Chapter 68 Volume A: Foresight

Feng Tang was followed behind by a woman, who looked somewhat like his mother Duan, but her face was sharper, much younger, and quite pretty. That was Aunt Duan, Feng Ziying's real aunt.

The marriage system of the Da Zhou Dynasty is also somewhat different from that of the pre-Ming Dynasty. The Zhang family believed in the ancient system and respected the Da Zhou system established by the Ji family. The marriage system was also slightly different, especially among the aristocrats and gentry. In addition to the concubine system, there was also a concubine system. system.

The so-called nuns often refer to family marriages. When the first wife marries, she can marry a concubine, a sister or a niece of the same clan. Because she is a concubine or the same clan, her status will definitely not be too high, especially if the man is thin and the first wife has no children. In this case, such a son born from a concubine or a woman from the same clan can prevent the concubine from inheriting the husband's family business and protect the interests of the wife's family to the greatest extent.

Of course, this mainly refers to the marriage of nobles and gentry, which may involve a wide range of issues involving the marriage interests of both families, and only then can there be such a system similar to marriage supplement.

Compared with pure concubines, the status of this kind of concubine is obviously higher than that of ordinary concubines. They can even take over as the head wife after the death of the head wife. If the head wife has no children, her son can also be regarded as the legitimate son, even if When the head wife has a legitimate son, the status of the concubine's children is higher than that of ordinary concubine children.

The concubine could either be a concubine who came with her when she got married, or it could be that the concubine had not had any children for many years after she got married, and then she looked for a concubine or a sister or niece from the same clan to marry over.

This situation was quite popular in the Warring States, Qin, Han and even the Three Kingdoms era, but was rare in the Tang and Song Dynasties. However, after the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, many ancient systems were implemented and this system was restored.

Feng's mother had no children for several years after marrying Feng Tang. Later, Feng's mother adopted this cousin as a concubine, but she didn't expect that her younger sister would still have no children after she got married. Instead, she waited a few more years to give birth to Feng Ziying.

“I’ve met my aunt.” Although Feng Ziying has no children, she has always liked Feng Ziying and almost single-handedly raised Feng Ziying. Now this aunt is only in her early thirties, ten years younger than Feng’s mother.

"My son, come here, let your aunt see you. You didn't come to see your aunt when you came back yesterday?" Xiao Duan was not as restrained as the other two aunts in front of her sister and husband. Very affectionate.

"It's okay, aunt. It's not as exaggerated as Feng You said. Besides, I will be thirteen years old after the new year." Feng Ziying pretended to be dissatisfied and said: "And I also have a friend with me. He is very concerned about the situation there. familiar."

His birthday is the second day of September, and he is about to turn 12 years old. According to the rules of this era, he will be 13 years old after the Spring Festival.

“Humph, that friend of yours is younger than you, what can he do to help? If it weren’t for the good deeds of the Feng family’s ancestors and God’s protection of my Feng family, you would have long ago…”

Yesterday, Feng Tang went to a banquet hosted by a member of the Ministry of War. He heard a lot of rumors about his son during the banquet. This made him surprised, happy and worried. He inevitably drank a few more drinks during the banquet, so he came back a little late. .

"Master!" Mr. Duan and Mr. Duan were anxious at the same time. As a single seedling, they couldn't bear such unlucky words.

Of course, Feng Tang didn't say any more, he just snorted and sat down in the chair. Little Duan also sat down next to his sister.

"Tell me, what are your ideas?" Feng Tang really didn't dare to underestimate his son.

During the dinner last night, Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of War, and a director of the Ministry of War both mentioned the news from Shandong, saying that the Caibing troops were able to successfully suppress the bandit rebellion in Shandong due to several reasons.

First, the Caoyun Yamen was united, the governor, censor, and general military officers were brave enough to carry out their duties, and the officers and soldiers served their orders; second, Long Jinwei was well-informed and seized the opportunity; third, the local gentry gave full support.

It also specifically mentioned Feng Ziying's situation, saying that he was willing to take extraordinary risks to cooperate with Long Jinwei through the Shanshan Liang Gang, and successfully instigated the rebellion of some of the affiliated bandits. This was how he was able to solve the Linqing rebellion so smoothly in one fell swoop.

 This news came from the mouths of important officials of the Ministry of War, so it is certainly true.

What makes Feng Tang even more surprised and delighted is that according to the record reported by the Ministry of War and Shandong Province, his son's achievements are almost undeniable. In particular, he is said to be both wise and brave, and an unparalleled young man. If he can be praised like this, If you can afford it, I'm afraid it will really reach the ears of the emperor.

Of course, there is also some worry here. My son has fallen into such a reputation when he is only twelve years old. If he fails to have a good future in the future, I am afraid that he will lose his reputation by another hour to Fang Zhongyong, who was not doing well at the time. This This is something Feng Tang can never accept.

This means that my son may have a hard time just taking the path of being a prisoner. As he said, he may really have to take the provincial examination. If he doesn’t get a Jinshi, it’s hard to explain. .

Because of this, Feng Tang's mentality changed a bit after the night. He even thought about it in bed for a long time after waking up early in the morning. Then he got up and came over. Unexpectedly, his son was already here to persuade his mother.

“My son has now told his mother that the situation in the Feng family is different from the past, and there must be some changes.”

Feng Ziying was even happier to see her father caring so much. Compared to convincing her mother, if her father could nod, this would be much easier to handle.

"First, our Feng family in Linqing can't continue like this. We should be like the Zhou family and the Ren family. On the one hand, we should sort out the other members of the Feng family. If there are qualified and potential teenagers and young people, they should be sorted out. We should find ways to give them some opportunities, whether it is to study, make a living, or work as an official. It is better than them guarding the three-quarter acre of land, and many people become servants. It’s even more unbearable. We need to help when we need help, and when we need help, we still need to help. We can’t let this go on.”

Feng Ziying's words made Feng Tang a little embarrassed, but he had to admit that his son's words made sense.

 In the past, he either stayed in Datong for a long time or was idle in the capital for the past two years. His main focus was on his own recovery and had no mind to care about other matters. Now it seems that he is not as far-reaching as his son in this regard.

“Well, what are you going to do about this?” Feng Tang asked.

"What I mean is that the family should donate money or help to build a family school, or an academy, so that the children of the Feng family can study from elementary school to Confucian classics. If conditions permit, we should even attract some poor students from outside to study. This will not only help us enhance the local reputation and image of our Feng family, but also cultivate talents for the country."

Feng Ziying talked eloquently, "In addition, it would be good if you can pass the examination of Xiucai, Juren and Jinshi in this school. If you really fail in your studies, you can at least be literate and sensible. If my family needs people for some business, you can also choose from them. There are other For those who wish to do so, such as being an official, practicing medicine, etc., we can also help them achieve their wishes."

Feng Tang and the Duan family took a breath of cold air. They had to say that Feng Ziying's idea was very good, but it was too grand.

Supporting and donating to build a private school for a clan, or even an academy, is not a small amount of money, and it is a considerable expense that needs to be invested every year.

It can range from two to three thousand taels per year, to as many as five or six thousand taels. If it is an academy, it may cost tens of thousands of taels, and this is a fixed expense every year. If something happens to the Feng family and they don't have enough money to support it, This will ruin the Feng family's reputation.

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 (End of this chapter)