Crossing the famine, I am a poor fish, and my descendants have to work hard

"That's also the great contribution of the Zhang family. You are all great. Our family still has some wealth now. I like children, and I like the ones you give birth to even more."

What Zhao Yuanzhen actually wants to say is that you should have more children, as long as your family can afford it. The more children you have, the better.

But she was afraid of causing trouble to her two daughters-in-law, who would think she was forcing them to have children.

"Okay, mother, we know. Just look at how you treat these little guys and you'll know that you really love them."

Zhao Yuanzhen basically granted the little ones' requests.

I give my children whatever they want and never let them down.

It can be seen that he really loves these little ones and does not discriminate between boys and girls. He loves his grandchildren equally.

They, as daughters-in-law, all saw it.

"Have Zijin, Zitian, Zian and the others gone to school today?"

"Yes, mother. Several people didn't know you were coming back today, otherwise they would have cried and refused to go to school."

Especially Zhang Zian, who missed his sister Zhang Ziyu very much and kept asking when his sister would come back.

When Zhang Ziyou is at home, he will scold him, but when he is gone, he misses him terribly. What a contradictory little guy.

"Well, Zijin will have to wait three years before taking the provincial examination."

Zijin was traveling with me and missed this year's provincial examination.

The provincial examination, metropolitan examination and palace examination are all held every three years. If you fail this year, you will have to wait three years later.

"Yes, mother, this is fine. Zijin is reckless, and it is not a good idea for him to take the imperial examination too early. He should grow up like this for a few years, and then take the examination in three years."

Zhang Zijin is fifteen years old this year. In three years, he will be eighteen years old, which is just the right time for him to take part in the provincial examination.

Zhang Zijin is a bit simple and confused, unlike his third brother Zhang Xinshuo, who has been calm and steady since childhood and is cautious and careful in his dealings with things. He would be able to gain good experience if he entered the officialdom early.

"Well, that's fine. When Zijin takes the imperial examination in three years, Xinshu will be stable by then and will be able to help Zijin well."

At the very least, Zhang Xinshuo can give Zhang Zijin good guidance on the interpersonal relationships and twists and turns in officialdom.

"Yes, with Third Brother here to know, we can feel more at ease."

"Brother and sister-in-law, rest assured, I will protect Zijin."

Zijin was his first nephew, whom he watched grow up and to whom he had a deep affection.

"Our family now has a lot of industries. We have them in Yanshan, the Yellow River, the capital, and Yangzhou Prefecture. If we want to protect these industries, we must manage them properly on the one hand, and have a strong family background to protect them well on the other hand. Therefore, we must have our own power. We must support the boys in our family who are willing to take the imperial examinations. In addition, we can secretly develop some of the idle officials who have no party affiliation to strengthen our family's background."

"Well, mother, we all know it. I am not good at studying, but I will work hard to run the family business."

"Me too. I didn't like studying since I was a child, but I will manage the family business well."

Zhang Xinbai and Zhang Xinnian have never liked reading since they were young.

Zhao Yuanzhen never forced her.

"Well, good, you two are doing a good job. Only when your family has enough money can people in the officialdom have enough confidence to be good officials."

"Mom, do you have any secret goals to develop?"

Zhang Xinshu felt that when his mother said this suddenly, she was definitely not just talking.

"Yes, I was thinking about seeing what Zihu is like. You two are cousins. Although your aunt is not very good, I will go back and examine Zihu carefully. If Zihu has good character and personality, we can help him."

They could find a connection to keep Zihu in the capital for two years, so that he can get familiar with the officialdom and handle himself, and then be transferred down to the lower levels. Moreover, with the support of their family, Zhang Zihu would have more confidence in the officialdom and would not be dragged into corruption by others.

"Well, I'll go back and talk to Zihu tomorrow and see what he thinks."

"Okay, then I'll leave this task to you."

The family chatted for a while, and when it was time for dinner, they all went to wash up and prepare for dinner.

After dinner, Zhao Yuanzhen called the whole family together and gave each person a bottle of high-quality spiritual spring water.

The few times I came back before, I was always in a hurry and didn’t have time to give the whole family some spiritual spring water.

"Xiaohui, Zhijuan, give it to Zi'an and Zitian first, and then take them to take a bath. Take two more baths to make them cleaner."

Zhao Yuanzhen had already told Lan Ying to ask the kitchen to prepare hot water.

"Yes, mother, we understand."

"Well, after they have cleaned up, they will give it to Zijin, Ziyou, and Zipei to drink, and you can drink it last."

"Okay, mother."

Zhang Zijin has moved out to live on his own.

After dividing everything up, Zhao Yuanzhen let them do whatever they wanted and went to sleep.

Zhang Xinshu went to the palace early in the morning to report to His Majesty.

Zhao Yuanzhen prepared some things to take back to the village at home.

The first thing is to give it to the two old ones.

A cart was prepared with a bottle of spiritual spring water, beef, mutton, cloth, wine, tea, jewelry, daily necessities, etc.

Qian Xiaohui and Li Zhijuan have already prepared gifts for Zhang Zijin.

They are all gifts that are suitable for one's status and are relatively precious.

Zhang Xinshu was in the palace for a long time and didn't come back until almost noon.

Zhang Xinshu reported to His Majesty in detail the situation over the past three years, as well as some situations in Yangzhou Prefecture and other prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River.

Your Majesty also likes to listen.

After reporting, Zhang Xinshu was given five days of vacation and allowed to go back to work five days later.

At the same time, his official position was promoted to Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, an official of the second rank.

Zhao Yuanzhen knew that this official position was equivalent to the modern Deputy Minister of Finance.

She raised her eyebrows. His Majesty probably knew the Zhang family's financial situation and was unwilling to embezzle the court's money, so he gave this position to Zhang Xinshu.

But the appreciation rate is fast enough.

He went directly from the fourth rank to the second rank, skipping the third rank and the third rank. This is really amazing.

It can be seen that Your Majesty relies heavily on Zhang Xinshu.

Zhao Yuanzhen did not comment on official affairs, as Zhang Xinshu knew what was going on.

So, the two of them quickly packed up and returned to the old house.

Zhang Sandao and Sun Zhang were very surprised to see Zhang Xinshu.

They haven't seen their little grandson for more than three years, since he went to work as an official in another place. They miss him very much.

He took Zhang Xinshu aside and asked him about his well-being.

Zhang Xinshu also answered every question obediently and was very docile.

Wu Erping also came over to ask about his well-being. She had heard that Zhang Xinshu was now a second-rank official. That's a second-rank official!

Although her son has become a Jinshi, His Majesty still has not granted him an official position. She can see that Zhang Zihu is very anxious, but she and Zhang Qingshan are both peasants and don't know what to do. They also have no connections, so they can only rely on Zhang Xinshuo, the child.

Zhang Xinshu also knew the purpose of coming today, and there was also Zhang Zihu.

After chatting with his grandparents, he found a reason to ask Zhang Zihu to go out for a walk.

Zhang Zihu followed his uncle Zhang Xinshu out with a happy face.

Wu Erping was also very supportive and let them go out for a walk.

Zhao Yuanzhen accompanied the two elders in saying this.

Less than an hour later, Zhang Xinshuo and Zhang Zihu came back.

Zhao Yuanzhen looked at Zhang Xinshu, and Zhang Xinshu nodded secretly.

It seems to be done.

Zhao Yuanzhen then changed the subject and started planning for Zhang Zihu's future development.

"Brother, sister-in-law, now that Zihu has become a Jinshi, if he is appointed as an official in the capital, you will probably have to buy a house for convenience."

Now that Zhang Zihu is going to join their family's big ship, Zhao Yuanzhen has to plan carefully for him and find a way to keep him in the capital.

In the capital, one must have a place to live, otherwise it would be troublesome to run back and forth every day. Moreover, people in official circles tend to put down the weak and praise the strong, and Zhang Zihu cannot be ridiculed because of the issue of housing.

When Wu Erping and Zhang Qingshan heard Zhao Yuanzhen speak, they couldn't stop laughing.

From what my second brother's wife said, there is a way to keep Zihu in the capital, that would be a great thing!

But then, when they heard about buying a house, both of them looked a little bitter.

Since Zhang Zihu didn't pass the imperial examination, they had thought about buying a house for him. But after looking at the pawnshops, they found that the ones that were too far away and too remote would not work. Even the ones that were slightly closer to the imperial city would cost over a thousand taels of silver.

Over the years, Zhang Xinyu, Zhang Sandao, and Sun Zhang have all received a fixed monthly salary, which adds up to five taels of silver a month. In addition, Zhang Xinsheng and Zhang Qingshan occasionally do odd jobs and can earn one tael of silver a month. Every summer, they can also make a lot by harvesting mushrooms.

But there are many places to spend money at home!

Zhang Zihu studied in the academy, and he needed money for tuition, writing brushes, ink, paper, food, etc.

The remaining two younger children in the family, Zimei and Zixue, also went to school to learn literacy or to learn a craft, which also amounted to an expense.

In the past few years, the family has had three new grandchildren, all of whom have started school, which is another expense.

The remaining money in the family is not enough to buy a similar house.

That day, Wu Erping and Zhang Qingshan did the math and found that there were less than 300 taels of silver in the house.

With this money, Wu Erping originally thought that he was already very rich. At least in the village, his family could be said to be the richest except for Zhao Yuanzhen's family. However, he didn't know that he couldn't even afford a decent house in the capital.

Later, Zhang Sandao and Sun Zhang knew that they did not have enough money to buy a house for Zhang Zihu, so they took out all their own pocket money and jewelry.

Wu Erping really wanted to take it, but after calculating, she felt that even if she took it, it would not be enough, so she returned it all to the old lady.

If I spend all my family savings to buy a house, what will happen to the other children in the family?

I can still eat coarse food, but the kids cannot stop studying!

They are all grandsons, we can’t favor one over the other!

Therefore, the house was not bought.

Therefore, when she heard Zhao Yuanzhen mention this matter just now, she began to feel worried again.

"Sister-in-law, to be honest with you, it's not that we don't want to buy one, it's just that houses in the capital are too expensive. We can't afford anything that's even slightly decent."

I can't afford a house anywhere, even one that's smaller and in a slightly better location.