"Brother is right." He followed his words and said, "With these gold and silver, parents don't have to work so hard; the whole family won't have to worry about having money to support the scholars."
Cheng Mingli nodded repeatedly, with a relaxed and gentle smile, as if he was relieved as if he had put down a big stone.
A large family supporting a scholar may sound like a good family tradition and a harmonious family situation; but the person being provided for will inevitably feel a lot of pressure and have to work hard to study to death.
"Sister, my father Shu Xiu will find a way. If there is no other way, I will ask my grandparents for help."
When Cheng Mingli said this, Mingyi remembered.
Cheng Yuanxi was an open-minded father and his thoughts were different from others. He received support from his family and repaid them in return. Most of the money he earned from copying and writing letters and even taking jobs in the academy was given to Luo Cuihua. The remaining three-tenths are left for his own small family.
Although he did not continue to take the scholar examination, the money he obtained was enough to repay the supplies he had enjoyed over the years.
At the same time, the big family is taken care of, and the small family is also taken care of; the rest of the money is basically left to my father to find a way to make money while my brother is studying.
Cheng Yuanxi was taking care of both his large family and his small family to the best of his ability. He was under great pressure. If he had a scholar's status, he could open a private school to teach students. If he had a child's status, he could not open a private school, and the money he could earn was very limited.
"Dad, don't you want my brother to be too stressed?" Mingyi asked.
Cheng Mingli nodded, "Dad is a child born to a large family, so he will be a child born to his family for the rest of his life."
It can never change.
It is equivalent to binding.
Cheng Yuanxi was tied to the Cheng family and this big family for the rest of his life.
Mingyi fell silent. While feeling the unity of the family, she also felt that her father had done a good job; in these years, Cheng Yuanxi had to pay half of the children and his grandparents had to pay half of the children to be exempted from the corvee every year.
During the military recruitment, it was Cheng Yuanxi who took the money and managed it, so no one in their entire family went to serve in the army.
Taxes are paid from the crops produced in the family's fields.
My father is really a very good man in this life.
"Dad is really awesome." Mingyi couldn't help but sigh.
Cheng Mingli nodded, "I want to be a person like my father in the future, with a sense of responsibility; when I pass the exam, my sister can marry whoever she wants. If she doesn't want to marry, we can find a son-in-law. My brother will take care of you."
"Then thank you, brother." Mingyi laughed and had to say that she was happy in her heart.
In ancient times, the greatest support for a woman was not the dowry, but the strength of her natal family; the true love of her parents and brothers was a girl's greatest confidence, and the dowry was just the icing on the cake.
Of course, if her parents and brothers are unreliable, the girl must seize her dowry and stand up straight.
The little brother Cheng Mingli followed what he thought was the best way for girls under the feudal system.
Cheng Mingli smiled heartily.
When Chen Daya and his wife arrived with their luggage, Cheng Mingli and his sister immediately took their parents to the room and showed off their trophies.
"Mom and dad, look." Mingyi smiled brightly and cutely, while Cheng Mingli held a polite expression, but the smile on the corner of his mouth was very obvious.
Cheng Yuanxi and Chen Daya were shocked when they saw the two unfolded bags, "Where did you come from?"
"I looked for it in the yard. We also searched the yard behind." Mingyi had a lively smile on her face, which showed that she was really happy; she picked up two cotton bags on the ground and opened them for them to see. , "Not only these, but also gold and silver."
Cheng Yuanxi and his wife opened their eyes wide, "So many?!"
"Hmm, dad and mom will keep it. I won't sell the ginseng for now; the money will last for a long time. After we settle down, we will send my brother to continue his studies." After Mingyi finished speaking, she suddenly remembered that she didn't have a kitchen in this house. Going to clean up, "Father, mother, brother, you guys watch first, I'll go out for a while."
"Hey, Yiyi, where are you going?"
Chen Daya shouted a step too late, Mingyi had already ran out of the courtyard.
Mingyi first ran to the kitchen in the front yard. After running through it, it was easy to walk again. She found the kitchen with ease, walked in and saw that there were some spices on the stove and some food in the kitchen cabinets.
Not much, but all fine grains.
The family left in such a hurry, but these grains were left behind, and presumably there were other grains.
Having an idea, Mingyi packed up her things and dragged them back to the courtyard to give them to her parents.
Chen Daya was overjoyed, "I didn't expect that the owner of this courtyard left and left a lot of things behind."
"Probably because the refugees haven't been here yet, that's why there are them." Cheng Yuanxi was relatively calm, but it was not obvious that he was happy. "There are so many things in this big house, but what about other places?"
"Just look for food, don't go digging for other things." Chen Daya grabbed his hand, the surprise was gone, for fear that they would break into the empty house.
Cheng Yuanxi nodded in agreement. That night, Cheng Yuanxi took his children and went out at night.
Taking advantage of the darkness, they looked for someone who could open the door. After entering, they only looked for the kitchen. Some people didn't take everything away. They found three iron pots and two casseroles.
These are all good things.
There were so many iron pots and casseroles that they could only take away one iron pot and one casserole; Mingyi took away the rest before leaving.
In the middle of the night, I looked for four wealthy households and found seven cans of salt and three bags of fine grains; each bag weighed fifty kilograms, more than fifty kilograms of flour, and there were endless bags to tie, thirty kilograms of millet, and seventy kilograms of rice.
However, they mixed rice and millet together, and it was meant to be cooked and eaten anyway; there are not so many details on the way to escape the desert, and if you can eat fine grains, it is a good meal.
After getting more than 230 kilograms of fine grains for free, Cheng Yuanxi and Chen Daya discussed and kept 20 kilograms of flour and 30 kilograms of rice and millet; a total of fifty kilograms of fine grains were divided into four portions.
Cheng Yuanxi carried twenty kilograms of flour, and Chen Daya carried about fifteen kilograms of rice. Cheng Mingli and his sister each carried about seven or eight kilograms of rice. They carried it separately and were inconspicuous, so they only had to carry multiple baggage.
"It would be great if we could find livestock to pull the cart. Let's cover up half of these things and give them to the parents-in-law, and keep the other half." Unfortunately, there are no livestock, so they can't carry so much.
It’s not that I want to keep it for myself. After all, it’s impossible for a big family to eat together.
"What are you thinking about? We left fifty kilograms of fine grains. Now that we have casseroles and small iron pots, Yiyi and Mingli can go out and cook and eat when they have the opportunity." This is the most important thing.
His children did not have enough to eat and were thin, which made him feel distressed.
Now that we have seasonings, salt, pots, and grains, we can at least run a small stove for our children without suffering too much of a loss.
Chen Daya thought the same thing, "The pot must be hidden well."
The iron pot and casserole were put into a pile of clothes and wild vegetables so that no one would find them; and the dried meat was divided and some were put on the children. They took the rest and stuffed part of it into the casserole and iron pot together. Put in the bag.
