Zhang Yun's ancient life

Sun Juren can't remember what he said, but Xu Juren remembers it verbatim.

For the bright future in his mind, Xu Juren really went all out this time. After he returned home with the caravan, he began to rummage through his property.

But their foundation is really not ordinary, otherwise they would not marry such a two-bedroom daughter-in-law for money. After Xu Juren came to clean up the house, he even added the house and the land plus the family savings, and it was full of money. Less than 50 taels.

Among them, the house and land still accounted for the bulk, and the living money in their hands was not even a tael of silver.

After Xu Juren counted his family's property, he went to count the dowries of his daughters-in-law. He knew that it was impossible for him to get any letter of approval from the two women, so he didn't go to their house, but He went to Mrs. Xu's room and asked her to bring out the dowry list of Guan Shi and Liao Shi.

Mrs. Xu's health is getting worse and worse. She was already sick and had no money to take medicine, so she had to suffer. After hearing about her son's failure, her spirit became even more listless, and she slumped on the bed all day long. , not even out the door.

When she saw her son rushing in, she didn't even greet her, and asked her to give him the dowry list that the daughters-in-law sent when they made their love. Not only was she very puzzled, she asked, "My son, are you in such a hurry?" What are you going to do?"

Xu Juren heard the words and replied: "Mother and son met a very capable brother in the capital this time. He promised to help his son. As long as he spends 3000 taels, his son will be able to become a high-ranking official. What a rare thing for my mother." This is an opportunity for you, hurry up and give me their dowry list, and ask me to calculate how much is left."

After all, Mrs. Xu has seen the market for more than ten years than his son. After hearing Xu Juren's words, she was skeptical and said to him: "My son, you have only known him for a few days. Why should someone who is neither relatives nor old? Help you, but we lived together for a few days and said a few words, do you know the character and family background of that person, don't believe what others say, and be careful of their ways."

However, Xu Juren's head is now filled with the beautiful blueprint he drew, and he can still listen to other people's opinions. Xu Juren's mother's earnest persuasion, Xu Juren didn't hear it, and saw that his mother refused to come up with it. He got a little impatient with the dowry list of his daughters-in-law, and got up to find it himself.

Mrs. Xu saw her son tossing around in her room, but she was powerless to stop her. After several consecutive blows, she no longer had the strength to get up by herself. She could only watch helplessly as her son rummaged through the dowry lists Come out and walk away with them.

Not to mention, the two wives and concubines married by Xu Juren really had a lot of dowries, at least in Qingshi Town, they can be regarded as upper-class families.

Needless to say, Guan Rong, if something like that happened, if he didn't pay a generous dowry, how could Guan Rong get married.According to the tradition of their family, when a girl born on the first day gets married, she will be given a dowry of 500 taels. The second aunt Guan is afraid that her daughter will lose money, so she stuffed another 200 taels of silver notes into the bottom of the box for her.Before Mrs. Guan passed away, she was also given some land, and together with other relatives in the clan to give her dowry, the dowry of Guan's dowry was calculated, and the silver bills could be converted to more than 1000 taels of silver.

And although Liao's family is just a merchant's family, and they don't do any big business, but the only daughter in their family is Liao, and the parents and brothers above love her, fearing that she will suffer if she marries into a powerful husband's family. Putting all their efforts into adding a dowry to her, the family emptied most of their property, and got her a dowry of 1500 taels before she entered the salt merchant's husband's house.

Later, Ms. Liao remarried and became the second wife of the Xu family. It stands to reason that the second wife can be regarded as a concubine. A concubine can't overwhelm the wife of the main house, and the Liao family didn't dare to offend the Guan family, so they gave Miss Liao 1000 taels to accompany Guan Rong's dowry.

Holding these two dowry lists, Xu Juren's hands trembled. These two unvirtuous wives cried poorly at home every day. The refusal to do so caused him to be in such a mess in order to raise money that he failed the exam because he didn't care about his studies. If it weren't for them, why would he have ended up where he is today.

Furious, Xu Juren came to Guan Rong's house and kicked open the door.

Inside the house, Guan Rong was secretly eating the soy pork knuckles she had just bought from the market outside. Now that the Xu family lacked the support of her dowry, there was no meat in the food for a month. Guan Rong is now a money bag Cover tightly, not a single big word, Ms. Liao also followed suit, so life of the Xu family is really difficult now.

But after all, Guan Rong is used to the young lady's life, and she will die if she doesn't see meat for three days, so he often finds excuses to sneak out, go to the market to buy what he wants to eat, and hide in his Eat secretly in the house.

It was the same this time. She used the excuse of the old lady to go out to buy medicine, and went to the deli to buy her favorite sauced elbow. When she got back to the house, before she had time to eat it, she asked Xu Juren. I bumped into one.

Xu Juren was already full of anger, but just happened to encounter Guan Rong stealing his mouth, and immediately exploded, stepped forward and kicked the table over, pointed at Guan Rong and scolded sharply: "Good you Guan, you Didn’t it mean that you have no money, the old lady is so sick, it’s like killing you to take a few good medicines, how do you have money to buy these things secretly now?”

Guan Rong was caught cheating by her husband, and she was still very guilty, but when she saw that Xu Juren dared to attack her, she immediately stopped doing it, and shouted with her hips on her hips: "Stop talking to my old lady here, what's wrong with me?" , Didn’t I hire a doctor for the old witch when she was sick? Didn’t I pay for medicine? If it weren’t for me, grass would already be growing on the old woman’s grave, but you are the son, what have you been doing? Face to teach me."

Xu Juren's lungs were about to explode when he heard this, and he raised his fist and punched Guan Rong.

Guan Rong wasn't a vegetarian either, her tough temper was hereditary, seeing that Xu Juren dared to hit him, she immediately fought back, and the two of them started fighting in the room.

Even if Xu Juren was a man, he was a scholar after all, he couldn't carry a load on his shoulders and couldn't carry a basket in his hands.

In the end, Xu Juren's physical strength prevailed, and he found an opportunity to press Guan Rong to the ground and punch him. Guan Rong was not to be outdone, and scratched Xu Juren's face with more than a dozen blood marks.

The two quarreled for a while, but they were exhausted. Xu Juren looked at Guan Rong who was lying on the ground and said, "You bitch, this time is a lesson, so that you know how to be filial to your parents-in-law."

Then he took out Guan Rong's dowry list and said to Guan Rong: "You always tell us that you have no money, so what is this? I don't care about those things with you anymore, now your master If I need money, quickly give it to me."

Guan Rong looked up and saw that it was her dowry list, so she sneered and said, "Are you blind, don't you see that the list is full of fields, furniture, and living utensils? There is money there gone?"

After hearing the words, Xu Juren replied: "Don't bother me, don't all the fields have title deeds, and the jewelry and cloth written on it are all money if you take them out. I think you just don't want to give them out. You take out the money, the master is going to do business this time, and when it is done, I will be an official, then you will also be the wife of an official, don’t you think about it every day.”

Guan Rong heard the words and said: "It's just you, what's the business, other people's homes are full of men earning money and women spending money, it's good to come to you, you are thinking about your wife's dowry all day long, you are a man, and you still have to lie Me, when I don't know you, you are not developed yet, you dare to treat me like this. If you really develop one day, you will be the first to leave me behind. Believe you, I might as well believe in ghosts. "

Xu Juren became even angrier when he heard the words, and kicked Guan Rong. Guan Rong was crying for his father and mother. He spat and cursed, "Unlucky."

Then he turned and left her house.

With reticular lines on his face, Xu Juren came to Ms. Liao's room again.

In fact, Xu Juren doesn't like Ms. Liao very much in his heart. It's nothing, because this lady is ugly, has a bad temper, and likes to make some petty tempers. Every time he gets along with her, Xu Juren always feels that he is facing something. Another Guan Rong.

When Ms. Liao saw Xu Juren coming in with disheveled hair, she knew that he came from Guan Rong, because she was so familiar with the lines on Xu Juren's face. These appear on the face and body of the

Xu Juren entered her house without any other nonsense, waving the dowry list in his hand, just one theme, the master wants to be an official and needs money.

Ms. Liao rolled her eyes when she heard the words, and said, "My concubine is willing to use the money if the master wants to use it. I just don't know about this matter. What is the old lady and grandma's idea?"

Xu Juren gritted his teeth with livid face and said, "You don't have to worry about these things, you just say whether you will pay or not."

Ms. Liao still had some thoughts, she didn't say whether she was willing or not, she just said back: "The master also saw that the concubine's dowry is some dead things, and there is no cash. These things were prepared by my father and brother for my concubine. Yes, even if you want to sell it, you have to let the concubine's parents know, otherwise if someone asks about such a big matter, we won't be able to explain it to my natal family."

Xu Juren thought about it after hearing the words, and thought it was true. The dowry of a girl should always be known to her family. Anyway, if she doesn’t say it, the land in the Liao’s dowry is also near the town. When the time comes, the owner will change. I can't hide it from the past, instead of letting people come to ask, it's better to speak out on my own initiative, so that there is room for loopbacks.

Thinking of this, he said to Mrs. Liao: "Then you go back to your mother's house today, tell your parents about me, and ask them to help me collect the rest of the money. I will only take you to the post."

Mrs. Liao went back as she said, and went to her natal family to talk about the matter. Unexpectedly, her natal family was against it collectively. They naturally agreed with Xu Juren's wanting to become an official, but why should their family give the money, isn't it? Is there a main house? The Guan family's wealth is no less than theirs. Their daughter is only a second house. If the serious Yue family doesn't give it to her, they won't even give it to her.

So Liao's father said to her: "My daughter, don't be stupid. This dowry is the last support of a woman. We have all seen your man's current form and demeanor. It is a turn of events. People, it's also my fault that I was in a hurry to marry you, and I found such a family for you without careful inquiry, you have to be careful, don't be deceived by others."

Liao's mother heard from the side and said: "But now our daughter is in their house. If he is not allowed, he will lose his temper. The suffering client is our daughter. Besides, it is a good thing to be an official. In the future Let’s talk about it, our faces are also bright.”

Master Liao thought for a while after hearing the words, and went back to the house to take out a 200 silver note for Miss Liao and handed it to her, "That's all, if there is more, don't give it to him anymore."

Ms. Liao returned to Xu's house, gave 200 taels of silver to Xu Juren, and kept her father's words firmly in mind, that was nothing more than that, Xu Juren used all methods, Guan Rong and Miss Liao were the same No words came out.

Helpless, Xu Juren went out to look for others again, but those people who usually called him brothers and sisters, when they heard that he came to borrow money, either immediately started talking about him, or simply found an excuse to leave It's time to ask Xu Juren to know for a while what a friend is a friend.

Seeing that the time was passing day by day, and the money for running an official was not even a fraction, Xu Juren was about to lose all hope, and at this moment, someone came to lend him money.

It was none other than the Gao family in the county who came to the door. In the earlier turbulent years, the Gao family was the "beard" in the mountains, and they were bandits in the common people's mouth.Later, when the Yong Dynasty came into power and the politics became stable, these 'beards' couldn't do it anymore, so they accepted the recruitment and went down the mountain to become civilians.

But the members of the Gao family are used to big fish and meat, and they can live the lives of ordinary people there. They have no other skills, so they went to the yamen to set up a sign and opened a casino.

If there is a casino, borrowing is indispensable. Slowly, the Gao family used this casino to lend usury.

It is said that the Great Yong Dynasty explicitly prohibited usury, but the Gao family still has brains, knowing who can afford to provoke, and who must not be provoked. The annual salary for the yamen is also sufficient, so until now , They are still alive and well in Li County.

This time when they heard that Xu Juren wanted to make up for the official position, their family took the initiative to come to the door. There was no other reason, just want to invest, if it succeeds, it will be a huge profit, even if it fails, it’s okay, borrow money, Always have to pay.

But before they borrowed it, they told Xu Juren that the money had interest, and it was up to Xu Juren whether to borrow it or not.

Xu Juren has been struggling since he heard the one-tenth of the monthly interest rate. Looking at the bank note delivered in front of him, his body was trembling, but he finally signed the IOU.

He wants to be an official, but he still has no money. As long as he becomes an official, everything will be solved.

On the day when the IOU was signed, Xu Juren took the bank note to Jinzhou. Now he has money every day, and he can't afford to delay for a moment.

When Sun Juren, not Master Sun, saw Xu Juren, he couldn't recognize him. One was that Xu Juren had changed too much these days, and the other was that he didn't have much impression of him in his heart.

After seeing Mr. Sun, Xu Juren gave him all the 3000 taels of banknotes and asked him to help him replace him.

Director Sun was very surprised when he received the banknote. He didn't expect that Xu Juren could really raise enough money, but he still took the money. Anyway, it's nothing. Faster is better, and those who have no money are slower to make up and the position is worse. After all, there is always room.

But in order not to be suspected by Xu Juren, he still took out some money to give Xu Juren access, so that his position could be decided earlier, and he made a posture of going out early and returning late to confuse Xu Juren.

However, the money that was thrown away was still useful. Xu Juren's position was also approved within a few days.

After receiving the news, Xu Juren was so excited that tears filled his eyes. After thanking Mr. Sun for his great help, he hurried back to Qingshi Town to convey the good news.

Hearing that her son was going to be an official, Mrs. Xu recovered from her illness immediately, and she wanted to live with her daughter-in-law to pack up her things so that she could follow her son to the office and become an old lady in the official family.

Xu Juren was about to go out to become an official, and everyone who knew about it sent congratulatory gifts to celebrate. Xu Juren looked at the pile of things in the yard, and his heart was full. He became an official, and these people looked up to him Yes, this is the power of power, the decision made at the beginning was really right.

When their family was about to set off to take office, something happened again. Guan Rong had to follow her life and death, and no one in the Xu family wanted to see her. Mrs. Xu raised her head and said to her arrogantly : "My son still keeps you up to now, just to save some face for you in the face of your old man. You don't take a piss to see what you are, and you are worthy of following my son. You should die of this heart."

Then she looked back at Mrs. Liao. To be honest, she is also very dissatisfied with this daughter-in-law now. Without any knowledge, she knew that she would fight around with that Mrs. Guan, not to support her family, not to buy medicine for her, and not to care about her son's future. It's not that the two of them still need someone to serve and take care of them, she doesn't even want to take this one with them.

So she beat and beat and said to Mr. Liao: "Don't be complacent, I took you because you gave me the travel expenses when my son ran for the official. Be careful, it's a good life." The waiter, otherwise you will not be able to eat and walk around."

After finishing speaking, Guan Rong, who was still messing around at the door, took a step forward and climbed into the carriage, and followed her son to his post.