Chapter Thirty-Six Master of Affairs

  On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, the New Year's atmosphere is getting stronger and stronger. The big carts traveling between the capital city and the government office are becoming more and more ordinary. They want to sell out the last two batches of vegetables before the New Year and buy back all the necessities for the New Year, while escorting their families who come to the government office to celebrate the New Year.

  "Your Excellency, all the officials have arrived and are waiting for the meeting to begin. Shall we go too?" Huang Jingchen said to Zhao Shi in the eastern wing of the main hall.

  "Huang Bo, is the matter we discussed feasible?" Zhao Che had been discussing with Huang Jingchen for two days, pouring out his thoughts to him, hoping to get his support.

  "Your Lordship, I've said it before, you're the master of this house and we're just servants. Whatever you want to do, just go ahead and order us, even if things are done wrong, what's the worst that could happen? We'll just lose some money, but no harm will come to our bodies. Please feel free to act as you wish, I'll definitely support you with all my might!"

  "Alright, let's go, Huang Bo!" Zhao Shu stood up and walked towards the large study next door. Huang Jingchen's expression didn't change much, as calm and composed as ever. Zhao Shu understood that he still had some reservations about him, but at least he had started to accept him.

  In the study, three stewards from the outer courtyard stood up and bowed as two men entered. Zhao Ke sat in the main seat, Huang Jingchen sat beside him on his right hand side, Xi stood behind him. After the tea house's servant brought in tea, Xi led the way out and guarded the door. The people left inside were all general managers of various aspects of the mansion, it could be said that this was a high-level meeting within the mansion.

  "Director, you first tell us about the income and expenses of the government this year!" Huang Jingchen said.

  "Yes, this year the mansion's total income is 230,000 guan. The prince's salary is 4,800 guan, food and supplies are 150 guan, additional expenses are 4,000 guan, imperial rewards are 180,000 guan, tenant rent is 8,000 dan of rice and 5,000 dan of wheat; repairs to the mansion cost 3,200 guan and 450 wen. The prince's expenses total 2,600 guan, leaving a surplus of 192,000 guan!" Manager Zheng Fu explained each item of expenditure in the mansion.

  "Hmm, Second Master, tell me about the situation with the Zhuangzi in the lower house!" Huang Jingchen nodded and said.

  "Yes, I report to the king, the general manager. At the beginning of the year, our mansion had two estates, 200 hectares of land, 513 tenant households, and 837 people. Among them, there were 110 hectares of superior land, 60 hectares of medium land, and 15 hectares of inferior land, all of which have been planted with wheat. There are 12 hectares of mulberry fields, all of which have been harvested. Currently, we have 104 head of cattle and more than 50 horses. By the end of the year, we had purchased over 200 hectares of land from nearby Chen Village, including two estates and a large mansion." The second manager, Zheng Lu, explained the situation.

  "It's your turn, three affairs, tell me about the situation in the mansion!" Huang Jingchen said to Zheng Shou, the three affairs officer. Zheng Shou stood up and explained the personnel arrangements inside and outside the mansion, including the staff of each department, who was staying or leaving, and the filling of vacancies. As for the personnel in the inner courtyard, they were assigned by the palace and he had no control over them.

  The three stewards finished their report, and each handed over the account books and name lists. Xi Jie took them and handed them to Huang Jingchen, but he didn't take them. He said: "Hand over the account books to the prince. From now on, major events and expenses in the mansion must be approved by the prince before they can be carried out. Minor matters can be reported to me, and I will inform the prince. You all know that!"

  Several people in the hall nodded to each other, stood up and bowed their heads, saying: "We understand!" They understood that Huang Jingchen's words meant that from now on, things in the mansion would be handled by Wang Ye himself.

  "San Guan Shi's, the government suddenly had a lot more young servants, are they newly bought?" Zhao asked, taking a sip of tea.

  "Second Master, this wasn't something we bought. It's from the estate we took over, all of it was used to offset debts!" said Zheng Fu, the third manager, stealing a glance at the first manager.

  "Cough, cough, that's what happened," Zheng Fu took over the conversation and answered Zhao Che's question. It turned out that Chen Tang had spent years thinking about this land, but he didn't expect to end up giving it to Zhao Che as a dowry, which made him feel resentful. On the surface, he "sold" all the land to Zhao Che, but secretly, he thoroughly exploited those who owed him money. During the handover, he also advised them to "buy" the children of tenants who couldn't pay off their debts as collateral, thinking that they would be used as servants in the mansion. At the time, the steward thought it was just a matter of having someone to take care of the garden, so he didn't think much of it and bought those people. He didn't realize that Chen Tang had used the "golden cicada sheds its shell" tactic to transfer his debts to them. When he finally understood what was going on, he couldn't do anything about it and could only swallow his anger.

  "They're just kids, and leaving them in the mansion won't do much good. Let their families ransom them back with the principal amount!" Zhao didn't think that as soon as he took over, he became a 'Huang Shiren', thinking that giving a discount to let their families take them back would be fine, even if he himself lost out a bit, maybe reuniting the family could also be considered a good deed.

  "Heh heh, Second Master, we've thought of this method before, but only a few people were taken back, and there are still over 60 left. They say they don't have the money to redeem them!" The chief steward said with a bitter smile, they had also thought of this remedial measure after discovering the problem, but no one was willing to take it.

  "The parents of these people are really heartless, watching their own children suffer and yet not willing to part with a few dollars!" San Guan Shi said resentfully, the mansion suddenly having so many freeloaders made things difficult for him.

  "It's not that simple, every family loves their own children, but when they return home, there are more mouths to feed, and at least in our household, we can still manage to get by!" Zhao Yan sighed.

  "Alright, since it's come to this, let's have them stay for now. Let's teach them some discipline and investigate the household thoroughly before making any arrangements," said Huang Jingchen. Zhao Yi thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, having no better plan at present.

  "Yes, whatever the chief steward says!" The third steward replied.

  "We've bought the estate, but Chen Tang has squeezed the tenants too hard. They all want to quit and find a new landlord. If that happens, our land will be left unattended next year. What can you do about it?" Zhao asked.

  "Nowadays every household has a tight grip on their tenants, it's not easy to find someone unless it's a year of famine," said the second-in-command.

  "Second Master, why don't we go to the south after the Spring Festival and find some tenants? There are many people but little land there, maybe we can find someone!" said the steward.

  "Do you know why the tenants want to withdraw their tenancy?" Zhao asked.

  "Not clear, maybe it's because the rent is too high, but this is the same everywhere, 40-60 or 50-50 split!" said the second person in charge.

  "The problem actually lies in the land rent. We practice sharecropping, and when they harvest a lot of grain, they get to keep more. However, with consecutive years of natural disasters and neglected irrigation systems, even the high-quality fields only yield enough grain for seeds and taxes after harvesting, leaving not enough food for a family to last until the end of the year. Not to mention those low-quality fields that can only be planted with wheat once a year, and the harvest is barely enough to pay the rent. How can people not run away? Even if you find new people to replace them, I'm afraid they won't stay!" Zhao said.

  "How come you're so clear about this, Your Highness?" Zheng Lu immediately understood what the prince meant. After a year of busy work, he couldn't even fill his own belly, and he would have to run away too.

  "These two days you've been following me around the village for nothing, thinking it's just a sightseeing trip!" Zhao said, "You're in charge of the village fields, I'm asking you, this year winter only had two snowfalls, if spring doesn't bring rain and forms a drought, what do you plan to do?"

  "Second Master, I hadn't thought of that, but as long as we're guarding the two rivers, we won't have to worry about drought, will we?" Zheng Lu said vaguely, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

  "Hmm, if there's water, what will you use to carry it over? Will you shoulder it or carry it by hand? Those near the water's edge might be okay, but what about those far away?" Zhao asked repeatedly.

  "That's all we can do, wait for the rain to come, there's nothing else I can do!" said the second in command with a sigh.

  "The master has entrusted you with all the big and small matters of the house, is this how you handle things? Has the house ever shortchanged you on your wages? When you've done something wrong, has the master ever beaten or scolded you? You can't go home for New Year's, so the master sends someone to bring your families here to reunite with you, and even gives you extra pay and new clothes for the holiday. Is this how you repay the master? Can you be worthy of the old duke?" Huang Jingchen slammed his hand on the desk and stood up, asking sternly.

  "The little ones have the heavy responsibility of serving the country, and they also have the trust of the young master!" The three servants stood up, bowed their heads and said with shame on their faces. What the young master said, they didn't do any of it well, and their old face couldn't be held up.

  "It's fine if you know, just use your brain more from now on and don't just look at things in front of you!" Huang Jingchen waved his hand to let them sit down.

  Zhao was deeply moved by Huang Jingchen's words, knowing that he was truly willing to promote himself and teach them a lesson. Huang Jingchen turned his face with a smile in his heart, Prince Wang is not small-minded, just asking a few questions crushed the complacent hearts of those in charge, and also opened their eyes!

  "These few things didn't go well, and there's also the issue of your respective authorities. Today we must come up with a solution for these matters, otherwise next year our days won't be easy either!" Zhao Ke said slowly, and several people all looked honest.

  "Yes, it's all up to Master Er's orders!"

  "Come over here!" Zhao ordered. Xianji unfolded the map and put it on the table, calling the three people to come closer.

  "You, Baishui River, flow through our village. If utilized well, you can irrigate this farmland and alleviate the worry of drought!"

  "Second Master, but this river is only two feet deep and the water surface is less than ten zhang, the water volume is too small, it's probably not enough to irrigate tens of thousands of mu of land!" The second manager shook his head and said.

  "So we want to build a dam, store water, I asked the old people in Zhuangzi, they said many years ago there was a dam here to store water, I also went there to check carefully, the old site is still there, if the dam is built well, it can form more than 200 mu of water surface, should be enough, we can also use the water surface to raise fish and ducks, increase income!"

  "Second Master, if we are to build a dam, we will need a large number of laborers. But where can we go to recruit them now?" asked Zheng Shou, the third manager.

  "I've thought of this too. The two villages have over a thousand people, and many are currently unemployed. As long as we offer a suitable price, I think they'll do it. Moreover, we can also pay them a month's wages in advance, which will both alleviate their immediate difficulties and solve our problem!" This idea is actually a variant of the later commonly used "work relief" approach, where both parties benefit.

  "Ah, Second Master's idea is good! We built the dam and dredged the irrigation channels. The inferior fields of the past can become top-grade fields that yield a harvest whether it rains or shines. At that time, even if they wanted to leave, they wouldn't be able to, and we could also attract more people!" The steward said with approval, stroking his beard.