Qing Yao

Chapter 217 A Little Goodbye Is Better than a New Marriage

Theoretically, Manchus should be paid the same salary as the old patriarchs.

In reality, Zhao An could only ever be a regional manager at best.

Because it's impossible for him to manage all the millions of Manchus on behalf of the old master.

He couldn't even possibly arrange for all the Manchu people in Jiangning to be included.

The Jiangning Manchu City was established during the Shunzhi reign. At that time, it had 5000 Eight Banner soldiers stationed there, along with more than 30,000 family members. Now, a century later, with the addition of smaller Manchu cities in the surrounding area such as Jingkou and Zhapu, the total number of Manchus in this part of Jiangsu is no less than 100,000.

The reason why there were no Manchus in Jiangsu in later generations was simply because the Taiping Army massacred one group, and the revolutionary army massacred another group. After these two massacres, there were naturally no Manchus in Jiangsu.

Even if there are any, they are just birds in a panic who consciously change to Han Chinese ways.

The situation was similar across the entire south, which is why the degree of Sinicization in the south was not severe.

In order to support the 100,000 Manchu people in Jiangsu, if the old master were to pay wages to all the "surplus men," it would cost two to three million taels a year.

In fact, including the salaries of generals, commanders, and other officers, the salaries of regular soldiers and cavalry, and the regular expenses of the garrison, the annual expenses of the Manchu bannermen in Jiangsu alone amounted to at least five million taels of silver.

The Qing dynasty had nearly thirty Manchu cities of varying sizes outside of Beijing, and the number of Manchu bannermen stationed in these cities alone reached a staggering one million. If we include the even larger number of bannermen in Beijing, the annual salary paid to the bannermen alone amounted to tens of millions of taels of silver.

In comparison, the expenses of the Ming dynasty's imperial relatives were far less than those of the Qing dynasty's one or two Manchu cities.

They claim that Ming Dynasty princes occupied a great deal of fertile land in their fiefdoms, but they are unaware that all the fertile land in Hebei, Tianjin, the capital, Henan, and northern Shandong provinces belonged to the Manchus.

The Han people living in these areas could only serve as serfs in banner estates, hence the term "runaways".

With such enormous expenses, how many canteens would Zhao An need to open to accommodate so many employees, and how many canteens would he need to open to earn this huge sum of money?

In other words, the Qing government had a strong enough hand to kill people without any scruples. It seized all the fertile land in the north at the beginning and robbed all the gentry and landlords in the south. If it were any other dynasty, it would not have survived for more than twenty years.

However, Zhao An agreed to Shi's request without hesitation, not because he thought he could really be a patriarch, but simply because he wanted to build a good relationship with the Central Army soldiers in Jiangning through a labor relationship.

Those who act justly will find many supporters, while those who act unjustly will find few.

On the way back, Zhao An suddenly thought of the term "nepotism".

The wives and daughters of the soldiers of the Central Army worked in his company. He, the boss, used these female employees to become sworn brothers with the soldiers of the Central Army. Isn't this also a manifestation of nepotism?

He didn't return to his home at the academy, but to the nicely decorated courtyard house with a well that Old Ding had bought for him.

Ever since being publicly beaten by Quillen, Zhao An hasn't gone home. Old Ding told him to go see his parents-in-law, probably because his granddaughter Wanqing had been complaining to her parents about not seeing her new husband.

Although the grandfather knew why his grandson-in-law hadn't gone back, now that his injury had healed and things were mostly settled, it would be inappropriate for him not to go back soon.

Old Ding is still hoping to hold his great-grandson next year.

From a legal perspective, Ding Wanqing is Zhao An's lawfully wedded wife, while Chunlan is merely an add-on, a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Given her relationship with Lao Ding, even if Chunlan is pregnant with Zhao An's child, Zhao An still has to spend this Spring Festival with his legal wife, Wanqing, both publicly and privately.

When they were almost home, Zhao An suddenly asked the car to stop, and then took out a three-hundred-tael silver note and handed it to Baili Yunlong, who had been his bodyguard for almost half a month.

"Go to the bank and exchange this silver note for a share among the brothers. It's almost the New Year, and I, as the young master, don't have much to give the brothers. Consider this money as a small token of my appreciation."

Zhao An was satisfied with Baili Yunlong, whom Ding Jiu had introduced. Although he had never seen Baili Yunlong's skills, Baili Yunlong had done a very good job in security over the past two weeks.

They even set up two layers of security measures at night, one with visible sentries and the other with hidden ones, demonstrating their meticulous planning. Zhao An plans to have Baili Yunlong participate in military training next year, gradually cultivating him into a military talent. "Protecting the young lord is our duty as brothers; how could we accept the young lord's money!"

Baili Yunlong refused to accept the silver notes Zhao An offered, no matter what.

Zhao An laughed and said, "Protecting me is your duty, but giving the brothers some money is my way of showing my appreciation. These are two separate things and shouldn't be compared."

Without a word, he stuffed the silver note into Baili Yunlong's hand, saying, "It's the New Year, and every one of you brothers has a family to support. Why not use this money to buy some meat, some cloth, some cosmetics for your wives, and let the children have a good New Year?"

After saying that, he told Baili Yunlong and the others that they no longer needed to protect him, and that he would notify everyone to "go back to work" after the New Year.

Since Shaojun insisted on this, Baili Yunlong had nothing to say. He left one of his brothers to drive the carriage home for Shaojun, and then led the brothers back to the incense hall to report back.

As soon as Zhao An got out of the car, he saw the gatekeeper, Old Li, and the housekeeper, Zhang Ma, busy in the yard, presumably cleaning up to welcome the New Year.

"The son-in-law is back!"

Hearing the noise, Old Li turned around and saw Zhao An. Overjoyed, he quickly dropped the broom in his hand and ran over.

Zhang Ma quickly called out into the house.

"Who's back?"

Ding Wanqing rushed out of the house. Her husband, who had disappeared from sight, was standing in the courtyard, smiling at her. She was about to rush forward, but after taking only one step, she let out a soft hum and turned back into the house.

Zhao An felt embarrassed, knowing that Wanqing was just being a little temperamental and didn't understand the importance of separation making the heart grow fonder.

It's also possible that they haven't tasted the marrow yet, and haven't experienced that irresistible flavor.

After telling Zhang Ma and Lao Li to continue their work, he went into the house with a smile, only to find the little girl sitting on the edge of the bed, stroking a raccoon cat without even looking up at her husband.

"Why are you unhappy that I'm back?"

As they were talking, Zhao An sat down next to Wanqing. He noticed that the cat looked familiar and then remembered that he had seen it at Lao Ding's house before. He figured it must have been Wanqing's pet.

The young girl looked up and cut to the chase, giving a slight snort: "Have you been spending time with that woman surnamed Luo lately?"

"Ok?"

Zhao An was stunned. His father-in-law and mother-in-law told their daughter about it.

"Don't think I don't know; I know everything."

The little girl's face clearly showed displeasure. "Let me tell you, I also secretly went to see that woman."

"This... I should have told you about this a long time ago, but... but..."

Zhao An didn't know how to explain it for a moment, after all, this matter was too complicated and could be considered a strange case.

"Forget it, you don't need to tell me so much. Anyway, I am your legal wife, Zhao An. That woman can only be a concubine."

The little girl put the raccoon she was holding on the ground, her face suddenly turned red, and her voice became much softer. She seemed to want to say something but was too embarrassed to say it. Zhao An was completely confused and had no idea what the little girl was trying to do.

After a few dozen breaths of this "frozen" silence, the little girl finally mustered up the courage to glare at Zhao An: "Do you still have ink in your brush? If so, give it all to me. I can't let that woman gain power through her child."

(End of this chapter)