My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 648 Wujiazhai

The north gate of Xijing City is called Mingde Gate. After leaving Mingde Gate and going southeast for a few miles, there is a newly built village. Because most of the people in the village are named Wu, it is called Wujiazhai.

Today is Wu Laohu's sixtieth birthday. The whole village came to celebrate his birthday. The Wu family courtyard was filled with tables, men, women, old and young gathered together. There were local people performing skills nearby. It looked so lively. .

Wu Laohu was also very happy. He walked around the tables with a wine bottle, stopping from time to time to chat with a few friends or juniors. His hearty laughter never stopped from the beginning to the end.

The last time Wu Laohu went back to his hometown in Shandong to visit relatives, he not only moved his wife's coffin to Tianzhu, but also brought a group of Wu clan members with him. These people had heard that Tianzhu was divided into fields, so they brought their whole family by boat. Arrived in Tianzhu.

Wu Laohu also tried his best to help these fellow tribesmen. The government also took great care of these immigrants. As long as the number of members of the same tribe reached a certain number, a piece of land would be specially allocated for them to build villages and live together. In this way, the immigrants would take care of each other. It can also save the government a lot of trouble.

With the help of Wu Laohu, the Wu clan quickly established a foothold after getting the land. Therefore, Wu Laohu's prestige among his clan reached its peak, and he was even elected as the village leader of Wujia Village. Although the village leader He is not a serious official, but it represents his prestige in the village.

Wu Laohu is also very happy today. When he escaped from his hometown, he never thought that he would live to be 60 years old, let alone that he would be able to be Muramasa one day.

Now he not only has enough to eat and drink, but also has his children and grandchildren by his side. To put it bluntly, even if Wu Laohu closes his eyes and never wakes up after his birthday today, he will not have any regrets. .

The birthday banquet lasted until the evening, when the birthday congratulators dispersed, and all the leftovers on the table were packed away by the woman. Wu Laohu also returned to the living room, drinking tea and chatting with his son-in-law Mo Qing.

"Father-in-law, there is something I want to discuss with you!"

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Mo Qing hesitated before speaking.

"what's up?"

Wu Laohu took a sip of tea and then asked. He had a good drinking capacity, so although he was a little drunk now, his mind was still clear.

"It's like this. I know a subordinate named Zheng. We often drink and chat together. He recently told me that the Jinjing County government office is short of manpower and plans to recruit a group of subordinate officials from outside. He wants me to give it a try. I I’m a little tempted, but I still can’t make up my mind.”

Mo Qing hesitated again and finally spoke.

Jinjing County is a county under the jurisdiction of Xijing. The southeast area outside Xijing City all belongs to Jinjing County, including their Wujia Village, so Mo Qing usually interacts with people in the county government.

"It's good to be an errand in the yamen, but what about your home business?"

Wu Laohu was stunned for a moment, and then asked worriedly.

Mo Qing has a quick mind. When he first came to Tianzhu, he was not willing to farm. Later, he hooked up with some businessmen and started a business of buying things. Now he has several shops and all the clerks are employed. There are more than a dozen. If he goes to work in the Yamen, it will definitely delay his business.

"I have thought about the business. When I started doing business, I was a partner with Brother Wu Wang, and he owned half of the store. He has also been trained in the past few years. In addition, I have Shan Niang, who can also help me look after the store. here, so just leave the business to them."

Mo Qing was obviously prepared and slowly told his plan.

When he and Wu Wang came to Tianzhu together, they were partners in business, so he completely trusted each other. In addition, after he married Wu Haoshan Niang, they had a son and two daughters, and their lives were very happy.

"Shan Niang? Can she, a woman, do it?"

Wu Laohu obviously still has old ideas and feels that it is inconvenient for his daughter to show up in public.

"Father-in-law, you don't know something. Although Shan Niang is a woman, she is actually very smart. In the past few years, she has not only learned to calculate accounts with me, but also knows how to manage a store. I gave her a cloth shop to take care of, and she did it right. She is very outstanding, and even if I work as an errand in the Yamen, I can still give her guidance behind her back, so there will definitely be no problems."

Mo Qing smiled again.

When he married Wu Shanniang, he was mainly interested in her being strong and easy to give birth to. But after marriage, he found that Wu Shanniang was actually very smart. Not only did she quickly learn to read and settle accounts with him, she helped him save a lot of money. Be less careful.

"Okay, since you don't worry about Shan Niang, I don't have anything to say. Besides, it's a good thing that you went to work as an errand in the Yamen. This way we will have a relationship in the Yamen in the future and it will be convenient for us to do anything!"

Wu Laohu finally nodded.

When he was a hunter in the past, Wu Laohu would never consider these things, but since he became the village leader, he has to worry about the inside and outside of the entire village. He also has to deal with the yamen. If his son-in-law goes to the county yamen, the Wu family will be in trouble in the future. The village can also receive some care. "What my father-in-law said is true. Although I have been doing pretty well in business in the past few years, I feel more and more that being a businessman means being rich at most. Compared to those powerful officials, we businessmen are nothing. , and you have also seen that the Han Yuan newly issued by the imperial court is only worth a penny to us merchants!"

When Mo Qing mentioned Han Yuan, he couldn't help but complain.

The Chinese yuan of twenty, ten, five and one yuan were arranged according to scholars, farmers, workers and merchants respectively. The merchants were ranked last, so they could only be printed on the one-cent Han yuan. This was not acceptable. All the businessmen complained privately, but there was nothing they could do about it. The status of businessmen has been relatively low since ancient times, even if they were rich.

Wu Laohu saw that his son-in-law was upset, so he comforted him a few words, and then asked curiously: "Why did the yamen suddenly start recruiting people? Could it be that His Majesty has conquered another piece of land, so is there an urgent need for officials to manage it?"

"You asked the right person, I found out with great difficulty!"

Unexpectedly, Mo Qing smiled mysteriously and then lowered his voice.

"As far as I know, the imperial court was short of officials, so it promoted a group of outstanding junior officials to officials. For example, Jia Dianshi from the county government was transferred to a nearby county to serve as county magistrate. These people were transferred away , vacancies will naturally appear."

"Can subordinate staff in the government office also become officials?"

When Wu Laohu heard this, his eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

"Isn't it because the imperial court is short of people, so it's the turn of those subordinate officials? And I heard that more officials will be transferred to official positions in the future, so I was thinking, maybe I can get a part-time job one day. , it can be regarded as the lintel of our Mo family!"

Mo Qing's eyes lit up when he said it at the end. He was originally from a scholarly family. If his family had not fallen into disgrace, he would not have become a liar and even ended up in jail. Fortunately, God was kind to him and gave him a third degree. Second chance, so Mo Qing has always regarded Tianzhu as his second hometown, and planned to be buried here when he died.

"Listening to what you said, joining the yamen as a subordinate clerk is actually a way to become an official!"

Wu Laohu was also very excited when he heard this. If his son-in-law really becomes an official in the future, his daughter will be an official's wife.

"Yes, the official Zheng told me that day that it is not easy to work as a subordinate in the yamen. You must pass the exam first. If you fail the exam, the yamen will not accept you at all, but I feel that I still no problem!"

Mo Qing also showed a confident expression at the end.

After all, he had read some serious books for several years, and could even recite the Analects. Most of the subordinate officials in the yamen were probably not as good as him, so Mo Qing was confident that he would pass the exam.

"That's great, you must go. If you need help with anything, just ask. There are no other people in our Wujiazhai, but there are a lot of people. As long as you are in need, the entire village will be here. , don’t be polite to me!”

Wu Laohu said excitedly again that he has now decided to fully support his son-in-law to enter the yamen. After all, if an official comes out of the Wu family, it will have a huge impact on the fate of the entire family.

"Thank you, father-in-law. If you need anything, I won't be polite!"

Mo Qing immediately thanked Wu Laohu. Don't underestimate Wu Laohu. There were hundreds of people in Wujiazhai. If Mo Qing really entered the Yamen, he would have the support of Wujiazhai behind him and it would be very convenient to do things.

"By the way, I see that there are many children in the village. It's not a problem to run around in and out of the village every day. Why not set up a private school in the village and ask the teacher to teach them how to read. As long as they can read, they will be able to do anything in the future. ah!"

Mo Qing suggested again at this time.

There are few people in Mo Qing's family, but the Wu family has a large population, so he also hopes that the Wu family can have a few scholars so that they can help in the future.

"Hey, I've thought about this too, but you don't know how expensive it is to find a teacher who can teach now. It costs at least a thousand yuan a month before he is willing to come, and the daily necessities of life, food, clothing, housing and transportation have to be arranged in the village. , now the village cannot afford to hire a gentleman."

Wu Laohu sighed.

Everyone knows the benefits of literacy. Not to mention others, Mo Qing can write and do math, so he can do business and enter the government office. In contrast, Wu Laohu's own son is illiterate and can only farm the land honestly. .

"This matter is easy to handle. I heard that Huang Village, a few miles away, hired a gentleman. Huang Cun from Huang Village has business dealings with me. When the time comes, I will talk to him about our two villages jointly setting up a private school. Then we can help them share the cost of hiring a husband, and they will definitely be willing!"

Mo Qing immediately patted his chest and promised that he likes to socialize and has friends wherever he goes.

Hearing what his son-in-law said, Wu Laohu was also overjoyed and immediately toasted him with tea instead of wine. The people in the village are now in need of food and clothing. If the matter of children's schooling is solved, then the next generation of the Wu family may really If you can produce a few scholars, and then like Mo Qing, you can work in the yamen, then the Wu family will really become prosperous!
(End of this chapter)