The Red Chamber begins with a bastard

Chapter 469 Formal Proposal
The New Year was getting closer and closer. On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, the day of the Little New Year, Wu Jinxiao, the head of Heishan Village, finally delivered the rent for the farm. Jia Zhen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and cursed, "The old beheader has finally come. If he had been a few days later, we wouldn't have been able to celebrate the New Year."

However, when Jia Zhen welcomed Wu Jinxiao into the hall with hope and took the account list from his hand, his face darkened, because in addition to rice, firewood, charcoal, chickens, ducks, fish, deer, sheep, cattle and other fresh groceries, the cash he received was only 2,500 taels, which was more than 50% less than in normal years.

In a normal year, the nine farms of Ningguo Mansion in Heishan Village could collect more than 5,000 taels of silver in rent and taxes. But now it was only 2,500 taels. It was like a bolt from the blue, hitting Jia Zhen on the head.

Jia Zhen's face darkened as he stretched out five fingers of his left hand and said, "I estimated that you could have this much, but now you only have this much, what can you do with it?"

Wu Jinxiao immediately began to complain, saying that the weather was bad this year, with hail, floods, and war, so it was already a good harvest. His brother Wu Jinrong managed eight farms in Rongguo Mansion, which were several times larger than those of Ningguo Mansion, but were almost the same, only with an extra two or three thousand taels of silver.

Jia Zhen had no choice and no way to verify it, because the Jia family's farm was thousands of miles away in Jinling, and was usually managed by the farm heads, brothers Wu Jinxiao and Wu Jinrong. Only these two brothers knew how the harvest was, and it was not easy to offend them. After all, the farm would have to be managed by the Wu brothers in the future. So not only could he not get angry, but he also appeased them with a few kind words and then sent them away to settle down.

After sending Wu Jinxiao away, Jia Zhen slammed the table with a dark face and cursed: "When we find a suitable candidate, we must replace this old beheader."

Jia Rong interrupted, "It's time to change them. These old people rely on their seniority and familiarity with people and have colluded with each other, deceiving their superiors and subordinates, and secretly taking advantage of countless people. If this continues, our family's foundation will be eaten away."

Jia Zhen glanced coldly at Jia Rong, who was most afraid of his father and immediately became silent in fear.

Jia Zhen sneered, "Do you think I don't know? You are so capable, why don't you take charge? It's easy to change the head of the farm, but how to change the tenants? Wu Jinxiao has been in charge of our farm for decades. The tenants only recognize him, and he is the only one who can suppress them. If someone else were to manage it, I'm afraid they wouldn't even be able to collect the rent. If this old beheaded man gangs up on the tenants to cause trouble again, it would be even more of a loss."

Jia Rong said awkwardly, "I was not thoughtful enough."

Jia Zhen snorted with a gloomy face, and then thought of his daughter-in-law Qin Keliao, who he had not yet succeeded in getting. She was still living in the nunnery and would not be able to finish the 49-day worship of Buddha and praying for blessings until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month next year. He became even more angry and shouted, "What are you still standing there for? Why don't you notify the children of each family who have no income to come and get the New Year's goods?"

Jia Rong hurriedly retreated tremblingly, and found his younger brother Jia Qiang to go and inform each family.

Jia Zhen is the clan leader. According to custom, before the Chinese New Year, he would give out New Year gifts to the children of the Jia family who have no income. This is a kind of support. It's not that Jia Zhen is generous, but it's a rule set by his ancestors. If he dared not to give out New Year gifts, he would be scolded by his clan members, and he would naturally not be able to be the clan leader of the Jia family.

After Jia Zhen sent Jia Rong away to do the work, he couldn't help but frown. The mansion had long been running out of money and had to rely on loans to make ends meet. He thought that collecting the rent from the farm would alleviate the famine, but the rent was nearly half of what it had been in previous years, making life even more unbearable. In addition, in order to welcome the imperial concubine to visit her parents, he spent a full 200,000 taels of silver on repairing the garden and purchasing various items to welcome the emperor, which emptied the two treasuries. Now he still owed a foreign debt of 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver. If the imperial concubine returns to visit her parents this year, where will the money come from?

Thinking of this, Jia Zhen couldn't help but think of Lin Ruhai's huge inheritance, and he hated Jia Huan even more. He thought that if the Jia family wanted to solve this debt crisis, the simplest and most effective way was to get the Lin family's property. It seemed that he had to find Master She to discuss a solution. No matter what, he had to deal with Huan Lao San and get the Lin family's inheritance, otherwise he could only sell the farm.

…………In Rongguo Mansion, the eldest wife, Madam Xing, came to Grandmother Jia's room and said happily, "Old Madam, good news, Ying's marriage has been settled. Today, the matchmaker brought a wild goose and formally came to propose marriage."

Due to the cold weather, Jia's mother had not been in a good mood recently, but when she heard that she was choosing a son-in-law for Jia Yingchun, she forced herself to be cheerful and said, "It's indeed a good thing. Whose boy is the man?"

Madam Xing smiled and said, "The Sun family of Datong Prefecture is an old friend of ours. His name is Sun Shaozu. He inherited his father's position a few years ago and is now the commander of the East City Military Department. I have seen him in person. He looks decent, and is very smart in words and deeds. He is resourceful and eloquent. He is very much loved by the eldest master. It is not a disgrace for the second young lady to marry him."

"The commander of the East City Military Department, as I remember, was only a sixth-rank official!" Grandmother Jia frowned, seeming a little dissatisfied.

Although Jia Zheng is the highest-ranking official in the whole mansion, a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works, the Jia family is a founding family of dukes and marquises. The title of the eldest master, Jia She, is a first-class general, and the rank is first-rank. Lady Jia herself is also a first-rank lady, so she naturally looks down on a mere sixth-rank military officer.

Madam Xing said hurriedly, "Although he is only a sixth-rank official now, he is resourceful and has great potential. He may be promoted soon. Moreover, he is good at making money and managing the household. He is very wealthy. If Ying girl marries him, she will definitely have a life of luxury. And to put it bluntly, although our family is of higher status, Ying girl is a concubine after all. If we say that we can find a family of equal status, the man may not be interested in her."

Grandmother Jia also knew this and nodded, "That's true, but I vaguely heard that this person's reputation doesn't seem to be very good. I don't know what it means."

Mrs. Xing's heart skipped a beat, and she smiled and said, "Old lady, you don't have to listen to those rumors. They are just slander. I think that man is a good person and is filial. He always brings a lot of gifts when he comes to visit."

"What does the eldest master mean?" asked Lady Jia.

"The master is naturally very happy, and is thinking of picking an auspicious day after the New Year to celebrate the wedding."

At this time, Jia's mother felt sleepy and her eyelids were heavy. She knew her eldest son's temperament very well. Once he made a decision, no one could change it. Since the couple both felt it was a good idea, there was no need for her to say more. She waved her hand and said, "Then you decide for yourselves. I only have one thing to say, which is that you should not wrong Ying girl. Otherwise, I will not agree."

Madam Xing said happily, "How could that be possible? Who wouldn't love their own daughter? How could they let her down?"

Grandmother Jia nodded and closed her eyes, and Mrs. Xing bowed and left.

(End of this chapter)