Old things in the Red Chamber

Carried by his father, Jia Cong respectfully kowtowed to a middle-aged man to offer tea, presented Shuxiu, and worshiped the portrait of Confucius. He has been a child since then.

The children of Rongguo Mansion go to the family school to study, and there are meals and snacks every day, and a few taels of money can be taken every month, and the relatives are also stuffed in, more for the purpose of mixing some money so that they can earn money every month. There is enough food every day, and there is only one teacher, who is old, weak, and lack of energy. No matter how old children are, they are mixed together to teach, and the ethnology is full of smog all day long.

Jia Cong went to a private school, not to mention meals and snacks. If you can't memorize books, you have to beat your palms. The students are even more devoted to reading. It was nothing more than sleeping in class.

When Jia Cong and a group of children celebrated Jia She's birthday in the mansion on the day of Jia She's birthday in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, when talking about their respective experiences, Jia Cong deeply felt that his life was in dire straits.However, his nurse understands the truth, and Jia Cong can't feel disgusted when she talks about listening to her husband's teachings and studying hard every day.

It is the custom of the Rongguo Mansion to set up wine when there is something to do, and there is a lot of theater and wine every month, and a few days before and after Jia She's birthday, there is also a big feast.Jia's sons and nephews came forward to toast.

Jia She's birthday was also Jia Gu's birthday, because Jia She was the eldest, Jia Yingchun returned to Rongguo Mansion early, and even Lin Daiyu, who was in Xiaozhong, sent someone to bring her a birthday present.Jia Gu sent his son to give Jia She a scroll of long paintings.Jia Xun just came back from outside the pass. He went to the racecourse outside the pass to count the horses in June. At the same time, because the racecourse raised military horses, he had to watch the poor horses and good horses separate into groups. He knew the military horses sent to the Northland this year. The poor horses in the army's fields were allocated in advance.He returned to Kyoto just before his father's birthday, and he was thin and dark.After toasting in front of Jia Amnesty, Shi Taijun in the backyard wanted to see his grandson repeatedly, so Jia Xuan had no choice but to go to Shi Taijun's main room.

Jia Amnesty gave Jia Gu a good knife, but he didn't plan to send his son over there, and told the servant to take it with him when Uncle Huixuan left.It was quite impolite to do so, Jia Amnesty looked around at Jia Lian who was drinking and Jia Cong who was eating vegetables, and sent the servants to hold the gift box, and handed it directly to Jia Xuan later.

Jia Zheng's relatives persuaded Jia Amnesty to send Jia Lian to give gifts, "Second Master Hegailian came forward, and the Marquis sent the eldest son over there, so we should also be the eldest son to give gifts here."

Jia Amnesty was half drunk, squinted his eyes, looked at Jia Lian, but didn't answer.Jia Lian secretly cheered herself up, and at the same time felt a little bit driven out, "Son..."

Jia She yawned and fell asleep at the banquet.

Jia Cong stood up and said to Jia Lian, "How about my brother go instead of my brother?"

Jia Lian squinted his eyes, his concubine looked down on his concubine, and he also knew that Jia Cong was favored by Jia She recently, Wang Xifeng complained several times in front of him, saying that Jia Cong found other husbands, and his sister-in-law came to inquire several times, wanting Jia Lan also went to study together.

Mrs. Wang also can't see Jia Cong's rise to the top, especially this kid, rain or shine, makes Baoyu fish for three days and spend two days drying the net. Recently, the eyes of his wet nurse are all with knives.

However, Jia Cong was young, and wanted to share the worries of his father and brother, but he didn't know that he had long been taboo, and the meaning of Jia Lian's visit was not only to give his father a birthday gift, but also to bow to the Zhongwuhou's mansion.At Lin Hai's funeral, he and Jia Xun faced each other with swordsmen. Now Jia Xun met him on the road and didn't talk to him. Today, when he came to celebrate his birthday at the mansion, the men in the courtyard only talked to Jia She, and the others ignored what they said. It turned out that Jia Xuan was more and more important, and the status of Jia Gu and his son became more and more stable. Jia Gu had already emptied Prince Teng, and he was no longer an ordinary lieutenant. To put it mildly, among the four major families, the Jia family is once again the leader. It was Jia Gu who was willing to admit that he belonged to the lineage of the Jia family of Rongguo Mansion, and was willing to be of one mind with Rongguo Mansion. To put it bluntly, the current emperor's power is full-fledged, and even if the Supreme Emperor comes out again, it cannot be cut off.The Rongguo Mansion showed some friendly intentions.

The first step is to make Jia Lian bow his head and make amends.

Jia Cong doesn't understand the twists and turns between adults.Jia Xun, who will get married in a few months, understands.

Shi Taijun was still very enthusiastic, and pulled Jia Yu, "I lost so much weight. I haven't seen you gain weight since you returned to the capital last year. I heard from your mother-in-law that you made up for it last month. Why do you look so thin? I was thin last year." Before Jia Xun could speak, "Yuanyang, go tell the kitchen to cook a bowl of ginseng soup and make it up for Xun'er." He took Jia Xun's hand again, "Don't leave today, Having a meal with the old lady, I must let you eat more."

Jia Huan didn't stop the mandarin duck, and said goodbye to Shi Taijun with a smile, "Today is my father's birthday, I have to go to serve him, besides, there are many birthday guests in our house today, and my two uncles are even more so." Hurrying on the road, I will arrive in the morning, I have to support it, it makes no sense that today is a good day for father, and I have to make father work hard."

Standing up and praying again and again, I was determined not to stay.

Shi Taijun couldn't keep it. August was Shi Taijun's birthday. Shi Taijun forced Jia Xun to drink on her birthday before letting him go home.

Not to mention the men in the outer courtyard of Zhongwuhou Mansion, but the place where the female guests are received in the backyard. Mrs. Tong led Lin Daiyu to meet the ladies and then sent her back to the courtyard. She is still keeping her filial piety. It's wrong to sit at a banquet.

Accompanying Mrs. Tong today are a few girls from the Northland, Mrs. Tong's nieces and daughters.Everyone is heroic and generous, drinking boldly, without the awkward appearance of the girls in Kyoto.When she smiles, she shows her teeth, her eyebrows are like crescent moons, she is very beautiful, and she wears braids on her head, with colorful ribbons woven in and decorated with bells and gold beads. Children are even different.

After the banquet was over, several wives asked Mrs. Tong if these girls were engaged?Their reason is generally "seeing that they are healthy..." The implication is that they are good at giving birth.There are quite a lot of inquiries about concubines, and most of them are for concubines. After all, the girls in the Northland are different from the mainstream in Kyoto. These wives will not arrange such regular wives for their concubines. Otherwise, Mrs. Tong will not look good.

Mrs. Tong refused one by one. If it is a marriage, there are many powerful families in the North, so there is no need to marry their children to the capital.For the Tong family, if they marry in other Wubao in the north, they can watch and help each other anyway. If they marry in the capital, it will not help the family much.

After seeing off the birthday guests in the afternoon, Mrs. Tong arranged a banquet for the two sister-in-laws.It was the second sister-in-law and the third sister-in-law who came.

"It's a pity that I can't see Xuan'er getting married. The castle master said, next month I will go back with your second brother, and the castle master will bring the eldest wife and the second wife to the wedding banquet in person. At that time, the eldest son of the elder brother's family will bring someone to serve him." After the second sister-in-law finished speaking, the third sister-in-law answered, "This time, let the children be fostered at your home, and when the castle master leaves, take them away together, and let them see the world for a month or two."

The owner of the castle is talking about Mrs. Tong's father. Now that he is getting old, the owner of the castle can't leave Wubao easily. Now that he is out of Wubao, there is only one situation, "Daddy wants eldest brother to be the head of the family?"

"Yes. Now the big brother is taking care of all the affairs in Wubao. Last year when the barbarians surrounded our Wubao, it was the big brother who took the soldiers out to fight."

Mrs. Tong thought about it, her father is quite old, it's okay to fight for a while, but if he encounters that kind of fighting for a few days and nights, he will naturally not be able to bear it.

In the study in the outer courtyard, Jia Xun and his cousins ​​sat at the dinner table listening to the uncles and father talking.

"Brother-in-law, now the elder brother means that our Wubao is expanding to the north. There is a large population in Wubao, and the original houses are no longer enough. If we build houses on cultivated land, we will be reluctant to cultivate the land." Mrs. Tong's second brother finished. , took a sip of wine, "In Wupu, there are refugees we have taken in and family soldiers who have raised several generations of people, and there are people from our old Tong's family. Counting up to seven generations, we live in Wupu, Even if the bloodline is far away, they still live in Wubao. Now that the population is increasing, the cultivated land can no longer support so many people. Relying on robbery is not the answer after all. Expand to the north and expand to the territory of the barbarians."

Jia Gu knew what he was going to mean, if he wanted to expand, he would have to fight the barbarians every day. Now Tong's Wubao does not lack food and salt, but another important thing is missing, which is iron.

And salt and iron have been monopolized by the imperial court since ancient times.

"What does second brother mean?"

"We never dared to take the idea of ​​the imperial court's iron mines. We thought of a compromise. We bought pots, knives, and iron nails. Worried about giving away."

Transformed smuggling.

"Second brother, don't worry, I'm here, but brothers, please pay attention, buy separately, don't make too much publicity."

The three raised their glasses and clinked.

Jia Gu thought for a while, but he didn’t dare to tell them the location of a certain open-pit iron mine. 30 years ago, Tong’s Wubao’s goal was to survive, and 30 years later, Tong’s Wubao’s goal became to seek expansion. , if the speed of their development is accelerated, the next step is to seek hegemony.Jia Gu didn't know whether it was right or wrong to do so, but subconsciously concealed the matter of the iron ore. Iron is too sensitive.

Tong's Wubao was still a small Wubao 30 years ago, and it can only be a medium-sized Wubao if it expands again. Not surprisingly, it will become a large Wubao in 50 years, but the annual conquest of the Northland is like a storm. A big battle may kill the Tong family's expansion plan. Therefore, the perseverance of the northern family is always more admirable than that of the southerners. This is the first rule of survival.

The Tong family, on the other hand, worked hard from all directions to ensure the long-term survival of their family.Jia Gu believed that the old father-in-law came to the capital not just to see his grandson get married, but also to marry him.