Zhutian: Since I was a child, I have been happy to be a father

In addition to greetings and concern for Chen Tao, the letter from home also specifically mentioned an interesting little thing.

Wang's elder sister, Aunt Kang, specially brought her concubine's daughter Kang Zhaoer to visit. During the chat, she joked that she wanted to let this girl be Chen Tao's concubine.

Molan and Minglan immediately and clearly refused.

Madam Liang was not a mother-in-law like Xiao Qin, or Wang and Madam Yuan who liked to make trouble for their daughters-in-law. Seeing this, she also said that her youngest son already had many wives and concubines, and he was not blessed enough to enjoy them all.

Although Aunt Kang was willing to give her daughter away as long as Madam Liang dared to agree to it (after all, a concubine's daughter was no different from a cat or a dog to her), she was mentally prepared for the rejection, so she did not insist. She smiled and said like a wife-control freak in the late Han Dynasty: I was just joking!
In fact, this is not surprising.

It is true that Chen Tao was only the deputy commander of Cricket before, but now he has hooked up with Gu Er, a big shot in the field, and they have a very good relationship, so his future seems to be very bright.

Every time she went to see Wang, Wang would express her dissatisfaction and feel that her legitimate daughter did not marry as well as her concubine's daughter.

She also had red-eye disease and couldn't stand seeing her nieces doing well, so she thought of letting her concubine's daughter be a troublemaker to prevent her two nieces from having too easy lives!
Unfortunately, Mrs. Liang is a rare open-minded and good mother-in-law who would never deliberately make things difficult for her daughter-in-law.

She guessed that Chen Tao would like the beautiful Kang Zhaoer, but since the two virtuous daughters-in-law were very resistant, she would of course stand on their side.

Who can’t be a concubine?
Why look for one that your daughters-in-law don’t like!
It’s already enough to have one noisy Grandma Liang at home, I can’t add another one to make myself unhappy.

In this way, the relationship between the four mother-in-law and daughters-in-law became closer and closer.

Why four people?
Because in Mrs. Liang's eyes, Yuanyuan is also the first wife and can be a second wife.

She liked this girl too much and thought that Chen Tao had changed because of Yuanyuan. If Yuanyuan was not from a lowly family, she would rather have this lovely daughter-in-law. After all, the marriage with the Sheng family was not very glorious.

Of course, she is not stupid and would not directly say that she likes Yuanyuan the most, so as not to upset Erlan and affect the atmosphere of unity and friendship in the fourth room.

Needless to say.

Putting aside the weirdness between Molan, Minglan and Chunge, Chen Tao's family is indeed quite united and friendly.

When facing Grandma Liang, they were united.

Although Chun Ge was not in a position to speak out, he had made his attitude clear by not listening to his cousin.

It’s not because she was afraid that Molan and Minglan would join forces to deal with her, but because she didn’t want to be hated by the person she loved.

Her perfunctory attitude made Grandma Liang very angry, and she felt that her cousin was a jerk and an ungrateful person.

The situation has become clear.

The second, third and fourth branches of the Liang family have formed the basic foundation of the rear house of the Yongchang Marquis' Mansion around Madam Liang. No matter how much trouble Grandma Liang makes, she can't make any waves. She can only cry privately about being bullied by her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law, but no one believes her.

Mrs. Liang's character is well-known in the circle. At most, people will only use her as a negative example, saying that her high-handedness caused her husband to be partial to her and allowed her illegitimate son to become powerful, but they will not say that she is black-hearted.

Even thought she was weak.

After reading the letter handed over by Chen Tao, Yuanyuan was overjoyed and said:

"Hahahaha, this kind of marriage offer that comes to your doorstep should be rejected, and rejected vigorously! Well done!"

Chen Tao pretended to be unhappy and said, "It's no good to lose a beauty for no reason. You just gloat over other people's misfortune!"

Yuanyuan smiled and argued, "Being good to your wives and concubines is being good to you. Just because you have achieved good things, as a maid, I am happy for you, isn't that right? How can you say you are gloating over someone else's misfortune?"

Chen Tao grabbed her hand and said, "Am I only good to them and not to you? Call me husband now!"

Kong Ci, call my name!

Yuanyuan shuddered when she thought of this scene, and quickly shook her head:

"I won't scream. Let me go. I still have to settle the score for you. Don't disturb me!"

Chen Tao let go as he was told, but then picked her up and asked her to accompany him to the peach forest in the backyard to go fishing.

It’s a water town with good resources. I had a fish feast and shrimp tonight.

Yuanyuan loves to eat these. She also goes fishing when she is bored. It is obvious that she has something in common with the fisherman Minglan.

It's October in the blink of an eye.

In the entire month of September, Chen Tao only killed seven people, which is incomparable to the number in previous months.

The reason is very simple. The armed forces controlled by the salt merchants and the official gentry groups behind them have been completely eliminated. Even sporadic resistance has basically disappeared, and there will be no larger-scale rebellion.

Chen Tao felt much more relaxed as a result, but of course he also lost many good opportunities to make money secretly.

After all, Gu Er and his side were only responsible for the military affairs of Lianghuai and for recruiting people, not the specific salt administration.

The ones who really took the biggest share were the imperial envoys sent by the emperor and his trusted confidants such as Liu Zhengjie of the Northern Pacification Division.

Of course, Gu Er was also a confidant, and although he was not in charge of the salt administration, he could still get a lot.

Yan Maoqing in the Ming Dynasty collected a total of 5.3 million taels of salt tax.

Among them, 3.3 million was handed over to the emperor, and 1 million was given to the emperor to build the Wanshou Palace. The remaining 2 million was divided privately between him and Yan Song.

According to the setting, this world has handed over more than 8 million in total, so how much has been done openly and secretly? Chen Tao doesn't know, and he doesn't want to know.

He was already satisfied.

Because the two small boxes he prepared were already filled with gold, more than 10,000 taels. Adding the legal labor fee, this trip could be considered as a way to relieve the king's worries and to avoid his imprisonment.

Well, it’s not that hard.

Chen Tao simply found a local celebrity who was highly hated by the people and rich, and killed his entire family overnight, and set a fire to the place, and the job was done easily and happily.

Those poor people can also get the silver, clothes, food and other property that he doesn't want. It's a win-win situation!

October 13th, Frost Descent.

Chen Tao took Yuanyuan, who was dressed in men's clothes, out to visit guests, that is, to Gu Er's house to enjoy singing and dancing.

At the table, seeing Gu Er nodding his head in happiness, Yuanyuan didn't know how to complain!

She could guess from the ass of the scumbag next to her that whether in the original novel or in the TV series, Gu Er and Minglan were very likely to be one-on-one.

However, the reality is that Gu Er's behavior is worthy of his reputation as a playboy since childhood and for having seduced all the beauties in the house; the time traveler Minglan does not behave like a time traveler either, and she does not have any psychological barriers to competing for favor.

By the way, how old was Minglan before she traveled through time?

Yuanyuan was very curious about this and guessed that Minglan was not young anymore, and she might have graduated from college and worked for several years. In this case, wouldn't this time-traveling girl be an old cow eating young grass?

This must make her so happy!

night.

Chen Tao wanted to stay and discuss academic issues with the singers and actors, but was forcibly dragged away by Yuanyuan.

She would rather let Chen Tao go to the outer room to sleep with Miss Ruomei than let this guy hang around outside.

The hour of Xu.

Chen Tao and others finished their bath and sat around an embroidered table playing cards.

There are thirty-two dominoes, and the general rules are a bit like long cards, with three people playing and the fourth person waiting to take the stage.

It's not as fun as mahjong, but Minglan is unwilling to "invent" modern board games such as mahjong. She would rather be bored and dazed than let her husband play, lest the young husband lose his ambition due to playing with it.

Yuanyuan was worried about being exposed, so she was unwilling to invent it herself.

What does this mean?

It means Chen Tao is too honest and he is not partial enough!
As long as he favors Yuanyuan exclusively in the future and wants to play cards at the same time, Minglan will definitely find a way to please him and will not be afraid that she will not give in.

***
late October.

The salt administration has been properly managed.

To be more specific, dozens of relevant officials and nearly a hundred salt merchants were arrested in one go, and the more than 8 million taels of silver that should have been handed over had been loaded onto ships and immediately set off for the capital.

Naturally, Chen Tao still has to provide security services and set off on the ship, expected to arrive in Beijing in the twelfth lunar month.

It was late spring or early summer when we came here, and early winter when we returned. The scenery was different and naturally very interesting.

This day and night.

Yuanyuan, who was always grateful for the food she had received, hugged Chen Tao and said with concern, "I want to eat fish, but I'm really just saying it. It's so cold, why did you go down to the river to catch fish? If you get typhoid fever or something happens, how can a little maid like me take the responsibility?"

Obviously, she was moved by Chen Tao.

In this cold winter, he dared to risk going down to the river to catch some fresh fish for her just to satisfy her appetite. What a wonderful man he is!
When she saw Chen Tao holding the boat pole and taking out two mandarin fish hooked on the gills with ropes, and smiling happily at her, she instantly thought of Jack in the Titanic who gave his chance of survival to Rose, and her eyes immediately overflowed with hot tears. Facing such a man, why should she be reserved? She would rather be a concubine.

Chen Tao laughed and said, "How do you know that I went down to the river to catch fish for you? I want to eat fish myself."

"dare you laugh?"

Yuanyuan pinched his face and taught him seriously: "Forget it this time, there must not be a next time. Even if you don't think about yourself, you should also think about me! If something happens to you, who will protect me in the future?"

Chen Tao looked into her eyes and said gently, "Well, I'll listen to you and never mess around again! You also have to be obedient and never leave me."

Yuanyuan was touched and said, "I, I have been yours for a long time. Unless you change your mind and no longer like me, I will never leave you on my own initiative. Do you love me? Is Yuanyuan the person you love most in this life?"

Chen Tao whispered, "Yes! I swear to God, from now on, I will only love you. I will find a way to make you my legal wife, give birth to ten children, and our family will never be separated."

Yuanyuan burst out laughing: "I don't believe your oath! You have a bunch of jealous wives and concubines, but you still dare to say that you only love me. It's fake. I will never be fooled by you. I regret it. I will run away from home in the future, just like the Liuli Lady in the previous dynasty. I will only appear when you are in danger and save your life. From now on, we owe each other nothing, let go of each other, and live our own lives!"

Chen Tao also chuckled and said, "You're holding me so tightly, how can you look like you're going to let go of me?"

Yuanyuan suddenly said proudly: "My hot water bottle is leaking, and the quilt is very cold. I just asked you to help warm it up. Is that weird? If you don't want to be hugged by me, then leave! I won't order tea to see you off!"

Chen Tao hugged her tighter: "My hot water bottle is leaking too. I'm also afraid of the cold, so I need you to be my thermos, too."

Yuanyuan gently rubbed his face and said happily: "How could it be such a coincidence? There's nothing we can do, let's just hug each other!"

"Don't you think I'm too heavy?"

"Hmph, I think you stink! Stinky pig!"

"I just took a bath in the river, and I'm very clean. But you, have you not taken a bath in a few days? You stink so bad!"

"Hate it~ I wash it every day."

"You spendthrift woman, don't wood and charcoal cost money? When you get married, come wash with me! It saves water and charcoal."

"You're so stingy! You've made so much money, but you're still so stingy. I don't want you anymore!"

"That's the dowry I saved for you, of course I can't spend it carelessly!"

"Husband."

"what?"

"Husband! I can't sleep. I'll tell you a few stories. Do you want to listen?"

"I don't want to hear stories. I just like to hear you call me husband."

"..."

The twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month.

It snowed heavily.

Naturally, there were other people to take over the related escort mission, so Chen Tao simply went straight home with Yuanyuan and others.

Liang Er led everyone out to greet them.

Women such as Molan, Minglan and Chunge were also very excited. After all, they had not seen their husbands for more than half a year.

As Chen Tao expected, he received a letter at the end of October saying that Chunge, Xiuzhu, Hongyu and Caijin had each given birth to a son.

In other words, although Chen Tao is only in his early twenties, he already has six sons and one daughter.

Not only the Liang family, but anyone who knew about this couldn't hold it in.

For example, after knowing this, Wang, the mistress of the Sheng family, began to think about giving her son a woman, and she was very determined.

For example, after hearing about this, the old lady of the Wen family also secretly blamed Rulan for only being able to give birth to girls.

Mrs. Yuan from the Yuan family naturally took this opportunity to criticize Hua Lan.

Don't look at it through modern eyes.

Nowadays, as long as you can afford it, the more children you have, the more it serves as the foundation and symbol of your family's prosperity.

Therefore, Didi Daodao's theory is really untenable.

How can those big families have children just by relying on the first wife? These days, not only is the infant mortality rate high, but the mortality rate of mothers due to unsatisfactory childbirth is also high.

Of course, there is a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, and this cannot be denied. Although a concubine's son is also considered a legitimate master, such as Jia Huan! You can't go against your conscience and say that the reason he is looked down upon by the servants is just because he himself behaves poorly.

As for "he would love to have a concubine to help his wife bear the risk of giving birth to a child", that is also nonsense.

In any case, Mrs. Wang of the Jia family definitely does not like Aunt Zhao, and will not truly treat Jia Huan equally.

This is inhumane and unrealistic.

Chen Tao would not ask Molan to like Minglan's child, as long as she could take good care of her own child.

All in all, in the fourth year of Chongde, Chen Tao gained a lot. Not only did he become the father of seven children, and not only did he make a lot of gold and silver, he was also promoted to the commander of the West City Bingmasi, a sixth-rank official. His original superior was transferred to the Zhifangsi.

According to history, the Wucheng Bingmasi was a small strategist, but according to the setting in the book, it was able to mobilize troops for rebellion.

Therefore, Chen Tao was unwilling to leave and preferred to be a sixth-rank general. Despite this, he was on the same level as Yuan Wenshao.

I think Molan will be doubly proud when she returns to her parents' home this year.

It's a new year again.

(End of this chapter)