Old things in the Red Chamber

From the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month to the end of the [-]th day of the first lunar month, there is nearly a month in between, and everyone uses it to celebrate the New Year.

During this period of time, many people went to the streets to pay New Year's greetings and visit relatives, which was like a national movement.

As a married person, Jia Nan will inevitably visit her father-in-law's house this year.Because of his young age, his father-in-law didn't dare to let him drink. He stayed at his father-in-law's house all morning, and it was almost afternoon, so his father-in-law sent someone to take him home.

Recently, the news that Jia Gu is going to be promoted to Duke has spread in the court. Many people know that he is the emperor's confidant minister, and they treat their family with courtesy.

On the way home, Jia Nan's carriage encountered a street that was completely blocked.The half-aged children were very curious about what happened on that street, so they sent a person to the street to ask the yamen servants to see what happened.

The street worker on the side of the road heard the inquiry from the young master of the Hou Mansion, and immediately ran over.

"Returning to you, this is a slave in the prisoner's house."

Jia Nan also knew that because some people were involved in the rebellion recently, at least more than 50 princes and ministers were arrested. It is hard to say what the fate of their families will be, but the servants were all sold in advance.

"The people who are selling today are the servants of the Duke of Xianrong."

The head of the yamen servant immediately slapped himself after he finished speaking. He was so patronizing to please the nobleman, but he forgot that the nobleman had some connections with the Rongguo government. Speaking at this time made the nobleman feel uncomfortable, and he would have to find his own bad luck .

Jia Nan wouldn't argue with a yamen servant on this matter.And they all said that their family had a relationship with the Rongguo Mansion, but Jia Nan had never had any contact with the Rongguo Mansion since he was born.Naturally, they will not have feelings for them.

"Why, can't it be sold out after a day of selling?"

Seeing that Jia Nan didn't seem to be angry, the head of the yamen servant immediately felt relieved, and explained the matter to Jia Nan with more effort.

"Other families have few servants, and they will be sold out in one day, but the government of Xianrong has a large number of servants, and there are more than 1 servants in total. If it goes well, it will take five or six days to sell, but now It looks like it will take half a month to sell all these people."

"What is this for?"

"Because someone drove up the price, many people gathered here to buy some people, so there are more people bidding, and the sale will be slower."

"Could it be that there are more beautiful maids in this group of people?"

"There are indeed many beautiful maids, and some of these maids can read and write well, and they are well-educated. Although they can sell for a good price, they are not the ones whose prices were raised. The ones whose prices were raised are theirs. Those deputy masters in charge inside."

Jia Nan thought for a while, "Does someone they know buy them out?" As a result of the sale, collect some money to buy the relatives and tear up their contracts of sale, and the relatives will be good citizens in the future.

The head of the yamen servants shook his head, "I don't know, it's not because someone wants to save them from fire and water, so they bought them. The people who bought them were the people they had oppressed."

The head of the yamen service team pointed and introduced to Jia Nan. "Young master, look over there. There are four or five shopkeepers standing there. They are all engaged in the antique business. Among the slaves who were sold, there is a man named Zhou Rui. I heard that he has a son-in-law who specializes in antiques. In business, I didn’t sell any good items, and most of what I sold were fakes. Their business has always tested their eyesight. If they don’t have that kind of eyesight, they can’t complain to anyone when they buy a fake. But this person who specializes in counterfeit goods has broken the rules in their industry. I heard that he used a fake Shang dynasty tripod to deceive a southern merchant. The merchant was old, and after knowing it was a fake I couldn't come up, and I was so angry. The son of the merchant wanted to settle accounts with Jia Rui's son-in-law, but several antique dealers were involved, and there was a long lawsuit. The big guys each paid 4000 taels of silver, Only then did this incident come to light, but his son-in-law didn't move a single hair, and he walked sideways in Qipan Street from then on."

The yamen servant saw that Jia Nan listened with gusto, so he explained with more effort.

"Master, if this is the only thing, these shopkeepers will not bid with others. After all, they are all in the same business, and they don't see each other. The purpose of the big guys is the same, to buy people back. If you vent your anger, whoever vents his anger is venting his anger. There is no point in making the big guy unhappy. But you have to know that the disgusting things that this surnamed Zhou has done are not only to clear up the relationship for his son-in-law, but also to occupy good land and oppress the people. The surname Zhou used to be in charge of rent collection in their mansion. Those who planted their fields were all poor people. In the years when God did not reward food, how could there be any surplus food in the family to pay rent? Zhou is not a good person. He forces people to sell their sons and daughters to pay the rent. If there are no children in the family to sell, he will take other people's mothers. There are too many sons, God can't see it, let him become an extinct ghost. There are no descendants to sacrifice, and he can't eat incense."

The head of the yamen service team was talking in high spirits, when a group of officers and soldiers squeezed in.

They picked up Zhou Rui from the mouth of the head of the yamen servants and took them away. The onlookers here shouted loudly, asking the officers and soldiers to give a reason.After all, the law does not blame the crowd, and those who yell are standing in the crowd, and the officers and soldiers have no time to find out those who obstruct official duties one by one.

A middle-aged man leading the team among the officers and soldiers cupped his fists towards the surrounding crowd, "Men and gentlemen, you heard clearly, this man still has a case on his back, and he is not allowed to sell it until the case is closed."

The people around shouted and asked them what crime Zhou Rui had committed and the case was not clear yet, but the officers and soldiers had mounted their horses and escorted Zhou Rui away.

The yamen servant looked at Zhou Rui's back, and spat fiercely, "God still has eyes. Some things are not reported, but the time has not come. To tell you the truth, people like us wanted to Going through the door of their house, you don’t even look down on their door, let alone their housekeeper. Every time you come to the yamen to ask the master for something, you don’t treat us as human beings at all. Now that the feng shui has changed, it really is retribution.”

The officers in charge of sales pushed another middle-aged man, made him kneel down on the stage, and shouted at the people around him, "This man used to be a accountant, he can make calculations, no, he can make calculations. Who are you?" If the family lacks someone who can settle accounts, you can buy this person and ask for six taels of silver."

People around shook their heads one after another, and some people said loudly, "I heard that Jia's accountant is especially good at stealing money and making false accounts. Look at him who only spends a dozen taels of silver a year as an accountant, but He has raised three concubines, raised eight children, and has seven or eight servants in the house to take care of him. Who would dare to have such a tent?"

The people around clapped their hands and applauded. Seeing that this person was hard to sell today, the guards in charge of the sale immediately drove out the onlookers.

Jia Nan saw that it was getting late, and asked someone to give the yamen servant who spoke just now a few taels of silver for wine, and sent the servants in the house to drive home quickly.

It was almost dark when he came home, and his mother sent someone to look at the door several times. When Jia Nan went back, his mother still complained to him, "Why did you come back at this time? Didn't you drink at your father-in-law's house again?" , How many times have I told you? What kind of wine do you drink when you are only a little old? "

After crackling, he was not allowed to say anything and pulled him to the front. He didn't smell any alcohol on him, and knew that he had wronged his son. Angrily said to his son, "Don't stand here with me, go to say hello to your grandparents, and come back after eating with them."

Jia Gu saw his grandson in the study, pointed to a small stool next to him and asked him to sit down, "Why did you come back so late, I heard that the banquet at your father-in-law's house ended early, where are you running to play?" gone?"

"I didn't run around to play, but when I came back, I saw the slaves of Rong Guogong's family selling them on the street, and just watched them for a while."

When Jia Gu heard about it, he threw the book he was reading on the table, "I also know about this. The guards who followed your great-grandfather when he was young are now either old or dead. Those who have worked hard for their family, I have also received favors from some of them when I was young, so I sent someone to buy them and their family and children early, and let them go to the Zhuangzi outside the city to resettle. You also remember Live, those who go through life and death for our family should be respected the most, and they should not be chilled at any time. As for the servants who serve you, they should obey your orders, and you can't just because they have been flattering you for a long time. It tends to make them forget the real hero."

Jia Nan stood up quickly, and after listening to his grandfather's teachings, he honestly promised to remember it.

In comparison, Jia Gu only spent a little money to buy those old people.Because these old people have not been reused by the master's family these years, they have not done anything harmful to the sky, and they don't spend much money, so they are easier to settle.

Lin Daiyu spent more money here. She first bought Jia Tanchun and Jia Huan's biological mother, Aunt Zhao. Regardless of having two children, as long as she didn't get the legal document from the government to be a concubine, Aunt Zhao In fact, she is still a servant of the Jia family, so she cannot be counted as a female relative when she is sold.

He also bought her because of Jia Tanchun's face.In addition to Aunt Zhao, the maids who served the old lady were also bought.The maids in the old lady's yard were priced at a high price, and they were very popular in comparison. It was because Lin Daiyu relied on Gu Yun's relationship to get them all rounded up that she was able to buy them all.But there was a lot of money to be spent. After buying them, I tidied up these maids and sent them all to the old lady. I hope that the people who served her in the past can give the old lady some comfort.

The servants of Jia's family have been selling for three days. In the past three days, the ones that are easy to sell have already been sold out, and the ones that are not easy to sell have been kept in their hands.

It even happened that someone turned around and beat the servants who had just been bought until they were covered in blood. It looked miserable, although they still breathed a sigh of relief, everyone who saw them knew that these servants would have a hard time in the future.

For a while, the prominent servants in various mansions in the capital encouraged their masters to go out and offer incense. They also took this opportunity to pray in front of the Buddha, hoping that such a tragedy would not happen to them.

During the three-day sale, Yuanyang's brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece were acquired by Jia Lian and his wife.