Chapter 1194: Chapter 1196: Dividing the Wages into Different Levels_1
Those people were on good terms with his second brother solely for the sake of money; once trouble arose, the second brother was the first to be pushed out. The Jiang Family couldn’t handle the complexities of the local government, let alone maneuver through it. It would be better for them to remain honest and straightforward.
"There’s another matter I need to remind Young Master Jiang about,"
"Please speak, Lord Ye!"
"That cousin of yours—you’d do well to keep an eye on him..." Lord Ye had met both of them together before, and had distinctly felt something shifty about that man’s gaze. Later, when he investigated the issues concerning the Liu and Huang families, Ye Yi had also paid special attention to that young man.
Just as he suspected, the young man was no good. When the Jiang Family’s distillery faced pressure from the Liu and Huang families, there were traces of the young man’s doings as well.
After some thought, Ye Zi’an decided to share what he had discovered with Young Master Jiang, so he wouldn’t be outwitted again.
Upon hearing this, Young Master Jiang looked genuinely unaware, prompting Ye Zi’an to shake his head. With wealth in the family, if there was no capable and astute head of the household, how could they safeguard their fortune?
"Thank you for the warning, Lord Ye. This commoner will certainly be more careful. Now, if you’ll excuse me,"
"If you run into any trouble, you can’t find me at the county office, then go look for Ye Yi or Ye Er. I will instruct them about this matter."
"Thank you, Lord Ye!"
After sending off Young Master Jiang, Ye Zi’an handed the money to the office for registration, keeping it separate from the wealth confiscated from other families, and meticulously recorded every expenditure made thereafter.
"Father!" With Young Master Jiang gone and the treasurer gone as well, Yangyang ran up to his desk.
"What do you want to talk about now?" He glanced at his son, noticing the mischievous sparkle in his eyes.
"Can we go out to play?"
Ye Zi’an shook his head, "Not now."
"Let’s go, let’s go!" The boy didn’t know where he had picked it up, but he had learned to act coquettishly, tugging at Ye Zi’an’s hem and twisting around like a little girl.
Seeing him like that, Ye Zi’an couldn’t help but laugh.
"It’s time to have lunch with mom!" It wasn’t until Lele came in and said something that he looked up.
Upon hearing this, Ye Zi’an glanced at the hourglass and realized indeed the time was already late.
After thinking for a while, he said, "You two play here for a bit more. Daddy still has some work to deal with; we’ll go back and have lunch with mom later. I’ll take you out to play another day!" He pinched Yangyang’s little nose and then shooed the two children out.
He then summoned the steward, Ye Yi, and others into the room.
Since the Principal Clerk and archivist were dismissed, and the court had not assigned new officials, there were no suitable candidates at hand, so for the time being, he let Ye Si and Ye Liu fill these posts until someone else became available.
"Everything is almost ready. In the next two days, we’ll organize the manpower. Now that we’re not short on silver, we’ll start work the day after tomorrow. Everything must be in place by next spring,"
Ye Liu said, "Regarding manpower, I’ve already made arrangements with those prisoners; it’s actually beneficial for them, so they won’t object. As for the beggars in Mianyang City, I’ve already gathered them. Some are too young or too old to do heavy labor, so I was thinking it might be better to have them help with cooking. After all, feeding the laborers is a problem we need to solve, and we might as well leave it to these people."
"They’re probably not skilled at cooking, are they?" asked the steward.
"As long as they cook the food through, that will suffice. Can we really expect it to be delicious?" Ye Liu replied. "Besides, if they really can’t cook, we can have the cooks from the mansion teach them for a couple of days. They’re bound to learn."
"Hmm, proceed as you suggested; making use of everyone is ideal. Just make sure to scale the wages according to the difficulty of the work and how much is done. Those serving penal labor won’t be paid unless they’ve completed their term, at which point we can offset it with their wages."