Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 794 Red Belt

early morning.

The bell of Qingdao Port Clock Tower rings at six o'clock in the morning.

It was slightly bright, and Zhu Ci'an got up.

"Isn't today a Xunxiu? Why did you get up so early and sleep more." Wang said softly while checking on her youngest son.

"Go to sleep, today is the first day of the new year, I will go to the ancestral hall to worship and offer incense."

"It's the first day of the new year again, and the days have passed without counting, so you can ask the three of them to go together. Don't forget to worship your ancestors on the first and fifteenth day of the new year." Wang said hurriedly.

Zhu Ci'an got up, went to the East Wing first, and woke up the eldest Heshen, the second child and Jing's third child He Lun, and the four of them squatted in the yard fetching water, brushing their teeth and washing their faces.

The butler over there came over and asked, "Master, do you have anything special to prepare for going to the ancestral hall today?"

"Is the sacrificial basket ready? A jug of wine, a chicken, a fish, a large piece of pork, a bowl of rice and four steamed buns. A handful of incense."

"These are already prepared, the chicken, fish and rice are all prepared early in the morning."

"Well, prepare the carriage, and prepare the clothes for the young masters. Remember to prepare the hats and belts. Today is the first day of the lunar new year. After the ancestral hall sacrifices, we have to attend the clan meeting."

"Understood, master." The steward wrote it down, and then withdrew.

The four masters washed up and had breakfast, so they changed their clothes and went out. Zhu Ci'an also specially checked the red belts around their waists for the three sons, and tightened them up again.

Outside the door, the housekeeper and the coachman stood waiting at the door, and the coachman also prepared the carriage.

"Go to the Hengxing Bank first, and then to the Longsheng Hotel."

The coachman flicked the reins, and the horse started to trot.

Sitting in the four-wheeled carriage, through the curtain, you can see that in the morning of the golden autumn of October, Qingdao Port is already bustling.

The ships were loading and unloading, and the laborers began to work hard early.

All the shops on the wharf are also open for business, and those who do small business and set up stalls are even more eager to shout.

Looking at them, Zhu Ci'an looked at the silk and satin clothes on his body. Looking at the carriage, his heart was very complicated. Seeing the three sons playing and playing, he was very proud and grateful for the kindness of the saint.

Qingdao is a newly emerging port city. Although the emperor has moved back to the old capital Beijing, Dengzhou still retains the status of Tokyo’s companion capital, which is comparable to Nanjing Yingtian. Qingdao Port is an excellent northern ice-free port, and there are A Jiaolai Canal. After the capital was moved to Beijing, the Jiaolai Canal became more prosperous than before.

Although the sea transportation is developed, Qingdao Port can reach Laizhou directly through the canal, but there is no need to go around the Shandong Peninsula, which is still exciting to further improve Qingdao.

Not only is the transportation at Qingdao Port very busy, but the Jiaolai Canal is also very busy. In addition, some emerging industries such as shipbuilding here are also very good, with a large increase in population and prosperous business.

Zhu Ci'an also fully enjoyed these dividends.

He, a poor offshoot of the Defan family, had no name, nobility, and food in the previous generations, and almost starved to death. Later, Emperor Shaotian's clan reformed, which not only rescued them but also liberated them. He went to Qingdao and settled down. Arrange to work as a buddy at Hengxing Bank.

This joint venture between the Royal Shaofu Supervisor and the Clan Mansion has also done very well in the past few years. Under the leadership of the old shopkeeper Zhu Linkun, the business has become popular. Under the guidance of the old shopkeeper, he It is also making rapid progress. In a few years, he has become the third shopkeeper from a buddy.

I have already received a good share dividend, because the business is good and the profit is high, so I don’t need to pay dividends every four years, and I divide it in half every year.

As the third shopkeeper of Hengxing, and in a financial industry with the word "Huang" like Qianzhuang, his income is not generally high.

In just a few years, he bought land and built a big house, and even bought a few more pieces of land beside the original piece of land in the rural countryside. Now the village has [-] mu of land.

There were even servants and a carriage.

The big house cost more than 100 silver dollars to buy land, construction, and furniture decoration, etc., and his four-wheeled carriage, the carriage plus fodder money, driver's wages, etc., cost at least 30 yuan a year. .

In the past, he was so hungry that the babies who died at birth were forced to exchange food.

"Master, the bank is here."

The coachman stopped the carriage steadily and reminded him loudly.

Zhu Ci'an withdrew his thoughts, straightened his clothes and hat, and got out of the carriage with his three sons.

"Morning, uncle."

The old shopkeeper Zhu Linkun belongs to Tang Fan's family, and his seniority is his uncle's generation. Thanks to his teaching and support in the past few years, the old shopkeeper was dancing Tai Chi sword in the courtyard. Good morning, the boys haven't fallen asleep yet."

Zhu Cian called his son Uncle Zeng.

"Let's go," Zhu Linkun went back to change clothes. Today is the first day of the new year. For them, the first and fifteenth day of the new year are important days. They don't worship gods or bodhisattvas, but they must go to worship their ancestors and come together To Beijing to thank the emperor.

No matter how big the business is or how busy you are, you have to get up early and respectfully go to the ancestral hall.

Now there are Zhu's ancestral halls all over the Ming Dynasty. Although the status of the ancestral halls is far inferior to that of the Emperor's Ancestral Temple, the vassal king's ancestral temple, and the clan's family temple, for them, the children of the royal family who have passed the five clothes, although they are not qualified to build temples, the emperor But it is also specially designed for all the distant branches of the Zhu family of the royal family, and ancestral halls can be built in various places, and the descendants of the Zhu family can worship.

Zhu's ancestral halls in various places can directly offer sacrifices to Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.

This is only allowed to sacrifice in the Ancestral Temple of the Son of Heaven. All the ancestral temples and family temples can only worship their own ancestors.
Rites, branches do not sacrifice.

For example, Zhu Yihai used to belong to the lineage of King Lu, the son of Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor, so there was an ancestral temple in King Lu's mansion, but he could not offer sacrifices to Zhu Yuanzhang.

And the Lu Fan County King's Mansion cannot offer sacrifices to Lu King Zhu Tan, and has to be the ancestor from the first county king.

Under the principle that the Zongzi set up a temple and the Zhizi followed the sacrifice, the Ancestral Temple of the Son of Heaven, the Zongwang Ancestral Temple and the General’s Ancestral Temple formed a system of clan and ancestral temples that did not interfere with each other and were interlocking.

However, after Zhu Yihai carried out the major reform of the Zong clan, the Zong clan that the emperor issued five uniforms was renamed as the imperial relatives, or the royal family.

As for those in the fifth service, because the titles are not hereditary, they set up temples in the same way as officials and nobles. They are ancestral temples or family temples.

Five temples are dedicated to the ancestral temple, four temples are dedicated to the Duke and Marquis in the family temple, and three temples are dedicated to the uncle and baron.

Worshiping the sky and worshiping the ancestors is a very big thing for the Chinese nation. It is also very important who can worship and who cannot. This is also the distinction between the clan and the descendants.

A family is divided one by one. Only the eldest son can set up a temple, and the branch sons can only worship.

Zhu Ci'an and the others used to be offshoots of the clan clans of various vassals, but now they are all members of the royal family, so now they are directly offering sacrifices to Zhu's clan priests in various places, and directly offering sacrifices to Taizu Zhu Yuanzu. If Zhu Ci'an passes away in the future, he His son Zhu Heshen can offer his tablet in, and he does not require only five temples, and there is no need to enter one and withdraw one.

The old man changed his clothes and put on a red belt.

This is the symbol of the Ming royal family. The red belt means that the members of the royal family other than the emperor's five clothes are all descendants of the Taizu, while those within the five clothes are called the royal clan, and the yellow belt is used to distinguish them.

The two carriages first went to the Longshenghao Restaurant, which was owned by Zhu Fuji, the feudal lord of Chu. A few years ago, he set up a stall for frying sea oysters at the wharf, and won a good reputation for his hard work, honesty, craftsmanship, good ingredients, and freshness. Zhu Ci'an and Zhu Linkun persuaded him to open a restaurant. After some consideration, he accepted the suggestion and invited the two clansmen to become shareholders. The restaurant opened, and the business was really good.

There are many royal families in Qingdao, and now they are scattered in various industries, but they are all very united, and those who can help will definitely support it.

When the carriage arrived at the door of the Longsheng, Zhu Fuji had already changed into a formal dress and was waiting for them with his son.

"We have prepared hot fried sea oysters for you, eat them quickly."

After a few words of greeting, everyone got into the car, and Zhu Ci'an and his children ate together. It was delicious, crispy and fresh. After several years, I couldn't get tired of eating this.

The business of Longsheng Hotel has been very good in the past few years, and it has branch offices in Laizhou and Fengtian, and now it can bring Zhu Ci'an a lot of dividends a year.

In the south of Qingdao City, Qingdao Zhu’s Ancestral Hall, all descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang can come to worship. This ancestral hall is very magnificent.

Not to mention the local red belts, no matter they have money or not, they will donate as much as they can. Whether they donate 1000 yuan or [-] yuan, they will all be engraved on the big tablet of the ancestral hall.

When their carriage arrived, there were already many carriages parked in the wide square in front of the ancestral hall, and many horses, donkeys, and mules were tied to the horse posts on the other side, and the square was full of people.

Everyone was dressed in red and black dresses, very solemn, with red belts tied around their waists, and almost all the men from the nearby Zhu family came.

Everyone lined up consciously while saying hello.

At seven o'clock sharp, the gate of the ancestral hall opens. There is a clan association here who is responsible for daily management and maintenance. Everyone carries their sacrificial baskets and brings their offerings.

Incense, offering sacrifices.

Adults bow and children kowtow.

The whole ceremony is solemn and serious. No matter what their status is, they are all clan members here.

After the sacrifice, Zhu Ci'an came forward with his three sons to donate.

"Ten silver dollars for Zhu Ci'an, two silver dollars for Zhu Heshen, Zhu Hejing, Zhu Helun, and Zhu Hegang who hasn't come yet."

The person in charge of keeping the accounts is the director of the clan association, who is also the accountant, and he is also very familiar with him. The third shopkeeper of Hengxing is also a decent person with status in Qingdao. It is said that he earns at least several thousand yuan a year.What's more important is that Hengxing Bank is one of the largest banks in Qingdao, and it is also a royal brand name. Many people rely on it for business, and the connections of the three shopkeepers are naturally not low.

"Uncle is really generous. On the first and fifteenth day of every month, he will donate 18 yuan, and more donations will be made during Qingming, Dragon Boat Festival, Chongyang, Winter Solstice and New Year's Eve."

Zhu Ci'an smiled, "Our family members of the Zhu family are all royals with red belts. They suffered a lot in the early years. Now the saint Hong En has given us this good policy. I also rely on the saint Hong's blessing to live a good life. Naturally Do not forget other clan members."

After registering in the accounting room, the custodians on the side collected the money, and they also issued a receipt for him as a voucher.

Zhu Linkun and Zhu Fuji also came to line up to donate money.

Donations are entirely voluntary.

The money received by the clan association will be kept by a special person, and the council will also regularly check the accounts and make public. Elderly people aged six and over sixty will all receive a subsidy.

And other things, such as studying and studying, serving in the army and fighting in wars, also have certain rewards and subsidies.

The donations received are more than enough, and they will be used to buy some fields as ancestral property, and some land as family graves, and even build ancestral warehouses to buy and store some food in case of famine, and even build A family grant, that is, if a clan member wants to use money, whether it is to marry a daughter or build a house to start a business, they can apply for it. After passing, they can get a loan from the clan association, and the interest rate is lower than that of outsiders. .

As for if there is a serious illness, you can even apply for help from your clan relatives for serious illness.

The capital mainly comes from the donations of the clan members. If there is more money in the account of the clan association, the protection provided to the clan members will be more. The project can only be suspended first.

Zhu Ci'an has to donate 18 yuan every time he sacrifices. There are five males in the family, he donates ten yuan as an adult, and two yuan for each of the four younger ones. There is no rule, but he has always done so.

Donate money here, someone will register there, and someone will sing the newspaper, thank you for how much you donate, and finally copy a big newspaper and post it at the gate of the ancestral hall.

After the donation is over, everyone takes out the offerings brought for sacrifice, such as chicken, meat, fish, rice and steamed buns, etc., and puts them in front of the ancestral hall. It can be given to those living in the Zhu family's clan in Qingdao who are still relatively difficult, as well as the elderly and children.

"It's a meeting,"

The rotating directors of this month invite everyone to hold a regular meeting.

"Worship the Holy Emperor, thank you Hongen!"

The rotating directors took the lead in kneeling and kowtowing in the direction of Beijing, thanking the emperor Hongen loudly, and then invited a clan member to come forward and recite the imperial family law of the Ming Dynasty and the ancestor's instructions of the emperor's Ming Dynasty.

"Next, let's discuss a few things. The first one is that Ci'an is going to Vladivostok. Hengxing calls him to go there to open a semicolon and become the big shopkeeper. He has been promoted. He is leaving soon. How about Ci'an, everyone They all know each other well, he is a great benevolent person, and usually donates a lot to the clan association. This time, when we go to Vladivostok, we plan to select a group of young and hard-working clan members from our Qingdao clan association to go there to establish a permanent Xing semicolon, this is a rare opportunity, young people should seize it, go to battle with brothers, fight father and son soldiers, our own children will also have a trustworthy helper in the past."

Zhu Ci'an was also invited to speak.

Then I said some things, those who have clan shops or manors recruiting people should give priority to recruiting their own children.There are also clan members who want to do business and want to borrow money from the association.

There are also clan members whose sons were admitted to colleges in Beijing, those who passed the civil service examination, and those who signed up to join the army and passed.

The clan not only wanted to announce the praise, but also to send a bonus.

"We are the red belts, we are the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. Now that the policy is good, we must roll up our sleeves and work hard, and we must help each other. The first rich will drive the rich later, and the advanced will drive the late.

Also, when you go out and meet clan relatives from other places, you should also practice in a friendly group and help each other.

Another one is that we are the royal family, we must be loyal to the emperor and love the country, we must not do illegal and criminal things, we must not steal or rob or evade taxes, and the other is to respect our parents and love our brothers at home.

Finally, I wish all our family members good health and prosperity. "

Following the words of the rotating chairman, the sacrifices and clan meetings on the first day of this month were also over. Everyone was free to move around, greet and chat at will, and then went back to their respective homes.

Clan associations generally only gather for dinner during the New Year's Eve, and usually do not entertain, so as not to waste money and time.

The old man Zhu Linkun said to Zhu Ci'an, "The conditions in Vladivostok are poor, you have worked hard this time."

"My uncle trusted me by letting me go there to build the ship and take the helm. I'm too happy to be happy."

Zhu Fuji smiled and said, "You go first, I'll come over in a while, and I'll open an upsurge over there. I heard that the sea cucumbers over there are of very good quality. You can pay more attention to me over there. If so, give me some back."

"I'm leaving, and I need to ask you to take care of me at home."

"Don't worry, we will take good care of your four sons and two daughters."

Looking back at the Zhu's ancestral hall, several people felt as if they had been separated from the past. They used to be the royal family who didn't even have a name and couldn't eat enough. Now, although they are no longer the clan, life is better.They have many clansmen in Qingdao, thousands of them.

But now there is no family that can’t eat enough, no matter how bad the conditions are, there will still be clan members who will help them. Everyone used to come from various clans, but now they are as close as a family.

"You go first, you will do well then, and bring more clansmen to make a fortune and develop. At that time, a Zhu's ancestral hall will also be built there, and you will be elected as the president of the Vladivostok clan."

Zhu Ci'an smiled, "I think our clan association still needs to encourage the children of the clan to serve as soldiers and study. Now many people are willing to study, but they can't just study. We are the royal family, we have to take on more responsibilities, and we have to go to military academy , Join the army to defend the country.

The clan association should add a few rules. We should reward those who serve as soldiers more, and help them take good care of their families. If they become disabled or sacrificed for the country, they should be given a pension so that they will not have to worry about the future. "

Zhu Linkun nodded. Although they are just a group of businessmen now, they will also consider some long-term issues when the conditions are better.

Everyone feels in their hearts that if the conditions are good now, it means that the emperor is good and the policy is good, but what if the policy changes when the emperor changes in the future?
So it is best to be like those famous families, be willing to spend money to support the outstanding children of the family, let them take the imperial examination or serve as soldiers, and then become officials and generals, so as to ensure their future status.

"Ci'an has a long-term perspective. Relief for the elderly and the weak is the duty, but the vision is indeed long-term. We all unite and twist into one rope, and cultivate more talented people, which is also our future guarantee."

Zhu Fuji said, "I think we should not only cultivate ourselves, but also pay attention to marriage and marriage. Marrying a wife requires virtue, and marrying a man also requires character. A good in-law is also a help to the family."

"Well, I'll hold a meeting with the directors later, discuss these and draw up a charter."

They were all suzerains and vassals who were at the bottom. They experienced the most unforgettable tragedy. Now that they have turned over, they still have a sense of crisis. They hope to do better and strive for a better future for their children and grandchildren.

No one hopes that after a few generations, their descendants will repeat their past sufferings.

"Now that Shengjun is alive, we must seize this good opportunity." The old shopkeeper said.

(End of this chapter)