[Red Mansions] The big maid struggles daily

A few days after the sister-in-law in the hall told Zhu Xiu the good news, Uncle Cheng sent someone back and said: "Master's caravan has found out clearly that the soldiers who went to An Nanguo from the capital are the first wave of troops returning to the dynasty. Arriving in Ludi, we will go to Beijing in a few days. The master told my aunt to rest assured that the shopkeeper of our family is very safe, and the shopkeeper sent a letter to say that my uncle is well."

Only after Zhu Xiuwen understood it did he know that the news of the imperial court's great victory was reported to Beijing last month. Everyone in the family knew it, but they couldn't be sure whether Zhan Dong was safe, because she was a month old, and I was afraid that she would worry about it. Order the whole family to hide it.When Fengtai Daying received the list of battalion soldiers who died in battle, Deng Ji searched carefully and made sure that there was no Zhan Dong on it, so he hurriedly sent a letter to Zhan Da, and then the wife of the second room came to tell Zhu Xiu's class teacher about it.

"A total of eleven sons in the family followed Dongzi to the southern border. Three of them died in battle, and one became disabled. The sons are all good. No matter how the court pays for them, our family must have a constitution."

Zhu Xiu went to the front to see Zhan Da.Zhan Da saw that she already knew, besides, Zhan Dong was safe, not to mention Dong Zi's daughter-in-law, even Zhan Da himself let go of a half-suspended old heart, because he told his daughter-in-law about the family affairs.

"What does father think? I look at the old accounts of the family, as well as the accounts of the clan. There are three levels of silver for the family members of the clan who died due to business: the first-class is 20 taels of silver per year, the second-class is 15 taels, Ten taels for the third class. This is very good, but there are no detailed rules on which class to assign, and there is no guarantee that the money will be spent on parents, wives and children."

Zhan Daben was just saying that, after all, the daughter-in-law is the mistress of the family, and since her family is the big house, most of the responsibilities of the clan's wife will fall on her, so she mentioned these things.It didn't mean to ask her to take care of it at this time.

At this moment, I feel that my daughter-in-law is worthy of being a couple with Dongzi, and she often makes surprising remarks out of the blue.

Yin asked: "This old rule was set by your great-grandfather, and it has been followed by the clan for decades. Do you think it's wrong?"

Zhu Xiu said with a smile: "It's not wrong, it's just that it would be better to be more detailed. When I looked through the family records, I saw a family who was expelled from the clan for oppressing the orphans and widows left by their brothers. Taking the money as their own, it was not known by the clan until the sister-in-law suffered from setbacks and found short-sightedness. There are also parents who are partial, hold all the money in their hands, and give it to other children and grandchildren, but call them fatherless The girl in the family didn't even have a dowry... Although the clan elders have dealt with it fairly, it is hard to make up for the sufferings of the family members. Besides, the daughter-in-law is estimating that the things recorded in the clan records were caused by trouble, but Baobuqi still has those who suffer silently."

Zhu Xiu told Chunliu to go back: "Find a flat camphorwood box from the shelf in the study, and take out the paper inside and give it to me."

Fu then told Ming Zhanda: "When I was reading the clan records, I had this idea. I just wanted to find a time to return to your old man Ming."

After a while, Spring Willow returns and presents a stack of papers to Zhu Xiu.

Zhan Da just heard what she said, and he felt it was reasonable, and was thinking about how to discuss with the clan elders.Taking the papers full of words from Aunt Gao, she said with a smile, "What kind of medicine is sold in the gourd?"

It turns out that Zhuxiu listed all the silver-collared Dingkou recorded in the ethnography together.Over the years, a total of 46 households in the Zhan clan have received the stipends. Why they received the stipends and when they started. The names of their parents, wives and children are all written below. I understand clearly.In addition, the number of brothers, nephews and nieces is also simply counted.

Some of these things are scattered and recorded in the family records, and some of them have to be checked in the family tree. It's hard for Dongzi's daughter-in-law to find out patiently and list them so clearly.Zhan Daxian only praised his daughter-in-law for being careful and quick-witted, but when he turned to the last few pages, his face sank.

Aunt Gao and Aunt Hu had been dutifully obeyed a long time ago, but now seeing Zhan Da's expression, they were a little scared, and the two quietly moved into the corner.

Zhan Da didn't have the time to pay attention to these two idlers, so he put down the previous detailed record, only held the last few pages, shook the paper back and forth a few times, and said seriously: "Daughter-in-law Dongzi, this matter is not trivial, are you right?"

Zhu Xiu sat at the bottom and said seriously: "My daughter-in-law is also afraid of making mistakes, so she checked it several times, and wrote down the excerpts from the family history or genealogy on the back of each page for future reference. It must be right!"

Zhan Da threw the paper and said angrily, "Okay, that's great! The sons and daughters shed their blood and died for the clan, and some people are jealous of the few taels of silver they give to their wives and children!"

Zhu Xiu stopped talking. In her opinion, it is more accurate to say that others are greedy for ink than to say that her old parents are partial.In fact, if you think about it, you can understand that at this time, "the parents are here, and the family is not separated", filial piety is a big thing, if someone's old man commits a leftist crime, it will be very difficult for the clan to control.

Those who have made contributions to the clan, lost their lives or were disabled, many of them are seniors and juniors, and there are several brothers and sisters.As a big family, all the money given by the clan was sent directly to his parents.In some families, old men and old women feel sorry for the little flesh and blood left by their sons who have passed away, and they should be treated kindly. The children have inherited their father's legacy, and no one can be picky.But there are sensible people who are confused. Some old people feel that they depend on other children and grandchildren for their support, so they can't help but prefer other houses.

What I am most afraid of is the kind of old people whose hearts are completely crooked, especially those whose sons only have daughters in their houses, they are really soaked in the water of coptis.The favored house only needs to introduce a son to his uncle so that his uncle can receive incense and worship in the ground. If this word comes out, the remaining daughter will be compensated for the rest of her life. Marriage is not for herself Or a widowed mother, on the contrary, they are in a relationship for the future of the cousins.It was said earlier that the person who forced his younger brother and daughter-in-law to death recorded in the genealogy was like this. The long house not only greedy for money, but also trapped the widowed brother-in-law and younger niece to do daily work. What's more, he wanted to marry the younger niece To an old widower who was [-] years older than her and had a grandson in her arms.Her widowed mother found something wrong for this, and that's why the clan intervened in the disturbance.

Although the Changfang family was exiled from the clan, there has been no news from outside for several years. If it is said that the two old people above did not participate, no one would believe it.Just because the seniority of the old man is high, and the old man has not lived for a few years, the family turned a blind eye, unlike them.The clan married the little girl, and the girl also hated the Zhan family. Zhu Xiu remembered what the elder sister-in-law had said, that the girl had lost contact with her mother clan since she got married and never came back.

Zhanda closed his eyes: 46 households were receiving sympathy, with a total of 61 children, including 42 sons and 20 daughters.There are only seven people in Erlang who have entered martial arts, and only 11 people who have entered Zhan's elementary school.Daughters are even worse, only 31 of them died young; of the remaining [-], [-]% or [-]% were married off, and the husband's family is even more strange, and there are even two young ones.

That's all for martial arts, it costs a lot of money.Because most of the descendants of the Zhan family ate in the army, some people often sent their children to martial arts. Like Zhan Dong, he not only studied martial arts, but also worshiped martial arts masters. This also depends on the financial resources of each family.However, the proportion of students entering the elementary school is extremely low. You must know that the Zhan family's elementary school is not for free training. As long as the boys in the clan are willing to learn, they can learn it, just throwing some pen, ink, paper and inkstone.The Zhan family's family school is only for enlightenment. Most ordinary people will send their children and grandchildren to study for two or three years, so that they can know a few words, and they won't even be able to understand a contract when walking outside.

After several generations of ancestors, the Zhan family set up a lot of farmland near the ancestral tombs. This is for sacrifices and supplies, but they will be defeated in the future, because all dynasties and dynasties have the rule that "no ancestral tomb's sacrificial industry will be admitted to the government". , These sacrificial industries will not be copied away, and they are the foundation of the family.The Zhan family's family school is here, and the money and food from the family's field every year can not only provide the family with shirts, set up schools, support orphans and widows, but also take out a sum of money to reward the young men who are motivated.At the end of each year, each household will be given a few quarters of money.

What's more, the clan land of the Zhan family is all tenanted to their own clan members, and the rent they charge is [-]% lower than that of others.Therefore, very few members of the Zhan clan are poor and destitute, and each family has more or less a little bit of family background.

But even if they have a family background, only one-third of the sixty or so boys have entered the clan's elementary school, and the rest have already gone to earn a living.All sons and daughters are like this, let alone daughters.What does this mean? It means that the clan spent hundreds of thousands of silver every year to fatten up the blood-sucking moths, but failed to protect these poor children who lost their parents.

Zhu Xiu pointed to the last one, and said: "Women who marry out, only their husband's name and surname are recorded in the genealogy. The age of the husband, the family background of the husband's family, and whether there is a dowry and how much it is, are all important factors. I asked my sister-in-law about it. It’s just that it was too early, and my sister-in-law hadn’t heard of it. I asked my aunt. Accurate number."

"The two young girls belong to a branch quite far away, and they are sisters of a family. Due to the rules set by the clan, the money will not be given to them after the death of their parents and the marriage of their children. , this old man left long ago, only these two girls lived with their uncles and aunts, so the boss of this family kept the two girls and refused to marry. The elder sister in it was 22, and when the younger sister was 19 years old, Xiu in the clan Genealogy, their family hastily sent the two sisters out of the house. At the beginning, they said that they married their aunt's family, but after a few years, it was revealed that they were sold to rich families as children. Sister-in-law It is said that due to the passage of time, the clan only fined the family for three years not to be able to rent the land in the clan, and not to be able to receive New Year's money..."

"Bastard! Such a black-hearted and vicious person should be expelled from the clan!" Zhan said in a straight-lucky manner, "I don't have to teach the clansman badly!"

Zhu Xiu shook his head, because he said: "Father, I originally wanted to wait for the right time to bring it up. It's just that three people from the clan who followed my husband died and one was injured. If I didn't draw up the detailed regulations earlier, I asked the clan to follow the old rules. Get up, wouldn't it be a side effect. It's also dissatisfying."

Zhan Dao: "There are also mistakes and omissions in this battle report. I have agreed with the elders of the clan that when Dongzi comes back with the ashes of a few sons, he will personally kowtow to report the funeral, and then the clan will take care of his parents and family members. You do It's very good, if it's not for your carefulness, I'm afraid I can't think of it easily..."

As Zhan Da said, he couldn't help being rough.

"In your opinion, how did you set the rules?"

Zhu Xiu saw the question and said: "One is to have people supervise. Every month, every quarter, every year, there are special people in charge of the supervision responsibility, and they must be recorded for future checks. The supervisors must be fair and strict. Three or four The first is mutual restraint, which is rotated every year, so that it can be kept more comprehensive. The second is to specify the rules for the pension and supervision. The pension is divided into two parts, one for his parents and one for his wife. Children. Those who give to their parents can only follow their parents’ wishes, as long as the elderly are not persecuted. But those who give to their wives and children must be supervised: if their wife remarries, the money needs to be supervised by the clan, and it is only used for upbringing For the children, the accounts must be clear, and unreasonable things must be investigated; if the wife wants to keep it, she can also choose whether to deposit the silver in the clan. Our clan has a whole house of accountants. If you want to use it, just ask it now It doesn't take a lot of work to get it from the account room... The third is to make a standard for dividing the money according to the actual situation of each household. If the parents are sick and the children are many, it is not too much for the clan to give more. All branches are treated equally. The fourth is..."

Zhu Xiu said something, and Zhan Da listened very carefully.

At the end, Zhu Xiu said with a smile: "This is my daughter-in-law's idea. It's very crude and superficial. Dad just listened to it. The specific rules need to be discussed with the clan elders. In addition, I think, our family every year We also want to give a sum of money to the orphans, widows, old and young in the clan, but the money is easy to give, but it is difficult for the old and the children to buy urgently needed things, so they are deceived by the merchants outside. Besides, there are many clan members who work as errands in the army It is not uncommon to not be able to stay at home for a few days. Although the place where our clansmen live together is safe, it is also far away from the city. We have to rely on our aunts and sisters-in-law to go to town for half a day to buy and sell household items, which is very uncomfortable. Convenience. Why don’t we take advantage of this time, our family will take out a sum of money to help the family to open a north-south grocery store in the village, selling some needles, cloth, cotton, etc., not for profit, just for benefit Convenience. This business is managed by the clan. As long as the supervision is good and the integrity is honest, even the nearby villages are willing to go. If this is the case, it may not last long. The boys in the clan can practice some social skills if they have the right skills One by one, they went out one by one. They were either simple and honest, or they had a cold face like their own, and they were not good at speaking.

Zhan Da was very pleased, clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Great kindness!"

Zhan Daxin said, the daughter-in-law has a deep-seated heart, and Dongzi married her very well.Not only careful and ingenious, but even more rare is thoughtfulness.

Although the detailed regulations she mentioned earlier are good for the clan, they will inevitably violate the interests of those with crooked intentions; moreover, the supervision method she mentioned is very scary, and it can not only be used on charity, but also in the clan. Everything can be put on.If such a monitoring team is really created, no matter who he is, even the patriarch, he can't easily become a ghost.This method is very good for the clan, but it also weakens the rights of the clan chief and clan elders.Dongzi's daughter-in-law only talked about the supervision of money, and didn't mention other family affairs. , which is her thoughtfulness.

Zhan Da was proud of himself, so he wanted to go outside to discuss with the clan elders.

Seeing her father-in-law's expression, Zhu Xiu said with a smile: "If the clansmen don't dislike the previous preparations of the grocery store, my daughter-in-law has some connections here. On that day, my uncle accompanied me with a merchant ship. Go, it was originally used by my uncle to buy new things from the south, not for business. It’s been almost a year, and I haven’t used it. I just asked to follow my uncle’s caravan. In the central area of ​​the capital, the ship steers and the workers on the boat are very familiar with each other. They know what is produced in various places and where it is cheap and affordable, especially the native cotton cloth from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and cotton from Ludi...they are all commonly used by families. Send someone to go with the workers, and you will know the market inside, and you will not be afraid of being deceived by others when you buy goods."

"When the grocery store is opened, we can set up a pharmacy in the next room and invite two old doctors to attend the consultation. The elders of the clan are all old, and there is no guarantee that there will be a headache. If the doctor is at the door of the house, there is no fear of delay. We can rest assured."

Zhan Da put the paper in his arms, and said repeatedly: "Okay, okay, okay!" The girl followed her uncle, and she would look and change.

Respectfully sending the father-in-law out, Zhu Xiu nodded like the two aunts in the father-in-law's room, and went back while holding Qiu Gui's hand.

At the foot of the platform, there were nuns waiting for them, and they all rushed up, some leading the way, and some guarding on both sides and behind, surrounded by Zhuxiu, walking slowly and leisurely on the corridor in the middle of Zhan's mansion.

In the living room, Aunt Hu watched from a distance, and couldn't help but enviously said: "Look at our grandma, she is really a noble and precious master, how blessed! She is in charge of the house as soon as she enters the house, and the master listens to what she said now. They are all full of praise, and I'm afraid that in a few years, she will be able to be a third in the family. If I have half of her blessing, I would also like to lose ten years of my life!"

After hearing this, Gao sneered, and stabbed: "If you want to do this, not only will your parents love you like a baby, but they will also give you a good brain! But if your parents love you , can promise you to a consumptive ghost? If you have brains, would you say such a thing? Don’t even look at yourself, the black old raven is better than the phoenix, are you worthy of being compared with the big grandma?"

Aunt Hu sneered: "I'm the old black raven, I recognize it! How much better you are than me, let's forget about it, don't laugh at the old turtle, they are all the same people. The people I have confessed to my fate a long time ago are just envious in my heart. Just say it. As for you, you only act gentle and virtuous, and I don’t see you getting it well, so you’re all submissive.”

Aunt Gao spat and went back to her room by herself.Aunt Hu shook her handkerchief, and only followed behind her.The two aunts were terrified of being dealt with, and they stopped thinking about making trouble early.Nowadays, one day is long and two days are short, and it is actually the two of them who spend the most time peeping at each other. Gradually, it has become like this: you laugh at me, and I mock you, but they never turn their backs, just long days to pass the time.

Zhu Xiu walked back, Qiu Gui carefully supported her, and asked softly: "I remember the detailed instructions on a few pieces of paper that grandma sorted out that day, why don't you show it to the master?"

Zhu Xiu patted her hand that was afraid of her, and said with a smile: "Do you still remember?"

Qiu Gui hurriedly said: "Why don't you remember, grandma spent half a month making this, so I wonder."

Zhu Xiu said with a smile: "The ones for dad are all recorded in the family records or genealogy. I just copied them in one place and summed them up. It doesn't matter if you take them out. But I It doesn’t matter how you write or alter your thoughts in our house, but it’s not easy to show them to the clan. I’m a daughter-in-law of the younger generation, who do the clan elders think I am? My father-in-law asked me, and I replied, which is justified. Well, saying a few words verbally and writing the Eight Classics are two different things. Silly girl."

In fact, according to Zhu Xiu's thinking, she wanted to mention that a portion of the shirt bank would be given to widowed women, but after much thought, she held back.At this time, it is different from later generations. In later generations, immediate family members also include people who have entered into a husband-wife relationship, but at present, immediate family members refer to blood relatives.In the eyes of many people, the daughter-in-law who supports the old woman and bears children is an outsider.

Zhu Xiu thought to herself, when she said, 'I can let his wife choose whether to keep the silver in the clan', the father-in-law must have realized what he meant, and father-in-law Yi has a chivalrous temperament, so he should agree.After all, this era is too harsh on women. If you don't mention this, then "dividing the money into two parts, one for his parents and one for his wife and children" is useless at all.As long as the family is not separated, the small family should have no selfish property. Even if the money is sent to the orphans and widows, as long as the parents-in-law say something, they still have to hand over the original amount.But with this article, it means that the clan agrees that these special small families have their own private property, which was originally bought by their husbands and fathers with their lives, and it should be so.

"I'm afraid that if this method comes out, the women and children of the whole family will be grateful to our family." Qiu Gui laughed.

Chunliu raised his eyebrows, raised his face and said, "Not only the family members, but also the young and old, are also grateful. The men of the entire clan, those who serve as soldiers in the big camps in the suburbs of Beijing, and those who work as servants in the yamen, are also grateful. There are Wucheng soldiers and Northwest Army soldiers, I don’t know how many, they are all desperate and brave errands, who can keep their lives safe. If this method is carried out, even if they die, parents, wives and children will not worry about being bullied. No worries at all, who wouldn't want to."

Qiugui frowned and stared at her to wink, but Chunliu was puzzled and said, "Why are you acting so weird?"

Qiugui drooped her eyebrows and lamented Chunliu's mindless behavior from time to time, it was hopeless.

The eyebrows and lawsuits between the two of them made Zhu Xiu happy, because she said to Qiu Gui: "It's okay. I believe in your uncle's ability."

Only then did Chun Liu come to her senses, and hurriedly spat and slapped her mouth, and said with a smile, "I'm talking nonsense!"

"Bodhisattva, the believer is talking nonsense again, punishing the believer not to eat meat for a month!"

Qiu Gui also said: "Uncle and grandma are safe forever!"

Zhu Xiu just talked about Xin Zhandong's ability, and within a few days he slapped him.

On the eleventh, it snowed lightly.The red plum blossoms in the main courtyard of Zhan Mansion are extremely beautiful.

Zhu Xiu sat by the glass window, looked at the red plums in the snow, and said to Chunliu and Qiugui: "The snow will stop in a while, let's go and pick some red plums to put in the vase."

Chunliu and Qiugui looked at each other, looked at her plump belly with bitter faces, and made up their minds not to ask grandma to leave the room for half a step today.But because it was rare to see Zhu Xiu so interested, she didn't persuade her, but she secretly prayed to the gods in her heart that the snow would not stop. It would be even better if it fell more heavily.

Perhaps the sincerity of the two girls moved the heavens. After Zhu Xiu waited for half an hour, the snow not only didn't stop, but it got bigger and bigger.Zhu Xiu looked up at the sky, it was fluttering like goose feathers, it reminded her of the day she passed the door, when she got on the sedan chair, the snow was extremely soft and light, but when she got off the sedan chair, it turned into heavy snow.

Just as she was in a trance, a voice suddenly came from outside the yard, and Zhu Xiu saw a familiar yet unfamiliar figure of Ang Zang walking in the heavy snow.