Chapter 67: Clan Assembly (3)

  Zhao Xuan smiled and called out to Zhao Yuan again: "Go get a stack of white paper, also get a set of pen and ink, and a paper cutter."

  Zhaoyuan looked suspicious, but still honestly listened and did it. Zhaoxuan was his aunt, she gave orders, he naturally only had to listen, besides, among the people present, he was the only one who was a descendant of the clan, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, wanting to go in and out or do something was convenient, and was familiar with the structure of the ancestral temple, knowing where everything was placed.

  The villagers looked at Zhao Xuan with some curiosity, what was she going to do with the white paper and pen and ink? Some clever people guessed that she probably wanted people to write their thoughts on paper.

  Zhao Yuan quickly brought over the pen, ink, knife and paper, but this paper was somewhat different from ordinary white paper. This was a local handmade paper produced in Fengxian, far inferior to the clean white paper used by Zhao Xiu for writing and painting, but it had its advantages - the texture was fine and soft, making it ideal for wrapping porcelain, gold and silver utensils, etc. It was originally placed in the ancestral hall by the people of the clan, prepared for use after the seasonal sacrifices to wrap up precious ritual vessels. Zhao Yuan felt a bit embarrassed, this was the best white paper he could find in the ancestral hall, but it might not meet Little Miss's requirements. He steeled himself and handed over the paper and pen to Zhao Xiu.

  But she didn't know that this was exactly what Zhao Xuan had in mind, what she needed most was a paper with some special characteristics.

  Having obtained the paper, Zhao Xiu again instructed Zhao Yuan to cut it into small pieces of uniform size, just enough to write a one-inch character, and the quantity was based on the number of households in the entire clan.

  Zhao Yuan was a clansman. He had often heard his father, Zhao Xuan, and mother, Shen Shi, talk about clan matters, so he quickly recalled the relevant data: "Within the clan there are three branches, outside nine branches. In total twelve branches with fifty-seven households of people. Excluding the second branch's small long house which is not included, the remaining fifty-six households of people all came today. That means cutting into fifty-six pieces." He personally took action, using scissors to cut seven sheets of paper, one sheet cut into eight parts, and cut out fifty-six pieces.

  Zhao Xun took the 56 sheets of paper and personally wrote Arabic numerals in the top right corner of each sheet with characters the size of a grain of rice. From 1 to 56, not one sheet was missed. Then he stacked the papers neatly again. On the cross-section, he drew several strokes at an angle, although they were just irregular lines, but after separating the papers, it could be guaranteed that there were the same ink dots on the edges of each paper in the same position. After stacking the papers in order according to the numerical sequence, these ink dots would form a few straight diagonal lines, eliminating the possibility of counterfeiting.

  After finishing all this, Zhao Xun personally messed up the order of these small paper slips, asked Zhao Yuan for a large bamboo basket, filled with paper slips, and let him deliver them to each household in the ancestral hall. She said: "One household, one vote, please write down your thoughts. Is it to stay or leave? Only need to write one word, no need to write which house or family you are from. If you don't want to participate in the public decision, you can draw a circle to indicate abstention. As long as the number of abstentions does not exceed one-third, that is, eighteen people, then the result of this public decision can be passed. But if the number of abstentions exceeds eighteen people, it will have to be postponed and discussed again..."

  She said this, and the old man quickly added a sentence: "Among those who do not give up their rights, whichever side has more people in favor will be followed, but if there are three votes from the inner three houses and more than two of them oppose it, the matter cannot be passed and must be reconsidered later."

  Zhao Xun hesitated for a moment, actually she originally wanted to say that the number of people in favor should be more than two-thirds of the total number of people, and the motion could be passed. But the crowd is used to thinking that as long as there are more people, even if it's just one or two more, then it's still more. The old man's words didn't have any problem, so she just let it go.

  The villagers whispered among themselves, thinking that this method was not bad, fair and wouldn't offend anyone. No one would know what they wrote anyway, if they were really worried, they could just draw a circle to abstain. Some people thought that if the number of supporters and opponents were equal, how would they make a decision? Even if one side had one or two more votes than the other, it would still represent many people's opposition, would that be convincing? Also, can three houses with two votes veto everything, is that not unfair? If someone from the inner three houses did something wrong and harmed someone from the outer nine houses, and it was decided by the whole clan to expel them from the family, what if the inner three houses banded together to protect the culprit, how would the victim seek justice?

  But no matter what others think, this one household one vote system has been unanimously recognized by the clan members for the time being. So Zhao Yuan used a bamboo basket to hold paper ballots and made a round in the council hall, allowing each head of the house to take one ballot from the basket.

  On this side, Zhao Xiu inquired about the meaning of the old man's words and had Zhao Jing bring a long table to a small room next door where miscellaneous items were stored. On the table, he placed writing utensils and a delicate-necked flower vase used for offering fresh flowers to ancestors on the side. Then, following the order, starting from the inner three rooms, one person at a time entered the room to write down their opinions, crumpled up the paper into a ball, threw it into the flower vase, and walked out of the room before the next person could enter.

  The first to vote was the eldest master of the Zong house, followed by the second house, but only Zhao Xiu was present in the second house. The eighth old master always felt that although she was precocious since childhood, her mind was correct and her thinking was clear, not comparable to ordinary children, but such a young child, still a girl, participating in the public decision of the clan was too absurd.

  Zhao Xun noticed his thoughts and smiled, then said to him: "Eighth uncle, rest assured, I came to the ancestral temple today just to take a seat for my grandmother and brother. The elders can listen to a child's words and conduct this voting public trial, it is already my three lives of good fortune, how dare I ask for more?"

  She walked into the small compartment, picked up a pen and drew a circle on her small ticket, flashed it at Old Man Eight, then smiled and crumpled it into a small ball, tossing it into the vase.

  The old man's expression softened, and he began to think that he had been too harsh on the child. The child was very sensible, and everyone in the clan agreed with her good idea. She didn't take advantage of the situation, but instead voluntarily gave up her rights, following the rules they had just established, and showing that she had no personal motives. It's really hard to find someone who can do better than her. From now on, he should be more lenient towards this child, who has lost both parents at a young age and relies on her grandparents for survival, which is not easy either.

  After everyone had finished voting, an hour had passed. Zhao Jue took out the vase and poured out the paper balls inside to count them. There were exactly 56 votes. Then, in front of all the clansmen, he counted the votes one by one. Zhao Xuan was beside him, teaching Zhao Yuan to record the number of people who agreed, disagreed, and abstained with the character "zheng" on the paper. In the end, the result was that 48 people voted in favor of expelling the eldest son of the eight houses from the clan, three opposed it, and five abstained. The opinions of the clansmen were clear at a glance. After hearing this result, everyone looked at each other and felt very satisfied.

  To ensure fairness and justice, Zhao Jiong asked the eight old gentlemen to review all the votes again, confirming that there were no mistakes. Then, he took out the family tree on the spot, crossed out the name of the eldest son of the eight houses, and from this moment on, the heir of the eight houses changed to the second son.

  The expelled youth fell to the ground in despair, his eyes still filled with resentment towards his clansmen. Now he hated not only Zhao Jing but also the forty-eight people who had voted to expel him from the clan. If he was going to hate, he would have to hate the entire clan, including his own father.

  The old master looked at him with a sad shake of his head, convinced that his decision was not wrong. This son was absolutely not the right heir. Leaving him at home would only bring misfortune to the whole family and even the entire clan. He planned to take his eldest son back home soon, give him some property from his private house, and then send the steward to a farther place to buy a house and a few acres of thin land, and let this son fend for himself. From now on, whether this son was rich or poor, noble or humble, successful or criminal, he would have nothing to do with the Zhao family again.

  The clan meeting ended smoothly. After the family members returned home, they privately discussed the situation at the meeting and felt that Xiaoyi was indeed exceptional - intelligent, well-behaved, kind-hearted, and yet still maintained her dignity as the eldest daughter of the Duke's mansion despite being so young. She didn't show any signs of nervousness in front of her elders, and her etiquette was impeccable. Some people thought she was overrated, but now they realized that it wasn't an exaggeration - she was indeed a prodigy who remained humble and didn't like to show off.

  How did the county lady teach her children? This pair of grandchildren are so outstanding.

  In the clan, some women relatives asked about how Zhang's family educated their children and grandchildren. This was not a secret, as Zhao Wei had also mentioned it to his clansmen and younger cousins when they met, spoke, read books and played together before he went to school. The clanspeople again praised him with admiration.

  Someone else heard from Zhao Qixuan's daughter, Yuansister, that she learned from Qing sister, after Zhangshi and Zhao Wei left home, the household chores were taken care of by Zhao Xun, and Lu Changxiu couple only assisted. Zhao Xun himself worked hard every day to study, not only writing well but also painting well. Recently, Zhao Qixuan's son, Huage, studied hard and borrowed books from Xiao Er Fang, which were all recommended by Zhao Xun.

  The villagers couldn't stop praising the second son and daughter, someone remembered that Zhao Wei was already eleven years old and had a noble title, in a year or two wouldn't it be time to talk about marriage? Such a good candidate, did their own family have a suitable niece or granddaughter or adopted daughter... etc. etc., try to promote them to the Duchess?

  At that time, all the women in the clan had gone back to their parents' homes, and although Zhang Shi and Zhao Wei hadn't returned yet, they couldn't wait to start visiting each other's natal families. They were preparing to bring their daughters along when they went back to their husbands' homes. Fortunately, Zhao Xuan was still young, so no one had set their sights on her yet, allowing her to enjoy a period of peace and quiet.

  However, this quiet period didn't last too long. Probably because she had made a strong impression at the clan meeting and created an image of being "intelligent", "kind-hearted", "having some small prestige" and "holding great power in the middle court". Some clansmen came to her for help, and this time it was real help, not just coming to swindle money.

  Outside the house, there was a cousin named "Shui" who was a member of the family. He was a younger son in the household, and his father was an old student who had not yet passed the imperial examination to become a scholar. The next imperial examination was scheduled for next month, and his father was very confident that he would pass. In addition, his older brother was also studying and had a good aptitude, and it was said that he had a better chance of passing the examination than his father did. Everyone in the family had high expectations for him. At present, the power in the household was in the hands of his stepmother, and his own mother had passed away early. Unlike his other younger brothers who were favored by their parents, he could only help his stepmother and older brother with errands and do some miscellaneous tasks, just like a servant. He had once thought that he might never have a chance to rise above his circumstances.

  Recently, Liu Fang planned to expand his business and recruit apprentices from the clan. He knew a few characters and could do arithmetic, so he signed up and was successfully selected. His stepmother had always been known for her kindness and generosity, and she didn't stop him either. Instead, she persuaded his father to give him a share of the family property, allowing him to set up his own household. This way, if he became a merchant in the future, it wouldn't affect his father's or brothers' reputation. If he made a lot of money from doing business, he could also use the excuse of filial piety to support his family.

  Although his stepmother had her own plans, he was still grateful to her because she gave him a small sum of money and did not reduce his share of the family property and ancestral land.

  He didn't have enough manpower to cultivate the land allocated to him, so he planned to lease out the ten mu of ancestral land to his birth mother's brother to cultivate, and then sell off all thirty mu of private land, putting the money aside as capital for opening a shop in the future. The reason he chose Zhao Xiu as the buyer was entirely because she had a great reputation in the clan at present, was trustworthy, and also had a reputation for generously using her own resources to help clan members.

  Those thirty mu of land are now empty and uncultivated, actually half of it is wasteland. The reason why it's said to be half is that there's a wild fruit tree forest in that piece of land, the grown fruits can still be eaten, when they're ripe, pick them up and sell them on the market, you can also earn some money, besides, the miscellaneous trees in the forest cut down and sold as firewood are also worth some silver.

  The eight-room family's ancestral land, valued at five taels of silver per mu on that day, was a medium-grade land and also planted cotton. This price was already cheap. The "water" character generation nephew from the outer fifth room did not dare to compare his own wild fruit forest with other people's cotton fields, so he only quoted three taels of silver per mu. Thirty mu of land was ninety taels, which was the amount Zhao Xiu could withdraw from the account house.

  At first, Zhao Xun still felt a lack of interest, but as soon as he heard the location of that piece of land, his expression changed: "You mean... your land is in Qingxi Town to the west, near the river?"

  When the other party gave a definite answer, Zhao Xuan's eyes lit up. If she didn't remember wrong, before crossing over, she had accompanied her parents to play in the Shangri-La of Qingcun Village in Shanghai, which was just west of Qingcun Town. At that time, she heard the tour guide say that the ancient name of Qingcun Town was indeed Qingxi. Although this land of her cousin may not be the Shangri-La she had been to, but Shangri-La covers an area of thousands of acres, can it be inferred that this land is also suitable for growing peaches?

  Shanghai peaches are still very delicious.

  Zhao Xuan's heart skipped a beat.