Everyone thought so. When they thought of the silkworm cocoons being sold for silk, and the white silk becoming white money, everyone's eyebrows relaxed. Although there are still many unknowns from the process of being green to going up the mountain, How much fear and fear you have to go through is a hope. Everyone has placed their vain hopes on it.
"As for news, there is something new." Shen Kaibao said.
The biggest new thing is that word has spread in the town that in order to provide famine relief this year, the prefect has made a sign. The Hangzhou Prefecture’s purchase of silk cocoons this year has been entrusted to the Famine Relief Bureau. The Silk Cocoon Shop wants to purchase silk cocoons. It was passed by the Famine Relief Bureau. It is said that the government planned to use the profits from the silk cocoons to specifically provide relief to the victims.
For this reason, various silk shops holding ministry licenses have gone to Hangzhou these days. It is said that they are going to discuss the silk cocoon market with the Famine Relief Bureau.
After hearing the news, the originally joyful atmosphere suddenly came to a standstill. Everyone looked at me and I looked at you. I didn’t know whether to be happy or scared, because I really couldn’t figure out what the news meant.
After a while, someone muttered: "Whoever collects silk is not a collector. As long as the market is good, just give him money."
There was an old man who was worried: "How can we be so peaceful? Since ancient times, whenever the officials get something from the side, we ordinary people will suffer."
These words earned a silent approval, and the crowd began to commotion uneasily. Some people sighed, and some people's faces became gloomy.
They have been tortured by all kinds of suffering and injustice in life and have very low expectations. They dare not expect any good changes. They just ask that it not get worse.
But this sudden relief project cast a gray shadow of uneasiness on everyone's expectations, and they no longer had the intention to chat.
Each family took what they bought with Shen Kaibao. The crowd dispersed in this uneasiness.
Shen Kaibao returned to the house and drank a large bowl of coarse tea - not tea, but tea made from mulberry leaves. He took out a bag from his waist and poured all kinds of copper coins inside on the table. They started counting to one, five and ten.
There is no income from "sailing a ship". The ship owner neither charges commissions nor earns the price difference. The income is free entertainment from the shops in the town and three "commissions" or gifts. For Shen Kaibao who often goes to town It's a smooth transaction.
However, he would occasionally take advantage of good opportunities to make a little money from it. This time he made a small profit by buying "glue paper". The paper-making shop in the town began to sell a new type of "glue paper". It is said to be shipped from Guangdong, so everyone calls it "Guangdong paper". The quality is better than the native paper produced by local paper workshops, but the price is only half. As soon as it was put on the market, the original native paper became unsalable.
Shen Kaibao made some money by buying "paper" on his behalf. Although the money was just a drop in the bucket, it gave him a good sign. It was just that he really couldn't understand the things about the Famine Relief Bureau - I have mixed emotions of worry and expectation in my heart.
The news that the Famine Relief Bureau was going to collect silk cocoons blew by like a gust of wind. It caused a few ripples, but was silent again. Compared with selling silk, the matter of raising silkworms is more important. Every household is busy making preparations.
.
The weather continues to get warmer, and the young leaves on the mulberry trees are now gradually growing up. The mulberry forests around the village are growing well. From a distance, they look like a piece of green brocade spread over dense layers of gray and white short fences. The originally empty rice fields
Water was added again, and farmers with hungry faces began to plant rice in the fields. The long-lost cattle also appeared. The Famine Relief Bureau loaned seeds, grain and cattle to all four villages. Seeing the green rice seedlings in the fields. Jixian Village
The villagers also breathed a sigh of relief - as long as they can grow food now, they have some hope of harvesting in the second half of the year.
At this time, the half-collapsed temple in the east end of the village that had long been in decline suddenly disappeared. Just when everyone was surprised, news soon came out: the temple property had been bought.
Already.
Not long after, masons and carpenters came. They demolished the ruined temple and built houses. The young men in the village helped with small jobs in their spare time. They made a little money - the foreman was very stingy.
Knowing that after the disaster year, everyone would have no money, they cut their wages to death.
The house was built quickly. It has a small brick courtyard with two entrances. It looks neither expensive nor cheap, a bit like a small landowner's mansion in the countryside. The villagers are watching the excitement and talking about it. They don't know who is going to be here.
Moving in - because the house was built somewhat strangely - was not up to standard.
While everyone was discussing and speculating on the owner of this sudden house, the wife of the Shen family came back.
The news immediately caused a sensation. The Shen family were originally from this Jixian village, and compared with Shen Kaibao, they were still brothers in the fifth service. This family used to live very well in the village, with several acres of mulberry land, and his wife raised silkworms.
It's okay to take action. I didn't expect that a few years ago, because I wanted to grow hair so much, I borrowed money to buy leaves. As a result, the silkworms got sick and I couldn't harvest anything. Not to mention that the land and house were taken away by Mr. Cao. I heard that the whole family was...
He sold himself into a slave and disappeared without a trace.
As long as there are people in the village who are chatting, they will always talk about "The Downfall of the Shen Family" and express their emotions. Some comments can't help but have the heart of a villain who "irritates some people but laughs at others". In short,
, Shen Da’s family is a “negative example” of the villagers’ education of restless “youngsters”.
Because Shen Kaibao and Shen Da are brothers in the "front door", everyone is reluctant to say more when it comes to Shen. However, he also feels that Shen Da's defeat is entirely his own fault. He was originally a little jealous of this cousin: he was more mature than him.
He has more money and land than him, and even his wife is much prettier than him. Moreover, Shen Da looks so cowardly and doesn't know how to discipline his wife - his wife Wang Siniang's flamboyant and frivolous attitude makes people look at her.
It's not pleasant. I deserve to be a slave now, and sometimes I feel a little happy.
Wang Siniang, who had disappeared from the village for a long time, suddenly appeared, causing all the idle people in the village to crowd the river pier to watch the excitement. As expected, it was Wang Siniang and his wife, and they were dressed decently and neatly. Although they were not silk and satin, they were all half-new and half-old.
The jacket and culottes were clean and unpatched. The boat was filled with items covered with reed mats. It looked like it had grown outside. But there were four strong men dressed as servants on the boat. It looked like they were
It's scary.
The boat docked at the river pier. Shen Dayan looked at a group of villagers gathered around, and he was still a little timid. However, Wang Siniang was generous. She called her brothers and sisters-in-law all the way, and even gave candy to children when she met them.
They were very friendly. Everyone originally wanted to see their jokes, but when they saw their behavior, they were too timid to come forward and say more.
Shen Da's homestead had long been sold to Mr. Cao, so there was no place for him in the village. When everyone was wondering where his family was going to live, the group actually went straight to the newly built house.
.Many boxes and cages were unloaded from the ship and moved in one by one.
Now the whole village was in a state of shock! Now the Shen family has become a slave! There were different opinions in the village for a while. Some people thought that the daughter of the Shen family had become a concubine and was very favored by the master's family, and her parents were also prosperous.
.The evidence is that none of the Shen family’s daughters came back.
However, in the evening, a few of the Shen family members who went in under the pretext of "helping clean up" to get a closer look soon came out with the exact news - it's not that mysterious, this house belongs to Master Shen's family. The master's family wants to be here.
He raised silkworms and reeled them. He knew that Shen was a sericulture farmer and sent him here specially.
Shen Kaibao heard that it didn't sound like anything - Shen Da's master had nothing to do but asked his slaves to go to the countryside to raise silkworms and reel silk. If a rich family wants to wear silk and satin, why do they need to raise silkworms themselves? Is it possible?
Is there any hidden secret here? The four servants who came with the ship just looked bad.
He was so wary that he didn't even say a few words when Siniang Wang came to deliver the cakes for the completion of the new house - the cakes were something he hadn't seen in almost a year, and when he took them out, the children's eyes seemed to burst out.
It's like fire. On the day Wang Siniang came back, some lucky children received candy cubes from her. It was said to be sweeter than rock candy, and it also had a sour and delicious taste. I don't know how to describe it. The grandson of the Shen family didn't
I got it, and just listening to my friends talk about it made me cry with envy.
Wang Siniang didn't care about Shen Kaibao's lukewarm attitude. After saying a few polite words, she gave the children two pieces of candy and got up and left.
Before Wang Siniang could go out, the children of the Shen family eagerly peeled off the wrappers and stuffed candies into their mouths, which made Shen Kaibao angry for a while. He cursed several times, which made his wife look very uncomfortable.
.
However, what happened next seemed to show that Wang Si’s family’s job here was indeed to raise silkworms. They also began to see their family packing up silkworm-raising equipment by the river. It’s just that the equipment was very different from the ones used in the village. The equipment had to be lightweight.
There are many beautiful ones, and there are many kinds. Just looking at them makes people feel angry - is raising silkworms for fun? Such useless fancy skills! No wonder a whole family is required to be slaves!
The topic stirred up by the return of Shen Dawang and his wife soon fell silent. After all, this is a "busy" time. The villagers not only have to go to the fields, but also pack up silkworm tools and paste "silkworm baskets". Men, women, old and old
Xiaoxiao is busy non-stop. Everyone Shen is also busy.
Originally, Shen Kaibao was a little suspicious of them, but the local land security guard didn't say anything after he came. He gradually let go of his doubts - he was still too busy with his own affairs!
Several more men and women were added to the Shen family's yard one after another. They were seen coming in and out of the yard every day, carrying water and sweeping the floor. They even bought lime and made a lime pond outside to dissolve the lime.
After the lime was dissolved, bucket after bucket was carried in to paint the house. The inside and outside were painted to look like snow caves.