The Fusong brothers discovered the changes in the Zhang family without asking around.
Tongcheng is a thousand-year-old city. They came here and planned to buy some earthen rituals to go back to.
There is a local tea called "Jiaoyuan Tea", also called Tongcheng Xiaohua, which has the fragrance of orchids and was once a tribute from the previous dynasty.
This tea was picked after Qingming Festival and before Grain Rain. This year’s new tea has already come out.
The Fusong brothers plan to buy some back this time.
It was originally planned that Zhang Tinglu would take them to visit the owner of the tea garden today, but it was temporarily replaced by Zhang Ruolin and Zhang Liuye.
"Third uncle is sick. It's time for sixth uncle to come with me to keep him company..."
Zhang Ruolin said.
Fusong listened with concern and said: "I just heard about this. I should go to see the doctor, but I have invited a doctor. I wonder how the third master's condition is?"
The person who hosted the banquet the day before yesterday was fine. Does this mean he is sick?
Fusong was suspicious. If he was afraid of delaying his preparation for the exam, he could just put it bluntly. There were so many people in the Zhang family and there was no need to escape from illness.
Zhang Ruolin's eyebrows were filled with worry and he said: "I asked the doctor this morning, and he said he wanted me to rest quietly for a few days."
Yesterday morning, the division of labor was fine. After that, the third uncle stayed behind. I don’t know what the elders said. After returning, the third uncle was very anxious. He was already bedridden this morning. He got the news. When he went to see it, his throat was already hurt.
It's hard to talk.
Seeing Zhang Ruolin like this, Fusong knew that he was really sick.
He nodded and said, "It's time to take a good rest."
Otherwise, you will not be able to withstand the hardships of the journey.
During the August Provincial Examination, you are only allowed to wear single clothes. If you are in poor health, you will not be able to endure the hardship of the Provincial Examination.
After visiting the owner of the pepper garden and ordering fifty pounds of new tea, the group was planning to go to the tea garden when a steward from the Zhang family came over early to look for Zhang Ruolin.
Zhang Ruolin complained to Fusong and others and went back with the steward.
Zhang Liuye explained to Brother Fusong: "The third brother is going to Beijing to take the exam. Yesterday, he handed over the general affairs of the family, so my father asked Dalang to take charge of it."
Fusong and the others didn't ask any more questions, and continued to visit the tea garden, and then went to an old wine shop in the city.
There are old wines brewed with ancient recipes.
They ordered ten altars and planned to take them with them on their return trip.
Mr. Zhang Liu accompanied them and watched them purchase, and said in shock: "There are only these few good things in Tongcheng. You all bought them by yourself. Father and mother will not be able to prepare things when the time comes."
When the in-laws come over and leave, the Zhang family must also prepare earthly rituals.
Fusong said: "It's just a small matter, don't bother the elders."
Mr. Zhang Liu thought for a while and said: "Then I will discuss with Ruolin later and see what else I can prepare for you. Don't be too heavy-handed. The local pens in Tongcheng are also good. For other things, it depends on Fucheng. There is a county mat.
It’s not bad, it just comes in handy.”
Before Fuming came out, he wanted to gain more knowledge, so he asked: "Brother Zhang Liu, how far is Tongcheng from the Yangtze River? How far is it from Chaohu and Wuhu?"
Mr. Zhang Liu said: "Going to the riverside is about the same as going to Chaohu, more than a hundred miles away. It is farther away from Wuhu, four hundred miles away."
It was farther than expected, and Fu Ming immediately put aside his curiosity.
They went south along the canal and saw a lot along the way, so there was no need to go to Chaohu Lake.
Mr. Zhang Liu continued: "Sturgeon Town in the south of Tongcheng is rich in sturgeon, but it is out of season. It is best to eat it in February. However, there are many fishermen there. It is the time to eat shad now. We will spend it tomorrow.
Someone go over and bring some buckets back."
Fusong shook his head and said: "There is no need to mobilize troops. I already tasted it when I got off the boat in Jiangning. It is indeed delicious."
Fu Ming nodded and said: "Yes, yes, it is fresh, but there are many thorns..."
The group of people wandered out for half a day and then returned to Zhang Garden.
Zhang Ruolin took the residence report sent by the county government, which mentioned the news of the prince's knighthood.
"Uncle, the Ninth Prince has been knighted..."
Zhang Ruolin said and handed the residence newspaper to Fusong.
Fusong was a little surprised and hurriedly took it. He was startled when he saw the words "Emperor Ninth Son Feng Duoluobele".
Zhuliang and Fuming also stood behind him, leaning forward to take a look.
Seeing the mediocre reactions of these people, Zhang Ruolin was a little puzzled.
Dorobele, the third-ranked member of the clan, isn’t this worthy of joy?
Fusong explained: "The Prince's Mansion was originally built in accordance with the regulations of the Dorobele Mansion, and the staff were also arranged in accordance with the regulations of the Dorobele Mansion."
Therefore, this knighthood level is also expected.
Fu Ming smiled and said: "Brother's third grade will have to wait for a few years..."
Zhang Liuye has been in the capital for more than ten years. He lives in the imperial city and knows some news about the prince's mansion. He said: "In this way, if the ninth prince is granted the title of county prince this time, my elder brother will be directly promoted to the prince's palace official?"
Fu Ming nodded and said: "As long as Master Jiu nods, it will be fine. This is a subordinate officer. There is no need for the court to appoint someone. Master Jiu can directly decide on the candidate."
Zhang Liuye had envy on his face and said: "According to the older generation's clan rules, it's only a matter of time before this prince is crowned king. It's only a matter of time before my brother is a third-rank official."
The Zhang family is also a member of the officialdom, and many of their in-laws have served as officials. Naturally, they know that above the officialdom, the fifth rank in the local area and the third rank in the capital are barriers.
Many people cannot get over it in their lifetime, but as long as they get over it, their future will be bright.
Fu Song was only nineteen years old, but he was already a fourth-rank official. It was so easy to get a third-rank official, which was really embarrassing.
Fu Song put down the newspaper and asked the boy to dig into his luggage and find a package of Korean ginseng and a package of dendrobium.
Shu Shu brought these to them, in case they were not comfortable on the road, so she brought several copies with her.
The brothers did not have lunch outside, but came back in the morning to visit the doctor.
Regardless of whether Zhang Tinglu was close to her or not, he had been accompanying the three brothers in the past few days and had fulfilled their friendship as landlords. Now that he was sick, it was hard to pretend that he didn't know.
The group of people followed Zhang Ruolin and went to Master Zhang's yard.
After staying with the Zhang family for a few days, the Fusong brothers learned that the third grandmother of the Zhang family was also the daughter of the Yao family.
The Yao family moved to Tongcheng at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, earlier than the Zhang family, and the population was densely populated.
It's just that the third grandma and Mrs. Yao are not from the same team, and they have been released for the fifth time.
At this time, when I heard that the guests had arrived, Grandma Zhang San took her eldest son out to greet the guests.
Among the female relatives of the Zhang family, this one has the most beautiful appearance. She has given birth to three children. The eldest daughter is already in her teens, but she looks like she is in her twenties.
She lowered her head to meet everyone, and then pushed her son forward to entertain the guests.
The eldest son of the third room, who was no more than six or seven years old, looked like an eldest man, greeted all the elders, and then led everyone to Mr. Zhang's dormitory.
There were differences between men and women, so Grandma Zhang San helped the girl and went down to prepare tea.
Mr. Zhang was awake, sitting and drinking medicine. His face was sallow and his eyes were blue and black.
Seeing Brother Fusong come in, he put down the medicine bowl and tried to get up, but his face changed, revealing a look of pain.
Seeing this, Fusong hurriedly stepped forward to hold him down and said, "You are not an outsider, so you should sit down."
Mr. Zhang sat down again, changed his position, and said shamefully: "We agreed to go out with my brother, but we broke the appointment."
Not only did he look ugly, his voice was hoarse as well.
Fu Song said: "I just wanted to see the tea garden. I've already been there."
Seeing that Mr. Zhang was in low spirits and struggling to speak, and it was not the time for gossip, Fu Song greeted him, left the Korean ginseng and Dendrobium behind, and took Zhu Liang and Fu Ming back to the guest house.
Zhang Ruolin was called away again, and Zhang Liuye sent Fu Song and others back to the guest house.
Fu Ming pulled him to a quiet place and said, "Brother Zhang Liu, what's going on? Why is it so weird today? Is it the Zhuangtian guy who has caused other troubles?"
If that were the case, it would be as if the three brothers were the cause of trouble.
Mr. Zhang fell ill in a hurry, and the housekeeper Zhang Ruolin also took over the job in a hurry, so the stewards below him were like a headless fly and kept looking for someone.
Although Zhang Liuye and Fu Ming had only known each other for a few days, they were similar in age and could talk to each other, so they did not hide it from him and told him about the early division of property in the family.
Fu Ming was dumbfounded and said: "Is this the industry?"
Mr. Zhang Liu nodded and said: "Yes, we are divided equally. We six brothers, each of us has ten hectares..."
At this point, he paused and sighed: "Really speaking, it shouldn't be divided like this. According to the old-school method of division here in Tongcheng, if the eldest grandson wants a share, it should be divided according to seven heads, but the eldest brother has already done it
When I got to Xiaojiuqing and established a family, these properties were not necessary. My father divided them according to the rules of the law. My eldest brother was not here, and Ruolin was kind and didn't care about these many things."
Because Mr. Zhang mentioned in front of everyone that it was for six people, Mr. Zhang Liu felt that his parents didn't want to talk to him about this and were afraid of making a bad appearance, so they divided it into six parts.
Mr. Zhang Liu was the youngest and a concubine, so he had no room to speak, but he knew in his heart that his eldest nephew was at a disadvantage.
It was just that this involved Mr. Zhang's actions and it was hard to say directly, so he vaguely blamed it on Zhang Ying.
The corners of Fu Ming's mouth twitched and he was speechless.
Zhang Ying, a great scholar, had a reputation for being incorruptible when he was in the capital, but he never expected that he would be so incorruptible.
After working as an official for a lifetime, I have accumulated more than a hundred hectares of land!
The dignified Prime Minister and the Young Master were allotted only ten hectares of land when the family was divided!
It is said that banner people don’t save money, so why does he think the common people don’t save much money either?
No wonder Sanjie Zhang’s husband, who had been an official for several generations before him, was defeated as soon as he said he was defeated, without even a buffer.
At first, I didn’t think that the five hectares of Zhuangtian was valuable, but now that I know that this amount is already half of the Zhang family’s son’s share of the property, it is really not a small amount. After all, in addition to the Zhuangtian, there are also furniture, clothing materials, jewelry, etc.
.
After Mr. Zhang Liu left, Fu Ming told Fu Song and Zhu Liang about the distribution of the Zhang family's property and the Zhang family's fortune.
"Is this the difference between capital officials and local officials? Capital officials have no money. The total property of the Zhang family is 120 hectares of land, which was added one after another over a period of thirty years. No wonder the previous five hectares of Zhuangtian caused trouble.
Such a big movement..."
Fu Ming sighed.
Fusong thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "The more a family like the Zhang family grows up later, the smaller the proportion of the family assets will be the land and residence, at most 20-30%. The bulk should still be in gold, silver and antiques.
"
For example, here in Dutong Mansion, the farm, house and shop account for 50% of the family property. This is because it belongs to a noble family and has been added to by generations.
For a family like the Zhang family with little ancestral property, the proportion of land and houses should be quite high. Even if they have money, they don't have that much land to buy.
The local area is mostly composed of gentry families, the land is concentrated, and there are few people moving around.
Zhu Liang said: "But isn't it said outside that Zhang Xiang doesn't like antique calligraphy and painting and has saved more to buy land?"
Fusong said: "That's what people say. If you really spend all your savings over the years to buy land, you may even be able to buy thousands of hectares of fertile land. But if that happens, what kind of good reputation will it have if it spreads to the capital? No one else will care about you.
Is the silver left over from the normal "three festivals and two lives"? It should only be regarded as greedy. Everyone knows that one grade of silver in the imperial court is one hundred and eighty taels of silver and one hundred and eighty dendrobium of rice..."
For a family like the Zhang family, reputation is more important than property.
In addition to the land on the surface, the bulk should be gold, silver, antiques and books.
No one can say whether the officialdom will rise or fall.
In the officialdom, if you make a wrong move, many people will lose their citizenship, and the property cannot be guaranteed for a hundred years.
These hidden assets are the family’s hidden backhand.
Fu Ming said: "I'm afraid even the Zhang family has hidden the truth, and the Zhang family will make a joke just because of a few hectares of makeup fields..."
Fusong said: "After all, it is other people's business. Although we have caught up, we can just pretend we don't know..."
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