The 11th year of Yongle, the winter solstice of Jiaxu, was celebrated on the winter solstice in ancient times, the winter solstice, New Year's Day, and Halloween (the emperor's birthday) together, which were called the three major festivals, sending cold clothes, greeting the sky, and drawing a picture of the 99-9 cold-relieving cold.

Xing's mother urged Xing Xiuyan to send Jia Cong a cotton coat. Xing Xiuyan lukewarmly brought it into the house. Jia Cong smiled and said, "Where is your land? Or is it your own?"

"It was originally rented out and then rented it to someone else." Xing Xiuyan pursed her lips.

This situation is very common. Landlords rent land to tenants, and tenants can transfer their hands or hire people to plant it, which is called tenant farmers' economy.

"Now, no cap tax is charged, and the tax is distributed to the acres. After the Suzhou Prefecture cleared the meter, it bought it and the tax was calculated based on the acres."

"Can sister take me to see it?" Jia Cong said. He didn't want to waste his time when he came to Shengze. When he went to Panxia Workshop in Yangzhou, he wanted to be a "door master (foreign capitalist)" and could also help the Xing family, but he had to see if they were reliable.

Xing Xiuyan opened his mouth lightly and said strangely: "I don't go to that place, they are all poor peasants. Your aunt and I used to just take care of the silkworm room. They sent mulberry leaves and cotton, and sometimes they just weaved cloth, for fear of dirtying you."

"Not afraid, no fear." Jia Cong said he didn't mind.

After dinner, Xing Zhong laughed and said, "My sister has entered the mansion. Everyone is a family. Don't be polite, don't be polite, just treat it as your own. Well... Xiuyan, have you drawn the cold-relieving picture?"

"It's been painted." Xing Xiuyan smiled and told the story of taking Jia Cong out for a walk.

"My nephew also draws one, and then go after it is finished." Xing Zhong and his wife did not mention offending the crime in front of Jia Cong.

"Okay." Jia Cong painted a picture after the meal, and Xing Xiuyan took him out. Xing's mother thought, "I'm still a family. I haven't seen your sister's shadow in so many years."

"Isn't this a high mountain and a long road?" Xing Zhong turned his head and smoked dry cigarettes.

"It's not that the mountains are high and the road is far, but that the fate is deep and affection is shallow."

"What do you know, a woman?" Xing Zhong hummed, and Xing's mother sneered, "Do you also want to send your daughter in? A niece is the daughter-in-law? Our females are indifferent, but they can recognize a few words..."

"Isn't it good? In addition to being provoked by others, this little nephew is also considerate. He is a scholar from Shuntian Mansion who was admitted to the exam. He has no worries about food and clothing. No matter how deep the marquis's door is, it is only six feet deep." Xing Zhong had an idea, but he was unsure, and he was unsure in all aspects. He didn't know how Jia Cong would deal with it next.

"Since you are a scholar, you will also make a fortune in the imperial examinations in the future. Those Hanlin officials who fly in the sky, look at the Jiang family in Rugao, Huating, and Fang family in Tongcheng, who are not their own son-in-law and relatives? Officials protect each other and form alliances, and they will like our daughter?" Xing's mother rolled her eyes and spit out the jujube.

Xing Zhong was unhappy and thought about it. Suddenly his eyes lit up: "Just tell my sister no? She is the legitimate mother and has no biological children. If her little nephew was in high school at that time, how could she not rely on a place to rely on? The niece as a daughter-in-law and kissing her will also be beneficial to her, wouldn't it be?"

"But they are younger than our daughter."

"This is not a matter. The third year of a female student holds gold bricks. The younger she holds gold bricks, the more gold bricks she holds, hehe."

...

The cousin and brother boarded the boat that was rowing by the two, entered the poncho. Sun Fu and Long Aotian stood outside. Jia Cong asked, "Mudu, how is the letter from the Fucheng?"

"Mr. Lian Er of Mudu, Miss Lin received the letter. When I sent it, I had to go back when I spoke. I had already passed the Hushu Cash." Sun Fu replied, Mudu was just north of Shengze, and Wujiang and Wuxian were nearby, and it was accessible by boat.

He also said: "Mr. Lian Er told Mr. Cong to go back early and not to be fun outside."

Long Aotian's voice was like thunder: "I asked someone to send the letter from Suzhou Fucheng. The road is long and I haven't replied yet."

Jia Cong nodded, Xing Xiuyan sat quietly and elegantly on the cushion under the wooden wall. His old beige skirt covered the bow shoes. He held an oil umbrella with plain hands. Her jade fingers were slender and white. Because Jiangnan silkworms raised, Suzhou embroidery was very particular. Women who embroidered embroidery should not do rough work. They must take good care of their hands. One of the silkworms should not be stained with oil smoke or other smells. The silkworms should be clean. The second is that Suzhou embroidery customs have always been the custom of not touching the spring water of the spring, so Suzhou embroidery is famous all over the world. However, Xiuyan also went to the kitchen and could not make famous Suzhou embroidery.

"Miss Lin? Is another cousin of you?" Xing Xiuyan said lightly.

"It's also considered blood-related. Sister Lin's mother is my biological aunt. She married the Yangzhou Yanyan Censor. Her previous son died of illness and her ancestral home is in Mudu. We went south because of this..." Jia Cong looked at her clothes: "When I come back later, why don't we go to the cloth store and the silk store to pick up some things?"

Xing Xiuyan said reservedly: "No, isn't you riding a donkey to find a donkey? I have raw silk and a loom at home, so there is no need to wear it that well."

Seeing that she was not wearing makeup and was shabby in her clothes, she sat there. The boat floated over one small bridge after another in Jiangnan, flooding the crowd. The beauty could not be concealed, and the beauty was transcendent. Jia Cong knew that the real situation might not be like this. It was because of the bleak house and the poor financial situation, so he did not expose her. Looking at Xing Zhong and Xing's mother during this period, they were not very snobbish people. It was a bit philanthropic. After all, they were a petty citizen, and no one would care about it. Therefore, Jia Cong's idea of ​​taking them as Sheng Ze's agent was naturally not rejected.

His focus this time was not on opening a bookstore in Shengze. Jia Cong learned from the historical materials of the Ming and Qing dynasties, as well as his personal experience in Dashun Jiangnan that capitalists were very popular in Jiangnan. If they had a larger farm, fish, shrimp, cattle and sheep, cotton, mulberry trees... all kinds of things were all three-dimensional. In ancient times, manure was money, and this economy was stable, and there were many wealthy businessmen who did this.

Get off the boat and enter a mulberry forest. The terrain is a vast plain with few hills. In winter, mulberry leaves are bare and branches sway alone. Mulberry planting is also very particular. Distance, roads (dirty roads), water sources, and four or five Xingjia tenants also take boats to transport manure and carry fertilization back and forth. In Jiangnan towns, the manure production location is fixed. One town and another town are closely connected, with a distance of several miles and a dozen miles.

Xing Xiuyan walked gracefully on the ridge road, reached out to point him, and Jia Cong stared at her feet: "Sister Xing is not a foot binding?"

"There are not many women in the folk who bind their feet, and they have to do their jobs. To be honest, foot binding is suitable for Confucianism and has its opposites. Literati prefers the three-inch golden lotus that cannot be seen. So do you?" Xing Xiuyan didn't mind and turned around and said.

"No, I think it's naturally more beautiful." The two walked a while and saw the Xing family tenants in the forest arguing with another group of people. There were more than a dozen people in that wave, with silk and decent clothes. They looked like people in charge of wealthy families. Xing Xiuyan frowned and frowned quickly. Jia Cong said, "That night, Chief Jing Jia said that your home is next to Weijia. Since the Weijia is a famous family in Huating, how did he come from Wujiang?"

"This is a common thing. It is famous and has a huge clan. Wujiang is the same clan as Huating Bing family. Their family has been born in Hanlin for generations and has also produced Grand Tutors. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of land. The literati do not have to pay taxes. I don't know how many people invested land in their names, concealing taxes and evading taxes... This person is a Wujiang Bing family. He has had a quarrel with my tenants several times due to water source problems." Xing Xiuyan turned her eyes and lowered her head and said helplessly: "That ancestor duke is also a member of Wujiang Bing family."
Chapter completed!