Interesting Reading in Red Mansions (13): Wuzhuangtou from Tunli is a real rich man

01

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and the Fun Reading Red Mansion series should also respond to the occasion.

Let’s talk about Wuzhuangtou, this character has a strong flavor of the New Year.

With the military exploits of their grandfathers, Ningrong and Rongfu have many fields and manors, which is a line often seen in costume dramas, and thousands of households live in the city. The head of the village is the rent collector and in charge of the manor. One day before the New Year, Wuzhuangtou came to see Jia Zhen with a bunch of impressive New Year gifts.

I must quote the original text for this list of New Year’s goods:

I have read The Red Mansion many times since I was a child, and my mood and perception when watching the same content will change with age. It grows and changes, but only this period of original intention will always remain, because I am a foodie!

I have never tasted many of these delicacies, such as deer, deer, deer, soup pig, dragon pig, green sheep, and wind sheep. What is the difference in taste? I often daydream about giving me a Wuzhuangtou for New Year gifts, or let us choose a few items from it.

Where does this Wuzhuangtou that foodies miss so much come from? In the article, he said that he had been away for more than a month. I made a wild guess that this place should be a fishing village along the mountains and the sea in the Northeast, maybe near Chagan Lake, because the Manchus arose between the "white mountains and black waters". Moreover, they are a fishing and hunting nation, and Cao Gong’s family became a flag official when the Qing army entered the Pass.

Of course, there are still some questions that I can’t figure out no matter how hard I use my imagination. For example, there are so many things, which ones are slaughtered and which ones are alive, and how to freeze and keep them fresh during transportation. Foodies will worry about the quality of the meat.

02

In the eyes of his masters, Wuzhuangtou was a villager who had never seen the world. He "naively" thought that having a daughter at home who could be the emperor's wife would bring him wealth. Huge rewards, but Jia Zhenjiarong did not mean to ridicule or sneer. They jokingly called him "Old Beheaded" and asked about his health. The atmosphere of dialogue between master and servant was relatively harmonious.

The most important point is that the new year's goods and silver brought by Wuzhuangtou were only half of Jia Zhen's expectations. However, after Lao Wu poured out the bitterness of the bad year, Jia Zhen did not go into details and immediately He adopted a happy-go-lucky attitude of "If you give me less, I'll save some." At this time, Jia Zhen was an aristocratic master who was generous and considerate of his subordinates.

However, when the Jia family’s sons and nephews came to collect New Year gifts later, Jia Zhen’s style suddenly changed. He first asked Jia Qin, who was in charge of the family temple, why she came to collect annual records since she had a living. Jia Zhen defended herself for a while, and then he ruthlessly revealed the truth: recruiting bandits and gambling every night to support his little wife. At this time, Jia Zhen was aware of everything and was upright.

Is it Jia Zhen herself who is fickle? Thinking about it carefully, Wuzhuangtou's tribute was thousands of taels less than what he expected, yet he was so generous. Jia Qin was my nephew, but he just came to receive some bacon and dried vegetables. Why was he so harsh? There was no random stroke by Mr. Cao, everything must have happened for a reason.

So, why did Jia Zhen selectively pretend to be deaf and dumb?

03

Let’s first sort out the power structure of the Jia family. The big boss and chairman of the board is Jia’s mother. The next generation’s powerful person is Mrs. Wang. The next generation can say The ones who took charge of the matter were Xifeng and Jia Lian from the Rong Mansion, and Jia Zhen from the Ning Mansion. He was the eldest son's direct grandson and the clan leader.

How can the rights of these people in power be demonstrated? They manage the family business, which involves both spending money and making money. The money-making industries are mainly infrastructure and entertainment projects, such as repairs, setting up a theater troupe, etc. Jia's nephews are vying for them. Jia Yun gave these fat men gifts on credit, and it took a lot of effort to find one.

During the construction and implementation of these projects, there was no open bidding, and there was little supervision. Who was assigned to them depended on favors, so there was a lot of profit.

There is so much money involved in spending money, not to mention the farm industry that makes money. However, these farms are all high in the mountains and far away from the emperor. Jia Zhen and other people who walk the bird playing cards at the emperor's feet every day People are out of reach even if they want to.

So it can be inferred that Zhuangtou is a bigger vacancy than housekeepers and project supervisors. Although Laowu is from the village, he is a real rich man. Don't look at him as the boss of a state-owned enterprise reporting droughts and floods. , crying for poverty, but even if you are poor enough to be a monk, you cannot be poor enough to be an abbot.

As for why Jia Zhen caught the sesame seeds and missed the watermelon, it’s not surprising if you think about it carefully. If Jia Yun can use some high-quality borneol to get Sister Feng, then Lao Wu will definitely treat Jia Zhen with filial piety. As for Jia Qin , his ability to manage the family temple was a favor his mother went to Sister Feng to ask for. Jia Zhen, the leader, did not benefit, so she became Bao Qingtian.

Sister Feng has a famous saying: When there are big difficulties, people are divided, and those who have the right to speak are engaged in power rent-seeking and lining their own pockets. The Jia family, a vigorous and famous family, will surely be destroyed. It fell to the ground as if it had been eaten by thousands of termites.

Speaking of which, this is a bit dark. Some people have been treated unfairly in the workplace. Will they have to reflect on whether they have failed to give meaning to their leaders? Don’t get too involved in the drama. Feudal families and modern There is no comparison in the workplace.

04

The title will be downgraded by one level after one generation. Among the two Rongning mansions, only Jia Zheng is currently an official by studying, but the salary of a foreign minister from the Ministry of Industry is compared to that of a senior official. It's just a drop in the bucket for my wife's extravagant expenses. In the huge Jia family, the tribute from Zhuangtou was almost the only benefit industry.

No wonder Jia Zhen would say to Wuzhuangtou: If I don’t want it with you, who should I go with?

Of course, Wuzhuangtou was not taken advantage of. If Jia Zhen asked him for it, he would naturally ask for it from others. He wanted it from whom, the tenants, and the working people.

Think about these delicacies from mountains and seas that Laowu paid tribute to, and think about the dishes full of delicacies in the Grand View Garden. How many poor people worked hard and slept hard and were exposed to the wind and sun in exchange for it. After a year of hard work, they can Do you taste meat?

Feudal emperors changed dynasties. The founding emperor and his leadership team worked hard to govern and neglected their duties. However, their successors could not get rid of the historical cycle of sitting on their own merits, arrogant and extravagant, and centrifugal. This is not the case for feudal families.

No matter what, the result is the same: prosperity, the people suffer; death, the people suffer.

Writing this, I feel a little heavy. Even if I eat the deer robe that Lao Wu paid tribute to, I will not know the taste.

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, so I don’t have to worry about the country and the people. Let’s get a few kilograms of pork belly first.