Chapter 6 Family Meeting
Zhu Mansion.
A family meeting was about to take place.
The old lady Zhu Jia sat in the main seat, and sitting next to her was Jiang Yonghe, the wife of Zhu Wanhong, the eldest son of the Zhu family and the daughter of Jiang Tao, the chief captain of the Cangzhou Qianhu Office in Northern Zhili.
Zhu Wanhong stayed in the capital for a long time and did not return. Jiang Yonghe was known as the eldest wife of the Zhu family, but in fact all matters of the Zhu family were under the control of her mother-in-law. She was usually low-key and seldom showed up in public.
The person representing the second branch is Zhu Wanjian.
The third wife, Zhu Niang.
The fourth son Zhu Wanquan was present.
Zhu Wanquan just turned twenty this year and has been married for three years. He is the only scholar in the Zhu family and has passed the imperial examination. He is the Zhu family's hope for the future to take the imperial examination and enter the court. Usually, he neither gets involved in the affairs of the Zhu family's Jinyiwei nor interferes with the family business. He just prepares for the provincial examination with peace of mind.
"I called you here today because I have important family matters to discuss."
Zhu Jia asked housekeeper Liu to guard the door, and no one was allowed to approach the back hall except representatives from each branch of the Zhu family.
Zhu Wanjian glared at Zhu Niang across from him with a vicious look, and then said, "Mom, just say what you want to say."
Zhu Jia said: "My Zhu family is originally a family of Jinyiwei in the capital. Our ancestors made great contributions to the Jingnan Rebellion under Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty and were granted the imperial surname. Now it has been four generations. In the early years of the Hongzhi period, my Zhu family was trusted by Emperor Xiaozong and was ordered to move to Anlu in Huguang. Now it has been more than 20 years..."
"You are all descendants of the Zhu family. Do you know why our Zhu family stayed in Anlu?"
This one question stumped the entire Zhu family.
Only Jiang Yonghe looked calm, as if she knew everything, but she couldn't tell anyone else.
Zhu Jia said: "In fact, your grandfather was ordered by the late emperor to come to Huguang to supervise the Prince Xing's mansion and prevent Prince Xing from rebelling."
"ah?"
This news surprised everyone present.
As descendants of the Zhu family, even Zhu Wanjian and Zhu Wanquan were completely unaware of this.
"Mom, my Zhu family moved to Anlu just to monitor Prince Xing?" Zhu Wanjian was the first to be confused.
Zhu Jia shook her head slightly and sighed, "Time has passed, and I won't tell you the specific reasons in detail. I'm telling you this just to let you know my family's mission. Your grandfather fell off his horse last year and has been bedridden. I don't know how long he can hold on. If he is not here... you, the younger generation, will have to shoulder the mission!"
"I have four sons. The eldest should have stayed in Anlu to serve my parents so that he could inherit your grandfather's position as a thousand-householder of the Imperial Guard. Unfortunately, you, the second son, were not up to the task. You had a fight with several candidates for the most beautiful woman and were impeached by the censor, so you lost your position as a hundred-householder of the Imperial Guard that your ancestors had protected. The third son was also disobedient. He ignored my mother's advice and insisted on going to the north to quell the rebellion and establish his career. As a result, he lost his life. The fourth son has no official status and cannot be used as a hostage. Therefore, only your brother will go to the capital in person..."
"Over the years, your brother has been at the feet of the emperor, nominally serving as an official but in reality as a hostage, either guarding the imperial mausoleum or the imperial prison, and his life has been extremely miserable."
Zhu Wanjian said angrily, "Mother, what nonsense are you talking about? My eldest brother is the deputy captain of the Jinyiwei, who dares to embarrass him?"
"Shut up!" Zhu Jia shouted.
Zhu Wanjian felt like his faith was about to collapse.
If it was true as Zhu Jia said, Zhu Wanhong, the eldest son of the Zhu family, could have stayed in Anlu to carry out the imperial mission, but his plan was disrupted by himself and his dead brother...
Zhu Jia continued, "With the passing of the late emperor and the ascension of the current emperor, the matter has come to an end. Our Zhu family no longer needs to bear the heavy responsibility. However, the current emperor has no heirs, and undercurrents are surging in the court. The situation of our Zhu family has once again become difficult."
Zhu Wanjian glared: "Mom, do you know what you are talking about? What is the connection between the two?"
The fourth son, Zhu Wanquan, seemed to be thinking about something, and took the initiative to explain for Zhu Jia: "According to the Ming Dynasty's legal system of the succession from elder brother to younger brother, the late emperor had no other heirs except the current emperor. If the current emperor... has any accident, the late emperor's brother, Prince Xing, will succeed him."
"Fourth Brother, don't pretend to know something you don't. The current emperor is young and strong, how can he not have an heir in the future?"
In fact, it is not the Zhu family’s turn to worry about this issue.
How could the Zhu family, who is far away in Huguang, interfere in whether the emperor has an heir or when he will have an heir?
Zhu Jia said, "Your eldest brother has suffered in the capital, and the family has had to move up and down for many years, spending countless silver coins, but it is still a drop in the bucket... If the current emperor can have a son soon, everything may be able to turn around. Otherwise, this bottomless hole will continue to be filled."
Since Zhu Houzhao had a son, the Zhu family's mission was not so important. Zhu Wanhong had a good life in the capital, and the Zhu family did not have to spend money to take care of him.
That's the truth.
The situation was very tense.
For most people present, it was the first time they knew that the Zhu family’s mission actually involved the stability of the country.
Zhu Niang asked, "Mother, why did you ask me to come here?"
Zhu Jia looked calm: "The Zhu family has settled in Anlu for many years. With the grace of the late emperor and the current empress dowager, we have a certain amount of wealth. All business should be handed over to the person who knows how to run it best, that is, you, the third daughter-in-law... It's a pity that you are not in the Zhu family now..."
"mother!"
When Zhu Wanjian heard this, he became completely furious.
Not only did he tell me that the family had a mission that I never knew about, but now he directly said at the family meeting that he would hand over the family business to the third son's wife. Doesn't he care about me, his son ?
Zhu Niang stood up and saluted: "What virtue and ability do I have? I am originally a wife of the Zhu family. The affairs of the Zhu family should be decided by you and your uncles."
"Um."
Zhu Jia was very satisfied with her daughter-in-law's attitude. "My son died young, and the property granted by the court was given to you, an orphan and a widow, to manage. As a mother, I cannot disregard the face of my relatives and rashly take it back... If you have difficulties and want to return to the Zhu family, the door of the Zhu family is always open to you."
"Mother is exposing the Zhu family's affairs today because I want to tell you that before the current emperor has a child, the expenses of running the Zhu family must be very high."
"Third daughter-in-law, I heard that your shop encountered some troubles recently. Do you have any solution?"
Zhu Jia did not directly ask about the origin of the snowflake salt, but inquired about her daughter-in-law's difficulties in a concerned tone, as if she wanted to lend a helping hand.
This is called courtesy before force.
Zhu Niang nodded: "The predicament has been alleviated."
"How was it solved?" Zhu Jia finally got to the point.
Zhu Niang hesitated for a moment.
Before coming, Zhu Hao gave her a "lesson", analyzing the unexpected events that would occur at today's family meeting and discussing how to deal with them.
Zhu Hao's words came true one by one.
After hesitating, Zhu Niang said firmly, "My daughter-in-law bought some salt from a private salt dealer and sold it to inns and restaurants in the city to make up for the deficit and avoid selling the property left by my late husband to make up for it."
This statement was taught by Zhu Hao.
"Private salt?"
Zhu Jia was really surprised to hear the news.
Zhu Wanjian immediately attacked: "You even dare to sell private salt? You are really tired of living!"
Zhu Niang had no way back after she said this, and her tone was firm: "All this is done out of urgency. If I don't sell the private salt, the shop will be lost and will be owned by outsiders. I will feel guilty towards my late husband and I will not be able to see him again even in the afterlife. If I can pay off the foreign debt, I will never touch private salt again..."
"Hehe, believe it or not, I will report this to the government today..."
Zhu Wanjian felt that he had a sure win.
The Ming Dynasty had a clear definition of salt trading. Whether buyer or seller, if they crossed the line, the salt they bought and sold would be considered "private salt."
The Great Ming Code states: "Anyone who smuggles salt shall be caned 100 times and sentenced to three years in prison." It also states: "Anyone who undermines the salt law, both buyers and sellers, shall be caned 80 times, the level of punishment for the guarantors shall be reduced by one level, and the price of the salt shall be levied by the government."
The handling is serious!
Zhu Jia interrupted her son with her hand, "The third son's wife is indeed as responsible as my third son. It's not a bad idea to make a temporary measure to protect the family property. As long as you stick to your original intention, it's fine."
"Mom, you...can you tolerate this?"
Zhu Wanjian didn't expect that his mother would actually stand on Zhu Niang's side on such a matter, and his eyes widened for a moment.
Zhu Jia said, "But I have found out that the private salt you brought back is even better than the official salt. Why is that?"
Zhu Niang still followed her son's explanation: "These are originally the best official salt, but they were transported to Huguang to be sold. Or the salt permits are not in Huguang, or there are no salt permits, so they become private salt. The quality of the salt itself is very good, so these salts will not harm people. In addition, there is no need to buy hundreds of stones of salt at a time to sell them, and you can also buy them on credit, so my daughter-in-law bought some..."
"Aren't you afraid of something happening?" Zhu Jia asked.
Zhu Niang said: "My daughter-in-law destroyed a lot of , and the salt permits for the official salt are still there. Even if the government finds out, we can deal with it and not be unprepared. And my daughter-in-law did this to protect her late husband's property."
"In that case, I won't ask any more questions. You can go back."
Zhu Jia waved her hand and asked Zhu Niang to leave.
Zhu Wanjian wanted to say something, but was glared at by Zhu Jia, and he stopped talking in anger.
…
…
After Zhu Niang left, the family meeting ended.
Zhu Wanjian had already been asked to leave, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Finally, he turned back and found Zhu Jia discussing something with housekeeper Liu in the back hall, which made him even angrier.
My mother looks down on me!
"What's going on? The third son's wife is selling illegal salt. What a great opportunity! As long as we report it to the government, we will definitely take back her shop. Or are you really afraid that the Zhu family's reputation will be damaged, so you let her do whatever she wants? If she makes a profit from selling illegal salt, how long will we have to wait to get our shop back?"
Zhu Wanjian asked bluntly.
Zhu Jia waved her hand at Butler Liu and said, "You must follow my instructions and make no mistakes."
"Yes, ma'am."
Butler Liu bowed respectfully to Zhu Jia and left without paying any attention to Zhu Wanjian.
"Mother doesn't ask me to do anything now. Will she let someone named Liu take charge of the family in the future?" Zhu Wanjian stared with bloodshot eyes and trembled all over.
Zhu Jia stood up from the chair she was sitting on: "Who said that I would allow the Third Brother's family to do whatever they want?"
"you……"
Zhu Wanjian was confused again.
The friendly expression on Zhu Jia's face disappeared, and turned into a cold and stern one.
"If I hadn't said that before, how could the Third Sister be so careless? If she didn't continue to smuggle salt, how could the government catch her in the act?
"As a mother, I will not only make the third family hand over my third son's property, but also catch all the smugglers of salt and take over the supply channels of the rare snowflake salt!"
