The bear child of the Red Chamber, Jia Cong

However, everyone in the Rongguo Mansion went back to Jinling, their hometown, to bury Jia's mother and left separately, except Jia Baoyu who stayed longer.Because he was concerned about Mrs. Zhen, he went to Jiming Temple to have a look at her.Seeing this girl doing some rough work in Ziyi clothes, she hurriedly donated some incense money to the host.Come back in a few days, Mrs. Zhen no longer does rough work.

Jia Baoyu ironed the post in his heart, and went to visit various places in Jinling safely.A few days later, someone suddenly came looking for him, saying that he was a son of the Zhen family.Baoyu was a little surprised when he saw his appearance: an old robe had many patches on it, but his appearance was seven points like his own.The man smiled bitterly and said, "If you have no choice, you can't come to ask your elder brother." This man is Zhen Baoyu from the Zhen family.Jia Baoyu felt sorry for him and gave him 50 taels of silver on the spot.

Unexpectedly, this was actually the beginning.The Zhen family came to ask for money every now and then, and the whole family came in turns, crying more and more each time.Zhen Yingjia came back once and asked him if he would take the Fourth Miss Zhen as his concubine after fulfilling his filial piety, but Jia Baoyu directly refused.Although Jia Zheng and the others left him a lot of banknotes when they left, after all, he still had a lot of places to go, and he couldn't help the Zhen family like opening the gate to release water, which caused him a lot of headaches.Mingyan, a book boy beside him, knew that their second masters couldn't resist these people, so he came up with an idea to go to the Jia's horse shop in Jinling to withdraw money, and at worst, return it to them when he returned to Beijing.Baoyu had no choice but to bite the bullet and go.

When they arrived at the Ma Xing, Ming Yan leaned his neck and said, "This is the Second Master Bao of Rongguo Mansion, come to get some silver."

The shopkeeper cupped his hands and said, "Dare to ask Second Master Bao, what is the password?"

Mingyan was taken aback for a moment, then turned to look at their second master.Baoyu asked, "What password?"

The shopkeeper said: "We don't recognize Second Master Bao, the owner needs a password to withdraw money."

Mingyan became anxious: "Could it be fake? No one in the capital knows..."

Baoyu shouted: "Stop talking!" The money in the Rongguo Mansion's public account is not easy to get, how can Baoyu not know?Nai shook his head, turned and went out.The shopkeeper didn't give it away either, just pretending that he didn't come.

Mingyan followed and ran out and said, "Second master! We have given the Zhen family so much money, and we still have to eat by ourselves. Could it be that we drink the northwest wind?"

Baoyu gritted her teeth and said, "Pick up your things quietly and leave early tomorrow morning."

Mingyan thought for a while, then sighed: "It's okay. If you can't provoke it, you can always hide it."

Bao Yunai sent him back to pack his things first, and led two bodyguards to Jiming Temple quietly, wanting to see Mrs. Zhen again.When I got to the nunnery, I saw that Mrs. Zhen was sweeping the floor with a big broom again, her eyes were straightened!Seeing Baoyu waving his hands, Zhen said in a low voice, "Second Master, let's go, don't come here again, and don't give me any more money. This is a bottomless pit, and it can't be filled. Besides, Second Master can't stay in the nunnery all year round. Stare." Then he stopped looking at him and just concentrated on sweeping the floor.

Seeing her strenuous appearance, Baoyu felt the tears rolling down his face. After a while, he said, "Cong'er's idea will probably work. Tomorrow, you can relax a little bit, and you will be the daughters of military generals and merchants as mistresses." That's fine." Mrs. Zhen nodded, and Baoyu wiped away her tears.

After leaving the nunnery, a bodyguard said: "Second master, don't worry, these things are normal. That master has never done it before, and it will be easy after a few days."

Baoyu sighed: "Of course I know. I just feel sorry for her."

Another escort said: "Poor? What's so pitiful? Didn't she almost enter the kiln? Once she enters the place, she won't want to come out." Baoyu sighed again.

When I went back today, the people from the Zhen family came again, it was the grandma of the Zhen family.Jia Baoyu watched her meeting, and finally gave her 20 taels of silver, but never said a word.The next morning the city gate had just opened, and Jia Baoyu ran out with his servants and bodyguards as if fleeing.

Wei Ruoheng laughed when he heard that, and told Zhen Yinglian like this when he went back. "It was Cong'er who asked me to find a way to leak to the Zhen family about the fact that the second master of the Jia family lived alone in Jinling." He said, "That kid has already figured out that the Zhen family would play a rogue and ask for money, so he dug a hole , I just want to see how long his stupid brother can last."

Zhen Yinglian shook her head and said, "Such a temper...it's not bad if you know how to run away."

"It's not too deceptive to know that bribing Jiming Temple." Wei Ruoheng said, "I didn't expect him to run away, and before I had time to tell him something, I already sneaked up and chased him."

Zhen Yinglian asked casually, "What's the matter?"

"It was also Jia Cong who asked me to say it. He said, tell Jia Baoyu when he can't hold it anymore." Wei Ruoheng's mouth curled up, "The Zhen family once sent an assassin to assassinate Lin Hai, the former Minister of the Household Department, and the person in charge was Zhen Yingjia himself is easy to get. If it wasn't for a coincidence, Lin Hai would have died many years ago. Jia Baoyu respects Lin Hai deeply. It's a pity that we can't see him hearing about this matter."

"Assassinate important officials of the imperial court, no wonder their family will collapse. They have the same surname as my family."

Wei Ruoheng hurriedly said: "There are too many people with the same surname in the world, what's the matter with you?" Zhen Yinglian smiled and shook her husband's hand.

Not long after, the soldier who went out of the city to chase after Baoyu to talk about the matter came back and told Wei Ruoheng, "That Jia Baoyu's intestines have been regretted to pieces! I just said that I fed the wolf out of kindness. Look at that, I can't eat for two days. It's certain."

Wei Ruoheng laughed loudly: "His brother said that he wanted him to experience the malice of this world for himself."

On the way, Jia Cong got a letter from Zhen's family defrauding Baoyu of money, secretly waiting for him to run out of money, not wanting that Jia Baoyu would not be short of money when he arrived in Yangzhou.Rich households in Yangzhou heard that Jia Baoyu, the world-renowned waiter of Shenying, had come, and they all invited him to a banquet, and some sought him to buy calligraphy and poems.Jia Baoyu is willing to sell it!Not to mention the price, just let the buyer look at it.The wealthy households competed, and one bid was higher than the other, scrambling to give him money.The money lost in the hands of the Zhen family was earned back within a few days.

Looking at the bulging money bag, Baoyu heaved a sigh of relief.Ming Yan smiled from ear to ear: "Second Master is capable! This time we don't have to worry about it!"

Baoyu sighed, "That's the only thing I can do."

A bodyguard said: "It's a proud temper to be the second master of Bao, and he is willing to sell his writing even if he doesn't want to."

Baoyu said: "How many years have I been selling literature, what is this? I was confused in Jinling a few days ago, and people coaxed so much money. Now I will not starve you." Everyone laughed.

At this time, the returnees from the south of Rongguo Mansion have arrived in Fuzhou. Jia Cong changed his clothes and followed Jia Lian to meet Huang Wengang, the governor of Fujian.Thinking of them, Huang Wengang panicked and couldn't see them, so he asked Dai Xian to come first, and then dawdled for a long time.

Although the men in Jia's family have different temperaments, one is inherited: thick skinned.Both Jia Lian and Jia Cong seemed to be okay, they exchanged hands with Huang Wengang affectionately, smiling like a spring breeze as if they were friends reunited.Huang Wengang coughed a few times and asked them what they wanted to do.Jia Lian said: "Master Huang is out of touch now! I just came back from Jinling and passed by Fuzhou, so I came to visit Master Huang." The more he said this, the more he didn't believe Huang Wengang. in one breath.

Dai Xian knew that they had just come from the state of Wu, so he inquired about all things in the state of Wu.Jia Lian said: "Before we got up, the king of Wu had ordered that the salt class be exempted."

Dai Xiannai said: "I don't understand something. According to what Mr. Jia said in Chengtian Mansion that day, it will be a matter of time before all countries in the world will be exempted from the salt class. Why is Mr. Wang Ziteng not exempted?"

Jia Cong said: "It was exempted 800 years ago, but it was not announced to the world. Guangdong and Guangxi are flourishing in commerce, and various factories are gradually opening up. The commercial tax is sufficient, and the idea of ​​​​salt tax is not paid attention to by Lord Wang." Dai Xian and Huang Wengang looked at each other.Then he talked about all kinds of things in the state of Wu, and said: "there is a great shortage of people in Dongying Wu, and the king of Wu is going to copy the method of our island. Don't lead the way, open up wasteland to get land, and the tax is very small. The Yan and Liu in Dongying It's about the same."

Dai Xian glanced at Huang Wengang and said, "Wouldn't it be good to send prisoners to open up wasteland?"

Jia Cong said: "The creativity of the free people is incomparable to that of the prisoners. Business, marriage, children's studies, and adults' entertainment, the prisoners can't win the hearts of the people. As for the money of the princes, taxes are better than anything else. And the sons of free people It is easy to produce talents. The kings of Yan and Wu are all good people, how can they do things that are not beneficial to themselves?"

Dai Xian thought for a while, nodded and said: "For the prince, it is indeed better to be a free citizen."

Jia Cong said: "Wu is connected to Qi in the north and Chu in the west. These two are not easy to mess with. Most of Jiangxi is dominated by the people of the green forest. I'm afraid that many of the population of the Wu family in Dongying will have to be taken from Fujian."

Huang Wengang smiled wryly, "Maybe Mr. Jia has an idea for the old man?"

Jia Cong said: "Treat people leniently, cut taxes and make profits. If Fujian is no worse than Dongying, who would want to leave their hometown?"

Huang Wengang said: "All the land in Fujian has an owner."

Jia Cong said: "Since the land of Dongying was conquered by the princes of various families, it should belong to their private houses in theory." Huang Wengang frowned.

But at this moment, a woman called out from outside, and Huang Wengang shouted, "Who?"

I saw a daughter-in-law came in tremblingly, kowtowed and said: "Madam sent a servant to ask if you want to keep guests for dinner."

"What are you calling?"

The daughter-in-law bowed her head and said: "The servant almost tripped." Huang Wengang waved his hands and said, "Trash! Get out!" The daughter-in-law backed out without even asking the wife what she wanted.

Huang Wengang hadn't planned to invite these robbers to dinner, but since Mrs. Huang sent someone over, she had no choice but to pretend to keep their meals.I don't want Jia Lian to say immediately: "Being respectful is worse than obeying orders." Huang Wengang became more and more depressed.

For a while, Jia Cong went out to have a rest, and met Huang Wengang, a teacher named Zhang.Master Zhang bowed his hands to him, and said: "You villain, dare to ask Mr. Jia why he lied for the fugitive slaves of Huang's mansion."

Jia Cong was startled: "Huh?"

Mr. Zhang said: "Mr. Jia, did you recognize that daughter-in-law just now?"

"Who?" Jia Cong asked blankly, "Which daughter-in-law?"

Mr. Zhang said: "Mr. Jia has met the one sent by my wife just now to ask the master if he wants to prepare a banquet."

"Eh..." Jia Cong pursed his lips and said, "I didn't pay attention to what she looks like. Have I seen her? The daughter-in-law of the Huang family, I think, I should have only seen one. Is this sister-in-law Qiangwei? Or hibiscus? Anyway, it’s the name of a flower. I just don’t remember what it looks like.”

Master Zhang stared at him without blinking, and after a while he smiled wryly and said: "Mr. Jia is telling the truth. That's right, it's just a servant from another family, why remember her." He closed his eyes, "This wife is my daughter-in-law. good friend."

The corner of Jia Cong's mouth twitched: "Your vision is really not very good."

Mr. Zhang said: "She used to be good, but since she went to Chengtian Mansion with the master and wife last time, she became weird. I know her temperament, and I will not accuse a woman I don't know as a runaway slave."

Jia Cong thought for a while and said: "From her point of view, it is really difficult to accept. Master Zhang, if you have a friend, you can't compare to you when you were young, and you are better than him in everything. Suddenly one day you What would you do if you found out that he was lucky enough to force you out a lot?"

How can Master Zhang not know what it means?He avoided it and said, "What does this have to do with Mr. Jia protecting the fugitive slave? I heard that Yang Jiaoxi is a friend of Mr. Jia? Mr. Jia lied about the identity of the fugitive slave and deceived his friends. Is it a gentleman's action?"

Jia Cong shrugged and said, "First of all, I'm not a gentleman. Secondly, um...someone went to the market to buy shoes. The shoe seller asked him, this gentleman, what kind of shoes do you want to buy? They come in red boxes and green boxes. Packed, or in a white box?"

Master Zhang said inexplicably: "Since you are buying shoes, what does the color of the box have to do with it?"

"Wow!" Jia Cong clapped his hands, "When buying shoes, it has nothing to do with the color of the box. The important thing is whether it fits the feet first, and then whether you like the style or not. Since you are marrying a wife, the most important thing is whether you can live a good life together. Brother Yang likes this woman or not. What does it have to do with her background? The color of the shoe box is not conspicuous, just change it to another one. As for identity, even if Mrs. Yang really wants to get the identity of a niece of Luzhou Zeng, I can’t use two You can get it in a month, do you believe it?"

Master Zhang was stunned, and said after a while, "If Yang Jiaoxi takes a fancy to that woman, why don't you bother Mr. Jia to help him go with Mr. Huang."

Jia Cong said lazily: "Is it necessary? Mr. Huang is not troublesome, but I am too troublesome."

Master Zhang hurriedly said: "Taking without telling is stealing, why does Yang Jiaoxi bear such a bad reputation."

Jia Cong smirked and said, "Master Zhang, I am the one who encouraged the kings to send troops overseas to rob. My friend, what is it to rob a woman?"

Master Zhang smiled wryly for a moment, and murmured: "Rites are broken and music is broken."

Jia Cong patted him on the shoulder: "Uncle, it was 2000 years ago that the ritual collapsed and the music was broken. If you can't figure it out, just hold back." He took two steps, then suddenly turned around and said, "If you are jealous of Mrs. Yang, why don't you work hard and surpass her."

Mr. Zhang said: "How can everyone have the luck of your sister-in-law Yang?"

Jia Cong said: "Why only mention luck? Isn't her embroidery really skillful?"

Master Zhang said: "There are too many girls and daughter-in-laws with good embroidery skills."

Jia Cong said bluntly: "Who told them not to run away?" He winked and urged in a low voice, "Master Zhang, it is better to persuade Mr. Huang when you have time. Rather than going against the general trend of the world, it is better to follow the trend. I heard that Master Zhang He is also a person with real talent and learning, but he accidentally polluted the paper during the scientific examination. Look at Mr. Dai, his family may not be comparable to other families in 50 years, even the Huang family. Now It's still early, there's still time to catch up with this trip." After speaking, he whistled and walked away with his arms behind his back.