Chapter 273 Wu Jinxiao
Soon, Teng Wu entered the hall.
"Greetings, my Lord!"
"Get up!" Jia Cong stepped forward and patted Teng Wu on the shoulder and said, "I heard from Lu Feng a few days ago that you have taken a fancy to the girl from Aunt Zhang's family?"
Teng Wu, who killed people without blinking an eye, blushed instantly.
"When you are determined, come and tell me!" Jia Cong kicked the guy, "I have already prepared the yard and gift money at the back, and I am just waiting for you to propose marriage."
Teng Wu smiled and scratched his head, "Thank you, Lord!"
"Thanks for nothing, my little Liuzi is about to give birth to a baby, and you guys are !"
"If I want to adopt a godson or daughter in the future, you guys should not be envious."
Teng Wu's eyes lit up, "My Lord, I will discuss the marriage proposal when I get back. I will definitely give birth to a big fat boy next year. If that little Liuzi dares to snatch it from me, I will talk him through the reasons."
The guy chuckled and said unreasonably.
Jia Cong was too lazy to pay attention to this guy. He felt more close to and tolerant of those who had followed him to guard the border and returned alive.
"Wu Jinxiao, it's not that I don't want to give you a chance. Otherwise, a few people would have killed you! However, you have worked hard for the mansion for many years. As long as some things are not excessive, I will turn a blind eye. But you used tricks to deceive me, and that's your fault."
"Teng Wu, tell Wu Jinxiao about the situation of the manors in Liaodong that you have found! This marquis never kills anyone who has been wrongly accused."
Teng Wu glanced at Wu Jinxiao with a sneer. He was the one who personally sent people to investigate the situation in Liaodong Zhuangzi, so he knew everything clearly. Although Wu Jinxiao had not committed any serious crime , he deserved his death.
Then, under Wu Jinxiao's horrified gaze, Teng Wu slowly began to tell the story.
To say that Wu Jinxiao was really exaggerating. Ningguo Mansion had eight or nine large manors in Liaodong, and even the smallest one had an area of more than a hundred hectares.
When the country was founded, the Liaodong area was mostly barren land, so Taizu and Taizong gave a lot of farmland to the founding lineage. Of course, these fields were reclaimed . It is no exaggeration to say that it was almost a race to grab land. As a family with two dukes, the Jia family naturally reclaimed a large area of farmland.
And Wu Jinxiao, the head of the village, holds great power.
At the beginning, Wu Jinxiao did not dare to go too far. He just concealed some of the income from the farm to save more money for himself. But as time went on, the masters of the two families ignored the Liaodong farm and had not sent anyone there for more than ten years. Wu Jinxiao gradually became bolder.
Only a small half of the mountain products produced in the farm were delivered to the government, and the rest were all exchanged for silver. Even if he earned a lot of silver every year, he would only hand over 30% of it, and the rest became his private property.
Moreover, the family was relatively well-off in the past few years, and the Ningguo Mansion allowed Wu Jinxiao to buy some land. However, just like Zhang Cai before, he bought the best land and attached it to other people as his own private property, and then bought the worst land to report to the mansion. Such things are simply countless.
By the time Teng Wu finished his story, Wu Jinxiao had already fallen to the ground in despair. He had not expected that this new master would be so decisive and efficient, and completely different from Jia Zhen.
"Master, please spare my life, spare my life. I was so evil-hearted. I won't do it again."
Jia Cong sighed softly, "Some people will never cry until they see the coffin. Why do you think you can keep it a secret forever? Besides, opportunities don't always come. If I let you go, wouldn't it be unfair to others?"
"Teng Wu, take him away! Don't spread the news yet. Wait until next spring and let our people take over the manor and conduct a thorough investigation before we can convict this guy."
Teng Wu nodded in agreement and directly pulled Wu Jinxiao out of the hall.
"Jia Zhong, select 10% of the mountain products and treasures and send them to the West Palace. Also, look at the practices of previous years and increase 30% to distribute to each branch family before the New Year. If there are widows, widowers, orphans, give them more things."
Jia Zhong responded.
"Have someone pick up a deer. I want to roast it for dinner tomorrow."
After giving the order, Jia Cong returned to the backyard. That night, Wang Xifeng also brought some New Year's goods from the West Mansion to the East Mansion.
"The things and silver sent by these farms are getting less and less every year. This year, more than a dozen farms only sent three thousand taels of silver!" Wang Xifeng complained to Jia Cong.
Jia Cong waved his hand and asked all the maids in the room to leave, leaving only Ping'er.
Holding Wang Xifeng in his arms, Jia Cong said with a smile, "What's so strange about this? It's been many years since anyone in our mansion has visited the farm. Isn't it normal for these farmers to deceive their superiors and subordinates?"
"Are you saying that these farmers are playing tricks?" Wang Xifeng asked, grabbing Jia Cong's mischievous hand.
“It’s natural!”
"Tsk, these evil-hearted people should be dragged out and beaten with sticks one by one!" Wang Xifeng scolded, "You should think of a way to punish these people."
"They are just some farmers. It is easy to punish them! However, it is my duty to punish the people of the East Mansion. What good will it do to help the West Mansion?"
Wang Xifeng looked at Jia Cong's expression. How could she not know what this enemy was thinking? Moreover, she had not seen him much in the past few days, so she was a little angry...
"If you want any benefit, can't you come and get it yourself? Do you think I have the guts to stop you?" Wang Xifeng whispered in Jia Cong's ear.
Jia Cong laughed loudly upon hearing this, and directly picked up Wang Xifeng and walked towards the inner room! Ping'er was shy and was about to walk out, but was directly dragged into the inner room.
The next day, just after noon, Li Wan brought all her sisters to the East Palace.
Yesterday, Jia Cong sent someone to pass on the message that he would roast venison in the yard today and invite all the sisters to come. Originally, he also invited the old lady, but it was cold these days and the old lady was tired, so she sent all the girls over.
"Third brother, are we going to eat venison today?" Without waiting for anyone else to speak, Xiangyun rushed up and hugged Jia Cong's arm and asked.
"Yes!" Jia Cong nodded with a smile, "It just so happens that the plum blossoms in the garden are in bloom. We can just go to Dou Feng Xuan and have some barbecue ourselves. While we eat, we can enjoy the plum blossoms and write some poems. Isn't that the best?"
All the sisters were delighted when they heard this. Even the freezing weather could not dampen their enthusiasm.
