Chapter 153 Chapter 153 Two Chapters Combined
"I heard that the women in the Lu family are good at spinning and embroidering, and they eat frugally, not luxuriously. I didn't expect that our future daughter-in-law would have a dowry of 30,000 strings of cash. In this way, our betrothal gift will be increased by 1,000 strings of cash." Jinniang discussed with Jiang Xian.
Jiang Xian pointed at the dowry and said, "I think Madam Lu probably gave all her dowry to her daughter, so she only has this."
Normally, a family of officials like this would have a dowry of ten thousand taels of silver, and Yun Jie'er's was ten thousand taels of silver. But Mrs. Lu only had one daughter, and her own dowry must have been extremely generous, so she could give out so much.
Therefore, when Jiang Xian said this, Jinniang also agreed. She said, "This also shows that the Lu family attaches great importance to this marriage."
The dowry is equivalent to dividing the family property for the daughter in advance. The Lu family should be a large landlord in Luoyang. This amount of money was easily written down and must have been prepared long ago.
So Jinniang had someone write an engagement letter and put it in her room first, waiting to send it over on an auspicious day.
Ning'er's marriage went on smoothly, and he did a good job. Within three months of taking office, he had solved the case of the headless female corpse and the case of encroaching land. Of course, the reason why he can solve the case so quickly is because he has the help of Master Cheng and the guidance of his father, but resources are also a kind of strength, which cannot be denied.
He has to work on his own and summarize his experience one thing at a time.
Just like the books his mother embroidered are all in a bookcase. Many people asked her how her embroidery skills were so good, and she always said that practice makes perfect and there was no other trick. He does the same thing now. He first familiarizes himself with the old files and sees how the adults in the past handled them. If he thinks something is good, he will write it down in his own notebook.
I came over to my parents' place for dinner in the evening. As tomorrow is a day off, I planned to rest here.
At the dinner table, Ning Ge'er sighed: "This magistrate is so busy that he doesn't even have time to breathe."
Jinniang smiled and said, "Don't mention you, even your father was the same. He was almost exhausted every day in Daming Prefecture, and he didn't even have the strength to talk to me when he came back. But it was also because of this that he was not afraid of any official position in the future. Now that you are young, if you can get through the most difficult parts, no matter where you are in the future, it will be easy for you."
Children need encouragement, and Ning Ge'er was full of confidence when he heard this.
After the meal, he went back to sleep and slept all day long. Jinniang was reluctant to wake him up. It wasn't until the Lu family sent a book that Jinniang read it and couldn't help laughing: "The people haven't come yet, but the book has come first. I'll give it to our son later."
Not to mention how Ning Ge'er got the book, Jinniang originally spent 2,500 strings of cash to buy 1,000 acres of land, and transferred four skilled farmers from Wuxian Farm. Jinniang spent 200 strings of cash to build a warehouse in the farm.
Fortunately, this year the Wuxian farm gave 500 strings of coins, the Didian store gave 1,000 strings of coins, the Jinliangqiao shop gave 720 strings of coins, the 300-acre farm in Bianjing gave 270 strings of coins, and the collapsed house gave 1,200 strings of coins, totaling 3,690 strings of coins. If one thousand acres of land in Luoyang were to be used for business, it would be worth about nine hundred strings of cash.
Jinniang thought about it and decided that even if the two brothers split up, it would be enough for them to both get a house, land, and even a shop.
The next month, Jinniang sent the betrothal gift back. Before the Warm Stove Festival, Jinniang went to the Lu family again to give the betrothal gift. These were all top-notch betrothal gifts and very generous.
The Lu family also returned the betrothal gift. When Jinniang saw the needlework, she knew that her future daughter-in-law might be able to do it, but she was not very good at it, so she just smiled.
So, she and the Lu family agreed to send the betrothal gifts next spring, as the young lady of the Lu family would be coming of age next year.
At the same time, Jinniang was also thinking about how to expand her own business. She originally wanted to open a store in Luoyang, but the investment in the store was too huge, and Jinniang was unwilling to spend too much money now. Besides, it’s hard to find a good shopkeeper at the moment, but the woolen thread shop is pretty good.
Originally, Jinniang was an embroiderer and was much more familiar with wool, thread, and silk than an outsider.
She first found a shop with two floors upstairs and a large entrance at the back. She paid 1,400 strings of cash for it. Because she was planning to make silk, satin, and wool together, she invested another 1,000 strings of cash. She hired a shopkeeper with the help of Liu Dou'er, who was originally a craftsman from the royal family. She hired him as the shopkeeper and also hired two assistants.
Because selling raw silk often requires going out, which is different from the store and farm, Jinniang signed a contract with him. Instead of paying him wages, she gave him 10% of the profits every year.
"This silk shop will not last more than a few years, and the cost must have been several thousand or even tens of thousands of dollars," said Jinniang.
Jiang Xian asked: "Is this so profitable?"
"Of course. Don't underestimate these businesses. This shopkeeper was originally a craftsman from Lingjinyuan. He is quite skilled and can even dye thread. I asked him to dye it for me on the spot, and he did a really good job. These things are extremely profitable. We bought the land, and we will have fixed income in the future, but these shops are different. You can make active money. It's just that I didn't have such a big capital originally, and now I still have some spare money." Jinniang was very cautious and would not use up all the money she had every time she invested.
She added: "In two years, we will have enough capital in our hands, and we can even invest in the Tafangdi store."
"Those things require people to run, and the investment is too huge. If I were to say, it would be better to buy some salt permits. It just so happens that I want to use the method of buying in bulk this time. Madam, just give me three thousand strings of cash." Jiang Xian said.
Jinniang can still take out this money.
Jiang Xian liked things that were more exciting. To her, salt permits were like stocks. She didn't even understand the rules. Fortunately, Jiang Xian was an expert, so Jinniang gave him money to try his hand.
Apart from this, Jinniang was recuperating because she really felt that she had slept so well these days. She didn't have to worry about her eldest son, and her second son was willing to study hard. She could just finish her housework and have a good sleep every day.
Of course, in the letter that Jinniang wrote to her daughter, she only told her that her son had been engaged, and did not mention anything about her business. After all, matters like money are still private. Just like the farm she gave to her daughter, she never asked about it.
When Yun Jie'er received the letter, she was also relieved and said to Wei Qilang, "Ning'er's marriage is settled."
Wei Qilang said, "Look at the letters Ning Ge'er wrote to me. He solved a lot of cases. No matter how big or small the case was, he would go through all the laws and regulations. It sounded very dramatic."
Yun Jie'er knew that her husband was still naive at times, and he still believed that his mother's statue of Guanyin was very effective. I even vaguely felt that I didn't do well in the exam because I didn't live with my mother. It would be different if Ning Ge'er lived at home and took the exam with the protection of his mother's embroidered portrait.
"You!" Sister Yun was also helpless.
Wei Qilang turned over and said, "I'm going to Jinliang Bridge today. My parents-in-law are not at home, so no one is allowed to think about it."
Sister Yun felt sweet in her heart: "Then I'll trouble my husband."
"Why are you talking about this?" Wei Qilang pretended not to care.
But Yun Jieer understood her husband. She hugged Wei Qilang's arm tightly and said, "My husband has been handsome since he was a child. I can't bear to let you go. What if someone else takes a fancy to you? I don't know how to get you back."
"I don't need to rob, I'll come back by myself." Wei Qilang smiled in his heart, but he looked embarrassed.
However, thinking about having to take both the national and provincial exams next year, he was really annoyed. It is no wonder that children of officials can enter officialdom through imperial favor, as it is considered a shortcut.
Otherwise, if I continue like this, my mentality will really be unstable.
Wei Qillang got up and walked around Jinliang Bridge. When he was about to come out of the door, he saw the Meng brothers. Meng Sanlang and he are two brothers in distress who both passed the pre-examination but failed the provincial examination.
"Qillang, why are you here today? Has someone from the Jiang family returned?" Meng Sanlang asked curiously.
Wei Qilang smiled and said, "I come here from time to time to take a look."
Meng Sanlang invited him over for a drink. Wei Qilang had nothing to do, so he went to Meng's house for a few drinks. Their common topic was still Ning Ge'er. Wei Qilang smiled heartily: "He has already been engaged. My mother-in-law and her family happened to be in Luoyang, so they were all together, so they engaged a local lady."
"I guess it must be a big family, right?" Meng Sanlang remembered that when Jiang Ning passed the imperial examination, seven or eight matchmakers came to the Jiang family every day, and people from all over the place sent people to come.
Wei Qilang nodded: "She is the daughter of Lord Lu, the Deputy Privy Councilor."
"So she is the daughter of the Lu family. This marriage is quite good, very noble." Meng Sanlang said pertinently.
You must know that the Deputy Privy Councilor is a high-ranking official of the second rank, and his official position is even higher than Jiang Dacao.
After drinking a few glasses of wine, Wei Qillang said goodbye.
Meng Sanlang went back to his room and told his wife about this. When Miss Sun heard it, she thought of her brother and sighed again. She quickly picked up her pen and wrote a letter to her mother, asking her to urge her brother to study.
In any case, if you have achieved fame and honor, why worry about not having noble relatives?
As for her younger sister, Miss Sun often went out to socialize, and she had also found a small official family for her younger sister. When the time came, she would ask her parents to send her younger sister over to get married.
Fortunately, although there was no talk of marriage in those years, my mother saved some dowry for my sister. In the past few years in my hometown, my grandmother gave some of her private money to the family, and my sister also had a dowry of nearly 500 strings of cash. If the time comes, she will be able to raise some more and bring her sister to Beijing to get married.
When she first heard that other people's lives were getting better, she was still a little dazed. What would happen if it was the Chiang family that was dismissed from office this time? Miss Sun shook her head and said that nothing would happen.
The Jiang family is much richer than theirs, and their son will be able to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi immediately, and their in-laws will still be able to help.
In fact, she now has a dowry of 1,000 strings of cash. Her children's shares over the years have all been in her hands, as well as her own share and annual rewards, which are very generous. After deducting the favors she has to pay, she still has 200 strings of cash, which is considered quite good.
If their husbands pass the exam and become successful in the future, their families will definitely support them, so they will step forward.
Compared with Miss Sun's plan, Xu was much more comfortable. Over the years, she had saved up a dowry of 6,000 strings of cash for her daughter. When these dowries were taken out, even Jiang Yan looked sideways: "Madam, have you saved so much over the years?"
"I eat vegetarian food and endure hardships all day long, just to avoid embarrassing Zheng Jie." Xu even remembered that when her mother-in-law passed away, the coffin boards had to be bought on credit, so she had to save up a good coffin for herself.
It’s a pity that the Jiang Xian couple took away the three hundred acres of land. The husband cares about his reputation and always eats a bowl of black bean curd or a bowl of porridge with his meals. For the sake of reputation, she would not accept any bribes. Xu was in charge of her husband's salary and some writing fees, but the money had to be used for household expenses.
Jiang Yan knew the current trend. Marrying off a daughter was very extravagant, and some families even went into debt. His wife had saved money for so many years, and it was really hard. Seeing that her robe is patched and she eats only vegetarian food, you can tell how hard her life is.
"Oh, it's hard for you." Jiang Yan felt very unhappy after finishing the noodle soup.
He has been following the Prime Minister for these years and has completely neglected his family.
Xu smiled and said, "It's not that difficult. We just made it through. Now the storm is finally over and the sky is clear."
Jiang Yan stared into the distance and nodded slowly.
By the end of the year, in just two months, Manager Xiao of the silk and velvet shop had paid him two thousand taels. However, in order to make money here, he had to go to Huzhou, Suzhou and Hangzhou to sell silk. Although Jinniang had mulberry fields in Wu County, she kept her business separate and would never let the shop and the farm do any business together. So, Jinniang took four thousand taels and asked Manager Xiao to go to other places to sell goods.
At the end of the year, the owner of the collapsed house came over. After personally delivering the dividends, he told Jinniang that he was planning to open a pawnshop in Luoyang. Jinniang knew that this man was a businessman and was sensible. After discussing with Jiang Xian, she gave him a copy of Jiang Xian's note.
As for this time, Jinniang will not participate in the investment.
It’s not that she doesn’t have money, but she can’t always rely on dividends like this, she also needs to have her own business.
Manager Yao of the Di store in Wu County had been beaten up by her several times. He was a smart man and didn't dare to play tricks. He collected rent from the Jinliangqiao shop. As for the silk and velvet shop in Luoyang, even with Jiang Xian and Ning Ge'er as officials, it would be easy to sell goods and make connections, and he would not be exploited by others.
In the spring of the following year, Manager Xiao came back. Because the goods he bought were new and colorful, he made almost twice the profit from the 4,000 taels of goods.
The investment in this shop was nearly 3,000 taels, and later on it was spent 4,000 taels. Now, in just half a year, it has made 10,000 taels. Excluding the original investment of 5,000 taels, there are still 5,000 taels left, 4,000 taels from Jinniang, and Manager Xiao paid for the travel expenses and the employees' fees, and also hired someone to dye silk. So he can make 200 to 300 taels. Naturally, he is overjoyed.
At this time, Jinniang went to the Lu family to offer a betrothal gift. In addition to gold bracelets, gold bangles, and gold pendants, there were also a special bun with pearls and jade, a peach blossom crown and an apricot blossom crown, a silver gilt crown, and two pieces of jewelry, not to mention the finest silks, scented tea, fruits, and so on.
The Lu family also returned the betrothal gift.
June Jinniang sent a dowry of two thousand strings of cash, and the two families chose an auspicious day, waiting only two years to complete the wedding.
The Lu family was also very satisfied with the Jiang family, especially because the Jiang family was very polite and courteous, and they were definitely not the kind of people who would try to be clever or try to intimidate others.
How could Jinniang have the time to do all these? She had to understand every process in her silk shop in detail.
In Luoyang, Jinniang had people plant Jiayingzi, a local specialty of Luoyang. Green plums are produced everywhere in Luoyang, so she also planted cherries, peaches, apricots, pomegranates, green plums, etc.
I don’t grow much of these, I just want to grow some for my own consumption.
Especially cherries, which are produced in abundance in Luoyang. Jinniang had someone use ice to fill six full boxes, as well as large pears, honey peaches, nectarines, small cakes, and the Suzhou clay inkstone and terrifyingly fragrant tea leaves that Manager Yao had given her this spring, as well as a few rolls of colorful satin for Yunjie.
There was another one, but it was missing the inkstone and tea leaves, so it was given to Wei Xiong and Luo Yu'e, who helped her look after the house.
After receiving it, Sister Yun was very generous and gave some to her mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law. Her daughter Jiaojiao loves to eat cherries. The Wei family is not short of them on weekdays, but the ones sent from Luoyang are the freshest. Jiaojiao eats them with her two short legs dangling.
Wei Qilang was very happy when he got the Chengni inkstone. It was rare that his mother-in-law thought of them.
"My mother and I both love to drink 'Xingsharenxiang'. I brought a lot of it when I got married, and I almost finished it all. I mentioned it when I wrote to her, but I didn't expect my mother to have someone bring it to me specially." Yun Jieer thought that she was already a mother, and it felt really good to still have her mother caring about her.
Wei Qilang smiled and said, "I really envy you."
"You still envy me? Are my parents not good to you? When you were at my house before, my mother favored you so much that I was jealous. I also thought that this seventh cousin would really compete with me for favor." Sister Yun felt a little embarrassed when she said this.
Wei Qilang looked at him doubtfully, "Do you really think so?"
Sister Yun nodded heavily.
Wei Qilang was speechless. He poked her head and said helplessly, "You."
It is also said that Mrs. Wei sent a box of the fruit sent by Jinniang to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Wei Er, who then had someone give it to her son and daughter-in-law.
Madam Wei was good-tempered, and the maids around her were all very lively. This time, she sent Chunyan to deliver the cherries. Chunyan was quick-witted, and when she got to Shen Qiniang, she smiled and said, "It is said that the eldest son's relative Jiang specially sent them from Luoyang. The eldest lady over there asked us to taste them, as they are the freshest cherries of the first batch."
The Shen family had all returned to their hometowns, and she was left alone in Beijing. Jiang Yun's parents from the next room had also moved away, but they still often sent her gifts...
But to be honest, she herself knew very well that she and Jiang Jun had no hatred.
You can't blame anyone else.
Jinniang never expected that her Mid-Autumn Festival gift would cause such resentment, but even if she knew it, she didn't care. It was originally a gift for her daughter, and it was enough as long as her daughter was happy eating it.
Luoyang is an ancient capital, so there are many tomb robbers. Since Ning Ge'er took office, he has shown no mercy to the powerful and gangsters. Of course, he dares to be so drastic because of his background.
Speaking of it, the tombs of the emperor and his royal family were built in a simple manner, so they were rarely visited by tomb robbers. On the contrary, some officials and their families often had this trouble.
He came to Jinniang's place for dinner and said, "You don't know that some of the treasures sold in the largest antique shop in Luoyang come from tombs."
"He dares to sell it. Isn't he afraid that others will come after him?" Jinniang runs her own business and is most afraid of disputes.
Ning Ge'er smiled and said, "People die for money and birds die for food."
He ate a few mouthfuls of rice in a hurry, and then left in a hurry again, not knowing what case he was thinking about.
Jinniang had the table cleared, and then looked at Jiang Xian who was leisurely drinking tea at the side, and suddenly asked: "You asked me for three thousand strings of cash last year, how are you doing now?"
Jiang Xian was surprised to hear this and coughed suddenly, "Earned some money?"
"Wow, that should be more than what I make from my silk shop." Jinniang had never played with this kind of "stock" thing before and was very curious.
Jiang Xian laughed when he heard this, and after some time, he gave her four thousand strings of cash.
But Jiang Xian himself, as a transport envoy, was also quite knowledgeable about these things. He took this opportunity to try his hand at it and began to write some books on the drawbacks of salt and tea permits while in office.
Jinniang also knew these things. She always felt that officials had to work hard to regulate policies. Otherwise you can only help one person, but if the policy is well implemented, it can help everyone.
At the same time, Jiang Xian also began to build canals, irrigate dry fields, turn dry fields into paddy fields, and plant rice. His predecessors had also done these things. He simply thought that doing so would achieve political achievements, so he did it very attentively.
Jinniang thought, let’s judge by the actions, not the heart!
Because Jinniang had seen peonies in many gardens in Luoyang, she particularly liked "boy face", which is called Zhao powder in modern times. There were many albums of famous artists painting "Zhao powder" on the market, and Jinniang bought them all.
She had painted Erqiao before, but when she saw it now, she only felt that her embroidery seemed good at that time, entirely because of her good embroidery skills and proper matching. Now that she had really looked at the other person's album, she realized that she had been rude.
Of course, in addition to "Tongzimian", she also likes "Dou Lu", "Yao Huang" and "Baixueta".
Jinniang planned to start drawing and making clothes. She finally found a piece of light persimmon-colored material, which was a bit similar to champagne. She embroidered white peonies on the bodice, the front and the cuffs. The design was noble, elegant, and grand, which was in line with her age.
This one took almost a month to make. In September, Jinniang embroidered pink peonies on the snow-gray satin. This one was made into a long coat to be worn in winter.
The first one I made was very beautiful when I wore it, especially the one with the bodice made in the shape of a peony flower instead of just a large, rigid embroidery on it. This is the one Jinniang is wearing today. After seeing this, Jiang Xian was stunned for a moment. When he saw Jinniang looking at him, he immediately glanced away.
"What's wrong?" Jinniang lowered her head to do needlework and talked to him again.
Jiang Xian smiled and said, "Nothing, I just thought it was still early, why did my wife start making a coat?"
"If not now, when? Let me tell you, isn't our son getting married the year after next? I want to embroider pink peonies on the pure blue jacquard peony silk, embroider floral patterns on the front lapels with gold and yellow threads, embroider peonies on the long sleeves in a darker red than pure red, and then lock the edges with gold thread. It will be especially gorgeous and beautiful." Jinniang thought happily.
Seeing that his wife had been talking for a long time and didn't mention him, Jiang Xian became anxious: "My wife, you are dressed like this, what about me?"
Jinniang glanced at him and said, "You? I don't know what kind of clothes you want to wear. Wait until I ask the embroiderer to come, and then you can tell him."
Jiang Xian hurriedly sat next to Jinniang: "Madam, just help me do one thing, I will listen to you in everything."
He tried to please and fawn on her, and Jinniang was amused by him. After a while, she said, "Okay, then I want to drink sweet-scented osmanthus yogurt, and eat the twice-cooked fish you made last time, and spring rolls."
Jiang Xian spread his hands: "That's all, do you want to think of a few more?"
Jinniang quickly shook her head: "I'm afraid you're working too hard."
"It's not hard, not hard." Jiang Xian talked about a few more dishes.
Jinniang didn't show it on her face, but her stomach hurt from laughing. She had been planning to do it for him, but she didn't expect him to be so stupid as to fall into the trap.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
