save the bachelors

Chapter 4718 4721 [There is a God above your head]

What’s even more hateful is that the servants of the Jia family are particularly fond of stealing and embezzling money.

For example, the chief steward Lai Da took the opportunity of building the Grand View Garden to engage in massive corruption. He not only donated an official position to his son Lai Shangrong, but also built a garden for his own family.

Although not as big as the Grand View Garden of the Jia family, it is also exquisite and detailed, which surprised Yingchun, Tanchun and others. It is obvious that it is not an ordinary garden.

As a steward, Lai Da's monthly salary was only five taels. If he had not embezzled money, where would he have gotten the money to donate to an official position and build a garden?

In addition to big thieves like him who robbed the company, there were also many petty thieves who stole things.

For example, the servant who was in charge of purchasing rouge only bought inferior rouge that was completely unusable, forcing the young lady to buy it with her own money; another example was the servant who was guarding the door, who liked to receive red envelopes as gifts, otherwise he would not help to report.

These bad habits must also be banned. Otherwise, a thousand-mile dam is destroyed by an ant hole, and even the richest family cannot withstand the gnawing of so many rats.

……

After reading Xiang Nan's draft of the "Family Rules of the Jia Family", Jia Zheng felt that it was quite rigorous, but still had some shortcomings, so he added two more clauses.

One is that everyone in the Jia family must strictly observe loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, and must not overstep the boundaries; the other is that everyone in the Jia family must behave themselves, focus on their own duties, and fulfill their responsibilities.

"The two clauses you added are just right. They are a summary of the main points and follow the details." Xiang Nan said with a smile, "If you have no objection to the other clauses, I will give them to the grandfather and the lady for review. If they have no objection, we will implement them."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zheng nodded.

Xiang Nan then gave the "Family Rules of the Jia Family" to Lady Jia, Mrs. Wang and others for review.

After reading it, Grandmother Jia didn't say anything.

She had also long noticed that the Jia family had been on the decline in recent years.

The masters had experienced three or four generations of wealth and splendor, but now they had become arrogant and extravagant, and only liked to eat, drink, and have fun, and spend money carelessly. Except for Jia Zheng, Jia Jing, and Jia Zhu, there was not a single person who was interested in reading.

Jia Jing finally passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, but he gave up his official position to become a Taoist priest. Jia Zhu finally passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, but he died suddenly, leaving no one in the Jia family to support the family.

The Jia family has always been kind to their servants, and servants who have served the older generation of masters are given more face than the younger masters.

Like Lai Ma, who served Lady Jia, even Jia Zheng, Mrs. Wang, Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng had to show respect to her.

Therefore, Lai Ma's two sons, Lai Da and Lai Sheng, became the housekeepers of the Jia family. They engaged in massive corruption, resulting in a huge loss of Jia family's property.

The upper beam is not straight, and the lower beams are crooked. With them as the leader, the other servants naturally learned to steal and rob the public for their own benefit. As a result, there were few honest people among the servants of the Jia family.

These are all things that must be managed. But she is old and no longer has the energy and spirit. Besides, the housekeeping power has been handed over to Mrs. Wang, so it is not good for her to interfere in the management.

What's more, if you want to discipline the servants, you have to treat them all equally, and Nanny Lai is her maid. They have been friends for decades, so how could she be willing to cut off her own arm?

So she simply turned a blind eye and spent her remaining years in the inner house with her grandchildren. After all, no matter who was shortchanged, it would not be hers.

……

"My son, is it necessary to be so strict?" After reading it, Mrs. Wang agreed with the laws that strictly prohibited her masters from engaging in prostitution and gambling, lending money for interest, monopolizing lawsuits, and taking bribes and perverting the law.

I do think the ten rules for servants are a bit harsh. For example, if they miss work or are absent from work, they will be punished, not only will their salary be deducted, but they may even be fired; if they steal, they will be beaten with a stick; if they embezzle, they will be reported to the authorities... These are all a bit harsh.

"Madam, those who seek the best will get the middle, those who seek the middle will get the worst, and those who seek the worst will get nothing." Xiang Nan explained, "The stricter the family rules are, the better the results will be when they are enforced in the future.

Otherwise, if the family rules are loose at the beginning, they will be even looser in the future. Then the purpose of making family rules will be lost. "

"Madam, Baoyu is right." Grandmother Jia nodded and said, "The family rules should be made stricter so that they can understand the severity of the situation. Otherwise, they will not be scared at the beginning and will not take it seriously."

Seeing what Grandmother Jia said, Lady Wang nodded and said, "Well, since the old lady and the master have said so, then it's settled."

Afterwards, she sent someone to invite Wang Xifeng over and gave her the family rules to review, "From now on, follow these rules."

Wang Xifeng didn't recognize many words and had to listen to others read them first.

When she heard that lending was strictly prohibited, her face changed slightly. However, when she heard that prostitution, gambling, keeping concubines, and raising children were strictly prohibited, her worry turned into joy.

Especially when she heard the ten rules for restraining slaves, she felt like she had found a treasure.

Although she started to manage the household in the past two years and had the support of Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang, not all the servants were obedient and submissive.

She either slacked off or overworked, and more often she just sat on the mountain and watched the fight between two tigers, making up countless jokes to make fun of them. Therefore, although she was smart and versatile, she had really put in a lot of effort as a housekeeper in the past two years.

Now that she has the "Jia Family Rules", she feels much more relaxed.

Anyone who dares to make trouble again will be dealt with according to the family rules, such as salary deduction, beating with a stick, firing, or being sent to justice. This greatly increases the power of her as the housekeeper's daughter-in-law.

Her favorite clauses were those strictly prohibiting prostitution, gambling, keeping mistresses, and raising pedophiles.

Because although she and Jia Lian had a good relationship for the past few years of marriage, Jia Lian had never changed his bad habit of cheating and often went out to have sex.

Moreover, she spent money lavishly, taking out all the money from the oil pot to spend. The little money she earned from private lending could not even fill Jia Lianla's hunger.

Therefore, it would be great if the family rules could really control Jia Lian.

……

"Brother Bao is really thoughtful and has come up with such a good idea." Wang Xifeng said with a smile, "Well, since the ancestors, the master, and the mistress all agree, then it's settled."

"Sister, if you want to promote the rule of law, you must first let everyone know and understand the law." Xiang Nan said, and waved his hand. In an instant, "Jia Family Law" was copied hundreds of times. "Distribute these, one copy for each person, so that they won't talk about it in the future."

"Brother Bao is right." Wang Xifeng said immediately after hearing this, "If we don't give these to them, they will say 'ignorance is the least of their faults'. Now that everyone has a copy, let's see how they can shirk their responsibilities."

"Having family rules is not enough. The key lies in their execution. If there are laws but they are not followed, and if violations are not punished, then the family rules are just a decoration." Xiang Nan said as he took out a roll of parchment. "Sister, this roll of parchment is for you. Let all the servants sign their names and handprints on it."

"What's the use of this?" Wang Xifeng asked curiously.

"I have cast a curse on this parchment. From now on, anyone who dares to break the family rules will have their mistakes carved directly on their faces, making it clear at a glance." Xiang Nan smiled and said, "This is what we call 'there is a god above your head'."

Wang Xifeng was surprised to hear him say this.