Yuan Fu Nushu

Chapter 207, one more thing is not too much
In the middle of the quiet night, it is a good time to fall asleep while taking advantage of the coolness. If you still can’t fall asleep, you can raise your head to the moon and watch the stars. If you are calm, you can also nourish your energy.

Mrs. Nanyang Marquis is on fire and ice today, the two daughters-in-law once again gave her a positive and negative feeling. What is needed is to rest, what should be done is to sleep down and reminisce about the joy of Qi's being a guest.

But one thing was more worrying than the other, and something happened to his nephew Ma Dechang again.

Mrs. Nanyang Hou complained that it took two years for the accident the year before last, so what will happen this time, and it is absolutely impossible to ask her natal family to pay for it. You must know that her natal family spent a lot of money on the married aunt.

In the whispering and crying between Nanyanghou and Mrs. Ma Wei, Mrs. Nanyanghou should also go to persuade her, at least she shouldn't care about the expenses of her aunt at this time, but she couldn't help it, it was time to settle the account.

Nanyang Marquis’s emphasis on imperial examinations has been close to worship in the past few generations. When a family goes downhill, I can’t say that I don’t feel it. Several generations of Nanyang Marquis have tried to mobilize the enthusiasm of their children’s imperial examinations. However, getting an official position in the exam is not a positive thing. There will be.

In the imperial examination held every three years, the number of people in each province can reach tens of thousands in autumn, and a large number of people in Chunwei fail the rankings. In the palace examination of this dynasty, another batch of people failed in the rankings. Therefore, there is a metaphor called fish jumping over the dragon's gate, which is not easy to jump.

Among the many people who failed the rankings, those who can be found to study hard and urgently need to change the lintel, who dares to say that they are not motivated?
The success of the world is the result of hard work. The enthusiasm in the eyes of oneself and others does not necessarily mean instant success.

And the rich and noble days have nourished the children since childhood, and the dandyism seems to be the inferior inheritance of the three obediences and four virtues for thousands of years. It has been passed down from generation to generation in such aristocratic families as the Nanyang Houfu, such as the Qinghe Houfu, Linjianghoufu and so on.

The negative influence caused by the three obediences and four virtues makes the women of the next generation look at the so-called "humility, tolerance, regress and indomitability" of the women of the previous generation, and think that they should learn from their grandmothers, aunts, mothers, sisters and neighbors and famous virgins.

Where is the ego?In those thousands of years, the term female self has never been spread.

The same is true of dandyism, which is also inherited from generation to generation, and finally in the bones.

The Nanyang Marquis of this generation once held back his son's studies and ended in failure. The reason why some people in their seventies and eighties took concubines to regenerate a promising one was that Nanyang Marquis was in the hands of his father as well.

There are romantic ghosts around, and the children are impatient when they read, and they casually raise their ears and eyes, hey, uncles, uncles, uncles, brothers and brothers are drinking flower wine, okay, I also listen to Quer to relax my spirits, When I come back to study, I will get twice the result with half the effort, and I will never come back again. It’s so fun to listen to the music, but reading is hard.

How many outstanding women have flashed in thousands of years of patriarchy, they tried their best but failed to change the world.What's more, it's generations of dandies?
It is very difficult to change, it is very difficult to study, and when I am around 30 years old, I slowly wake up to the fact that there are always official positions, and I can barely tell my ancestors during the Chinese New Year that my children still worked hard, and this generation is just like this.

Every Nanyang Hou found that his son failed in school, and the next thing he had to do was to apply for an official position for him. In this way, when he sued his ancestors during the Chinese New Year, he had fulfilled his responsibility. What happened to his son in the future was his own business. lifetime.

This is actually a practice of breaking the pot and smashing the pot and tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall, but what can the children do if they can't pass the imperial examination?

The imperial examination is becoming more and more important. Those who have daughters naturally focus on their son-in-law. It is more practical to find a son-in-law for the imperial examination. As long as you have a daughter, it doesn't matter whether you have a straight face or not. You can send more concubines, right?As long as there is a dowry, it is not difficult to have practical officials in the family to support it.

This has been the way of thinking from generation to generation. After the young Nanyang Hou failed to study, the deceased old Nanyang Hou could only pay attention to his daughter's marriage. Ma Wei's ranking in the top two was considered a reputation. In addition to her beauty, the girl from the Luan family also gave a large sum of money. Silver and some promises.

The Qinghe Hou Mansion played a big role. After Qinghe Hou Feng Si stabilized the bureaucracy, Ma was released as the governor of Yunnan. It is an exaggeration to say that there are several mouse holes in the family and they have found out. Linjiang Hou and others in their small circle also contributed money to help Ma Wei to the position of a provincial official.

It is even more impossible for the Marquis of Nanyang to spend less money. When rescuing Ma Wei and Ma Dechang and his son, at first they thought that women would be easy to dismiss, and that Ma Wei's official position would not be lost. Madam's natal family also thought the same way. Madam Hou of Nanyang generously allocated money, until last year when Ma Wei lost his official position, Ma Dechang was still not released.

After Madam Hou of Nanyang asked the reason why her son went to Xinji, needless to say, she was furious, hated her aunt, and quarreled with her husband for several days.

Relatives can help, but who would agree to bring their own son in?

It was not at this moment, the Qi family simply came here for the glory of the family. Mrs. Nanyang Hou, who received a dowry gift of more than 2 yuan, almost fell ill. She ran away when she couldn’t pick up her life, and when she was stuttering, she could buy a little girl with ten taels of silver. Wan Duoyin married a civilian girl, and even carried a big sedan chair through the main gate, and then promoted her, and recognized her mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. During the few days when she was a mother-in-law, she was in a trance, as if she was possessed by an evil spirit.

Mrs. Hou of Nanyang and Mrs. Ma, her aunt, are secretly at odds with each other. On the surface, they are getting along, but they both understand that there is dissatisfaction.

Today, the aunt came here again, and kept people from sleeping in the middle of the night. Thinking about it again, if Chunhong hadn't worked hard, Luan Jing would have been taken away as well.Thinking of this, Mrs. Nanyang Hou's eyes were cold, and she made up her mind to spend nothing. The aunt's wife has a lot of dowry. If she lacks money, she should first find a way from her own treasury.

Nanyanghou ended his conversation and walked towards his wife. Mrs. Nanyanghou was on guard, showing her indifference.

Nanyang Hou said in a low voice: "It's not difficult to solve this matter. The boy in Dechang is serious about it. It was the Jingdu guard who took Dechang away. No matter how many generals there are on the Jingdu guard, they will all be under the jurisdiction of General Zhenguo in the end. "

Mrs. Nanyang Hou still refused to relax. She took a look at the aunt who was still wiping her tears, so it was impossible to hear the couple whispering, and she lowered her voice: "Don't even think of pointing at the name of Qi Shi to see Mr. Yun, you and I Now pretending to be an elder, you can't easily lower your status. I have already thought about it. The wife of the protector of the country is young, and I can't think of what to give to the elder, or an invitation, but as long as she invites the Qi family twice, I can come to the door Thank you, what's the point of not having an invitation, I'm an elder, so why not go and sit down with my wife's fellow countrymen. You've lost the vain affection of this idea, and you'll regret it later."

Nanyang Hou nodded and said: "I'm thinking the same way, I want to coax my sister not to worry, wait until I ask tomorrow why I took someone, and find out the crux before I can solve it, so don't put on a sullen face and look unhappy When you see your sister, go and coax her a few words, and send her to the guest room to sleep, it's getting late, and you and I can sleep well."

Madam Hou of Nanyang had no other choice, she said: "That's the only way, Lord Hou, please rest first, just leave my aunt to me."

Nanyang Hou smiled and said, "Madam, thank you." He went back to his room to sleep first, and after a while Madam Hou came back and asked a question, saying that the aunt had fallen asleep after crying, Nanyang Hou felt relieved, he was also tired At dawn, Yanyan came to greet her. The couple smiled and greeted each other. They wanted to say a few more words, and entertained the aunt. Yanyan had never paid homage to her mother-in-law and aunt. Mrs. Nanyanghou wanted to give her a grand consummation ceremony. Presenting a new daughter-in-law to relatives, if the uncles know that the consummation of the house is postponed in the future, it also depends on making up for the grandeur and feeling good to the mother-in-law.

Let Yanyan go back to the room.

After breakfast, Nanyang Hou went to the yamen and inquired about the reason for the sudden arrest last night. Mrs. Nanyang Hou continued to deal with the aunt she didn't like.

A lot of things happened that night, so there shouldn't be too much to add. In the morning light, outside Zhengjiaji Town, which is more than [-] days away from Xinji, the shopkeeper Zheng walked in the dust.

Instead of going home, he took a detour from the outside of the market town to the outside of a house. The two big characters "ancestral hall" were written on the gate. The patriarch of the Zheng family also lived here, and he was in the prime of life.

Seeing shopkeeper Zheng bring out all kinds of gifts, and the table of eight immortals was full, the patriarch smiled, and called shopkeeper Zheng's ranking: "Lao Qi, thanks to you for carrying all these things by yourself, come to me , The family does not speak two languages, no gifts are needed, you haven’t eaten breakfast yet, eat at my place, and you go home after eating, you take these things away.”

Shopkeeper Zheng brought a lot of things, and he was not polite to the patriarch: "I drank a lot yesterday, so I'd better take the wine and throw it again this morning. It will be fine soon."

The patriarch smiled and said: "This is what I said in my heart. Yesterday, the relatives of Tomb Mountain came to talk, and I ate a lot of wine to entertain him. He just left early in the morning and didn't eat breakfast. I was thinking that I am not in the mood to drink alone. You Just in time."

His son was already married, so he called out his wife and daughter-in-law and asked them to prepare food and drinks. When the sun began to spread the ground, the shopkeeper Zheng and the patriarch drank three rounds.

The patriarch flattered shopkeeper Zheng, not because he had a lot of money in business, Zhengjiaji was also a market, and there were many relatives doing business, and shopkeeper Zheng was not the richest one.The patriarch praised Zheng Liugen.

"I called my relatives from the cemetery to come over and told him that this year's Mid-Autumn Festival worship is different from previous years, and that something needs to be added. He said that there are a lot of preparations in previous years, so there is no need to add. There are many businessmen in our Zheng family who are not short of money. I said that business is not enough. It's rare, we have a scholar, how can we not tell our ancestors about this matter?"

The patriarch laughed a few times: "He panicked when he heard it, and he wanted to kowtow to your house, saying that the scholar is also a master, and he will kowtow when he sees Liu Gen, and he will kowtow when he sees Liu Gen's father. I stopped it , I said it’s not Changgen, it’s Liugen, and Liugen doesn’t live in Zhengjiaji. Only then did he realize that it was Liugen who was young, and he was so shocked that he didn’t sleep well all night. He said he couldn't wait until he had breakfast, and last night it seemed that a ghost pinched him, saying that he made his ancestors wait for a good letter, and he was anxious to wait. He neglected his ancestors last night and didn't hurry back to tell him that he couldn't eat this breakfast, so he had to go. He showed me the red mark and said it was itchy, which made me laugh because it was clearly a mosquito biting him."

He patted Shopkeeper Zheng on the shoulder affectionately: "Lao Qi, my brothers used to count you as dull, but I didn't expect you to hold back your fart without saying a word, and give birth to another son to become a scholar. Last year, the little grandson in Sanfang visited the grave and said he saw green smoke, and I said he was talking nonsense."

There was a pause at this point, and when he realized what he said, the face of the patriarch changed, and the flattery hidden under the flattery showed three points, and he said repeatedly: "Look at my mouth that deserves to be slapped, old Qi, don't you!" Angry, you are not allowed to tell Liu Gen, I am the big fart, haha ​​it's me, it's me"

The sense of pride rises directly from the soles of shopkeeper Zheng's feet to the top of his head. He is not considered a rich man in Zheng's family. The patriarch used to have his eyes higher than his head, and he never talked about brothers with him.

What about now, 30 years from east to west, 30 years from east to west, feng shui turns, and now I come to my house, I don’t want Ding to not only bring a family property but also bring a blessing, the root she gave birth to is smart and hungry Will cry, full will laugh.

What?Every child is like this, no, no, Liu Gen’s cleverness can be seen from an early age. He cries when he is hungry, which is different from others. The superior is distinguished, the son of Ding's neighbor also reads, but he is a stubborn reader, Liu Gen is a clever reader, he reads back and forth and becomes a confidant with the little girl of the old Mr. Yuan's family, new collections There are dozens of boys in the school, who is so smart as Liu Gen?
Shopkeeper Zheng knew that there was only the sound of copper coins in the Zheng family’s door, and there was no sound of reading. He didn’t recognize his ancestor’s good deeds. He must have learned more than others when he was a confidant with Sister Hui. Otherwise, the son of Ding’s neighbor , he was the same age as Liugen, why didn't he win?
Liu Gen is born smart. One day he is smarter, and the next day he is smarter again. So much smartness pushes him, no, last year there was a ready-made ship to take him to Beijing.

What, that boat is from the Duke Huguo's mansion to pick up his future in-law, Erye Yuan?No, no, those who are blessed don't have to worry, staying rooted to catch up with this trip is the wisdom of staying rooted.

Liu Gen is so smart, so he was smart enough to live in the Duke Huguo's mansion to take care of food and housing. He wrote back and said that his father-in-law also recognized him, and he was waiting to get married with Sister Hui when he came back. Shopkeeper Zheng showed a silly smile, just thinking about it Just thinking about it is enough to be happy.

The patriarch was flattering, seeing this man's eyeballs were fixed, his smile squeezed onto his face without any money, and he waved his hand: "Old Seven?"

Shopkeeper Zheng laughed foolishly.

The patriarch shuddered, the old seventh was probably confused and happy, he had heard storytelling before, there was a man named Fan and so on, and he fell ill when he knew he was in the middle school, his father-in-law came to save him After the slap, my hands cramped and I didn't come back for a long time.

The Wenquxing star in the sky is unbeatable, and so is Wenquxing's father.

The patriarch is in trouble, how can I save Lao Qi?But I can save him.But how can I save him?
I can't stretch my hands, I can't kick my feet, what can I use to wake him up? Oh, yes, don't they have chopsticks ready-made?
The patriarch was really afraid that the retribution would come back quickly, so he pinched one end of the chopsticks with the tips of two fingers, stretched them out tremblingly, and touched shopkeeper Zheng's cheek.

The chopsticks he was holding were not stable. At this point, the chopsticks fell to the ground. There was a "click" sound, and the patriarch jumped up in unison: "Oh, my ancestors, don't blame me if I save people." Shopkeeper Zheng also woke up.

He didn't come here for the wine, shopkeeper Zheng had something serious to say, he put his arms around the patriarch's shoulders, the patriarch accepted his silly smile just now, and shopkeeper Zheng whispered something into his ear.

"Liu Gen is not only a scholar, but he is also going to be engaged to a girl from a big man's family,"

The patriarch said repeatedly: "I will give a congratulatory gift, and I will go."

"But people don't necessarily think highly of my family. Liugen is too smart. He is staying in Beijing with his father-in-law and the girl now. He needs to spend money, so he can stay with his father-in-law all the time. I will spend the silver that Xinji's family can provide I gave it all to him, but I’m afraid it’s not enough. Liugen is now living in the Duke’s Mansion. The place is huge. How big is it? I haven’t been there yet. I need money. I know that Changgen’s mother and son have money. This is the situation, as long as Liu Gen can settle the marriage, the power of the Yue family will increase, and he can become an official even if he is no longer elected."

There are several sources of official positions in this dynasty. One is taken for granted by the imperial examination, and the second is donating officials. Compared with the imperial examination, it is not a safe way to get an official position, and compared with the third way, it is also far behind.

The third type is recommendation. Luan Jing's taking his father's shade is counted in the recommendation. There is also a kind of recommendation that the rich and powerful recommend their relatives, friends, strange but admired celebrities, family servants and other slaves.

If Zheng Liugen can get Yun Zhan's favor, he can get an official position through recommendation.Shopkeeper Zheng's thinking like this is not whimsical. After Liu Gen and Yuan Hui got married, he was able to study well and study hard. If he no longer has the luck of the imperial examination, the possibility of getting an official position through recommendation is extremely high.

After figuring this out, Shopkeeper Zheng only needs to do one thing well now, and that is to make sure Yuan Hui is settled down.

This man is a businessman, and he has no talent in reading. Judging from the fact that he cheated into marrying Ding and opened a shop and got a son, he seems to be tactful. The only thing is to pay.

Ever since Changgen's mother and son had trouble in Xinji, Ding was angry and didn't want to share the family property with Changgen equally. The shopkeeper naturally thought of Changgen's mother and son. Nothing is important now. The most important thing is to stay in Beijing to accompany his father-in-law and sister Hui comfortably until the day when the marriage is finalized.

When Zheng Liugen went to Qiuwei, Changgen's mother and son came to insult him after hearing the news, because they were worried that Liugen would spend more money, and if it was not good, they would take away Changgen's share. The shopkeeper Zheng wanted Changgen's mother and son to take the money , Knowing that it was more difficult than ascending to heaven, he ran to see the patriarch, brought a good gift, and begged for a few glasses of wine and drank until the two of them were close to drunk, letting the wine support the patriarch's yearning for wealth and honor, and speak out his ideas.

Shopkeeper Zheng's plan was not wrong, and it was quite practical. It is not difficult to appear in such a dynasty. After hearing this, the patriarch was shocked, and asked first: "The power of the Yue family is really high?"

"High!" Shopkeeper Zheng said decisively.

The patriarch cried: "So, my Zheng family is going to be an official,"

"Yes!"

"Is it not a distant relative who came out of Wufu, or an in-law with a relationship like the grandson of the uncle and sister-in-law, or one of my own direct relatives who wants to be an official?"

"Yes!"

The patriarch wailed loudly: "Ancestors have accumulated virtue, I have finally waited for it. From now on, the class leaders who come to collect taxes can sit on an equal footing and never kowtow to them again. For the weddings and ceremonies of the county's lords, there must be an invitation card from me. Give me an invitation card." I finally got a seat."

(End of this chapter)