Tea Merchants of the Song Dynasty

It was not long after the New Year, but the winter chill had not completely left. The breeze blew by, and it was still a bit chilly.

Jiang Yin walked on Wangping Street and pulled his cloak closer to prevent the cold wind from blowing in.

After Uncle Wang went to the government office, she did not look for her family tree and household registration first. Instead, she took Xiao Luo out and prepared to go to Mrs. Feng's mansion in the alley behind Wangping Street.

Mrs. Feng was an old friend of her parents, and she usually called her aunt.

Seven years ago, Mrs. Feng came to the tea plantation in Jiang's capital city and worked as a manager.

Her tea-making skills were superb, comparable to Jiang Yin's mother. Therefore, Jiang Yin would usually learn the skills of making and brewing tea from Madam Feng.

It can be said that Jiang Yin now knows how to fry or brew tea, in addition to learning it from her mother, she learned it all from Madam Feng.

Mrs. Feng is both a teacher and a mother to her.

But before she was reborn yesterday, she believed Zhang Yuanzhi's slander, said many harsh words to Mrs. Feng, and resolutely drove her away.

Jiang Yin was very upset that he was unable to stop this from happening.

After being hurt by her words, Mrs. Feng immediately left Jiang's Tea Plantation, returned to her own residence, stayed indoors, and no longer asked about her affairs.

In her previous life, even when she "got married", Mrs. Feng didn't show up, which shows how deep the hurt was.

Jiang Yin felt extremely guilty when she thought of the harsh words she said yesterday.

She couldn't understand why she believed the slander and drove Mrs. Feng away in her previous life, but she knew that she must save her in time this time.

She must apologize to Madam Feng, and if possible, she would like to ask her to come out again to help manage the many affairs of the city.

While he was thinking, Jiang Yin was already standing in front of the Feng Mansion.

The Feng Mansion is only one street away from the Jiang Mansion. The Jiang Mansion occupies half of Wangping Street, while the Feng Mansion is in the alley behind Wangping Street.

It was only the middle of the afternoon, and there were only four or five households in the alley, so it was very quiet.

Jiang Yin vaguely remembered that it was Madam Feng who asked her parents to help set up the Feng Mansion.

Although it is just a small courtyard, the front and back yards are very spacious, which is enough for Mrs. Feng to live in daily and plant some flowers and plants.

Shortly after the New Year, lanterns were hung high in front of every house, which was very festive.

But the Zhong Kui stuck on the tightly closed door of Feng Mansion looked extremely ferocious, as if he wanted to tear out Jiang Yin's soul from his previous life.

Jiang Yin closed her eyes tightly and calmed herself down. Then, she raised her hand and rubbed her brows before knocking on the door, hoping that Mrs. Feng would see her.

However, she knocked on the door for a long time, but there was no response.

"Aunt, are you there?" Jiang Yin called the door in a soft and loud voice.

She remembered that in her previous life, after Mrs. Feng left the tea plantation, she did not travel far away, but stayed at home and concentrated on making her scented tea.

She only came to find Mrs. Feng in this life, so I think it should be the same as in her previous life.

She was a little anxious. On the one hand, she was worried that something had happened to Mrs. Feng. On the other hand, she was worried that Mrs. Feng was so angry that she didn't even bother to see her.

"My lady, Aunt Feng may have gone out. How about we come back later?" Xiao Luo couldn't bear to see Jiang Yin disappointed, so she couldn't help but comfort him. "It's close anyway, so we can come back later. Or, I'll stay here and wait for Aunt Feng to come back, then I'll go and inform you."

However, Jiang Yin shook his head and said, "No need, I'll wait for my aunt here."

She turned around and sat directly on the bluestone slab at the door, determined not to stop until Mrs. Feng came back.

Turning back and looking through the wooden door, she had a hunch that Mrs. Feng must be inside, but she just didn't want to see her.

Seeing this, Xiao Luo didn't say anything, but sat beside her and accompanied her silently.

However, they waited until nightfall, but Mrs. Feng still didn't come out.

The aunt next door couldn't help but run out to persuade her: "Hey, Miss Jiang, don't wait any longer. Miss Feng is not at home. Come back next time."

Xiao Luo glanced at Jiang Yin, then quickly stood up and replied, "I know, don't worry, Auntie. We'll leave right away."

After the aunt returned to the house, she asked Jiang Yin worriedly, "Madam?"

"Alas!" Jiang Yin sighed deeply, stood up, brushed off the dust on his butt and said, "Let's go, come back tomorrow."

She was almost certain that Mrs. Feng was at home, but she just didn't want to see her.

Anyway, it was getting late today, and she still had many things to arrange when she got home. So, she couldn't wait any longer today and could only come back tomorrow.

On the way back, Jiang Yin met Uncle Wang who was looking for her with a lantern.

Uncle Wang said anxiously, "Young lady, why don't you go home earlier? It's a bit chaotic outside recently. Young lady, don't go out after dark."

"Okay, I'll go back earlier next time," Jiang Yin replied, "Don't worry, Uncle Wang, this place is just across the street from the mansion, nothing will happen."

Uncle Wang's mouth twitched slightly, and he changed the subject and said, "I've been to the government office, and nothing has changed. I'm still at the Jiang family."

Jiang Yin nodded slightly, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

This means that her household registration is in the Jiang family and she is also listed in the Jiang family’s genealogy.

As for the Zhang family's genealogy, not to mention that it has been destroyed, even if it hadn't been destroyed, it would have no other use.

She kicked the pebbles on the roadside and tilted her head to ask, "Has Uncle Wang arranged that no one else be allowed to make changes?"

She was afraid that Zhang Yuanzhi would become desperate and go to change her household registration.

"Don't worry, young lady. No one else has the ability to change the household registration." Uncle Wang laughed and explained, "In our dynasty, the household registration is divided into five levels according to the amount of property at home. Generally, the first and second levels are upper households, the third level is the middle level, and the fourth and fifth levels are lower levels. For example, if you have a hundred acres of land, you can be considered a middle level household.

The information on the household sticker is very detailed, usually including the head of the household, other family members, the amount of land and houses in the family, and the number of poultry and livestock such as cows, pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese.

Even the boundaries of the fields and the location of the houses were remembered clearly. Therefore, the household registration in the Song Dynasty was equivalent to the house deed and land deed.

In addition, only men’s names will be written on the household registration, and women are not registered. But our Jiang family is an exception, both men and women can be registered.”

"So that's how it is." Jiang Yin suddenly realized and breathed a sigh of relief.

In this case, there is really no way for others to register her. If they want to register her, they have to give her their own property.

What's more, she is a woman, and the Zhang family cannot do it for her without the government's consent.

After the household registration issue was settled, Jiang Yin went back and started looking for her household registration. This was related to the house deed and land deed, so she had to find it.

However, no matter how hard Jiang Yin looked, she couldn't find her family's household registration card.

Seeing her face turn pale, Xiao Luo said quickly, "Don't worry, my lady. Maybe it's somewhere else. The house is so big, let's take our time to look for it."