Not long after, the carriage moving forward in the wind and snow stopped, and a driver spoke in a thick Guanzhong accent: "Master, we are home."
"So fast?" Xia Yu was stunned. They only walked on the road for more than a quarter, about twenty minutes.
Yin Yuan said cheerfully: "Brother-in-law, is it close? I told you that Anxingfang is very close to the palace, so you can't go wrong choosing this place."
"Let's go home and take a look."
Xia Yu stood up impatiently and went to open the door curtain, completely unaware of the secret winks between Yin Yuan and Yin Ping behind her.
In the long wind and snow, as soon as Xia Yu poked her head out, she was greeted by a warm mountain call: "Welcome my uncle back home."
On the right side of the spacious street, there is a majestic mansion compound, and in front of the door, there are more than a hundred people waiting.
Looking at the clothes, there are soldiers, servants, maids, all kinds of things.
At this time, when they saw Xia Yu returning, these people shouted and prostrated themselves in the snow. Everyone looked respectful and excited.
Xia Yu was born, and he was at the height of his power in the Tang Dynasty, with a bright future. As the head of the family, they were both proud and fortunate.
Xia Yu was dumbfounded, with a look of astonishment on her face, obviously stunned by the big scene in front of her.
Good guy, he got a big surprise just after he got home. Such a wealthy family with many servants was something he never dared to dream of in his previous life.
"Brother-in-law," Yin Yuan also came out from behind and said with a smile: "How about it, is it grand enough?"
Xia Yu didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You arranged this? You're just fooling around. It's so cold outside, why don't we all keep waiting, don't you want to freeze? Get up quickly, don't be too polite."
"Sir," at this time, a middle-aged man in his thirties came forward respectfully and said enthusiastically: "I am waiting for a group of servants who are not so valuable. This is your first time returning home, so you should be given a warm welcome.
."
"Besides, we should let the servants recognize their master. Otherwise, they won't even recognize their master. Wouldn't it be a big joke?"
Xia Yu was stunned: "Who are you?"
Yin Yuan hurriedly said: "Brother-in-law, his name is Yin Hong. He is a son of our family. He is loyal and reliable. My mother and sister think he is good, so they gave him to you as a housekeeper."
"From now on, he is yours and can be disciplined by you. According to the rules, servants should take the master's surname, so you can just call him Xia Hong."
"Xia Hong has met the father-in-law." The housekeeper was very clever and quickly changed his words.
Xia Yu scratched her head, my dear, in feudal society, people nowadays don’t even have the right to keep their surname. It’s so pitiful.
However, he has no plans to change the status quo for the time being. What he needs now is to keep a low profile.
"Uh, are these all people from the mansion?" Xia Yu looked at the crowd of more than a hundred people in front of her, still a little surprised.
"Yes, sir." Xia Hong replied quickly.
"Our family needs so many people?"
"Yes, yes." Xia Hong quickly explained: "Master, if there are fewer people, first the family will be too big to take care of them, and secondly, the ostentation will not be enough, which will make everyone laugh."
"To tell you the truth, you are a civil servant, and you don't have many people in your family. Each of the generals and princes has hundreds or even hundreds of soldiers."
I'm going!
Xia Yu, a modern country bumpkin, was stunned and finally understood what the ancient version of a great family and a great cause meant!
"Okay then." Xia Yu nodded helplessly, then just do as the Romans do. Anyway, with his ability, he can afford to support no matter how many people he has.
"Teacher," at this time, Su Dingfang came up to him with a smile: "Disciple, congratulations on your promotion."
"Okay, okay." Xia Yu was quite satisfied with Su Dingfang as his disciple: "Have you settled down in the house?" He turned to Xia Hong and said, "Dingfang is my disciple, just like one of his own family members."
Su Dingfang said hurriedly: "Teacher, don't worry. The housekeeper has arranged a separate small courtyard for me, as well as servants and maids. The disciple is very satisfied."
"By the way, teacher, His Highness King Qin also prepared a gift for the teacher to enter the house. Do you want to take a look?"
"Coming into the house?" Xia Yu jumped out of the car, and half of his ankles were immediately covered in the deep snow. He asked with a surprised look on his face: "What is it?"
Su Dingfang turned around and said, "Brothers, please stand up."
Immediately, four to fifty strong men appeared in the crowd. They all had fierce faces and carried swords at their waists. At first glance, they were people who had been in battle for a long time.
However, these people seem to be quite young, all in their thirties.
Some people seem to have slight disabilities in their arms, legs and feet.
Xia Yu was stunned: "Who are they?" At first, he thought that these soldiers were also rewarded by Li Yuan, but now it seems that they are not?
Su Dingfang did not answer, but looked at one of the soldiers.
This man was about thirty years old, strong and slender, with a pair of eyes still shining brightly in the wind and snow. Seeing this, he took a few steps forward and said respectfully: "Back to the military advisor, I am all the old troops of His Highness King Qin. Because of the war,
As time goes by, I have been plagued by old illnesses and am no longer fit to go into battle."
"His Royal Highness the King of Qin allowed us to retire early. Knowing that the military advisor had just started a family and needed help, he asked the villain to beg for food. I hope the military advisor will take him in."
"I hope the military advisor will take him in." Suddenly, the voice was like thunder, and forty or fifty pairs of eyes were looking at Xia Yu enthusiastically, full of expectation.
Xia Yu suddenly realized.
These people were veterans of many battles and their physical condition was no longer suitable for fighting. Therefore, Li Shimin asked them to retire early.
Under normal circumstances, it means giving them some money and some land to let them spend the rest of their lives peacefully.
Of course, such a simple one-time settlement is far less secure than entering a wealthy family, and it can even benefit future generations.
Therefore, these people are very much looking forward to Xia Yu taking them in.
"Okay, okay, everyone can stay. Don't worry, in the future, as long as I have something to eat, everyone won't be hungry."
Xia Yu happily agreed. He knew that the veterans were rich in battle experience and they were all treasures.
And the skill and loyalty of these people who were selected by Li Shimin must be unparalleled.
"Thank you, Lord. I am willing to go through fire and water for you, no matter what." All the soldiers were overjoyed. Now they would have an iron rice bowl for the rest of their lives, and they immediately swore their loyalty to the death.
Xia Yu knew that the ancients valued righteousness. These people were not just talking about it. As long as the kindness was given, they would really be willing to die for him.
"Old Hong," Xia Yu casually gave the housekeeper a name: "You should immediately make statistics on everyone's family situation. His Majesty has rewarded me with 10,000 acres of land. When it is fulfilled, we will build a farm and then bring everyone together."
All the family members have been arranged to go there so that they can take care of him."
"Yes, sir." Xia Hong was also very happy. Lao Hong was just Lao Hong. He sounded affectionate and did not see anyone else.
"Thank you, Lord." All the soldiers were happy again.
They all heard that Xia Yu treated her servants very well, with high salary and no airs. Now that they saw it, it turned out that they were right.
"By the way, everyone's monthly salary from now on will be five for money and two and three for grain. I will treat everyone equally."
"Lao Hong, the same goes for you and everyone else, your salary will be doubled."
Xia Yu seemed to be transformed into a good boy making a lot of promises to everyone. He knew very well that no matter how many promises he made, they would not be as exciting as the actual benefits.
"Thank you, uncle."
Everyone was so happy that they all knelt on the ground.
"Okay, everyone knows me now. It's too cold, so go back quickly." Xia Yu was so cold that her nose was about to runny, so she quickly waved her hand.
"My lord, please come first." Xia Hong quickly and diligently led the way straight into the middle gate.
There is no reason why others will advance before the father-in-law comes in.
Besides, only the head of the house, relatives, and distinguished guests can enter this middle door. Other servants, sorry, please use the side door.
Xia Yu stabbed his head like a family leader and stepped forward. Su Dingfang, Yin Hong, Yinping and others quickly followed.
As soon as he walked to the middle door, he saw that the door plaque with five large gilt characters engraved with "Fufeng County Duke's Mansion" had already been hung up, which looked very majestic and majestic.
"This plaque?"
"Go back to the Lord, this is what the angel brought when he delivered the reward just now. I didn't dare to delay for a moment, so I let someone hang it up."
Xia Yu suddenly realized why he was so fast.
Stepping into the door, you will see that the palace occupies a vast area. There is a single front yard, bypassing the screen wall that welcomes guests, and there is an acre outside, which is extremely spacious.
"By the way, Dingfang, where is Mr. Ling?" Xia Yu suddenly stopped. He remembered, why didn't he see Ling Jing?
"Teacher, have you forgotten? Today is the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, which is the time to send the stove." Su Dingfang caught up two steps and said with a smile: "Mr. Ling saw that the family was not prepared, but he refused and was instructing several servants to prepare some food sacrifices.
, and I’m busy writing some couplets.”
"He said that you are returning home for the first time today, and it is time to send the stove. You must worship the Stove Lord well, and let him go to heaven to speak kind words for you, so that your home will be safe."
Xia Yu was stunned. He had ignored the superstitions of the ancients and paid great attention to these festival etiquettes.
Xia Hong, who was beside him, was a little uneasy and hurriedly complained: "Go back to the Lord, this stove sacrifice must be hosted by the head of the family. I don't know when you will come back, and I don't dare to do it, so I haven't made any preparations."
"It's okay, don't be nervous." Xia Yu smiled and waved her hands.
"Brother-in-law," Yin Yuan said with a smile, "If you ask me, it's impossible to live without a woman in this family. If you are not here, there will be no one to take care of you."
"How about you marry my sister during the Chinese New Year, which will make her happy even more."
Xia Yu laughed: "You kid, you take advantage of the opportunity to plan for your sister. Why, are you afraid that my brother-in-law will default on your debt?"
"No. No." Yin Yuan shook his head quickly, looking slightly embarrassed.
However, Xia Yu knew in her heart that it was probably Yin Kaishan who asked his son to come and find out. After all, things may change if they are not settled.
Moreover, the sooner Teng's wife is married before the main wife comes in, the more advantage she will have.
"That's okay." Xia Yu smiled: "I guess it was too late before the year, so the two families will work together to let your sister in before the Lantern Festival."
"Okay, brother-in-law." Yin Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this: "Don't worry, the family has already prepared it for my sister."
"Old Hong, I don't know anything about these wedding etiquette, and my parents are gone, so I leave it to you to make the arrangements."
"Yes, sir." Xia Hong was also very happy. After all, he came from the Yin family.
When Yin Shixi married, even if it was just Teng's wife, he would have a backer in the back house.
"Okay, the matter is settled. Let's go find Mr. Ling. They are so concerned about us, so we can't be vague."
Xia Yu waved her hand and a group of people went straight to the back house.
Although the journey was full of hardships and the celebration dinner was a struggle, I still wanted to have a good start when I first entered the house.
