Charles had other considerations.
Since these servants dared to treat Diana this way, the freemen leasing land from the Diana family would naturally disregard Diana even more. Although he was Diana's guardian, he couldn't possibly protect her at all times, let alone manage her properties.
For instance, with this earl's Castle, the reason he didn't immediately dismiss these servants was because he knew that new servants, if not properly trained, would behave just like these people today. It was better to use this opportunity to train them properly.
However, he couldn't guarantee that if they were trained well today, they wouldn't revert to their old ways tomorrow. Or perhaps they would outwardly accept the training, only to return to their original state once he turned his back.
Currently, hating the British and British aristocrats had become a societal mindset. With such servants around, how could he feel at ease leaving Diana alone in the earl's Castle?
Similarly, he was also a bit uneasy about entrusting those lands to others for training. (Note: At that time, the number of black slaves in America was not yet at its peak; many lands were leased to freemen for training, similar to how it was done in England, a practice especially prevalent among traditional British aristocrats.)
"Charles!" Diana shook Charles' hand.
"What's wrong, Diana? Are you worried about those servants?" Charles smiled at the girl and gently comforted her, "Don't worry, Tom has always been my personal valet and has received butler training. He will definitely manage them well."
"I don't want to live in this earl's Castle. I'm afraid that after you leave, they'll go back to how they were." The girl's words hit exactly on what Charles was also worried about.
"But we can't keep changing servants, can we? Diana, don't worry, I'll have Tom train them several times until they truly listen to you. Then I'll let Tom leave, alright?"
"Then can you stay too? Without you with me, I still don't dare to live in this earl's Castle."
"Live in this earl's Castle?" Charles turned to look at the majestic earl's Castle.
This was indeed a beautiful and grand building. He didn't know if his "White House" had even started construction yet. He had never lived in such a high-class residence before. If he could stay for a night, it should feel very nice.
"Alright! I can stay with you in this earl's Castle for a few days."
"That's great!" Diana immediately threw herself into Charles' arms and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.
Dealing with the earl's Castle matters was simple when handled by professionals. As Charles' valet, Tom had always played the role of a butler in Philadelphia and was very skilled at managing servants.
By the time Charles and Diana walked into the earl's Castle together, the servants were obediently following Tom and the armed militiamen's instructions, busily wiping and cleaning the already dusty earl's Castle.
Only after walking in from the entrance did Charles truly get a glimpse of an noble earl's Castle of this era.
The earl's Castle, already three stories high on the outside, felt particularly tall and deep inside. In truth, stone castles weren't especially suited for living, but on these increasingly warm June days, stepping into this earl's Castle immediately brought a refreshing coolness, making Charles instantly fond of the place.
The wall decorations were not as elaborate as Charles had imagined. Besides some reliefs and a few swords, the most common items were numerous portrait paintings of men and women, old and young.
According to Diana, who accompanied him, the people in these paintings were all former owners of this earl's Castle, and the works were by some of America's most famous painters. Some were even painted by renowned European masters when the owners were in Europe.
From the last century until now, the value of these oil paintings alone was immeasurable.
Because the living room was being cleaned, Charles, led by Diana, went to a study full of books.
Like most houses, this was truly the core of the earl's Castle. On both sides of the study were several rows of bookshelves packed with books. Charles, having seen modern large libraries, naturally wasn't particularly impressed.
Diana, however, proudly introduced to Charles that the collection here was comparable to the total number of books at Philadelphia College, and it also contained many precious parchment scrolls and handwritten manuscripts, antique-level books that Philadelphia College definitely did not possess.
Charles merely nodded, acknowledging that these books were indeed valuable, but he didn't feel they were of much use.
What interested him were the porcelains hidden on a shelf in the study, because those items were clearly valuable Chinese porcelains. Their colors weren't necessarily flamboyant, but the patterns were distinctively Chinese, not custom-made designs.
He walked over, picked up a blue-and-white dragon-and-phoenix plate, and turned it over. Sure enough, the words "Jingdezhen Factory" immediately met his eyes. He then carefully turned another blue-and-white plum vase, which read "Made in the Yongle Reign of the Great Ming Dynasty."
"The earl's Castle originally had several hundred pieces of various Chinese porcelains. These few are the best, hidden in the study by my father. Many other porcelains are missing, probably sold off by the butler," Diana explained patiently when she saw Charles paying attention to the porcelains.
"Hahaha! Diana, these porcelains are extremely valuable treasures!" Charles carefully put the porcelains back.
These were certainly products of imperial kilns, and the blue-and-white porcelain of the Ming Dynasty was a culmination of artistry. Charles had toured several auction houses with his tour groups and knew that porcelains with such reign marks were generally from imperial kilns, absolute rarities, some even mere tribute items.
In later generations, a "Yuan blue-and-white Guiguzi Descending the Mountain Jar" was auctioned for fourteen million pounds, reaching approximately seventeen million pounds with commission, equivalent to about 230 million RMB, setting the highest auction record for Chinese art worldwide.
These Ming Dynasty pieces would be relatively lower in price, but just the few porcelains on this shelf would be worth tens of millions in the 21st century.
The porcelains in this earl's Castle must be well protected—that was the only thing Charles could think of. He didn't even bother to continue talking to Diana, rushing out to order Tom to recover and protect all the porcelains in the earl's Castle, and that they could only be used after he had inspected them.
Charles spent his first night in the earl's Castle continuously examining various antique artworks.
Charles didn't know much about many Western art antiques, but for porcelains alone, he tallied nearly a hundred pieces from Ming imperial kilns and over a hundred from Qing imperial kilns. They varied in size and style.
According to Diana, successive earls spent at least ten thousand pounds buying these art porcelains, and several particularly valuable pieces were gifts from others. There were also several hundred other ordinary daily-use porcelains.
Although not necessarily from imperial kilns, they were beautifully shaped and unusually colored, making Charles very reluctant to continue using them as daily-use porcelains. He finally decided, with reluctance, to continue using them, not forgetting to remind the servants to be careful when using these porcelains.
He never expected this earl's Castle to be a treasure trove; Charles officially decided to stay.
However, he and Diana didn't stay in the earl's Castle for too long. After a brief preparation the next day, they both took a carriage to inspect the earl family's land near Philadelphia.
Since Tom was still training the servants in the earl's Castle, James, who had just finished his banking affairs, took his place as the accompanying personal valet, also taking the opportunity to check contracts and accounts.
Watching others draft and write about great achievements, Charles was originally unwilling to stay in a city he couldn't control. This time, he simply took the opportunity to leave Philadelphia for inspection and clear his mind.
The Diana family held a special status in Pennsylvania, owning some of Pennsylvania's most fertile land. In fact, many people wanted to lease or buy these lands.
Without mentioning distant examples, closer ones included Wilson and the Biddle family, who were very eager to purchase these lands but were thwarted by Charles' intervention.
After an inspection tour, it was indeed found that many freemen who leased and cultivated the earl family's land attempted to alter or deny the original contracts.
Charles had no patience to argue with these numerous tenants one by one. He had already made a decision: upon returning to Philadelphia, he would sell all these lands and use the proceeds from the sale to invest in the banking industry on behalf of Diana.
He only wanted the equity represented by that money; if it made money later, he would still give it to Diana, and he would not defraud her.
After several days of inspection, they arrived at a small town near Philadelphia, the same town Charles had stayed in during his first visit to Philadelphia.
Charles now felt a lack of influence and was very eager to win over several political allies, both from the upper and lower echelons. Recalling that the town's mayor was very good and an influential figure in the town, and having not visited for a long time, he decided to pay a visit to Mayor Bonis.
"Oh! Councilor Charles, we finally have the pleasure of your visit! I thought after becoming a Continental Congress Representative, you had forgotten about our little town!"
As Charles' carriage stopped at the hotel entrance, Mayor Bonis laughed and walked down the steps to greet him.
"Mayor Bonis! How could I forget old friends like you? I specifically came to see everyone today!" Charles smiled and embraced the old mayor.