The snow is falling heavily, and it keeps falling. The continuous cold weather makes people in the whole city, even those who can stay at home, absolutely not go out. The snow has been falling for a long time, it has been falling intermittently for three days, and I don¡¯t know when it will stop.
After the snow fell, Xia Tian came over to see Wen Wan and said, "Princess, many wealthy families in the capital are setting up tents to serve porridge on the roads. Shouldn't our house also set up tents to serve porridge?"
At this time in previous years, Wen Wanren was no longer in the capital. This year is different, Wen Wan is in the capital! Since it is here, it cannot be left behind.
Wen Wan was playing with her children in the house. After hearing this, she put the children down, went out and asked, "Who are giving soup?" Others were doing good deeds, but her general's office was not doing it. Eye-catching. That wouldn't look good.
Xia Tian also came to report after doing his best. If he didn't know everything clearly, he would never come and reply casually. Even though Wen Wan appears to be indifferent, she is definitely not someone who is easy to fool. Xia Tian has been running errands for so many years, and the princess is very satisfied because he can draw inferences from one instance and take into account all aspects: "Prince Hao's Palace, Prince Chun's Palace, Prince Annan's Palace, the Queen's natal Guo Family, the Crown Princess's natal Hai Family, Pingguo Gong's Family, There are basically all the well-established families in the capital including the Zhenguo Gong family, the Weiwu Marquis family, and the porridge shop in Prince Hao's palace is the largest. . Wen Wan's position is compared to that of Prince Hao. If we go by Wen Wan's status, it should be compared to that of Prince Hao's palace. If you compare it to the General's Mansion, then give porridge according to the official rank of the second rank.
Wen Wan used to never give porridge during the Chinese New Year, because she was not in the capital. In addition, Wenwan has a charity hall, and no one dares to say that Wenwan has no love. Anyone who dares to say this will definitely be spit on. The main consideration this year is where the general's mansion will be.
Wenwan pondered for a moment and asked, "How much food is there in the house?".
As the chief steward, Xia Tian was naturally able to answer these questions. "Last December, I received a year's worth of rice from the princess and the general. Now there are 10,000 hu of rice in the warehouse. One hundred and fifty milled rice." Stone, three hundred and fifty stones of brown rice. "There are eighty people in the house. Except for Lumi, the food stored is normal. And Wenwan also has a habit of backing up everything she does. Said under conditional circumstances. Backups are just in case. Xia Tian naturally has this habit too.
Wen Wan was a little surprised, "Where are the potatoes and sweet potatoes?" They should be the big ones. Nowadays, because of these species in Da Qi Dynasty, there has never been a large number of people starving to death. Except for the war in the border towns. Daqi is now considered to be in peace and prosperity.
Xia Tian hurriedly replied, "Yes, there are some, but not much. The rice warehouse has already been stocked with grain, so there is no room for these. They are all stored in Zhuangzi. There are about 200,000 catties stored in Zhuangzi."
Wen Wan thought for a while and then said, "Since everyone is doing it, if we don't do it, it will seem like we are not enlisted. But forget about the methods of setting up porridge to give out porridge. There are so many beggars and homeless people in the capital, and there are so many porridge restaurants." , It¡¯s nothing more than benefiting those who love to take advantage. I remember hearing that some stingy people would send their servants out to beg for food if they didn¡¯t have any advantage. Go and buy some quilts. Come back and buy one or two hundred pairs. If you can't buy that much, take out the cotton stored in the house and buy more cotton to make some quilts and trousers. The maid and mother-in-law have been busy for a few days. Anyway, the New Year is over and they have some free time. When the farming is done, they will add some meat and vegetables to the poor people on South Street. The number of people will not be large, just one or two hundred families. You should find out who are really in need of help before you send them. "In today's peaceful society, people living at the bottom may be poor, but as long as they are not lazy, they are basically peaceful in this era. There is still a war in the border town), if we can maintain food and clothing and not go hungry, we can definitely grow bigger. But those who are poor may not live a good life. Life will be difficult. These people need help.
Xia Tian praised: "The princess is compassionate." Xia Tian couldn't help but admire from the bottom of his heart, the novel method really helped people. Those who have received something will also be sincerely grateful. South Street is a slum in the capital city. Sending a new quilt or a new cotton-padded jacket is more appreciated than giving any amount of rice and grain. Something clich¨¦ and heart-warming.
Wen Wan just thinks that giving out porridge is too old-fashioned, and there are so many families giving out porridge. According to the theory, giving out porridge should be done by the imperial court. Porridge is given out every year, and there are no natural disasters**. Over the years, it is easy to breed inertia among those people. Wen Wan thought for a while and then said: "After the snow melts, go to Zhuangzi to transport the grain, potatoes and sweet potatoes. The house is so big and just have a free space. We don't have to worry about running out of space in the house. No. The place can also be placed in the General¡¯s Mansion, there is still a large space there!¡±
Xia Tian hurriedly said yes. Because of this gentle instruction, the man went out to buy cotton and cloth. Women make quilts and jackets at home.
There was a special feature at that time. That means cloth before Chinese New Year is more expensive. After the Chinese New Year, cloth and cotton will become relatively cheaper.
Fortunately, Xia Tian was by Wen Wan's side, so he found people who were familiar with the market and divided them into many batches to buy cotton cloth. So, when the cotton price was about to rise the next day, the princess's mansion didn't want it anymore.
Wenwan has a unique way of doing good deeds, but it keeps everyone in the general's mansion and the princess's mansion very busy. The people in the princess's mansion were all happy and did whatever they were asked to do. Not a word of complaint.
But the people in the general's mansion were screaming in sorrow. It's not tiring for everyone to do things in such a cold weather. Because it is a task given by Wen Wan, you have to do it even if you don't want to do it. But there was a lot of resentment in the general's mansion. Thinking about it, I had nothing to do in the past, but now I have to rush to make clothes, and I don¡¯t know why I suddenly made so many clothes. That¡¯s not how you save money. Such a rich person can still be so stingy.
Wen Wan heard reports that people in the general's mansion were full of complaints. He is gentle and doesn't talk much, making people feel resentful and unwilling to do anything, and makes a list of all the people who feel that they have suffered a big loss. After three days, Wen Wan had a thick list of names: "They are raised in the general's mansion, and they also breed enemies. I have always wanted to lay off employees. Just in time, I took advantage of this opportunity to make these delicious, lazy, and ungrateful things." All the people have been laid off." Wen Wan had long discovered that the General's Mansion was a place for idlers. I had this idea to lay off people before. I just never found a suitable opportunity. This opportunity came to her door, and it would be strange if she didn't use it.
Xia Yao also felt that there were more than a hundred people in the general's mansion, but not a single master was there. They spent five to six thousand taels of silver a year, but these people only took money and did nothing. It hurt her to look at it. But because she couldn't cut these people off at will and was afraid of giving Bai Shinian a bad reputation, Wen Wan endured it.
Xia Yao said slightly. If it were her own business in the princess's mansion, the princess would never worry so much. For the sake of the general, the princess really gave in a lot.
The snow continued on and off for five days and finally stopped. The pomegranate trees in Wenwan's main courtyard were bent under the weight of heavy snow. Everyone in the house was clearing away the snow.
Wenwan looked at the snow that was beginning to melt, thinking about her husband who was far away at the border. I wonder if it snows so heavily over there. Wen Wan was in a daze, and Xia Yao hugged Brother Rui and came out: "Princess, Dabao can't find you. He is looking everywhere. If I don't see you again, I will cry again."
Wen Wan took Brother Rui and said, "Baby, what's wrong?"
Brother Rui¡¯s face is facing the food base. Wen Wan laughed: "Bao Bao, you just had it not long ago. Mom has no milk now. Xia Yao, go get the bottle."
Brother Rui couldn¡¯t get any milk and looked aggrieved. Wen Wan put the pacifier in Brother Rui's mouth and coaxed, "Baby, be good. Mom doesn't have enough milk. Drinking milk is the same."
After coaxing her gently for a long time, Brother Rui still refused to drink. Wen Wan had no choice but to go along with Brother Rui. Brother Rui was drinking milk. Although he was still not full, he was very satisfied.
Wen Wan couldn't help but slap Brother Rui's butt, "You little rascal. Your brother will have no milk to drink later. You don't know how to cherish your brother at all. How can you be a brother in the future?"
Brother Rui pursed his lips and squinted his eyes. Seems to be asleep. Wen Wan saw it and found it extremely funny, "This guy is not a loser!"
Xia Tian came over and said, "Princess, two hundred quilts and two hundred sets of cotton-padded jackets are ready. (Half are bought from outside, half are made in the mansion). I also got the list from Fu Yin, and I sent people to check them out. They are all poor people."
Wen Wan nodded: "Now that we have checked, you can send these things. In addition, each family will add a thousand dollars."
Wen Wan spoke and sent everyone according to the list. You know, the coldest thing is not the snow, but the melting snow. Giving these things away now is really called giving timely help.
There were several people going out to deliver these things to the princess's mansion, the general's mansion, and the charity hall. I mean it gently, and it must be delivered within one day. Wen Wan did not send the things in the name of the princess's palace, nor in the name of the general's palace. It is still given in the name of the Royal Charity Hall.
Wen Wan also began to think about the name of the general's mansion. But then I thought about what name it was used in. Everyone in the noble family also knew the inside story. But it is different for ordinary people. It is in the name of the Royal Charity Hall, and it is the Royal Family that the people are grateful for. The General's Mansion does not need the gratitude of the common people.
Two hundred households each had a quilt, a cotton jacket and cotton trousers, sixty pounds of white rice, ten pounds of pork, and another thousand dollars.
These are a lot of things for ordinary people. Not to mention those families who live in such poverty that they rarely have one meal of meat a year, it¡¯s like pie in the sky. I heard it was given by the Royal Charity Hall. There are no common people in the capital who don¡¯t know about the royal kindness.Of Shantang. It was founded by the royal family (in the eyes of the common people, Princess Wenwan also represented the royal family) to help ordinary people. The people who had benefited knelt down in the direction of the palace to thank the emperor. (To be continued)