"Madam Liu, later you will ask the maids and old maids who have recently come to Jingxiang Garden if they are willing to go south with me. Tell them clearly that they may return to the capital in one or two years, or they may not come back for three to five years, or they may never come back to the capital. If they are willing to go south with me, their monthly wages will be doubled. If they are not willing to go south, I will not force them, let alone embarrass them. I will reward them with ten taels of silver as a reward for their service to me during this period of time, and then transfer their indentures to the Marquis' Mansion. Of course, there is no need to ask the old people who follow me. All of you will go to Yingtian with me, and your monthly wages will be doubled."
Li Shu, supported by a maid, took a walk in the garden to help digest her food. When she was tired, she sat down in the pavilion to rest and called Liu Ma to give her instructions.
"The young lady is too kind. It is a blessing for us and them to be able to follow the young lady. The monthly salary is much higher than that of other courtyards, so why should it be doubled? We are very nervous to receive such a high monthly salary. If any of them are unwilling to follow the young lady to the south, they would be traitors whose consciences have been eaten by dogs. What's the point of rewarding them with money?" said Aunt Liu.
"Haha, why are you so nervous? Just serve me well in the future." Li Shu chuckled, and then continued to say to Liu Ma, "If any of them are unwilling to go south, there is no need to blame them. After all, most of their families are near the capital, and it is human nature not to abandon their families and go south. They have served me diligently during this period, and a little reward is what they deserve. Moreover, a thousand gold buys horse bones. If Brother Zhu is transferred back to the capital in the future, he will need manpower to open a government and build a courtyard. They are role models. Anyone who is willing to serve me will be rewarded by this young lady, which will also make it easier to recruit people."
"Yes, I'll listen to you, young lady." Aunt Liu nodded repeatedly.
"Okay, you can go now." Li Shu nodded, sent Aunt Liu away, and then instructed Qin'er, "Qin'er, take out a hundred taels of silver notes from the account, take my token, and go to the residence of Lord Xu to pay my respects to Madam Xu on my behalf, and give the notes to Madam Xu when it's convenient. If Madam Xu asks why it's more than usual, you can say that I'm leaving for Yingtian in the south soon to reunite with my husband, so I took the second half of the store's dividends in advance."
"One hundred taels? Miss, Madam Xu didn't have to do anything. She just added the empty title of a partner and she got so much silver..." Qin'er said distressedly.
"Do you think it's too much?" Li Shu asked with a smile.
"Of course more." Qin'er nodded vigorously.
"Haha, I think it's too little. It would be better if there were more." Li Shu smiled slightly.
Qin'er looked confused.
What's wrong with you, young lady? You gave someone money and you complained that it was not enough. You even thought it would be better if you gave more? !
Seeing this, Li Shu could not help but gently poked Qin'er's head and explained, "Although Madam Xu is just a name, this name is worth a thousand gold. Madam Xu represents the Xu Mansion, and the owner of the Xu Mansion is Lord Xu. Not counting Zizailou, we currently have a total of 18 shops in the capital, oh, and Brother Zhu's three Zhuji fast food restaurants, a total of 21 shops. Madam Xu may seem to be just a name, but in fact, our business has the background of the Xu Mansion, and we enjoy the protection of Lord Xu's influence in the Xu Mansion. The reason why our shop enjoys various tax and fee concessions and is free from the exploitation of officials is because of Lord Xu's influence. Neither Brother Zhu nor the brand of Linhuai Marquis' Mansion is qualified. In a year, the tax and fee concessions alone must be thousands of taels of silver, and the exploitation is even more difficult to measure. In addition, with Lord Xu's background, all kinds of rogues dare not come to the store to make trouble... ... All this only costs a mere 100 taels of silver in half a year, as cheap as white radishes in the field. This is because Lord Xu is Brother Zhu's master, and Lord Xu values Brother Zhu and acquiesced to this matter, so this opportunity came into being. Otherwise, do you think Madam Xu would agree to register in our shop and accept our dividends? How many people, with thousands or tens of thousands of taels of silver in their pockets, don't have this opportunity. Without reliable connections, it's hard to even come to our store, let alone register. "
"Ah!!! It turns out that a name can have such a big impact... That one hundred taels of silver is really not much..."
Qin'er suddenly understood as if she had been enlightened.
"It's not just that. It will also be of great benefit to Brother Zhu." Li Shu added.
"It will be of great benefit to my son-in-law?!" Qin'er was confused again, not understanding how this could be of great benefit to my son-in-law.
"Husband and wife are one. Madam Xu's receiving the dividends is equivalent to Elder Xu receiving them." Li Shu said softly, "Elder Xu is an elder of the current dynasty. He once served as the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He has worked in the Ministry of Personnel for many years and has a great influence on the Ministry of Personnel. He also has a reputation for promoting talented people. Madam Xu received the dividends, and Elder Xu will definitely take good care of Brother Zhu. Now that Brother Zhu has made contributions, it is time for him to be promoted. If Elder Xu can say a few more words for Brother Zhu, it will be of great benefit to Brother Zhu's promotion."
Just one hundred taels of silver can make the current minister give special care to Brother Zhu. It is really too cheap.
You should know that the price of Yan Song and his son selling official positions was extremely high. If a scholar wanted to get a small seventh-rank county magistrate, the price was 800 taels of silver; if a seventh-rank official was promoted to the sixth-rank, it would cost 2,000 taels of silver; if a sixth-rank official was promoted to the fifth-rank, it would be even higher, requiring 5,000 taels of silver; and if he was promoted to a higher rank, he would need even more silver, with the highest price being 20,000 taels of silver. This opportunity only came with a very reliable introduction; if he didn't have any connections, no one would accept the money he offered.
Brother Zhu is now a fifth-rank official. If he wants to use the relationship between Yan Song and his son, he will have to prepare 10,000 taels of silver...
Of course, it was useless to prepare more money, because the Yan Party hated Brother Zhu so much because of Yang Jisheng's impeachment memorial. It was good enough that they didn't add insult to injury to Brother Zhu, so how could they help Brother Zhu get promoted... ...
"I didn't expect that this one hundred taels of silver would have such a big effect." Qin'er opened her mouth wide.
"So it's too little. It's like Han Xin commanding his troops, the more the better. The more dividends Madam Xu receives, the better. It's also because Brother Zhu and I have been in the capital for too short a time, and our relationship with the Xu family is not deep enough..."
Li Shu said with some regret.
"Miss, your relationship will definitely become deeper in the future. I feel that when we went to the Xu Mansion, Madam Xu treated you more and more warmly. Last time, she even held your hand and jokingly said that she would take you as her goddaughter."
Qin Er said.
"Hehe, you said it too, it was a joke. Besides, you have a close relationship with the Xu family, but you can't be too tied to them. Unexpected things happen, who knows what will happen to Elder Xu in the future, you can't let Brother Zhu get involved." Li Shu smiled slightly, then waved her hand, "Go quickly, you still need to pack your things when you come back."