Xiaoyaoshanjun

Chapter 196 Tian Mansion
It started snowing outside at night, and by the next morning the outside was covered in snow.

The Tian family handed over the trivial matters in the village to Zhang Xia and Bai Yanhong.

Bai Lian was busy taking care of the children and managing the inner court.

The Li sisters didn't like dealing with those vulgar country people, and even felt it was beneath them to order them around.

Zhou Jiao was originally good at farm work and miscellaneous chores, but now she is pregnant with her second child, and has to take care of Xiaodian who runs around all day and is a worry. In addition, she has a lot of other things to do, so she left some things to Zhang Bai and the others.

Many things, even those involving ordering people around, are matters of status.

It was also a disguised recognition of the two people's status and position in the Tian Mansion.

Zhang Xia and Bai Yanhong both follow Zhou Jiao, and Zhou Jiao is responsible for assigning various tasks on a daily basis.

Early in the morning, Zhang Xia and Bai Yanhong came to Zhou Jiao's room.

Zhou Jiao is dressing Xiaodian.

It was cold outside and the child didn't want to get up in the morning. He was not as well-behaved as usual. After being slapped by Zhou Jiao and becoming obedient, he stood on the bed crying and allowed Zhou Jiao to do whatever she wanted.

While Zhou Jiao was helping Xiaodian put on her cotton-padded jacket, she scolded him, "Girl, we have to send the master off today, and everyone in the mansion has to watch. How dare you stay in bed? Don't cry!"

Xiaodian was hurt by the beating and started crying out of grievance, but he didn't dare to scream loudly.

Zhou Jiao had been pregnant for just over four months, and because she had previous experience, she didn’t feel very tired.

While dressing his daughter, who was restless and trying to resist silently, he was giving instructions to the three women in the room.

"It's snowing outside today. Let's ask Niu Ma to go to the village and call a few temporary workers to sweep the snow in the village. The wages will be only seven or eight cents, the same as last year."

Not only were Zhang Xia and Bai Yanhong in the room, but also Mei Xiuzhu, who had nothing to do in the morning and came over to play with Xiaodian.

Mei Xiuzhu heard this and said, "Don't you have a farmhand at home?"

Zhou Jiao came from a wealthy family. She explained, "The servants and long-term workers in the house have been spoiled by the sisters. They have to be rewarded for everything they do. In addition to serving people and serving tea and water, they have to be rewarded more for doing even the smallest things. Otherwise, they won't work hard. It's more convenient to use short-term workers."

Mei Xiuzhu understood after hearing this, and then she thought about the situation of her own sect and found that it was indeed the case.

"Are there not a few loyal ones?"

Zhou Jiao smiled and said, "What loyalty? There are many who are treacherous. Just be honest and obedient. Even if they are loyal, there are many who are greedy for money."

Seeing that Mei Xiuzhu didn't understand, Zhou Jiao explained, "Our family is different. There are many brothers and sisters in the outside mansion. In those big families with dozens of people, how many people care about the family? There are many who are traitors."

"If even our own family members can't be loyal, how can we expect others to be loyal?"

"Just pay the money and they'll do the job. With the master here, we don't have to worry about those evil ways. People inside and outside the palace all come here to avoid disasters, but there are only a few of us sitting on this big boat."

"It's like a tree with too many fruits. If there are too many fruits, the branches will break."

Mei Xiuzhu seemed to be thinking about something.

Zhou Jiao didn't take it seriously, and quickly explained to Zhang Xia and Bai Yanhong what needed to be done today. She asked the two of them to instruct the servants in the mansion to do the work, and even stipulated the range of reward for each person to avoid unnecessary work.

After a while, the maid ran in and said, "Grandma, Dou Niang next door took her son to the master's yard and was talking. It seems that she will not leave in the morning."

After hearing this, Xiaodian quickly wanted to sit down and continue sleeping.

But Zhou Jiao didn't spoil this girl. She glared at her when she saw the little girl sitting on the warm bed.

The little girl got up obediently again.

"I'm going to go play with my dad." Xiaodian suddenly wanted to go find her loving dad.

Zhou Jiao scolded, "Why are you going? Your two brothers are waiting to go! Get up and eat!"

Bai Yanhong and Zhang Xia quickly went to do their work with a smile.

Their job was simple, they just asked the maid in the mansion to go out and notify the temporary workers in the village to do the work, and then arranged a slave and several long-term workers to cooperate, and the wages were also different. There were maids, slaves, long-term workers, and temporary workers in the family.

Maids are equivalent to secretaries, slaves are employees of state-owned enterprises, permanent workers are equivalent to temporary workers, and short-term workers are volunteers.

When there is work to do, I go to the village to call for temporary workers.

Temporary workers are usually single men, especially those who are thin, unsuccessful, and unmarried men who look poor and have no land.

Long-term workers are usually single people who are good at work or the breadwinners of the family. These people can not only obtain work contracts that are renewed every three months or six months, but can also rent land from farmers.

Slaves are people who do not farm the land but are specifically responsible for guarding or doing work in the mansion. There are only dozens of them, and most of them were brought by the three women mentioned above. They are all relatives and are difficult to order around.

The maids were not brought by themselves. Unlike slaves, the four women would select their own maids. They would also buy little girls from the village and train them themselves. Those who were too stupid would not be accepted.

The Tian family has huge assets. In addition to thousands of acres of fertile land, there are also various gold, silver and jewelry. It is definitely not enough to rely on the hundreds of people at the beginning, so it has now expanded to seven or eight hundred people.

The population of Tiancun also increased rapidly, and many people fled here and settled here.

The imperial court prohibited refugees from moving around, nor did it allow them to go to other places to cultivate land and open up wasteland. They had to obey the imperial court's command, otherwise it would be a serious crime to open up wasteland privately.

Many refugees also wanted to go to good places to become farmers, but the locals would not accept them and the imperial court would not allow it.

Tian Village happened to be short of people, so they were willing to accept them, and the government and the surrounding villages also gave them face and did not pursue the matter.

After almost everyone had arrived, Tiancun still did not welcome the refugees to get on the bus.

It wasn't just Tian Buli of the Tian family who was unwelcome, it was the people of Tian Village, young and old, and thousands of ordinary people.

Tian Buli knew many things better than Zhou Jiao. He was a wage earner himself and often dealt with servants from large families, so he naturally knew what was going on.

While chatting with Dou Niang, I learned about some ordinary little things happening in the two mansions, and combined with daily expenses, I roughly understood the current level.

The gentry in the feudal era all had their own stable model, a management model that was in line with the current era and local conditions.

This is a very advanced and scientific system, which can be said to have been refined through thousands of trials and tribulations and has been shaped into the best model under various pressures from the public.

First of all, the person in power in the palace must have the choice between force and power. Otherwise, even if he has a huge family business, it will be quickly eaten up by the lower class.

Force and power can ensure that the probability of people below stealing or robbing is lower.

The second is majesty. Things like stealing must be severely punished, otherwise the country folk and the servants in the mansion will let you know what human nature is.

Then there are clear rewards and punishments, and clear wages and benefits.

Finally, it is the long-term interests that ensure the future generations, which can make some people willing to sacrifice themselves to protect the big family and ensure the continuation of their own family.

In this feudal era, if an individual wanted to survive, he had to have someone to back him up, otherwise he would easily die of poverty.

Just like those people in the village who can't even find a temporary job, these people either did something wrong and have a bad reputation, or they are physically disabled. They are the kind of lonely people who have to fend for themselves.

Tian Buli's own existence ensures the continuation of the Tian family.

The rest of the families rely on power to continue, the most important of which is official position.

Being an official is the least risky way to continue to have power and wealth.

There is a possibility of bankruptcy when doing business, and if you want to make a living by your cooking skills, you also have to consider the right time, place and people.

Only being an official has extremely low risks and can bring wealth and dignity.

People from large families can already guarantee that their descendants will serve as officials for generations, but people from small families cannot yet guarantee that their descendants will pass the imperial examinations.

Cultivating immortals is obviously one level higher than being an official, and is a super version of the continuation of power, wealth and status.

Tian Buli soon left and returned to the immortal sect to practice, but the Tian family remained prosperous.

(End of this chapter)