Chapter 139: Go for it, Duke Wei!

Wei Renshi still bought that estate.

Although Zhang Ji expressed that he would immediately think of a way and continue to ask people to find the Chief Medical Officer, imploring him to come forward and endorse this medical prescription. This could at least prove first that the prescription was correct, and that the death of Fifth Shouliang’s adopted son had nothing to do with this prescription.

However, this young woman dressed in plain mourning attire, surnamed Huang, was clearly not as optimistic as Zhang Ji.

Neither was Wei Renshi.

Fifth Shouliang was the Right Shence Army Guardian General, which could be described as a figure of actual power within the Right Shence Army.

It was precisely starting from Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shi, that aside from the Grand General, Pacification General, and General within the Shence Army, two eunuchs were additionally appointed respectively as the Left and Right Guardian Generals, serving as the actual principal commanders of the Shence Army.

And just what official rank did the Chief Medical Officer hold? How could he possibly dare to stick his neck out for this?

On this point, Zhang Ji was not as perceptive as that woman surnamed Huang.

She was extremely sorrowful; this house, which had taken her family two generations of effort to purchase and construct, was immediately about to become someone else's.

Taking out ten thousand strings of flying cash, coupled with the proceeds from selling off their other properties, they delivered everything to Fifth Shouliang’s mansion to beg for forgiveness. Taking along only a few elderly servants, Master Huang's family left Chang'an City overnight and headed toward the Jiangnan Circuit.

The group of household servants had their contracts returned to them, yet they wore faces of utter bewilderment, with nowhere left to go.

Wei Renshi gathered the people together.

Ma Weilong and Gou'er stood on either side of Wei Renshi, their spines held straight, legs slightly parted, and hands clenched into fists behind their backs. Their fierce and rugged demeanor was laid bare without reservation. The two of them maintained a cold expression, yet exuded a dangerous sense of indifference toward life and death.

Well, it was deliberate.

Instances of domestic servants bullying their masters were hardly rare, especially since Wei Renshi was still occupying a twelve-year-old body.

"From now on, this residence belongs to the Wei family." Wei Renshi swept his gaze across the crowd and said to the servants: "Master Huang has returned your contracts. If you intend to seek a livelihood on your own, take your contracts and leave now. If you are willing to stay, just wait here for the time being."

The servants below fell silent for a moment, and right away several men stepped forward, preparing to leave.

After waiting a moment longer, a total of a dozen people stepped forward, all intending to seek a livelihood on their own.

Wei Renshi looked at the remaining people and asked, "Have you thought it through? Are you willing to stay?"

The people remaining below all nodded in agreement.

"Good. Since you have entered the Wei household as servants, you must abide by the rules of the Wei family." Wei Renshi said: "I don't have many rules, and the most important one is single-minded loyalty. Not only must you be of one heart with the master's family, but everyone must also be united among yourselves. As for the other rules, I will explain them to you in detail later, though there won't actually be too many. Also, you must never betray the family to outsiders. Alright, let's talk about compensation next. Since we have entered the same estate, we are one family. I will not make you work for nothing. Serving as a domestic in the Wei household, regardless of background or origin, will all be paid wages. The steward will receive a monthly stipend of five strings of cash, and the accountant a monthly stipend of five strings of cash—although for now, both positions are vacant—while the others will receive monthly stipends ranging from five hundred coins to three strings of cash depending on the complexity and difficulty of their duties. Each person is entitled to five days of leave per month; the specific days are not fixed and can be determined according to need and mutual consultation with others. At the end of every year, each person will receive a year-end bonus of one string of cash. If you perform well throughout the year, the one-string year-end bonus will be appropriately increased based on evaluation; if anyone violates the rules, it will be appropriately deducted."

Hearing Wei Renshi's words, everyone was utterly shocked, wearing looks of sheer disbelief, as if they thought they had misheard.

Ordinary domestic servants in typical households mostly just had their food and lodging provided. Only those who managed to attain some status might obtain a few regular allowance coins. Yet they had never heard of anyone actually paying monthly wages.

Then they heard Wei Renshi say again: "Perhaps you have all never heard of this year-end bonus. As long as you are working hard for this household, then from now on as long as I am still around, our household will issue a year-end bonus at the end of every year to thank everyone for your hard work throughout the year. This year-end bonus is distributed to everyone at the end of the year, as a reward of wealth in addition to your wages. You can take it home to let your family have a good New Year, or use it to buy yourselves some items, or save it up so that small amounts accumulate—any of these is fine."

"One string?" The people below looked stunned.

A string of copper coins, placed in an ordinary commoner's household, was enough for them to live quite comfortably for over half a year!

Wei Renshi did not feel very strongly about this himself.

When he had no money in later generations, he had never been petty, let alone now that he had the capability.

When he was working in later generations, because he was a rural teacher, he never even dared to dream about a year-end bonus—have you ever seen a year-end bonus consisting of ten knock-off ham sausages?

At that time, he had thought that if he ever became a boss one day, he would definitely not withhold the year-end bonus.

Now he was finally somewhat affluent, and with only a few dozen servants around him here, a year-end bonus of one string of cash per person only amounted to a few dozen strings of cash in total. Selling just one high-end coal stove, or one cart of honeycomb briquettes, would easily earn it back.

Those servants had never heard of any year-end bonus, but they heard the words "one string of cash" loud and clear, yet they dared not believe it.

However, thinking about it, across the vast expanse of Chang'an, who had ever heard of anyone distributing money to household servants at the end of the year? And not just a few coins, or a few dozen coins, but a full string, an entire string!

"The monthly stipend I give, along with this year-end bonus, I dare say no one in this Chang'an City is more generous than I am. These are the fruits of your labor, and you can take them to save up or subsidize your families. Once they are in your hands, they are entirely your own, and you can plan how to use them yourselves; I naturally have no right to interfere. However, since you are working in the Wei family, there are a few places where these monies must not be spent. That is, do not waste them on frivolous things and neglect proper business. Especially gambling. If anyone lets me know they are gambling, they will be immediately expelled from the household without exception!"

The formation of a family style and house rules referred not only to family members; certain requirements must also be placed on the domestic servants of the house.

Having moved their belongings over from that courtyard of the Jiao family, Wei Renshi could be considered to have officially settled down here.

The scenery within the courtyard truly captured Wei Renshi's heart. The Jiangnan style of small bridges, flowing water, and homes, combined with the rugged and layered grotesque rocks of the northern country, seemed miniaturized within this garden, leisurely and elegant, fresh and serene.

A house worth ten thousand strings of cash—how much would this equate to in later generations? And it was located right near one of the largest commercial districts in the capital. In such a location, with such a vast area, tsk tsk...

Could this be considered doing whatever one pleases? Could it reach the level of "We are all ordinary families with nothing special, at most our house is just a little bigger"?

It seemed his next targets were to achieve the accomplishments of "The biggest mistake in my life was founding the Yimeng Pavilion, I have no interest in money," and "I am face-blind and simply cannot tell who is pretty and who is not"!

Well, excellent, let's set a small target for him first.

Keep it up, Lord Wei!

Wei Renshi strolled leisurely through the garden, his thoughts flying wild and unrestrained.

Suddenly, he thought that according to etiquette, he should visit the households of his immediate neighbors.

So he called upon Ma Weilong and Gou'er to go together into the West Market to pick out some gifts, so as to visit and get acquainted with the neighboring households.

Without a reliable steward and accountant, having to personally handle everything yourself was truly inconvenient!