Quick Wear: Passerby A's Daily Life of Eating Watermelons

After Grandpa sat down, Grandpa Jiang poured him a cup of tea. Grandpa took a sip and said, "It's like this. Jiang Ze passed the exam and became a scholar. He is also the only scholar in our village in recent decades. This is also an honor for our village. Several of us elders have discussed it privately and want to erect a monument in the center of our village. On the one hand, it is to reward Jiang Ze, and on the other hand, it is also an encouragement to the younger generations in the village."

When Jiang's father was thinking about it and weighing the pros and cons, Jiang Ze stepped forward and said, "Grandpa, forget it. I am only a scholar at the moment. It would be a bit too ostentatious to do this. It would also affect my reputation. If I can make further progress in the future, it won't be too late to erect this monument."

Muramasa wanted to say something else, but the grandfather waved his hand to stop him: "Xiao Ze, I'll listen to you, but you've won the top spot in the exam, which is a great honor for the family. When we offer sacrifices to the ancestors, we can erect a monument in front of the ancestral hall to inform the ancestors. This should be no problem, and it won't affect you, right?"

It was Old Master Jiang who spoke this time. When the old man made a suggestion, he almost couldn't hold back. When he mentioned about erecting a monument in front of the ancestors, Old Master Jiang became very excited: "Okay, this is fine. It won't affect anything." Seeing that his grandfather agreed, Jiang Ze could only nod in agreement. At least this was not very ostentatious. Besides, who doesn't worship their ancestors?

After the appetizer, the most important business was not mentioned. The old man pondered for a long time before slowly speaking: "There is one more thing. Can Jiang Ze be exempted from some land taxes after passing the exam? On behalf of the village, I would like to ask if you have any arrangements for this."

The imperial court had a preferential policy that allowed scholars to be exempted from land taxes of fifty to eighty acres, so people in the same village were willing to register their land under the name of the scholar and become his tenants. In addition, two people were exempted from corvée and capitation tax, which meant that you didn't have to dig canals, repair river embankments, or build other fortifications.

Most of the scholars' income comes from these two items. Jiang Ze thought for a while and said, "Old Master, 60 acres is enough for me. We have about 20 acres of good farmland. I want to keep these 20 acres for my family, and the remaining 40 acres for the village to arrange. It would be best if we give priority to those in need."

After Jiang Ze finished speaking, he was stopped by Old Man Jiang about what his eldest and second uncles wanted to say. The old man nodded with satisfaction and praised Jiang Ze for knowing the pros and cons. Of course, Jiang Ze could not divide up any of the land, as his own land was enough to fill up the share. However, this would not be as good as dividing up the land to help the widows and orphans, and the share he divided up did not have nothing to do with him. He also had to pay rent to him every year, but it was a little less than the taxes paid by the government.

Reputation was still very important in that era. It was not like in later generations where you could say whatever you wanted. After the old man and the village elders left, the eldest and second uncles were a little indignant. As a result, they were taught a lesson by old man Jiang. Jiang Ze said something to his family and went out. He went to visit his teacher in the village school.

After Jiang Ze left, the topic turned to Jiang Yue. Two major events had happened in the past few years. One was that Jiang Yue did not plan to get married, and the other was that Jiang Zezhong was a scholar. The protagonist of the other event was gone, and the remaining Jiang Yue was of course surrounded by her aunt, second aunt and other relatives. They all advised Jiang Yue not to be impulsive. It was okay to establish a female household, but not to not get married. When she was older, she would have no children to rely on, and no one would call a doctor if she got sick, and so on.

Jiang Yue listened carefully and accepted it humbly, but it was unknown whether she would change or not. Jiang Yue took out some candy and handed it to her second uncle's little cousin who had been staring at her. The little guy was clean and not as dirty as other children. He drooled when he saw the candy, but he still looked at his second aunt and waited for her to nod before eating.

"Xiao Zhou is really sensible. Second aunt, you've taught him so well." After saying that, Jiang Yue took out some candies and handed them to a group of children who had gathered around.

"He is sensible and I didn't teach him much." The second aunt smiled modestly, not noticing that the eldest aunt next to her rolled her eyes. How dare she say she didn't teach him much? I really don't know who is the person who disciplines the child so strictly every day.

The family was chatting in the yard. When Jiang Ze came back, the women in the family started cooking. The men gathered around Jiang Ze to chat and asked him to see if there were any children in the family who were suitable for studying. They were also excited when Jiang Ze passed the imperial examination. Thinking back, Jiang Ze's plan to take the imperial examination ended in the separation of the family.

Now, my uncle and his family are glad that they did not ruin the relationship between the two families. In the first one or two years, they were still a little unwilling when Grandpa Jiang asked them to send some food every year. But after all, they were their brothers and nephews, so they sent some food more or less. Now that Jiang Yue's family has become prosperous, they can also benefit from it.

After dinner, they went home. Grandpa Jiang originally wanted them to stay at home for one night before leaving, but Jiang Ze said that he had an appointment with his classmates to visit the teacher tomorrow. Grandpa Jiang didn't say anything when he saw this. After packing up their things, Jiang Yue's family set off for home. After arriving home, they were complimented by their neighbors for a long time. Jiang's father also politely replied a few words. Finally, the neighbors saw that they all looked tired and left without saying much.

The next day, Jiang Ze went out early in the morning. Jiang Yue had also finished embroidering the large screen. After packing it up, she asked Chen to take it to the store. This was specially customized and a deposit of five taels of silver had been paid. Once the store owner has checked and found no problems, he will notify the customer to pick up the goods, and the balance will be paid once the customer confirms that there are no problems.

Chen arrived at the store she had been cooperating with. Seeing that no one was there, she handed the items to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper looked at the items and found that there was no problem, so he sent a servant to notify the customer to pick up the items. Not long after, an old nanny came with a maid. They were obviously servants of the government. The shopkeeper unfolded the screen, and the old nanny took a closer look. Finally, she nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, beyond my expectation."

After collecting the things, he tilted his head and looked at the maid next to him. The maid stepped forward, took out her purse, took out the silver bills and handed them to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper looked at the two silver bills of ten taels of silver and said, "Sir, fifteen taels is enough. You gave too much."

"Not much, the craftsmanship is good and there is a lot of money. There is one more thing, my young lady is getting married soon, and the embroiderers at home are all busy. Are you willing to take on some small items?"

The shopkeeper handed the banknote to Chen and casually asked for her opinion. Chen nodded and said it was no problem. She had received such orders over the years. Seeing that Chen agreed, the old nanny asked for Jiang Yue's address and said that the items would be delivered soon, and that someone would tell her the specific requirements. If it could not be done, she had to let her know in advance. After that, she took the maid back home.