New Dream of Red Mansions

When Guanshi Zhuang saw Wang Xiyan, his face was worried, "Fifth Miss, do you still remember Pingyang Hou Xia's family?"

Wang Xiyan was surprised, "Father and mother have confessed to the Xia family that they want to repay their kindness?"

Manager Zhuang nodded, "Exactly."

"What happened to their house?"

Guanshi Zhuang also felt that the Xia family was too unlucky, but they were also very lucky. Like the Rongguo Mansion, the Marquis of Pingyang was one of the subordinates who followed the Taizu to conquer the country. He even saved one of the emperors during the emperor's personal conquest, not only restored the marquis, but also got a hereditary replacement.

"...The old Marquis died in battle four years ago, and his two sons failed to come back, so the title was passed on to his third son, who is now Marquis of Pingyang. It was just that the northern war broke out some time ago. The Marquis of Pingyang led the troops to go out..." Zhuang Guanshi was full of worry, "This Marquis of Pingyang is now the only blood of the Xia family, if there is a mistake on the battlefield, I am afraid that Xia Tian will..."

Wang Xiyan frowned, "It's a battlefield, life and death are common things, what can I, a boudoir girl, do?"

Steward Zhuang smiled wryly. Of course he knew that the girl had no choice, but both the wife and the master had received favors from the Xia family back then. It can be said that without the Xia family, there would be no master and wife, and there would be no girl and master. As long as the Xia family needs it, even if it's all they have, they will return that kindness.

"The old slave also knows, but I just want to tell the girl."

Wang Xiyan sighed, her mother and father often talked about things in her ears, she naturally knew it clearly, what Zhuang Guanshi said was right, they really owed the Xia family two big favors.

Wang Xiyan rubbed her forehead, "Is he a general?"

"The Marquis of Pingyang is the commander-in-chief, and the first two battles are good news."

Wang Xiyan asked curiously: "Since he is a commander-in-chief, his safety is guaranteed, and it is a good news. What is Manager Zhuang worried about?"

Manager Zhuang smiled wryly, "The girl is smart, and she guessed a little bit after thinking about it. Before, the master was working for the present, and there were a group of people under his command. The servant had contact with them, so he could know some information faster than the outsiders. Now It's just cold here, but it's snowing in the north, and it's going to snow earlier this year, that's why those tribes united to attack the border. The servants heard that the Marquis of Pingyang didn't have much food and grass, and it's very cold there It's freezing, I'm afraid..."

Wang Xiyan's complexion changed slightly, "Isn't the imperial court's military supply in check?"

Manager Zhuang shook his head, "There are military supplies, but the people above said that the mountain was blocked by heavy snow and couldn't be sent in, so..."

Wang Xiyan understood that this was a political struggle, not that things could not be delivered, but that someone wanted Pingyanghou and his army to be unable to return.

"They are really brave enough, what if those tribes break into the pass?"

Manager Zhuang remained silent.

Wang Xiyan knocked on the table and asked, "Who did Marquis Pingyang offend?"

"Pingyanghou's elder sister is the concubine of the fourth prince. Now that the crown prince has not been established, the voices of the third and eighth princes are very loud, but there are also people who support the fourth prince."

Wang Xiyan was silent immediately, no one dared to help easily when it came to seizing the heir.

"Does the fourth prince not care?"

"The fourth prince is too busy to take care of himself now. I'm afraid Marquis Pingyang will become a chariot."

Wang Xiyan knocked on the table, "Wait a little longer, let's talk about it if there is no movement from the imperial court or the Fourth Prince in another ten days."

Wang Xiyan never thought that she would have anything to do with seizing the heir. She thought that what she had to do was to avoid the future raids of the Wang family, and she had already done so. her.But now she actually wants to participate in the battle?By the way, which prince ascended the throne in the Red Chamber?

Wang Xiyan thought hard, but still couldn't come up with a clue.

Cao Gong gave too few clues.

Naturally, Wang Xiyan did not want to join the court, but the Xia family did owe her parents a mountain of kindness, and even she owed her life to her parents.

Wang Xiyan's mother, Mrs. Su, Mrs. Pingyang Houtai, is a sister of the same clan, but she has been married for five times, and Su's parents died early, leaving only a daughter like her, but she has a generous dowry, so there will inevitably be some perverse thoughts in the clan. people.

According to Su and her, if her cousin hadn't met her and rescued her when she went back to her natal family to visit relatives, she would have died. What really makes Su grateful is that this cousin not only helped her deter The people in the clan who were distracted were willing to help her talk about her marriage, and made it clear that she and Xiyan's father, Wang Zifei, would get married. Afterwards, it was her who supported the scene so that she could bring her own dowry to marry Wang Zifei.

Because of the tense relationship between Wang Zifei and the Wang family, in order not to cause trouble to the Xia family, the two usually exchanged letters and did not appear to be very close.

Later, Wang Zifei and the Su family went north and south to do business, and encountered bandits on the way back to Beijing (Wang Xiyan secretly doubted whether they were bandits), all the guards brought by Wang Zifei were injured, and at that time, Wang Xiyan was in Su's stomach, It's been seven months.Wang Xiyan felt that she was already conscious at that time. She thought about it carefully, as if she had heard a strange sound when she was in her stomach.

It was just such a coincidence that the Pingyanghou couple, who just came home from a visit to their relatives, passed by with their children and rescued Wang Zifei and Su Shi.

So, seriously, Wang Xiyan's family was rescued by the Xia family, because Wang Zifei also admitted that if Marquis Pingyang didn't show up at that time, he would definitely die. The child can't keep it either.So the couple have been telling their children to repay their kindness after the child was born. Not only Wang Xiyan knows, but Brother You also knows that the Xia family is their great benefactor.

Now that the Xia family is facing the danger of extinction, if Wang Xiyan really does nothing, she will really have a hard time with her conscience.

Wang Xiyan asked Steward Zhuang to go down to inquire about how the court and the fourth prince should deal with it, and he himself sent someone to send the account books. Military supplies require money, and it is a lot of money.

Wang Xiyan can't use the things buried in the Zhuangzi, but the silver in the jade plaque is not enough for 8 taels. 12 taels is a lot of money in normal times. The small rich family can live for three lifetimes with this good money, but now they have to During the war, there were as many as 20 soldiers under Pingyanghou alone. Not counting the soldiers who guarded the border, there were more or less 15 in total.

For 15 people, even if they only eat food and no vegetables, each soldier needs a catty a day, and the daily consumption of 15 people is 250 shi.

Three years ago, Wang Xiyan sent people to Heilongjiang to buy and cultivate land. Because the land there is fertile, there are three stones per mu on average. Three stones are the harvest of wheat and millet, and corn and potatoes are almost twice as much as they are, but they have to pay taxes. I don't know if the remaining grain in the warehouse is still [-] shi.

No matter what era it is, the safest thing is not gold or silver, but land and food. The Dream of the Red Chamber was written with reference to the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and in the last few years of seizing the throne, not only the officialdom, but also all kinds of people in the world Kind of natural and man-made disasters.

Wang Xiyan has always believed that being a good person has a better chance of being rewarded. She and Brother You are not short of money, and she is willing to help more people.Heilongjiang is vast and sparsely populated, and the grain almost has to be transported back to the customs before it can be sold. Wang Xiyan dislikes the long distance and the fact that people in winter can’t survive the winter well, so he asks them to save the grain from the previous year until May next year. When there is no harvest, two-thirds of the new grain will be left to replace the old grain left over from last year.In this way, her warehouse will never be short of food, and in the event of natural or man-made disasters, she can use the food to help more people.

Now is the time to use the grain. Fortunately, she made people wait until the second year to sell the grain. In this way, she not only has this year's harvest, but also has two-thirds of last year's harvest.

Ten days later, Manager Zhuang asked to see him.

The emperor is old, his energy is limited, and the courtiers are concealing it. Now the court's public opinion is that the military salary cannot be paid, and the four princes are running around but there is nothing they can do.

Manager Zhuang's expression turned even worse this time, "Girl, I'm afraid the Marquis of Pingyang won't be able to hold on for long. Two days ago, the Marquis of Pingyang's mansion sold a lot of things, but sending them to the border was a drop in the bucket. Although the slave has no more news now, But it can also be deduced that their food may not last long."

Regardless of whether the manager of the village is anxious, the master and wife are people who know how to repay their kindness, and they almost told him that they would serve the Xia family as the master, so they are naturally anxious now.

Wang Xiyan turned around a few times and asked, "How much grain do we have in the granary in Heilongjiang?"

Manager Zhuang's eyes lit up, and he said pleasantly, "Last year and this year's harvest was good, and there are still about [-] shi."

Wang Xiyan mentally calculated, and quickly came to a conclusion, "Enough is enough, if the fourth prince still can't find a way after 72 days, the Xia family doesn't need to hang on this tree."

Manager Zhuang nodded.

"You take people to check it yourself, I have to find a way to send this thing to them, and I can't let the court and the princes know, otherwise..." Otherwise, I'm afraid they won't survive Pingyanghou's return, and if the future The emperor knows, who knows if he will become Jiaqing and copy her and Brother Yu?

It's better to be careful.