The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

Jia Huan has been busy taking over the Ning family's six large estates outside the city recently. Even though his underlings handle the specific matters, he still has to show up and exert pressure on them most of the time.

Some things, you simply won't understand unless you experience them firsthand; you'll never know how many intricacies they hold.

He was already mentally prepared that the process of taking over the Ning family estate would not be smooth.

Then, he confiscated five of the six estate managers of Ningfu Estate in one go!

The remaining one, terrified out of his wits, immediately handed over the benefits he had embezzled over the years.

In total, the silver and various valuables confiscated amounted to over 150,000 taels, approaching 200,000 taels.

Jia Huan didn't take much; he directly sent 150,000 taels to the Ning Mansion's public funds. The rest was his income; after all, one should be rewarded for doing something.

It can only be said that Jia Qiang, Qin Keqing, and even Jia Rong before he became mentally impaired, were not ruthless individuals.

In managing the estate affairs, he still left quite a few loopholes for the estate manager.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been said before that the farm's annual output would suffer losses of no less than 10%.

That's why they say greed blinds people to the bigger picture!

The head of the Ning Mansion's estates surely knew who Jia Huan was, so it's no wonder he didn't give them face when Jia Huan tried to consolidate his control over the estates.

Although the Ning family estate is not as large as the Rong family estate, it was still painstakingly acquired by the first generation of the Duke of Ning and the second generation of the Ning family head. It is a rare and fertile land.

Otherwise, the Ning family wouldn't have been able to earn over a million taels of silver a few years ago by relying solely on the production from their estates.

With just a few minor improvements, the output of Ningfu Manor will definitely see a significant increase!

During this period, he had to arrange the duties of his subordinates, and most importantly, ensure their safety.

As border conflicts continue and escalate, the demand for military rations is expected to rise. Are we about to see the days of making big profits from selling military rations return?

In short, it took almost a month just to take over the Ning family estate and restore its production and daily life to normal.

During this time, Jia Huan also sent Lin Daiyu a sand table model of the Ning Mansion's estate.

Furthermore, the letter clearly explained how he took over the Ning family estate, the troubles he encountered, and how he resolved them.

Just like writing a work report in modern times, the purpose is to make sure Lin Daiyu can understand it.

Damn, Lin Daiyu was into romantic tales, wasn't she? I don't have that talent; I can't even plagiarize famous poems. So, I'll just cultivate her interest in business and construction.

In modern times, management and construction-themed online games are very popular. I don't believe that a young girl like Lin Daiyu wouldn't be interested in such things in this feudal imperial era where entertainment was scarce.

In fact, Jia Huan succeeded!

Lin Daiyu's interest in participating in the improvement, construction, and management of the estate was piqued by the work reports that Jia Huan sent her one after another.

The little girl was particularly shocked and incredulous by the cleaning up of the farm's entrance and the garbage within the farm.

Where had she ever seen or heard of this before?

To get to the bottom of things, he even sent three or four letters to Jia Huan a day, just to find out the truth. Lin Ruhai, seeing this, beamed with joy.

Chapter 237 No Comparison, No Harm (Please Subscribe)

In fact, let alone Lin Daiyu being interested!

Even high-ranking official Lin Ruhai was very interested in Jia Huan's "work report".

He had served as a local official and also as a salt commissioner, so he considered himself quite knowledgeable about local affairs.

After reading the 'work report' that Jia Huan sent, he was somewhat taken aback by the various events described in it, which clearly showed that he didn't understand some of the things happening at the grassroots level.

By expanding the issue from the village to a township, county, or even a prefecture, we can see a significant portion of the contradictions and problems at the grassroots level.

That's about three or four points; anything more than that is unreliable.

After all, the situation on the farm was quite special, and no one would starve to death.

Furthermore, the exploitation and oppression of tenants was relatively restrained compared to that outside.

Even so, Lin Ruhai felt that his horizons had been broadened, and sometimes he and his daughter Lin Daiyu would analyze and study the 'work reports' sent by Jia Huan.

Then, based on the delivered farm model, he shared his insights.

The feeling of discussing current affairs and expressing oneself with close friends made the father and daughter quite satisfied, and even increased their sense of closeness.

In the past, when the father and daughter met, they would ask each other about their health, how they were eating, or what books they had read. These were dry questions that could not enhance their relationship.

Now that the father and daughter can have a heated debate and discussion about the same thing, isn't that how family affection grows stronger?

Therefore, Lin Daiyu's impression of Jia Huan at this time was still quite good!

As for Lin Ruhai, he was naturally even more satisfied.

In the era of feudal imperial power, it was quite remarkable that a promising and capable young man like Jia Huan would do so much for a woman.

Putting everything else aside, just comparing him to Jia Baoyu, well, there's basically no comparison.

Upon meeting, she kept calling me "little sister," her words as sweet as honey, so kind and heartwarming.

But when they don't meet, he acts as if he's forgotten he even has a younger sister most of the time.

Forget about showing concern or warmth, they're even stingy with a word.

Lin Ruhai didn't voice his thoughts. After all, his daughter Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu were childhood sweethearts and had a pretty good relationship, so there was no need for him to play the villain.

But he was absolutely unwilling to take it any further.

This Mid-Autumn Festival, Lin Ruhai took Lin Daiyu to the Rong Mansion to deliver festival gifts.

The old lady brought up the matter of Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu becoming even closer relatives again. This time, Lin Ruhai didn't mince words and directly inquired about the actual situation.

For example, after getting married, could Lin Daiyu be allowed to come home to visit often?

Furthermore, if the two have children, could one of them have the surname Lin to continue the Lin family line?

Most importantly, Jia Baoyu doesn't even have the title of a student yet. Should we wait until he has achieved a certain status in the imperial examinations or other areas before considering this?

In addition, he bluntly asked whether Madam Wang agreed.

After all, she is Consort Yuan's biological mother. If she is not willing, wouldn't Lin Daiyu suffer if she married into the family?

In short, Lin Ruhai's words left the old lady completely bewildered, unable to confirm anything.

Lin Ruhai was somewhat disappointed, as all the things he had proposed were based on Jia Huan's conditions.

Jia Huan readily agreed, but when it came to Jia Baoyu, he couldn't give a clear answer; it would be a miracle if he were willing.

On the other side, Lin Daiyu met with the three sisters, Xue Baochai, and Li Wan. Naturally, they were all very happy and had endless things to talk about. They were radiant and full of energy.

However, what she said left the women somewhat bewildered.

They didn't quite understand what was going on with the farm reform, the farm manager's misdeeds, and the cunning steward.

Only Xue Baochai and Li Wan showed thoughtful expressions.

Xue Baochai asked curiously, "Have you been managing the family's estate lately?"

"That's not true!"

Lin Daiyu said frankly, "Huan-ge'er sent the family two model sand tables of the estate, as well as a detailed account of how he handled the Ning Mansion's estate. My father and I review it at home when we have nothing to do!"

"How interesting! It was only then that I realized how cunning and despicable the managers below were!"

"Oh, even your father is interested?"

Xue Baochai immediately grasped the key point and asked curiously, "Isn't that unlikely?"

"Father said that we can glean some insights into what's happening outside from what's going on at the estate!"

"Father can no longer see the things that happen at the very bottom, but some things do start from the bottom!"

"It's quite good that Father was able to see something useful in the Ning family estate matter!"

Xue Baochai nodded and carefully wrote this down.

Although she never revealed it, she still held Lin Daiyu's father, Lin Tanhua, in high esteem.

After all, a second-rank official in his forties is someone even the governor of Jiangnan wouldn't dare to underestimate.

When the Xue family was in Jinling, they generally didn't reach the level of a governor!

Unless one's uncle, Wang Ziteng, personally intervenes to help, it is not an easy task to get an audience with the governor.

If it were Lin Daiyu instead, things would definitely be much easier.

Xue Baochai wasn't envious or jealous, but rather felt that if even a high-ranking official of the second rank valued something, it must be useful.

Starting with Lin Daiyu and followed by Xue Baochai, the group of sisters did not discuss poetry, but instead engaged in lively discussion about the estate matters raised by Lin Daiyu.

Lin Daiyu possessed remarkable literary talent, and she could describe the specific details of the Ning Mansion's estate in great detail, even vividly depicting the scene.

Then he recounted in detail how Jia Huan reorganized the estate and handled its affairs.

With this as a basis, the group of girls immediately started discussing it.

Even Li Wan was hearing such a novel and interesting thing for the first time. She was amazed by the methods of the Ning Mansion's estate manager and was astonished by Jia Huan's ruthless methods.

They never imagined that Jia Huan, who was just an insignificant nobody in the Rong Mansion, would be so powerful and influential outside; it was simply unbelievable.

It sounds like they have considerable influence outside?

Li Wan and Tan Chun naturally remembered how difficult the head of the manor was.