The Rich and the Idlers of the Red Chamber

Time flies, and another six years have passed in a flash.

Many things have happened in these years. Jia Zhen made a marriage shortly after she was selected as a scholar.Jia Daihua failed to see the birth of his great-grandson, and finally ran out of oil and died with a smile on his face.

Jia Jing has already completed his tenure in Tianjin Weaving, but he has made outstanding achievements in government affairs, which has greatly increased the income of the court. Now Tatars have begun to raise a large number of sheep, and sell a lot of wool to the customs every year, earning a lot of money. They also purchased a large number of commodities from the Central Plains. For the princes and nobles of the upper class of Tatars, all kinds of luxury goods in the Central Plains have become indispensable in their lives. Now that they have money, they start to compete with each other for wealth. Let the caravans in the Central Plains smile.

And the woolen fabrics woven by Tianjin Weaving are also sought after by many people. Although furs are warm, the price of better furs is relatively expensive, and even there is no market for them. On the one hand, woolen fabrics are warm, on the other hand It is also relatively light, and the long gowns made are very crisp without starching. The skilled craftsmen recruited by Tianjin Weaving made a lot of new clothes styles, and then dyed the woolen with different colors and patterns, which soon became popular. for a while.

The best sellers are all kinds of woolen yarns. The handicraft industry is far more developed than later generations. You have a little introduction here, and all kinds of stitches have come out there. I am more willing to add a close-fitting sweater inside the gown, which is warm and not bulky, and soft and comfortable.

During Jia Jing’s three years, he was successful, but before he was re-elected, Jia Daihua passed away. Jia Jing wrote a letter to Ding You, and logically handed over the position of Tianjin Zhizhi to the confidant sent by the sage. It was a sigh of relief.

In recent years, Tianjin Weaving has become more and more popular, and there are quite a few people who are jealous. Jia Jing was able to shirk it at the beginning, but it became more and more difficult later on. He really didn't want to get involved in the vortex of winning the heir. After hearing about Jia Daihua's passing, on the one hand, Jia Jing was really sad, on the other hand, he also felt a little lucky. He didn't have the slightest intention of robbing love, so he simply handed over the matter and returned to Beijing quickly funeral.

And Jia Amnesty's Anlehou's mansion has also been imported again in recent years. The second son, Aning, has also entered school. His name is Jia Lang. Aning's personality is not like that of Ah Shou, but like his little man, a relatively quiet person. The little guy, sometimes even seems a little shy.

When Ah Ning grasped Zhou, he directly grasped the book of Chinese herbal medicine, and he has been very interested in medical skills since then. Although Mrs. Zhang felt that it was not decent for the second son to study medicine, Jia Amnesty was very supportive of this. A good look is a good doctor, and there is nothing wrong with studying medicine.Seeing that Aning really had a heart in this matter, Jia She simply decided to hand over the inheritance of the Wanhua Xinglin lineage he had obtained to his second son.

Ah Ning is indeed a calm temperament. When Ah Shou was the same age as him, he wished to go to the house every day. Aning could already memorize a whole book of soup songs. Jia She made a special one for him. He was asked to identify the acupoints and meridians on the bronze figurine, and Aning was very talented in this, so he got used to it easily, and the Wanhua Xinfa practiced very smoothly.

When Ah Shou was nine years old, he entered the examination room with two cousins ​​of the Zhang family, and he turned out to be a scholar. Yes, the difficulty of Shuntian Mansion is naturally lower than that of Jinling, but for a man as old as Ah Shou, it is already very good to have such ability.

In fact, Ah Shou was not very interested in reading. He made it clear to Jia She that he would pass the Juren exam at most, and he would not go down the exam in the future. He was actually more interested in playing with Jia She.Jia Amnesty didn't force him either. He has two titles, and each of his two sons can mix with one another. There is nothing to worry about in the future. Besides, it's time for the Industrial Revolution. Ah Shou likes to invent and create, so let him Feel free to toss it!If the Central Plains is not good, overseas countries will not pay attention to this.

The two sons are both idlers. After all, the Zhang family came from a traditional scholarly family. It’s fine for Jia She himself, but the two sons were also influenced by Jia She. , only good at studying", this made Mrs. Zhang very discouraged, and wanted to educate her two sons. With the support of Jia Amnesty, the two sons were full of fallacies.If you want to go back to your mother's house and tell your father and brother, after seeing Jia She's situation, they feel that if the two nephews can persevere, it's not a bad thing.

After all, the Zhang family has been in the court all year round, and they know more about the affairs of the court. These years, there are more and more new things. After Jia She tossed out the hydraulic loom, Jiangnan later made some similar large-scale ones. When the textile machine came out, although no steam engine was produced, the efficiency was much stronger than before.

The world has changed too fast these years, and the Zhang family is not a conservative generation, so they thought that this way of investigating things, although it does not sound like a righteous way, has a lot to do. Therefore, I also persuaded the Zhang family. After all, children and grandchildren have their own blessings. It is better for them to find their own future path than to go wrong in the future.

Mrs. Zhang didn't worry about it for too long. The year Ah Shou was admitted as a scholar, she became pregnant again. In winter, she gave birth to a fair and lovely little girl. Jia She named the daughter Jia Ying, nicknamed "Jia Ying". Beibei, it means that her daughter is her own little baby.Ah Shou and Aning are also very rare about the little sister in the family. On Jia Jing's side, Gu Shi was pregnant again before and gave birth to a boy, whose name is Jia Li. They are both boys. Bei is beautiful and cute, fragrant and soft, and she is very delicate when she cries. Therefore, A Shou and A Ning are very precious to their sister, and they are always thinking about her sister.

Jia She's family regards their youngest daughter, Beibei, as a baby lump, and some people regard their daughter as a tool for advancement.

Yuan Chun is now thirteen or fourteen years old. At this age, girls can see each other and get married. However, the Xiao Wang family wants to take their daughter out to socialize. The government is now in decline, and Jia Zheng's reputation has always been bad.

Jia Zheng was filial piety, and he always wanted to find an official position, but he couldn't do it. He was ridiculed openly and secretly. The shabby literati with no backbone recite poems and compose Fu, appreciate calligraphy, painting and ancient books, just hang out with a bunch of concubines at home.

The little Wang family has long since despaired of Jia Zheng. She became pregnant again two years ago and gave birth to a boy named Jia Pu. Not sure if that's Jia Baoyu from the original book.However, even if Jia Pu is really that Jia Baoyu, it's okay, anyway, he can't harm anyone, and he can't harm Jia She.

With his own son, Xiao Wang did not ignore Jia Zhu, after all, he brought him up by himself. Jia Zhu is also a heart-wrenching child. He has been studying hard all these years, thinking of winning glory for Xiao Wang. , To support Yuanchun, he returned to Jinling to take the exam two years ago, passed the exam as a scholar, and now he is studying in the Imperial College.

Jia Zheng's title will come to an end in the future, and naturally there will be no title competition. If there is no title, the family property is generally divided equally.Jia Pu was born to Xiao Wang, and Jia Zhu was also brought up by Xiao Wang, sometimes even more caring than Yuan Chun. Therefore, in Xiao Wang's mind, the future property of Rongguo Mansion is Jia Zhu and Jia Pu. Damn, give Yuanchun a generous dowry, let Yuanchun get married in a dignified manner, and Jia Zhu and Jia Pu can also help support whatever happens in the future.

As for the concubines and concubines before Jia Zheng, they have already been born, and they can’t be stuffed back. Xiao Wang is not a cruel person, and she doesn’t need to take care of them anyway, and it doesn’t cost much to eat, wear and chew. , When I grow up in the future, the concubine will send a few thousand taels of silver, and the concubine will marry a similar family. After all, she is also a young lady of the Duke's family. With Jia Zheng's name, she can't marry an official family, but marry a wealthy businessman or something. He is also willing to give a large dowry.Therefore, although the Xiao Wang family doesn't care about concubines and concubines, they have everything they should have, and they don't treat them harshly.

Later, Jia Zheng showed his ability to prodigal.Jia Zheng kept a group of cleanups, some of them dragged their sons and daughters along, who could not spend two to thirty taels of silver a month, held a poetry meeting, and went out with hundreds of taels of silver, and Jia Zheng still went out from time to time. Every time he wanted to buy some decorations, ancient books, calligraphy and paintings, he would pay directly from the account, which was an inappropriate gesture of taking money. After a year, Jia Zheng had to spend tens of thousands of taels alone.However, Jia Zheng's eyesight is not good, and the things he buys are often not worth the price, and they are even fakes at all. In other words, most of the money Jia Zheng took out was thrown into the water directly.

Moreover, Jia Zheng has no errands now, but he is in the mood to raise a concubine as a housekeeper. Anyway, the Rongguo Mansion now belongs to Jia Zheng, and he doesn't have to worry about taking the concubine back and having no place to live. Therefore, the Rongguo Mansion is now just Jia Zheng's house. There are always more than ten concubines of the government, not to mention the one who has not been formally promoted.

Those concubines must dress brightly, decently, and have one or two maids to serve them, and they must have cosmetics and jewelry according to the season. Jia Zheng is also a loose hand. If those concubines make him happy, You can get a lot of good things from him.

When Xiao Wang thought that if all these concubines gave birth to children, the family would have to buy a lot of servants, the monthly money, the rewards during the festivals, and the future marriage and separation, all of which would be for nothing. Huahua's money made her heart ache.

Xiao Wang was not a big-hearted person who regarded money as dung. Even, because her husband and even her mother's family were unreliable, she paid special attention to money.In order to prevent a large number of concubine children from coming out, the Xiao Wang family strictly checked after that. Anyway, Jia Zheng didn't care much about those concubines. After all, when there are too many people, they will compete fiercely with each other Jia Zheng was afraid that he might not even be able to name any of the concubines.

What's more, Xiao Wang's family and Jia Zheng are almost disgusted with each other now, and they don't bother to give Jia Zheng any face.Therefore, I directly asked people to go out to find those who specialize in raising skinny horses, bought their prescriptions, made a soup, and used it as an ordinary soup for avoiding children, and asked the concubines to drink it one by one.Those kinds of medicines are the most harmful to the body. If you take it a few times, it will be like this in this life.

In fact, if you have the conditions to recuperate well, there is a possibility of pregnancy in the future.The problem is, those concubines are only two taels of silver a month, and Jia Zheng doesn't favor any one. When it's good, he will reward some jewelry and clothing materials. They couldn't get all the money, and they didn't have any way to find any reliable doctor, so naturally, no one paid out these years.

Shi Shi knew about this, but Xiao Wang was not afraid of anything now, and Jia Zheng didn't dare to divorce her anyway, and Jia Zheng was counting on Xiao Wang to fight against Shi, so Shi Shi Although he beat Xiao Wang a few times and said that many sons are more blessed, Xiao Wang directly said that Jia Zheng now has three sons and three daughters, which is not enough, and Shi Shi immediately had nothing to say.No matter how bad Xiao Wang is, she has always done her best for Jia Zhu, and later gave birth to a pair of children. Besides, Shi Shi had other plans in mind, so even though she was dissatisfied with Xiao Wang, she had to give up in the end.

Shi's eye is on Yuan Chun's marriage, and Shi hopes that Yuan Chun will enter the palace for draft.

After Xiao Wang heard about Shi's plan, she almost went crazy. For a long time, with a daughter like Yuan Chun, it's almost the same to say that Yuan Chun is her heart and soul. What's going on in the palace? How old is your father-in-law? Most of those princes also have regular wives. Could it be possible to ask their own daughters to be concubines for others?

Xiao Wang has nothing to say about the suffering of Jia Zheng's concubines, let alone being a concubine for the royal family. If Jia Zheng is an important minister, it's fine. The royal family can have a first-class side concubine, but the problem is that Jia Zheng is just a lump of mud that can't be pasted on the wall. If Yuan Chun marries into a small official's family, he will have a generous dowry. Those who are scheming and resourceful will never have a bad life, but if they enter the royal family, what good can they get with Yuan Chun's background!

Thinking about it this way, Xiao Wang naturally strongly opposed it, but in the end, Jia Zheng agreed. Shi Shi said it nicely, Shi Shi is old with the Zhen family. After deciding on the main concubine, I just waited to pass the door. However, there are still two places for side concubines. It doesn’t matter even if there are no side concubines. Give it directly, the gift from the mother and concubine, you must be decent and dignified, you must have a status, and you will have a son and a half daughter, Concubine Zhen is the master, and you can also be promoted to side concubine, and then you will be a serious royal family.

Although Concubine Zhen has grown old these years, the saint has been considered ascetic these years, and has little interest in women's sex. Therefore, the saint has always been with the empathetic Concubine Zhen the most.Also because of this, although the thirteenth prince, Tu Minghao, has just come of age and received an errand from the Six Departments, he is already a strong contender for the throne.

Shi always liked to engage in this kind of speculative behavior, and Jia Zheng also felt that he fell on it at the beginning, so that he was rejected by the saints, but if he had the merits of being a dragon, it would be different. Since my daughter has become a concubine, I can barely be regarded as the head of the country.Therefore, when Shi said that, Jia Zheng was moved.

Xiao Wang's side didn't care what Jia Zheng said about stupid women, they just didn't agree anyway, but Shi's side actually talked Wang Ziteng and the Shi family's people.

Wang Ziteng came forward, but Xiao Wang was helpless. The only thing Xiao Wang could rely on was the Wang family, but her own biological father and brother didn't have much promise, they were just a small official, but, cousin In recent years, Wang Ziteng has become more and more prosperous.

Wang Ziteng is currently staying in the Kyoto Daying, and the Shi family directly exchanged Jia Daishan's connections in the Kyoto Daying for Wang Ziteng's support.Wang Ziteng had some thoughts at first, but he was also cunning. On the one hand, his own daughter was not yet old enough; If she wins, Yuan Chun will have to have the support of her cousin, if she loses, and Yuan Chun made a wrong bet, then she is also the daughter of the Jia family, so what does she have to do with the Wang family.

When Wang Ziteng told Xiao Wang, Xiao Wang only felt that the sky was falling, and when he turned around, he could only hold Yuan Chun and burst into tears. Jia Zhu was already sensible. He heard the news, and he always felt sorry for Yuan Chun. , I went to argue with Jia Zheng before, saying that I can study and make progress, and I don’t need my sister to enter the palace to sacrifice for the family, but Jia Zheng slapped him so hard that his eyes were full of stars, and his ears felt a little buzzing There was a noise, and it took a long time for him to regain his composure. Looking back, he saw Xiao Wang and Yuan Chun sitting together, hugging their heads and crying, and they were also crying.

When Xiao Wang saw the red and swollen fingerprints on Jia Zhu's face, she felt that her head had been soaked in Huang Lian: "My poor Zhuer, my poor Yuanchun!" She beat her chest vigorously, almost To be out of breath.

Yuan Chun was also a precocious girl, but she was the first to calm down. She methodically ordered someone to fetch water for her grooming, and then asked someone to take blood-activating and stasis-removing pills and melt them on Jia Zhu, then said: " Mom, brother, this matter is a foregone conclusion, if the daughter has that luck in the future, then mother, brother and brother can relax a little bit!"

Seeing Yuan Chun's immature face, Xiao Wang couldn't help feeling sad, she held Yuan Chun's hand, choked up and said, "Yuan Chun, Mom doesn't want you to have any good fortune, Mom just asks you to be an upright and upright lady, You don't need to look at other people's faces to live your life!"

Yuan Chun was also sad in his heart, but he still tried his best to comfort Xiao Wang, saying: "Mom, to be a good lady for others, doesn't it also have to look at the faces of mother-in-law and sister-in-law? Since they all have to serve people, then serving the royal family is always the right thing to do." More precious ones!" At this point, a wry smile appeared on her face, that is to say, in fact, even the emperor's concubine, to put it bluntly, is still a concubine!

Jia Zhu felt powerless all over his body. He looked at Xiao Wang and Yuan Chun, wanted to vent but had nowhere to vent, and finally said a little weakly: "Mom, sister, I'm useless!"

A trace of hatred appeared on Xiao Wang's face: "Zhu Er, it's not that you are useless, it's that bastard Jia Cunzhou. If he has a bit of ability and a bit of shame, how could he end up in such a state!" Just like Jia Amnesty, Jia Zheng earns a marquis by himself, even if Jia Zheng has half of Jia Jing's ability, even if Yuan Chun wants to be drafted, the Holy One has to consider Yuan Chun's family background, and will give Yuan Chun a better result.But now, her husband is a waste, and he is useless, but he wants to sell his daughter, and wants to rely on her daughter's nepotism.

In any case, it is inevitable for Yuanchun to participate in the draft.

No matter how bad Jia Zheng is, he still has the title of a third-class general. Yuan Chun will naturally participate in the general election. Unfortunately, Jia Zheng has a criminal record. It was sold, and Jia Daishan was mad at death. Jia Daishan is still dead, and he is secretly connected with the fans outside. Such unfaithful, filial, benevolent, unrighteous people, what good is his daughter, so the list has just been reported. When he went up, he was brushed down.

Little Wang was too late to be happy, thinking that her daughter had escaped from the tiger's mouth, and was planning to wait until the limelight had passed, and take her daughter out to socialize. .

As a result, Shi is not someone who gives up easily. If the general election is not good, isn't there still a minor election?Jia Zheng didn't think there was anything wrong with letting his own daughters enter the palace with those daughters from good families as maids. Therefore, the Shi family vowed that they would be able to send Yuanchun directly to Concubine Zhen's palace in the future. , Jia Zheng immediately agreed.

Jia Zheng has no relationship with his children at all. After all, they have never been together day and night, and he has never personally taught them. In his eyes, his children are nothing more than tools. As long as they can bring benefits, naturally they have to be decided by him.

Xiao Wang hurriedly asked someone to cut a new dress for her daughter, and then took out her private house and some rough red gold jewelry from her dowry, and planned to take it to the silver building to find a jewelry craftsman to give it to her. Melt down, make a few sets of delicate and beautiful jewelry for her daughter, and when the time comes, put Yuan Chun beautifully in front of those wives and tell them that her daughter is waiting for someone to come to propose marriage, but in the end, there is a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and Shi Shi comes In other words, if the general election fails, there will be a minor election!

Xiao Wang almost rushed forward to fight with Shi and Jia Zheng. After knowing that Shi had handed over the list and found someone to open his joints, he collapsed on the ground and was almost insane.

No matter how sad Xiao Wang was, she wished that a pack of arsenic would be poured directly into the family's meals, and everyone would die together. In the end, Yuan Chun had to carry a small package prepared for her by Shi Shi and Xiao Wang, and enter the palace. Participated in the minor election.