The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 351: Matchmaking, 0 Miles Away

Cheng Rixing, Liu An, Sun Xi, Han Mo...

The next morning, Sun Shaozong was in the Department of Criminals, sketching a list of names when he saw Cheng Rixing coming in from outside and reporting, "Master, there is a message from Magistrate Jia that there is a shortage of manpower. He hopes to temporarily transfer some skilled figure painting scribes to go over there.”

“Insufficient manpower?”

Sun Shaozong said strangely, "Why are there so many leftover women this year?”

In the recent official affairs handled by Jia Yucun, it was necessary to use portrait painting, which was the ”blind date conference” held by the local government around the Dragon Boat Festival every year.

At the beginning of the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, to alleviate the population crisis caused by years of war, a policy of forced marriage was implemented. At that time, regardless of gender, if they were still unmarried after the age of 18, the local government would come forward and force them to marry.

Today, as the population has gradually increased, this policy was no longer as strict as it was originally, but it has not been completely abolished.

According to current regulations, both men and women who have reached the age of 21 and were still unmarried must pay a special ”single tax,” and the amount of tax paid would increase year by year with age.

If they could afford to pay taxes, they could naturally continue to be leftover men and women with peace of mind. If they couldn’t afford it, they must participate in the official annual ”matchmaking conference.” If they failed to ”pair up” for two consecutive sessions, they would undergo unconditional forced marriage in the third year.

And the idea of a blind date conference, of course, couldn’t be like in later generations, allowing hundreds of couples to flirt with each other on-site.

Generally, a woman's appearance was simply depicted, marked with the eight characters of family background and birth date, hung in a specific place, selected by the man independently, and then communicated with each other through official media.

Of course, scholars with great achievements or officials appointed by the legitimate court could ignore this law.

When Sun Shaozong was curious about why there were so many leftover women this year that even painters were not enough, Cheng Rixing helplessly said, "It was all because of the flood last year. Many men of the same age in the city took the opportunity to negotiate marriages.”

“In addition, prices have increased significantly since the previous year, making it difficult for people to make a living. How can they afford to pay extra taxes? Therefore, the number of women participating in blind dates this year has increased by nearly twice compared to previous years.”

Tch!

This was causing a fire at the city gate to harm the fish in the pond!

Who would have thought that a flood in Hebei had even affected the ”marriage market” in the Capital?

However, the flood did indeed benefit many singles in the Capital.

As for the leftover women...

The common people of the Capital didn’t have the habit of picking a son-in-law among the disaster victims. Unless it was those talented scholars who had achieved great success, how could a scholar like a gentleman look up to the leftover daughters of ordinary people's families?

Since that was the case...

After understanding the causes and consequences, Sun Shaozong ordered, "Let Lin Delu choose a few who are good at meticulous painting. Remember to tell them not to act like they usually draw wanted posters, and make them look fierce and evil, just to ruin their good marriage.”

Cheng Rixing laughed at the words and waited outside to search for Lin Delu.

“Wait a moment.”

Sun Shaozong stopped him again and said, "Just let Chengye go. I have some private matters to discuss with you here.”

“Private matters?”

Cheng Rixing was a bit excited, as he has been a Private Advisor for over a year. This was Sun Shaozong's first serious attempt to discuss personal matters with him.

Wasn’t this proof that the Master trusted him even more?!

So he hurriedly went out and entrusted the matter to Sun Chengye. Then he eagerly turned back and said stealthily, "It doesn't matter what you have to instruct, Master. I guarantee my own life and will never reveal anything to the public.”

This guy…

It shouldn't be that he thought he was trying to take bribes and pervert the law?

Sun Shaozong was speechless and pointed to the chair opposite him to sit down first. Then he said with a straight face, "Actually, I have recently secured a lucrative luxury business and urgently need a few trustworthy people. Go south and keep an eye on it. I've been thinking about it for a while, but you're the best person to handle it all.”

In fact, when Sun Shaozong first started contemplating the timber business, the person he most liked was the Old Butler, Wei Licai. Uncle Wei was steady and decisive in his work, and the most important thing was his loyalty to the Sun family.

However, the plan couldn't keep up with the changes. After Uncle Wei continued his career, he successfully laid the seeds in an old and robust manner. Currently, he has become a full-time nanny father, and even the big and small things in the mansion have been given to Zhao Zhongji to handle.

Although Uncle Wei would agree to go south and keep a lookout if they asked for help, how could they keep their mouths closed?

So Sun Shaozong turned his mind to Cheng Rixing again. Cheng Rixing had worked as a shopkeeper and had a serious reputation for being a successful candidate. He was also able to handle things safely, and apart from being less loyal than Uncle Wei, he was the most suitable candidate.

Just when Cheng Rixing heard that he was helping with ”buying and selling,” there was a hint of retreat on his face.

In recent years, literati and officialdom have generally looked down on merchants. Cheng Rixing wouldn’t hesitate to resign from the wealthy Jia family's shop and become Sun Shaozong's Private Advisor, largely out of this intention.

At present, his Master was doing something similar. How would he be willing to handle the affairs of merchants again?

And his thoughts were naturally well understood by Sun Shaozong, so he immediately said, "This business will last for at most two to three years, during this time, the annual bonus distribution to you will not be less than 1000 taels. more importantly…”

After a brief pause, Sun Shaozong threw the most important bait, "If you still fail the Imperial Examination three years later, I will do my best to protect your future as a County Magistrate.”

“Are you serious about this?”

Cheng Rixing jumped up excitedly. Although he never gave up on the Imperial Examination, he knew that as he grew older and got more lazy, his chances of passing the examination were becoming increasingly slim.

If it took three or two years for merchants to operate and exchange for a hundred-mile Lord…

“Have I ever deceived you with empty words?”

Sun Shaozong saw that he was already moved, so he further revealed, "Moreover, this business also involves a high-ranking official of the second grade. If you manage it properly, you probably won't be stingy about being a smooth-sailing person on that side.”

A second-grade officer?!

Cheng Rixing's eyes flickered and he suddenly bowed and said, "Since you value it so much, I will do my best to repay you.”

Seeing him agree, Sun Shaozong breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. As long as he had decided on the role of overall control, it would be easy to arrange for the candidates to assist from the side.

Cheng Rixing has been tidying up his home recently. He estimated that he might need to…

“Uncle, Uncle!”

Sun Shaozong was telling Cheng Rixing the date of his southward journey when he saw Sun Chengye running in panic and trembling, "There's news from the house arrest center that a nun is having a miscarriage.”

A miscarriage was a premature birth, which was also extremely dangerous in ancient times.

However, Sun Shaozong was not as nervous as he was about the fate of a promiscuous nun, so he calmly asked, "Is it the older one or the younger one?”

If the month was large and the expected delivery date was the end of May, it was not too risky to have a delivery.

For those with small months, it wouldn’t be until early July, the due date for childbirth was over two months away, so the risk would be much higher.

“Hmm…”

Sun Chengye's words were immediately lost. As soon as he heard that the female prisoner in the house arrest center was having a miscarriage, he panicked and came over to report. How could he have cared about these details?

He still lacked physical training.

Sun Shaozong shook his head helplessly and said, "In the future, don't panic. Let's first clarify the matter before we speak.”

As he spoke, he then ordered, "Send someone to notify Zhou Da and have him personally go over and watch, trying to save both mother and child safely. If there is danger, protect the child first.”

Anyway, the two nuns were sentenced to a delayed death penalty. Even if they saved their lives temporarily, they would also die in autumn, so the natural selection was to protect their children.

When Sun Chengye was ordered to go, Cheng Rixing reminded him, "Your Excellency, should you inform Longcui'an and Fayuan Temple? After all, after this child is born, it will be handed over to them.”

Tch!

He didn’t know if Miaoyu, after experiencing the initial shock, was still willing to adopt these villains again.