The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

The problem is that the interests involved are too great, so Zhou Ruijia has to make a statement.

She understood Zhou Ruijia's thoughts; she just wanted her man to take over.

Lady Wang didn't care who managed the eight estates in the mansion, but the annual rent had to be paid in full, otherwise she wouldn't be able to get past that hurdle herself, not to mention that Wang Xifeng wasn't exactly a good-natured person either.

Sensing Madam Wang's meaningful glance, Zhou Rui's wife's face immediately turned bitter, as if she had swallowed a bitter pill. How could she dare to respond to such a question?

That's 80,000 taels of silver a year, not 8,000 taels!

Jia Huan's words laid everything out in the open, making it impossible for her to reduce the numbers even if she wanted to.

The reason why she urged Lady Wang to take back the management rights of the estate from Jia Huan was naturally because she wanted to make a fortune.

But family members know their own situation best, and Zhou Rui's wife was quite clear about whether her husband had the ability to manage a business. The reason he was able to thrive outside was simply because he was using someone else's influence.

If it really comes down to actual business management capabilities, then in the end, seven or eight out of ten times, there will be losses.

The eight major estates could potentially lose tens of thousands of taels of silver a year; how could they possibly afford that?

Chapter 294 A Tumultuous Scene (Please Subscribe)

When dealing with Madam Wang, talking about family ties is useless.

Just throw silver at her; Madam Wang loves gleaming silver and glittering gold.

For money and profit, this man was even willing to sell his son.

In the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber, this woman kept the Xue family hanging on with Jia Baoyu until their eventual marriage. In reality, it was almost like selling her son, because she could no longer repay the money she had taken from the Xue family.

Although she loved money, Madam Wang was utterly incompetent in financial management.

Despite the support of the Rong family, she was still being exploited by the palace eunuchs to the point of being unable to bear it.

This is the situation in the original novel of Dream of the Red Chamber. As for the current situation, Jia Huan didn't pay much attention, but he knew it wasn't very pleasant.

It's unclear whether Yuan Chun's extravagant spending in the palace led many palace eunuchs to believe that the Rong family had plenty of money and it was easy to take it.

Any eunuch who could get involved with Yuan Chun, whether on official business or doing private work outside the palace, would come to Rong Mansion to try and get something out of her; no matter what, they could always get something.

It's estimated that they were afraid of affecting Yuan Chun, and they didn't know the background of the eunuchs who came to the door.

Anyway, as long as you go to their door, you'll get something, more or less!

Under such circumstances, the Rong family's expenses were quite large. The errand fees paid to the eunuchs alone amounted to several thousand taels of silver each year, and they were gradually increasing.

This is also one of the main reasons why, despite their considerable income, public sector employees don't retain much of their earnings.

Since it was public money anyway, Madam Wang didn't feel bad about spending it.

If it weren't for Wang Xifeng's close supervision, once Madam Wang started causing trouble, she would have been completely reckless and unrestrained.

Therefore, it is said that Wang Xifeng and Madam Wang had quarreled about this several times, but unfortunately it was of no use.

Now that the public funds are clearly divided, however we spend the money, it will all be our own.

Madam Wang became worried and naturally dared not spend money as extravagantly as before.

Putting everything else aside, if any palace eunuchs came to visit, the errand fees they would receive would naturally have to be paid by Lady Wang herself; Wang Xifeng would definitely not pay them.

So, at the urging of her trusted confidante Zhou Rui's wife, she wanted to take back the management rights of the estate from Jia Huan.

Jia Huan didn't argue back, but simply mentioned the agreement between himself and Wang Xifeng.

Most importantly, the interests involved must be clearly explained!

Sure enough, Madam Wang was very tempted by the annual rental fee of 80,000 taels of silver.

If distributed proportionally, she would receive 56,000 taels of silver every year, which is by no means a small amount. How could she possibly give it up so easily?

Then, the pressure fell on Zhou Rui's family.

She could take over the management of the estate in the manor, but she had to agree to one condition with Jia Huan.

The annual rent for a farm is ten thousand taels!

Faced with a mountain of silver, Zhou Rui's wife couldn't get much support from Madam Wang.

At most, the annual rental fee will be reduced from 10,000 taels to 9,000 taels; it cannot be less than that!

Clearly, Zhou Rui's wife was aware of this as well, which is why she remained silent for so long.

Even a fool could see what it meant, and Madam Wang's expression turned rather unpleasant.

If Zhou Rui's wife messes up at this time, wouldn't she lose face?

So, the reason they summoned Jia Huan in such a menacing manner was just to find out about this kid's management skills, and then they wanted him to continue running the estate?

Zhou Rui's wife was very anxious, but she really didn't want to make any promises.

That's all free money!

Knowing full well that it might be a waste of time and effort, yet still stubbornly persisting, is pure folly.

Although Zhou Rui's family was quite wealthy, they couldn't withstand such a drain.

They might go bankrupt after a few years, and that would be truly tragic.

Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Jia Huan chuckled inwardly, but his face remained calm.

Indeed, discussing interests directly with his stepmother, Lady Wang, was the best choice and the best approach.

"Mother, I have an idea, but I don't know if it's feasible!"

He spoke at the opportune moment, breaking the awkward silence in the flower hall.

There was nothing they could do; after all, Lady Wang was an elder, and in the Great Qian Dynasty, which governed the country with filial piety as its guiding principle, she held a natural advantage. As I said before, there was no need to put up a fight unless one was personally affected.

"Oh, do you have any other ideas? Tell me about them."

Madam Wang felt utterly helpless and just wanted to end her conversation with Jia Huan as soon as possible.

This blunder has been huge; she needs to sort out her thoughts and at least avoid continuing this embarrassing situation.

"Some things can't be proven by words alone!"

Jia Huan said slowly, "How about I relinquish the management rights of a farm and let someone with the ambition and ideas give it a try? One or two years should be enough!"

This is like offering a ladder to Madam Wang on a whim; hopefully, she won't actually be out of her mind.

Fortunately, Madam Wang was not a fool and immediately understood Jia Huan's meaning.

Feeling a bit more favorably disposed towards him, he nodded and said, "Then let's do it that way!"

Upon seeing this, Jia Huan knew that if he stayed any longer, he would become an absolute nuisance.

He hurriedly bowed and took his leave. After receiving Madam Wang's approval, he turned and left gracefully.

Watching Jia Huan's tall figure disappear into the distance, Madam Wang said to Zhou Rui's wife, "The estate that Huan-ge'er vacated is for your family to manage well!"

He paused for a moment, then said directly, "The annual rental fee of ten thousand taels of silver cannot be less!"

Zhou Rui's heart tightened, and although she was very unwilling, she still obediently nodded in agreement.

What do you call this, "Trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead"?

In short, Zhou Ruijia was not in a good mood at the moment, and even had an urge to curse.

I thought I could get a great deal, but now I know it's a hot potato. Even just getting a little bit involved makes me feel really frustrated. I don't know what will happen next.

If you know you're going to lose money, why would you have any interest in doing it?

After leaving the Rong Mansion, Jia Huan found it all quite amusing.

Don't they realize that if he didn't have some backup plan, he would never have so easily accepted the management of the Rong family's estate?

As I said before, the servants born into the Rong family are no good!

Once they find an opportunity, they want to take advantage of it. Whether Jia Huan is the master of the Rong Mansion or not is not even a consideration. Anyway, they have plenty of ways to make Jia Huan bow his head. That's how confident they are.

Even the annual rental fee of 80,000 taels of silver was actually a condition that Jia Huan induced Wang Xifeng to set, with the aim of using it for today's scene.

What a useless piece of trash!

Wanting to take advantage but lacking real skills, Zhou Rui's family ended up stuck in a limbo, probably feeling incredibly frustrated!

Hehe, this is just the appetizer!

When her husband takes over the estate, he'll definitely give them a good beating.

As for Madam Wang, she had little control over her illegitimate son who had already left the manor.

Even if she realized it by now, it would be too late. Could she possibly bring Jia Huan back to the Rong Mansion?

Regardless of whether the old lady would agree or not, Jia Huan himself would never agree.

Not long after I got home, I received a call from my prospective husband, Lin Ruhai.

Having no other choice, I had to head out to the Lin family's house. I don't know what happened that made me so anxious.

"I reckon we'll have to relocate it!"

The first thing Lin Ruhai said to him upon meeting was a pleasant surprise.

What a pleasant surprise!

Given Lin Ruhai's qualifications and abilities, he would at least be appointed as a provincial governor if he were to be transferred to a local post, or even become a provincial governor directly.