Crossing the Ming Dynasty to be the magistrate

Refusing to play role-play with merchants big and small in Mengyang, Wen Yu fled under the regretful eyes of everyone.

Walking on the street with lingering fear, he found that the Chinese New Year in the Ming Dynasty was actually very interesting, and the streets and alleys were full of goods for the New Year.

In the Ming Dynasty, it was very popular to paste large and small paintings, so there were especially many stalls with prints and New Year pictures.The prints of god statues are mostly kitchen gods, door gods, gods of wealth, etc.; New Year pictures are prints of folk stories about loyalty, filial piety, righteousness or auspiciousness.

Unlike usual men on the road, most of them were women and children today.Today, women buy more Beijing flowers made of velvet or silk, and put them on during the New Year.The Beijing flower is a double-petalled peony. Recently, the Pengxian Peony Festival next door is very popular, and Mengyang naturally got the news, so some merchants cleverly made the Sichuan flower, which is a single-petal peony.

The women all bring their children, no matter what, they have to buy some sweet cakes for the children in the new year. Recently, Mengyang has developed well, and many people have made new clothes. There are children playing and adults scolding everywhere. Their laughter and cursing.

For some reason, Wen Yu suddenly felt that she was out of place with her surroundings.He just woke up in the early spring, and now it is almost the Chinese New Year. After hundreds of years, he was alone in the Ming Dynasty, where is his home?

Suddenly, he thought of Xu Jing, "How did the inspection department celebrate the New Year... It seems that this is also Ji Qing's first year in Mengyang, I wonder if he is used to it..." Thinking about it, he couldn't help going to Go outside the city.

At this time, there was no one outside the city, and Wen Yu regretted halfway there, what did he do, maybe he was having a good time, why did you say you made trouble in the past!But it was almost there, so I had no choice but to bite the bullet and move on.

The guard of the inspection department was very surprised when he saw him, and hurriedly went to inform Xu Jing.

Wen Yu stood at the door anxiously, seeing Xu Jing, what should Ji Qing think of?Or just say to send him a greeting card?Isn't it so stupid...

It was already winter now, and the cold wind from Shu land made him shiver a little, and his mind became muddled.

Just as Wen Yu was thinking wildly, Xu Jing hurried over.Probably because he was resting today, he didn't wear his usual official uniform, nor did he bring a net scarf, but simply put on a white wide-sleeved robe with a black collar, which made him look more like a prince.

Seeing Wen Yu, he first smiled, then frowned: "Why are you wearing such thin clothes, I'll ask someone to get you some clothes."

Wen Yu shook her head, looked at him, and said mysteriously, "You...would you like to go to my house to watch the new year?"

After finishing speaking, I felt that this was not right, and I wanted to cover it up: "I mean, cough, Brother Fu has been talking about his respect for his uncle, and that kid Wen Qiong also wants to thank you in person... But today I must inspect The company is also very busy, so you don't have to..."

"it is good"

"Ah? What did you say?" Wen Yu was stunned.

Xu Jing's face was calm: "I agree." Then he added: "Brothers are all on vacation, I don't have to worry about Wang Huike here, but you have to get some clothes first."

The corners of Wen Yu's mouth became more and more cracked, and she couldn't stop smiling, "Yeah!"

The two returned to the city under the strange eyes of everyone in the inspection department. Wen Yu moved with some difficulty. He shouldn't listen to Ji Qing. He simply wrapped himself into a ball.Don't pretend he didn't see it!Everyone along the way is secretly laughing at him!

As soon as I got home, I heard Qian's mother instructing a group of servants to post money, that is, to cut red paper into auspicious patterns and paste them on the doors and windows.Seeing Wen Yu, he hurriedly went up to meet him: "Where did you go, master? There was no sign of the New Year's Eve. The girl thought you were angry, and regretted that you shouldn't think you were messed up and drove you away. I just stopped you when I wanted to look for you." .” Then he saw Xu Jing again, with a puzzled expression on his face.

Wen Yu pretended to be calm: "Master Xu is alone in Mengyang, I will invite him to celebrate the New Year with our family."

Mother Qian saw that he had already brought people here, so she couldn't say anything, after all, some people brought friends home for the New Year at this time.

Wen Yu led him into the room, the two talked for a while, and then it was time for dinner.

According to the earliest ancient customs, kitchen knives are not allowed during the New Year, and the whole family, old and young, have to rest and play until the Lantern Festival.Therefore, the housewives of each family should prepare food that can last for half a month before the end of the year.But officials like Wen Yu usually don't care about these things, everything is easy to talk about with kitchen helpers.

Because Xu Jing is a foreigner after all, although the folk customs in Mengyang are relatively open, and the Wen family is not a family of bells and lanterns, but you still have to think about it, so I put a separate table for Wen Yulan, separated by a small screen. open.Brother Fu was afraid that his aunt would be lonely, so he also went to eat at Wen Yulan's table.

The dishes for the New Year’s Eve dinner are naturally rich and unusual. In addition to the stove candy, bee sugar cake, pouring candy, inch gold candy, baby cakes, jujube paste sandwiches and other snacks, Wen Yu also asked them to prepare them according to the taste of the locals. Drool chicken, spicy sausage, tamales and golden crisps are dishes from modern times.

The most popular of these is the tamales.Wen Yu deliberately made three different flavors of pork, beef, and mutton, with pumpkin as the base. The whole dish is waxy and fragrant, crisp and refreshing, red and white, rice noodles are oily, and the five flavors are rich. Wen Qiong is so picky. Everyone couldn't help being full of praise: "Brother, this golden melon is so delicious, when can I see it in the market in Mengyang?"

Wen Yu squinted at him: "How many times have I told you that this is called a pumpkin, and it should be able to be planted this spring, and if all goes well, it will be available in a few months."

Then he turned to serve Xu Jing: "Ji Qing, try this fish. This fish is called Yayu. I asked someone to buy it outside." As Wen Yu said that, she felt emotional. This Yayu originally belonged to Ya'an. It is a special product with tender meat, and it is also known as the "Three Wonders of Ya'an" together with Ya Nu and Ya Yu. I tasted it today and it really lives up to its reputation. Unfortunately, this fish has been listed as a protected animal in modern times.

Xu Jing tasted it, and said with a smile: "It's still Zhengqing's craftsmanship, even a fish can be so delicious."

Wen Yu felt a little embarrassed: "Wherever it is my craftsmanship, it is all done by servants. I am just directing blindly from the sidelines. Ji Qing should not make fun of me."

Wen Qiong's teeth were sore while watching. He has never seen his elder brother's expression when he grows up. If elder brother treats me like this... After thinking about the scene, he couldn't help shivering, forget it, forget it, Brother, keep it as it is.

Wen Yu saw that his face turned green and pale, and then reprimanded him again, telling him not to act strange.

In the end, the servants also served flat food, that is, dumplings. Although there are more glutinous rice balls eaten during the Chinese New Year in Shu, the Wen family lived in the capital before, and they are more used to eating dumplings.

After dinner, everyone talked for a while.Seeing Fu Ge'er's little head bit by bit, Wen Yu smiled and asked Wen Yulan to go down and rest, and Wen Yu and the three of them were left in the whole hall.

Wen Qiong wanted to keep the year old, this was his first New Year's Eve in Mengyang, and so many things happened this year, he felt he should commemorate it.But when he turned his head and saw the expression of "You're in the way, get out of here" on his elder brother's face, he was instantly shocked.He got up and saluted Wen Yu Xu Jing, and hurried back to his room as if fleeing for his life.

"This kid is still flustered and unseemly, making Ji Qing laugh." Wen Yu apologized to Xu Jing.

Xu Jing shook his head: "It's nothing, your family members are very interesting, as an older brother, you don't worry less, and you also have to take care of the county affairs. It's hard work."

Wen Yu blushed a little after being praised by him: "It's nothing to me, it's just a trivial matter, but Ji Qing must be very worried at home if he doesn't go home for the New Year when he's on an errand."

Xu Jing was silent for a while: "My father passed away when I was young. My job as an inspector is my job. My mother remarried. I haven't seen her for several years now, so I don't want to disturb her."

"Sorry..." Wen Yu knew in her heart that she had said something wrong, but she wanted to comfort her but didn't know where to start.

Seeing his low-browed and compliant expression, Xu Jing couldn't help but smile casually: "It doesn't have to be like this, I've gotten used to it all these years, and being an errand can be regarded as due diligence, after all, I haven't fallen into the prestige of my parents."

Wen Yu also knew in her heart that Ji Qing was definitely not a person who was sad about autumn and spring, so she changed the subject, and the two chatted about interesting things around them for a while.

It was almost midnight, and there were still people setting off firecrackers outside at this time, and it was snowing heavily in the sky.

Wen Yu was pleasantly surprised. You must know that there is still little snow in this place in central Sichuan. He opened the door and walked out, and the snowflakes fell on him one by one.Xu Jing was worried that he would catch a cold, so he put another coat on him.

Wen Yu frowned, and looked back at Xu Jing: "Ji Qing, happy new year."

Xu Jing also laughed, and replied Happy New Year, and then seemed to say something else, but the firecrackers outside were too loud, and Wen Yu couldn't hear clearly, so he asked again.

A trace of tenderness flashed in Xu Jing's eyes, he shook his head and said, "It's nothing, happy new year."

In the early morning of the second day, Xu Jing bid farewell to the members of the Wen family early and went back to the inspection department to handle matters.

The New Year's Eve in the Ming Dynasty was fine, but the first day of the first lunar month was really a lot of work, and Wen Yu was too busy to touch the ground.

When he got up in the morning, he would lead his family and servants to worship heaven, earth, and ancestors. Because Wen's father was far away in Huizhou, it was unnecessary to celebrate the birthday of his elders.Then everyone in the Wen family wanted to pay homage to each other.Three animals are used to sacrifice cooked food, and paper money is offered in front of the ancestral tablet.In the end, he dressed up and went out to greet his relatives and friends. Of course, when he arrived at Wen Yu's place, he was waiting for his subordinates to send him posts one by one.

On this day in the Ming Dynasty, people still wear "noisy" on their heads, which is made of black gold paper in the shape of flying geese, butterflies, and grasshoppers, which are as big as a palm and as small as money, and worn on their heads.Generally, men, women and children wear one each, and some flamboyant ones like Wen Qiong even make a style.

When the subordinates came to see Wen Yu, the gifts they gave were all kinds of strange things. After all, Mengyang was located in a remote place, and it was not as exquisite as the capital city of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so there were all kinds of gifts.The farm even sent a golden bamboo rat and a golden rabbit to thank Wen Yu for taking care of him this year. Wen Yu accepted it dumbfounded, and asked Mama Qian to prepare a gift of similar value in return.

After that, there will be a series of events such as offering sacrifices to the City God and welcoming the Qing Emperor in the eastern suburbs.Wen Yu will be paralyzed by the time the treatment is over.In addition, maybe I caught a cold when I went out a few days ago, and the wind and cold entered the body, and the whole person fell ill directly in bed.

The leak in the house coincided with the continuous night rain, and he originally thought that he could take advantage of the opportunity to recover from his illness, but his subordinates sent news that someone from the Wang family had arrived.

The author has something to say: About the salary of officials in the Ming Dynasty

The salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were set very low. It was difficult for many low-level officials to maintain their lives with their official salaries, while it was impossible for senior officials to maintain their luxurious lives with their official salaries.Therefore, most of the actual income of local officials comes from the interception of local taxes, while much of the income of Beijing officials comes from gifts from local officials.Take Wen Yu, a county magistrate, for example, a county magistrate with a grade seven and an annual salary of 90 shimi, which is 6372 kilograms of rice. Even if each person only eats 1 kilograms of rice a year, the rice is only enough for 180 people for a year. Well, to be an official, you need to support your family, and you need to communicate with others. This money is simply not enough.What's even more frightening is that 35% of the rice cannot be obtained, and that part is openly exchanged by the emperor for other things, such as silk cloth, cotton cloth, and even some small bits and pieces.

Let me tell you another funny thing. During the Hongwu period, Luo Furen, a scholar of the Hongwen Museum, lived a clean and honest life. Because he had no money and could not afford a house, he could only live in a dilapidated house in the suburbs. Zhu Yuanzhang once went to his house to see it. A migrant worker was painting the wall with a bucket outside a broken tile house, so he asked, where is Luo Furen?Unexpectedly, when this dear friend saw the emperor, he was shocked and turned pale. He knelt down and said, "The minister is Luo Furen!" This made Zhu Yuanzhang also feel embarrassed and surprised.

But even this did not impress Zhu Yuanzhang's cold heart. Everyone knows Zhu Yuanzhang's background. What happened to him when he was young made him dislike corrupt officials very much.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the salary system began to be reformed. This reform not only failed to increase the salaries of officials, but also greatly reduced their salaries. Nine years later, the system was reformed again, and their salaries turned out to be Another notch down.Daming officials are going to cry, okay? !