Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 24

"If this widow Xie was born in later generations and could be educated, she would be a good management talent."

Liu Jin looked at Widow Xie's few words and asked dozens of elders to line up honestly, distributing steamed buns and soup to everyone in an orderly manner, and nodded in thought.

"It's a pity that she was born in ancient times, in this era of three obediences and four virtues. Without her husband, she is doomed to be miserable for the rest of her life, even though she is always carefree, talking and laughing when she is outside."

But soon, Liu Jin shook his head regretfully.

In ancient times, a married daughter was really poured out, and everything went to her husband's family. If luck was unlucky and her husband died, it was definitely not easy to remarry, and she had to go through her husband's family. Just agree.

In order to maintain the reputation of the family, the husband's family often requires observance of chastity, that is, they cannot remarry. In the Ming Dynasty, the official support for chastity is more, and the chastity archway is enough to illustrate this point.

If you don't remarry, you will often have a lot of right and wrong. As the saying goes, there is a lot of right and wrong in front of the widow's house, and that's what it is talking about.

If you have children, and boys, then congratulations, for the sake of having boys, at least the brothers in the clan will help.

However, if the husband does not give birth to a boy, the fate will be very miserable. An ordinary low-level family is very likely to become the wife of the husband's brother, because it is very difficult to marry a daughter-in-law, and there is no reason for the husband's family to leave a bad one. use.

If the family conditions are not bad, don't think about life, because there are no males, so it is very likely that people in your husband's family will be wiped out.

The so-called "eating an extinct household", if understood literally, means that a family faces no successors, no children, and leaves some meager property. It is said that people are selfish, so the property of an extinct household becomes numerous. The villagers and their relatives and friends have "the way to get rich".

They usually unite together and come to this family to forcibly occupy property, ranging from small sewing pots and pans to real estate fields. Things no longer exist, to the point of being poor and empty.

The rhythm of this kind of punishment of people's property is a bit like the scene of being divided up by the great powers in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. It is to force people to their death, and there is no humanity at all.

Once wiped out, the widow's fate is often a dead end, and sometimes even the widow herself will forcibly occupy or sell it to a brothel.

At the end of Ming Dynasty and the beginning of Qing Dynasty, there was a talented woman named Liu Rushi, who originally lived with her husband who was a high-ranking official and loved each other, and this woman had the heart of saving the country and the people.

Unfortunately, her husband passed away, and Liu Rushi, who became a widow, hanged herself in order to protect her husband's property and belongings when faced with the windfall of her fellow countrymen who wanted to make a fortune.

The widow Xie in front of Liu Jin was considered lucky, because her husband left her a son and a daughter before his death, at least she would not be wiped out.

"Winter melon skin, why are you kicking steamed buns in your arms?"

Just as Liu Jin was meditating, Widow Xie's loud voice sounded again, and Liu Jin hurriedly looked over.

I saw Widow Xie holding a spoon in her hand, pointing at a short man with a dark complexion and said sharply.

This man's name is Dong Gua, nicknamed Dong Gua Pi, homophonic Dong Gua Pi, which means that as long as this person is good, no matter whether it is big or small, he must scrape one layer back. thing.

"No~~ nothing."

"I'm afraid that the steamed bun will be cold, so I put it in my arms."

Dong Gua was exposed by Widow Xie in front of everyone, her face flushed immediately, and she obediently took out the steamed bun in her bosom, put it in her mouth and took a bite.

"Hmph~ Don't think I don't know what you want to do."

"Brother Jin said, this steamed bun is enough, it's up to you how much you can eat, but as long as I'm here, none of you can take away a single steamed bun."

"Don't think that others don't know about your small belly. Brother Jin invites everyone to do things. He will provide 40 big boys with a meal a day. Don't be dissatisfied."

"If everyone is like you, no amount of steamed buns will be enough to eat and take."

Widow Xie didn't show Dong Gua the slightest bit of affection at all, and said very seriously.

Many people were silent when they heard Widow Xie's words, and some people quietly took out the steamed buns from their pockets.

Liu Jin actually saw someone kicking steamed buns into his bosom, but Liu Jin didn't make a sound. Everyone was terrified, and these big white flour steamed buns could only be eaten during the Chinese New Year, and they all wanted to eat them. Then take one or two home for the family to taste.

Now being yelled at by Widow Xie, everyone became more honest, eating steamed buns and drinking broth in silence.

"This widow Xie is not bad, I can give her more opportunities in the future."

Looking at the scene in front of him, Liu Jin also had a good impression of Widow Xie in his heart.

"Brother Jin, do you want to get rid of this wax gourd rind and try to take advantage of it?"

Beside Liu Jin, Zhao Erhu looked a little angry. For Dong Gua who wanted to take advantage of Liu Jin, he wished he could go up and give him a few slaps right now.

"Forget it, these are trivial matters, there is no need to make a big fuss, everyone is still very good, I thought building a house would be a troublesome thing, there are all kinds of things to be busy."

"Unexpectedly, with everyone's help, everything is in order. Uncle Zhou and Uncle Li are the commander-in-chief together. Everyone works hard and attentively. Every hand is cold in this winter."

"On the contrary, I didn't do anything except pay money. If it weren't for everyone, I really don't know where to start."

Liu Jin smiled and shook his head and said, these words came from the heart.

The people in the village are very simple. Although there are people like Dong Gua who want to take advantage of small things, they do not hide their flaws. They are very serious and enthusiastic in doing things for Liu Jin. Uncle Zhou is old, and he is afraid that everyone's work will be unreliable. Checked in for Liu Jin, and acted as the commander-in-chief on the spot.

"Brother Jin, this is what we big guys should do. In this big winter, everyone's life is hard. There is something to do, and you pay a high salary. Everyone will feel much better this winter."

"Actually, it should be all of us thanking you."

Next to Liu Jin, Uncle Zhou didn't go to line up, he came uninvited, he didn't want to take advantage of Liu Jin, he brought his own dry food.

"Huzi, go get some steamed buns for Uncle Zhou, and bring a bowl of broth."

When Liu Jin saw that Uncle Zhou was eating his dry food, he immediately slapped himself on the forehead, and hurriedly ordered Zhao Erhu to fetch steamed buns and soup for Uncle Zhou.

"Grandpa Zhou, if you work for me, there's no reason to eat your own dry food. Come here, drink the soup first to warm up your bones."

Liu Jin supported Uncle Zhou to find a rock and sit down, took the broth that Zhao Erhu brought over, and gave it to Uncle Zhou.

"This... I'll be thick-skinned once."

Uncle Zhou smiled and said that his family has already had two people. The eldest son is a mason and skilled worker, so he is naturally among them. The second son is an indicator that each household has a labor force.

Two members of the family came to help Liu Jin with things, and they could earn 90 yuan a day, plus the lunch meal for the two laborers. With this addition and subtraction, the life of Uncle Zhou's family this winter will be much easier.

Uncle Zhou volunteered to help. There was no wages, and he didn’t want to eat the meal at noon. No more rejections.

"It should be, it should be."

"If you didn't come to help, Mr. Zhou, I really don't know what to do, and I don't even know how to thank you."

Liu Jin shook his head again and again, expressing his gratitude very seriously.

"How about this, Uncle Zhou, I don't know much about building a house. I don't know what materials are needed and where to buy them. This family has an old man like a treasure."

"Uncle Zhou, just come over and help me build the house in general. I will also count your wages for you, counting as a skilled worker, 50 yuan a day. I will also have lunch with the big guys."

After thinking about it, Liu Jin felt that he still needed a helper to take care of this matter. With Uncle Zhou around, he could rest assured that he could save his energy to do other things.

"Well, how can this work? I'm old and I can't do anything at all. Why don't I come here to make a living~"

When Uncle Zhou heard this, he immediately shook his head and said.

"Okay, of course. Uncle Zhou, you are the head of our village. You are the most knowledgeable, and everyone respects you. If you are in charge of such a big matter as building a house, I am absolutely assured."

Liu Jin said with a smile: "I will leave the matter of building the house to you. You can directly ask me for the amount of silver you need. It will be autumn next year. I still have to concentrate on studying. There are many things involved in building a house." Please do your best."

"Study is indeed the most important thing. Brother Jin, if you can go to high school in one fell swoop, we won't be looked down upon in Xiahetun."

"Okay, I'll be in charge of building the house. Brother Jin, you can concentrate on your studies. You are kind and kind. You will be able to go to high school next year, and you will surely be successful in the future."

After listening to Liu Jin's words, Uncle Zhou thought for a while and finally nodded. Liu Jin even mentioned the matter of studying and taking the imperial examination, so he naturally couldn't say anything more.

In this era, the imperial examination is similar to the college entrance examination in later generations, and even more important. During the college entrance examination, everything has to make way for candidates.

It's the same now, Liu Jin will take the Qiuwei exam next year, which is a major issue related to whether he can win the exam. When it comes to this matter, other things are irrelevant.

(End of this chapter)