Dressed as a middle-aged mistress, I want to lie down every day

Mo Chenxi only focused on coming up with new dishes and never took care of the business management.

Today, the Mo family is also thriving. My father is a fifth-rank official who does not have to work in the office. He is only responsible for the cultivation of sweet potatoes in the imperial farm.

The eldest brother went to the Ministry of Industry, and the youngest brother was in charge of all the family business.

He Shanluo is now in a heavy mood. As the only disciple of his master, he is afraid that he may not even be able to pass the examination to become a scholar, which would be a disgrace to his master.

Ji Chengping asked him to go to the Ji family and said seriously, "If you can't face people without achievements, then how many people in the world are there? Be a good person, do your part, don't let your parents worry, and take care of your wife, children, brothers and sisters. Only then can you be a real man and be like a father to your elder brother."

He Shanluo stood and listened to the lecture. He also wanted to take on the responsibility, but he didn't know how.

"You've been with me for a year, and your handwriting is barely presentable. Come back and copy books every day."

He Shanluo looked up in surprise, but didn't quite believe it.

Did the master ask him to copy the Ji family's collection of books?

The Nie Chengping brothers gathered together all their books. Except for the ten boxes of books specially collected by the Ji family in the capital, they were all various ancient books.

The ten boxes of books contained various strange and unusual books, led by the ancient books of Mohism, including books on mechanical engineering, gunpowder making, alchemy, and drawings for making crossbows.

The range of a powerful crossbow could reach 180 zhang, while the extra-large crossbow could reach 300 zhang. There were also arm-drawn crossbows, foot-drawn crossbows, and waist-drawn crossbows. There were also repeating crossbows that could fire several arrows in a volley or in succession, and crossbows with multiple crossbows.

The Nie brothers were stunned and looked at each other.

The Ji family and the Nie family separated just because of these ten boxes of books. Everyone thought that the Nie family took them away, but no one expected that they only took away other things, and these ten boxes of books have been in the capital all the time.

The two brothers stayed up all night, and Nie Cheng'an said to his eldest brother, "Brother, you decide."

Ji Chengping said, "The Ji family is a family of scholars. Possessing these things is nothing but a crime. Whether it's the Ji family, the Wang family, the Zhao family, or the Li family, we are all citizens. The country must be peaceful and the people must be safe. First, the country must be peaceful, then the people can be safe. Why not give the books to my brother-in-law?"

Ji Cheng'an understood what his elder brother meant, which was to hand it over to the court.

"The Ji family can only have these as collections passed down through generations. How can they possibly produce them?" Ji Chengping frowned and said, "No one in power would let the Ji family off. It's better to hand them over. Just say that those ten boxes were brought back from Pingyang Prefecture, and neither you nor I knew what was written on them before. Also, I want to buy a piece of land in the capital and build a reading building. I want Shanluo and Yuanqing to copy all the books in the Ji family's collection and place them in the reading building for students to read."

Ji Chengan said, "I'm afraid the Ji family elders won't agree."

Ji Chengping still frowned and said, "If they don't agree to take back the collection, I won't take the position of clan leader. We will split up. Also, I want to establish a family rule that no Ji family descendant will ever enter the government. I will also resign from my position at Donglin Academy and take Shanluo and Yuanqing with me to copy the collection. This generation has my eldest brother-in-law, so the court won't do anything to the Ji family. But what about the future? If the Ji family wants to eliminate the court's concerns, they can only do so as before, with no official position in the court."

Ji Cheng'an nodded. The Ji family built a reading building, which benefited generations of students. The Ji family's reputation was in the hearts of scholars. Members of the Ji family did not hold official positions, so no emperor would dare to target the Ji family and offend scholars all over the world.

The Ji brothers first told Ji Chenfu about it. Ji Chenfu said, "Apart from my mother and I, no one else knows about those ten boxes of books. There's no need to tell the clan members about this. It's best to discuss the matter of building a reading hall with the clan elders."

So, some people disagreed, saying that the Ji family had guarded their collection of books for hundreds of years, so how could they be worthy of their ancestors by making it public like this?

Ji Chengping bluntly repeated what he had said to his brother, "Then you will keep it. I will send someone to your home immediately and pay my respects to you. We can split up the clan, but my brother and I will never do anything to let our ancestors down."

He didn't mention the ancestors of the Ji family, but everyone could understand that he was talking about the ancestors of the Nie family.

Nie Cheng'an said nothing, letting these elders see the power of their eldest brother and not think that he could control them by relying on his age.

Even when my eldest brother was in his teens, he could still subdue the cannibalistic Nie family members.

Although the Ji family is aloof, there are always people with all kinds of ulterior motives when there are so many people in the family. Some people will not accept that their brothers, who are so young, represent the legitimate branch and are asked to step aside.

Nie Chengping's words stunned everyone. They had seen people who stabbed others in their words before, but they had never seen someone so direct.

Ji Chenfu lowered his eyes, thinking to himself, "My mother always says he's indecisive and unworthy of the position of clan leader." He sometimes gets a headache when facing the clan elders.

Now that’s good. I didn’t expect that the young Ji Chengping would be so decisive.

Seeing no one speak, Ji Chengping mentioned the Ji family's rule of not entering officialdom. This was the same as before. Even if someone wanted the new patriarch to inherit the Ji family and wondered whether the Ji family's descendants would be forced to take the imperial examinations, the Ji family's donation of their collection of books would make it clear why they didn't enter officialdom: it was to protect the Ji family.

"Once the library is built, anyone who wants to copy books can come to my house. Anyone who wants to work in the library can also come to my house. My brothers and I will fund the renovation and construction of the Ji Family Academy, and add a few more rooms. We will also purchase a thousand acres of good farmland for the clan, and the annual income will be used for various clan affairs."

Everyone is willing to do this. The Ji family is famous, but no one is an official. They just rely on the family property left by their ancestors and the income from the clan's fields. They have children from generation to generation and live a tight life.

A small family can only expand its property by marrying a wife and receiving the wife's dowry from its children.

Ji Chengping's generosity finally solved the clan's current urgent need. Originally, they were worried that Ji Chengping would need the clan to contribute money and manpower to build the reading building, but now it seems that the brothers will have to bear the cost themselves.

A few people felt embarrassed and said they could be contacted if they needed anything.

Ji Chengping said, "No, my brother and I will not ask for anyone's contribution for our decision. I have a saying that goes, 'You reap what you sow.' The Ji family has a long tradition of poetry and etiquette, which is admired by the world. My brothers' ancestors went to Guanzhong to do business in order to save the family's life. I never felt ashamed. If our ancestors had not been engaged in business, how could my brothers and I buy the land and build the reading building today? Could it be that because of the Ji family's noble character, we brothers should be ashamed of our ancestors' business? If that were the case, it would be extremely unfilial!"

"So, my brother and I won't give up our ancestral property just because we belong to the Ji family, nor will we sell off our property just for the Ji family's reputation. As for the others, if they have the ability to own a business or two, that's fine. People need to eat to survive, and if they don't have money to eat, they have to beg. The Ji family won't be reduced to begging for food, right? That would be a disgrace to the Ji family's ancestors."

Only a white-haired old man said: "How shameful!"

Ji Chengping looked at him and said, "I told you to look at your individual needs. If you borrow money just to maintain decorum, don't blame others for standing by and watching."

The old man blushed.

Because his son went to Ji Cheng'an to borrow money.

Everyone knows that the Nie family used to be the richest merchant family in Guanzhong. When people didn't know that the Nie family was the direct branch of the Ji family, some people talked about how the Nie family was rich and spent money like water.