Seeing his wife crying, Zhao Yongtang panicked a little. He comforted her: "We won't be officials anymore, but we still have money, so 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 was working at the wharf fighting against large packages and doing odd jobs, with work coming and going at times. On average, I only earn three yuan or more in a month, which is still heavy physical labor.
Ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty, even in the capital, only had more than two qian a month. Only a literate accountant can get more than three yuan. Of course, the boss will give a new year gift at the end of the year. Being a steward only costs five cents.
Zhao Yongtang used to earn more than three qian a month, while his wife and mother sewed and washed clothes, so the whole family could make less than 4 qian and less than 5 qian a month.
At the end of one year, 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 silver is indeed a huge sum of money. His family has a house. As long as you don't spend it indiscriminately, it will be enough for three generations.
Li Ping cried and cried: "Head of the family, 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 neighbor children, I still We have to take our children to their homes and make amends to them. Our family is the poorest on this street."
"Since we have no 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. Everyone in this neighborhood 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 Baihu, Grand Lady."
"Head of the household, 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 Jingying 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. As people go to higher places, our family can have this opportunity to change their destiny. , that’s the smoke coming out of the ancestral graves, 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 his mother. My mother also looked defeated and seemed to be getting older. It is extremely difficult to change social status in this era. The hierarchy has been solidified for more than two hundred years. Basically, whatever I do, my son will also do. Even the next generation is not as good as this generation.
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 only play 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 withered and yellow hair began to become black and moist due to eating well recently. The previously thin and pointed chin has become rounder.
"You don't know that before returning from the capital camp, His Majesty sent the imperial edict. At that time, he relieved Admiral Dingyuan Bo of supervising 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 is victorious. 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 will not miss you a copper coin. What he said is like spitting. 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 with all their strength."
"He lives a simple life. He eats whatever the soldiers eat. He often sits among us soldiers with Deputy Commander Zhang, eats with us, and chats with us.
, make things happen. He is a noble, a second-grade military attache, and the second-in-command of the Imperial Guard, but he has no airs at all. Just because he often lowered the flag and ate with the soldiers. No one dares to deceive others. When Uncle Dingyuan found out, he chopped off his head and hung it on the flagpole. "
"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 gave 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 cash in on the day of capture, we will get fifty taels of silver for each head. Or we will get twenty taels of silver for promotion to the next level."
"Uncle Dingyuan accepted the imperial edict and before handing over official duties to Deputy Commander Zhang, he divided the remaining money among everyone. This is how the money I brought back came from. That day, the commander 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 into this world once. They are all born from their mothers, and the end is a handful of loess. Everyone is the same. Between these two ends is life. In today's world Ming Dynasty, in this *** world, money is a passport. If you have money, most of Ming Dynasty's rules can be flexible. If you have power, Ming Dynasty's rules can serve you. If you have no money, There is no power either. 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 merit 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 and money, but may bring disaster. After you go back, you must also think clearly for yourself whether you are suitable for officialdom and working in the capital. If you are not suitable, you should have already Make a plan. At least you have money in hand and have many choices."
