Idle courtiers

Chapter 2 All Conflicts Are Because of Economic Interests

Andong County is located in the east of Huai'an, which is the later Lianshui County. Most of the territory is plains. A Huaihe River passes by the county seat. Although it floods every year, it also creates a fertile field.Therefore, Andong County is not bad among the eight counties in Huai'an Prefecture, and it is one of the main grain producing areas.In fact, as long as there is no flood, life in Huai'an Mansion is going well.Pizhou, Huai'an, Suqian, and Haizhou in the territory are well-known commercial cities, and with the benefits of water transportation of the Grand Canal, they can also be ranked in the top [-] among the many state capitals of the Ming Dynasty.

It's spring now, and after leaving the county, there are paddy fields filled with water everywhere, and the seedlings have been grown, and it's time to transplant them in a few days.The eyes are full of fresh green, which makes people feel happy.

Zhoujiazhuang is about fifty miles away from Andong County, and it is easy to find. You can walk directly along the official road at the north gate.This road is nothing to him who is still healthy.Thirty kilometers away on foot, it will take more than half a day.From Liaodong to Huai'an, thousands of mountains and rivers have been traveled. Are you afraid of this road?

When asking for directions, Zhou Nan asked people about the situation of Zhou's family by the way.Zhou Xiucai, the former murderer, seems to be quite famous. After all, Anton is an economically developed area, and his murder case has only happened in so many years. It's hard not to be remembered.When asked, everyone said they knew.The surname Zhou is a common surname in Andong County, and it is estimated that there are thousands of people, divided into hundreds of households.Zhoujiazhuang is one of them. The whole clan gathers in the village, and there are about a hundred people.

Zhou Xiucai's parents died early, and there is a younger brother named Zhou Yang in the family.I am 25 this year, and I have a wife named Zhou Huang.There is a son and a daughter, the daughter is Xiaolan, and the son is Xiaodou.They are 11 and nine years old.

In addition, Zhou Xiucai was only 16 years old when he was sentenced to prison.People in ancient times got married early, and he also got married back then.What is the wife's name, Yunniang? She is still a widow at home and has not returned to her mother's house.

"Widowed at home... That's right. After serving a ten-year sentence in Liaodong, there is basically no return... Now this woman is really a widow. Poor, her husband went to Liaodong when he was 16 years old. After waiting for ten years, it was hard to wait. After serving his sentence, what awaits him is the news of her husband's death." Zhou Nan touched the ashes urn hanging on his chest, and couldn't help sighing.

He goes out in the morning.By four o'clock in the afternoon, Beijing time, Ming Dynasty time Shen Shi finally reached the ground.If you act quickly, you will have time to return to the inn before the city gate is closed after dark.

There are more than 100 people, at least ten families. On weekdays, the noise of chickens and dogs is endless, and there are little kids playing in the mud everywhere.But today it was strange, the village was so quiet that no one could be seen.

Zhou Nan was feeling strange when he suddenly heard a commotion in the distance, people were scolding, people were arguing, and there was a low cry faintly coming down the wind.

He walked over looking for the direction, but saw a large drying yard at the other end of the village, and a dilapidated tile-roofed house at the other end of the drying yard.There were a lot of people gathered outside, as if the whole clan gathered in the ancestral hall to discuss matters.In ancient times, if there were problems among the people, as long as it was not a serious case such as murder, arson and robbery, most of the local clans would solve it by themselves, and if they couldn't solve it, they would report it to the county government.

Come to think of it, something must have happened in Zhoujiazhuang today, a village is negotiating.

Well, everyone from Zhoujiazhuang is here today, just in time to ask who is Zhou Xiucai's family, and hand over the ashes to them for burial, Zhou Nan thought to himself, and squeezed into the crowd.

It seemed that something important was being said in the ancestral hall, and everyone was fascinated by it, and they didn't notice a stranger squeezed in.

"Cough... hum..." came a majestic voice with phlegm, Zhou Nan looked up, and it was an old man with white hair and beard who was sitting in the right seat who made this strange sound.If the guess is correct, this person should be one of the most senior people in Zhoujiazhuang.

After coughing, the old man with white beard shouted: "Quiet, everyone is quiet, stop arguing, how can you talk if you are so noisy?" When everyone was a little quieter, he stroked his beard and said, "Mother Yun, the news of Brother Nan's death has already passed." It was brought back from Liaodong through official documents. There should be no doubts about this matter. The whole village gathered today to discuss the funeral and talk about the future."

As soon as this was said, the people in the ancestral hall, including the village below, all cried out in disorder: "Brother Nan, why did you go so young?" "Uncle, uncle." "Nephew Ah, why did you leave like this, so young, God is unfair!"

……

Zhou Nan was stunned when he heard it: The news of Zhou Xiucai's death has just been sent back to Huai'an Mansion, so fast.I was running fast all the way, but I didn't want to fall behind.That's right, during the Jiajing period, the country was peaceful, and the Ming Dynasty was at the peak of its dominance.The government official document transmission has its own postal system, through waterways and fast horses, it is much faster than my own legs.

He looked forward with great interest, and there were several old men with the same gray hair sitting in the ancestral hall, as well as a young farmer, two women and two children.The young farmer is naturally his second brother Zhou Yang, and the two children, a girl and a boy, are naturally Zhou Xiucai's niece and nephew.

As for the two women, they looked about 26 or [-] years old.One is fat and the other is thin. The fat man is as round as a national treasure, his waist is like a bucket, and his eyes are like copper bells.The thin one is full of filial piety, with a white flower on her head. Needless to say, she is Zhou Xiucai's wife, and her name is Yunniang.

Traveling to the Ming Dynasty for nearly half a year, Zhou Nan fled all the way, which can be regarded as traveling all over the world. He also has a basic understanding of this Ming Dynasty and has seen many women.To be honest, due to malnutrition in this day and age, women from ordinary peasant families are either thick and big, or as thin as reeds.Therefore, after working in the fields for a long time, his skin became dark and rough.In the past six months, he has not seen a single beautiful woman.

However, the woman named Yunniang in front of him made his eyes shine.However, Yunniang is about 1.6 meters tall and has a slim figure, which can be considered outstanding in the Ming Dynasty.Because of her work in the fields, her skin was tanned and had a healthy glow.His facial features were correct, and his watery almond eyes turned red from crying.The so-called, if you want to be pretty, three points of filial piety, this kind of beauty of hibiscus out of clear water immediately made Zhou Nan's heart skip a beat.

In a modern society with advanced information, celebrities and supermodels are on TV all day long, and he has long been immune to the so-called beauties.However, the woman in front of him still made him a little dazzled.Speaking of it, Yunniang can score more than [-] points no matter what.

"Why are you crying? Are there any rules?" The white-haired old man roared loudly, and everyone quieted down.

The white-headed old man looked at Yunniang who was wiping away tears, and said, "Yunniang, I think Brother Nan went to school at the age of ten. I have said it all, Brother Nan is the Wenqu star descending from the sky. Not to mention the master Juren, even Jinshi can win. At that time, he will be the county magistrate of the seventh rank. Not only you will enjoy the blessing, but our people with the same surname will also enjoy the glory. It’s a pity Something happened to Brother Nan, and he was sent to Liaodong... God arranged it like this, what can be done./This person is already dead, and it is useless to say anything else now. But we living people, we have to live on , you have to make plans early."

As soon as he mentioned his dead husband, Yunniang was still crying sadly at the beginning, and the crying gradually became louder.But after hearing that, she suddenly wiped her eyes, and asked softly: "Seventh Uncle, you said you plan, and what is your plan?"

Uncle Seven coughed dryly again: "Yunniang, you are 26 years old this year, and you have been married into our village for ten years. As the old saying goes, you live a hundred years. You have just started a hundred years of life, and you have just started at the age of 26. You should also plan for yourself. No, let's talk about marriage for you, remarry!"

Zhou Nan was surprised when he heard this. Women had a low status in feudal society, and there were three mountains on their heads: political power, theocratic power, and husband power.Didn't widows like Yunniang say they would be widowed at home for the rest of their lives?Seventh Uncle's consciousness is open and advanced: "This old man is open-minded."

Hearing Zhou Nan talking to himself, a young man around seventeen or eighteen years old turned his head to look at him, with a sneer on his lips, and said in a low voice, "It's not about the five acres of land that Tan Yunniang has. Drive her back to her mother's house."

Sure enough, Uncle Qi said again: "As for the five acres of land that Brother Nan gave you, since you want to remarry, you can return it to Zhou Yang, the second son of the Zhou family. Of course, our old Zhou family can't treat you badly. When the time comes, you My uncle said that he is willing to give you a dowry of two taels of silver, so I can't let you be wronged."

"Oh, that's how it is." Zhou Nan nodded. He was wearing a white military cap with soft brims, which was the kind that Li Zicheng wore in the last years of Chongzhen, which covered his head and face tightly.Of course, this cotton hat should have passed through a few months, and the wind and dust of tens of thousands of miles had already turned gray and black.

He suddenly realized, and thought: So it's a drama to seize the birth!

In ancient times, women had no economic and social status and were completely dependent on men for survival.Once the husband dies, he loses his support.If you have a son, you can still inherit the family business.If there are only daughters, or if there is nothing under the knees, the family property will be snatched by the husband's family.Born under the pressure of the clan power in the three mountains, a weak woman is powerless to resist.

As far as Zhou Nan knew, although Huai'an Mansion belonged to the north geographically, it had a mild climate.The rivers in the territory are vertical and horizontal, but it is the main agricultural production area.Coupled with the fact that the Huaihe River brings a large amount of soil from the upper reaches every year, the land is very fertile.Unlike wheat growing in the Central Plains, this is the main rice producing area.For now, every mu of good paddy fields is worth five taels of silver.The five mu of land Yunniang has is worth 25 taels. No wonder her husband's family is jealous and wants to send her off with a dowry of two taels of silver.As far as the current price of silver is concerned, two taels of silver, which is more than 1000 yuan in later generations, Zhou Xiucai's younger brother's family is easy to calculate.

"It's such an old-fashioned plot!" Zhou Nan shook his head, "Almost every time-travel novel will write such a story, and readers are tired of it."

Hearing what Uncle Qi said, everyone was silent, and the young farmer who had just talked to Zhou Nan turned his head away hastily.

On the other end, Yunniang said softly: "Seventh uncle, uncle, Yunniang's life is miserable. Since she married into Zhou's family, she has not been able to give birth to a son and a half for Mr. Zhou. However, Mr. Xiang was also a famous scholar before. Yunniang Since entering the Zhou family's family, she has been fascinated by her ears and eyes, and she has heard a lot of words from the sages, and she also understands the principles of life. As a wife, you should stick to it until the end. Yunniang is willing to wear filial piety at home for the rest of her life, and keep festivals for her husband."

Seventh Uncle was stunned: "You want to keep a lifetime festival for Brother Nan?"

Everyone hummed and whispered. They had heard about the death of a husband and a widow for a lifetime, but they had never seen it before.Such things as chastity are the affairs of the wives of big men and scholars. They are powerful and powerful, and after the death of a man, they live on rent and food, and live comfortably for the rest of their lives.We poor people are struggling to live, and we can't talk about morality and integrity.Can a woman make a living by farming when her man dies and she lacks labor force?

Therefore, within a radius of hundreds of miles, every woman who has lost a man will find another family as expected.In fact, the economic foundation determines the ideology, and people have to live before they can talk about morality and etiquette.

Having said that, the government ruled the world with virtue, and on the scene, everyone encouraged women to observe chastity, and even introduced a policy.If a widow can keep the festival for her dead husband for 20 years, the whole family can be exempted from taxes and corvee, and a chastity memorial arch will be set up after death.

What Yun Niang said was strong and reasonable, if she insisted on guarding, no one would dare to say anything.

Seeing that the ten mu of land was hopeless, Zhou Yang's wife, a woman as fat as a panda, jumped up, pointed at Yun Niang and scolded: "Little whore, you speak better than you sing, and you have to be chaste. You are a chaste woman. Don’t think that the old lady is blind. Brother Nan will be there for ten years. You can’t stand the itching of a little X. You show your face outside all day, and the men in the village look at you straight. You little whore not only doesn't know how to avoid it, but also flirts with people. If you don't get out, the entire Zhou family will follow you and shame you."

Hearing her sister-in-law's vicious scolding, Yunniang's eyes turned red.But there was no evasion in his eyes: "Auntie, since Xianggong was sent to Liaodong, I have been farming the fields by myself for the past ten years. I don’t pay much, and every year I bear the bulk of the government’s taxes. If Yunniang didn’t go to the fields, would she still starve to death at home? The slightest immorality?"

Zhou Yang's wife's maiden name is Huang, and her single name is Ci, and everyone calls her Cigu on weekdays.

It can't be seen that this Yunniang is also a person who can speak, with softness and strength.Not only was he well-founded, but he also alluded to the many difficulties that the uncle's family had made for her in the past ten years.

Thinking of the grievances she suffered all these years, Yunniang's voice choked up, and tears rolled down her face: "Yunniang was born as a member of Zhou's family, and died as a ghost of Zhou's family. She will never leave Zhou's village."

Cigu was furious and shouted loudly, while her husband Zhou Yang stood aside with a sullen face and did not speak.

"It's hard for an upright official to decide on housework, it's pitiful." Zhou Nan couldn't help sighing slightly. Anyway, this matter has nothing to do with him. He is just a black household with no status now. It is better to have less than one more thing. Let's see it first.I just don't know, who should Zhou Xiucai's ashes be given to, his mother, brother or wife?
It seems that this matter of the clansman oppressing the widow to seize the childbirth has to be quarreled, and it is really annoying not knowing when it will end.

"It's hard for an upright official to decide on housework. The matter is very clear." Hearing this, the young man next to him turned his head to look at Zhou Nan.

"How to say?" Zhou Nan asked curiously.

(End of this chapter)