Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 191 Chapter 180 Eight What is great filial piety?

I separated from Hu Zongxian halfway, and each went back to his own home to find his own mother.

As soon as Wang Daoqiu's mother, Mrs. Xu, heard the sound of horse hooves at the door of her house, she hurried out from the concierge.He took Wang Daoqiu, who had just dismounted, and went to the wall.

Leaning against the wall, Mrs. Xu said in a suppressed voice: "Shitou, before dinner today, a large group of people carried more than 300 large wooden boxes into our house, along with the imperial edict. You are not at home, and the edict and things belong to your father." I took it and said that the things were given to you by the emperor. After the gang left, we opened the boxes. In addition to the porcelain vases with calligraphy and paintings, there were the golden Buddha and jade Guanyin that my mother liked. Stones, my mother thought that those calligraphy and paintings and porcelain vases were not They are valuable, but after Xiangning and your father saw them, they said that if they were to sell those calligraphy, paintings and porcelain vases, the cheapest ones would cost several thousand taels of silver, and the expensive ones would cost 10 taels of silver. Stones, those things are really that expensive. ?”

After saying this, Mrs. Xu looked at Wang Daoqiu nervously. Wang Daoqiu was afraid that Ms. Xu would be worried, so he lied and said, "If you say those things are worth tens of thousands of taels each, that's just the people who sell them." Asking for a price, but actually making a counter-offer, they will sell it for a few hundred taels of silver."

"What? Shitou, those calligraphy, paintings and porcelain bottles can be sold for hundreds of taels each? Then the emperor rewarded you with more than 300 boxes at one time. How much money will you get from selling them all? Shitou, the emperor rewarded you with so much at one time, then mother-in-law I’m asking you a favor! Look, Shitou, you have more than 300 boxes, so can you give your three brothers-in-law, two uncles, and your brother ten boxes to their family? Anyway, you have 300 boxes. There are so many boxes!”

The mother is a traditional woman with a kind heart. When she has money, she instinctively wants to take care of her relatives.Wang Daoqiu couldn't say anything cruel about this, and couldn't bear his mother's sadness.

So Wang Daoqiu thought for a while and then said: "Mom, ask my father about this! There are thousands of people in the family, but one person is in charge. My father has the final say in our family's affairs."

"Hey, mother, go back and talk to your father."

Wang Daoqiu pushed the matter to Wang Zhaowen, and Mrs. Xu didn't think much about it. After all, in Mrs. Xu's simple understanding, when you marry, you must obey your husband. You must obey your husband, and your son must obey Laozhi.

So the mother and son discussed it in this way, and Mrs. Xu took Wang Daoqiu's arm and went home.

Entering the middle courtyard, I saw Wang Zhaowen and Shen Xiangning, counting boxes one by one in the courtyard.Seeing Wang Daoqiu and Mrs. Xu coming, Wang Zhaowen asked with a stinky face: "Little bastard, what's going on with these things? Don't say that these things were rewarded by the emperor. My father doesn't believe that the emperor can reward them." You have so many things. Xiangning and I haven’t even counted half of these boxes, and they are estimated to be worth more than 300 million taels of silver. Little bastard, what’s going on?”

Before Wang Daoqiu came back, Wang Zhaowen and Shen Xiangning had been counting these things. The more they counted, the more frightened Wang Zhaowen became, and the less he believed that this was a reward from Emperor Jiajing.After all, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, I have never heard of the emperor rewarding any minister with millions of taels at a time.

So now that Wang Daoqiu came back, Wang Zhaowen immediately questioned him with a face.Faced with the question from his father Wang Zhaowen, Wang Daoqiu did not panic and said calmly: "Father, it is you who have received the order today. The emperor's order only contains the word "reward", but there is no mention of "reward". Yes or no?"

"Yes, it's strange to be a father! Thunder, rain, and dew are all gifts from the king. It is a reward from the imperial decree. How come there is no specific description of what the reward is!"

"Father, after you have read these things, you should understand why there is only one word "reward" in the imperial edict, but no reward. To be honest with father, the emperor specially told Eunuch Lu, the eunuch of the ceremony, to write this edict. "

"This, this, this, is this really a reward from the emperor? This is too much! My father has read all the history books, and I have never seen any emperor reward his ministers so generously? Little bastard, what on earth is going on? Could it be that you collected the fat and anointing of the people in Shandong, and bought a servant to come over and falsely preach the imperial decree, and deceive you into being your father?" In the imperial palace newspaper, people from various yamen were praised. How can this be false? Also, father, you said these are the people's wealth and wealth collected by your son. But father, look at these things, my mother doesn't recognize them, how can you still not recognize them? Are these Minzhi Minyou? Are these things that ordinary people can have? Minzhi Minyou, these famous calligraphy and paintings, official kiln porcelain, in your father's eyes, they are Minzhi Minyou, we Daming people are so rich, everyone is rich?"

It's really ridiculous to call famous calligraphy and painting and official kiln porcelain "mingzhiminpao".After all, only wealthy families and famous families could have these things at home.But ordinary people simply cannot have these things.Therefore, after being rebuffed by Wang Daoqiu, Wang Zhaowen knew that he had said the wrong thing, and his face turned red.

Seeing that Wang Zhaowen was embarrassed by himself, Wang Daoqiu didn't want to embarrass his father too much.So he said casually: "Okay, Dad, it's already so late. You and Xiangning don't waste time on these things. Let Cui'er go to the front yard to call my four guards and put all these boxes away." Let’s move to those rooms in the backyard!”

In the backyard, Wang Daoqiu said to move these boxes to the backyard.Hearing this, Wang Zhaowen was furious immediately, pointed at Wang Daoqiu and said, "The backyard, is there a vacant room in the backyard? Speaking of this, I want to beat you as a father. You promised your mother that the backyard will be farmed for her, right?" Good guy, I’m busy with work, I go out early and come back late every day, and I haven’t been to the backyard for a few days. When it’s my turn to rest, I want to sit in the backyard, but when I get to the backyard, all the flowers and trees are gone. It became a long stretch of land. In the originally quiet pond, there were hundreds of ducks calling there, and the pavilion in the center of the pond was full of duck feces and duck feathers."

"When I saw what the backyard was like, I asked your mother to ask. Your mother said that you allowed her to farm in the backyard. Now, the originally good garden in the back house has been completely destroyed by you. Your mother has turned it into a vegetable plot. In the backyard, you originally built a house for your friends to live in. Now your mother raises two pigs, a cow, more than 40 chickens and hundreds of ducks there. Every day, the eggs and duck eggs are removed. She keeps food in the house and sells it on the street. The mother of a dignified cabinet scholar goes to the street every day to sell eggs and duck eggs. How unbecoming is this?"

Wang Daoqiuniang Xu's half-life is a rural woman who usually farms the land. When it's her turn to go to the town market, she gathers or sells or trades the family's agricultural by-products, and buys some oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, cloth, pots and bowls for the family.This has become her living habit, so now that she raises so many chickens and ducks at home, it is normal for her to sell eggs and duck eggs on the street.

Wang Daoqiu understands his mother and respects his mother's simple lifestyle, and does not feel ashamed.So after Wang Zhaowen finished his report, Wang Daoqiu persuaded Wang Zhaowen and said: "Father, it's not like you don't know about my mother. She can't sit idle. Besides, it's not because of my mother's hard work that I can support you and my son." , does she have clothes to wear and books to read? Now that she is older and accustomed to the kind of life she used to have, we can leave it to her, as long as she is happy."

"I, I, I don't have anything to do with you, but you are the Imperial Tutor and a Bachelor of the Cabinet. Your mother sells eggs and duck eggs on the street every day, which brings a bad reputation to you."

"It's okay, dad. As long as my mother is happy, I'll let others say whatever they want behind my back. They don't dare to say it in front of me anyway."

"Okay, okay, just spoil her. I don't care about this."

Hearing that Wang Daoqiu allowed Xu to sell eggs and duck eggs on the street, Wang Zhaowen had nothing to do about it.After all, although he thought it was very shameful, he knew that Wang Daoqiu was doing this out of filial piety, and that this kind of life as a peasant woman would also make Xu's life very fulfilling.

For the sake of his wife and children, no face, no face!So Wang Zhaowen was stubborn in his mouth, but he accepted the fact in his heart.

After settling his stubborn father, Wang Daoqiu asked Shen Xiangning's personal maid Cui'er to go to the front yard to call his four guards and ask them to put all the boxes into the wing.

(End of this chapter)