Chapter 828: Dividing the Tripod to Sacrifice Prosperity and Decline

Rongguo Prefecture, Lixiang Courtyard.

The hall was as warm as spring, tea fragrance was lingering, the scent was subtle, and pretty faces were like flowers, reflecting each other's brilliance.

Yingchun, Daiyu, and Baochai were either drinking tea and chatting about daily life, or commenting on embroidery fan faces.

After sitting for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, Yingchun and Daiyu stood up to say goodbye, walking together to Rongxi Hall to see Jia Cong.

Hearing the movement outside quiet down from the inner room, Xue Yima lifted the curtain and entered the hall, just in time to see Yingchun and Daiyu leaving the courtyard.

She said, "Looking at it, another year has passed. Yingchun is a year older than you. Last year, many families wanted to discuss marriage.

I heard the Old Ancestor mention that they were all noble and wealthy families in the capital, but I didn't expect this girl wouldn't nod, and the Old Ancestor didn't urge her either.

No matter how outstanding a girl's appearance is, it's not good to drag it out to an older age. Your sister Yuanchun will return home next year, and it will be the same path."

Baochai smiled, "Mother, you are thinking too narrowly. Second Sister is different from before; she is now the Eldest Young Lady of the East Prefecture, and her status is very noble.

She is also in mourning now, so even if it's a few years later, she won't be afraid of not being able to marry into a high-ranking family. I understand Second Sister's thoughts; she wants to accompany Cong Brother for a few more years.

Although Sister Yuanchun is older, she is the most knowledgeable among the sisters. Such an outstanding girl will naturally have a place to return to."

Xue Yima smiled, "Cong Ge'er and his sister are also rare. Yingchun treasures her brother too much, not even taking marriage to heart."

Baochai said, "This is also excellent. Sometimes I envy Second Sister for having such a brother to support her.

Because of this, the Old Ancestor doesn't dare to force her to discuss marriage too much. Second Sister can make her own decisions; what a good thing that is.

Not to mention Second Sister's good fortune, even Sister Xiuyan is excellent. Her nature is peaceful and open-minded, not fighting or grabbing, and she will have good fortune in the future."

Xue Yima smiled, "When you mention this Miss Xing, I saw her for the first time in Rongqing Hall, and she truly is an outstanding figure.

Everyone says a golden phoenix flies out of a chicken coop. She has an aunt like the Big Lady, and her own parents are also ordinary people, yet they raised such an outstanding girl.

At that time, it really moved my heart, but unfortunately, Cong Ge'er got her. I wanted to play matchmaker, but it was too late.

This girl is good in every way, but her background is a bit humble, not worthy of the Jia family's status.

Although she has a name with Cong Ge'er, she can only be a concubine in the end, which is a pity."

Hearing this, Baochai couldn't help but be lost in thought, putting down the embroidery frame in her hand.

She said, "Sister Xiuyan's appearance is outstanding, simple and pure; this is Heaven's favor. Although her family background is ordinary, it is just the common principle of gain and loss.

How many people in the world can have all the success in the world?

Although Sister Xiuyan doesn't have a prominent family background, she is calm and content, gentle and kind, and knows her heart and values affection. Cong Brother is very attentive to this cousin of his daily.

It is easy to seek priceless treasures, but hard to find a loving man. Being able to be treated like this by Cong Brother, Sister Xiuyan has her heart placed, so how could she care about these empty names?"

Hearing her daughter's words, Xue Yima vaguely guessed her daughter's thoughts and felt a bit of a headache, her heart swaying back and forth.

She sighed, "I know your thoughts over these years. Who can't see that he is excellent? It's just that now it's becoming increasingly difficult to be a match.

The Xue family is a great clan in Jin Ling, on par with the Jia family as one of the Four Great Families. For generations, our bloodlines have intermarried, all legitimate and proper, so we cannot break the rules.

You are the eldest legitimate daughter of the Xue family's eldest branch; how can you act as conveniently as Miss Xing..."

Baochai's face turned a bit pale, and she said, "I know Mother is an experienced person. Why say these things during the New Year? I'm a bit tired, so I'll go into the room and lie down for a while."

Seeing her daughter get up and return to her room, Xue Yima couldn't help but worry.

Her daughter was becoming increasingly obsessed. When Cong Ge'er was granted a title years ago, everyone else was jubilant, but only she was unwilling and unhappy in her heart.

Now she was even using Miss Xing to talk about things. She had been possessed by someone and was beyond help...

Jia Zhao Year 15, the 28th day of the 12th lunar month.

New Year's Eve was approaching. The sky was slightly bright, and goose-feather snow began to fall, fluttering and swirling. In less than an hour, everything was covered in silver.

In the magnificent and vast Shenjing City, from the sporadic sound of firecrackers to the gradually continuous sound, the rich atmosphere of the New Year quietly climbed.

From the main gate and the ceremonial gate of the Rongguo Prefecture, all the way to Rongqing Hall and Rongxi Hall, the main gates were wide open.

Along the covered walkways and the eaves of the halls, vermilion and gold-painted lanterns were hung high, like two red golden dragons extending into the inner courtyard.

Everywhere in the prefecture, door gods, couplets, and hanging plaques were changed, and the peach wood charms were freshly oiled, taking on a brand-new look.

Because the Count's mansion had not been established for long and had been renovated and repaired for less than two years, the mansion was still brand new and magnificent.

The New Year decorations everywhere in the mansion followed the regulations of the Rongguo Prefecture, but were even more imposing than the West Prefecture, revealing a unique and vibrant vitality.

Originally, as New Year's Eve approached, the shops on Ningrong Street would close, and every family would close their doors to spend the New Year, making the street even quieter than before.

But on this day, just as the hour of Chen arrived, before the sky was bright, the street was crowded with people, with shouting people and neighing horses, the atmosphere boiling and unusually noisy.

A large number of carriages and horses came from the distant Liaodong, transporting various New Year goods, entering Ningrong Street in a mighty procession, with no end in sight.

When these carriage teams reached the middle of the street, they stopped in separate teams at the gates of the East and West Prefectures.

The east and west corner gates of the two prefectures were opened, and the stewards of the two prefectures led many servants to move and count the items in an orderly manner.

Many neighbors on Ningrong Street came out to watch, envious of the luxury and aristocratic style of the two Jia family prefectures during the New Year.

Since Jia Cong was granted a title with a reduced rank, the eight farmstead titles originally in Liaodong had now been reduced to six.

These farmsteads were originally managed by the old Jia family slave Wu Jinxian, but this person relied on the fact that the Jia family was far away and had been ruthlessly exploiting the farmstead harvests for years.

Last year, the six farmsteads of the Rongguo Prefecture in Liaodong only handed over 5,000 taels of harvest for the whole year, with Wu Jinxian embezzling up to 40%.

The reason Wu Jinxian was so unscrupulous was because he had colluded with the West Prefecture steward Lai Da back then. Jia Cong naturally wouldn't tolerate such evil.

The East Prefecture's farmstead titles were also in Liaodong, managed by Zhou Guangcheng of the Liaodong branch of the Xin Chun Hao. Wu Jinxian's actions naturally couldn't be hidden from Zhou Guangcheng.

After Wu Jinxian entered the capital last New Year's Eve, he had already been dismissed by Jia Cong as the farmstead manager, and the West Prefecture's Liaodong farmsteads were handed over to Zhou Guangcheng to manage.

This year, the carriage teams of the two prefectures' farmsteads were much larger than in previous years, with the number of carriages and horses increasing by 30%.

Experienced stewards like Lin Zhixiao could see that this year's farmstead harvest would definitely be far higher than last year's.

Wang Xifeng in the inner courtyard received the news and felt quite happy.

Last year, the farmsteads only handed over 5,000 taels of harvest, and the West Prefecture's public funds were tight all year. As the manager, Wang Xifeng suffered from the embarrassment of poverty.

This year, as long as there were one or two thousand taels more, the public funds would be much more generous in the coming year.

Therefore, when the West Prefecture's farmstead carriage team unloaded and moved the goods, counting the harvest numbers in the outer courtyard, Wang Xifeng didn't want to miss it.

She took Ping'er in a sedan chair, let Lin Zhixiao lead the maids and old women to serve, entered the outer courtyard side hall to hang up the pearl curtains, and listened carefully to the numbers being counted.

Through the pearl curtains, she saw Lin Zhixiao arrange for clever servants to count the numbers of various agricultural goods, verify the reported accounts, and have the managers sing out the numbers loudly.

"Thirty deer, twenty-five roe deer, forty chamois, twenty-five Siamese pigs, twenty wild boars, fifteen cured pigs."

"Thirty wild sheep, thirty green sheep, five hundred catties of various miscellaneous fish."

"Two hundred live chickens, ducks, and geese each, eighty wind-dried chickens, ducks, and geese."

"Twenty pairs of bear paws, thirty catties of deer tendons, seventy deer tongues, eighty cow tongues, eighty catties of sea cucumber, one hundred catties of dried razor clams."

"Two thousand catties of top-grade silver frost charcoal, two thousand catties of medium charcoal, three thousand catties of firewood charcoal."

"Thirty shi of imperial rouge rice, ninety hu of white glutinous rice, sixty hu of green glutinous rice, one hundred hu of each color of miscellaneous grain, one thousand eight hundred shi of common rice for lower use..."

Ping'er and Caiming listened to the accounts from outside while checking the farmstead accounts from last year, calculating the difference in harvest between the two years.

After the numbers outside the hall were counted, Ping'er had already calculated the difference in harvest between the two years.

She smiled, "Grandmother, this year is a bumper harvest. The harvest of the six farmsteads is 40% more than last year.

Last year's farmstead harvest was worth 5,137 taels of silver, and this year's harvest is worth 8,597 taels of silver, which is 60% more than last year.

This is partly because the weather wasn't good last year. Even if we subtract that, it's still 40% more income than usual."

Wang Xifeng was full of smiles, but she gritted her teeth and said, "That old beheaded beast Wu Jinxian had a heart too black. He embezzled so much last year.

Think about it, this was just last year. If we add up the previous years, the things he ate up would be worth half a Rongguo Prefecture.

Fortunately, Cong Brother has connections in Liaodong; otherwise, with the mountains high and the waters far, even if we had suspicions, it wouldn't be easy to catch his mistakes.

Just this one item alone is more than 3,000 taels. The public funds will be much more generous next year, and we won't have to go around plucking wool everywhere, tearing down the east wall to patch the west wall.

Ping'er, in these few days, I want to talk to Cong Brother about this. Wu Jinxian is a slave of the Jia family; he can't just get away with embezzling these things.

He must spit it all out; otherwise, if the slaves in the family follow his example in the future, wouldn't it all be a rebellion!

In previous years, you saw me managing the household strictly, and everyone seemed afraid, but actually, we were all frogs in a well.

Dogs like Lai Da and Wu Jinxian colluded outside to embezzle the master's wealth. How could we women in the inner courtyard know half of it?

Fortunately, now that we have Cong Brother standing tall in the family, we can restore the family style. It was truly too improper before."

Ping'er heard Wang Xifeng praise Jia Cong and felt sweet and satisfied in her heart, saying, "Grandmother, we can finally have a good New Year this year."

Wang Xifeng smiled, "Zhou Guangcheng, the man under Cong Brother, is truly a capable person. The West Prefecture's farmsteads became a goose that lays golden eggs in his hands.

Last New Year's Eve, Cong Brother had only been granted a title for half a year, and the East Prefecture's farmsteads harvested more than 3,000 taels. This year, it will likely be 6,000 taels for the whole year.

If this continues for three or five years, and we cut back on extravagant expenses, the West Prefecture's family foundation can become thick again.

But we should just know this; don't go blabbing it outside, lest someone knows the details and develops thoughts they shouldn't have."

Ping'er smiled slightly, knowing who Wang Xifeng was referring to.

Wang Xifeng said, "The more it gets to this time, the less we can be careless about clan laws and family rules." ===== CHAPTER 829 =====