Jian Zhaoxing

Chapter 222 Who is in charge?
Upon hearing about this, Lin Yangyang volunteered to select people, reasoning that she had previously purchased some guards and had experience.

Lin Zhiqing refused her without hesitation: "Cousin, after Uncle Si's accident, all the people you bought ran away, not a single one was left."

The implication is that Lin Yangyang has poor judgment.

When this was brought up, Lin Yangyang, realizing she was in the wrong, didn't insist on taking on everything:

“Then, Qing-mei, I’ll go with you.”

"I'm not going. I've already asked Aunt Mu to find a human trafficker. We can just bring him to the Lin family for selection tomorrow." Lin Zhiqing sat in the main hall, exuding an air of authority.

The next day, after pacing back and forth countless times, Lin Yangyang finally caught a glimpse of Aunt Mu's figure, and the large group of people behind her.

Seeing this, Lin Zhiqing ordered Lin Yangyang to gather all the remaining servants of the Lin family together.

Before long, the area outside the main hall was packed with people.

In the past few days, Lin Zhiqing has sorted out all the missing parts of the Lin family's property.

The Lin family held the title of the Marquis of Changning, a large marquisate, and the number of servants was also in accordance with the scale of the marquisate.

When Lin Zhiqing took over, there were more than 500 servants.

The problem is that the Lin family's interior is actually just a small-scale marquis's mansion. Apart from the fact that the mansion is larger and requires more guards, there is no need for so many people in other areas.

For example, according to the standards of the Marquis of Changning's mansion, Lin Zhiqing and Lin Yangyang should have two personal maids, six maids of different ranks, and a wet nurse.

If there is a small kitchen in the courtyard, two or three cooks should be provided.

By that calculation, there are more than a dozen people in the inner courtyard alone.

But the problem is, where does the Lin family find so many things to do with more than ten people?
Lin Zhiqing's situation was already special; she only had Aunt Mu by her side, and now with the addition of Chaoyan, she had no other maids.

Lin Yangyang only had one personal maid, Xiao Cui, but she had seven or eight maids and three cooks.

The servants in the courtyards of the other members of the Lin family also followed the prescribed standards.

Even if a maid or servant doesn't earn much each month, it adds up to a considerable expense.

After the last imperial edict was issued, Lin Zhiqing released all the people he could, leaving mostly elderly people behind.

These people have been thoroughly screened out, and even if there are still those with ill intentions among them, it's impossible to tell for the time being.

What Lin Zhiqing needs to do now is to try to keep the number of people at a relatively balanced level.

Otherwise, many of the things she wants to do are too limited.

For example, the processing and production of those flowers, and the daily operations of the Lin family.

She only has Aunt Mu by her side, but Aunt Mu is getting old and it's time for her to enjoy her retirement.

Aunt Mu's niece, Asagao, is clever and capable, but she is still young, and there are simply not enough people to help her.

As for the inner quarters, she calculated in her mind that two personal maids and two servants would be enough, and two maids for general use would also be about right.

One person is enough for positions like cook or nanny.

As for the position of steward, the Lin family had not previously established one, because the power was divided into three parts, and inserting a steward in the middle would easily lead to chaos.

Besides these, there are two accountants and one warehouse manager, which are all important positions and are currently vacant.

The courtyard is small, but the house is large.

The places where manpower is needed are mainly concentrated in the positions of guards and servants, and the number of gatekeepers is also required to be six to eight.

Based on this rough calculation, Lin Zhiqing would need approximately two hundred people.

She roughly checked the vacant positions she had prepared in advance and confirmed the number two hundred.

Selecting people is a long process.

The slave trader was patient, after all, this was a big deal. However, he had little respect for Lin Zhiqing, who sat in the main seat.

Moreover, Lin Zhiqing appears gentle and kind, and although she seems a bit distant, she is actually quite easy to talk to.

However, the original servants of the Lin family, seeing that Lin Zhiqing had made such a big fuss, all started to have their own ideas.

Putting everything else aside, they were all people who stayed behind when the Lin family mansion was on the verge of collapse. Their loyalty goes without saying, and their seniority speaks for itself.

Even setting aside the possibility of a pay raise, it would be justified to place it in any important position.

For various reasons, the old men looked at the newcomers who were about to be chosen with a hint of arrogance in their eyes.

Lin Zhiqing did see it.

But she pretended not to know and started provoking people first.

Lin Yangyang was initially very interested, but the process was really tedious and boring.

Soon, she started to yawn.

The rest of the Lin family members also came to the main hall upon hearing the news.

However, no one questioned Lin Zhiqing's decision.

Strangely enough, Lin Zhiqing's method of selecting people is quite different from that of ordinary people.

She chatted with everyone for a bit, and didn't seem to be selecting people at all.

Upon seeing this, the slave trader began to have some wicked thoughts.

So, after Lin Zhiqing finished selecting a group of people, he couldn't help but step forward:

"Miss Lin, is there anyone you like?"

Lin Zhiqing gave a faint "hmm" and didn't say anything more.

The broker rubbed his hands together: "I see that Miss Lin has a lot of people choosing today, so we can offer her a discount."

"Oh, cheaper? What does that mean?" Lin Zhiqing looked at the human trafficker with great interest.

Seeing that Lin Zhiqing looked harmless, the slave trader was convinced that she was just a brainless woman, and immediately began to explain his thoughts:
"For every two Miss Lin chooses, I'll give you one as a gift, how about that?"

"Is there really such a good thing in the world?" Lin Yangyang yawned, then instantly became energetic again.

"Miss, you don't know this, but we business people value honesty and integrity." The slave trader's sweet words flowed freely.

"If I hadn't gotten along well with Miss Lin and found the Lin family to be kind people, I definitely wouldn't have given up such a big benefit."

Hearing this, Lin Yangyang nodded from time to time, while Lin Zhiqing's face remained expressionless.

The slave trader then grabbed Lin Yangyang and began to perform divination.

Basically, Lin Zhiqing only needs to spend the money to buy one hundred servants to gain one hundred and fifty servants.

By any measure, this doesn't seem like a losing proposition.

The broker had talked himself hoarse, and seeing that Lin Yangyang was very interested, he immediately began to ask her what she thought.

Sitting in the back, Lin Congyan frowned slightly, about to speak, when Lin Yangyang yawned again:
"I think it's a good idea, but you'll have to ask my sister Qing. I can't make the decision myself."

The slave trader was taken aback. Who would openly admit that they couldn't make the decision? Wouldn't that just diminish their own authority?
She subconsciously glanced at Lin Zhiqing, who was sitting firmly in his high position, and her expression quickly switched to a kind smile:

"Miss Lin, what do you think of my suggestion?"

Lin Zhiqing smiled brightly.
The slave trader immediately felt confident that his cleverness had succeeded: "Since Miss Lin is satisfied, I will now go and draw up the contract..."

"Not good." Lin Zhiqing interrupted him mercilessly, her eyes still smiling.