The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

It would be better to turn it into an outside shop, or have Zhao Guoji, the blood relative who has already been deregistered, help take care of it.

There are some things you really have to be wary of!

Once the Lai family, Jia Lian, and Wang Xifeng and her husband start causing trouble, no matter how much Jia Huan tries to remain inconspicuous, he won't be able to easily stay out of it.

At the very least, Lady Wang would know that Jia Huan had a share of the profits Jia Lian received from the Sihai Gambling House. How could she possibly keep it?

Hearing that Jia Huan earned over a thousand taels of silver every year, Aunt Zhao was both surprised and delighted, and naturally wanted to take advantage of him.

How could Jia Huan possibly agree to that?

In short, he finally signed a series of unequal treaties and promised to give Aunt Zhao two hundred taels of silver every year, which dispelled Aunt Zhao's greedy ideas.

Jia Huan didn't mind at all; it was quite good that he could spend two hundred taels of silver to make Aunt Zhao happy.

After that, things were simple. Jia Huan went directly to Wang Xifeng and easily obtained the slave contract of his blood uncle Zhao Guoji without spending a single penny more.

That's the good thing about having an alliance of interests!

So what if Jia Huan is young? No matter how shrewd and capable Wang Xifeng is, she will not play tricks on those who have an alliance of interests; she can't afford to lose face like that.

Besides, don't underestimate Jia Huan just because he's young; he's got a knack for getting things done.

Who knows when, Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian might need Jia Huan to cause trouble outside and help share some of the burden.

At this time, rumors about the Lai family suddenly began to circulate in the mansion.

What do you call this? You call it striking first to gain the upper hand!

The Lai family had a lot of troubles, and Wang Xifeng knew most of the details. Even if the rumors were exaggerated, they wouldn't cause much harm or impact on the Lai family.

For example, could rumors that the Lai family is all-powerful in the Rong Mansion, so powerful that even the proper masters except for the old lady have to give them face, really harm the Lai family?

Even if Master Zheng was unhappy, Grandmother Jia only needed to say a few words to suppress him.

For example, the Lai family placed their own people in the Rong Mansion's management positions, and even the second mistress of the housekeeper, Lian, felt the pressure, but it didn't have much impact on the Lai family.

I bet the old lady would love for this to happen!

In this way, it is beneficial and harmless for them to continue to control the Rong Mansion!

To have any effect on the rumors about the Lai family, we have to cross the old lady's bottom line.

For example, Chief Steward Lai looked down on Master Zheng, and privately joked that Master Zheng was stuck in the position of Assistant Minister of Works for twenty years without wavering.

For example, the Lai family had five large courtyards outside, and everything that Granny Lai ate, wore, and enjoyed was comparable to, or even better than, that of the old lady.

The most impressive one was Lai Shangrong from the Lai family. He received the same treatment as Jia Baoyu, the phoenix egg, in his own home. Whether it was food, clothing, daily necessities, the number of maids around him, or any other aspect, he was in no way inferior to him.

These rumors had only just begun to circulate within the mansion and had not yet caused much of a stir.

Jia Huan only found out because Aunt Zhao, who was always talking, told him.

He immediately realized that this was likely a tactic employed by Wang Xifeng and her husband Jia Lian against the Lai family.

In front of Wang Xifeng, he pretended not to have heard these rumors and spoke his mind: "I am too young to own property outside the family before we separate from the family!"

"It's not safe to keep too much money at home. It would be more convenient to have Zhao Guoji leave the household registration and help me manage the businesses outside!"

"You little rascal, why are you thinking so much at such a young age?"

Wang Xifeng rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Do you think my aunt would even care about your little bit of money?"

"Hehe, you never know!"

Jia Huan chuckled softly and said leisurely, "Second sister-in-law has focused all her attention on handling the internal affairs of the mansion and is not very aware of the situation outside!"

At this point, he deliberately lowered his voice and said, "My classmates at the clan school personally witnessed Zhou Rui, the head steward, lending money at exorbitant interest rates outside!"

This is not something he made up; it is a true story.

People like Madam Wang and her trusted henchman Zhou Rui always kept their actions secret from their superiors, not their subordinates.

Even if Zhou Rui is very careful, things like lending money at exorbitant interest rates will eventually be exposed.

If the target audience doesn't know about this, how can they lend out money at exorbitant interest rates?

Some of the servants in the Rong family were also targets for usury.

"Is that unlikely?"

Wang Xifeng hesitated, her tone filled with disbelief...

"Second sister-in-law, do you believe me if I say that the madam doesn't mean anything by this?"

Chapter 44: The Severely Underrated Jia Lian (Please Read On)

Judging from Wang Xifeng's tone and expression, she was not involved in usury at this time.

Come to think of it, Wang Xifeng had only been married into the Rong family for a short time. Although the Rong family's public finances were not very good, they were not yet at the point of being unable to make ends meet.

The Rong family's finances truly ran into trouble when the heads of the eight estates discovered Wang Xifeng's true nature and began making various excuses and reasons not to hand over the harvest.

By then, Wang Xifeng, who was obsessed with seizing power, had to use her dowry to supplement the household expenses in order to maintain the dignity of the mansion. That's when she started to make money by any means necessary.

Of course, Madam Wang must have given Wang Xifeng a push from behind, causing her to jump directly into the fire pit.

Madam Wang is like a Pixiu, a creature that only takes in and never gives out.

Despite his lack of ability, he was ruthless in lining his own pockets by extorting money from public funds and other sources.

The practice of usury is quite common among wealthy and powerful families.

When productivity is low, collecting land rent and lending money are the most stable sources of income.

The eldest brother doesn't laugh at the second brother; there are plenty of families that lend money at exorbitant interest rates.

To be honest, even the royal family was lending money at exorbitant interest rates.

According to rumors Jia Huan had heard, the largest pawnshops in the capital were all backed by the imperial family.

There were also famous money shops and gambling dens, all of which had some connection with the royal family.

However, the royal family's usury loans were only available to the wealthy, and had nothing to do with ordinary people or the poor.

Naturally, the issue of debt collection will not cause widespread public resentment and complaints.

The wealthy and powerful families in Beijing have all gotten involved to some extent, since this kind of business is truly a way to make money without lifting a finger.

As can be seen from the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, Wang Xifeng was quite unscrupulous in lending money at exorbitant interest rates.

If the target is directly ordinary people, how can they withstand the turmoil?

If things went wrong, it could lead to the destruction of the family and the death of the people. As a result, Wang Xifeng and the Rong Mansion behind her naturally accumulated a lot of public resentment.

Lady Wang, who pushed Wang Xifeng into the fire pit, was probably also a person who lent money at exorbitant interest rates and had no scruples.

They could have targeted merchants in the capital, but instead chose ordinary people. Perhaps there were too many loan sharks, and Madam Wang didn't have the patience to wait for her subordinates to get business going.

The reason I told Wang Xifeng about Madam Wang instructing Zhou Rui to lend money at exorbitant interest rates was to let her know that Madam Wang would definitely covet the money in his possession.

That's over a thousand taels of silver every year, maybe even more!

Having successfully obtained the slave contract from his blood uncle, Zhao Guoji was able to go to the yamen to complete the household registration procedures without needing Jia Huan's intervention.

Meanwhile, Jia Huan, who was currently working at the yamen, had just met a business partner.

That is the other owner of the Four Seas Gambling House, the Commander of the West City of the Five Cities Garrison!

Perhaps this commander was just a representative of the West City Military Command. In any case, he and Jia Huan were in a cooperative relationship, so asking him for a small favor would be easy.

Since the partner has changed, the other party naturally wants to meet with him.

The commander of the western city of the Five Cities Garrison was quite enthusiastic when he saw Jia Lian, showing no displeasure at being forced into a partnership, as if Jia Lian were his best friend.

Even when Jia Lian came to meet them, he brought a small child along to broaden their horizons, but they didn't feel the slightest bit unhappy and were extremely polite.

Jia Lian was a master of social interaction. Seeing the other party's warm attitude, his worries immediately disappeared, and then they ate, drank, and had fun, enjoying themselves to the fullest.

As for Lai Er, who was still kept in the dark and had already lost his right to dividends, he was simply ignored.

"Second Brother Lian, you can rest assured now!"

After seeing the person off, Jia Huan chuckled and said, "I've said it before, outside the mansion, people recognize us as members of the Jia family, not the so-called head steward of the Ning Mansion!"

"I've never experienced anything like this before, have I?"

With a broad smile, Jia Lian laughed heartily, "The people I've encountered when I've been out on business before have never been this enthusiastic!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Huan rolled his eyes in anger.

Although he was not clear about the details of Jia Lian's previous business trips outside the manor, he knew that most of them were matters between the manor's businesses.

Outsiders may not know the internal workings of the Rong Mansion, but how could the person in charge of the Rong Mansion's properties not know?

In addition, Jia Lian is frivolous and flamboyant, and it is obvious at a glance that he is not capable of accomplishing anything. How could he possibly get good feedback when dealing with matters?

How could those in charge on the front lines of the industry not be able to tell whether someone has real skills or not?

Jia Lian probably had most of his mind on making money, and it was wishful thinking for him to want the approval of the managers below. He would be lucky if he wasn't fooled.

The cooperation with the commander of the western city of the Five Cities Military Command is another matter entirely.

Jia Lian's identity is quite intimidating.

At this time, the Ning and Rong mansions had not yet completely fallen from the ranks of the top-tier noble families.