Seeing his wife crying, Zhao Yongtang panicked a little. He comforted him: "We won't be officials anymore, but we still have money. Why are you crying?"
Indeed, one thousand five hundred taels is not a small amount.
Including what he earned in Jingying, his net worth is now a full two thousand taels.
I think about the past, when he worked at the dock, working odd jobs, and the work would come and go. On average, he would only earn more than three yuan a month, which was still heavy physical labor.
Ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty, even in the capital, only had more than two coins a month. Only a literate accountant could get more than three coins. Of course, the boss would give a new year gift at the end of the year. Being a steward would only cost five coins.
Zhao Yongtang used to earn more than three qian a month, while his wife and mother sewed and mended clothes and starched and washed clothes, so the whole family could make less than 4 qian and less than 5 qian a month.
At the end of the year, the six taels of silver are gone. These two thousand taels have been their family's income for more than two hundred years.
In this era, so much money is indeed a huge sum of money. His family owns a house. As long as they don't spend it frivolously, it is enough to live on for three generations.
Li Ping cried and cried: "Head of the family, do you know? In the past, when our family was poor, my mother and I had to smile with everyone we saw. We never dared to argue with others. When our children were bullied by the neighbor's children, I still
We have to take our children to other people's homes and make amends to them. Who made our family the poorest on this street?"
"Since we don't have the ability, how dare we have a temper? I'm willing to be shameless, but I have wronged the child. Seeing the child's sad look is like a knife cutting out my heart. But I have no choice. Who can let me?
Our family is poor. In this world, being poor is a sin. In this neighborhood, everyone laughs at poverty but not at prostitution."
"But since you joined the Beijing camp as a soldier, no one has dared to bully our children anymore. When the neighbors saw my mother, they also took the initiative to talk to me, and their titles were changed from Mrs. Zhao to old lady. You have established
After my meritorious service came back, I became a sixth-grade military attache. When these people saw me, they nodded and bowed and called me Lady of the Hundred Households, Grand Lady."
"Master, in this world, it's hard to live at the bottom of society. Everyone bullies you. There's no room for reasoning. Haven't you done enough? Even if you're not doing it to honor your ancestors, you still have to think about your children. From Beijing Camp
Military officers are hereditary. In the future, your son will be able to take over your class and continue to serve as a hundred households. Maybe he can accumulate merit and be promoted to a hundred households or a thousand households. If we go to higher places, our family will have this opportunity to change our destiny.
, that’s because the ancestral graves are smoking, but you, why are you just greedy for the money in front of you and sold this opportunity. Woohoo!”
The joy on Zhao Yongtang's face disappeared, and he turned to look at my mother. My mother also looked bleak, as if she was getting older. It is extremely difficult to change social status in this era. Classes have been solidified for more than two hundred years. Basically, I am
Whatever he does, his son will do the same thing. Even the next generation will not be as good as this one.
Zhao Yongtang smiled miserably and said: "Don't I know what you are talking about? But it is easy to climb a high branch, but it is difficult to stand firm. Don't you know what kind of family we are? We can play around in officialdom. Our family has a
I have no backing, and I have no ancestors who were officials. I don’t have the brains to be an official. The officialdom is a battlefield that eats people without spitting out their bones. It’s hard to say whether it’s a blessing or a curse.”
Zhao Yongtang rubbed the little heads of his son and daughter. The child's yellow hair had started to become black and moist due to eating well recently. The previously thin and pointed chin had become rounder.
"You don't know that before returning from the capital camp, His Majesty went to the imperial edict. At that time, he relieved Dingyuan Bo from overseeing the military affairs of the capital camp. It was Vice Admiral Zhang who succeeded Ding Yuan Bo and came back with the army. Now, the army has won the victory.
When we returned to the court, everyone was in trouble, and the camp was occupied by the Xuanwu Army. Deputy Commander Zhang made a big fuss, and now he has been dismissed from his post and went home to study."
"Uncle Dingyuan is a good official and a good general who has not appeared in the Ming Dynasty for two hundred years. Our merits are not bad at all, and we will reward you at that time. I won't miss you a copper coin. What he said is worth every drop of saliva."
Nail, I have never broken a word of my promise. I have never deceived our soldiers. Therefore, everyone on the battlefield died and killed the enemy desperately."
"He lived a simple life and ate whatever the soldiers ate. He often sat among us soldiers with Deputy Commander Zhang, ate with us, chatted with us, and chatted with us. He was a noble, a second-grade man.
The military attache was still the second-in-command of the Jinyi Guard, but he had no airs at all. Just because he often lowered the flag and ate with the soldiers. No one dared to deceive the superiors. When Uncle Dingyuan found out, he chopped off his head and hung it on the flagpole.
superior."
"Do you know that since the beginning of the opening of the Beijing camp, military pay and food payments have been intermittent. Some people in the court do not want us to win the war and do not want the Beijing camp to be strong. It was Uncle Dingyuan who filled the hole himself. Let Xinghe Supermarket continue
Responsible for supplying military supplies and then reporting accounts to the emperor and the Ministry of Revenue."
"The money has not come down yet. My military salary was not given to me, they paid it to the person I replaced. The money I brought back was from the cattle, sheep and horses captured by the Mongols that Uncle Dingyuan auctioned off
, Not only did they make up for the old pay arrears for the original soldiers in the Beijing camp, but they also gave us high military pay. If we had a victory, we would cash it out on the same day, fifty taels of silver for each head. Or we would get twenty taels of silver if we were promoted to an officer."
"Uncle Dingyuan accepted the imperial edict, and before handing over official duties to Deputy Marshal Zhang, he divided the remaining money among everyone. This is how the money I brought back came from. That day, the Marshal and everyone were on the school field for the last time
We sat on the floor and had our last meal."
Zhao Yongtang's eye circles were a little red, and he choked and said: "Everyone knows that after this meal, Uncle Dingyuan will not take us. We also have to return to the imperial court. Everyone is very confused about the future, and many people ask
Commander, what will we do in the future?"
"The commander-in-chief said something heartfelt to everyone at that time. He said that people come to this world only once. The starting point is a mother's womb, and the end point is a handful of loess. Everyone is the same. Between these two ends is life. In today's world
In the Ming Dynasty, in this shitty world, money is a passport. If you have money, most of the rules of the Ming Dynasty can be flexible. If you have power, the rules of the Ming Dynasty can be used to serve you. If you have no money,
, and have no power, so the Ming Dynasty's rules are tailor-made for you. This is why I let everyone who followed me in the Western Expedition go home with money."
"He warned us not to reveal our wealth, and don't buy houses and land when we go back. You have no ability to protect your property. The reason why many people were able to risk their lives and achieve military service and become officials this time is because they can maintain the minimum level of
Fair enough. If you change to another admiral, your merits may not only bring no promotion or money, but may bring disaster. After you go back, you must also think clearly about whether you are suitable for officialdom and working in the capital. If you are not suitable, it will be too late.
Make plans. At least you have money in hand and you have many choices."
This chapter has been completed!