At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 8 Marriage
However, when Wang Ji, the Prime Minister of Pei State, was on his way back, his confidants asked in confusion: "The Prime Minister is always strict with himself and everything he does is based on the law. Why did he initiate a water conservancy donation?"

"And as far as I know, Champion Hou has deliberately transferred the Prime Minister back to the court. Building water conservancy projects is not a one-day effort. Wouldn't this delay the Prime Minister's entry to Beijing?"

Champion Hou is Wang Fu, one of the ten permanent attendants.

At the beginning, Wang Fu killed the great general Dou Wu and others for his meritorious service, and was appointed as a constant servant by the emperor; later, he falsely accused Liu Kui, the king of Bohai, of rebelling, and was awarded the title of champion for his meritorious service.

It's really ridiculous to say that Huo Qubing was conferred the title of Champion Marquis for his outstanding achievements in attacking the Xiongnu in the north, and now a mere eunuch is awarded this title because of falsely accusing the clan of treason, it is simply absurd.

Wang Ji was silent for a long time, and sighed softly: "I didn't want to do this at first, but the situation in the court is changing rapidly. Since Yang Qiu became the lieutenant of Sili, the scholars have started to press on every step. Even Your Majesty A little wobbly."

"My father wrote to me, saying that what your majesty likes is wealth and beauty. He hopes that I can raise money from Pei State and send it to the capital. As long as I please your majesty, no one in the court can touch my father."

The confidant's face changed slightly when he heard the words.

He knew Wang Fu very well, knew that the other party valued Pei Guoxiang as an adopted son, and never forced Wang Ji to do things he didn't want to do.Moreover, Wang Fu has many relatives, all of whom hold important positions in various states and counties, and there is no shortage of people to search for money for him.

Now, Wang Fu started to ask Wang Ji to do things he didn't want to do, so there was only one reason - the situation in the court was very unfavorable to Wang Fu, and he needed countless money to please His Majesty.

"So, the water conservancy donation will not be used to build water conservancy?"

The confidant asked cautiously.

Wang Ji said nothing, but sighed deeply, his eyes full of helplessness.

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

When Zhou Qi discussed countermeasures with his grandfather again, the old man waved his hand indifferently, telling the other party that he already had a countermeasure.

The next day, when all the people nearby were in panic, the old lady ordered the heads of the ten pavilions in the village to summon prominent people from each pavilion to come to the Zhou family's residence to discuss matters.

The Taigong asked everyone: "The Prime Minister issued a water donation and ordered the adults in the village to donate a hundred yuan each. What do you think?"

The ten pavilion chiefs whispered for a long time, and at the end they all euphemistically said that today's disasters and man-made disasters are frequent, and many people have lost their cultivated land, so they can only live by renting large households' fields.In a good year, these people can barely make ends meet, but now that disasters occur frequently, the tenant farmers can't even make up the land rent paid to the rich, let alone the water conservancy donation of [-] yuan per person.

Although these pavilion chiefs were unwilling to pay the water conservancy donation, they succumbed to the coercive power of Prime Minister Pei Guo, and did not dare to speak out against it openly, and all complained in a roundabout way.

Tai Gong looked at the performance of the crowd and sighed softly: "I already know what you think, if you don't want to pay the water donation, I will send every ten adult men over tomorrow morning, and I will help you fight for the water donation. "

"Can you?"

All the pavilion chiefs were a little dazed when they heard the words, and then they were all overjoyed, and they all responded in unison: "Wei!"

After seeing off the ten pavilion chiefs, the grandfather called his grandson Zhou Qi, combed his hair and tied it himself, and then put a hat on Zhou Qi's astonished eyes.

The grandfather had a kind face, with both relief and nostalgia on his face. He gently stroked Zhou Qi's shoulder and said, "I crowned your father in the same way back then, but it's a pity that he died young. You were only [-] to be able to do so." Add a crown, but in recent years my health has been deteriorating, and I may not live to be twenty for you, so I will add a crown for you in advance."

"The crowner, so don't be an adult. A gentleman is the first to be crowned, and he should wish him a gift. However, the current situation is difficult, and the family members are dying. Let's keep everything simple. A man should be crowned to encourage his heart. "Poetry" says: "Gold has yellow The fate of life, people have perseverance, and the way will not be forgotten." Even if you encounter all kinds of hardships in the future, you should not forget your original intention and forge ahead."

Seeing his grandfather suddenly crowning him, and listening to those heartfelt instructions, Zhou Qi felt a little sore in his nose, but felt a little uneasy in his heart.

"My eldest father is in good health and it will be easy to live another 30 years. How can you say such depressing words?"

The grandpa smiled and didn't answer, but continued: "Qi, beautiful jade, or someone who is different from ordinary people. At the beginning of naming, your father is still alive, so your name also entrusts my son's eager anticipation. After your father unfortunately passed away, I didn't expect you to achieve anything in this life, so I indulged you a lot in the early years. I never thought that you would still be unwilling to be ordinary after all."

"Since that's the case, I see that your behavior is different from ordinary people, so I will take the epithet 'Zi Yi' for you."

"Zhou Qi, Zhou Ziyi!"

Zhou Qi muttered back and forth several times by himself, and a little joy appeared on his face.Men's twenties and crowns, except for emperors, princes and special circumstances, rarely get their names in advance.

Reaching the crown is also a sign of a man's maturity and independence. Even if Zhou Qi has been a man for two lifetimes, this is the first time he has crowned himself.

After crowning Zhou Qi, the Grand Duke pulled him up and said, "I have two things to ask you to do. Are you willing?"

Zhou Qi hurriedly replied: "Father has something to do, but please send it. How dare grandson delay it?"

The Taigong took out two bamboo tubes sealed with fire paint from his arms, handed them to Zhou Qi, and said: "I have always been on good terms with the Duke of Xiao County. You will marry her. However, after all, the agreement has been made for several years. Now my Zhou family is not prosperous, and my reputation is not as good as that of the Shi family. Therefore, I cannot rush to propose marriage. I need to write a letter to test it out first."

Speaking of this, Tai Gong took out the first bamboo slip and said: "You first give this to Shi Gong. If Shi Gong proposes the marriage contract on his own initiative, you will then hand over another bamboo slip to Shi Gong. If you have not mentioned it, the engagement will be discarded." , you don’t want to stay longer in the historian’s house, and return quickly.”

Hearing that he had a marriage contract suddenly, although Zhou Qi was surprised, he didn't have too many thoughts of resistance.

Compared with the free love advocated by later generations, the ancients paid attention to "the order of the parents and the words of the matchmaker", but there is nothing wrong with it.Even in comparison, the ancient way of getting married, the marriage relationship is even stronger than that of later generations.

In this era, most people pay attention to the right family, and some women will not use marriage as a springboard to change their destiny like in later generations. The so-called free love is just an excuse to pursue a better material life.

Of course, beautiful love exists in all eras, and we cannot kill them all with one stroke. However, some trends in later generations are indeed not very good, and the divorce rate has hit new highs again and again.

If this is the so-called free love, then Zhou Qi may prefer the ancient marriage model.

Zhou Qi was not young mentally in his previous life, and he had a very open-minded view of many things. Although he would not cynically shout "I love your mother's twist", he would not deliberately pursue these things.

In Zhou Qi's view, it doesn't matter who she marries as long as the future wife has a decent appearance and dignified character.

Of course, it would be great if the wife's family is strong and can help her future career.

(End of this chapter)