The Prosperous Era of Longwan

In the last class of the 29th year of Jiajing's reign, after completing their daily homework, the children all stood respectfully and said New Year's greetings to Master Sun.

The private school didn't start until the 15th day of the school year, and Master Sun assigned ten essays to these students, and they completed one essay every two days on average. To be honest, it didn't seem too difficult for Wei Guangde.

Wei Guangde ushered in his first holiday and first New Year in the Ming Dynasty.

For the poor people, the New Year is like a sea of ​​​​daggers and fire. Those who owe rent or debt before the New Year must pay off their debts at this time, so there is a saying that the New Year is closed.

Of course, such days have nothing to do with Wei Guangde.

A few days ago, the eldest brother Wei Wencai made two or three trips to the county and town to prepare New Year's goods.

I usually put on the big car and go out in the morning, and it's often dark before I can get home.

This is not to say that their family will be busy with their money harvest this year. Not only their own family has to prepare new year's goods, but the military households in the entire Baihusuo also have a lot of items that need to be purchased. A bit cheaper.

This year, the military households in Bengshan Baihusuo received more money than usual, so they will naturally have a good year.

On the 28th, Baihusuo killed several New Year pigs and truly entered the New Year atmosphere.

A few pigs were sorted out. Of course, the good thing is that the officers divided them first, and the military households could still divide them more or less, otherwise the children in the military fort would be so excited.

Wei Guangde also followed and took a look. A large group of children were gathered around. Seeing the clean, fat white pig being pressed on the bench, some children couldn't help but start drooling.

There are many children in Baihusuo, but most of them cannot go to private schools like Wei Guangde and others.

Fish and meat from Baihushuo can be seen from time to time, but other meats are less common. Only those officers and those from the Orion family have such a good taste.

Starting from New Year's Eve, the sound of children setting off firecrackers can be heard from time to time in the military fort, adding a touch of joy to the festive atmosphere.

However, Wei Guangde lives in Bengshan Baihu House, and there are no celebrations here, far worse than in the city.

On New Year's Eve, as his parents and eldest brother worshiped their ancestors and kowtowed to their ancestors' tablets, this was the first time in Wei Guangde's life that he knelt down. In Wei Guangde's later generations, although there were some people who knelt down, most of them just bowed. There were also some who knelt when they were children. time, but I have never bowed down.

After that, Father Wei briefly talked to the two brothers about the process of passing down the family to this generation. He also had it in previous years, but Wei Guangde didn't really listen to it at that time. Now Wei Guangde only has a vague idea. , just knowing that the ancestors of the Wei family should be from Fengyang.

This time he listened carefully to what Father Wei said, and he was really from Fengyang Mansion.

As for the fact that I haven’t heard of any relatives in the past six months, I have a general understanding at this time.

My ancestors have been in Jiujiang for a long time, so they must have flourished.

However, transportation and communication were not convenient in ancient times, and as a military household, it was difficult to change the household registration, and there were not many choices. Most of the few groups that dispersed went to border towns to replenish the health centers.

As they were separated for a long time, the contact became less and less. In Wei Meng's generation, he was just a single person. After all, he encountered the military disaster.

Wei Guangde understood the actual situation of the Wei family, but secretly kept in mind the approximate destination of the few branches his father said.

On the first day of the new year, Wei Guangde got up in the morning and followed his eldest brother to kowtow to his parents to pay New Year greetings. After completing the ceremony in an orderly manner, Wei Guangde received the New Year's money.

In the past years, in Wei Guangde's memory, his parents would usually give him a bunch of coins, each worth fifty coins. Therefore, every Chinese New Year, Wei Guangde would get one hundred copper coins.

Of course, this copper coin will not be like the parents of later generations who would try every means to take away the new year's money when their children receive it, euphemistically calling it "keep it."

But this year seems a little different, maybe because the family received more silver this year. Wei Guangde received two silver coins from his parents, about one tael each.

Prices during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty were honestly not too high.

On weekdays, Wei Guangde brings a few copper coins with him to eat snacks in the town.

This time, I got two taels of silver at once. According to the current exchange rate, I can exchange it for two thousand good dollars. If it is private money of poor quality, I can also exchange it for three thousand.

Now, having been here for so long, Wei Guangde probably knows that during the Ming Dynasty, currency was still a bit confusing.

Let's talk about casting money. The government has castings. It contains high-quality copper and is good money. With this money, 1,000 copper coins can be exchanged for one tael of silver.

There are also private coins among the people, but they are the same as the counterfeit banknotes in the future, but contain less copper, and it will take more than 1,000 to exchange them.

According to Wei Guangde, the industry of printing counterfeit banknotes is also an industry with a long history if verified carefully.

According to what Wei Guangde knew, in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the circulation of gold and silver was strictly prohibited. With the passage of time, such laws have long been thrown into the dark corners.

"Thank you, Mom and Dad. Dad and Mom are the best to me."

Wei Guangde happily took the silver coin and shouted sweetly.

"study hard."

Father Wei was stroking his beard and looking at Wei Guangde, and said earnestly, while Mother Wei touched his head kindly.

The eldest brother Wei Wencai also received the new year's money. Like Wei Guangde, he was also very happy.

Two taels of silver was a huge sum of money. A helper in the city would have to work hard for two or three months to earn it.

This is also an important reason why military households fled in the Ming Dynasty. Military households could not run out to work to make a living. Even if they worked, they could only work for their superiors, usually for free.

The hundreds of households in Wei Meng and Wei were also greedy for money, but at least he only accepted money, and the rations for the military households below him could still be barely supplied.

In the Ming Dynasty, consumption was monotonous. In fact, after solving the problem of food, there were not many places to spend money. One or two silver coins could be used to pay off those military households.

Regardless of whether it is Wei Guangde or Wei Wencai, their daily expenses for food and clothing are at home. Naturally, they spend this money outside, which is really not a small amount.

After a while, Zhang Dayong and other general bannermen and junior bannermen from the military fort also came to the mansion to pay New Year's greetings to Wei Baihu, and stayed for a banquet.

In this hundred households, there is not so much emphasis.

Early in the morning on the third day of the Lunar New Year, the eldest brother Wei Wencai arranged for the car to be set up. The family was going to Wu's house in Qianhusuo. This had been agreed a long time ago.

When leaving the fort gate, Mr. Wei smiled and said to Li Dayong, the general flag general who was seeing him off: "This Half-Moon Fort is all up to you. I'm going out a little longer this time, so you have to be more careful."

Wei Guangde and Wei Wencai stood quietly behind their father Wei Meng. Wei's mother was already sitting in the car. She was going back to her parents' home and wanted to announce her eldest son's marriage. From time to time, she opened the curtains and took a look under the car. situation.

"Don't worry, sir, I'm in the castle."

Li Dayong clasped his fists and said to Father Wei, he is a dull man who only talks but doesn't talk, so he doesn't talk much.

Father Wei smiled and nodded, turned to Wei Wencai and said, "Then let's go."

After saying that, he and Wei Guangde got into the carriage, while Wei Wencai got on the horse next to him and walked away with a few servants.