The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

When the three sisters met, they had countless things to say.

Aunt Xu is a miserable person. I haven't seen her for many years. She is now older. She is accompanied by her son Chuangen, who was bought before. He looks a little dull and taciturn, with an honest face.

The mother and son have been dependent on each other in the past few years.

Aunt Xu was the talkative one, chattering away so much that the sisters could only listen to her.

This left Aunt Zhang San in the cold.

Aunt Zhang San is the middle child and a girl. She has not been favored since childhood, so she doesn’t talk much, but she knows her limits.

When Zhang Laoer saw this, he hurriedly welcomed everyone in warmly. Zhang Laoda and Zhang Laosan also came out.

The scene of reunion after a long separation is always exciting. Everyone exchanged greetings for a while before sitting down.

Although Wang Fugui didn't have much money now, he tried his best to collect some wild delicacies and dried goods picked from the mountains as a gift. He followed all the etiquette and had a great time chatting with Zhang Laoer.

The entire Wang family never mentioned anything about Wu Ya.

Zhang Ping'an was even more convinced that he had done the right thing this time.

It was not until dinner time that Mrs. Zhang and Old Man Zhang came out. When they saw Aunt Zhang San, they only exchanged a few simple greetings and nothing else.

The treatment is not even as good as Zhang Xiaogu's.

Fortunately, Aunt Zhang San had already gotten used to it and didn't take it to heart.

I was just thinking of using my nephew's influence to find a way to make a living. Once you leave the mountain, everything costs money, and you can't just live off your savings.

In fact, Zhang Laoer and Zhang Pingan had already thought of these things. Taking the people out was just a matter of saying it, which was simple. The trouble came later, as they had to be responsible for the people.

Therefore, after dinner, Zhang Ping'an arranged for everyone to talk in the main room and discuss their future livelihood issues.

"It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish. Life is a long-term thing. You can't do without a livelihood. Whether you want to farm, find a stable job, or do a small business, it's all fine. Everyone here is my relative, so you may as well speak frankly."

This meant they were going to lend a hand, and everyone looked at each other, somewhat excited.

Xu Erniang was the first to speak. She smiled and said, "Ping'an, we all understand your good intentions. Back in the mountains, we were isolated from the news. I didn't know the new court had such a good decree, and I could return half of my property. Now, as long as the household registration issue is resolved, our family's land will be enough to make a living. I still want to do the pig slaughtering business in the future. Your second uncle is already familiar with it."

"Well, that's right. It's better to do business with people you are familiar with than to make a new one. Our town is quite big. If we set up a stall in the town, we will make a lot of money in the future. If you register the land under my name, you can be exempted from taxes and save a lot. Our life will definitely not be bad," Zhang Pingan nodded.

My second aunt's family is sensible and content, so I think they will be able to visit more often in the future.

As for Aunt Xu, her words were much simpler. After a moment's hesitation, she mustered up the courage to speak. "Little sister, Ping'an, I'm happy for you now that you're living a good life. I'm very grateful that Ping'an wants to help us. But Chuangen is the only child left in my family. He's very honest and can't do any business. The two acres of land we have isn't enough for farming, so I thought it would be best if I could find him a simple job in town, just enough to make a living. Then I could find him a wife, and then we'd be fine."

"What you said is true, elder sister. Chuangen is already in his early twenties and should have gotten married long ago. It's the war that has delayed him in recent years. Alas!" Xu Erniang also agreed after hearing this.

It's not that she is being generous to others, but her younger sister's family is obviously doing better now, so she naturally hopes to lend a hand to her eldest sister's family. Her eldest sister's family is really having a hard time, and it's just a matter of extending a hand, not too difficult, otherwise she wouldn't have asked.

"That's no problem," Zhang Ping'an agreed. He thought his cousin Chuangen had a good physique and it would be no problem for him to do an odd job.

Zhang Sangu's family is large and there are many strong men in the family, so she still wants to stay at home and farm.

After some thought, Zhang Ping'an said, "Third Aunt, your family has a lot of laborers. I heard that the nearby Yawazi Mountain is being reclaimed. Whoever reclaims it will own it. Although that piece of land is not fertile, it is very suitable for growing sweet potatoes. When the time comes, we can make sweet potato candy and sweet potato wine and sell them. It will definitely be more profitable than growing grain. The county will have a notice soon. You might as well take more land to reclaim and you can also be exempted from taxes for three years."

"Ah, then can it be sold after it is made?" Aunt Zhang thought of the crux of the matter.

"With my cousins ​​from Erhe here, as long as the products are not too bad, there will be no problem selling them," Zhang Ping'an smiled.

Aunt Zhang was relieved when she heard this. "That's fine. My family will definitely ask for more land when the time comes. What's the big deal about losing some strength? We have a lot of men in our family."

"Anyone who can endure hardship can go to the territory over there. I will then say hello to County Magistrate Weng."

That piece of land was said to be wasteland, but in fact it was not that wasteland. When the banquet was held, County Magistrate Weng revealed this news with the intention of gaining a good reputation.

Tan Yaoqi privately asked why they had to go through so much trouble to do this, as it would be much easier to just buy the land or accept investment from others.

But Zhang Ping'an always felt that his family's foundation in officialdom was too weak, and apart from him, there was no other member of the clan who could be regarded as outstanding.

Therefore, he did not dare to make any mistakes. Land annexation was a taboo. He could clearly feel that Zhou Ziming was very unhappy with this behavior, and it would sooner or later be the focus of rectification.

Therefore, he would rather let his people suffer a little now than let his political enemies use this as a handle to attack him in the future.

Furthermore, he didn't want his relatives and clansmen to think that everything was too easy, so that they would bully the people and hold him back in the future.

If he falls, the whole family will be finished, and it may be even worse than before.

After listening to this, Tan Yaoqi felt that he had learned a lot from Zhang Pingan, and that only by being cautious and prudent can one go far in officialdom.

After slowly settling the clan members' affairs, the Zhang family mansion and clan school were almost completed. Strength lies in numbers, and because there were enough people, it only took about ten days before the beams could be put up.

Raising the beam is a major event and is also the most solemn and critical ceremony in the entire house-building process.

Choosing an auspicious day, preparing offerings and auspicious objects to ward off evil spirits are all essential.

They also have to lead their families to kneel down and pray, worship the gods of heaven and earth and the ancestors, and ask for blessings.

On this day, the host family not only invites close relatives to dinner, but also scatters peanuts, candies, copper coins, and some generous ones even give out broken silver, commonly known as "throwing beams".

This is also the part that children look forward to the most, and they will be waiting in front of the new house early.

As the sound of firecrackers rang out, the carpenter scattered several baskets full of copper coins and sugar cubes prepared by the Zhang family, mixed with some small silver beans.

He was so jealous of the Zhang family's generosity that he couldn't help but feel jealous.

After the children chattered and scrambled for the food, their pockets were basically half full, and the adults were secretly satisfied when they saw this.

You have to know that "throwing a beam" is too stingy, and people will definitely look down on you, and it will be on people's lips for many years to come.

Old man Zhang looked at the magnificent six-courtyard mansion, touched the door frame, tears streaming down his face, and kept saying yes to the people around him.

Now he is a little confused because of his age, and sometimes he can't tell people apart, so everyone just says a few perfunctory words to him.

Zhang was also filled with emotion when she looked at the new house. After she came back, she dressed herself neatly for the first time and put on jewelry, looking very formal. She asked Li to help her go in and take a tour.

After coming out, Zhang sighed: "This life is worth it!"

There was some relief in his eyes.

Zhang Laoer and others also felt proud of it.

After the beams are put up, the house will be soon completed.

The next day, Xu Kezhang came with a matchmaker and a generous betrothal gift to propose marriage.

There was a lot of banging and hammering all the way, it was so lively.

Zhang Laoer, Xu and Zhang Pingan were well prepared, but the other members of the Zhang family were shocked. They thought it was amazing that she could marry so well for the third time.

You should know that the other party is not only from the provincial capital, but also a scholar!