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

"How is it divided specifically? Has it been divided?" Zhang Ping'an and Xu asked at the same time.

Zhang Lao Er shook his head. "We haven't signed the contract officially yet. We just have this intention. We're dividing the family but not the households. According to our ancestors' rules, the eldest son gets 70%, Yongde and his family are the second branch, so they get 30%. There's nothing wrong with that."

Zhang Pingan nodded and said, "That's fine. It's not too much. If it were, we would definitely go to support Third Sister. In fact, it's better to live separately. Otherwise, life would be miserable every day. It wouldn't be pleasant. After the separation, Third Sister and her family can start their own small business and live a good life."

Xu also thought it was good: "Yes, just like our family, we divided the family but not the households, and we all lived well."

Zhang Laoer sighed and said, "But Old Man Qian also said that if the second wife still has no son, then the eldest wife's son will be allowed to take the place of both wives. I don't know what's wrong with this Sanya. She hasn't gotten pregnant in the past two years and doesn't even have a daughter."

Speaking of this, Xu was also worried: "Yes, it's not a good thing for her to be unhappy all the time. How about I take her to Guiyuan Temple to worship when the time comes?"

Zhang Pingan quickly stopped her, "Mom, you've forgotten about your eldest cousin's wife. She hasn't gotten pregnant yet, and her health is ruined. I don't think you can just pray to the gods, you have to see a doctor. Unfortunately, there's no doctor in our town who specializes in female infertility. When the time comes, we'll go to the county to take the exam. Dad and I will ask around and have a doctor take a look. Third sister is still young, so please don't give her any blind advice."

Xu was just talking. She was usually busy and rarely had time.

More than ten days passed without any movement from the Qian family, and Zhang Laoer thought that the matter had come to an end. Generally speaking, when dividing the family, the in-laws would be invited to act as witnesses.

On May 25th, the day for delivering herbs to the town clinic every month, Zhang Laoer brought Zhang Laosan and Zhang Pingan to help deliver the herbs. Qian Yongde, the third son-in-law, came directly and said that today was the day when Old Man Qian would preside over the division of the family business.

Qian Yongde was not tall and was rather thin, but his eyes kept rolling around when he looked at people, and it was obvious that he was cunning and smart, but Zhang Laoer did not like him.

The division of the family property was a major matter that could not be ignored. After delivering the medicinal materials, Zhang Laoer asked Zhang Laosan to stay in the clinic to reconcile the accounts. He took his son and followed his son-in-law to the Qian family. Because he was still angry, he did not speak to his son-in-law along the way.

Zhang Ping'an didn't like his brother-in-law very much, so he didn't say anything.

However, Qian Yongde was a very outgoing and thick-skinned person. He didn't care at all. He kept talking to himself all the way, which annoyed Zhang Laoer very much. He looked down on Qian Yongde even more for his spineless look.

After arriving at the Qian family, Old Man Qian wasted no time. He had had enough of the chaotic life. He had already invited all his cousins ​​to come that morning to testify that the Qian family's main assets were the grocery store and 20 mu of land in the suburbs. The grocery store would belong to the eldest son, and the second son would be compensated with 15 taels of silver. In addition, 6 mu of high-quality paddy fields in the suburbs would be given to the second son, and the remaining pots, pans, utensils, and other household items would not be divided. From now on, each of the two families would provide 200 kilograms of grain for their old age every year.

After Old Man Qian finished speaking, he paused, stroked his beard, and then said, "If there are no objections, then let's do it this way. I'll sign the deed, and you all will sign it."

Qian Yongde was the first to jump out and resign. His usual playful expression faded a bit as he said in a deep voice, "Dad, I don't agree. The grocery store, including the house and the business, is worth more than fifty taels of silver. You sent me away with just over ten taels. I still have to go out and build a house and buy household items. It's not enough to spend them. There's also the filial piety grain. It's my duty to be filial to my parents, but my eldest brother got the lion's share of the family property, so I should also give the lion's share of filial piety!"

Zhang Ping'an nodded secretly after listening to this. What his third brother-in-law said was reasonable and well-founded. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the Qian family's grocery store was definitely not worth only 50 taels. These goods were worth more than ten taels, not to mention this house, the business and connections they had built up over the years, and it was not to be underestimated that the old couple must have a lot of private money.

But as a junior he couldn't speak up about this matter, so Zhang Ping'an nudged his father with his elbow. Zhang Laoer understood what he meant and was not satisfied with the result either, so he said, "My dear relatives, let's not talk about the fields. Your grocery store can't be worth only 50 taels of silver. This house and this stuff alone are worth 50 or 60 taels, not to mention the connections accumulated over the years and the money from the family treasury. It's not easy for them as juniors to start their own business. We as parents can't be too cruel, we are all the same sons."

Old Mrs. Qian then interrupted and began to complain: "My dear relatives, you don't know, business is difficult nowadays. A lot of things are sold on credit. There are too many mouths to feed at home. Everything we eat, wear and use costs money. It's not as complicated as you think. We, as parents, are following the rules of our ancestors."

This is using ancestral rules to pressure others!

Zhang Ping'an looked up and pretended not to understand and asked, "Aunt, do the ancestral rules also have to follow the laws of Daxia? Although I was not very good at studying in school, I have heard the teacher talk about the laws of Daxia. As for dividing the family, I remember that the eldest son should get 50% to 70% of the land and finances, and the rest of the sons should get equal shares. It doesn't say that the eldest son must get 70%. If it's really not possible, my senior brother is a teacher in the county school, and he should be more familiar with the laws of Daxia. Let's wait and find out about the division of the family."

Old Man Qian said unhappily, "How can we wait to divide the family?"

Qian Yongde was very smart and immediately responded with confidence: "That's right, the law has regulations. You can't be too biased about the share that belongs to me as a father."

Old Man Qian and Old Wife Qian both looked very unhappy, and Old Man Qian's eyes were almost blazing with fire.

Zhang Laoer saw that the situation was almost settled, so he tried to smooth things over. "How about this, my dear relatives? Let's not make a big fuss about the division of the family property. Let's both make a concession and split the land into 6 mu. As for the silver, you can give 25 taels. If you both agree, we can do it according to this and sign a division agreement. If you still don't agree, we can just wait and see. At worst, I'll have to make two more trips."

Old man Qian's eyes flashed, he pondered for a while, and finally agreed to this matter. He decided to follow this plan. Although Qian Yongde was still not convinced, he knew that there would be no better result if he continued to make trouble, so he could only press his fingerprints reluctantly, but he hated his elder brother in his heart.

They were busy until the afternoon before the work was finally finished. Old Man Qian wanted to keep some food for them, but Zhang Laoer and Zhang Pingan both waved their hands to refuse. They thought the food would taste disgusting, so it was better not to eat it.

After returning to the clinic to pick up Zhang Laosan, the three of them went home. After Zhang Laosan knew what had happened, he secretly felt lucky that he didn't have so many daughters, otherwise these things would have been enough to bother him.

After returning home, Zhang Ping'an started to review his lessons. He had informed Jinbao and the others in advance that he would go to town today, so the others did not come. The closer it got to the exam, the more he felt that time was insufficient.