[Gone with the Wind] Miss Margot

1865 was a good year to begin with.Before Christmas last year, the South announced its surrender. As a key military control area, the citizens of Atlanta got the news one step earlier than other places. The citizens were relieved at the same time, and every family began to prepare for Christmas. People on Peachtree Street even had turkey!

That's right, these turkeys all came from Margot's estate, and they were all sold on credit.

For this reason, Scarlett was still very unhappy.

What makes Scarlet even more unhappy is that the "Southern Family Post-War Mutual Aid Plan" wasn't proposed by Margo?But in the end, there was no place for Marge in the Southern Family Mutual Aid Foundation after the war!

Scarlett can be said to be furious.

Margo didn't have much reaction to this.In other words, she still looked calm.She was sitting in the living room, hugging her son Fitzwilliam and teaching him how to read, and Suellen was also busy getting close to him.

Margot and Suellen spent two and a half years in the hospital, from midsummer 1862 to Christmas Eve 1864, and their sons did not recognize their mother.Margot also knew very well that when she came back, her son tugged at the skirt of his grandmother Ellen and watched her carefully.

Although Marge firmly believes that what she does is for the sake of the homeland, Gerald, Ellen and the people around her think that her behavior is right, noble, and a model among the ladies in the south, but as a mother, Margot Grid still felt that he owed his children.So these days, Margot seized every opportunity to increase her son's favorability.

Suellen took the same approach.

This made Scarlett's son Wade Jr. envious.

Let's put it this way, Scarlett doesn't love Charles, and her bad temper is well known, and the most direct victim is little Wade.

Little Wade was terrified of his mother.

Fortunately, there is more than one child in Clark's family, Fitzwilliam of Margot and Ronald of Suellen are the same age as Wade Jr. Although Scarlett is Wade Jr.'s mother, she doesn't care about the child at all. , and Margot and Suellen couldn't leave at the hospital, so that Fitzwilliam and Ronald didn't even remember what their mother looked like!

It can be said that when Margot and Suellen did not come back, the three boys were almost sympathetic to each other. Under the shadow of the war, the three children snuggled up to each other like small animals to keep warm.

But now, Margot and Suellen are back, and they spend a lot of time on their children, teaching them how to read, playing games with them, encouraging them, praising them, and giving them a kiss and a kiss from time to time. a hug.

Fitzwilliam and Ronald quickly got close to their respective mothers. How could little Wade, who had never received such treatment from his mother, not be envious?

While Magsuellen was playing games with the children, little Wade was leaning against the door, leaning forward, looking expectantly at Scarlett.

And most of the time, he can only bow his head in disappointment.

Margot said to Scarlett more than once: "Scarlett, little Wade also hopes to participate. You should give him a hug too."

And at this time, when Scarlett's beautiful and sharp eyes fell on little Wade, little Wade would shudder and couldn't help but shrink back.

If it were someone else, I'm afraid they would have gone over to pick up the child long ago, but Scarlett hated little Wade's timid appearance the most, so naturally he would put his face down every time he saw it.

For this reason, Ellen still talked to Scarlett several times in private, but every time Scarlett responded verbally, and remained the same in private, so that little Wade was still afraid of her.

No, it should be said that she became more and more afraid of her, so that she became more and more cautious.

Although both Ellen and Melanie love him very much, in terms of spirit, little Wade has begun to be significantly different from Margot's Fitzwilliam and Suellen's Ronald.

It's a pity that Scarlett is not the kind of person who is easy to persuade, on the contrary, she is stubborn and stubborn.Seeing her son cowering, Scarlett became angry, but she also knew that if she lost her temper at her son and looked back, Ellen would be sad, so she had to pretend she didn't see it.

Scarlet turned to Margot and said, "You can still sit still!"

Margot raised her head in surprise: "Scarlett, are you talking to me?"

Just now Fitzwilliam successfully spelled the word congratulations, Margo clapped her hands to encourage him.

Looking at the pride and joy on Margot's face that hadn't faded, Scarlett frowned: "I remember you invested a lot of money in the post-war mutual aid fund for southern families."

A considerable part of the post-war mutual aid plan for southern families is about Barton Manor and Rose Manor.

During the war, in order to provide more supplies to the Confederate government and Atlanta, Margot and Suellen not only took the cotton from the two manors, but also took away the cotton from several nearby counties.It is because of the cotton that Barton Manor and Rose Manor have been able to continuously produce medical bandages, medical gauze and various cotton cloths.

Because it was wartime, the cotton that was taken away was kept on account. Now that the war is over, it is natural to pay the money for the goods.

When Marg came up with this post-war mutual aid plan for southern families before, she thought about using this plan to use the method of delayed payment to turn over the funds.

However, now it seems that the only option is to apply to the foundation first, and then pay in installments.

Marge explained, and seeing Scarlett's thoughtful look, she suddenly said, "Scarlett, do you want to be an accountant?"

"what?"

Scarlett froze, she didn't understand what Margot meant.

There are no working women in this world.

Suellen looked up too.

Even Melanie, who just walked in, widened her eyes.

"Mrs. Clark," Melanie said, "there are a lot of college-educated boys in the South..."

Margot said: "I know. But this time, too many people died in the South, and many young boys from other families disappeared. There are even quite a few manors that have lost their male heirs. To be honest, I am very glad that the United States is not In the United Kingdom, otherwise, the federal government would be able to take back most of the manors just by relying on the limited inheritance system and the fact that daughters cannot inherit land."

When Melanie heard this, she immediately frowned.

Su Ailun also said: "Yeah, I'm really glad that if I didn't surrender early, but let the war continue, I'm afraid there will be tens of thousands more death lists."

Scarlett jumped, "Suellen!"

Gerald, leaning on his cane, came in step by step, just in time to hear this.

"Scarlett, what Suellen said is not wrong. According to the estimates of General Lee and Mr. Jefferson Davis, without Margot's letter of proposal and mutual aid plan, the war would probably last until April. It won’t be over until you take down Richmond. If it is delayed until that day, I’m afraid there will be at least 20 more dead soldiers in the South, instead of the [-] just now.”

Hearing Gerald say this, Margot immediately stood up: "Father, how do you know this?"

"Mr. Davis has a letter, some for me, and of course, some for you."

Only then did Margo see the letter in Gerald's hand.Margot and Suellen each except Gerald.

After Margot quickly read her letter, she exchanged with Suellen and read Jefferson Davis' letter to the other party.

Scarlett couldn't hold back either.After all, Jefferson Davis was the former president of the Confederate government, and the only one.

That's a big shot in the South!

In the letter, Davis apologized to Margot for taking her honor, and even repeatedly apologized for his failure to negotiate an agreement with the Northern Confederate government to bring George Clark home.

Davis said in the letter: "The news brought by Mr. Butler gave me a glimmer of light. Yes, the South has not failed. As long as your plan goes smoothly, the South is still our South, there is no doubt! I am all with Mr. Rhett Butler, yes, we can still elect the South in the states. Yes, Mrs. Clark, I am all with you.  …”

Davis made it clear in his letters that he and his friends were more than happy to be of service in advising Frank Kennedy on Georgia's freshman governorship.

Seeing such a letter, Scarlett was very upset.

Damn old fox, it was just a letter that took away the credit from Margot.

Although Scarlett didn't get along with Margo and hated this sister very much, she hated those politicians who treated her and the citizens as fools even more.

"It's time for them to see what the South has become."

Scarlett muttered.

She rolled her eyes, then raised her head suddenly, and said, "Father, what about the taxes?"

Starting from this year, they will have to pay taxes to the Yankees, and because of Christmas, the fiscal year in Europe and the United States always starts in July and ends in July of the following year.In other words, before June, they had to pay the tax, otherwise, their manor and property would be lost.

Gerald took out a piece of paper from his vest pocket and said, "Tara Manor is three hundred dollars, Twelve Oaks Manor is five hundred dollars, Rose Manor is three thousand dollars, and Barton Manor is six thousand dollars. In addition, you three sisters Property in Atlanta pays taxes too."

Whether it is Rose Manor or Barton Manor, the area of ​​these two manors may not be twenty times that of Tara Manor, but the population is one hundred times that of Tara Manor in its most prosperous period!

It only costs five thousand dollars and six thousand dollars in taxes. Margo believes that it must be someone in the north who speaks for her.

Scarlett screamed, "Damn it! So much! How do you get it out?!"

Now, the paper money and bonds of the Confederate government have become useless paper, and they have no money from the federal government at all!

Melanie also looked panicked.

With Ashley absent and her father-in-law missing, she had no idea where to get five hundred dollars.

Scarlett thought otherwise.She immediately discovered something was wrong with Rose Manor and Barton Manor.

"What, what do you mean?"

Scarlet frowned and spoke quickly,

"No, that's not right! Dad said just now that the tax in Rose Manor is only [-] U.S. dollars, while the tax in Barton Manor is [-] U.S. dollars. How could there be such a big difference?"

Margot said: "Ah, that. Documents are required for land transfer. Suellen didn't find Frank's seal, so she used her own seal for the subsequent land transactions. That is to say, the added land is It was placed under her name. As for Barton Manor, I did use George’s seal at the beginning. However, when I found out that His Majesty and the Jews wanted to use American blood to make money and control the United States, for the sake of It's easy, and I used my seal when transferring title to the property in Atlanta."

In other words, Rose Manor is different from Barton Manor. Although Rose Manor expanded rapidly during the war, legally, those lands are not owned by Frank Kennedy, but belong to Suellen, so Rose Manor only needs to pay Three thousand dollars in taxes would suffice.Those Suellen estates were taxed separately.

As for the Barton Manor, Marge merged the land from Macon, including the land she bought later, into the Barton Manor, and Marge only kept the land in Atlanta.

Scarlet was dumbfounded, she wanted to ask again, but Melanie jumped up first.

"You said, the British and the Jews, they use our blood to make money? What does this mean?!"

Although she vaguely knew that there were other shadows behind this war, the cruelty and tragedy of the war and the old customs in the south made it impossible for Melanie to get the news she wanted.

Margot had to explain in detail.

Melanie burst into tears: "That's why you said that this war is very stupid."

Mag said: "Yes. The reality is so cruel. When a country, a dynasty, or an old era collapses, it is always accompanied by a lot of wealth, and this wealth will always attract a group of wolves who smell blood. "

"Oh my, oh my!"

Melanie teeters on Scarlett.

Scarlett became more and more irritable. She wanted to yell and want everyone to get out of the way, but the fact was that she put her arms around Melanie and frowned and said to Margot: "That's why you entrusted That guy Rhett Butler bought up a lot of U.S. Treasuries for you?"

"Yes."

"So what you are going to face next is the Queen Mother of England and the Jews?"

"And the millionaires from the Yankees."

Scarlet said angrily: "So you want to order me?"

"Because your mental arithmetic is faster than many men. In terms of accuracy, Ashley may be able to compare with you, but in terms of speed, he can't keep up with you at all. Besides, you are my sister, except you, I can't think of anyone else."

Scarlett was pleased with the compliment, so she accepted it.