All the items on the stall were sold out. Zhu's father tidied up the stall and asked Zhu Pingchuan to lead Zhu Ping'an to wait there while he went to the grocery store to sell the rabbit skins.
Because Zhu's father was a familiar customer of the grocery store, and the store would not let him suffer any loss, Zhu Ping'an did not insist on going with them.
Zhu's father came back after a while with a total of five rabbit skins, each rabbit skin was worth twelve cents, a total of sixty cents.
Seeing his father put all the money into the backpack, Zhu Ping'an's eyes lit up and he said happily, "It's a lot of money. I'll give it to my mother when I get home. She will definitely be very happy."
"No, we can only keep twenty-four cents of this money, and the rest must be given to grandma." Zhu's father explained while touching Zhu Ping'an's head with a smile.
Oh, I remember now.
The Zhu family rules stipulate that all income earned during the daytime during farm work must be turned over to the public, and 80% of the private income earned at night or other time when farm work is not required must also be handed over.
In ancient times, private property was not allowed without dividing the family, as the ancient system was still patriarchal.
We went up the mountain during the day to do farm work, so all the income from the trip had to be put into the public account; as for bamboo weaving, since most of the work was done by my father at night, 80% of the income had to be handed over to the government.
All the money from selling the rabbit skins had to be turned over to my grandmother for confiscation. In addition to turning in all the rabbit skins, the fifty cents from the wild game had to be turned in as well.
Of course, 80% of the money my father earned from selling bamboo weaving also had to be handed over. This time, my father sold bamboo weaving for 120 wen, so if he had to hand it over, he would have to hand over almost 100 wen.
In other words, all the things this time were earned by my father's hard work, but he had to hand in about 200 coins in total. If it weren't for his own honeysuckle, my father would only be able to keep about 20 coins this time.
As far as Zhu Ping'an knows, it seems that his eldest uncle's family has never paid a penny to the family. Instead, they always take money from the family account, including money for his uncle's poetry, calligraphy, and going out to meet friends. His third uncle's family does pay, but very little; as for his fourth uncle's family, forget it. His fourth uncle and his aunt are also trying to take advantage of the account in some ways.
Despite paying more money, my grandparents still often favor my eldest uncle and fourth uncle's family.
Whenever there was something happening at home, my grandmother would often ask my father to pay for it, and my father would always pay readily. This made my mother, Chen, and my father angry many times.
Filial piety is a must, but you also have to take care of your family. My eldest brother is going to get married in a few years, and I have to save money for him to marry a wife. My grandparents have always favored my eldest uncle in the imperial examination, so I'm afraid they can't give much money. Besides, if there are any changes in the family, I have to be prepared.
Therefore, it is necessary to brainwash my father.
"Why give it to grandma?" Zhu Ping'an asked, looking up.
"Because we need to eat, and we eat what's at home," explained Zhu's father.
Pout.
"The honeysuckle was promised to me by my grandmother, so I want to keep the money. The silver coins were also given to me by someone else." Zhu Ping'an acted like a naughty child.
Father Zhu thought about it and said, yes, it was true. When they came back from the mountain, the whole family laughed at the flowers picked by Zhuer, and his mother did say that the honeysuckle belonged to Zhuer.
"Well, okay." Father Zhu nodded.
"Dad, how much could you earn each time when you sold bamboo weaving in town? How much should you give to grandma?" Seeing that his father agreed, Zhu Ping'an felt that his father could still be saved, so he asked casually.
While packing up his belongings, Zhu's father answered, "I used to be able to sell about 60 or 70 wen each time, and I gave my family about 50 wen."
"Then let's give grandma ten more cents from selling the bamboo weaving this time, so we can give her sixty cents." Zhu Ping'an looked like a filial and good child.
In this way, in addition to the money from the honeysuckle, I can keep 60 cents from this income.
"Ah?" Father Zhu was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "It's not calculated that way, Zhu'er, we sold a lot of bamboo weaving this time."
"Yes, brother, you are still young and can't count." The eldest brother Zhu Pingchuan also said.
This method didn't work, so Zhu Ping'an had to try another one.
"My eldest aunt and fourth aunt both have silver hairpins. Mother has been coveting them for a long time, but she just hasn't saved enough money." Zhu Ping'an's eyes seemed to reflect the scene of his mother Chen envying his eldest aunt and fourth aunt, which was quite contagious.
Father Zhu also thought of Chen at home. He had given a lot to the family, so it was time for him to save some money to make his wife happy. Besides, the money that the bamboo weaving business handed over to the family this time was ten cents more than before, wasn't it
Finally, Zhu's father nodded in agreement and carefully divided the silver into two parts. The part that was handed over to the family was put aside, and the other part, including the money from the honeysuckle, was carefully wrapped and placed in Zhu Ping'an's small backpack, which was covered with the grass left over by the cow.
Before returning home from the town, Zhu's father bought some oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea and other daily necessities at the market.
Zhu Ping'an also bought two meat buns, wrapped them in paper and carefully placed them under the backpack, covering it well.
Mr. Zhu thought the child was just greedy and asked.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Pingan replied, "The meat buns I had this morning were delicious. I want to bring some back for my mother to try."
This made Zhu's father's face a little hot. His youngest son remembered to bring things for Chen, but he didn't remember to buy things for Chen on his own initiative.
Fortunately, it is not too late to mend the situation. Because Zhu's father did not have much money, he could not buy some jewelry to please Chen, but he could buy some cloth and ask Chen to make two new clothes for him. Thinking of how charming Chen would look in the new clothes, Zhu's father grinned.
There was a cloth shop not far from the stall, and Zhu's father led his two sons into the cloth shop. The shop was much larger than the pharmacy, and as soon as they entered the door, they were dazzled by the colorful cloth inside.
"Sir, you are here to buy cloth, right? Please come this way."
The shop assistant was also very smart. He did not lead Zhu's father and his friends to the silk area, but directly led them to the reasonably priced cotton area.
"All of our cloth is authentic Songhu cotton cloth, which is purchased directly from Songjiang Prefecture. It is exquisite, strong and beautiful. Whether it is used to make clothes or bedding, it is very popular. The price is also very affordable." The shop assistant is eloquent and has a strong ability to read people's expressions. He seems to be able to see through what Zhu's father is thinking. Finally, he emphasized that the price is affordable.
Songjiang Prefecture clothed the whole world, and Huang Daopo's merits benefited the whole country. As expected, Songjiang cotton cloth had spread far to Kaoshan Town at the foot of the mountain.
"How much is this cloth?" asked Zhu's father, pointing to a piece of cotton cloth with a peach-white background.
"120 yuan a piece," the shop assistant replied. "One piece of cloth can make eight tops, and if it is used to make skirts and pants, it can make 12 pieces. It's a good deal."
In the Ming Dynasty, one piece of cloth was equal to four zhang, and one zhang was ten chi. One chi converted into modern units is 0.31 meters, which means that one piece of cloth was about twelve meters.