The winter solstice in the eleventh year of Yongle, the winter solstice day in ancient times, the winter solstice, New Year's Day, and Halloween (the emperor's birthday) are collectively called the three major festivals.

Xing's mother picked up Xing Xiuyan and gave Jia Cong a cotton coat, Xing Xiuyan brought it into the house lukewarmly, Jia Cong smiled: "Where is your field?" Leased or owned? ”

"Originally, it was rented and then rented to others." Xing Xiuyan pursed her lips and said.

This situation is very common, and the landlord rents the land to the tenants, and the tenants can sell it or hire people to plant it, which is called the tenant farmer economy.

"At present, there is no poll tax, and the land is apportioned into the mu, and after the Suzhou Mansion has passed, it is bought, and the tax is calculated according to the mu."

"Can my sister take me to see it?" Jia Cong said, he didn't want to waste time when he came to Shengze, he went to Yangzhou Panxia Workshop, and when he came to Suzhou, he wanted to be a "liao master (foreign capitalist)", by the way, he could bring up the Xing family, but he had to see if they were reliable.

Xing Xiu's mouth opened lightly, and said strangely: "I don't go to that place much, they are all poor peasants, your aunt and I usually just take care of the silkworm room, they send mulberry leaves, cotton, and sometimes just weave cloth, for fear of soiling you." ”

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid." Jia Cong said he didn't mind.

Eating at the table, Xing Zhong smiled and said: "My sister has entered the house, everyone is a family, nephew don't be polite, just like your own family." Well...... Xiuyan, has the cold picture been drawn? ”

"It's painted." Xing Xiuyan said with a smile and told him about taking Jia Cong out for a walk.

"My nephew will also paint one, and I will go after I finish it." Xing Zhong and his family did not offend Jia Cong in front of him.

"Okay." Jia Cong painted a picture after dinner, Xing Xiuyan took him out, and Xing's mother pondered: "It's still a family, I haven't seen your sister in so many years." ”

"It's not a long way to go." Xing Zhong turned his head and smoked a dry cigarette.

"It's not that the mountains are high and the roads are far, it's that the fate is deep and shallow."

"What do you mother-in-law know?" Xing Zhong snorted, and Xing's mother sneered: "Do you also want to send your daughter in?" Have a niece as a daughter-in-law? Our ladies are light, but we can recognize a few ...... in big characters."

"Isn't it good? This little nephew is not only provoking people, but the etiquette is also thoughtful, but he is a talented person in Shuntianfu, who has been examined, does not worry about food, does not worry about wearing, no matter how deep the Houmen is, it is not more than six feet deep. Xing Zhong made up his mind, but he didn't have a bottom, he didn't know how Jia Cong would deal with it next.

"Since it is a show of talent and a public husband, and he will make a fortune by the imperial examination in the future, those Hanlin idle officials and people who fly in the sky, look at the Jiang family of Rugao, the Huating family, and the Fang family of Tongcheng, which is not their respective son-in-law's family? Officials protect each other, form alliances and marry, and people look up to our daughter? Xing Mu rolled her eyes and spit out the jujube benevolence.

Xing Zhong was said to be unhappy, and after thinking about it, his eyes suddenly lit up and said, "Just say no to my sister-in-law?" She was a mother-in-law and had no biological children, and her little nephew Ruoguo was in high school at that time. How could she not count on a place to lean on? The niece is a daughter-in-law, and it is also good for her to be close to each other, isn't it? ”

"But they are smaller than our daughters."

"It's not a thing, female junior, hug gold bricks, the smaller you hug, the more gold bricks you hold, hehe."

……

The cousin and brother took the boat rocked by the two and entered the pengnei, Sun Fu and Long Aotian stood outside, and Jia Cong asked, "How is the letter from Mudu and Fucheng?" ”

"Second Master Lian and Miss Lin of Mudu received the letter. When I sent it, I was about to go back, and I had already passed the Hushu banknote pass. Sun Fu replied, Mudu is just north of Shengze, Wujiang and Wu County are adjacent to each other, and they can be reached by boat.

He also said: "Second Master Lian told Master Cong to go back early, don't be greedy outside." ”

Long Aotian's voice was like thunder: "The letter from Suzhou Fucheng was sent by me, and the road is far away, and I haven't replied yet." ”

Jia Cong nodded, Xing Xiuyan sat quietly and elegantly on the cushion under the wooden wall, the old beige skirt covered the bow shoes, a pair of plain hands held an oil umbrella, her jade fingers were slender and white, because Jiangnan silkworm raising, Suzhou embroidery is very particular, embroidery women can not do rough work, be sure to maintain their hands well, one silkworm can not be stained with smoke and other smells, silkworm raising, hands should be clean, the second Suzhou embroidery custom has always been ten fingers do not touch the spring water, for which Suzhou embroidery is well-known all over the world. However, Xiuyan also went to the kitchen, and he couldn't make the famous Su embroidery.

"Miss Lin? One of your cousins again? Xing Xiuyan said lightly.

"I am also related by blood, Sister Lin's mother is my aunt, married to the old man of Yangzhou Salt Patrol Imperial History, the former son died of illness, and his ancestral home is in Mudu. We went south to ...... for this" Jia Cong looked at her clothes: "Come back later, why don't we go to the cloth shop and the silk shop to pick up some things?" ”

Xing Xiuyan said reservedly: "No, isn't that riding a donkey to find a donkey?" I have raw silk and looms at home, so I don't need to wear them so well. ”

Seeing that she didn't apply powder and her clothes were shabby, she just sat there, the boat floated over one small bridge after another in the south of the Yangtze River, drowning the crowd, but the beauty couldn't hide it, and there was detachment in the beauty. Jia Cong knew that the real situation might not be the case, it was because of the four walls of the family and the bleak money, and she didn't break her, look at Xing Zhong and Xing's mother these days, they are not the kind of people who are very snobbish, but they are a bit of a philistine, after all, they are small citizens, who will not care, so Jia Cong's idea of pulling them and then accepting them as Shengze's agents naturally did not refuse.

His focus this time was not to open a bookstore in Shengze, Jia Cong learned from the historical materials of the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as the personal experience of Dashun Jiangnan, that capitalists are very popular in Jiangnan, if they have a larger Zhuangzi, fish and shrimp, cattle and sheep, cotton, mulberry trees...... In ancient times, dung was money, and this kind of economy was stable, and there were not a few wealthy businessmen who did this.

Get off the boat, enter a mulberry forest, the terrain is a vast plain, there are fewer hills, the mulberry leaves are bare in winter, the branches are swaying alone, the mulberry tree planting is also very particular, the distance, the road (dung road), the water source, four or five Xingjia tenants are also transported by boat, back and forth to carry fertilizer, in the Jiangnan town, the location of manure production is fixed, one town and another town are closely connected, the distance is between several miles, more than ten miles.

Xing Xiuyan walked on the ridge road, stretched out her hand to point at him, Jia Cong stared at her feet: "Sister Xing is not bound to her feet?" ”

"There are not many folk women who bind their feet, so they have to do work, to be honest, foot binding for Confucianism, there are suitable, and there are contradictions, literati prefer the kind of three-inch golden lotus that can't see the light, and you too?" Xing Xiuyan didn't mind and turned around.

"No, I think nature is more beautiful." The two walked for a while, and saw the tenants of the Xing family in the forest and another group of people arguing, there were more than a dozen people in that wave, led by silk and satin, dressed decently, and at first glance it was a person similar to a steward of a large family, Xing Xiuyan frowned unhappily, Jia Cong said: "I heard it that night, Jingjia Chang said that your family is next to the Pi family, since the Pi family is a famous family in Huating, how did you come to Wujiang?" ”

"This is a common thing, famous families, huge clans, Wujiang and Huating are the same clan, their family has been out of Hanlin for generations, and they have also produced Taishi, there are hundreds of thousands of acres of land, scholars do not have to pay taxes, I don't know how many people put the land in their names, tax evasion...... This person is the steward of Wujiang's family, and he has quarreled with my tenant several times because of water problems. Xing Xiuyan twisted, lowered his head and said helplessly: "That Duke Zu is also a member of the Wujiang family." ”

Should come, will always come, Jia Cong smiled indifferently: "Why is there a disaster everywhere I go?" People say I'm a celestial star, and there's a reason. ”