Bian was stunned for a moment, and only reacted after a while: "Yes, it is the daughter of my uncle's family, my cousin, she married into the Mi family of the Guangde family." Miss Zhao may not have heard of it, but this Mi family has a background in Guangde......"

Before she finished speaking, Zhao Xiu interrupted her: "Aunt doesn't need to say this, my mother is the daughter of the Guangde Mi family, and I am no stranger to the origin of the Mi family." ”

Bian was taken aback, she really didn't know that Zhao Wei and Zhao Xiu's mother's surname was Mi. Since the Tao County Commander took office, she has been quite mixed up in Fengxian, and she has not been less involved with the female relatives of the gentry and wealthy businessmen on weekdays. When everyone mentions the mother of the Zhao family's brothers and sisters, she is either called the daughter-in-law of the county duchess, or the second wife of the Zhao family, or the biological mother of the Zhao family's brother, which one will call this short-lived woman "Mi's"? Therefore, Bian really didn't know that the Zhao family, which was close at hand, was still in-law with her.

Once things start, the rest will be easy. Zhao Xiu only recently learned about the Mi family, but he didn't know the recent situation of the other Mi clansmen except for the deceased mother Mi's mother's family. The information provided by Bian is very timely to make up for this shortcoming.

The son of the Mi family married by Bian's cousin is the name of the upper and lower provinces, which happens to be the same generation as the name of Uncle Mi "Mi Duzhi". Mi Shengzhi is two years older than the latter, and is the second among his brothers. He was born in the same Jinshi in Wuchen year, his name is not obvious, and he did not pass the entrance examination, and he was directly made up for as a foreign official. At the beginning, he was a seven-grade small county magistrate in Fujian, because he was very talented in practice, his political achievements were remarkable, and he also paid great attention to uniting his superiors, colleagues and subordinates, and did not have any discord with important people, so he had a prosperous official fortune all the way. At the expiration of the three-year county order, he was promoted to a six-rank general judgment; At the end of the three-year general sentence, he was directly promoted to the fifth grade of the same knowledge. They all jumped up two levels and two levels, but they didn't encounter the slightest resistance. A child of a small local family like him, who was only born in the same jinshi, has a square personality, and is not very good at dealing with people, can rise to the rank of official so smoothly. It's a rare luck. His greatest luck may be that he has been an official in Fujian, and the governor of Fujian is just a good old man who cherishes talents, and he appreciates Mi Province very much. Escort all the way.

King Ying conspired against him and set a trap in Jiangnan to assassinate Jinshang, who was still the prince at the time, and many officials in Jiangnan were involved. The execution of the execution. At that time, the prefect of Hangzhou was very unlucky to suffer from the disaster of pond fish and was dismissed, but he was able to save his life, which can be regarded as a blessing in misfortune. At that time, Mi Shengzhi was appointed as the same governor in Fuzhou, because the evaluation for seven consecutive years was excellent, which attracted the attention of neighboring provinces, so he was transferred to Hangzhou by the Ministry of Officials to temporarily act as the prefect. Originally, after the new prefect took office, he could return to Fuzhou to continue to be a fellow governor, but after less than a year of hard work after he took office, he had already shown a very different ability from his predecessor. The officials and people of Hangzhou were reluctant to change people, so they reported to the Ministry of Officials, and the Ministry of Officials simply canceled the word "generation" on his head and made him the prefect of Hangzhou.

Look at this luck, it's not something that ordinary people can compare.

Zhang listened, tilted his head and recalled: "Provincial ...... Provincial ...... By the way, he is the descendant of my daughter-in-law's uncle's family, and he is about the son of the second or third room, so he should be a descendant. I remember when I was a child in Songjiang, I saw Mrs. Mi tell people to prepare gifts. The second grandson of Uncle He's family is one year old. At the first birthday banquet, the child's grandfather personally named him, and he called it Shengzhi. Mrs. Michaela also boasted that the name had been obtained, and ordered a number of fine muslin cloths to be sent over. Tailor clothes for your children. ”

According to this calculation, Mi Xingzhi and Mi are cousins in the next room, descendants of a great-grandfather, and they have not yet come out of five suits, and their blood relationship is not far away.

From the point of view of time, the Tongjinshi in the rice province is in the year of Wuchen. At that time, Zhao Xiu was three or four years old, and he had already returned to his hometown in Fengxian. Mi Xingzhi went to the capital to participate in the examination at this time, which happened to be when Xiao Erfang was far away from the capital, and Zhao Jue was an official in Liaodong, and Xiao Changfang's family was in Beijing on a low dispatch day. He didn't know that Mi married into the Zhao family, so naturally he wouldn't come to the door to look for relatives, let alone anyone who didn't like him and blocked his way to fame. It's just a pity that the three of them stayed in their hometown and didn't find such a relative's cunning. As for Lu's mother's family who were staying in Beijing at the time, how could they think of finding out if there was Mi's mother's family among the people who participated in the examination?

Mi Shengzhi's wife, Bian, has only one daughter under his knees, and is fourteen years old this year, and he is also a talented and beautiful person. Because he didn't have a son, he raised his daughter as a man, so the daughter of Mi Province has a lot more insight than other ladies. Mrs. Tao Bian and Tao Zhuohua admired this rice girl very much, and Zhao Xiu was curious, thinking that she would definitely meet her if she had the opportunity in the future.

Unexpectedly learned the news of their relatives, Zhang and Zhao Xiu were very surprised, and Mrs. Tao's Bian was also in a good mood, and the two families recounted their relationship with each other, and they were a little more intimate than before. Seeing that it was not too early, Bian took his daughter to say goodbye and made an appointment to visit another day. She would also immediately write a letter to her cousin to tell her husband and wife in Mi Province, the Zhao family, about the preservation of this relative.

After seeing off the guests, Zhao Xiu sat opposite his grandmother Zhang, and couldn't help but smile on his face. Zhang's eyes turned red again after laughing: "It's good this time, your mother is in the spirit of the sky, if you know that you have found her long-lost mother's family again, you will be very happy." ”

Zhao Xiu smiled: "Strictly speaking, it is not a separation, if you really have the heart to look for it, are you afraid that you will not find it?" My mother was probably because she was a little daughter-in-law in our family, and there were many elders at the top, so she thought that more things were better than less things, right? In fact, this family is a bit far away, but we need a good family now. If this Mi Governor is as Mrs. Tao said, he has a good personality and can do it, it will be a blessing for my brother and me. ”

Isn't that a blessing? The candidate to suppress Uncle Mi has been found, how good, cousins of the same generation, Mi Province is older than him, the official position is higher than him, and the Yuan match of the son of the Yuan is stronger than the one who fills the house, and it can simply overwhelm Uncle Mi in everything. He is still a decent person, and he will definitely not be able to get used to Uncle Mi's shameless deeds. If he came forward, their brothers would only have to sit and watch Uncle Mi eat turtles.

Zhao Xiu only has one thing to understand, since this uncle of Mi Province has a square personality and is not good at communicating, how does he deal with all aspects of the relationship? How can an important person not be offended, and his official fortune will be prosperous all the way?

Zhang also couldn't figure it out, and speculated: "I think his wife is capable?" Let's not think so much, if you have the heart to recognize this relative, send someone to Hangzhou to inquire. Let's also give a letter to your brother when we go back, he is now in Jiading, with a bunch of officials. Maybe someone in there will recognize your cousin. ”

Zhao Xiu agreed, went down to write a letter to Zhao Wei, and sent another family member to Hangzhou immediately. And Guangde, it is better to send someone to explore after the year. Now it is not clear whether this relative of Mi Province can walk. See if there are any others available in the Guangdemi clan in advance, and they can count some in their hearts.

When these things were done, it was getting dark. Zhao Xiu had dinner with Zhang's and was about to go back to the room to rest. But there was a mother-in-law in the front yard who came to report: "Uncle Zongfang Jing and Grandma Jing are here." Zhao Xiu had to re-tie his scattered hair and tidy up the clothes on his body. Come out to meet guests.

The Zhang family also came over, and when they saw Zhao Jing and the Shen couple, they were a little puzzled: "Is there anything you can't say tomorrow?" It's so late, and it's cold outside, so you came here and blew the wind carefully. ”

Shen smiled and said: "I originally said that my son would come again, but he was anxious, saying that the clan affairs were important, and I couldn't wait for a moment, so I had to rely on him." Zhao Jing smiled embarrassedly.

Zhao Xiu understood. Zhao Jing wanted to privately report on the affairs of the clan in the past two years. Originally, there was nothing wrong with saying it during the day, but looking at the lively Cheng dù of the Zhao family's old house today, I knew that it was difficult to have a quiet time during the day. Wouldn't it be troublesome if a foreigner came in the middle of the conversation? It's better to come over at night and report everything in one go. Zhao Jing could breathe a sigh of relief, and the Zhang family and Zhao Xiu would see their relatives and friends again the next day, and they also knew it in their hearts.

Zhang also figured this out, so he smiled and nodded and asked Zhao Jing to report it.

In the past two years, there have been no major events in the Zhao family, and several children have been born. a few boys, a few girls; Whoever marries a daughter-in-law or a daughter, and who is the in-laws; Someone in a family dies, and it is the end of life. or died in an accident, or died of illness; Then there is the clan study hosted by the inner third room, which has been open for nearly a year and has been working well.

Ethnology rented a house diagonally opposite the street where the clansmen lived, and the father and son of the three rooms came forward to be the chief and the gentleman, and invited two erudite old people to sit in charge. Children of the clan. All those who are over the age of seven and under the age of 15 must be enrolled in school. The subjects studied are the traditional Four Books and Five Classics, Poetry and Book Etiquette. In order to facilitate the study of general affairs in the future, an economic course was added to the clan to teach students basic arithmetic knowledge, economy and people's livelihood. Students start enrolling at the age of seven, learn the foundation for five years, and then decide whether to continue their studies and take the imperial examination, or change their careers to become apprentices in a six-room firm. If you decide to stay, you will have to take the exam before you turn fifteen. You don't have to be in the exam, but you must at least pass the guò county exam. If you are over the age of fifteen and you can't pass the guò county test, it's better to change careers as soon as possible.

This is the rule set by the old lady of the three rooms, and his old man thinks that the county test is the easiest and best. If a student can't pass the guò county exam after eight years of study under his teaching, then he will not be able to learn again. Finding another livelihood earlier will not delay yourself and drag down your family.

Zhang's rules are very recognized by the eight old ladies, and she also thinks that the county exam is the easiest to pass, if you really study hard, it is impossible to fail the test, and what you can't pass is rotten wood.

Zhao Xiu was noncommittal about this, and she made another suggestion: "Can you add a few more courses in ethnic studies?" I have at least added one more law, so that the children of the clan will know the provisions of the law of the country, so that they will not violate the law of the country and harm themselves because they are stupid in the future. In addition, it can also allow the students of ethnicity to move their bodies more after class, and learn some boxing, foot riding and archery, even if it is just to strengthen their bodies. The imperial examination is not easy to survive, if you don't have a good body, how can you survive the spring festival? ”

Zhao Jing hurriedly said: "This is reasonable. In the autumn of this year, many children in the clan left the field and stayed in it for nine days, and they couldn't hold it when they came out. The weather is still warm in autumn, and everyone is already like this. The weather will be colder in the spring next year, and if you don't have a good body, you may not be able to survive it. I'll go and tell the eighth old lady tomorrow that his old man will definitely agree. ”

The next clan affairs were all trivial matters, and the Zhang family and Zhao Xiu listened to it, and all of them were handed over to Zhao Jing and his wife, and they didn't plan to ask more. After all, the second room is not a sect room, and their ancestors and grandchildren only need to support Zhao Jing.

Regarding the trust between Zhang and Zhao Xiu, Zhao Jing's mood suddenly became a little heavy, and he said hesitantly: "There is something...... The nephew really didn't have the face to say...... Helplessly, the father had a life, and the nephew could only open his mouth to his uncle and grandmother. “

Zhang asked kindly, "What's wrong with your father?" ”

Zhao Jing smiled bitterly: "It's not much, he's ...... He wanted to bring his younger brother over to greet you and ask if it was convenient for you. ”

Zhao Xiu raised his eyebrows. Brother? Could it be that he was talking about Zhao Yu's youngest son, Zhao Po born to Aunt Liu sent by Xiao Changfang? (To be continued.) )