Five Character Scroll, Sword Roar, West Wind, Section 7, Follow-up Matters
"Ziying, this is the gift list from each family when they came to express their condolences to Uncle Lin. I asked someone to sort it out. You can take a look at it." Jia Lian, who looked tired, took a stack of paper over and said, "I think Sister Lin doesn't have much.
Regardless of all this, Miss Miaoyu only cares about eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddha's name. This thing..."
"Brother Lian, thank you for your hard work." Feng Ziying didn't read it, and it's not the right time to read it now. Logically speaking, Daiyu should read it.
In addition, we have to deal with the problem of Lin Ruhai's two concubines. Since they are not very old and have no heirs, Feng Ziying's opinion is to give a suitable gift and send them back, or let them make their own arrangements for the rest of their lives.
, Daiyu also agreed with Feng Ziying’s opinion.
"Well, it's almost done. Ziying, the weather is getting hotter and hotter. I think it's almost time to leave for Suzhou the day after tomorrow. You don't need to go. After all, you have official business to deal with. I don't think there is a need to go for my sisters.
Well, I will accompany Sister Lin back to Suzhou for burial, and then I will return to Yangzhou as soon as possible."
Lin Ruhai III passed away alone, so there were only some distant relatives left, and returning to Suzhou was just a matter of burial.
After Lin Ruhai passed away, people had been arranged there to arrange the tombstones in the cemetery, so Jia Lian and Daiyu would not stay too long, and it would not be appropriate for a large group of people to go there.
"Yeah, that's okay. I'll let Yu Chuan'er and Zijuan accompany Daiyu and Miaoyu back to Suzhou." Feng Ziying nodded.
Everyone has been exhausted these past few days. It is really not easy to hold a funeral and condolence event.
Thanks to a close relative and experienced person like Jia Lian to take the lead, people like Wang Wenyan and Wu Yaoqing were not suitable to come forward, and Feng Ziying had no experience in this area, so it was all up to Jia Lian to handle these matters smoothly.
"The other thing is the disposal of the Lin family's house, shop and fields in Yangzhou and Suzhou. Ten or twenty acres of fields and an old house were left in Suzhou, mainly for the convenience of returning home in the future to visit relatives, worship ancestors and maintain the Lin family's ancestral hall. In Yangzhou,
I just dealt with it all. This is also Uncle Lin’s opinion..."
Jia Lian was cleaning up and counting, "In total, Lin Lin has almost dealt with it. At present, the cash that has been liquidated and left by Uncle Lin is about 380,000 taels. In addition, during this time of condolences, people are coming one after another.
The gifts received continuously, including some gifts that cannot be estimated at the moment, amount to more than 70,000 taels of gold and silver, so the Lin family currently has about 450,000 taels of cash. Well, except for the money lent to the government.
Of the 150,000 taels, there are still 300,000 taels left, and there are also some antiques and antiques that Uncle Lin asked to keep, well, mainly for the two sisters Miaoyu and Daiyu..."
This was a repayment to Feng Ziying, the future son-in-law. Feng Ziying didn't have much intention to listen, but she didn't like it.
But it wasn't clear before, but this time it was real data in front of me.
Four hundred and fifty thousand taels, what is the concept?
According to the current price level, Feng Ziying calculated by herself that the purchasing power of one tael of silver would be equivalent to between 800 and 1,200 yuan when she traveled through time.
This is close to what Grandma Liu mentioned in "A Dream of Red Mansions" when she entered the Grand View Garden. The household income of a villager in the suburbs of Beijing was 20 taels of silver. However, compared with the monthly income of an ordinary maid in the Jia family, which was 500 to 1 tael of silver, it seemed a bit too much.
A little lower.
However, considering that these maids have a life-dependent relationship with the Jia family and are responsible for food, clothing, clothing and housing, and they have considerable social status as maids in the Rongning family, they can barely accept it.
Therefore, based on the calculation of one tael of silver per thousand yuan, these 450,000 taels of silver are equivalent to 450 million yuan, and the gift money received for a funeral is about 70 million yuan.
This is in line with the value of a fertile position recognized by the mainstream including court officials in this era. After all, Lin Ruhai has been in this position for seven full years.
If we think of a top salt merchant with a net worth of about two to three million yuan, it means that the people on the rich list of this era are probably equivalent to two to three billion yuan, which is about the same. After all, this is still an agricultural society, and there is no way.
Compared with the industrial age, let alone the information age.
"According to Uncle Lin's wishes, if this Miss Miaoyu is willing to marry into your Feng Mansion together with Sister Daiyu, needless to say, if she is determined not to, he said that he has discussed it with you, so there is no need to be too forced, and then he will accept it.
Of the 230,000 taels of silver, 120,000 taels were left as her dowry, and she entrusted Ziying to find a suitable family for her. Other antiques and antiques were also tried to meet her requirements... and she took out 30,000 taels as her dowry.
A dowry for my aunt to return home and settle down..."
Lin Ruhai's arrangements for Miaoyu were extremely benevolent. A concubine's daughter was almost as dowry as a legitimate daughter. This was unimaginable in other families. This was probably because Lin Ruhai felt that she owed Miaoyu and her daughter.
This point was also mentioned in Lin Ruhai's letter to Feng Ziying, but it was not as detailed as in the letter to Jia Lian.
In Lin Ruhai's view, some simple money is no longer enough to impress people like Feng Ziying. Lin Ruhai's biggest concern for Feng Ziying is that some of his personal connections and information about the Salt Envoy Si Yamen need to be handed over to Feng Ziying so that they can be used in the future.
superior.
"Well, Second Brother Lian, just follow what Uncle Lin arranged before his death. You also asked the two aunts about their attitudes...?"
"I was still a little reluctant before, but I explained the whole story to them, and also mentioned Uncle Lin's arrangements. They probably also considered that Sister Lin must observe filial piety first, and may live in the capital city, and marry after the filial piety period is over.
What happened next is that your family finally accepted this arrangement. They plan to go to Suzhou with us and never come back again." Jia Lian's arrangement was very appropriate.
"That's it." Feng Ziying also breathed a sigh of relief.
Jia Lian is the most comfortable in handling such trivial matters involving the family, and his identity is also the most suitable. He can say everything with confidence. If it were him, it would be a bit embarrassing if there was any dispute.
"Not necessarily." Jia Lian smiled mysteriously, "How to arrange it for Miss Miaoyu? You have to talk to Ziying yourself. She has a bit of a weird temperament and doesn't want to pay attention to me, so it's up to you.
You still have to tie the bell, so you have to deal with it yourself."
Although Feng Ziying met Miaoyu several times after returning to Yangzhou, she did not have the time or energy to negotiate with this girl. However, she heard from Daiyu and Xiangyun that Miaoyu was not as cold and withdrawn as she thought, and she was still willing to contact her.
, but it is certainly unrealistic to say that we can achieve the same harmony as other sisters in the Jia family. Maybe it will take some time.
"Well, I understand." Feng Ziying had a headache, but knew that this matter could not be avoided.
Lin Ruhai had talked to him before, but facing such a concubine daughter who had a stubborn and eccentric temperament but felt that she was indebted to her family, Lin Ruhai had no choice but to ask Feng Ziying to take more care of her.
"There are also the remaining belongings and accounts. With Ziying and Sister Lin's temperament, I guess I won't be able to handle this for the time being. Even Miss Miaoyu seems to have never been exposed to this kind of thing.
I'm afraid you have to take over the matter first..."
Jia Lian glanced at Feng Ziying.
Among the hundreds of thousands of taels of property, apart from the 150,000 taels lent to the Jia family, there are still 300,000 taels of gold and silver left, plus a large number of other goods, antiques, calligraphy, paintings and ornaments, all of which require a meticulous person.
Take care, don't ignore it.
And it's not suitable for an outsider like Wang Wenyan to come, not even him. But Feng Ziying hasn't married yet, so it's still a troublesome thing.
Feng Ziying is also considering this matter.
Duan Xigui is currently busy with the preparations for Haitong Silver Village and has no energy to worry about these things. He would have known that he would have brought Jin Chuan'er with him.
But for Jin Chuan'er, a maid, it would be justifiable if she assisted the lady in charge to take care of her, but it was obviously impossible to take charge of her alone.
"Then what do you think, second brother, if I let sister Bao take care of it first and ask third sister to help?" Feng Ziying thought for a while and then said.
"Sister Xue and third sister?" Jia Lian was slightly surprised, but then he thought about it and realized that there really wasn't anyone else suitable for Feng Ziying. Neither Yingchun nor Xiangyun had such a management temperament, while Baochai and Tanchun were meticulous in their work.
, although he is still young, but his status as a relative is there, and with Feng Ziying as his son-in-law, it makes sense.
"Well, second brother, what do you think?"
"I think it's okay. The Xue family's younger sister works calmly. It turns out that she is also the one who calls the shots in the Xue family. The third sister does things cleanly and neatly. It's just right for her to assist the Xue family's younger sister."
The more Jia Lian thought about it, the more appropriate it seemed to him. He smiled and gave Feng Ziying a thumbs up.
"Ziying, you still have more ideas. Fortunately, the Xue family and third sister are here. It's good to let the second sister, Shi family and fourth sister spend more time with sister Lin. Then the Xue family and the third sister will worry more about the Lin family.
We need to have a strategy for how to handle and keep accounts of the property left here, and how to deal with and spend the servants and children like the Lin family’s current servants, what should be kept and what should be taken away,..."
There is still a lot of chores left, especially in such a chaotic time, it is easiest for those naughty servants and family members in the house to take advantage of them, take advantage of the fire and run away with the property, which is to be captured later, and the property
It has long since evaporated.
So at times like this, the more sophisticated people are needed to take charge.
It's just that Baochai and Tanchun are both girls who haven't left the court, so their status is a bit of a hindrance. However, through the Lin family's existing mother-in-law and Ying'er, two capable maids serving as servants, and Feng Ziying sitting in charge and Jia Lian to help, they can barely support it.
Gotta come over.
"Ah?!" Baochai and Tanchun were sat down in a quiet room by Feng Ziying and Jia Lian. When they heard what Feng Ziying said, they were shocked and couldn't help but look at each other in disbelief.