Daiyu of the Red Chamber owes no one

Early the next morning, Jia Amnesty and Jia Lian brought Mr. Ye and several Jingying soldiers; Jia Zheng brought Qing Ke Shan Pinren, Bu Guxiu and others, as well as the usual accounting room of Rongguo Mansion's treasury, to Jia's mother's room. .Because there were many foreigners, Mrs. Xing, Mrs. Wang, Wang Xifeng, Li Wan and others set up a screen to listen behind.Mother Jia is getting old, so she doesn't shy away from it.

Mother Jia looked at Jia Amnesty in disgust and said, let's start counting.

Jia Amnesty said, "Don't panic, old lady. This account should be settled clearly. But after the settlement, I ask the old lady to expressly explain how to distribute it. Then my second brother and I will make a written note and draw a pledge. Otherwise, , After the settlement is settled, if one party repents, it will hurt the harmony of the whole family."

When Jia Mu heard this, she nodded and said, "That's reasonable. In that case, Zheng'er, you take a pen to write, and write about the raids on the two slaves of the Lai family and Zhou Rui's family. Thousands of 32 eight taels will be returned to the government. When Lian'er takes office in Ping'an Prefecture, all the people who go with him can carry three years of monthly silver as expenses for three years. Before taking office, he will withdraw it from the government in one lump sum. Nothing is allowed to be withdrawn from officials.”

Jia Zheng listened, nodded and wrote.Although Jia Zheng didn't have much talent, this evidence was written in an orderly manner.Jia Amnesty was ignorant, but he could read the characters. After reading the documents, he found that it said "withdrawal of silver for three years", and did not mention other expenses. He also wrote "No more withdrawals within three years".

After reading it, Jia Amnesty thought to himself: The old lady is cruel, and this second child is also cruel.Even if they live in the mansion, apart from each receiving monthly money, whose food and clothing are not purchased with money from the officials?The old lady didn't even want to keep this money for herself!As for the wedding in the Spring Festival, the old lady would only add a sum of "not to be withdrawn from the government for anything" if she had thought about it. Fortunately, Mr. Ye had already expected it and had already figured out a countermeasure.Jia Amnesty is well-rounded, but he is not in a hurry.

So Jia She said to Jia's mother and Jia Zheng with a smile: "Mother and second brother really think that this arrangement is very good, and don't change it?"

Neither Jia Mu nor Jia Zheng changed their words.

Jia She gave a strange laugh, and handed over the pen and painting to Jia Zheng. Seeing that Jia She was so forthright, Jia's mother and Jia Zheng couldn't help being taken aback.Even Mrs. Wang, Li Wan and others behind the screen were secretly happy because they could hear clearly.It's just that Mrs. Xing is out of control, and she has suffered too much, so she can't care about it.Wang Xifeng is a strong one. Hearing such a rule, if there are not all elders outside, I'm afraid they won't follow it.

After writing the written receipt, Mr. Accountant moved the abacus and started to settle.In less than half a moment, the accountant took out the calculated bills, and saw that it read: the old man's monthly silver is 20 taels, and the eldest wife's monthly silver is 20 taels. The silver is ten taels, and Lian's second grandmother is ten taels of silver per month. The total of these two piles is 440 taels in three years.In addition, there is a young master and a young lady who receive two taels of silver, totaling 720 and four taels; two in the room of the elder aunt and one in the room of the second master Lian who received two or two months ago, totaling 140 and six taels, plus size Maids, maids, servants, etc., the grand master has a room with a monthly payment of 210 taels for three years.

There is also what the old man said yesterday that the monthly money of the Lai family and Zhou Rui's family over the years has been returned to the old lady and his wife. Among them, the total monthly money of the Lai family is 730 taels to the old lady's private treasury, and the total monthly money of Zhou Rui's family is 670 taels to the wife's private treasury.

Therefore, after repaying the owed silver, the remaining money will be converted into 140 taels and returned to the grand master's house; 730 taels will go to the old lady's private treasury; 670 taels will go to the wife's private treasury;After reading, the accountant said to Jia Amnesty: "Master, see if there is any discrepancy in the account. If there is no difference, please distribute the money accordingly in front of the old lady."

Mrs. Wang has been in charge of the house for nearly 20 years. This accountant is naturally Mrs. Wang's confidant, so it is also called Master Jia Zheng, and Jia She is the elder.As for this account, the calculation is even more unfair: according to the family rules of the Rongguo Mansion, the monthly money is nothing more than everyone's pocket expenses, and food and clothing expenses are all paid by the officials.The accountant's account was actually only given to the long house's pocket money, and a sip of food, clothing, housing and transportation was not kept.Mrs. Wang was very satisfied when she heard that the big house did not take out 5000 taels.Yesterday, Jia's mother made a rough calculation and thought that the one who gave Jia amnesty 1 taels of silver was a breakthrough, but she didn't want to calculate it to be less than 5000 taels.

Wang Xifeng listened behind the screen, but couldn't sit still. In the past, Jia Lian always restrained her from letting her take care of the affairs of the house, saying that the second wife had no good intentions, and she always didn't believe it.She thought, Mrs. Wang is also her own aunt, how can she harm herself?Now that she has really let her go out with her husband, and the real money is counted as silver, she finally understands: not only her aunt who is her own biological relative, but also the old lady who always says she is good all day long.

Both Jia's mother and Mrs. Wang thought that Jia She would get angry when she heard this, but Jia She said with a strange laugh: "The old lady thinks this distribution is very fair? If you think it's not suitable, you can redistribute it. If you think it's fair, you can redistribute it." There can be no further regrets."

Mother Jia naturally knew that such a distribution was unfair, but Jia She copied the Lai family's privately. She knew in her heart that the Lai family deserved to die, and she also hated Jia She, so Jia Mu nodded and said: "When you go out to work, you always have to come back; If you want to be re-elected, you have to return to Beijing to report on your duties every three years. In addition, it is not safe to take too much gold and silver on the road, so it is enough to bring three years of silver. I just heard the old man’s three-year silver is More than 100 taels, so let’s take 5000 taels and return the rest to the government. This is still fair, so let’s do it this way.”

After Jia Amnesty heard this, he turned to Mr. Ye and said, "Mr. Ye, please help me to settle this account for me."

Mr. Ye nodded yes, then came out to salute everyone, and said calmly: "I just did the math, the old lady has 20 taels of silver per month; the big girl in the old lady's room is one tael of silver per month." Eight, and eight second-class maids, eight young maids, and three messenger wives, three-year monthly silver equivalent to 330 taels." After finishing speaking, she looked at Jia She and remained silent.The old lady used to have four wives, but after Nanny Lai was imprisoned, there are only three left, and the other one has not yet been selected.

After listening to Mr. Ye, everyone counted the moon silver in Jia She's house, and counted the moon silver in the old lady's house. He talked about Jia's mother and Jia Zheng's house, and they didn't understand, even the people behind the screen couldn't understand. Foggy.

But Jia She said: "The old lady is an ancestor. Since the old lady has just increased the monthly silver of our first room to 5000 taels, then I will also leave two thousand for the old lady's room. Don't forget about the other two rooms. How can I justify it?" Going, there is no reason that the cost of the second house is higher than that of the long house, so the three-year silver for the second and first house is equivalent to 5000 taels, which is the same as what the accountant gave us for the first house just now. In addition, it was just calculated and should be returned to the old lady’s Lai’s family and so on. The monthly money of the year is more than 3000 taels, and Zhou Rui’s family’s monthly money of several hundred taels will also be returned to the younger brothers and sisters. I don’t need to bother to calculate these, so I will return 4000 taels to the old lady and 1000 taels to the second wife.”

After finishing speaking, Jia Amnesty turned to Mr. Ye and said, "Based on this calculation, how many taels should we keep?"

Mr. Ye said to Jia She: "If you go back to the master, the monthly payment of the old lady and the second master will total 7000 taels, and the old lady and the second wife's private treasury will total 5000 taels, which is 2000 taels in total." Finally, Mr. Ye He also said with a smile: "The master is very generous, and he doesn't care about everything."

When everyone heard this, their jaws dropped in shock.

Jiamu couldn't sit still anymore, she threw her cane on the ground and said angrily, "Jia Enhou, what do you mean by that?"

Jia She thought to himself: At this moment, I can't save any more face, lest Mr. Ye's ingenious plan fall by the wayside, so he said unwillingly: "Dare to ask the old lady, just now, my second brother and I made a written statement to take three years' monthly money. Doesn't count?"

Jia Mu squinted at Jia Amnesty, nodded and said, "It's up to me."

Jia She said again: "Then I, the old lady and my second brother share three years' worth of monthly money, is there something wrong?" Just now when Jia She said "how much should be kept", everyone should have listened , couldn't believe my ears.At this moment, when Jia Amnesty said the words of keeping the monthly silver for three years clearly, everyone naturally understood, and some couldn't help but let out exclamations.

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang wished she could come out from behind the screen and distinguish clearly. After hearing this, Mrs. Xing felt that her master was no longer as heroic and extraordinary as he is now.When Wang Xifeng heard this, she felt indescribably happy, and felt that the bad breath that was pressed on her chest just now also came out.

Jia Mu said angrily: "You drew the money yourself in black and white, and agreed that except for the three-year monthly money you brought with you to Ping'an Prefecture, the rest of the money will go to the officials. Now why do you go back on your word and say that only 2000 taels will be left? !"

But Jia Amnesty said calmly: "Old lady, don't panic, listen to me carefully: I will take away the 5000 taels of monthly silver from the long house, and naturally take away the remaining 30 taels from the officials. The moon silver of the old lady and the second child is enough. I am the grand master of the Rongguo Mansion, and I inherit the title granted by the emperor Taizu. Shouldn't I be in charge of the official silver? I take it with me wherever I go. Where are you going?" While speaking, Jia Amnesty took it for granted.

After hearing this, everyone realized that Jia Amnesty had used a trick to blur the word "official" on purpose.Everyone thought that the official position was still the big treasury of the Jia family, but the official position of Jia Amnesty meant that the Jia family was the head of the family treasury.

Hearing this, except for the people in the big house, who else can sit still?Even though Mrs. Wang was behind the screen, she couldn't help saying angrily: "Brother, what you said is so unreasonable. Whose family's officials are not in the big treasury of the ancestral house? There are also people who brought the family wealth of the family to the office, and insisted that it was the officials. of?"

Hearing this, Jia Amnesty couldn't help feeling overjoyed, and glanced at Mr. Ye.It turned out that Mr. Ye was very thoughtful, and he had planned out how to respond to what he encountered, and taught him to memorize it for several days.It's just that Mr. Ye had expected these questions, Jia Amnesty only needed to follow the steps, and now he was not afraid of any difficulties.

Jia Amnesty listened to Mrs. Wang's questioning, and said with a dry laugh: "Your brother and sister are making no sense. The money in the official's house is naturally brought to where the family is. When our ancestors came to Beijing from Jinling, there will be some Is the official silver left in the big treasury of the old house in Jinling? Also, don’t the younger brothers and sisters quarrel with the whole family at every turn, living in a single courtyard in the East Mansion. He is the patriarch of our Jia clan, do you think the siblings actually think that they can't even become the family of the East Mansion?"

Mrs. Wang was at a loss for words when she heard this, knowing that what Jia She said was all fallacies, she refused to refute him for a while.Hearing the word patriarch, Jia's mother thought it out, thinking that Jia She is so confident today, it turned out that he had soldiers behind him, and no outsiders were present to testify.So he turned his head and said to Mrs. Wang: "Second wife, you should ask someone to invite Uncle Zhen to comment."

Speaking of which, Jia Amnesty originally proposed to invite Jia Zhen to do justice, but Jia Zhenyuan and Jia Amnesty conspired, and Jia's mother was afraid that Jia Zhen would favor the eldest house, so she said that the whole family closed the door to judge the matter. He wanted to spread the word to make people laugh, but he refused and asked Jia Zhen to do justice.At this moment, Jia's mother saw that Jia Amnesty could not be accepted, so she thought of going to the patriarch again, but Jia Amnesty refused again.

After Jia's mother had finished speaking, Jia Amnesty turned around and said to Jia Lian, "Lien'er, you go to the Yamen and invite two officials to do justice. I'm not afraid to break it down today."

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang was about to pass it on to others, but when she heard Jia She's words, she was stunned again.Mother Jia stomped her feet angrily, and said angrily, "Are you going to make the whole city know about our family?"

Jia She said: "Since the old lady wants to ask for justice, we came here according to the law. The patriarch and the officials must be present. How can we invite only one place? I want to listen to the officials in the yamen who are familiar with the calendar of the dynasty." Tell me, who should take care of the officials' money, as the eldest son, do I still have to take care of it?"

After hearing this, Jia's mother knew that if she was really stabbed into the Yamen, it would be unjustifiable for the second daughter-in-law to run the house for nearly 20 years.Seeing that Jia Amnesty is relying on Jia Lian's high promotion, he is determined to take back the power of the family. If he insists, it is impossible to say that he will really take this matter to the Bo court.He was charged with unfilial piety, and the second wife was even worse off.Thinking of this, Jia's mother was afraid of rats, so she had to stop the drums and told Mrs. Wang to wait.

Jia Mu pondered for a long time, and then said: "Marquis Jia En, are you not afraid that your reputation for being unfilial will hinder Lian'er's future future?" At this moment, Jia Lian's future can only be threatened.

Jia Amnesty frowned and thought about the meeting, not knowing how to answer.It turned out that Mr. Ye taught Jia She a lot of things, but Jia She only remembered the words about his confrontation with Jia's mother and the second wife, but he forgot all about the criminal laws of the dynasty.Mr. Ye taught him how to answer this question, but he couldn't remember it now, so he looked at Mr. Ye for help.

Mr. Ye felt relaxed when he heard Jia She, Jia Mu, Mrs. Wang and others exchanged fluently, but at this moment Jia She showed timidity.Mr. Ye had no choice but to stand up and say: "Back to Lao Fengjun, yesterday I heard the master say that if Lao Fengjun is willing, the master will take Lao Fengjun to take care of him when he takes office. How can Lao Fengjun say that he is not filial if the master does this? What's more, according to the law of this dynasty, a wife obeys her husband when she gets married, and obeys her son when her husband dies. The filial piety of the master is to serve the old man and become the king, and he doesn't listen to the old man's orders for everything."

Jia's mother knew Jia She's temperament. These days, she acted in a very orderly manner and spoke in an orderly manner. It was definitely not like him in the past. There must be someone behind him.Mrs. Jia has been suspicious of Mr. Ye for a long time. Today, Mr. Ye came out to hit the gun, and Mrs. Jia cursed: "Where did you come from? I don't even look at where this is. It's your turn to talk? Good man." I also let you instigate badly, and act unfilially and unfraudulently."

After hearing this, Mr. Ye also said solemnly: "Scholars can be killed, but not humiliated. I am a candidate who has been appointed by the imperial court, and my name is listed in the list of officials. I don't kneel when I see officials, and I will be punished wherever I go." People treat each other with courtesy, and there is absolutely no reason for Lao Fengjun to insult you. I advise Lao Fengjun to be more careful when speaking. I am not a cat or a dog in the house, and I will be scolded by Lao Fengjun. I'm afraid it will be said outside that the government is bullying people!" Mr. Ye's righteous words made Jia Zheng's clean faces blush.

Jia's mother only thinks that Mr. Ye is also a person around Jia Zheng, such as Shan Pinren and Bu Guxiu. Who knows that Mr. Ye's integrity is completely different, and Jia's mother can't help it.Then he turned to Jia She and said, "Jia Enhou, I am the wife of a super-class Duke, and I spent only 2000 taels of silver in the house for three years? Is it justified for you to treat your aunt so harshly?"

After hearing this, Jia Amnesty said kindly, "According to the old lady, why is it not enough?"

Jia Mu said: "Except for the envoys in our room, where do the other rough envoys get the monthly money for hundreds of people? There is also the food and clothing of the hundreds of servants of the master and slaves, which were originally purchased with other money from the officials. The monthly money is the pocket money of each house. The other two masters raise Qingke. In the future, Baoyu, Huan'er, and Tanyatou will be married. You will have to spend money. You just take the official money to take office with Lian'er , these few sums of money have to be kept, and the accountant will do the calculations soon!"

Jia's mother thought about it all at once, and all the calculations depended on the accountant's mouth and a pen. If these large expenses and official purchases were calculated in higher silver, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep the bulk of the money in Jia Amnesty's hand.

Jia She snorted and said, "That's exactly what I said. I am a super-rank first-class general, and the wife of a super-rank first-class general took office together. Lian'er and his wife are also fifth-rank officials. Er and Yingchun, a boy and a lady, also spent only five thousand silver for three years? Just now I asked the old lady repeatedly whether it was fair, but the old lady nodded and agreed, and my second brother and I also signed the papers and took them separately. Want to repent but can't.

Since the old lady thinks this distribution is fair, why does the old lady think it's unfair when I distribute it to my second brother?If the old lady is willing to leave more for me, I am also willing to leave more for Jia Cunzhou.Jia Cun only paid 5000 taels for a room every week, but just now the old lady only agreed to share 5000 taels with me.As for the old lady, the old lady should ask herself, don't provoke everyone to talk about it and make it hard to keep up. "

After hearing this, Jia's mother raised her crutches to beat Jia Amnesty.Jia Amnesty was already tearing his face apart, so he was still willing to let the beating and scolding go, and he avoided it, but said: "The old lady has thought it over, if it still feels insufficient, I will go to the yamen tomorrow to file a complaint and ask the government to come and count The dowry of each house! I am the master of the house, so I still have this right."

After hearing this, Jia's mother could not help but calm down again, and said that before Jia She's original wife came in, she had collected a lot of things into her private treasury for many years, which was far more than the dowry she brought from the historian. The [-] taels of gold in the private treasury had to be counted among the officials.If you seriously count the dowry, you will lose more than you gain.

Mrs. Wang was trembling with anger behind the screen, and she couldn't help being discouraged after hearing this. She has been in charge of the family for many years, not to mention those who are greedy for ink and profiteering, as well as the newly hidden property of the Zhen family.How dare the government open a private treasury?

Mrs. Xing felt that she was finally elated, and deliberately coughed lightly in front of Mrs. Wang. Mrs. Wang turned her head and saw that the daughter of the Xing family, who was a small family, was now showing off her power in front of her, and she became more and more angry.

Jia's mother and everyone in the second room thought about what Jia She said just now, and then they remembered that the calculation was so harsh. It turned out that they were used to bullying the eldest room, and they wanted to let Jia She take away as little as possible.Now being amnesty by Jia to turn against the general, it can be regarded as lifting a rock and shooting himself in the foot.

If he had known Jia Amnesty's plan earlier, when the accountant settled the accounts, he would count the money purchased by the officials, plus the clothes and materials of the owners and maids of each house, and then count the marriages of Yingchun and Jia Cong. Jia She took away [-] taels of silver, why shouldn't Jia She keep at least [-] at this moment?It's too late to regret now.

Jia Amnesty won a complete victory today, and Jia Lian was never allowed to show up. He couldn't help beaming with joy and striding forward. He has been a first-class general for many years, and today he has a little momentum.Jia She turned around and said with a wave of his hand, "Lian'er, your husband and wife will live with me back to the East Courtyard tomorrow, and there are also sons who live under the knees of their parents? As for the 2000 taels that should stay in Beijing before taking office." The money, when I returned to the East Courtyard, I had someone bring it. The old lady remembered that it was clearly written on the receipt that no other money was allowed to be withdrawn from the officials for anything within three years." Said he took Jia Lian out of Rongqing Hall.

Mrs. Xing and Sister Feng never thought that the long-term house would be at a disadvantage, but this time it was a little bit cheaper and no one was asking for it, and they were secretly happy.After the outsider retired, Mrs. Xing returned to the East Courtyard. As expected, Wang Xifeng went back to her room and ordered someone to pack up the boxes and cages, and moved to the East Courtyard for a few days, waiting for Jia Lian to take office at a certain date.

Because Jia Lian had a good relationship with the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp, the rest of the money from the raids on Lai's and Zhou Rui's houses was placed in Jia's amnesty courtyard. Every day, soldiers from the Beijing camp took turns to rest and bathe. .Jia Amnesty also gave thousands of taels of silver to the soldiers who helped this time, and the corporal commander gave more at his discretion, and there was also a gift of thanks.Most of the soldiers sealed Xie Yin directly.These soldiers are not paid very much, and who won't be happy when they get a red envelope of 50 taels?As for Jia Amnesty, thanks to all parties, I still have 30 taels left.

Knowing this matter, Jia Amnesty should be most grateful to Mr. Ye, who also sealed a red envelope of 1000 taels and a set of high-quality pens, inks, paper, and inkstones, and gave Mr. Ye a piece of writing and a painting.Jia Lian was also very grateful to Mr. Ye, and became more and more determined in his heart that he would die with him in the future.

Before leaving Beijing, Jia Lian prepared another big gift to thank Lin Ruhai.If it wasn't for my uncle's suggestion, how could he be as decent as he is today?After Jia's family, Fang Qicheng, took office, the Rongguo Mansion became more and more desolate.