The Crown Princess of Jin knew that Xing Qing and Xing Nong had no experience in buying servants, so she taught them how to choose. She whispered, "The most important thing for a servant is loyalty, and the second is ability. Generally, people in the pawnbrokers are either sold by their masters because they made mistakes, or they were demoted to official slaves because they committed crimes, or they sold themselves because their families were too poor. The advantage of official slaves is that they know the rules and do not need to be trained in this way. As long as the official slaves' entire family is bought out and signed a death contract, there is no need to worry about their disloyalty. It is best to choose some orphans as the maids to serve you closely, so that she can only rely on you. It is not easy for her to betray her master because her family is threatened. Then pick out those with outstanding talents..."
The Crown Princess of Jin was looking through the roster while analyzing it with Xing Nong and the others. She would write down any suitable names she saw and then look at the people later.
The prince of Jin added: "You can buy a few children with clean family backgrounds and train them so that you can have more people to serve you in the future. Some children sell themselves because their families are too poor. Find out if their families are honest and kind, and arrange for their families to work in the farm. This way you can help their families and gain their loyalty."
The Third Prince: "You don't need to buy a cook. You have to be very careful with what you eat. I'll pick two people from the restaurant. One will be responsible for the food, and the other for the snacks."
... ...
In about a quarter of an hour, nearly fifty people were picked out.
"First see if you like these people. Sometimes it is also important to have a good rapport."
Then Xingnong asked Songbai to bring in the selected people one by one for "interviews".
Two people who came in had strange looks in their eyes. They couldn't help but secretly look at the furnishings in the room, but Xingnong didn't want any of them.
There was a person who spoke boastfully and was not wanted either. There was also a woman who looked bad and when we asked her the reason, she lied and was ambiguous in her words and was not wanted either.
Among them there was a particularly beautiful woman. He had originally thought of staying to admire her, but when Xingnong saw that she couldn't help flirting with the princes, he did not keep her. After all, Xinghui was at the age of full vigor and vitality, so he wanted to avoid causing any trouble.
Finally, Xingnong and Xingqing picked thirty people together, among whom there was a family who used to work as servants in a wealthy family. They were forced into official slavery because their master committed a crime.
Xingqing was assigned two second-class maids and two rough maids. Xinghui was assigned two servants, two second-class maids, and a steward. Xinghui would be the head of the Gu family in the future, so it would be convenient to have a steward around. This steward had been a steward in a wealthy family's farm before. He was smart and capable, literate, and well-informed. He could also give Xinghui some pointers. Gu's family assigned two first-class maids, two second-class maids, a steward, and two rough maids. In addition, a gatehouse was bought to guard the gate, and there were also several servants responsible for the maintenance and cleaning of the garden, kitchen, and various courtyards.
There were quite a lot of buyers, but Xing Nong listened to the advice of the Crown Princess of Jin and decided to pick more. Not all of them might be suitable, and if the unsuitable ones were sold later, there wouldn’t be enough people to use them.
And there will definitely be a banquet in the future. There are too few servants in the mansion, so it will be very troublesome to hold a banquet.
These servants had just been bought, and a steward under Shen Hanyu and his family of six also came over.
Shen Hanyu said to the family, "From now on, you will serve in the Shen Mansion. You have also met Miss Xingnong. This is Miss Xingqing. Have you met your new master?"
The six members of the family hurriedly bowed and said, "This servant greets the two girls."
This steward was originally the second steward of Hanyuan, Xie Tiedong. Xie Tiedong gave birth to a son, Xie Yan, who gave birth to a son, Xie Ming, and a daughter, Xie Yu. Shen Hanyu once saved Xie Yan's life. Xie Yan's wife, He, was quite pretty, and was spotted by the son of a county magistrate, who molested her in the street. Xie Yan beat up the son of the county magistrate, and was almost beaten to death by the son's guards. It was Shen Hanyu who saved him. The family could not live in that county, so they took refuge with Shen Hanyu and came to the capital. They have been very capable and loyal over the years.
Xing Nong had already decided that Xie Tiedong would be the chief steward, managing all the servants in the mansion. His wife, He, would be the steward of the inner courtyard. Xie Yan was originally the shopkeeper of the guest house, and could help manage the snack workshop in the future. His wife, He, was the cook of the guest house, and had learned cooking from Xing Nong.
The granddaughter is good at making pastries and needlework, and she works as a maid for Xingqing, while the grandson works as a servant for Xinghui.
After all the servants in the mansion arrived, the Crown Princess of Jin asked Xingnong to set rules for the servants.
Xing Nong called everyone over and said, "I don't ask much of you. First, you must be loyal and not betray your master. Once you are found to have betrayed your master, you will be directly assigned to mine stones in the quarry for life! In addition to not betraying your master, no matter how big or small the matter in the mansion is, no word can be spread without the master's permission, whether intentional or unintentional. If someone spreads the news of people and things in the mansion, they will be beaten and sold! No mercy. Second, you must work seriously, don't pretend to know when you don't, and don't be ambitious. Just do your own job well and work together to do what you should do together. Tomorrow I will let the senior officials assign your respective responsibilities. There will be bonuses for good work and punishments for bad work...."
Then Xing Nong told them about the wages of servants of different ranks. The chief steward received ten taels of silver a month, the steward five taels, the chief maid and the book boy three taels, the second-class maid and the ordinary servant one tael, and the others all received seven hundred coins. In addition, there were seasonal gifts and rewards.
Many people were very happy to hear this, because there were not many masters in the mansion and they did not have much to do, but the wages were higher than before or than outside, so how could they not be happy.
After arranging the servants to serve, and telling them that it was already evening, Chu Tiankuo returned to Xingyuan and came over when he learned that Xingnong had come here.
Xing Nong asked, "What did the interrogation reveal?"
Chu Tiankuo shook his head: "There has been no progress yet." The missing woman has not been found yet, and the people in the painting boat remained silent even under torture.
"Where is Prince Yong'an now? Will the Queen Mother allow the Governor's Office to detain him?"
"Now the Grand Admiral is keeping the man in custody under the Queen Mother's watch, but if no evidence is found by tomorrow, he will have to be released."
Xing Nong frowned when he heard this, "Or maybe the Princess's Mansion will have some evidence."
"I thought so too. I'll go check it out tonight."
"Then eat quickly and take a rest after dinner." He was tired after traveling for such a long time.
"Um."
He prepared a table full of sumptuous dishes. Under the guidance of He, the maids came in one after another in an orderly manner, carrying trays, which was quite in line with the rules and style of a wealthy family.
Xing Nong felt a little relieved. Their family had shallow roots, and Xing Qing and Xing Hui would easily be looked down upon if they settled in the capital in the future. And she lived in the East Palace and could not leave the palace often, so the rules for servants were particularly important.