After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 166
The old military advisor and his party from the third room of the Zhou family were so powerful that they also alarmed the old lady from the fourteenth room of the Zhou family.Although he didn't mean to make it public, the news spread.

By the evening of that day, almost all the relatives and friends of the tribe in the two streets in front and behind the Zhou family knew that Mrs. Ma of Sanfang and the head of the house Zhou Shigong poached the craftsmen from the border army's workshop to build a private glass workshop.

The Zhou family was in an uproar.

Nowadays, the three glass workshops in the northwest, whether it is the small one in Suzhou, the one with the lowest technical level in Ganzhou, or the largest one in Chang'an with the most craftsmen, the highest skills and the most profits, all belong to the Northwest Frontier Army. Under the name, all the profits are used to supplement military expenses, support wounded veterans, etc. It has just started. It has only returned the original capital. It has not yet reached the time when it can really make money. My own money is not enough. How can I stand up to others? Go outside again?

The person who collected the money was actually a member of the Zhou family who knew the true financial situation of the Bian Army. That is even more unforgivable!

Originally, there were many children of the Zhou family guarding the border guards. If times were really difficult and food and supplies were not available, just ask your relatives for help, and those with enough money and food could help.And if the children of the Zhou family who are assigned to the relatively wealthy and well-populated border towns also want to build a glass workshop on their own land, then it is not a good idea to wait until the craftsmen in Chang'an have been trained enough and send a few people to help. Can't.Anyway, the glass produced in the workshop was used to supplement military expenditures. The fertilizer did not go to outsiders' fields, but went to the frontier soldiers' own fields. Who made the money or not?

It's just that the three glass workshops now only have so many craftsmen, which is simply not enough. Of course, priority must be given to meeting the production needs of the Chang'an large workshop.The money earned from the Chang'an workshop is used to subsidize the entire northwest frontier army. Everyone can benefit, so they are naturally in a priority position.If other institutes want to have their own glass workshops, they have to wait patiently until the Chang'an workshop has enough capacity.

As for other wealthy families who are jealous, they also want to build glass workshops to get a share of the pie... The Zhou family can't stop it, and the border troops can't stop it either.As long as they don't poach the border troops, but instead find ways to recruit other glass craftsmen from the Western Regions, then let them go.If they really have the ability to find good craftsmen, maybe the border army can find a way to recruit them, which will be easier than cultivating them from scratch.

But this cannot include members of the Zhou family, especially the Zhou family who do not have an army and do not need to rely on business to make money to supplement military expenses!Not to mention that the third branch of the Zhou family still poached people from the Bianjun's workshop.Isn't this just cutting off the flesh of the border troops to fatten oneself? !The Zhou family has been loyal for generations. When did such a moth appear? !

Ever since the old military advisor left the third room of the Zhou family, Zhou Shigong has had constant guests. Cousins ​​and brothers of the same generation in the clan have come over, and even nephews have come to inquire for information.Mrs. Zhou Ma found an excuse to leave home and temporarily escaped the disaster, but Mrs. Ma never stopped getting female guests.

Probably because Mrs. Ma's reputation in the past was so good, most of the female family members of the clan thought there was some misunderstanding when they first heard the news.Someone asked Old Madam Fourteen to tell her, but Old Madam Fourteen had no intention of covering up for Old Madam Ma. She scolded her bloody and even revealed some of her dark past.

Most of the men in the Fourteenth House have joined the army, and only a few children are still being raised at home. In addition, the old lady of the Fourteenth House is the widow of a fallen officer. She knows that the money and food earned by the frontier soldiers from business is of great benefit to the bereaved families of the frontier soldiers. How important it is, even though she has been Mrs. Ma's follower for decades, she has always been fawning, but now she is full of resentment, and there is no way to forgive Mrs. Ma for what she did.She also knew that Mrs. Ma had done some inappropriate things in the past. She used to carefully cover them up for her, but now she no longer wants to cover them up. Once exposed, Mrs. Ma's reputation would be greatly damaged.

The female relatives who came to the door were all trying to persuade Mrs. Ma not to be confused. Just because the old man from the third room had retreated to the rear and stayed away from the battlefield for decades, and the eldest son and grandson of the family were all civil servants rather than the army, they should not forget that the Zhou family had been generals for generations. fundamental.The old man from Sanfang has been in charge of the logistics of the border army for decades, but he has never taken advantage of the frontier army. He also hates bugs in the army and has caught countless criminals who embezzled military resources.The old man has passed away, but he left behind a great name. How could his widow and eldest son go against his will and do what he hated most during his lifetime?I'm afraid that if his old man knows it well, he will be so angry that he will come to life!
Mrs. Ma has been accustomed to hearing praises since she married into the Zhou family. How often has she encountered such a situation where her sister-in-law pointed her nose and scolded her, her nephew's wife scolded her with insinuations, and even her nephew's granddaughter-in-law came to her to find displeasure with her?At first, she could pretend to be a white lotus flower, and repeatedly said it was all a "misunderstanding", making people think she had been wronged. But after hearing this, she could no longer maintain the expression on her face, and she elongated her face to serve tea to the guests. Then, before a new group of customers came to the door, he claimed to be ill and closed the door to thank the guests.Zhou Shigong quickly used the excuse of his stepmother's illness to send the guests away. From then on, he closed the door tightly and stopped receiving new guests.

However, if real guests can still be turned away, how can members of this family treat them like foreign guests?His cousins ​​of the same generation came directly to the door, ignoring the servants' obstruction, and broke into the main courtyard as soon as they lifted the people. Zhou Shigong couldn't really beat the people out. He couldn't beat a group of retired veterans even if he wanted to. I can continue to bite the bullet and get sprayed.In order to alleviate some of his own guilt, he still adopted the banner of "filial piety" and put all the blame on his stepmother, Mrs. Ma, claiming that he was forced by his stepmother.

However, everyone in the Zhou clan got the news and knew that the glass workshop was in the name of Zhou Jinpu, the eldest son of Zhou Shigong.Who can accept that Zhou Shigong does not need to take responsibility for this matter?Everyone began to criticize him again for his incompetence in teaching his son, and asked people to call Zhou Jinpu back and scold him in front of the court.

Since Zhou Shigong can shirk responsibility in the name of filial piety, his son must also be bound by "filial piety" and must be scolded honestly. Any rebuttal is unfilial and rude.Zhou Jinpu has been spoiled since childhood. When has he ever suffered such injustice?I couldn't bear it for a moment, so I showed my uncles' expressions, and finally ran away with a sullen expression, throwing up my sleeves.

Seeing this, the Zhou clan members sprayed at Zhou Shigong for a long time.Zhou Shigong could only smile bitterly again, claiming that the child was spoiled by his grandmother and he did not dare to take strict control of it.

Several of his cousins ​​felt that although Mrs. Ma had done meritorious service in raising her stepson and step-grandson, she had raised her step-son to be a scholar and failed to inherit the fine military tradition of the Zhou family; Failure to comply shows that upbringing has failed.

Although Zhou Shigong's step-sibling, Zhou Ma, has always had a mediocre reputation in the clan. Many people said that she was an unkind mother and refused to raise her stepson. However, seeing as how she raised her biological son to be a steady officer, she did not do anything to her stepson. After doing bad things, she can still spend money to help the down-and-out tribesmen, so she is not an unvirtuous and evil woman.If I had known that Mrs. Ma was so unreliable, I might as well have handed Zhou Jinpu over to Zhou Ma for his upbringing!Even if Mrs. Zhou Ma didn't care about her stepson and raised a mediocre person, it would be better than having an rude and unfilial worm among the descendants of the Zhou family and trampling the faces of their grandfather and ancestors to the ground!
The old generals used to respect Mrs. Ma because of the third wife. Now they despise Mrs. Ma because of the third wife. They don't want his widow to ruin his posthumous reputation.

They have been in the military for half their lives, and they are not easily influenced by public opinion in the back house. They only believe in their own colleagues.Mrs. Ma has built a good reputation for most of her life and is highly respected among the female relatives. In the eyes of the old generals, nothing is more credible than an accusation from an old military advisor.

Mrs. Ma's good character has completely collapsed today.

(End of this chapter)