The reason for Henry Zhang's refusal was very simple. He said that his sister was still young and he did not want to talk about marriage for the time being. He wanted to keep her by his side for two years. After all, he only had one sister.
The young head of the family, Gu Yan, was very annoyed. What reason did she have for being young? The girl from the Zhang family was fifteen years old. She was already at an age where she could talk about marriage. There was no age issue at all. It was even less likely that the elder brother would stand in the way of his younger sister.
Regarding marriage, she should find a good family for her to marry as soon as possible. That is what the elder brother should do.
Henry Zhang’s reason for declining was obviously prevarication.
After analysis, Gu Yan believed that Zhang Xuan was definitely not rejected for this reason, but for other reasons. So Gu Yan invited Wu Xing's friends to listen to Zhang Xuan's tone, and finally came up with the real reason for the rejection.
It turned out that Zhang Xuan believed that Gu Changnian was already weak, but he had not participated in the Zhongzheng review and had not yet been awarded an official title. His only sister could marry into the Gu family, but she could not be so hasty. Gu Chang must at least have an official position, so that he could rest assured.
After Gu Yan learned this reason, although he was very annoyed, at least the reason was still valid. The Gu family in Wu County is not what it used to be. There are no important officials in the Gu family and the children of the family are not enterprising. Zhang Xuan is worried that his sister will marry
It is reasonable to give it to a useless person.
Gu Chang missed the Zhongzheng review three years ago because he got into trouble that year and caused some uproar in Wu County. So Gu Yan decided to postpone participating in the review to avoid putting the Zhongzheng under pressure at a time when public opinion was raging.
It would be troublesome to give someone a lower grade. You know, Gu Chang killed a female maid in his family for no reason after being drunk three years ago. Although it was not a big deal for the master to kill the slave, he settled the matter with money and materials afterwards.
, but if it spread like wildfire in Wu County, it would really damage the reputation.
So Gu Yan told Gu Chang that he must cultivate himself in the near future and prepare to participate in this year's Zhongzheng review. Only after getting a good review grade, being awarded an official position, and then proposing, Henry Zhang would not refuse.
Therefore, Gu Chang had to restrain himself. In addition, he had to prepare for the Zhongzheng review. He always had to practice writing, read some books, practice writing poems and so on. He was very serious. Naturally, he had no intention of paying attention to a little person like Li Hui.
.
Han Yong could only give up. Without Gu Chang's support, he would not dare to be presumptuous. Besides, the current situation seemed that Li Hui was protected by Dong Weng. Otherwise, how could he not only not punish him, but also promote him?
The boy became the deputy steward. This was obviously done deliberately to show to himself and the head of the family.
Han Yong was arranged to enter Nanzhai in order to secretly watch Gu Qian's every move and find out the major mistakes of Nanzhai. The young head of the family made it very clear that the land controlled by Nanzhai must be taken back, and the Gu family cannot have a second decision-maker.
people.
…
On the morning of July 16th, Gu Qian led everyone in the South House to the East Lake Manor. Today was the harvest day at the East Lake Manor. For an aristocratic family like the Gu family whose main source of income was the manor economy, this was a big day.
In previous years, the head of the family would go there in person to preside over the sickening ceremony. But recently, the head of the family, Gu Chun, has become increasingly frail, so he did not attend. Gu Chang was entrusted to go there to represent him.
In previous years, the sickening ceremony was not necessarily held at the East Lake Manor. The Gu family in Wu County had four large estates, two in the north and east of the city. Usually, the sickening ceremony was held in each manor in turn. But this year, there was no choice.
There was a severe drought this year, and many acres of land in other manors lost their yields. The grains planted after the rain were not yet mature, so the sickle-opening ceremony could only be held at the East Lake Manor. It was also the only manor of the Gu family that was almost unaffected this year.
Almost all Gu's hopes of maintaining rice success this year lie in it.
At early morning, on the flat ground in front of the warehouse in the manor, hundreds of tenant farmers from the East Lake Manor gathered here. Men, women, old and young, all wearing straw hats, holding sickles and standing barefoot under the shade of the trees, waiting for Gu Qian to lecture.
Soon after, Gu Qian arrived surrounded by everyone. The accompanying servants carried a big chair in front of him and asked Gu Qian to sit on the chair. It was the longevity chair that Li Hui made for Gu Qian. Because it was comfortable to sit on,
Now Gu Qian carries this chair with him wherever he goes.
Lu Fang, the thin and withered steward of Donghu Manor, asked Gu Qian for instructions, then walked up to the people and said loudly: "Fellow folks, today Dong Weng came to preside over the sickle opening ceremony in person, so I asked Dong Weng for instructions."
All the people clapped their hands, and Lu Fang bowed and asked Gu Qian to give him a lecture.
Gu Qian stood up and said with a smile: "Dear elders, today is the big day for the manor. More than 10,000 acres of rice have matured. We have worked hard for a year and have been waiting for today. This year is not going well. There was a severe drought at the beginning of the year. I almost missed it."
The crops were destroyed. Fortunately, the repairs were made in time, and now we have thousands of acres of mature rice. It’s not easy.”
All the people said one after another: "Yes, yes, it is really not easy."
Gu Qian said: "Because of the severe drought, the rice production in Sanwu land will definitely decrease this year. In my land in Wu County, nine out of ten acres have reduced production or no harvest. Now the price of grain outside has soared, and one stone of grain has increased to tens of thousands of dollars.
You must have heard about it. Therefore, my East Lake Manor can still harvest, and it seems that the harvest is not bad. How difficult it is. You will not go hungry this year. You must be grateful. How many people
I’m going to be hungry this year.”
All the people shouted one after another: "The kindness of the Lord's family is engraved in our hearts. The Lord's family treats us well, and we all know it in our hearts."
Gu Qian nodded and said: "It's good that you understand. I, the Gu family of Wu County, have passed down poetry and calligraphy to my family, and I treat the vassal tenants in my family as my own. I will never let you go hungry or cold, and I will never ignore you. No matter what, I will not let you go hungry or cold."
Even though it is difficult, I have to share the joys and sorrows with you fellow villagers. Today is a big day, and I have a few requests. I hope you will listen well."
Everyone nodded and listened carefully.
Gu Qian said: "In view of the severe drought this year, food is precious. Therefore, we must cherish food especially. My first request is that I hope that the grains can be returned to the warehouse. The ears of rice must be harvested cleanly, and the threshing must be clean.
, don’t be careless. Every grain of rice is very important. The second point is to take advantage of the good weather during this period, hurry up to dry it, bag it and put it into the warehouse. The fodder is stacked and covered. After autumn.
, the autumn rain is lingering, don’t let the food get moldy and rotten, it would be a huge waste.”
All the people nodded, Dong Weng was an expert, and these two requests were on point.
"The third rule is to guard against theft and arson. During this period, the manor organized manpower to patrol the fields and found many suspicious people trying to steal rice. Reducing production elsewhere will inevitably lead to
I am jealous of the good harvest in Donghu Manor. People are unpredictable, so we must be prepared just in case. We cannot let the food we have worked so hard to grow be stolen or destroyed by others. Right or wrong?" Gu Qian said.
"What Dong Weng said is absolutely true. That's exactly what happened." Everyone said one after another.
Gu Qian smiled and nodded: "I will send out manpower to patrol and take strict precautions. The ten days of harvesting, threshing and warehousing are the most stressful moments. Everyone must be careful. I also have to keep the ugly words in my head to prevent them.
Outsiders should also guard against themselves. If anyone does something wrong and I find out about it, they will be severely punished. Don’t blame me for being merciless when the time comes, because I have already made my words today."
All the tenant farmers were awe-inspiring, and they all knew the cruelty of the Gu family. The Gu family had dealt with several slave tenants in the past few years, and they all lost their lives. That was no joke.
Gu Qian didn't want to say too many words that would ruin the atmosphere. Just saying this was enough. He turned around and said to Han Yong and others: "We can start."
Han Yong hurriedly greeted him loudly, and saw two servants coming forward carrying a gong stand with a large bronze gong hanging on it. Another servant came over holding a large bunch of heavy rice.
Han Yong took a mallet wrapped around it and handed it to Gu Chang.
"Please sir, please ring the gong!"
Gu Chang raised his mallet and struck the gong violently, and then he heard a clang sound. The sound resounded all around and made people's ears buzz. Gu Chang struck continuously, making a loud clang clang sound.
Han Yong took another sickle wrapped in red cloth from the servant and handed it to Gu Qian, saying loudly: "Please dong Weng use the sickle!"
Gu Qian smiled and waved the sickle, cut the bunch of straw in the servant's hand in half, and lifted the heavy ears of rice in his hands.
"Open the sickle!" Gu Qian announced loudly.
Everyone present cheered and applauded, and the next moment men, women, and children stood up and marched to the fields outside the village. Soon after, the sickle made a rustling sound, and the harvest officially began.
Starting today, for more than half a month, they will work from morning to night without any rest, sweating profusely from dawn to dusk.
Harvesting rice, manual threshing, transportation and drying, packaging and storage, drying and bundling of rice straw, stacking and storage, etc., all need to be completed in more than half a month. But in fact, starting from the time when the seedlings are planted in spring,
Harvesting crops today is just one part of a long and hard work.