Let Xu Chang and Sister Tang negotiate the price in the hall, and Xu Ping and Xiu Xiu walked into the yard.

Looking at the pastoral scenery, Xu Ping said to Xiuxiu: "This place is too desolate, always reminding me of the village in Baisha Town. I really can't figure out what point you like here."

Xiuxiu whispered: "Isn't it good to be like home? I just want to be like home."

"Okay, if you say yes, then everything will be fine." Xu Ping said, walking along the path of the vegetable garden with Xiuxiu to the distance and take a look at the layout of the house.

Even in the city, the land here is not precious, and there are large open spaces in the vegetable garden. Not only are there neat canals, but there are also several small ponds. One of them is more than half an acre, surrounded by bamboo forests, and there is also a small wooden pavilion by the pond.

When he arrived at the pond, Xu Ping looked at the scenery on both sides and said, "This kind of dish is a gentleman."

"The officials don't know that Sister Tang's husband was a student of the Imperial College before and was quite talented. It is said that the next imperial examination will be issued. If he passes the Jinshi, the family will become prosperous from then on, but he didn't expect to go there at a young age."

Xu Ping said to Xiuxiu: "It turns out that you know this eldest sister Tang, and you thought she had seen it only when she wanted to sell the house."

Xiuxiu sighed: "My sister Tang has a pair of skilled hands. She used to do some miscellaneous work in the Transport Office, helping people sew and repair and wash slurry in the yamen. I met after I arrived. Official, you said, "You are a spoiled lady since childhood. In order to support her husband's studies, she went out to do odd jobs to help her family."

"It's not easy, and it's hard for her." Xu Ping nodded. This is his true words. Sister Tang is not good-looking and you can tell at a glance that she is not from a poor family. It's really not easy to be able to be content with poverty after getting married. A woman has one of the three nostalgic couples who don't leave the court, so she is targeted. Before a man becomes famous, she supports his wife and provides her with hard work to support her husband to make progress. This is a lifelong relationship and should stay with her forever.

As the world calls poor scholars, it is actually difficult for people who are really poor to be scholars. Those who can study for free must have a little family background. Just like Sister Tang’s family, her husband still has a ancestral house, and this more than a dozen acres of vegetable gardens can barely maintain his expenses for studying. But the family is small, and a man concentrates on studying, and all his work is overwhelming. This seems to be hard. Studying in the Imperial College, he often goes out to have poetry and essay parties with his classmates, so he cannot be too shabby, which puts a lot of pressure on a woman. Sister Tang must hire people to grow vegetables at home and then go out to do odd jobs to supplement his studies. This is the norm for scholars at the bottom. It is better to say that poor are better than most people, and it is really hard to say that they are poor and never-because.

Walk around the small pond and walk along the canal.

Xu Ping asked Xiuxiu: "Did you buy this house because you are poor Sister Tang?"

Xiuxiu smiled and said, "What do I pity her? I was by my side when you were studying, but at that time you didn't have to worry about food or clothing. When you read three or five books every day, you felt that you were the most suffering person in the world. Thinking about it now, I don't know how better than the Xu family officials. Sister Tang is to accompany her husband like this, and she is a poor couple and a lifetime of blessing. She just has a bad life and can't wait for the day when her officials will make their fortune."

At the end, there was a small river. I don’t know if it was the Luo River or a tributary of which river. The river was not wide and the water was not deep. The reeds by the water in the autumn scenery had begun to turn yellow, and white reeds were flying on the river surface. A kingfisher emerged from the big willow tree by the river at some point, and lightning flashed across the water surface, and disappeared in an instant.

Xu Ping gently held Xiuxiu's hand, stood by the river, looking at the scenery without saying a word.

In the past, there were not as many people in the village in Baisha Town, and the river east of the manor was also like this. Xu Ping often took Xiuxiu to play by the river, watching the water birds flying around and the reeds flying in the sun. The autumn sun shines on the water surface, shining with golden light. Now, those times are like a dream.

Xu Ping pinched Xiuxiu's hand and said to her: "This place is actually not bad, but in Luoyang City, the scenery of the countryside is always unrestrained. When I was busy these two days, I would find someone to clean up the place. The vegetable garden was converted into a vegetable garden, planting some flowers, plants, peonies, and some bamboos, and then planting them. Is that good?"

Xiuxiu shook her head: "No, I like this, I like this."

Xu Ping smiled and said nothing. What will the future look like? It will be changed slowly by time.

When he returned to the hall, Sister Tang was gone, and even the little girl was gone. Xu Ping asked Xu Chang: "What, did the master leave now? We are not in a hurry to come and live."

Xu Chang said: "It's already delivered, why are she doing here? She has already packed up what she should have. There are still some roads to Longmen Town here. If you don't leave early, it will be dark there. I heard that the restaurant they have is very deserted. Sister Tang is a helper and saves hiring people. As for the deed, I will go to Henan County in two days to handle it."

Xu Ping looked around and always felt a strange feeling that this place would be his home in Luoyang in the future. It seemed that everything was too hasty. There were five old houses and a vegetable garden here, but it really didn't look like a home.

Xiuxiu walked up and sat down on the chair where Sister Tang was sitting just now. She suddenly smiled and said, "It is said that the daughter's house in Luoyang is different from other places. She has the most idea and can make decisions at home. It is not worth it for Sister Tang to do things so readily. Officials, you see, there is also a chair here, and it will only be like this in Luoyang. I will sit here in the future, how about it?"

"Okay, as long as you like, what's the matter with sitting on the other side!"

Xu Ping smiled and looked around with Xu Chang.

When Sister Tang was there just now, the head of the family was empty, which was left for her deceased husband. However, the place where she sat was also placed like the other side.

Women in the Northern Song Dynasty generally did not sit on chairs, even at home. In history, Lu You of the Southern Song Dynasty also lamented that women in the Southern Song Dynasty also began to sit on chairs, and there was no longer the rules in the Northern Song Dynasty. Only Luoyang is an exception. When did men start to sit on chairs here? Women also began to sit on chairs at the same time. Henan Prefecture was the place where Neo-Confucianism emerged later, but it was also the place with the highest status of women. History was so irregular, and sparks always burst into contradictions.

At the back yamen who stayed behind the yamen, Sun Mian leaned lazily on the chair and listened to the supervisor of the zhiyuan at home talking about the matter.

Zhiyuan said: "Official, I heard that Sister Tang sold her house in Taohuafang to Xu Ducao. Will something happen? Sister Tang is so arrogant that she must talk nonsense in front of Ducao!"

"What did you say? Say I fell in love with her?" Sun Mian snorted coldly, "Her husband was not killed by me, and I am afraid that she would sue me at the Transport Department's Office? A widow and no children were dragged down, so I just asked someone to be a matchmaker and wanted to take her as an outdoor concubine. Did he even violate the law of the king? Henan Prefecture is not other places. I am the left-behind judge of the Sitong District, and I am not a local prison official. There is no saying that you are not allowed to marry and take concubines in the local area. Even if you go to court, I am not afraid of anything!"

"What the official said is. However, Sister Tang sold her house and had spare money. By the end of the year, we were not wasting our efforts? The restaurant in Longmen Town spent a lot of money."

"Hmph, the house in Taohuafang has five broken houses and more than ten acres of vegetable gardens. How much money can it be sold? This is not a capital city, and every inch of land is valuable. The house in Xijing is not worth it! The Tang family Lao Erpu bought a restaurant for a year, and it only lasted for two months. He had to pay much property in it! If you have time, you can go to Longmen Town and let the yamen you bought. What's the name of the yamen you bought? It's better to have no customer in Tang Laoer's restaurant!"

"The young one will go tomorrow. The official has already spent a lot of money, but he will lose a lot of money without any result."

Sun Mian straightened up and sighed: "Oh, if it weren't for Xu Ping's arrival, it wouldn't have cost much money. If someone bought a new restaurant, would he dare to put it away by himself after making money? He would have to deliver it to me obediently by the end of the year. Now that Xu Ping's new official takes office, he must be staring at me tightly, and he dislikes me. He can't take this money. What a pity!"

The Zhiyuan hurriedly said, "What about other families? Many of the branch officials in the city have to send some money every month. Should we collect it or not? There are many of them, but not a small amount."

"I won't accept what I eat! By the way, you can buy some gifts, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, turtles, shrimps and crabs, and when you have nothing to do, you can go around with those families. As an official in the same court, it is not illegal for the family to communicate with courtesy."

"What the officials said is, what else can others say in this way?"

The officials in the court can be in the Luoyang branch. According to Xu Ping's previous life, it was the Luoyang branch of the yamen. However, they had no duty, they just received their salary. The only job was to participate in various sacrifices and live every five days.

When the founding of the State of the Song Dynasty, the branch officials were preferential treatment. When officials got old, the Luoyang branch received salary for their elderly care. This is one of the reasons why there were many high-ranking officials in Luoyang City. Later, the treatment of officials increased. After retiring, they never received a salary to half a salary, and finally received full salary. The branch officials had no advantage. By this era, the branch officials had become a punishment for officials, which was equivalent to idleness and their political future was basically ruined, which was heavier than demotion from other jobs.

These branch officials are under the management of the left-behind department. Sun Mian is not very good, but he has the future of many high-ranking officials. The political future of branch officials is basically overdue, but there are always various reasons to come again, just to see if he will do something. Every five days of daily life, sometimes he is sent to the capital by the post station, and sometimes he is sent to the public. This is an opportunity to meet the emperor, and the ambitious branch officials are keeping a close eye on it. Just for this opportunity, Sun Mian collects a lot of money a year.

In principle, the left-behind office is not a local yamen, but a part of the central court. For example, the Imperial College of Xijing, the Censorate and the Sitianjian are all under the left-behind office. These officials are not local officials, and their daily lives are originally what the court officials do. Such a yamen that is in the local area but not in the local area has many opportunities out of thin air. Sun Mian has few things in charge of Henan Prefecture, but his real power is not small. At least for officials, his status as a left-behind office is much more important than that of Henan Prefecture.
Chapter completed!