After half a month, the jury was finally formed, but then Shan Jingfan pointed out that a key witness was not in place and needed a detailed investigation, so he applied for a ten-day extension.
During this period, Lu Ming and his family moved to No. 23 Hepu Road.
This is a small Western-style building by the Bihu Lake.
The entire courtyard covers an area of more than ten acres. In Lu Ming's opinion, the three-story building has some of the architectural style of his previous life that combines Chinese and Western styles. It has both the brightness of high doors and large windows, as well as the elegance of flying eaves and pointed corners. There are more than twenty rooms on the three floors, with running water, electricity and telephone.
Behind the three-story main building, there is a large flat green lawn, a swimming pool, parasols, lounge chairs, etc., and next to it are colorful flower beds.
Outside the backyard wall is a lotus pond with rippling green waves and green leaves everywhere.
In the front yard, there is a slightly low long auxiliary building on the far left. The first floor and the basement are storage rooms, warehouses, etc. The second floor is more like a balcony extended from the main building. A glass awning for sun protection and rain protection is built on the north half, and there are several rooms on the south half with shooting holes facing the wall. It seems that the original design was to be a firing point for counterattacks when encountering bandits.
On the far right side of the courtyard is also a slightly low annex building, which houses the kitchen, servants' room, guards' residence, etc.
Such a residence only costs more than 30,000 yuan. Because there is property tax in all parts of the empire, housing prices have never been a problem.
The economic trajectory is similar to that of the Western powers that Lu Ming knew in history. Property tax appeared 150 years ago, and the craze for real estate speculation appeared more than 100 years ago. In the previous life, the Western powers experienced the first financial crisis in the original sense in 1819 due to the craze for real estate speculation. After that, the tool of real estate tax was gradually improved in various places.
The economic history of the empire has a similar trajectory. A hundred years ago, land prices plummeted due to real estate speculation.
Up to now, each region has its own real estate tax policy.
Compared with per capita income, housing prices are low, car prices are low, and prices of large items are low, but daily consumption is high. This is normal.
For example, for the villa at No. 23 Hepu Road, the property tax is more than 1,000 yuan a year, which is the annual salary of a white-collar worker in Donghai City.
In other words, if an ordinary white-collar worker inherits such a house, he or she can only sell it, otherwise he or she will not be able to afford it.
Similarly, for an apartment that costs six or seven thousand yuan, the property tax will be around 200 yuan a year. If it is the second or third apartment, the tax rate will be even higher, which makes it unwise to hoard properties for investment.
Lu Ming wandered around, his mind full of random thoughts.
It is a single-family villa, and the entire yard is surrounded by a blue brick wall more than one person high. On the wall, there is a half-person-high iron fence with spikes.
The gate to the courtyard is a tall black iron gate, which is closed tightly and you cannot see anything inside from the outside. There is a small iron window on the iron gate, which can be opened to see what is happening outside.
Next to the inner door, there is a small tin house, which is the gatehouse.
Sun Luting lived in this gatehouse. He not only stayed away from the main building, but also did not go to the servants' rooms in the annex building, as if there was some terrifying flood beast in the main building.
However, Sun Luting's wife, Sun Erniang, moved into the servants' room in the annex building.
Lu Ming also hired more than a dozen workers according to the suggestions of Liu Laocai and Wen Liangyu. After all, the yard was large and there were many rooms. If there were not enough people, it would seem empty and dull.
However, all of them were handled by Sun Erniang. After a short period of contact, Lu Ming found that Sun Erniang was capable. Now that they had moved into a big house, it was good for her to handle all kinds of matters. Implicitly, he regarded her as a housekeeper.
But when Lu Ming actually saw these workers, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
There were fifteen workers in total, all of whom had lifetime employment contracts, which were actually the same status as slaves in the past. There were seven black slaves and eight Tirtha slaves, all of whom were young women.
Among them, there were 6 female black slaves with muscular bodies. Sun Erniang said that they were all members of the training class of the chief guard of an emirate. The emirate had just been destroyed, and they were all sold to the East China Sea. Several of them, each equipped with a box gun, made them qualified guards.
If there is any physical work in the mansion, it will be given to them.
Moreover, the black slaves cherished the opportunity to enter civilized society and were very loyal to their masters. After being trained by her, they would better understand the propriety, morality, integrity and honor of the people of Central Plains.
Another female black slave could drive a car and could serve as a driver for other concubines in the mansion.
There were 8 maids of the Didara family, four of whom were graceful and good at singing and dancing. There was one maid for Concubine Zhen, one maid for Concubine Pan, and two maids for the young master.
These were Sun Erniang's original words, and Lu Ming was too lazy to correct anything. Indeed, not to mention Hanzhu, just Pamela, who moved here with Bisi, was naturally a concubine or lover in the eyes of the maids.
Among the other four Didara women, one was very good at tending to flowers and plants, so she was assigned as a gardener; the other three were in the kitchen, and one of them had some cooking skills.
Sun Erniang also mentioned that these women cost a total of 9,000 yuan, all of which was charged to the owner's account.
Lu Ming didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment, but he was heavily in debt now, so a little more or less didn't matter.
It seems that the upper class is like this. Not to mention the old aristocrats and traditional families, it is difficult for newbies to get in unless they are in debt.
…
There are more than 20 rooms in the main building. Lu Ming walked around and saw an extremely luxurious and grand living room on the first floor. It was more than 200 square meters in size and was magnificent. The gorgeous chandeliers were dazzling. On both sides of the living room, there were wide spiral staircases leading to the second and third floors.
The rooms on both sides of the corridors on the first floor are the servants' rooms and the servants' washrooms.
The second and third floors are the areas where the owners of the mansions gather. The second floor is mainly a study, a private reception room, a tea room, a chess and card room, etc. The east and west sides each have a luxurious bedroom with a dressing room and a washroom. The master bedroom and the lady's room on the third floor are even more luxurious. The entire floor is laid out in traditional northern style, with inlaid beams, painted pillars, screens and other decorations everywhere. The master bedroom and the lady's room also have bunk beds. In addition, the third floor has several luxurious bedrooms, a temporary lounge for maids, a lounge with a view of the blue lake, and so on.
Lu Ming asked Bisi to choose a room first, whether to live in the children's room on the second floor or the children's room on the third floor. Bisi became timid and afraid, probably because she was frightened by the luxury of the mansion. She had been traveling with her mother since she was born and had never seen such a scene. She knew that this was not a matter of course. It was two different things to rent a house with her mother in Jing'an Lane and to stay with her uncle.
In the end, Lu Ming made the decision and chose the children's room on the third floor for her. Pamela naturally lived in the luxurious bedroom next to the children's room.
As Pamela visited the rooms, her blue eyes were filled with mixed emotions. Perhaps she was thinking about her past life, or perhaps she was still hesitating about whether or not to really move in.
In particular, Sun Erniang respectfully called her "Auntie" and brought the Ditra slave who was specially serving Pamela and her daughter to meet the master. Pamela's eyes looked even more dazed.
Hanzhu probably got up early since early in the morning, fearing that her master had forgotten to bring something. She was busy for a long time and was too tired. Lu Ming advised her to go back to her room to rest for a while, and she was obedient. But not long after, she came out again, turning around curiously. Obviously, she had turned into Bizhu. Lu Ming was too lazy to pay attention to her and let her do whatever she wanted.
Standing in front of the large floor-to-ceiling glass windows, the curtains on both sides are very ancient, and outside, you can see the green lake scenery with rippling lotus leaves.
"I live here, okay?"
Lu Ming heard Pamela's footsteps walking towards him, but he didn't turn around. He didn't expect that she would ask such a question.
Turning around, Lu Ming looked at Pamela in surprise.
I wonder where have your self-confidence, your independence, and your courage to love and hate gone
At this moment, this Western beauty had hesitation and deliberation in her emerald eyes. She was wearing a rose-red puffy skirt, revealing her snow-white shoulders and back, and her feet were wearing red high-heeled shoes with thin heels. She was extremely beautiful, but she seemed a little confused at this moment, not as confident as she was in the past.
"I'm in Room 408 of the Windbo Club. Didn't you move in to take over my place? Why don't you dare live here anymore?" Lu Ming smiled slightly.
"That's different..." Pamela shook her head gently, looking at the distant green lake, "I, I have a hunch that soon, you will be in a higher position, twenty years, ten years, no, maybe even shorter. By then, it may be difficult to even see your back again..."
Lu Ming smiled and said, "No matter what, I am still myself, am I not? I am still Bisi's favorite uncle and the boss who trusts you the most!"
"Here you go again! I'm not the one you trust the most!" Pamela's pretty face was full of helplessness.
Lu Ming just laughed.
Pamela sighed softly again, "I was wondering, what am I in your eyes? I may still have some value in your eyes now, but what about in the future? What do you think I am if I move here with Bisi? You have no interest in me now, let alone in the future. I don't want to become a joke in the future. I have already become a joke once. I swore that I would never make the same mistake again in this life!"
Lu Ming, who was originally smiling, was slightly startled. He was silent for a while, then reached out and gently pulled up her slender white hand.
Pamela shuddered and looked over suddenly, her blue eyes full of surprise.
Sighing softly, Lu Ming said, "I really didn't expect that I am so charming. Could it be that I really can't find a wife in this life, and love her loyally until old age? Do I really have to force myself to marry eight or ten concubines, and keep a dozen lovers outside? Only then will no girls feel sad for me? Alas..."
Originally, Lu Ming gently pulled her hand up. Panmela just closed her emerald eyes slightly, and her eyelashes trembled gently. She seemed to be tender and a little uncomfortable, but still gently turned her exquisite golden hair to the side, and slowly leaned on Lu Ming's shoulder. But when she heard Lu Ming's words, she was stunned. Her emerald eyes suddenly opened, and she shook off Lu Ming's hand with force, glaring at Lu Ming angrily, "You, you bastard!" She had rarely said bad words in her life, and this time she was really angry.
Seeing Lu Ming's half-smile, Pamela was stunned for a moment and bit her red lips, "You never tell the truth!"
Lu Ming snorted, "You are different. You say one thing and mean another. Do you really want to be my lover? How come you have learned that we Zhongzhou people are always willing to repay our kindness by giving ourselves to you?" He looked at Pamela and reached out to pinch her pretty face. He said frivolously, "My beauty, you are very beautiful when you are angry!"
Pamela was about to push him away in anger, but suddenly, she blinked her emerald eyes, smiled slightly, gently held the fingers that Lu Ming had raised, and then put them into her red lips.
Lu Ming was startled and quickly retracted his hand.
Pamela giggled, puffed out her chest proudly, turned around and walked out. When she reached the door, she suddenly stopped, turned around and chuckled, "I've decided to bring Bisi over. Boss, your little mouse courage is only this much!" She stretched out her slender white little finger and compared, then turned around and left.
Looking at her beautiful figure, Lu Ming smiled. Pamela was a very contradictory person. She was very proud, but deep down in her heart, she was also somewhat inferior. And he gradually made her become less confident.
I still like the confident and proud Western beauty, so I made jokes and teased her.
Speaking of which, ever since that day when she "forced a kiss" on me, I always felt a little awkward meeting her. Today, I brought up the old matter for the first time, and that scene was finally revealed.
"Sir, your call!" A woman in a red body-wrapped long skirt appeared at the door. The style of her skirt was like a long red cloth wrapped diagonally around the body in layers. It was the traditional dress of Tidal women, which made the female body look particularly graceful. They were called "Sara". Tidal women had high noses and deep eyes, but their hair and eyes were mostly black. Their hair was mostly slightly curly and their skin was darker, a bit like the women in the extremely populous country in the southwest of his previous life.
The Tidal slaves who served them were too lazy to give names, so they just used numbers, such as Luo One, Luo Two, Luo Three, Luo Four, etc.
Among them, Luo Yi and Luo Er were responsible for serving him, and the one who came to inform him that there was a phone call was Luo Yi.
They looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, and were still very beautiful. Sun Erniang also said that the price of these dozen slaves was high because they were all virgins, including the black slaves. They were also good-looking in their own ethnic group, and they were all taught simple Middle-earth language, so the price was so high.
But compared with the old society, the actual price is not high. After all, the market is small now and there are only so many customers. It is impossible for ordinary people to get involved in this circle, and they cannot buy it even if they have money.
Thinking that Sun Erniang was still obsessed with traditional thinking, Lu Ming shook his head and went to answer the phone.
Unexpectedly, the call was from Councillor Meng Dezhuo, who was very mysterious and wanted to introduce him to someone, a real big shot.
The big shot he was talking about was really a big shot, and Lu Ming's curiosity was immediately aroused.