Seeing off Zhu Youzhen's master and servant, Mao Yulong took his little sister back to his small study. As soon as he entered the study, he saw an old man standing there, and when he saw Mao Yulong coming in, he hurriedly bowed down and saluted: "Little Mao Ren, I have seen my nephew and young master." ”

Mao Yulong immediately took a few steps to support Mao Ren with both hands, and said with a smile: "Uncle Ren must not, wouldn't it break the kid." ”

For the peaceful and kind treatment of the young nephew, Mao Ren was infinitely useful in his heart. Especially for this nephew and young master who is only sixteen years old, he is so old and knowledgeable, and it is really rare to be stable and dignified, this is not a deliberate pretense, but it comes from the bones, which makes Mao Ren surprised and sighed.

"Have you seen my mother?"

"I've already said hello to Madame."

Invite Mao Ren to sit down. Mao Ren thanked and sat down. Mao Yulong returned to his desk, and saw that his little sister was kneeling on his chair, holding a brush and scratching wildly, a good book of Analects, and at this moment, he drew something that I don't know if it was a cat or a dog. Mao Yulong was not angry, so he slapped her with a smile, and the little sister shook her little ass in protest, but she didn't mean to move to make room for him at all.

In desperation, he had to pull a chair and sit down next to the little sister, and then said to Mao Ren: "I heard that Uncle Ren brought his uncle's handwriting this time, where is the letter, you can read it with me." ”

Mao Ren hurriedly took out a small cloth bag from his arms, put it on the table with both hands, and then said in a regular manner: "Here is the letter from the master to the young nephew, and the silver from the master to the young nephew this year, a total of one hundred taels." Then he tied: "The master said that this year is even more difficult, and he can only grieve his wife and nephew." ”

Mao Yulong took it with both hands and said gratefully: "But it makes my uncle worry about it every year, and Yulong is grateful here." ”

I think that at the beginning, my uncle Mao Wenlong raided Zhenjiang with 220 people, and achieved the most important victory of the Ming Dynasty against the Houjin at that time, laying the foundation for the opening of the town in Dongjiang, and only then did he have the power to gather 450,000 refugees from Liaodong. However, the Dongjiang Foundation Phi Island hangs overseas, far away from the Ming Dynasty, and in the face of the increasingly powerful Houjin, the situation is so critical that it can be said that it is really trembling and walking on thin ice.

And because his uncle Mao Wenlong was unruly by nature, he had many dirty things with his boss, the Shandong civil official group, and there were countless enemies in the DPRK and China, so the annual military salary, money and food were confiscated by layers of votes, and there was no one out of ten. Even this is happening. can only rely on the geographical advantage of his own Phi Dao geographical proximity to North Korea, do some business with North Korea, sell some ginseng and deer antler velvet or something, and levy some tax support from businessmen, really as he wrote to the imperial court: "Poor, bitter." ”

And his father, in fact, Mao Wenlong's uncle and brother, died in the battle of Zhenjiang, leaving a widowed mother and a young self, as well as a little sister in swaddling clothes, but fortunately, Mao Wenlong did not forget the old feelings, and every year he squeezed out a subsidy of 100 taels a year to the brothers who died in the war with him.

Mao Yulong made several military exploits, and also gave Mao Wenlong 40,000 silver for military expenses, so that Mao Wenlong took it to heart. When Mao Yulong's family entered Beijing, he was specially entrusted to his uncle, the current Shuntian Mansion Yin Shen Guangzuo to take care of.

However, Shen Guangzuo is Mao Wenlong's uncle, but he is not his cheap father's uncle, and the old lady has a strong personality and does not want to tie up with relatives who can't be beaten by these eight poles, so she didn't kick the door much. In this way, the three thousand taels of silver originally brought from Jiangnan, in this prosperous place of essence, where cold water is three points more expensive, the family's life is difficult can be imagined. has an uncle who is in dire funds every year, squeezing out a hundred taels of silver to help, so that the family can live in peace now. As for the two positions rewarded by the emperor, there is no shadow yet.

Holding his uncle Mao Wenlong's letter, Mao Yulong could only smile bitterly.

This is a very ordinary letter to the family, every month or two, as long as there is a messenger or official in Dongjiang Town who goes to Beijing on business, his uncle has to write one to himself.

This letter, between the lines, in addition to the angry complaints against the civilian clique, is full of bitterness and helplessness. Then he earnestly taught himself that he must cherish the opportunity to learn too much, study hard, pass the imperial examination in the future, and be a civil official, so as not to be like himself, although he has achieved the high position of the governor of the first grade, but he is still called by those small civil officials of the fourth or fifth grade.

Mao Wenlong has high hopes for Mao Yulong, hoping that he can be released once and again, and become a civil official himself, hoping that there will be a civilian foreign aid in the court in the future.

When she looked at the letter, her mother brought out the food from the kitchen and put it on the table, and then asked, "Is the king of letters gone?" If you don't leave, call him to eat. ”

Mao Yulong replied with a smile: "You really think he is our family, just this month, he is about to spend all our savings." ”

The mother explained: "Blame the poor child, he didn't eat anything good, it was all vegetables or something, and it didn't cost a few dollars." Then he greeted Mao Ren: "The old housekeeper is hard, hurry up and come over for dinner." Then he said apologetically: "The family relies on the uncle to help, but the coarse tea and light rice, please don't dislike it." ”

Mao Ren hurriedly humbled him, Mao Yulong put away the letter in his hand, smiled and invited Mao Ren to take a seat, but Mao Ren refused to do anything, and finally sat down.

There are only two dishes, a plate of green vegetables and tofu, a plate of white chopped chicken, which is specially prepared for Ren Bo, and a spinach soup, plus a pot of wine.

The little sister cheered, climbed directly onto the table, and reached out to grab the white chicken, and the mother was lightly afraid of hitting her little hand, and said angrily: "There are no rules, there are guests, how can you serve the table?" I'll go to the kitchen with my mother for a while, and my mother will keep delicious food for you. ”

Xiaoya immediately raised her mouth with tears in her eyes and protested to her mother: "My mother lied, every time she said that there were good things in the kitchen, but every time there was none." ”

The mother was embarrassed, and Mao Yulong's nose was sour.

One hundred taels of silver, in the future life will be worth 40,000 yuan, in this world is also a lot of money, but living in the capital, the price is expensive, and you have to provide for your own national prison envoy fee, it is also stretched, this life is more difficult, only wait for yourself to enter the national prison, wait for the two errands to come down, can get better, but this is definitely not the way to make life really better. can make the little girl have meat, and you have to think of ways to make some money.

Mao Ren hurriedly hugged Xiaoya, took the chopsticks and directly pinched the fattest chicken leg in front of her, and kissed Xiaoya's little face fiercely, and said auspicious words in her mouth: "My good girl, when I came last time, it was still a little bit old, I haven't seen it for a year in the blink of an eye, and now I am so tall, come on, eat a chicken leg for me to see?" ”

The mother said: "He can't pamper a child like this, a girl, so arrogant, how can he get used to it in the future." ”

Ren Bo said with a smile: "Madame's words are not right, as the so-called boys are poor, girls are rich, and girls are to be spoiled and spoiled." ”

This is exactly the same as Mao Yulong's usual words that pamper the little girl, and the mother can only stand there rubbing her hands and don't know what to say.

Mao Yulong stood and said to his mother: "Uncle Ren is not an outsider, our family is not a big family, and we don't pay attention to those bullshit rules, mother, you can also sit together, everyone has a meal together, it is convenient to talk." ”

Ren Bo also stood up and gave in again and again, and finally the mother had to sit down, and the family began to eat.