Chapter 450

Jiang Mingyuan turned to look at Mu Nan Zhao, his bright, clear smile instantly turning bland and tasteless.

He clasped his hands in salute, "This official pays respects to the Regent Prince."

Mu Nan Zhao had already approached, waving his hand, "Ah, Magistrate Jiang, no need for excessive courtesy."

"I, the Regent Prince, came today not for official business; Magistrate Jiang, feel free to relax."

Jiang Mingyuan silently adjusted his posture, thinking, Not for official business? Hah, it is too.

Gu Xixi is the big boss of this tea garden; Mu Nan Zhao coming here to supervise work also makes sense.

That amounts to…… the madam?

Jiang Mingyuan was also startled by his own sudden thought.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and reflected inwardly: Officially, the Regent Prince is an upright official who employs the virtuous, his abilities surpassing all, beyond reproach, truly worthy of being the foremost among officials; as a subordinate, he should not disrespect his superior.

Privately, as a scholar, how could I allow a momentary jealousy to spawn such a spiteful thought?

Improper, truly improper.

The mule cart climbed onto a gentle slope.

Gu Xixi had already seen Jiang Mingyuan and Mu Nan Zhao there ahead of time; she got off the carriage and walked toward them smiling.

Mu Nan Zhao smiled at Gu Xixi, his peripheral glance flicking to Jiang Mingyuan, inevitably muttering to himself again.

This person just moments ago was smiling as if bathed in ten miles of spring breeze; now Gu Xixi is about to reach him, yet his brows are deeply knotted, wearing a look of deep hatred and sorrow?

Before Mu Nan Zhao could see whether Jiang Mingyuan still had any hidden tricks.

Shitou had already passed Gu Xixi, laughing loudly as he ran over, "Master Mu, why are you here again!"

Mu Nan Zhao had to temporarily set aside other thoughts, smiling at Shitou, "I'm coming home; aren't you happy?"

Shitou hehehed a few times, "Happy!"

"Not only am I happy, Gu Xixi is happy, Granny Zhang is happy, Doctor Grandfather is happy! Everyone's happy, Lv Jing is happy too, thus the whole family is happy!"

The road was pitted; Gu Xixi and Lv Jing stepped deep and shallow, finally reaching them.

Gu Xixi laughed, "Shitou's every sentence is about happiness; listening to him I'm almost getting dizzy."

Speaking, she clasped her hands toward Jiang Mingyuan in greeting, "Brother Zi Chu, you've been working hard lately."

Everyone looked at Shitou and laughed.

Jiang Mingyuan returned the salute with a smile, "Not hard at all; this is simply the duty of the Government Office."

He glanced at Mu Nan Zhao, a faint sourness still welling up inside.

Previously, Gu Xixi's treatment of Mu Nan Zhao was still fairly courteous.

But now, Gu Xixi remains courteous toward Jiang Mingyuan, yet less so toward Mu Nan Zhao.

The change, and the reason for this obvious distinction, Jiang Mingyuan certainly understands in his heart.

Thus he proactively turned to official business, producing a booklet and first handing it to Gu Xixi.

"The hired workers total forty-five, among whom five are responsible for cooking—the stewards and cooks."

"This booklet registers each person's name, identity, and corresponding daily wages."

"Prepared by the County Office chief clerk together with his subordinates; take a look—is it still clear and understandable?"

Gu Xixi took it, flipped through while smiling and nodding, "Clear at a glance."

"The chief clerk of the County Office handling documents and accounts is naturally the most professional."

She looked at Jiang Mingyuan, "Tomorrow I will first deliver ten days' wages to the County Office."

"Since the County Office is handling the recruitment, I will not interfere with wage payment."

"If the work isn't finished after ten days, I will send more."

Under normal circumstances, there is no Government Office that dislikes receiving money.

Those with power and influence naturally have many connections.

With so much silver, even just passing it through one's hands can make money breed money in a mere two or three days.

Jiang Mingyuan, however, disagreed, "Wage payment should still be done by you; you are the big boss of the tea garden."

"In the future, aren't you still going to hire formal tea garden workers?"

He does not hide that he is thinking of Gu Xixi's benefit, speaking openly.

"Establishing prestige early will be advantageous for your future endeavors."

Gu Xixi pondered briefly, then understood Jiang Mingyuan's good intention.

Once the tea garden operates, it will certainly need to recruit long-term workers locally.

The advantage is no need to provide food and lodging, wages are not high, thus costs are somewhat lower.

The drawback is also obvious: being all locals, they easily clique together forming small groups.

Managing them will likely not be easy.

Especially since Gu Xixi is still an unmarried young maiden.

To ordinary eyes, those who don't know her will inevitably at first harbor a three-part contempt.

Therefore, as the big boss, Gu Xixi must win over the crowd and thus needs to plan early.

Paying wages is one opportunity to establish prestige.

After all, copper coins are visible and tangible, the simplest and most direct incentive.

Regardless of whether these hired workers will later be able to work at the tea garden.

In any case, we must thereby bind Gu Xixi's reputation with the tea garden and spread it early.

We want the locals to know who will have the final say over the newly built big tea garden in Qing Tian County.

Gu Xixi pondered a moment, then said, "Good, since wages are paid daily, today for the first time I will personally distribute them."

Jiang Mingyuan nodded, "I know you're busy; before this work is completed, the tea garden also has no agricultural technical matters."

You don't have to make a trip every day just to hand out wages.

This time we can use the reward as a reason.

Let Gu Boss advance one day's wages to everyone, and afterwards we'll still follow the original rules—how does that sound?

The Government Office has already informed the hired workers that wages will be calculated daily, but payment will only be made after a final settlement at the end.

Based on each person's number of work days, wages will be settled immediately the day after the work period ends, with no delay.

Because the County Office is guaranteeing it, and the wages are decent.

Those who are finally able to sign the contract are, of course, those who have no objections to it.

Seeing that Jiang Mingyuan had considered everything so thoroughly, Gu Xixi naturally had no objections.

She thanked him sincerely and said from the heart, "In terms of employing people and handling affairs, I am far inferior to Brother Zi Chu."

In the future, I should listen more to Brother Zi Chu's advice.

Jiang Mingyuan shook his head with a wry smile, "Forget it; if I had only just met you, I would have believed such flattery."

If you don't bring up certain matters yourself, it's probably because you have reservations and don't want me to put you in a difficult position.

The Government Office is filled with redundant staff; as an official, Jiang Mingyuan also oversees dozens of clerks of various ranks beneath him.

If these people cannot actively support the work, or are lazy and neglect their duties,

I fear that even the magistrate, when undertaking matters, will encounter obstacles everywhere.

Gu Xixi understood the hidden rules, which is why she proposed handing over ten days' wages to the County Office.

The purpose was to give the people in the County Office a little sweetener.

This would both ensure the tea plantation's smooth progress and provide a small boost to Jiang Mingyuan's official career.

However, everyone is smart enough; making this point clear is sufficient.

Gu Xixi just laughed and said, "I didn't think of all that; it's Brother Zi Chu who is so meticulous."

Jiang Mingyuan gazed at her with a smile, yet his eyes held a force that left no room for doubt.

"Sister Xixi has great confidence in her farming skill."

"How could I fail at even this small task of mine, and instead make you worry for me?"

Lv Jing listened with great interest, then suddenly glanced worriedly at Mu Nan Zhao.

Strange!

The landlord and Lord Jiang were discussing matters, yet the Regent Prince was quietly watching from the side, and not at all anxious?