Jia Mu remained calm and continued to ask seriously:
"How can a big family like ours lose its fortune so easily?"
If the person in front of him who keeps asking questions calmly is his immediate superior, then Jia Lian will not say anything more, lest he does not know what is going on and is "led out of the hole" by the other party and says things that should not be said.
But the other party was his own grandmother, who shared the same honor and disgrace. Jia Lian understood that this calmness meant "to test you", so he continued to say seriously:
"Our family in Rong Mansion, including the newly born eldest sister, is only eighteen people. Even if we eat gold and drink silver, our expenses are limited.
But now there are more than a thousand servants in the house. With so many people, the expenses are naturally high. In addition, the maids now have the same food and clothing as the masters, and the third-class servants also wear gold, silver, silk and silk. With our current income,
Bi, this is a waste of money.
What's more, many of the expenses in our house are not spent on what should be spent, but on moving away the mice in the house.
The old custom known to everyone in the family has become: "Whenever the master has a share of the master's share, they have to take away half of it."
.
Over the course of a year, our income from land rent, salary and rewards is nothing. There is only so much rice in the bowl. The slaves eat more openly and secretly, but less can actually eat it in the master's mouth. This is a situation.
The principle of exhaustion and surplus.
Not to mention, they are causing trouble in the middle, sometimes talking about floods and droughts, sometimes saying that business is losing money, and now the income from land rent, farm rent, and shop at home is less than half of what our ancestors did, and the expenses are ten times more than our ancestors.
.
Our lives are getting tighter and tighter, but the lives of the slaves are getting more and more prosperous. Nowadays, almost all the slaves who have gained some respect in our house have their own business and industry outside, and all of them have a plump stomach. p>
Now if we really compare the money of each family, I am afraid that several housekeepers will be richer than us.
If this continues, our family’s financial resources will no longer be able to be saved, and we will be unable to make ends meet, and our fortune will be ruined right before our eyes.”
"It's really rare that you can see this layer."
A smile gradually appeared on Jia Mu's face, she took Jia Lian's hand and patted it heavily:
"You've made a difference. Now you've really made a difference. It's not in vain that I care about you, value you, and let you take care of the house."
Jia's mother looked at Jia Lian, the more she looked at him, the more she fell in love with him, and said with a smile:
"It's just that what you said just now makes sense, but you don't understand it anymore later."
Jia Lian didn't know why and asked:
"My grandson doesn't understand, please teach me."
Jia Mu held Jia Lian's hand and said:
"You said it yourself, the emperor does not touch heroes easily, so as not to ruin his reputation.
The relationship between us and our slaves is also the same.
How many of these servants in your family have served your grandfather? They are heroes to you. If you are a junior, if you touch them easily, your reputation will be ruined.
It's just like Jiao Da in Dongfu. When he saw Tian'er drinking too much and acting wild, he scolded Brother Rong so many unheard-of words. He dared to shout at Brother Rong, "Now you don't repay my kindness, but you act like your master with me."
It’s okay if you don’t say anything else to me. If you say anything else, we’ll go in with a white knife and come out with a red knife. This is such a bastard.
But even if he is so deprived of royal power, he can't just have fun and kill the hero who saved his family's ancestors with one knife.
The only thing we can do is to send him to Zhuangzi from a distance if he causes any trouble again.
For a decent family like ours, face and reputation are extremely important. In many cases, they are inferior to those from a small family who can do whatever they want, regardless of reputation, and only seek temporary pleasure."
"Then we can't let them empty out our Jia family openly or covertly!" Jia Lian couldn't help blurting out.
Jia Mu smiled gently and said:
"Zhu Yuanzhang had to find a charge of treason when he killed a hero. Later generations said that he was 'suspicious' even if it was vague. Is this a good reputation?
How can it be compared to Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, who released his military power over a glass of wine and became a story for the ages?
We are a noble family, and we must learn from Zhao Kuangyin’s tolerance of treating others and persuading talents with virtue.
You are the one who wants to inherit the title, so you can’t do anything worse than the inferiors. Otherwise, the superiors will look down on you and be unwilling to associate with you.”
Seeing Jia Lian nodding, Jia Mu patted Jia Lian on the shoulder:
"What you said today speaks to my heart.
Now go back and see your wife and eldest sister. It’s your first time being a father, so there are a lot of new things for you.”
.
After Jia Lian left, Jia Mu was stroking the rhinoceros horn teacup in her hand. She remained silent for a long time, with an expression on her face that alternated between happiness and sadness.
Yuanyang stepped forward and said softly:
"Old lady, the tea has gone cold. Could you please change it to a bowl?"
Jia Mu shook her head:
"If you don't eat, if you drink tea at this time, you won't be able to sleep well at night."
Yuanyang took the tea cup from Jia Mu's hand and said softly:
"Old lady, if you think less, you can sleep more soundly at night."
"No, there are so many things going on in this family. If I don't keep track of them, this family will be in chaos."
Jia Mu was tired from sitting, so she collapsed on the couch and sighed:
"They all thought I was an old fool and thought I couldn't figure it out, so they became more and more courageous and became more and more outrageous.
I'm not confused in my head, I understand in my heart, and I don't have any ideas. Unfortunately, I don't have that much strength and energy anymore.
If I were to leave my past alone, I would have to carry out drastic and thorough rectifications no matter what. I would simply go out and cause chaos in exchange for the wealth and peace of the Jia family for the next few decades.
But now, look, is there anyone taking care of serious matters?
As for Girl Feng, she is well-spoken, smart, and neat in doing things, but she is too selfish and has never read a book. Many things are just in front of her eyes. She can be a manager, but not a master.
Now we have an outsider to take charge of the house. His name is unfair and his actions are not transparent. No matter how stable and peaceful he is, he doesn’t mean it after all. Alas——"
Yuanyang has been with Jia Mu for many years, and he probably understands the meaning behind Jia Mu's words, and he also sighed.
However, this is indeed the first time that the old lady has evaluated Wang Xifeng so clearly, which is quite surprising.
She had always thought that the old lady was satisfied with Wang Xifeng being the grandmother of the housekeeper, but now it sounded like that was obviously not the case.
But the question is, if Wang Xifeng is not suitable to be the head of the family, then who is? If Wang Xifeng is not the head of the family, what will Jia Lian do?
After all, Yuanyang was still thinking about Jia Lian, and he hesitated while gently beating his legs for Jia Mu.
After wondering for a long time, Yuanyang still tentatively asked:
"Then why doesn't the old lady let Mr. Lian go to rectify it?"
Jia Mu closed her eyes slightly and sank for a while, then slowly said: