The Martial Doctor

"For your happiness, I am not afraid to lose face."

"Mother..."

"Alright, this white fungus and lotus seed soup is getting cold, drink it quickly and go to sleep. It’s getting late." Mrs. Zhen patted Xu Qixi’s shoulder as she spoke.

...

"Liuli sent a letter, she will set out in three days and return to Dongshan for the New Year."

"Great, our family can finally have a reunion this year." Lin Miao nodded happily, "Shi Yin, from now on, you and Liuli will manage the family’s restaurant and pastry shop business."

"Huh?" Shi Yin looked up in surprise.

"What’s with the ’huh’? Your sister Liuli has long been a part of my household, and you count as half. The family’s businesses will grow more abundant, and my time and energy are limited. I don’t like doing specific tasks very much, so I’ll have to rely on you both." Lin Miao chuckled as he explained.

"The salary standard I’ve set for you is six hundred taels of silver per person per month, and bonuses and dividends are calculated separately. This may vary slightly, serving as both motivation and admonition." Lin Miao said.

"Six hundred taels a month?" Shi Yin gasped; this was more than she earned as a courtesan at Huaye Tower.

The key point being, back then she had to spend money on herself, and there was not much silver left each month.

This is just the basic salary; there are also bonuses, performance, allowances, and equity dividends, especially the equity dividends, which are the main part.

Far more than the basic salary and bonuses, this is just the first year and may be a little less, but it will surely be more in the future.

Although everyone is a part of the family, achieving complete equality is impossible, but the basic welfare benefits are all there.

Even in the manor, without operating any industry, they still receive substantial money each year. For example, the sisters Lianxin and Liansuo, while they don’t manage or take responsibility for any operation, Lianxin takes care of Lin Miao’s daily life, and Liansuo serves as a guard.

Their basic salary plus position performance, bonuses, and allowances for each are at least fifteen thousand taels of silver annually.

Considering their value as experts in the Meridian Passage Realm, it might seem a bit low, but for them being in Lin Manor, their food, clothing, and living expenses, even their cultivation resources, don’t cost them anything.

Such welfare treatment is among the top even in the Snow Mountain Sect, within the true disciples.

The person receiving the highest treatment in the manor is Sun Youwei; her basic salary alone is one thousand taels a month. Adding various welfare benefits and dividends, her annual income heads straight to twenty thousand taels.

Of course, she is the future head hostess of the Lin Manor, with the authority to mobilize all the funds of Lin Manor, a power that no other person has.

As for Lin Miao...

He’s just a workhorse, not taking any salary at all, not that he lacks money anyway.

The rules have to be established in advance, as this pertains to the future stability and unity within the manor.

There’s also Mrs. Yun, who is an exception with a monthly salary of eight hundred taels, and her welfare benefits are a cut above those of Lianxin and Liansuo. Annually, she earns around twenty thousand taels of silver, and she also has shares in the tofu shop dividends...

Xia Zhu, as the eldest disciple, also receives a welfare package that, in total, surpasses her father Xia Yuan’s at the Benefit People Pharmacy.

Were it not for Xia Yuan’s existing contract with the Benefit People Pharmacy, he would have considered moving to Yongning Hall, at least not being inferior to his daughter, right?

Indeed, he might really fall short of Xia Zhu; there’s a distinction between the eldest disciple and the father of the eldest disciple.

Various treatments at Lin Manor have been fully upgraded.

Especially after Su Chen returned home from the Great Yue Country; Lin Miao finally realized what getting rich overnight means, experiencing the feeling of being an upstart.

This time, the profit far exceeded his mental expectations.

When Su Chen handed the account book to him, he was shocked to find that the profit was five million taels of silver.

And this was just his share, there was also the Su Family and the Snow Mountain Sect’s share.

The cost was minimal, less than ten percent.

Within this ten percent, Lin Miao still made a profit, at least enough to support the entire Lin Manor and still have a surplus.

The first time was a test.

The second time was a big sale, but it wouldn’t work in the future as the market in the Great Yue Country was already saturated; trying again would definitely lead to a severe price drop.

Su Chen wanted to team up with the Snow Mountain Sect to visit the Yue Country.

Go after the New Year.

Anyway, this time they made enough from the Great Yue Country, going later wouldn’t harm, meanwhile assessing the market demand in the Great Yue Country again.

Lin Miao naturally agreed.

Although Su Chen always claimed he didn’t want to do business, his innate talents surfaced. The crisis in the Su Family fully awakened the merchant gene within him.

In fact, making money also provides a sense of pleasure, addictive in its own way.

This time, Su Chen brought back quite a few goodies from the Great Yue for Lin Miao, naturally not transporting them into the city but leaving them at the manor outside the city.

How much tax would they have to pay if they brought these things into the city?

It’s more reasonable to bring them in gradually as a tax avoidance measure because even though Lin Miao has tax exemption benefits, moving everything into the city at once wouldn’t work.

The books, seeds, and various gadgets Lin Miao requested didn’t really cost much money but took effort to collect.

This time and effort is indeed the most valuable.

Especially the skilled craftspeople from Xiangshan that Lin Miao urgently needed, this time Su Chen brought over a hundred people for him, along with nearly four to five hundred others when considering their families.

Getting so many people from the Yue Country to Da Li was no small effort for Su Chen; these people were leaving the country and it wasn’t easy to pass Yue Country’s checkpoints.

They had to be divided into batches, using different channels, to enter, and then regroup in Jiangdu of Da Li before heading back to Dongshan together when everyone was gathered.

The procession was quite lengthy along the way, including the Su Family, Snow Mountain Sect guards, and these people, it was a group of over a thousand crossing borders.

In the return journey, the Su Family spent nearly a hundred thousand taels of white silver on greasing the palms of local officials and checkpoints along the way.

The cost to properly build Lin Miao’s Qilin Castle was indeed not small; these people signed a ten-year contract, with considerable settlement fees given.

They were also promised housing and land when they arrived in Dongshan.

Aside from workers from Xiangshan, Su Chen also recruited a batch of craftsmen, mainly skilled in pottery, who were poached.

Lin Miao wanted to experiment whether the kaolin from the Longchuan Canyon could be used for making pottery.

If it could be used.

This would create another industry, why not?

Pottery making from here, even if the quality doesn’t match the Great Yue’s kiln, but it’s closer to the Yue Country and Beihu, and pottery could sell for a high price there, along with the western Xiyong of Yue Country and the Ruya Empire...

As long as the trade routes are open, there will be countless ways to make money.

"Brother, I brought back over a dozen Yue women from the Great Yue for you; all young and beautiful courtesans, they’re at your manor outside the city." Su Chen whispered.

"What?" Lin Miao was taken aback and bemused; Su Chen unexpectedly brought him women; of course, it wasn’t exactly that.

His manor did indeed lack a few maids for serving, but for now, it was enough.

"They’re all children from poor families; I know your manor needs people, and to avoid ill-intentioned individuals placing people in your manor, buying such girls outright would be more reliable. My family bought a batch too, to replace some people." Su Chen said, "They wouldn’t have survived otherwise, selling themselves. If I didn’t buy them, others would have, and their fates would be evident."

Su Chen bought these girls, both out of compassion and indeed considering Lin Miao’s future needs.

In the future, with Lin Miao’s ever-growing family business, the manor will certainly require ample staffing, and girls like these, who have signed indenture agreements and have no ties, are the most trustworthy.

This is common practice among wealthy merchants and nobility.

"Is life really that hard for the people in Yue Country?" Lin Miao asked surprisedly; although Yue Country has many mountains and few plains, people should be able to live off the mountains and waters, not to the point of starvation unless the authorities in Yue Country were exploiting them excessively.

"The state governance in Yue Country is relatively stable; it’s just that this year sees frequent floods submerging many areas, leading to more displaced people than usual. Because of this, many have had to sell their children. I couldn’t bear to see it, so I bought more than a few, half for use and the other half sent to you, figuring you would need them as well and wouldn’t resell them!" Su Chen offered an awkward smile.

"How many people?" Lin Miao understood.

"About a hundred or so, both males and females, mostly females, those unfit I didn’t take." Su Chen replied.

"And on your side, is your household arranged?"

"I..."

"Alright then, give me the ones you don’t prefer; I have a place to arrange them." Lin Miao considered; after building Qilin Castle, it would need maintenance and cleaning, and these people could be put to use.