Enter from the back door, pass through the small garden, and pass through a narrow corridor, and you will see a large rectangular patio. There are two potted Huangtangdi plants beside the patio. The yellow and pink flowers have withered. The southwest sides of the patio are connected.
There are two two-story wooden buildings. Zhang Yuan's mother Lu lives in the south building, and Zhang Yuan lives in the west building. On the other side of the hall is a row of houses with earthen walls and tiles, which are the residences of the kitchen, sundries and servants.
The little girl Tuting stuck her head out of the railing, stretched her neck and called out: "Master, my wife is looking for you."
In the Jiangnan official family, the servants call the master master, the mistress as grandma, and some call the mistress as madam. There are only two girls in Zhang Yuan's family, and one is Tuting. Zhang Yuan doesn't know why this girl's name is so weird.
, it should be the name his father Zhang Ruiyang gave the girl when he bought her.
Mother Lu had already appeared at the corridor on the second floor and asked, "Yuan'er, where have you been? It's such a hot day. Oh, you're wearing a blindfold."
——Although the souls of the two lives merged, Zhang Yuan's feelings for his mother, Lu, were not affected in any way. His mother's love was deep in his heart. Because of Zhang Yuan's eye disease, Lu sought medical advice everywhere.
Fortunately, Shaoxing famous doctor Lu Yungu clearly said that Zhang Yuan's eye disease could be cured. Ms. Lu felt a little relieved. These days, before going to bed every night, Ms. Lu would sit on the head of her son's bed and use
She fanned her son with a palm fan and recited the Mantra of the Great Master in White over and over again, praying to Guanyin Bodhisattva in the South China Sea to heal her child's eye disease. Zhang Yuan fell asleep in the sound of her mother's chanting, feeling particularly at ease -
—
"The child went to enjoy the shade under the arch bridge behind. What are your instructions from mother?" Zhang Yuan raised his head and asked.
Lu said: "Your father asked Xizhang's clan brother to send a letter back, and I will read it to you."
The little girl Tuting came downstairs with a "dong dong dong" sound and said, "Master, my maid will help you go upstairs." She put her hand into Zhang Yuan's palm.
Zhang Yuan held the little girl's hand. Tu Ting was only ten years old this year, and his hands were very small and soft. Zhang Yuan couldn't open his eyes for more than two months, and he couldn't even remember what Tu Ting looked like. He had the impression that he was wearing two buns.
, the two big eyes look around curiously and timidly, a bit like a little rabbit. Is this the origin of the name Rabbit Pavilion?
Zhang Yuan went up to the second floor. It was too hot to stay in the room, so the eldest girl Yi Ting moved two bamboo chairs and placed them on the corridor for Lu and Zhang Yuan to sit.
Through the gap between the railings, Mrs. Lu saw Wu Ling still grinning by the patio below, and asked: "Yuan'er, what are you playing under the stone bridge? Wu Ling smiles so well?"
Zhang Yuandao: "Haier played a game of chess with Zhang E and won."
Ms. Lu was shocked: "You took off your blindfold!"
Zhang Yuan said: "I haven't picked it yet. The child is playing blindfolded chess."
Lu didn't know how to play chess and didn't know how difficult it was to play blindfolded, so she didn't care. She just told her son to follow Lu Yungu's instructions and keep his eyes closed for a hundred days, and then he read a letter to his son——
Zhang Yuan's father, Zhang Ruiyang, wanted to pass the imperial examination in his early years, but he couldn't even make up for the birth certificate until he was thirty years old. He wasted his time, so he had to find another way out. He asked Zhang Rusen, the uncle of Xi Zhang's clan, to find a job in the Prince Zhou's Mansion in Kaifeng.
As a clerk, this is a low-grade official. Zhang Ruiyang worked in the Zhou Palace for more than ten years. He was cautious and diligent, and finally he was promoted to the chief of the governor. From the ninth rank, the annual salary was sixty dan.
Thirty taels of silver, which is the money for Zhang E's five small goldfish, but for Zhang Yuan's family, this silver can be of great use——
Zhang Yuan's family has 120 acres of land on the east bank of Jianhu Lake. They have to pay two taxes a year, the summer tax on wheat and the autumn grain tax on rice. In the early years of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng reformed the taxation and implemented the "one whip law". The summer tax and autumn grain tax were not collected.
When the goods are collected in kind, they are all converted into silver and handed over. This is certainly convenient for the people, but it is troublesome for households with no source of silver for self-sufficient farmers and weavers. They have to exchange rice and wheat for silver, and every time
In the month of tax payment, the rice and wheat were sold very cheaply and could not be sold at the price they deserved. They suffered a great loss. Zhang Yuan's family's annual tax on more than 100 acres of land was not a small amount. There were also labor exchanges for daily expenses.
, the money spent on servants and hired workers, and with the money sent back by Zhang Ruiyang, the family is very well off. Zhang Ruiyang's annual salary is thirty taels of silver, but he sends back sixty taels every year. It can be seen that working as an errand in the Prince of Zhou's Mansion is still a bit lucrative -
Because of the long distance, Zhang Ruiyang only returned to Shaoxing once in two or three years, and left again after less than two months. Zhang Yuan had a relatively indifferent relationship with his father. This time Zhang Yuan suffered from serious eye disease, and Lu had to send letters
The person who reported the emergency to Zhang Ruiyang was later treated by Lu Yungu, so he decided to wait until Zhang Yuan's eye disease was cured before writing another letter——
Therefore, Zhang Ruiyang didn't know that his son had an eye disease. The letter said that Zhang Yuan was already fifteen and should not just play all day long. He should enroll in social studies. After three or four years, he would take the county school exam after he was successful in his studies.
The academic exam is held once a year. As long as the rankings in each exam are improved, try to pass the exam before the age of thirty, so that you can be exempted from military service...
Zhang Yuan couldn't help but shook his head: Is it too high or too low to be admitted as a scholar before the age of thirty?
Mrs. Lu saw her son shaking his head, thinking that his son didn't want to go to a social school to study, so he hurriedly said: "Your father doesn't know your current situation. Of course, you have to wait until your eyes are healed to study and go to school. It doesn't matter if you don't like to study, as long as I
My son has good eyes, whether he can read or not is secondary."
Zhang Yuan's eye disease this time frightened Madam Lu. If her son's eyes couldn't recover, it would be difficult for him to marry, so she just wanted her son to be healthy and safe, and didn't think about anything else.
Zhang Yuan smiled and said: "The child's eyes will definitely heal, and he will also read books. Don't worry, mother."
"Good boy, good boy." Mrs. Lu, Zhang's mother with frosty temples, smiled brightly. After Yuan'er's illness, she not only became sensible and polite, but also had a much calmer temper. She only hoped that Yuan'er's eye disease would be cured soon.
The eldest girl Yi Ting looked at her face and saw that Mrs. Lu was happy, so she joked: "The young master is already studying. Don't you know, madam? Zhang Cai's voice became hoarse when he read to the young master."
They were all in the same yard. How could Zhang's mother, Mrs. Lu, not know about her son's listening to books? Although Mrs. Lu was happy, she had hidden worries. She had the same idea as Xiao Xinu Wuling and felt that this sign was not good. Her son seemed to be trying hard to adapt to blindness.
However, she didn't know that her son was now calm and intelligent, and could recite most of the books he had heard once. With such a talent, it would be a waste not to study or take the imperial examination.
Mrs. Lu only thought that her son wanted to listen to books to relieve boredom, and said: "Zhang Cai, the two boys in Wuling are not very literate and can't read. Why don't you pay for two boys to read to you? It costs about one penny a day."
, my Zhang family can also afford it."
Zhang Yuan was about to ask his mother not to worry, but he heard Zhang Cai reporting from downstairs: "Madam, Granny Ma from Zhishui Lane wants to see Madam."
Zhang's mother, Lu, said: "Please invite Granny Ma to come in." She told Yi Ting to greet Granny Ma.
Zhang Yuan asked: "Mother, who is this Granny Ma?"
Zhang's mother Lu said: "I met her last time when I was burning incense at Dashan Temple. Granny Ma was very enthusiastic. When she heard that you had bad eyesight, Granny Ma said that Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva on Mount Putuo saves people from suffering. Going to Mount Putuo to offer incense can ward off disasters and relieve evil.
——This visit must be to ask me whether I want to take you to Mount Putuo to offer incense on February 19th next year."
Zhang Yuan hurriedly said: "Mother, my son's eyes are fine. He will be fine if he takes care of him for a while. Mount Putuo is overseas, and the wind and waves are unpredictable. Mother, don't go. There are Bodhisattva temples in every temple. Sincerity will lead to spiritual success, and the family will have enough money.
If you want to help the poor, it is best to do some good deeds."
Mrs. Lu looked her son up and down, thinking that Yuan'er was really different from before after experiencing the pain of eye disease. She nodded and said: "Then when you grow up in a few years, I will go to Putuo to offer incense and pay my vows -"
The mother and son were talking, and Granny Ma came upstairs. She was in her sixties and didn't need Yi Ting's support at all. Her hands and feet were very nimble. She smiled before saying anything: "Grandma Zhang, I'm here to disturb you. This is the house."
Come on, young master. You are indeed handsome, plump and plump, with clear eyebrows. Are your eyes better? With the blessing of Bodhisattva, the young master’s eye disease will definitely be cured..."
Grandma Ma spoke very fluently, like scissors cutting in the air, "cha-cha-cha-cha". After chatting with Zhang's mother Lu for a while, she said she had something important to discuss, and Zhang's mother Lu led her into the room to talk in secret.
Zhang Yuan sat on the bamboo chair in the corridor, flicking the folding fan. His hearing was now extremely sharp. He could clearly hear the whispers between his mother and Granny Ma in the room. He did not expect that Granny Ma was not inviting his mother, Lu, to Putuo.
The one who offered the incense came to be a matchmaker for him!
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