Qiao Lan thought of this and added a few words, "There is too much silver and it is a bit heavy. You can take it and exchange it for gold, which will be lighter. The people who serve Tong'er have replenished it for her, and the money for buying people comes from the public house."
Okay. I still have some jewelry in my treasury. You can take Tong'er in to choose two pieces another day. I also asked Tong'er to bring some of the books, calligraphy and paintings left by your father."
Qiao Lan plans to give all her money and sundries to her children and grandchildren. Of course, she will be more partial when it comes to her granddaughter. After all, women in this world are no better than men. Most of them stay in the back house and cannot go out to make contributions.
, can only rely on this little money to support it.
Mrs. Wang didn't know Qiao Lan's worries. She only watched the old lady add so many things to Duan Sitong. The entire dowry totaled almost 20,000 taels, which was too much! This meant that part of the Duan family was emptied out!
"Mom, is this too much? You'd better keep some! There are other children at home!" Ms. Wang advised.
Qiao Lan shook her head, "It's not much, what's the excess? If it weren't for the things on Zhuangzi that didn't start to make money, I would definitely prepare more. I would definitely prepare more good ones when I marry my daughter. As for the boys at home, let them earn their own money."
Use your own money to get your wife."
Qiao Lan said it categorically, not giving Wang a chance to refuse.
Qiao Lan is a generous person. Not only does he clearly reward and punish his children and grandchildren in the family, he also treats his servants even more so.
When Mrs. Wang saw that the old lady loved her daughter so much, she was happy on the one hand, but also a little worried on the other. After all, the father-in-law only had so much money, and the total amount was only ten thousand taels.
There are so many children in the family, and it is not good to give too much to my daughter at once. Wang has been running the house for many years, and she is willing to pay a bowl of water, so she gave half of her dowry and the things left by her ex-husband to each of her two children.
.
Leaving aside the children at home, daily social interactions and human relationships in the house cost a lot of money.
"Mom, please give me a little less money! You have already given Tong'er enough!"
How much money the old lady takes is the old lady's business, and the Wang family will naturally have to care about the money from the father-in-law.
Qiao Lan knew what Wang was worried about. When Qiao Lan came home late, she only asked her servants to take care of the fields and didn't plant much food. Although last year's harvest was not much, she planted a lot this year.
The chicken coop and duck coop at home have been built a long time ago, and now they are developing steadily, and they can sell a lot every month. When the grain is harvested in the autumn, I will collect some and sell some, and I will have money.
Qiao Lan comforted her and said, "I know you are right, and I know this well! The crops grown in these 10,000 acres of land didn't sell much last year, but they can sell some this year. This year is not going well, and food prices will rise."
If the price rises a lot, I will sell part of the food at home and get a lot of money."
"The other girls in the family are still young, and they may have to wait for more than ten years to get married. Three thousand taels of silver seems like a lot now, but it won't be much in ten years. I'll give Tong'er some more now, and then I'll give her some more.
If you make more money in the future, you won’t need to add more.”
"...Wait until the family is rich before sending it over. You might be laughed at by people in the capital. How can anyone send a dowry twice? Just feel free to use it to fill Tong'er's box!" Qiao Lan said about the future.
I told Mr. Wang about the situation and only picked out the good things, not the bad ones.
Wang thought about it carefully and it made sense, so she didn't refuse.
When the Duan family was penniless in the old house, they relied on farming!
The old lady's farming skills are naturally better than anyone else's.
Wang didn't say any more words of rejection, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said gratefully to Qiao Lan: "Tong'er is very lucky to have a grandma like you!"
"You don't have to rely on others for your happiness, you have to rely on yourself!" Qiao Lan comforted.
-
In the evening, when Pei Wenzhou came back from his shift at the Yamen, he heard from his wife that the Duan family had sent several books, which were written by the old lady of the Duan family herself.
Pei Wenzhou drank wine today and his mind was groggy. When he heard that this book was written by a certain lady, the first thing that came to his mind was a collection of poems.
The girls of many families in the capital can compose poems, and those who are good at making rafts will print hundreds of copies and send copies to other families to highlight their girls' reputation.
Pei Wenzhou came back to his senses and remembered that this book was written by Lady Huitian. Even a collection of poems had its own unusual features. Just when he was about to ask, he heard the old lady Pei over there say something humane.
"When the Duan family sent the book over, several girls were playing in my room. They were very curious when they saw the book. One of them picked up a book and read it. They were fascinated by it! They didn't want to look up! It was their mother.
Come here and take them away one by one...otherwise I really won't be able to keep this book!" Mrs. Pei said with a smile, the wrinkles around her eyes getting a little deeper.
"Oh, what book is it?" Pei Wenzhou became interested.
"These are some agricultural books!" Mrs. Pei said. The agricultural books contained the principles of fertilizing the land, controlling insects, cultivating flowers and growing fruits.
Mrs. Pei would take care of the flowers in the courtyard herself when she had nothing to do in the back house. Flower gardening was one of the indispensable leisure activities for a housewife.
After growing flowers for decades, Mrs. Pei also knows many principles of flower gardening and is considered a good expert among the women in the capital.
Now I have read the book sent by the Duan family, and I have seen the techniques for cultivating flowers and fruits, such as hybridization, grafting, mutation, etc., and I am also curious about what is written in the book about soaking seeds in colchicum medicine.
From the ears of others, the woman who wrote a book teaching people how to manage their fields was probably trying to gain fame and reputation. But after reading some of the methods for controlling insect pests and leaf blight, Mrs. Pei didn't believe it.
There were only a few pages about the art of flowers and trees in this book. Mrs. Pei read it through the page numbers. She felt very interesting for a while, and she was convinced by the various management methods.
The book is more about planting various fields and crops, and even draws what various crops look like.
Mrs. Pei felt the importance of this book even more! The Duan family sent this book here probably because they wanted to borrow the hand of their master to pass the book into the court and carry it forward!
Therefore, Mrs. Pei hardened her heart for the first time when faced with the pleas of her children and grandchildren. Not only did she let their mother take them away, she even sent her own to her husband without even looking at them.
Mrs. Pei came from a wealthy family and had read poetry and books since she was a child. Knowing the importance of these books to the court, she understood the importance of justice to her husband.
Pei Wenzhou looked at the book handed over by his servant and was stunned. Why was there a painting printed on the cover?
The painting is of a simple farmyard with trees, grain, chickens and dogs.
This painting is very crude. If someone who is a calligrapher saw it, they might point their noses and scold it, but it is also very expressive. Even the children in the family will know what it is when they see it.