Early the next morning, Duke Zhong's Mansion sent Madam Wang to the door and agreed that two days later, that is, October 21, the Duke's Mansion would send a car to pick up the three members of the Bai family to see Mrs. Zhongguo.
Bai Fuling took her maids and guards out early in the morning to inspect her "cattle and horse training base".
The so-called base, from the outside, is a small village with relatively neat houses under Yunque Mountain. This village was proposed by Bai Fuling more than ten years ago, and most of the people living in it are newly acquired "slaves". They live near the capital. States and counties were bought and shipped here for training.
These servants are male and female, mainly young and half-grown orphans, and there are also a few older people and disabled people who are still able to work. The old people who can be brought here are all skilled in their daily work. Most of them teach other young male and female servants various skills. The village is divided into four living areas according to male, female, old, weak, and young. There is also a comprehensive area for the management, instructors, doctors and other staff in the village. live.
Everyone in the village has multiple jobs. The newly arrived young servants and orphans not only receive various skill training here according to their abilities and preferences, but also take care of daily labor. The village is basically self-sufficient.
When these young servants have completed their studies, they will provide them with a way out according to their aptitude and ability, or they will be introduced by Ren Yazi to work as servants in rich families, or they will work in the shops of merchants in the capital. Those who stand out and are willing to stay in the Bai family will become the stewards of the Bai family and stationed in various places to make money for the Bai family.
No matter which way out, the Bai family will give them a ransom price on the day they complete their studies. When they earn enough ransom money with their own ability and turn it in, they can get rid of their slavery and become good citizens again.
The redemption price given by the Bai family is generally tens of times or even thousands of times their selling price. The price varies depending on the ability. However, very few people object to their high redemption price. The higher the redemption price, the better, because it proves that he is much more capable than others.
It has been ten years since Bai Fuling's family left the capital, and this small village has been handed over to a close friend of the Bai family to take care of it. This person is called Bai Shu, and he married a woman from the capital named Hu Taoye in his early years. You are so kind, you have managed this village in an orderly manner over the years. When the two sides saw each other, Bai Shu was so excited that he almost shed a few heroic tears on the spot.
Accompanied by their husband and wife, Bai Fuling walked around the village. The people of the upper and lower ranks waited early in the morning to hear that the eldest lady was coming, and when they saw her from a distance, they bowed and saluted, which made Bai Fuling feel a bit like a national leader on a tour.
Everyone usually heard Bai Shu and his wife say how beautiful and smart their young lady was, she was like a fairy, but when they saw her today, she looked as beautiful as a fairy among other things. Adults, especially men, did not dare to watch too much for fear of offending, but children couldn't control so much, and followed Bai Fuling and his party around.
At noon, after Bai Shu and his wife had dinner with Bai Fuling, Bai Fuling had the opportunity to sit down and talk with them in detail, and then asked about the current situation in the village. He came back, so he pulled him to ask about the movement of the capital.
Bai Qian is the number one person in the capital. He specializes in introducing helpers and stewards to wealthy families, and also introduces suitable shopkeepers, cashiers, technicians, buddies, etc. to merchants. In Bai Fuling's words, he is actually an ancient employment agency. He has been in the capital for 20 years, but earlier he was doing business for Qiufeng Pavilion, buying children who are suitable for martial arts training and returning to Qiufeng Pavilion to train them as killers.
His greatest ability is to establish relationships with the three religions, gather information, and be good at hiding himself, so many people knew that Qiufengge had a connector in the capital, but no one knew that the connector who urged his life was the one who smiled like Maitreya Buddha. A middle-aged man with a simple and honest face and full of humility.
Bai Chou had been kind to him, so when Bai Chou disbanded Qiufeng Pavilion and retired to the world, he followed him to the end without any objection. Bai Fuling felt that this person was good at dancing with sleeves, and he was born to be a broker and a toothmaker, so he discussed with his father and kept him in the capital.
It's just that the job he was in charge of became a career intermediary for the cattle and horses of the Bai family. He already had deep connections in the middle and lower classes of the capital, and he has become more and more active in these years. In addition, the Bai family is very good at cultivating people. The people who went out were all smart and quick to learn, and they had trustworthy character. With the reputation accumulated over the past ten years, if big businesses in Beijing and China were looking for helpers, their first choice would be to find Baiqian, even if the price was more expensive.
But today's Bai Qian has changed his past and changed his ways. He vowed not to do anything like defrauding a good girl, selling a little girl to be a prostitute, concubine, or a roommate. Sign a short contract of one to five years, or buy out for life. Over time, he became famous, and many poor families asked him to introduce jobs.
If it is said that the most well-informed person in the capital is Bai Qian, there are very few things that he doesn't know about everything from the political situation to gossip in the market. As soon as Bai Fuling asked, he poured out all the beans like beans and had a good time, almost answering every question.
Of course, what Bai Fuling is most concerned about is the relationship between the Zhongguo Mansion and the Yasukuni Mansion, which she is about to deal with. Mother said vaguely, only saying that one side of the two mansions is prosperous, and she is the only one left. Since her grandfather Zhong Guogong passed away, she has gradually become at odds with each other. Before, when Jing Guogong was in good health, he could still control his children. Since his health gradually deteriorated a few years ago, the relationship between the two sides has become more and more cold . But mother didn't elaborate on the reason for the disagreement, she just warned her not to deal with people from the Yasukuni government as much as possible.
Bai Qian said with a smile: "It's a long story. The titles of my dynasty can only be inherited by three generations, even the prince is no exception. When it comes to the generation of the young lady's grandfather, it happens to be the third generation. We only need to wait for this generation's Duke Jing to go. , his whole family has become common people. The three sons of Lord Jingguo have grown up with rich clothes and rich food, and they have been accustomed to living the life of a master. How can they be willing to go back to being ordinary people? Plus Jingguo Although the government has a lot of land and property, it can't bear the squandering of the three young masters and the wives and children, and the family will be separated in the future, I'm afraid they will have nothing to do in three years."
"It turned out to be a lack of money! So you wanted to seize loyalty... my grandfather's property?" Bai Fuling suddenly realized, but she was still not used to calling a strange old man who had been dead for decades to be her grandfather, so she almost slipped her mouth.
Bai Qian said hesitantly: "If it's just money, then it's easy to deal with! Miss's grandfather's title of Duke Zhong is not hereditary, but earned back by his own ability. This title can also be hereditary for three generations!"
Bai Fuling completely understood this time: "Then people in the Yasukuni Mansion will not see my grandfather only has my mother and one daughter, so they plan to take away the title left by my grandfather too?!"
Bai Qian slapped his thigh and said: "Wow! People in the Jingguo Mansion came up with this idea, but Miss, this grandmother and the Queen Mother used to be close friends in the boudoir. But the identity is there, and the people of the Yasukuni Mansion dare not easily attack your grandmother, miss, and the Empress Dowager passed away at the beginning of this year, and those people became more and more violent when they lost their scruples."
"Tsk tsk! Sure enough, they are not motivated, they only know how to bully the old and the weak, women and children, so if they want a title, they won't learn from my grandfather and fight for it by themselves?" Bai Fuling said disdainfully.
"None of the three sons of the Duke of Jingguo's mansion is successful. Although the Duke of Zhongguo's mansion has only his wife and one daughter, she is a hero among women who will not give up to men. He is much more up-to-date than them!" sycophant.
Bai Fuling suddenly remembered something, and asked, "Is there anything special about the Cui family and my elder brother's general's residence?"
"The Cui family had a serious illness two months ago, and they have just recovered these days. There has not been any trouble, but the Cui family and the eldest prince have become closer. A few days ago, they even sent the daughter of one of their cousins to the eldest prince's mansion. Wait, that girl seems to be called... Liu Zhenzhen!" Bai Qian tried to recall this gossip.
Cui Zhenyi's serious illness was directly related to the Bai family. Bai Chou was upset that she dared to find someone to harm his daughter, so he sent someone to teach her a lesson. In order to accumulate virtue and do good deeds, the three of them vowed not to kill anyone again, so Bai Chou just sent someone to sneak into Cui Zhenyi's room in the middle of the night, and wrote the word "Kill" in cinnabar on her forehead as a warning.
On the first day, although Cui Zhenyi was terrified, she forced to calmly order the guards in the mansion to be strengthened, and changed several maids and women around her.
As a result, the next night, several maids slept in the room, seven or eight women were guarding outside the room, and more than 20 guards were added to patrol outside the yard. ", and those maids, mothers-in-law, and guards all swore that they never heard a sound at night.
Cui Zhenyi had a ghost in her heart, she didn't dare to report to the police, and hurried back to her mother's house to take shelter, but woke up in her mother's room the next day, with another "killed" word on her forehead.
This time she finally broke down completely! He was seriously ill at the moment, and he slowly recovered after lying in bed for two full months. She knew that this was a warning from the Bai family - they could easily send someone to sneak into her room and write on her forehead, and they could kill her with a knife on her neck and heart.
She was in panic all day long, but she couldn't ask her family for help. If her family members asked her why she had a bad relationship with others, they would definitely bring up the quarrel between her and Lu Ying. Fortunately, the Bai family just wanted to scare her, and did not intend to really For her life, she knew that she couldn't defeat Bai Fuling in the open or in the dark, so she calmed down even though she was disheartened.
Bai Fuling had heard about Cui Zhenyi's tragic situation long ago, and she didn't think it mattered when she heard Liu Zhenzhen's name. She was just worried that if the Cui family messed around like this, she would die, and her elder brother Lu Ying might be implicated!