The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion - Chapter 348

[Chapter 348 Marrying Baili Hou]

Cheng Rixing, Liu An, Sun Xi, Han Mo…

Early the next morning, Sun Shaozong was in the Criminal and Named Division, sketching a list, when he saw Cheng Rixing come in from outside and reported: “Dongweng, there is a word from Jia Fucheng that there is a shortage of manpower, I hope Let’s temporarily dispatch a few scribes who are good at figure painting.”

“Not enough staff?”

Sun Shaozong asked curiously, “Why are there so many leftover girls this year?”

To say that Jia Yucun’s recent official business needs to use portrait painting, that is, the “blind date meeting” routinely held by the local government around the Dragon Boat Festival every year.

At the beginning of the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, in order to alleviate the population crisis caused by the long-term war, a policy of forced marriage was implemented. At that time, regardless of men and women, if they were over 18 and still not married, the local government would come forward to force the marriage.

Today, with the gradual increase in the population, this policy is not as strict as it used to be, but it has not been completely abolished.

According to the current regulations, unmarried men and women over the age of 21 must pay a special ‘single tax’, and the amount of tax paid will increase year by year with age.

If you pay the tax, you can naturally continue to be leftover men and women; if you can’t pay, you must participate in the ‘blind date meeting’ held by the government every year. Unconditional forced marriage.

And the blind date meeting of this idea, of course, can’t be like the later generations, allowing hundreds of couples of men and women to tease each other on the spot.

Generally, the appearance of the woman is simply depicted, marked with the family background and birth date, and hung in a specific place. The man chooses a few independently, and then contacts each other through the official media.

Of course, a scholar with a reputation, or a serious court official, can ignore this decree.

However, he heard that Sun Shaozong was curious as to why there were so many leftover girls this year that he didn’t even have enough painters, so Cheng Rixing said helplessly: “It wasn’t all caused by last year’s flood. At that time, many men of the right age in the city took the opportunity to negotiate. marriage.”

“In addition to the fact that prices have risen a lot since the beginning of the year, people are struggling to make a living, so how can they afford to pay extra taxes? So this year, the number of women participating in blind dates is nearly double that of previous years.”

tsk~

This really makes the city gate catch fire and bring disaster to Chiyu!

Who would have thought that a flood in Hebei would actually affect the capital’s ‘marriage and love market’?

However, the flood did indeed benefit many bachelors in the capital.

As for the leftover girls…

The ordinary people of the imperial city have no habit of picking son-in-law among the disaster victims-unless it is those who are famous and talented.

However, if the talented people are selected, how can they look down on the leftover daughters of ordinary people?

“In this case.”

After understanding the cause and effect, Sun Shaozong instructed: “Then let Lin Delu choose a few people who are good at meticulous painting – remember to explain to them, don’t make a ferocious appearance like you usually draw a wanted order, and it will ruin someone’s good marriage! ”

Cheng Rixing laughed when he heard the words, and went out to find Lin Delu.

“Wait a minute.”

However, Sun Shaozong stopped him again: “Just let Chengye go, I have some personal matters to discuss with you here.”

Private matter?

Cheng Rixing was a little excited. He had been a master for more than a year. This was the first time Sun Shaozong wanted to discuss private matters with him.

Doesn’t this prove that Dong Weng has more confidence in himself? !

So he went out in a hurry, explained the matter to Sun Chengye, and then turned back excitedly, and said sneakily: “If there is something wrong with Dongweng, it’s okay to talk about it. The student guarantees his life and will not leak anything to the public!”

this guy…

Don’t you think that you are trying to corrupt the law?

Sun Shaozong was a little speechless, he pointed to the chair opposite to let him sit down first, and then said sternly: “Actually, I recently won a luxury business that is guaranteed to make a profit, and I urgently need a few trustworthy people, go to the south and watch it. ——I think about it, you are the most suitable for this matter.”

In fact, when he first started thinking about the timber business, Sun Shaozong’s favorite person was the old housekeeper Wei Licai. Uncle Wei did things prudently and decisively. The most important thing was to be loyal to the Sun family.

It’s just that the plan can’t keep up with the changes. After Wei Laobo resumed his career, he has been successful in planting crops. Now he has become a full-time dad, and even the big and small things in the house are thrown to Zhao Zhongji.

Although if the Sun brothers opened their mouths to ask for each other, Uncle Wei would definitely agree to go to the south to stare at them – but how could they open their mouths?

So Sun Shaozong put his idea on Cheng Rixing again – Cheng Rixing was a shopkeeper, and he had a serious reputation, so he could handle things safely, except that his loyalty was not as good as that of Uncle Wei, but he was the most suitable selected.

It’s just that when Cheng Rixing heard that he was helping to run a ‘business’, there was a bit of flinch on that side.

These days, scholars and officials generally look down on businessmen. Cheng Rixing would not hesitate to resign from Jia’s shop to become Sun Shaozong’s famous criminal master.

Now that his master is doing something interesting, how can he be willing to handle the cheap business of the merchants?

And Sun Shaozong naturally knew what he was thinking, so he immediately said: “This business will last two or three years at most, and the bonuses given to you every year during this period will not be less than one thousand taels— -more importantly……”

Sun Shaozong paused for a while before throwing out the most important bait: “If you still fail the imperial examination three years later, I will do my best to protect your future as a county magistrate!”

“Is this true?!”

Cheng Rixing jumped up excitedly. Although he had been reluctant to give up the imperial examination, he actually knew in his heart that as his age and inertia increased, his chances of being admitted to the jinshi became increasingly slim.

If it can be operated by merchants in three or two years, it can be exchanged for a Bailihou…

“Have I ever lied to you and lied to you?”

Seeing that he was already tempted, Sun Shaozong further revealed: “What’s more, this transaction involves a high-ranking member of the second rank. If you manage it properly, you will not be stingy to be a good person there.”

The master of the second grade? !

Cheng Rixing’s eyes twinkled, and he suddenly bowed and said: “Since Dongweng is so important to him, how dare the students not try their best to repay them?!”

Seeing his agreement, Sun Shaozong breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he decided on the role of the overall situation, the candidate who would assist from the side would be easy to arrange.

“Mr. Cheng has been cleaning up the house in recent days. I guess it may be necessary in the middle of the month…”

“Uncle, uncle!”

Sun Shaozong was explaining to Cheng Rixing the date of going south, when he suddenly saw Sun Chengye running in in a panic, and said in a trembling voice, “There is news from the house arrest house that a nun wants a miscarriage!”

Miscarriage is premature birth, which was extremely dangerous in ancient times.

However, Sun Shaozong was not so nervous that he panicked about the life and death of a prostitute, so he calmly asked, “Is it the older one, or the younger one?”

The month is old, and the expected date of delivery is the end of May. If it is a small birth, the risk is not too great.

The month is small, but it will not be the full period until the beginning of July. Now it is more than two months away, and the risk will be much higher.

“This……”

Sun Chengye was at a loss for words. As soon as he heard that the female prisoner at the house arrest center was going to have a miscarriage, he rushed over to report it. How could he ever bother to ask these details?

Still lacking exercise.

Sun Shaozong shook his head helplessly and said, “Don’t be so panic in the future, ask things clearly before talking about it.”

After speaking, he ordered again: “Send someone to notify Zhou Da, let him go over and watch in person, and try to save the mother and child safely – if you encounter danger, save the child first.”

The two prostitutes on the left and right were sentenced to behead prisoners. Even if their lives were temporarily saved, they would still die in the autumn, so they naturally chose to protect their children.

When Sun Chengye took the order, Cheng Rixing next to him reminded again: “Sir, should you inform Zhaocui’an and Fayuan Temple, after all, after this child is born, it will be handed over to them.”

tsk~

I don’t know if Miaoyu is willing to adopt these evil species after experiencing the fright at the beginning.

[End of This Chapter]