save the bachelors

Chapter 4717 4720 [Jia Family Law]

In addition to entertaining the male guests, the Jia family also hosted a banquet for the female guests in the inner house.

The wives of the four kings and eight dukes, old friends, and the imperial edicts of the civil and military officials of the court... all came to congratulate, so not only was it lively outside, but the inner house was equally lively.

Naturally, Lady Jia, Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Xing, Mrs. You, Wang Xifeng, Li Wan, Mrs. Qin (Qin Keqing) and others were also busy entertaining the guests.

At the banquet, the topic naturally became one of children's marriages.

For example, Yuanchun is nearly eighteen years old. Originally, she could not talk about marriage while in the palace, but now that she has left the palace, naturally everyone wants to ask about her marriage.

Especially now that the Jia family is prospering, her father Jia Zheng has been conferred the title of Prince Rong and has been in the imperial court for half of the time. Her younger brother is even more of a god with boundless magical powers. If a family marries such a girl, it is like holding onto the Jia family's big leg, so they are naturally eager to do so.

Several ladies implicitly suggested that Yuanchun could marry their own sons.

Naturally, Lady Jia and Mrs. Wang also knew that men should get married when they are old enough and women should get married when they are old enough, and since it was time for Yuanchun to get married, they naturally took care to help her choose.

Among them, there are quite a few good ones. Among the four kings and eight dukes, there are several families with outstanding children.

Seeing that Yuanchun was so popular, they were afraid that they would not be able to compete with other families, so they turned their attention to the sisters Yingchun and Tanchun.

It was originally difficult for these two sisters to get married.

Because both of them were born out of wedlock, in ancient times, the hierarchy between legitimate and illegitimate children was very important, and it was difficult for children born out of wedlock to get married.

Wang Xifeng once lamented that Tanchun had a short fate. Since she was not born from the lady's womb, people would pick and choose between the legitimate and illegitimate children when it came to marriage in the future.

In addition, the Jia family had already declined, Jia She was only a first-class general, and Jia Zheng was only a fifth-rank official, which made it difficult for Yingchun and Tanchun to find a partner among the aristocratic class.

In the end, Yingchun married Sun Shaozu, a commander of the military department in the capital, who was only a small official of the sixth or seventh rank. However, such a small official dared to ignore the face of the Jia family and beat Yingchun to death, which shows how unpopular Yingchun was.

As for Tanchun, no one proposed marriage to her from beginning to end. In the end, she was adopted as the daughter of the Concubine Nan'an and forced to marry overseas. From then on, she drifted away from home.

But times have changed.

Jia She is now a first-class duke, and Jia Zheng is a king, so their family backgrounds are obviously much more prominent. Even in the aristocratic class, they are second to none.

What’s more crucial is that the Jia family has a god who is so powerful that he can easily capture the emperor of a country. This means that as long as he exists, the Jia family will never decline.

Xiang Nan is only thirteen years old this year. According to conservative estimates, he can live to at least seventy years old. That means the Jia family still has nearly sixty years of glory, enough to support three generations.

If Xiang Nan learned from Wang Mang, Cao Pi, Sima Yi, and Zhao Kuangyin and wore a yellow robe, it would be even more amazing. So overall, marrying the daughter of the Jia family is definitely a good deal now.

After all, the Jia family was now rising, and now was a good opportunity for marriage. If you miss this opportunity, you will never get it again. Therefore, Yingchun and Tanchun, who had never been popular, also received a lot of favor.

Of course, Xiang Nan is still the most popular in the marriage market.

Although he is only thirteen years old this year and is not in a hurry to get married, let alone arrange a wedding, but who can blame him for his noble status? Even the Emperor is not even a fraction as good as him.

If a girl from a family marries a man like this, she will surely rise to prominence. Therefore, several families at the banquet tried to ask Xiang Nan about marriage. However, Grandmother Jia stopped them one by one, saying, "It is not her destiny to marry early. Let's wait until she is older. Please help find out. It doesn't matter what her family background is, as long as her appearance and personality match."

……

The lively banquet lasted for five days before it finally ended.

After the banquet, the Jia Mansion finally became quiet.

Xiang Nan also found Jia Zheng and discussed the reform of the Jia family with him.

"Father, if our Jia family wants to prosper and last long, we must promote the good and eliminate the bad and prevent the bad from happening. Otherwise, if we continue to eat, drink, have fun, go whoring and gambling, squander money, plunder, embezzle and pervert the law... one day there will be retribution," Xiang Nan said to Jia Zheng.

"You are right. This cannot be done." Jia Zheng nodded. "Then what do you think we should do?"

"My suggestion is to first establish family rules and establish regulations. The country has its own laws, and the family has its own rules. Without rules, there will be no order. Only by establishing family rules can we restrain everyone." Xiang Nan suggested.

The Jia family had the common etiquette of the aristocracy, but they did not have the corresponding family rules to constrain them, so the master did not act like a master, and the servants did not act like servants.

Yingchun's nurse dared to openly pawn her jewelry, the old woman in charge of night watch dared to openly gamble, and Yingchun's maid Siqi had a secret meeting with her cousin in the Grand View Garden...

"That makes sense." Jia Zheng nodded. "I have been so busy with official duties that I have neglected the trivial matters at home. As a result, things have become so messed up that even the spirits of our ancestors are worried. Now we must formulate strict family rules to properly restrain everyone."

Xiang Nan then presented the "Jia Family Rules" he had drafted to Jia Zheng, "This is the family rules I drafted, please take a look at it and see if there are any omissions."

Jia Zheng took it and looked at it, and he saw that there were not many family rules, only twenty in total, ten of which were for the master and ten for the servants.

The house rules that restrain the master include: strictly prohibiting prostitution, strictly prohibiting gambling, strictly prohibiting lending, strictly prohibiting keeping concubines, strictly prohibiting keeping concubines, strictly prohibiting monopolizing lawsuits, strictly prohibiting plundering, etc.

Except for a few people like Jia Zheng, Jia Mu, and Wang Fu-ren, most of the masters of the Jia family are not decent.

Jia She is old but still disrespectful. He not only wants to force Yuanyang to marry him, but also wants to snatch Shi Daizi's fan. Jia Lian is also shameless and lustful. Even when his own daughter has smallpox and her life or death is uncertain, he still has the mind to seduce women.

Wang Xifeng not only lent money at high interest rates, but also took on all the lawsuits. For three thousand taels of silver, she ruined Jin Ge's marriage and killed two lives; Jia Zhen attacked his own daughter-in-law; Jia Rong attacked his second aunt and younger aunt...

It is precisely because of this that these people all ended up badly.

At the end of the 1987 version of Dream of the Red Chamber, Jia She, Jia Zhen, and Jia Lian were all beheaded, and Jia Zheng was exiled. Wang Xifeng died tragically in the Temple of the God of Prison, and was wrapped in a roll of tattered mats and thrown into a mass grave.

Therefore, in order to reverse the tragedy of the Jia family, these evil deeds must be strictly prohibited. Even Xiang Nan couldn't stand it and must punish them.

……

The household rules for restraining servants include: strictly prohibiting theft, strictly prohibiting embezzlement, strictly prohibiting private affairs, strictly prohibiting absenteeism, strictly prohibiting absenteeism from work, strictly prohibiting arrogance, etc.

There are not many servants in the Jia family who live a peaceful life. Most of them flatter the powerful and bully the weak, and take advantage of the rich to gain favor.

Favored masters like Xiang Nan were looked up to, while unfavored masters like Yingchun, Aunt Zhao, and Xing Xiuyan were ignored.

Even when Tanchun, Baochai and others were in charge of the household, these servants found ways to create trouble for them, making it impossible for them to carry out their orders or be prohibited. This was very hateful.