By Jia Xiuzhen

Both Xichun and Baoyu walked away, and Tanchun turned around and smiled bitterly at Li Wan.Li Wan said: "Sit down and drink some water. After a while, sister-in-law Zhen will come over and discuss matters."

Suddenly You Shi came and talked about Jia Lian's going to Tiekan Temple to burn incense and worship ancestors today.When I came back in the evening, there was also a sacrifice at home, and I had to watch it in the Dongfu ancestral hall. After sitting for a while, Youshi hurried to the other end to preside over the situation.

Tanchun sighed: "Everyone is so busy that they wish they could grow two more hands, and there are still troublesome ones." Then he asked, "Lan'er gone too?"

Li Wan nodded: "I know today's ancestor worship, so I rushed back last night."

Tanchun sighed again, but said nothing.

When Jia Mu and Mrs. Wang came back from the palace, they were also exhausted.You Shi came over again, and Li Wan, Tanchun Baochai, and the others reported today's major household affairs one by one, and there were two things that could not make up their minds. They asked Mrs. Wang what she meant, and then they left.

Back in Daoxiang Village, Nanny Yan and Biyue came up to take care of her. Seeing their worried faces, Li Wan smiled and said, "I didn't worry about it that much, but it's just a matter of time. You don't need to worry."

Bi Yue said: "Grandma, why don't you let Suyun come back sooner. Grandma is busy all day now, it's always good to have more people around."

Li Wan said with a smile: "Because I don't stay at home all day, I don't need so many people to wait on me. Even you, I haven't brought you with me for the past two days. Why do I want her to come back again? Nanny Chang was in front of me a few days ago." How much thought was spent on this piece of land, but this time it was taken away without knowing it, how could I feel better. Only Suyun accompanied me, it seemed like I was too worried and needed to be raised, and it was also the nuns who were here with me It should have some weight. If you throw her into Zhuangzi alone, what's the matter? Just wait, after two days, I will let Chang Ping and his wife take care of her, and then Suyun will come back."

When Madam Yan heard that Chang Ping and his wife were going to be transferred to the village, she hesitated and said, "Grandma, in this way, there are really no useful people in this mansion. From now on..."

Li Wan said: "Didn't I say it all last time, when the old man died in Mingshou, several houses will have to be released. Now it seems that no one is willing. Even if we don't say anything, maybe we will be tricked, so we should be more straightforward. You all go now. I am not short of servants. Biyue Suyun and I will stay for two years."

Listening to these words, Madam Yan always felt ominous, but she didn't want to ask further questions, so she just nodded her head in response.

For a while, those who went to worship their ancestors also came back. They first went to see Mrs. Jia Muwang before returning home.Jia Lan entered the door, and was first led by Madam Yan to take a shower and change clothes.As soon as he came out after changing clothes, he heard the voice outside, "Second Miss and Fourth Miss are here."

Jia Lan hurried out to greet her, and sure enough, Yingchun and Xichun came hand in hand. Seeing Jia Lan, she smiled and said, "I'm getting more energetic, I don't know what you all learned in the academy, even people have become different every time."

Jia Lan said with a smile: "Second Aunt means that I read a lot? The so-called 'poetry and book spirit in my stomach', every time I go back to school, the gentlemen teach me two more books, and Second Aunt can see it when I come back. "

Yingchun shook her head: "Even my mouth is much poorer."

When everyone had seen each other, Li Wan asked, "Why don't you see Sister Xing?"

Yingchun said: "Just now the eldest lady sent someone to ask her to go, but she hasn't come back yet."

Li Wan nodded, thinking that Mrs. Xing was also lukewarm towards Xing Xiuyan in the past, but now seeing Xing Xiuyan agreeing to Xue's family, she became close, and she didn't know what she thought.

Xi Chunzao and Jia Lan went to the same place again, and Li Wan coughed and said with a smile: "Si girl, you are still alone. Now that the old lady is back, you are not afraid of Baoyu going." Sue you?"

Xichun turned her head and smiled and said: "I can't wait. I also asked the old lady to look at the current situation in this family - as long as the slaves rely on being favored by the master, what illegal things will not be done? From this point of view, the rules are not good. It's not used to manage people, it was originally used to sell favors. The second elder brother has such a temperament, and it will be a lot of fun when he is in charge of the house."

Yingchun said: "This is not something that happens every day or every day. The second sister-in-law and the others have been housekeepers for a long time, don't they know? You are going to make such a head. We are not here, so why bother?"

Xichun turned her head and said: "You think I'm willing to take care of it? It's not sister Lin, you have to give me a cheap hoof, I don't know where my brain is, and I burn paper money in the garden?! Something happened to us here! It's best Xiao is the second elder brother, who not only covered his head, but also used me as a cover. It was because the hoof was in my name. Naturally, I refused.

If it is said that because this girl belongs to me, then she has committed a crime and should be punished, so I have nothing to say.If it is said that this girl has nothing to do with me, then the second elder brother can protect her as much as he likes, even if he puts her in the house? !But I shouldn't be used as a banner again.That's why I went to the conference hall to let the housekeepers understand what to do, and everyone will be clean in the future. "

Yingchun sighed: "You have such a temper!"

Li Wan also sighed: "If everyone in this mansion thinks like you, this family will be fine. The so-called evils are that these people always mix reason and reason when they do things. Don't say 'the prince broke the law and the people' "Same crime", but "the legal principle is nothing more than human feelings". The same crime is dealt with differently from person to person. In this way, everyone just looks for a high branch to climb, just want to be favored, and it doesn't matter how things are done. Is it. Isn't it a mess?"

Xichun listened and nodded, then smiled and said: "This is what the sister-in-law wants to worry about, but we don't need it. At worst, I will go to practice Taoism with the old man and let them live or die."

Yingchun shook her head and said, "There's nothing to stop me from speaking again, I've said that you are still like this many times."

Xichun laughed and said, "Second sister, you only blame me for not being able to stop me from speaking, but you don't scold me for my bad temper. It can be seen that you think the same as me, but you just don't say anything."

Yingchun glanced at her and ignored her.

Li Wan sighed: "It's too easy for you to think that there are eggs under the overturned nest. Besides, it's not an exaggeration to say that the road in this mansion is in danger. This is the result of Feng girl's exhaustive support. It's not me. Praise her, if it weren't for her, I'm afraid it would be much more difficult now."

Yingchun frowned and said, "'Precarious'? Not so."

Li Wan shook his head and said: "Usually there is only one sentence, 'the less you get in, the more you get out', but you don't really know what it is. This time, as an assistant to the government affairs, you have to do a little bit of work. You can know everything from a glance. I'm not exaggerating. It's true. It's true.

The wife also has a headache, but everything is governed by the rules of the ancestors, and she can't move lightly.He was also worried about the old lady, fearing that the old people would complain and cry in front of the old lady, which would make the old people worry.I had to try my best to maintain a decent face, but my inner bag was almost exhausted.

In the past two years, the situation outside has changed, and so many new families have been established, it is very difficult to lead the ceremony between each family now.Even if you don't add two points in return, at least it should be equal.There's only one that goes up and down, and now it's very difficult to reach that grid.

The other mansion has a large population and layers of servants, if the master at the top wants to make a move, the bottom will follow the rules to get a benefit.In this way, spending 100 taels can only do seven or eight taels of things, isn't it ridiculous?This sounds so ridiculous, but it is done as usual in the mansion every day.If you think about it carefully, are these few things enough to be called "precarious"? "

Xichun said: "Since these are all the rules of the ancestors, why were the ancestors so confused at the time? They set such rules? We can't change them now, but if they felt it was inappropriate at the time, they would naturally be able to change it. Why did they continue to use it like this? "

Li Wan shook his head and said: "You do the math, how many masters and how many slaves were there at that time? How many masters and how many slaves are there now? How much income was there at that time, how much income is now? It is true that less and less money is earned, but more and more money is spent One more thing. The many rules that were set at the beginning were meant to make the slaves follow suit, and secondly, those who followed at that time had all survived the hard times together, so they deserved some benefits.

But from generation to generation, they all regard grace as what they deserve, and lose their duty to be slaves.All of them are only focused on fighting for power and profit, rushing wherever there is benefit, and even the master dares to plot and deceive when they are anxious. How could the ancestors of the past think of today!

The simplest analogy is that there are only two stewards in a big village, and there are seven or eight deacons under him, and Zhuang Ding counts separately.According to the rules of the ancestors, these two stewards will be taken care of by the mansion when they get old, and they will have to arrange a way out for their descendants.This is because these old stewards have worked hard for the mansion all their lives.If they are old and unable to move, the natural mansion will take care of them.They are all used to doing it, so naturally it will be convenient for the boss to inherit his father's business.

But now.A village has three or four levels of slaves, because they are also passed down from generation to generation. It is said that the county magistrate is not as good as the current management, and the rent paid is less than what was set in the past.You must know that the output per mu outside the field has increased by more than half compared to the original one, but here we are doing well. Several places in a year are reported to be either drought or flood.In this way, the master let the slave take the lead.The Zhuangzi took care of them first, and gave some to the master through his fingers.That's it, he still has to take care of his support, and the money for this support has to increase every year!

One piece of Zhuangzi, and all kinds of things bought in the house?What about the library?Not to mention that there are still people who borrow the name of their masters to compete to buy land and bully the market.It is conceivable that the accumulated disadvantages are serious. "

Xichun said: "Since that's the case, it's time to change it. The servants below should keep what they need, and sell what they can't use. The village should also check it out and set rules, every three to five years Change back to the head of the village. Anyway, we are not short of people. If we send a few more people to go out to investigate, we may not be able to control them!"

Jia Lan answered, "Take that effort! According to the law, slaves have no private property. We only send people to search everywhere from top to bottom, and what is swallowed will naturally be spit out. There are those who violate the law. They were all sent to the Yamen for punishment, and the whole family was kicked out. What's not clear about it!"

Yingchun shook her head and said to Li Wan, "I heard people say 'why not eat minced meat', but now I see two more."

Jia Lan said, "Why? That's what the law stipulates."

Yingchun smiled and said: "If everything can be done according to the law, what grievances and sufferings will there be in the world, and what are you calling the Lord Qingtian?!"

When Jia Lan was still about to speak, Xichun stopped him and said, "I didn't talk about it just now, but our family can't do it. The little girls have made mistakes, and Baoyu has to protect them. Let alone the others? Besides, you don't know Xiang Ling? Sister Bao and his brother even killed someone for her, and they are all fine now! It can be seen that we have made it easy."

Jia Lan shook his head and said, "You need to be hard enough to forge iron. The master will be crooked first, and then you will talk about slaves." Needless to say these are useless, it is better to talk about talismans."

Xichun thought it was right, so the two of them dropped their heads and let them go to the table beside them to point out and make gestures.

Yingchun smiled and said to Li Wan: "I know my sister-in-law will not come here to tell me about housework, there must be something else."

Li Wan nodded and said: "You know, I naturally don't like these things. I just thought, since I said 'Where there is no way', it can be seen that there is a way to understand these things. These days, seeing the demolition The wall complements the west wall, the policy is issued from the top, and the countermeasures are responded to from the bottom. Suddenly, I have a feeling for a sentence. I just want to say it to you."

Yingchun hurriedly asked which sentence it was.

Li Wan said: "It's the phrase 'If you don't stand up, you can't do it'. I just said that in the current situation in the mansion, it is really powerless to maintain the rules set in the past. If I didn't put it away first, I'm afraid At that time, it will become a catastrophe. If the wolves who are used to feeding are cut off, there will be no one who will not turn back on his master.

There is also a comparison to use it as a metaphor.However, those who act with a sense of "effort and artificiality" are likely to be difficult to last for a long time.If you don't check your own mind, but take it as a habit, you will plant disasters later.Moreover, those who "enter" and "cross" are both laborious, which is really fatal. "

Yingchun nodded slowly after hearing this and said: "Ordinary people always want to be 'someone who is not themselves', or want to gain more power, or want to increase their appearance. It is really laborious to taste it carefully. It is what my sister-in-law said. In other words, the words 'enterprise' and 'cross'."

After thinking about it, he asked again: "After all, seeking is always the norm. Is there no way to pursue without the word 'enterprise'?"

Li Wan said slowly: "Since it is said that there is 'enterprise', there is also 'chang'. Using the image to describe it, this 'chang' is like a flat ground. If you and I insist on making a high place in a certain place, it is just like piled on it. High hills come. However, since the flat land created by all the effort is to be built as a high place, there is no choice but to have a low-lying place that loses its soil. Therefore, this "high" is achieved by the "low" in the future .”

Yingchun suddenly said: "It's just like the water creates waves, with ups and downs, you can't get out of the water."

Li Wan nodded, and Yingchun said again: "That's right! If this is really going to be successful, the amount of water in it has to be added. The whole water level is really high."

Li Wan said with a smile: "I was about to say that you already understand the meaning. In the end of everything, we still have to return to this reality. If it falls on people, it is still the word 'mind force'. When the mind force is not enough to manage things, Even if you do it reluctantly, it will inevitably still be in vain."

Yingchun thought for a while, and then asked with doubts: "Is this the case for everything?"

Li Wan nodded: "It's the same for everything."