Jia Zhen, Uncle of the Red House

　　Only then did Jia Zhen stand up, and said to these people with some majesty: "Since it's the person chosen by Mr. Jiao, I believe it. Now, if you want to do a big thing, you need the help of all of you. Would you like to? willing?"

　　The four looked at each other and gave Jia Zhen a military salute: "I would like to die for the head of the family!"

　　Jia Zhen nodded and said, "You look good. From today onwards, you will follow me by my side. What are your names?"

　　The four said in turn: "Master Hui, my name is Jia Qing." "Wuhuai." "Li Wan." "Timur."

　　"Timur?" Jia Zhen walked to the man next to him, "Are you a Mongolian?"

　　Timur said in a loud voice: "Master, I am a Mongolian." Jia Zhen was very surprised and asked, "Why are there still Mongolians in my mansion?" Timur said: "My grandfather was captured at war with the imperial court, and later he was taken prisoner. It was given to the prince of the country as a horse slave. It has been three generations since me." Jia Zhen asked again: "Is it your family?" Timur said: "There are five families in total, and now there are more than twenty people. All of them are We are good at raising horses, but now there are few horses in the house, and there is no work. We have no other way of making a living. If Mr. Jiao hadn't come to find me, our family would have run out of food. "

　　Jia Zhen smiled and said, "Don't worry, when this time is over, I will make sure you eat and sleep well, and your family will have a good life."

　　Timur hesitated for a while, scratched his head and asked, "Master, I won't do anything else, can you tell me something first? If I don't, I won't delay your business."

　　When Jia Zhen heard this, he laughed and pointed at Timur Jiaodao: "This son is really sincere!" After that, she said to the four, "It's not a big deal, you follow me to catch a few worms in the house. Don't tell me, you can only catch and train horses, but not people, right?"

　　The crowd laughed again.

　　Jia Zhen was about to lead the four of them inside, when Jiao Da stopped him from behind: "Brother Zhen!" So Jia Zhen turned back and walked in front of Jiao Da.Jiao Da rarely said to Jia Zhen, "Nowadays, things in the house don't move, and when they move, they are earth-shattering. Are you sure?"

　　Jia Zhen said: "They're just slaves, I'm afraid they won't succeed? Lai Er and the accountant Qian Deng are at odds, and the accounts have not been checked for many years. As long as you take out Qian Deng and take out the ledger to check, forgive them all. I can't run." Jiao Da nodded and said, "In that case, Jiao Da will follow you and hold the door for you. Don't look at me because I'm old, and one or two servants can't get close to me."

　　Jia Zhen smiled.So Jia Zhen first asked Jiao Da to lead the four of them outside the cashier to watch, to prevent Qian Deng from escaping.When Lai Sheng led the confidant out, Jia Zhen wandered around the house again, taking the opportunity to bring those credible ones together, keeping the four doors, allowing entry and not allowing exit.When these preparations were completed, You Shi and Ke Qing controlled the girl in the inner courtyard and deliberately gave up the Lai family.Jia Rong was naturally absent.

　　Jia Zhen went straight to the account room and ordered Qian Deng to take out the account book.Qian Deng saw that Jia Zhen rushed in aggressively, knowing that the momentum was not right, he still said with a smile: "Is there a need to check the accounts? After I have sorted out the account book, I will hand it over to the master to check, how about it?"

　　Jia Zhen glared at Qian Deng and said, "I repeat, take out the account book!"

　　Qian Deng was stunned for a moment. Jia Zhen had never spoken to him like this before.He slowly opened the cabinet and took out the account books inside, there were about ten thick books in total.Qian Deng smiled and said to Jia Zhen, "The accounts in the past are quite complicated and trivial. Can you let me explain a thing or two to you, sir?"

　　Jia Zhenmu was expressionless, so Qian Deng opened an account book and kept talking: here is how much the expenditure in a certain year, month and day, here is how much the income in a certain year, month and day...

　　Jia Zhen listened to it for a long time, then suddenly interrupted him, pointing to the account, and asked solemnly: "This one hundred and twenty taels for the purchase of dishes and porcelain has been recorded twice, and after a month, there is another payment. The big three hundred taels are also porcelain. Let me ask you, how many dishes and bowls can you buy for four hundred and twenty taels of silver?"　　

　　Qian Deng was overwhelmed by the question, and defended: "The house is all made of high-quality porcelain, which is naturally a little more expensive." Jia Zhen patted the table and scolded: "A good plate is only a dozen wen With money, more than four hundred taels can buy tens of thousands of dishes. Do we have so many in our house?"

　　Qian Deng was speechless, and immediately distinguished: "I'm just the accountant. I don't care what they buy after spending the money."

　　Jia Zhen said angrily, "Then what do I want your accountant to do?" After speaking, he picked up the abacus from the side and checked the accounts one by one.He also instructed Jia Qing to go back to the yard and ask Ke Qing to come over and copy the accounts.

　　Qian Deng was dumbfounded as he watched Jia Zhen slap the abacus, knowing that this time was not a good time, he quietly winked at the servant beside him and told him to run out and call Lai Er back.Only the two of them insisted, and things still have room to turn around.It's just that his actions have been seen in Timur's eyes, and the little servant was just about to slip away, but Timur caught him and threw it aside and said, "The uncle said that no one can go out."

　　Wu Huai and Li Wan clamped Qian Deng to prevent him from running away.Qian Deng really wanted to cry without tears, and looked at Jia Zhen to check the accounts.

　　After a while, Keqing came over gracefully.Because he was walking too fast, he held the door frame with his hand to take a breath.Her chest was heaving and Jia Zhen forgot to fiddle with the abacus beads.

　　Ke Qing said Wan Fu and came to Jia Zhen's side.The oncoming body fragrance made Jia Zhen almost unable to control it.He quickly calmed his mind and told Ke Qing, "I'll remember you, today we're going to calculate how much money these slaves have greedy for ink."

　　So Keqing picked up the pen and paper and wrote it down one by one with Jia Zhen's voice.

　　It took more than an hour for Jia Zhen to settle the accounts for the past year.

　　Jia Zhen shook a dozen pieces of paper and sneered, "I've only checked the accounts for one year. The total amount of fraudulent claims, borrowing, etc. is [-] taels. Incense candles with a silver coin, lamp oil with a pound of silver, and so on, even if I fold it in half for you, there are also [-] taels. With this rough calculation, there are [-] taels. Consider By the end of this year, the total income of the eleven Zhuangzi and Duzhong shops is only [-] taels, and nearly a quarter of the money has been stolen by you."

　　Qian Deng was so frightened that he kowtowed and said, "This is all arranged by Director Lai, and I was also forced."

　　Jia Zhen nodded and smiled.

Chapter [-] Return the money to me (Part [-])

　　It was said that Jia Zhen took down Qian Deng and checked the accounts for the year. Qian Deng immediately spread out on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy.When he said that Lai Er ordered him to do it, Jia Zhen smiled proudly, Lai Er couldn't run away this time.

　　So Jia Zhen asked Wu Huai and Li Wan to escort Qian Deng to Ning'an Zhengtang, and asked Keqing to inform You that all the deacon and management of the house were gathered in the courtyard of Yimen.He took Jia Qing and Timur slowly to Ning'an Hall.

　　When he got there, You Shi, Ke Qing, and all the internal and external management leaders in the mansion were all there.Jia Zhen sat in the hall and ordered the servant to close the doors on all sides.

　　The male and female stewards gathered together again, kept talking in low voices, and burst into laughter from time to time.It wasn't until Jia Zhen had the door closed that the crowd gradually became restless.The little stewards asked the big steward, but those big stewards were uneasy when they saw that the chief steward Lai Er was not there.Especially when Wu Huai and Li Wan brought Qian Deng and the account book to the court, the people below changed their expressions.

　　Soon someone wanted to run away under the pretext of being unwell, and ran out to report to Lai Er.But all of them were beaten back.

　　Jia Zhen stood on the steps with her hands behind her back, and said to these people, "A few days ago, Brother Rong got married. Thanks to everyone's management inside and out, everyone has worked hard." The people standing below echoed tremblingly. Also sparse.

　　Seeing their fearful eyes, Jia Zhen sneered in her heart.So he didn't plan to go around in circles any more, and said straightforwardly: "Today, my master checked the accounts for this year. I found some problems, so I called everyone over to take a closer look." He ignored the following exclamations. , took the account book from Keqing, and read directly: "Let's talk about this important event, we bought a lot of things in the house: 500 red candles and 400 taels, big red lanterns for 200 taels, and the sedan surrounds the tailor's silver. , a total of 125 taels. There are 200 large and small cords, 40 catties of pearl thread, a total of 350 taels. Cup and saucer tea sets, 400 sets, a total of [-] taels... A total of more than [-] taels. But this does not include the palace There are rice, noodles, poultry, meat, and various sundries in it, so it doesn’t cost too much. Our Ningguo family has a big business, and the money is small. The important thing is decency. From this point of view, everyone has merit.

　　As soon as this statement came out, the people in the underground laughed and said, "This is what we should do." Some were bold, and shouted: "We are busy and don't dare to ask for merit, but we also have some hard work. Jia Zhen smiled and said, "It's a credit, I won't forget it, but some people rely on no one to control them, and they become more and more unruly. Don't think I don't know anything, today, I will Calculate carefully with you!"

　　Some people's faces changed drastically, and the yard became quiet all of a sudden, all looking at Jia Zhen.

　　Jia Zhen stared at a steward below and said, "Lai Fugui, do you think 30 lanterns with big red and happy characters are worth 200 taels?" This Lai Fugui is the cousin of the second brother Lai Dalai. Not as frightened as the others, he bowed and said: "Master, we are buying high-quality red paper lanterns. Fortunately, I still have some connections, so I bought them at a low price. Lanterns like Xicheng are sold for 10 taels. One."

　　Jia Zhen snorted coldly and said, "It's fine for you to be arrogant and domineering, but now you have deceived me in front of my face. You really have been fooled by lard. Come here and beat me hard!" Jia Qing and Timur In response, he pushed Lai Fugui to the ground.Lai Fugui didn't expect Jia Zhen to fight when he said he would fight. He struggled and shouted: "Master, you are doing things unfairly. I worked hard for the government. What's wrong? Tell the old lady to go!"

　　Jia Zhen heard that he moved out of Lai Er, and even the old lady pulled it out. He was stabbed at that time. He pointed at Lai Fugui and scolded: "You cruel slave, you have the face to mention the old lady? Let me tell you, Xicheng The most expensive lantern is only one tael of silver. You bought it for the government, and the maximum cost is 600 yuan. You keep saying that 10 taels apiece? Hit me, hit me hard!" Timur picked up a stick and hit He also scolded: "I told you to instruct me to give you a free job, and I told you to bully Qiqige..." After a few hits, he slapped him a dozen times, but there was still no resemblance in his mouth.

　　It wasn't until after thirty strokes that Lai Fugui was dying, that Jia Zhen asked Timur to stop.Lai Fugui didn't have the arrogance he had before, begging for mercy intermittently.

　　Jia Zhen squatted down and said to Lai Fugui, "You have been talking about my family for many years. For this one item alone, you greedy me for more than [-] taels of money. Come on, how do you want to pay it back?" Unable to move on the ground, snot and tears were flying, and he quickly said: "I will pay, I will pay. I still have three thousand taels in my family, and a few shops. I will give you all of them. I just ask you to spare my life."

　　Jia Zhen smiled and said, "Lai Fugui, in fact, I don't want your silver shop. I have a way, do you want to hear it?" Lai Fugui heard that he didn't want him to return the money, and immediately became energetic, and asked, "Please, sir, please. Express?"

　　Jia Zhen said gloomily: "I know you have no choice but to. Most of the money you get won't fall into your own hands. You have worked so hard for so many years, and you have only saved three thousand taels, which is not much. Do you understand?" Lai Fugui is not stupid. When he saw Jia Zhen staring at him, he suddenly thought that Director Lai was not there.He was silent for a long time, then said decisively: "Master is right, I was also persecuted." Jia Zhen asked: "Who persecuted you? Say it, I will make the decision for you." Lai Fugui cried: " This is what Director Lai asked me to do!"

　　"Nonsense!" Jia Zhen shouted deliberately, "Director Lai is conscientious and conscientious in the house, how could he possibly get his own pockets? How could he do such a thing that people and gods are angry with? You must be crawling and biting. Timur, give me another fight!"

　　Lai Fugui didn't know whether what Jia Zhen said was true or not, so he just said bravely: "Master, what the servants are telling the truth! Mr. Lai, no, it's all the servants who were assigned by Lai Er to be inferior and falsely report silver taels. Having said that, these are all thrown away after one use. They don’t need to be so expensive. The money saved is our hard work. In fact, at least 20% of them were taken away by Lai Er. This time I bought lanterns, actually It only took 20 taels, the minions took 160 taels, and the remaining [-] taels were handed over to Lai Er. He also said that the servants could not do things, and reprimanded the servants in front of them. What the servants said was true! , forgive me!"

　　Jia Zhen had a conspiracy-successful smile on her face.After hearing it, Na Lai Er was more greedy and shameless than he thought.Jia Zhen shouted: "Everything you said is true?"

　　Lai Fugui knocked his head on the ground and said, "Everything the servant said is true!" Jia Zhen suppressed the anger in her heart, and asked Keqing to write down everything he just said, and then draw it down.

　　With Lai Fugui's example, things went very smoothly.As long as Jia Zhen calls a person with the ledger, that person will tell Lai Er how much money he has spent in the past.And without exception, they all said that Lai Er was the mastermind, and he was just forced to be helpless.Jia Zhen probably calculated that it was enough for [-] taels, so they all made a bet and rushed aside.

　　There were only five or six people left in the courtyard, and all but one were panicking.

　　Jia Zhen pointed at the man and said, "Huang An, come up!"

　　Huang An was not ashamed, bowed and said, "Master, Huang An is not greedy for ink."

　　Jia Zhen smiled and said, "I didn't say that you are greedy for ink." After speaking, he walked down, patted Huang An on the shoulder and said, "Huang An, there are so many big and small managers in this mansion, even if you are competent. If it wasn't for your father's death in the battle for the old man and meritorious service to Ning Guofu, then Lai Er would have played a trick on you long ago. I know that."

　　Huang Anmu was expressionless, let alone excited, just replied lightly: "This is my duty."

　　Jia Zhen smiled and nodded and said, "That's right, duty is an advantage. I like you for that. Are you interested in being the head of the government?" Huang An looked at Jia Zhen in shock and said, "You really Let me be the general manager?" Jia Zhen said, "It's more real than real gold! I'm afraid you don't have the ability."

　　Huang An said proudly: "Please rest assured, sir, that I will live up to your high expectations."

　　Jia Zhen nodded and said, "I believe you can do it well. The people behind you are still innocent. I'll leave them to you, and the family will depend on you in the future."

　　It was here that the door was knocked.Lai Er's voice came from outside: "Master, ma'am, I bought something back." Then I heard his scolding voice: "You blind bastard, why are you closing the door during the day? Why don't you open it soon?" The voice: "It was ordered by the master. Without his permission, no one can go in or come out."

　　"You're still timid, I'm the general manager, you dare not listen to me?"

　　"Master ordered not to let in, even if you do not let in, even if you kill me, I can't get in!"

　　Jia Zhen looked majestically at those who had already drawn and said, "You guys will know how to do it later. I'm not interested in your property, but don't let me change my mind."

　　Everyone said: "Don't worry, sir, we know what to do."

　　Jia Zhen nodded and ordered Huang An to open the door.

　　At this time, Lai Erzheng kicked the boy who was blocking the door fiercely.Jia Zhen shouted: "Lai Er, don't be arrogant! This is what I arranged. Do you also have an opinion?"

　　Lai Er suddenly walked in with a smile on his face and said, "Since it's your arrangement, how can I have an opinion? It's just this..." Lai Er saw Lai Fugui, who was beaten, and all the big and small managers in the house. Suspicious.When he looked forward, You and Qin were sitting in the hall, and the accountant Qian Deng was being held aside. On a table next to him was an account book?Lai Er suddenly felt that something was wrong.He pretended to be relaxed and asked: "Master, what are you calling these people together?"

　　Jia Zhen smiled and said, "It's not a big deal. It was just yesterday that I wanted to check the accounts on a whim. I found a few problems by accident, so I asked these managers to understand."

　　Lai Er glanced at Lai Fugui, Lai Fugui was guilty and didn't dare to look at him, he looked at others, and others avoided Lai Er's gaze.So he was a little annoyed, but still smiled: "You just leave this matter to me. The people below are a little confused, and their hands and feet are not clean, so I will punish them severely. There is no need to labor for small things, everyone. Inspiring teachers.”

　　Jia Zhen nodded and said, "It's really a trivial matter. However, I have already handed this matter to Huang An." Lai Er looked at Huang An and smiled: "Huang An is only a small butler who manages the yard, how can he handle it? These things?" Then he turned to Huang An and said, "Huang An, I will watch this matter, you don't have to worry about it."

　　Huang An ignored him, and said coldly: "This is what the master ordered. The master thinks I can do it, so I can do it. You don't have to say it."

　　Lai Er didn't expect Huang An to contradict him, and changed his color: "Huang An, do you know who you are talking to?"

　　Huang An smiled contemptuously, but did not speak.

　　Jia Zhen turned around and came to the account book, and smiled at You Shi and Ke Qing.A look of joy appeared on Yu Shi's face.Ke Qing smiled reservedly, a pink face flushed slightly.Jia Zhen picked up an account book and flipped through it, and said, "Lai Er, since you're here too, I just happened to ask you. You, the general manager, are busy with the happy event a few days ago. It's really hard. ."

　　Lai Er put on a smile again and said, "This is what it should be."

　　Jia Zhen turned another page of the bill, and Lai Er's face twitched involuntarily.

　　Jia Zhen asked, "Do you know that 30 red lanterns cost 200 taels of silver?" Lai Er's eyes flickered, and he said, "Yes. This is Lai Fugui's errand. According to him, the lanterns in Xicheng are the best. , he had a way to go, so he let him go. He also said that the same one we used would cost 10 taels of silver. In this case, what we bought was still cheap." But he saw Lai Fugui being beaten in a blink of an eye. Flesh and bloody, he knew that he was unreliable, so he changed his words again: "However, in my opinion, how can a lantern be 10 taels apiece? I planned to go check it after I was busy for a while. Now you can see it. The problem is coming, then he must have done something." Jia Zhen smiled: "That's true, Lai Fugui himself admitted it."

　　Lai Er became panicked. He didn't know what Lai Fugui said, so he said, "This bastard actually did such a thing?" He pretended to be angry and cursed: "Lai Fugui! How did I tell you? I always teach you to be honest and do things honestly, but you do such things? It's just a shame to my mother and the Lai family!"　　　　

Chapter [-] Return the money to me (Part [-])

It was said that when Lai Er pretended to be angry and scolded Lai Fugui for being ungrateful, Jia Zhen teased You in his spare time, "Madam, do you think this drama is not exciting?" You reminded: "Master, make a quick decision to avoid accidents. ." So Jia Zhen motioned to Timur and Jia Qing, and they walked towards Lai Er without any expression.

　　He only heard Jia Zhen shout, "Take it for me!" Jia Qing and Timur swooped over, cut Lai Er's back, and took him to his knees.Lai Er was stunned by the sudden attack.He struggled: "You minions rebelled, why did you bind me?"

　　Jia Zhen smiled lightly: "It's you who is tied!"

　　Lai Erkang said: "Master? Why do you tie me up? I did nothing wrong! I don't accept it! I don't accept it!" He said desperately struggling.Jia Zhen said, "Tie it up with a thicker rope!" The servant next to him had already brought a thick hemp rope soaked in oil to help tie Lai Er firmly.

　　Lai Er scolded: "Brother Zhen, why do you tie me up?!" Jia Zhen got angry when Lai Er called her name, stepped forward and kicked fiercely, "Just call me Jane because of you. Brother, I'm going to tie you up."

　　Lai Er was still cursing.Jia Zhen rushed to the people in the field: "You tell him, why did I tie him up?"

　　So Lai Fugui and the others leaked out the old accounts one after another, and without exception put the responsibility on Lai Er.The more Lai Er listened, the more angry he became, and he kept shouting: "I want to see the old lady, this is slander, framed! I want to see the old lady!"

　　At this moment, Jiao Dabu walked in from the outside, lifted Lai Er with one hand, slapped more than ten times in the face, and scolded him in the face: "What are you yelling for?! The old lady can't save you!"

　　Jiao Da was seventy or eighty years old, and Jia Zhen was stunned to have such strength.

　　Jia Zhen walked up to Qian Deng and asked, "What's Mr. Qian's plan now?"

　　Qian Deng sighed and said, "I have two or three thousand silver in my savings over the years. I would like to hand over all of them. I just ask the master to let me go."

　　Jia Zhen smiled and said, "You are very wise." Then she instructed Wu Huai and Li Wandao: "Follow Mr. Qian to get the silver. Then hand over one thousand taels to Huang An. Give the rest to Grandma."

　　Wu Huai and Li Wan followed Qian Deng home to get silver taels.

　　Jia Zhen said to Huang An: "Wait a minute, you will take one thousand taels of silver and these people's paintings and confessions, and bring a few people to send Lai Er to Wannian County Yamen. Do you know what to do?"

　　Huang An nodded and said, "Don't worry, sir, Huang An knows what to do." After that, a few people escorted Lai Erzi to go.

　　Then Jia Zhen walked up to Jiao Da and said, "Grandpa Jiao, you still have such strength?"

　　Jiao Da said proudly: "Now that I'm old, if back then, a coward like him would come to a hundred and ten Jiao Da without blinking."

　　Jia Zhen Jiao Dao: "If you want to work Grandpa Jiao, you can lead Timur and Jia Qing, greet a few more servants, and take care of Lai's family, but you can't let them carry the money away. It's better to move temporarily. Go back to the mansion, wait for news from the yamen, and then listen to the yamen."