Marrying a concubine and swallowing her dowry? The mistress turns around and marries a high-ranking

Chapter 19

The first thing Liu Manman did after taking office was to reluctantly take 10,000 taels of silver from her private treasury, which was her dowry, to settle the Marquis's debts.

There's no other way; if she doesn't pay off this debt first, she simply can't manage the household.

Then Liu Manman began to analyze the shortcomings in the current management of the Marquis's mansion.

The Marquis's mansion currently has more than forty servants. Liu Manman felt that there was a lot of redundancy in the staffing. The servants' workload was not actually that heavy, but most of them were on duty all day long. Even if there was nothing to do, they still had to stay there.

Liu Manman particularly despises the overtime system in modern times, feeling that it only reduces work efficiency, not only fails to increase output, but also wastes personal time and corrupts the entire work environment.

So she changed the work pattern of the servants in the Marquis's mansion to an eight-hour workday plus a shift system. Each servant only needed to be on duty for four hours, and those who needed to be on duty at night, such as guards and gatekeepers, would be on duty in three shifts. Anyway, there were enough people.

Those who need to work overtime can also receive overtime pay, which will be distributed at the beginning of the month along with the monthly allowance.

Liu Manman felt that this way, the servants could finish their work within eight hours, leaving the rest as their private time. Servants were people too, and they also needed their own private lives.

This most reasonable work system will definitely improve their work enthusiasm, increase their sense of belonging to the Marquis's mansion, and make them more loyal!

When the eight-hour workday was announced, all the servants in the Marquis's mansion were both surprised and delighted, and they praised Liu Manman highly.

"Madam Liu is truly innovative! This system is excellent!"

"Now I'll have time to spend with my wife and son!"

"It's truly a blessing that the Marquis's mansion has such a wise and compassionate matriarch as Madam Liu!"

Liu Manman felt very proud as she listened to everyone's praise and gratitude.

Qin Shaoze was also nearby at this time.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with the original management system, but Liu Manman's explanation sounded very reasonable and convincing, so he just let her have her way, after all, it was her right as the head of the household.

Liu Manman proudly said to Qin Shaoze, "Just wait and see, the servants of our Marquis's mansion will definitely be the most capable and loyal servants in the entire capital!"

Qin Shaoze loved her radiant, confident, and dazzling appearance the most, so he immediately picked her up and carried her into the house, ignoring Liu Manman's coquettish complaints.

A few days after the eight-hour workday was implemented, it was the end of the month, and the Marquis's mansion was distributing monthly allowances.

Recently, Liu Manman has been keeping new ledgers herself, using Arabic numerals.

The densely packed Chinese characters used to give her a headache, and they also made math difficult.

Arabic numerals are so simple and clear, and so convenient to calculate. As a time-traveling woman, how could she not make this reform!

The new ledger was indeed much simpler; the original several thick volumes had become a thin book, which looked much better to Liu Manman.

However, when she started to look at last month's accounts, the numbers didn't look so good.

There is a shortfall of fifty taels of silver in the accounts!

Fifty taels of silver wasn't much for Liu Manman, but it couldn't just disappear like that; she had to find out what happened!

Liu Manman went to the storeroom, counted the cash, and compared it with the amount on the books. It turned out that there were indeed fifty taels of silver missing.

Her first suspicion fell on Old Xu, who was guarding the warehouse.

Old Xu was an old man that Shen Lingjun brought from the Shen family to the Marquis's residence. The previous warehouse guard of the Marquis's residence was lazy and fond of drinking. Not long after Shen Lingjun married into the family, he was relieved of his post and replaced by Old Xu.

Old Xu worked diligently, and in the three years he was in office, nothing bad happened in the warehouse.

But Liu Manman felt that since Old Xu was Shen Lingjun's man, he must be dissatisfied with her, the second wife in charge of the household, and was stealing from her to cause trouble for her!

Liu Manman immediately ordered, "Guards! Old Xu has embezzled fifty taels of silver from the treasury. Arrest him!"

Old Xu was terrified and cried out that he was innocent: "I didn't! Madam Liu! I didn't take a single penny! If you say I took the money, you need some proof!"

The two sides were locked in a dispute, and Liu Manman threatened to send Old Xu to the authorities. A servant who was on good terms with Old Xu quickly ran to Yufei Courtyard and invited Shen Lingjun over.

Shen Lingjun arrived and looked at everyone in surprise: "What's going on?"

Liu Manman said aggressively, "Fifty taels of silver are missing from the Marquis's treasury. I believe this old Xu embezzled it, but he refuses to admit it. I'm going to hand him over to the authorities. What, Madam Shen, are you trying to protect your people?"

Shen Lingjun said, "I haven't even figured out the facts, so how can I talk about covering it up? Madam Liu said that Old Xu stole the things, but is there any witness or physical evidence? Or is it just her own guess?"

Liu Manman took out her account book: "Look for yourself! There are fifty taels of silver missing from the storeroom compared to the account! Old Xu said the storeroom has always been in good condition and there was no possibility of it being stolen from. So, besides himself, who else could be a suspect?"

The commotion was quite loud, and Qin Shaoze, who happened to be at home at the time, was drawn over.

Liu Manman immediately complained to Qin Shaoze: "Shaoze! This warehouse guard stole fifty taels of silver. He's one of Madam Shen's men. I wanted to take him to the authorities, but Madam Shen stopped me!"

Qin Shaoze comforted her, "You don't need to worry about her. She has already handed over the power of managing the manor to you. From now on, there will be no one of her people in this manor. You can do whatever you want with her."

Then, she reprimanded Shen Lingjun sternly: "The people you brought from the Shen residence were found to have shady dealings by Manman, and you still want to protect them?"

Shen Lingjun ignored Qin Shaoze. She was looking at the new ledger that Liu Manman had made, and she couldn't understand the symbols on it at all.

She asked Liu Manman, "Mrs. Liu, what does this mean?"

Liu Manman was very proud, feeling this was the time to show off her extraordinary abilities, so she patiently explained to Shen Lingjun:

"These are called Arabic numerals, my own unique number system. They're simple, clear, and convenient. You see, 1 means one, 2 means two..."

She was full of superiority and told Shen Lingjun what she had said, and Shen Lingjun listened attentively.

After listening, she asked someone to bring paper and pen, and began to calculate on the spot, referring to Liu Manman's account book.

Liu Manman was astonished: Shen Lingjun was an ancient person who had never seen Arabic numerals before. She had only explained them to her once, and most people wouldn't even be able to remember them, right? Yet she was already able to start calculating?

Shen Lingjun quickly circled a spot on Liu Manman's account book: "Madam Liu, you must have made a mistake here. There is an extra fifty taels of silver in the monthly allowance item, but you did not include it in the total, which caused the account book and the actual cash on hand to not match."

"what!"

Liu Manman was shocked and snatched the ledger away: "Impossible! How could I have made a mistake!"

Shen Lingjun said calmly, "You can calculate it yourself. The numbers are right here, there's no way to fake them."

Liu Manman recalculated the accounts herself, and her face immediately turned ashen.

It turns out she really did miscalculate!