Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 868: Separation
Nowadays, the word "dividing the family" is the biggest taboo for wealthy families. Even Lu Sanlang, who has a bad relationship with his father and two brothers, is separated from his family but not from his family. Even though Mrs. Lu secretly subsidizes him countless times and blatantly favors the youngest son, she can't divide the entire family property cleanly.
Most families take it as a golden rule that as long as the parents are alive, the family should not be divided. So when Mrs. Li received the message from her nephew, she was shocked and incredulous. She immediately drove over that day. When she was politely led to Qing'an Hall, she found that it was packed with people.
However, the most eye-catching thing was the pair of beautiful girls with matching looks. Mrs. Li had just met Zhu Ying before, and had always wondered what kind of man could be worthy of such a dazzling girl. Now that she saw Zhang Shou, she couldn't help but feel that this was how it should be.
When Zhu Ying came forward and introduced the people who came today, she realized that in addition to the sons, daughters, daughters-in-law and sons-in-law of Zhao Guogong Zhu Jing, all the relatives of Zhao Guogong's mansion had arrived. Weinan Bo Zhang Kang had arrived, and Zhang Shou's adoptive mother Wu had also arrived. When they saw her, they greeted her very politely, and she naturally returned the greeting.
Seeing that both of them looked normal, Madam Li felt that the so-called division of the Zhao family was probably not a big deal. It was not like she thought, that the brothers and sisters would each take care of their own business and ignore others in the future.
Soon, a mother came out from the east side room and said that the madam invited them in. Madam Li wanted to lag behind, but she saw that the Duke of Zhao and his wife gave way to the Earl of Weinan first, and then asked her to go first. Realizing that this was in accordance with the seniority of the third generation of the Zhu family, she said a few humble words and agreed. When she entered the slightly dim room, she saw the madam leaning on the big pillow on the bed.
Although he was quite thin, he was in good spirits at this time. When he saw her, he smiled kindly and said in a gentle voice: "Mother-in-law, the children are about to get married, but it is really abrupt to invite you here suddenly. However, some things should be postponed until later. I am afraid that we will have grudges against each other."
This was the first time that Madam Li had seen such a straightforward and unreserved way of speaking from a relatively unfamiliar person. Therefore, she was slightly startled, and quickly said with a smile: "Even if the Second Young Master marries my Qing Niang, they are still the younger generation, and they should naturally listen to the elders in everything. How can they hold a grudge over such a small matter?"
"That's what I said, but I can't treat them unfairly."
The lady raised her head and glanced at Zhu Er with a smile, then told everyone to sit down. She drank two sips of ginseng soup served by Mother Jiang, then straightened up and raised her head again.
"Jing'er fought hard to get the title of Duke of Zhao, so even though he has other useless brothers, they are not here now."
"Although I am still alive as their mother, I let them split up the family property a long time ago. Others say I am cruel, but I know that if I don't let them go, they will be even more hopeless and will have to live their whole lives under the protection of the Duke of Zhao's mansion. I once thought that Erlang would also end up like this, but I didn't expect that I would witness a miracle when I am old."
Zhu Er was so shocked that his grandmother described him as a miracle that he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. However, when the lady said the second half of her words, his face gradually turned from red to normal.
"Erlang has an elder brother who is both talented in literature and martial arts, who is never afraid of hardship and works hard. He also has a younger sister who is extremely smart, can do anything at a stroke, and never cares what others say. He is caught in the middle and cannot stand out. In addition, he has made a group of friends who are equally mediocre, so naturally he had a bad reputation in the past."
" In fact there are many people like him in the world. If everyone is talented, what's the point of selecting talents for the court? Therefore, the best thing my grandson-in-law, Shou, does is that he does not force everyone to be outstanding in both civil and military affairs, but allows them to find what they can do."
"I know Erlang may not like working in the fields and interacting with a group of old farmers at first, but he can really do it and is not afraid of hardship. This is far better than his uncles and great-uncle cousins."
After saying this in one breath
When this was said, not only was Mrs. Li shocked, but even Weinan Earl Zhang Kang was also shocked, and Wu looked at Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying with a look of bewilderment. As a result, Weinan Earl Zhang Kang was the first to oppose it.
"Madam, you, Duke Zhao, and his wife are all fine, but you are dividing the family property among your grandchildren. This is already out of line. But even if you want to divide it, there is no reason for the younger generation to be treated the same as the older generation. Even if two plus one makes five, and the three children are allowed to take half, who can say anything against it? Listen to my advice, isn't it better to live in harmony like this?"
"Weinan Lord, what you said may work in other families, but not in ours. Dalang is already an independent man, but his monthly salary is still handed over to the government, and then he goes to collect his share of money and grain. Although his father has specially allocated annual expenses for him, he is not greedy and does not care about money. What if it is not enough? Although this is the family system, how inconvenient is it?"
"Your daughter is now the one who manages the household expenses, but just because she is the head of the household, she cannot always side with Dalang. Even if she cannot refuse Dalang's expenses, she cannot give him whatever he wants. She must give him what she wants within the so-called boundaries. Ask her if it is easy to be the head of the household."
Weinan Bo was speechless for a moment. He knew, without even looking at his daughter, that what the lady said had hit the nail on the head.
His family didn't have a capable son like Zhu Tingfang who could stand up. If he could, how could he endure such a life where he had to follow the rules of the family in everything? He despised those fathers who were useless themselves but only knew how to suppress their sons!
Seeing that Weinan Bo had been convinced, the lady said slowly, "Erlang seems to be superior to everyone in this family now, but he is also proud and arrogant. In the future, as a married man, will he have to rely on the monthly allowance and live under the wings of his father and brother, and have to ask for money every time he needs it?"
"After the family property is divided, if someone really loses control and squanders it all, that's his business. Even if he dies of poverty and starvation, he can't complain a word. But if the family property is not divided, even if everyone seems to be in harmony, how many complaints will there be behind the scenes?"
At this time, even Mrs. Li, who had made up her mind to persuade the old lady to withdraw her previous plan when she came, was persuaded unconsciously. After all, the old lady's plan to divide the property was already fair and too biased towards the three grandchildren. As for coming forward to advocate that Zhu Ying, who was married, should not get a share, she had never thought about it.
However, before she could open her mouth, she heard a low voice from the side: "Madam Tai is very thoughtful. I shouldn't have said anything. But Yingying married into our family. To be honest, our family has gained a most capable head of the family. If Yingying wants to divide the property again, I would like to ask you to be witnesses and make a list so that it can be left to her children in the future."
Although her voice was low, Wu's words were full of unquestionable determination. Seeing the dowry of Zhu's second daughter-in-law today, and then looking at the dowry of Zhu's eldest daughter-in-law last time, which seemed to be similar to Zhu Ying's, she realized that Zhang Shou had married a daughter-in-law who was richer than a small golden statue.
Although Zhang Shou handed over all his property to Zhu Ying directly after marriage, and she never asked about her daughter-in-law's dowry, but now seeing that the lady wanted to give Zhu Ying another share of the property, how could she not be surprised?
Even if people trust Zhang Shou and her, they still have to make things clear and do things in advance. Otherwise, what if something unexpected happens after a long time?
The old lady was very familiar with Wu. Seeing that she, who usually didn't express her opinions, was so persistent, Zhu Ying immediately stepped forward to persuade her in a low voice, but she was stubborn and refused to listen. Zhang Shou just smiled and said nothing, so she laughed.
"Well, there's nothing wrong with making it clear in advance. I'll just do as my in-laws say."
Seeing that the lady had deliberately used this title to distinguish herself from Madam Li, Wu was naturally grateful, and then she apologized for speaking first and bypassing Madam Li.
Madam Li did not look down on Wu just because she was her adoptive mother. She quickly said it was okay and then expressed her own opinion, which was to divide the family but not to separate.
Duke Zhao Zhu Jing nodded without hesitation and said, "That's right. Duke Zhao's mansion is not like those families with several generations living together and many children and grandchildren. They live too crowded and have to separate. There are many empty houses here. If Erlang moves out after getting married, it will be a waste and lonely for us and Dalang to live in such a big place. He is not the fat boy of the Lu family."
Zhang Shou couldn't help wanting to laugh when Lu Sanlang was used as a negative example. He couldn't help laughing when he saw Zhu Er. He just tilted his head and laughed. He coughed and said, "My father-in-law is right. It's best for a family to live together. Yingying's yard is still there. She and I come back to live here from time to time. What's more, what about Brother Zhu Er?"
Mrs. Li had heard that Zhu Ying would often return to her parents' home after marriage, and she would not come alone, but often with Zhang Shou, and sometimes even with her mother-in-law Wu, as if she was just visiting. Now that she had really confirmed this, she could not help but marvel. So, she smiled and agreed, "If my father-in-law says so, then I feel relieved."
Since there was no objection to the division of the family, the old lady, while she was still in good spirits, asked Mother Jiang to bring four sets of booklets and give them to her son, daughter-in-law, and the elders of her two granddaughters-in-law and grandson-in-law, and asked Mother Jiang to explain the value of each one.
Mother Jiang's memory and organization were obviously excellent. She knew which properties were awarded for military merits, which were bought with reward money, which were earned from business, and which were sold because of problems encountered by other families... In short, she could describe every piece of land, house, and shop clearly.
When it came to the money in the bank, the Duke of Weinan and Madam Li were about to say that they wanted to avoid suspicion, but the Madam Tai stopped them: "All my family's money came from clean sources, and I'm not afraid of others knowing. You just look at it, otherwise how can you know whether it's fair?"
Madam Li and the Duke of Weinan looked at each other, and then when they looked at Wu, they found that Wu was also looking at them. After the three of them were stunned, they simply lowered their heads and continued to look. This time, it was not any of them who spoke first, but Duke of Zhao Zhu Jing.
"Mother, Yingying gave a lot of dowry before, and you and Jiu Niang also gave her some money, so how come the family still has so much land, houses and money?"
Zhu Jing, who was looking down at the booklet, looked shocked by his own wealth, and even frowned. When he saw that none of his subordinates, daughter-in-law, daughter, and son-in-law cared about it, and they were all talking about their own things, and even Zhu Er was pulled aside by Zhu Ying and Zhang Shou, he suddenly felt that his fussing behavior had lost his father's dignity.
But before he could even cough and put on his fatherly airs again, his wife Jiu Niang beside him said something to him nonchalantly, "You are a busy man with a myriad of affairs to attend to. How can you have the time to manage how much property the family has acquired? How can you have the time to manage how much money is needed to support the family expenses? If it weren't for mother, this family would have been broke long ago."
"snort!"
Zhu Jing finally couldn't keep his face any longer, he snorted coldly and threw the list in his hand to Jiu Niang unhappily, then said in a tone of finality: "It's up to you guys to decide on this matter, it's just some external things like land, houses, silver and money, it's okay to give them more."
Seeing Zhu Jing walk out impatiently after saying this, Weinan Earl Zhang Kang laughed out loud, and then deliberately said seriously: "If this were put outside, just how much each farm and each house is worth, there would be a lot of arguments. The Zhu family is good, the head of the family just left without looking back. Anyway, let's leave it like this, Madam, you speak, we listen."
So, Zhu Er heard that certain farms, certain houses, and certain shops were allocated to him, all of which he had never thought about before, let alone hoped that they would be allocated to him... and in the end, when he was given 50,000 strings of cash, he was shocked. Only then did he finally understand why his father had questioned him, and then left in anger and shame.
If he got one share, the total number of shares in the family would be four, which is a full 200,000 strings of cash. Maybe if the bill of exchange was dropped at a certain bank, it would directly drive the bank into bankruptcy. And the next moment, what the lady said made Zhu Er gasp and dare not say another word.
"As for the gold and silver jewelry, I didn't put them in the register. I'll give them to my two granddaughters-in-law and Yingying, probably one box each. As for the value, I didn't look closely. They divided it up. I guess each family has about 80,000 yuan."
