Survive in the world of Red Mansions

The emperor Li Min looked at the account book sent in from below, and was secretly happy. He saw that in the past few months, because of the construction of provincial homes, various families purchased earth, wood, stone, bricks, tiles, gold and silver utensils, antique ornaments, etc. My aunt went home to visit relatives and spent money like running water, because I ordered people to go down early to let people prepare it, and a considerable part of the money flowed into my private treasury.

Looking at the account book, after several months of preparation and operation, my private treasury has increased by more than 100 million. It seems that, as Lin Hai said, these aristocratic families are very rich. The attention Lin Hai came up with was really timely, and now it seems that it is really not a loss, anyway, these people are rich.I hate these honorable families, relying on the merits of their ancestors, the descendants do not want to be loyal to the court, but rely on these achievements to oppress the people and amass wealth wantonly.

Rongguo Mansion is a family home, and the money that was prepared at the beginning was quickly spent, but with the Xue family's wealth of millions, plus the money deducted from the private houses of Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang later, this luxury is extremely luxurious. After all, the unparalleled family-friendly courtyard was built!

Rongguo Mansion's family-friendly courtyard was finally completed. After Jia Mu, Jia Zheng and others went to the garden, after careful consideration, the decorations were done properly, and there was no slight discrepancy, Jia Zheng dared to submit a memorial to ask his mother to return to the mansion to visit relatives.After writing the book, I got the sage's decree to visit my mother on the [-]th day of the first lunar month next year.

The Rongguo Mansion accepted the order and became more and more busy day and night, and couldn't live well for years.

On the Rongguo Mansion's side, for the coming year's mother-in-law to return to the manor to visit her relatives, the whole mansion has to be busy day and night, but on the Lin's side, life in the capital is becoming more and more peaceful and stable.

Lin Hai's work in the Ministry of Household Affairs, although he would still be embarrassed by Cao Jian, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs from time to time, but because the emperor occasionally summoned Lin Hai, an old minister, Cao Jian did not dare to make too much noise.Although the emperor will not obviously favor Lin Hai in the affairs of the household department because of the emperor's reasons, at least as long as Lin Hai does his job well, he will not be embarrassed.

Because of her relationship with the Yao family's aunt and sister-in-law, Lin Daiyu gradually integrated into the social circle of the capital. Now, in addition to taking care of the Lin family's internal affairs, she also began to associate with young ladies of the same age in Beijing. She often participated in some Flower viewing banquets, poetry reciting and painting, etc. At the same time, under the guidance of Mr. Qiu, I held several such banquets in the Lin Mansion, and received a lot of praise.

As for Lin Rui's life in the capital, it is not very different from Yangzhou. In the past, Lin Rui would not leave the house easily due to safety reasons in Yangzhou. Now that he is in the capital, he has no worries about safety. Studying in the mansion, there are still not many opportunities to go out.

Lin Rui and Yao's cousins ​​and nephews who are about the same age will meet often, and through them, they have met some aristocratic princes, but at present, the only real good friends are Jiangnan Tongzheng, who he knew in Yangzhou. As for Xu Zhen's son, there is really nothing else.Lin Rui was in his twenties in his two lifetimes, and he was about the same age as he is now. Not to mention that he couldn't get along well with others. A young man like him who is less than 10 years old is very young. Go out less.A little older than him, others may not necessarily want to be with a child.

By the end of the year, Lin Daiyu, like many of the hostesses, was busy with Chinese New Year matters every day, and her social activities with those ladies from aristocratic families also stopped.Lin Hai and Lin Rui, father and son, were free at the end of the year. Lin Rui looked through the materials sent by Lin Ran in the outer city in the past few days, and talked to Lin Hai.

"Father, the Jia family has a lot going on!"

Lin Hai was holding a book in his hand, and while flipping through it, he casually asked Lin Rui, "Oh, what's the joke in the Jia family again?"

"Jia Lian secretly married the second wife outside. The manager of the purchase knows about it. There should be many people in the Rongguo Mansion who know about it. They probably hide it from Wang Xifeng who is busy with housekeeping at the mansion every day."

"Oh, that's the Second Sister You?"

"Yes, when Qin Keqing passed away last two months, Second Sister You and Third Sister You entered the Ningguo Mansion. Didn't they hang out with Jia Zhen and his son at that time? How long has it been? Jia Lian married back secretly as the second wife. Even these servants know that the You sisters and Jia Zhen and his son are unclear. Doesn’t Jia Lian know, or does he know that he doesn’t care? This second sister You is like a fairy. ?!"

"Do you know if it has anything to do with it? How much do you think Jia Lian cares about this Second Sister You? It's probably because it's all about playing around."

"Maybe!"

"Oh, next, the old lady's grandniece Shi Xiangyun came to Jia's mansion this time, wearing a gold unicorn. The old lady said that Shi Xiangyun and Jia Baoyu are real childhood sweethearts, a golden and jade marriage. It seems that no matter how rich the Xue family is, Baoyu The old lady still doesn't want to give her the throne of the Second Mistress. A few months ago, there was a rumor about a "golden marriage" in the Rongguo Mansion, and now there is another one. It said that the servants of the Jia Mansion are now betting in private. Who will win the throne?

Dad, do you think Jia Baoyu can be seen other than a face, what else is there?Is it worth these two little beauties fighting to the death?Fortunately, Daiyu did not live in Jia's house. "

"It's capital to be good-looking. Except that Jia Baoyu doesn't like reading, he has nothing to prevent him from becoming a family member. He has a weak personality and is more affectionate. He doesn't seem to have any other shortcomings, right?"

"Father, these are not enough?"

"..." Lin Hai couldn't help but find it funny when he thought of what he said just now.

After reading through the information that Lin Ran sent up, Lin Rui thought that he would go to Mr. Song's house with his father tomorrow, and Mr. Song even asked the family's servants to come over and explain that it was a bit strange for Lin Hai to take Lin Rui there.

"Father, you said Mr. Song specially asked you to take me to see him this time. Is there anything special about it?"

Lin Hai looked at his son, and said nonchalantly, "What's so special? You'll know if you go tomorrow. Anyway, after you enter the twelfth lunar month, your classes will be suspended, so there's no need to make a trip."

"Too."

The next day, Lin Hai took Lin Rui to meet his teacher, Mr. Song. When he arrived at the Song Mansion and was led by a servant to visit Mr. Song in the study, he felt a little strange seeing another person in the study.

After Lin Hai and his son saluted Mr. Song, Mr. Song introduced the scholar who was sitting next to him, about 50 years old, his younger brother He Zhuo.

Lin Rui followed Lin Hai to meet Mr. Song many times. Although Mr. Song was not Lin Rui's husband, every time they met, he asked about Lin Rui's schoolwork, what he had learned recently, and sometimes quizzed him.It was the same today, but Lin Rui felt that Mr. Song seemed to be very interested today, asking more and more in-depth questions than every time he met before.

Mr. He next to him was also listening, nodding and smiling from time to time. After waiting for almost an hour, this Mr. He left.As soon as He Zhuo left, Lin Hai looked at Mr. Song, "Sir, why are you in such a good mood today? Did something happen?"

"You don't know me as a junior, but when I talk about his son, you must have heard of it. Xu Lang, the magistrate of Huguang Province who died because of water bandits in office the year before last, is his son."

"Sir, do you intend to introduce your junior brother to Rui'er as a teacher?"

"I knew you could guess that my younger brother, a second-class Jinshi in his early years, was knowledgeable, but his character was too upright and offended many people, so he left the officialdom early. Xu Lang, that is, his only son , under his guidance, he became a Jinshi when he was in his 20s, and was sent out to be a Qipin county magistrate. He was transferred from a small county in a remote area to a wealthy area in Huguang. The evaluation has been very good. At the end of the year, he will be promoted to Zhizhou, what a pity!

My junior brother has been away with his son for a few years, and moved back to the capital after Xu Lang passed away. Originally, the situation of the Xu family was not bad, but in the past two years, the illness and death at home have dragged down the family. Old and young, now there are only two old couples, Mr. Xu and his younger brother, and a little grandson left in the family.Originally, it would be fine for us to help their family, but Junior Brother Xu said that it would not be appropriate in the long run, so I thought of finding a restaurant in Beijing, and I thought of Rui Er.

Because of your own age, I know that the husband you have always wanted to find for Rui'er should not be too old, and you also hope to have certain connections so that you can help Rui'er in the future.Your idea is correct, but such a person is not so easy to find, even if there is, it is still a question of whether you are willing to accept apprentices.Another one, I see that Ruier is also smart, and there will be many friends in the same year in the future, so what are you afraid of?If you don't make progress, it's useless to have connections. My family can tell that the boss is a little bit better, and now he's only sitting in the fourth grade. Does our family still have few connections?

I'm too old, I don't know how many days I can teach Rui'er, otherwise I will accept Rui as a disciple myself.Junior brother Xu is only in his destiny now, so it's no problem to teach Rui'er.Ruhai, why don't you think about it? "

Lin Hai heard Mr. Song say so much, and knew that what Mr. Song said was unreasonable, so he looked at Lin Rui, "Ruier, what do you mean?"

"Sir, did Mr. Xu come here today to see how I am before deciding whether to accept me as an apprentice?"

"Hehe, Rui'er is really smart. Although Junior Brother Xu knows your father to a certain extent, he has never met you, so I hope to meet you first before deciding whether to accept him as an apprentice."

"Then Mr. Xu is satisfied with Rui'er?" Lin Hai also replied when he heard Mr. Song say this.

Mr. Song replied from the side, "If I'm not satisfied, I won't say it."

Lin Hai looked at Lin Rui and said nothing, Zhong Wenning, who is currently invited, will only teach until the end of this year, and he will prepare for the exam in the spring of next year, so there is no way to teach Lin Rui again.There is another one, like Zhong Wenning, who is okay with the Four Books and Five Classics, and the others really can't teach Lin Rui anything, so no matter whether Zhong Wenning passes the test this time, Lin Hai will only let him teach this as he said at the beginning of the year one year.

"Sir, I don't know how Mr. Zhong is other than the Four Books and Five Classics?" Lin Hai asked with concern.

"Hehe, you don't have to worry about Ruhai, Junior Brother Xu's level is no worse than mine."

Seeing Lin Rui nodding his head, Lin Hai said, "Where does Mr. Xu live? I want to visit. Is it convenient?"

"New Year's Eve is just a few days away, and it's not too late after the new year."

"Even if you don't pay homage to the teacher for now, you are also your junior brother, sir, so it's a good idea to give you an annual gift!"

"Alright, I'll let the servants around me go there with the people in your house."

Lin Hai and his son returned to the Lin Mansion after leaving. Lin Hai was still very curious about Lin Rui's quick recognition of this gentleman, "Ruier, this is the first time I met Mr. Xu today. How did you agree with him so quickly? It's because of Mr. Song words?"

"There is a large part of the reason. My first influence on this Mr. Xu is not bad. Besides, this Mr. Zhong in the mansion is lucky to only teach me for one year. It's not me, the level is actually the same, except for stereotyped writing. , He didn’t teach me anything else. Now that this Mr. Xu is good, why not settle down? As Mr. Song said, connections are very important, but yourself is more important. You have enough resources in your hands with your father. No matter how much trouble you put into this aspect, you may even cause the emperor to taboo you, don't you think?"

Lin Hai couldn't help touching Lin Rui's head, and said to him: "Just be sure!"