Speaking of this land, we must mention the Mongol wives and ladies in the capital.

Most of the wives of the imperial family members are now Mongolian. During each imperial concubine selection, Emperor Kangxi would not take Mongolian noblewomen into the harem, but would instead bestow these Mongolian noblewomen into marriage with the men of the imperial family.

The emperor didn't want his harem to be full of Mongolian women, so he had his uncles, brothers, nephews, and cousins ​​do it for him.

Khoja's grandmother was also a Mongol woman. She married into the family during the reign of Huang Taiji, in the area beyond the Great Wall. At that time, the imperial harem was dominated by Mongol noblewomen, and many court officials married Mongol women.

Everyone knows that married women are expected to give gifts to their parents' families for festivals and New Year's celebrations. So what about Mongolian brides who come to the capital?

This is no problem for them.

In order to curb the development of the Mongols, Emperor Kangxi not only restricted trade with them, but also divided the Mongol tribes into regions, preventing them from moving freely.

This curbed both Mongolia's development and its population growth.

This was to achieve the goal of controlling Mongolia.

Even now, every winter, many people in various Mongolian tribes still die of hunger and disease.

The Mongolian grasslands have long winters, with only 7 months of grazing available each year. For the remaining 5 months, there is a shortage of food and vegetables. Therefore, Mongolian daughters who marry into the capital city usually send back grain as gifts for the New Year and festivals. Those who live nearby usually send one festival gift and one New Year gift per year, which is twice a year.

For those who live far away, it's once a year.

However, Mongolian wives and ladies are very careful when giving gifts, lest they cause their husbands' families to be accused of having illicit relations with Mongolians, which would be bad recently.

It is generally agreed that 3-5 horse-drawn carts should be used at a time, not too many. A small horse-drawn cart can carry 9 shi of grain, and a large horse-drawn cart can carry 15 shi of grain. The Yiergenjueluo family uses a mixture of large and small horse-drawn carts.

For many years, Emperor Kangxi and the court turned a blind eye to the various customs and festivals.

This regime controls everything, from heaven to earth, and even prevents people from being filial to their parents. The Qing Dynasty ruled the country based on filial piety.

Moreover, this small amount of money isn't much when converted to silver, and even the most cunning censor wouldn't bring it up. Aside from not being able to refute someone's filial piety towards their maternal family, most Manchu officials had in-law relationships with Mongols.

It's not worth it for such a small amount.

My grandmother sent gifts twice a year, each time consisting of 45 shi of grain and 300-400 jin of tea, usually using 3 large horse-drawn carts (or 5 small horse-drawn carts).

At the highest yield, one mu of land produces 3 shi of grain (generally 2 shi per mu in the north). Grandmother would give away the entire yield of 15 mu of land in one gift. That's 30 mu a year. With three Mongolian wives in the household, that's 90 mu. In reality, that's only 135 taels of silver, totaling 270 shi of grain. The tea is the most ordinary kind (100 wen per jin, 12 jin liang), but it's their necessity. The tea cost is only 200 taels a year.

They don't take your things for nothing; it's all about reciprocity.

Gifts given in return to Mongolia are usually local specialties like mare's milk wine, and sometimes even foals.

Most of the horses in the Irgen Gioro family estate came from this source. The value of the return gift is usually higher than the gift itself.

A single gift from the grandmother could provide enough grain for 7-10 adult Mongolian men for a year, and enough tea for 24-32 people for a winter.

In fact, it's just a drop in the ocean compared to the cold winter days.

They only send gifts twice a year. After my second aunt and third sister-in-law married into the family, they sent New Year's gifts and holiday gifts just like my grandmother, and the standards were all the same.

My second aunt was born to my grandmother's half-brother. Her biological father was a tribal warrior with 100 men under his command. However, because her biological mother was a slave, she was a slave at the beginning.

This is how it is on the grasslands. Generally, the children born to slaves remain slaves unless you are very much liked by your slave partner, or your sons or daughters are very capable. Otherwise, it is difficult to change your status as a slave.

The reason why my second aunt's status was changed from that of a slave was because of my grandmother. My grandmother took a liking to my young second aunt and wanted to marry her off to my second uncle, so she changed her status from a slave to a slave.

My grandmother's second aunt's betrothal gifts included more than ten large cartloads of grain and a thousand catties of ordinary tea. These were extra gifts; the rest were the same as those given to other brides. When the uncles came to escort the bride, they would also take the opportunity to buy more grain to transport back, and my grandmother would send another ten large cartloads of grain.

Third Sister-in-law is also from the Borjigit clan. In fact, Third Sister-in-law and Grandmother are very closely related by blood. Third Sister-in-law is the granddaughter of Grandmother's elder brother, that is, Grandmother's grandniece.

Her grandmother and her brother were both born to a Taiji in Khorchin. Their mother was a concubine. After her brother came of age, he was granted a territory and became the leader of a small tribe of 2,000 people. He later passed the territory to her third sister-in-law's father.

Second Aunt's father was a warrior in Third Sister's tribe.

Therefore, it is inevitable that the third sister-in-law's status is much higher than that of the second aunt. The third brother is the father's legitimate son and grew up under the care of his grandparents. The third brother and the second brother are fraternal twins. When he was young, his status in the mansion was second only to the eldest brother (the eldest grandson who was to inherit the family business).