed so."
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