nucmednet Chapter 276 Things Have Changed 1
Chapter 276 Things Have Changed 1
After talking about the economic situation of the Lin family, the broker hesitated for a moment before talking about the population situation of the Lin family's direct branch.
Lin's father's parents, two uncles and one aunt have all passed away, leaving only his youngest aunt alive. His two brothers are still alive, but his younger brothers and sisters are all gone. Of his cousins who had the same grandfather as him, only two are now dead.
Father Lin was devastated, but in order to see his relatives as soon as possible, he tried his best to hold on and did not let himself faint from excessive shock and grief.
After finding out that all his living relatives were in Linjiazhuang, Father Lin immediately rushed over with his family.
When they saw each other, a thousand emotions surged in their hearts. Father Lin and his brothers hugged each other and cried bitterly, while the younger generations kept trying to persuade them in a gentle voice.
After Lin's father and the others finally calmed down, the brothers began to introduce their family members to each other and each other's families.
After the group of people greeted each other, Lin's father and his brothers began to ask each other about their health, experiences over the years, etc.
After asking this question, Lin's father found out that although his two brothers and two cousins were still alive, they all had various health problems due to the difficult times in previous years.
His second brother has been working hard to support the family over the years, and his health has been worn out. His second brother's wife and their son and daughter-in-law were killed when they went out to burn incense together two years ago. His second brother's daughter "died of illness" because her mother's family fell into power. Since then, he has been dependent on his little grandson who is only five years old this year.
His third brother, who was originally an official in another place, returned to his hometown with his family a few years ago. Because of the war, not only did his health deteriorate, but he also lost his wife and young son. Now he is left with only a son and a daughter.
Father Lin noticed that Uncle Lin's son was already twenty years old but still had not married, and his daughter was seventeen years old and still had not married.
His fifth cousin had his leg broken while trying to protect his second brother, who was the head of the Lin family. Now he walks with a limp and cannot do any heavy work.
His fifth brother's wife was also in poor health, but she insisted on supplementing the family income by spinning and weaving.
As for why they did not choose embroidery, his fifth cousin told him that if they did embroidery they would have to sell it to shops in the county town, but the shops in the county town were afraid of the Xiang family, and no one dared to accept the embroidery they sent.
As for spinning and weaving, they can sell it directly to their clansmen and relatives at a low price.
Unable to bear the hardship of his family's decline and unwilling to live in fear, his fifth cousin's daughter-in-law divorced him. His son worked on the farm for several years and became dark and thin. Because of family changes, his granddaughter and grandson were no longer as cheerful and lively as before, and they just helped the adults with work silently every day.
His seventh cousin was also miserable. During the time when the Xiang family was most brutally targeting their Lin family, he was thrown into the river in the middle of winter. Although he managed to survive, his health deteriorated and he fell ill from time to time.
His seventh cousin's wife and daughter supplemented the family income by spinning and weaving, and his son was still young, so he could only help with odd jobs within his ability.
He rented out the only ten acres of land his family had left, and exchanged the rent he collected each year for coarse grains, which was barely enough for them to eat for three or four months.
The other side branches beyond the five generations were hardly affected. Over the years, thanks to some of them who always remembered the care that the direct branch had given them in the past and always secretly sent gifts to the branches, the branches were able to barely survive in the Linjia Village.
Father Lin was silent for a moment, then called his family and Bai Jingzhou and others to help move all the things off the carriage.
In order to facilitate travel, Lin's father only put small silver ingots, cloth, tea, cotton-padded clothes, furs, pens, ink, paper and inkstones, and books in the carriage, which were prepared to be given to the elders and younger generations, as well as various special snacks, desserts, dried fruits and candied fruits that they bought on the way. Taking them out now would be just enough to solve the urgent needs of his close relatives.
Together with Lin's mother, he presented the prepared cloth, tea, cotton clothes, furs, small silver ingots, and snack boxes to his aunt, who was hugging Lin's mother and crying loudly. Then he took out the portions originally prepared for the deceased elders and gave them all to his brothers.
"Take these for emergency use first." Father Lin showed the style of the eldest son and grandson, dividing the things into several piles without giving them up, and then pointed at the small pile they had prepared, "Pick some of these and give them to the tribesmen who helped you, and ignore the others."
After giving the instructions, he, together with Lin's mother and eldest brother Lin and his wife, distributed greeting gifts to the younger generations.
After all the children were sent away, Father Lin asked about the Xiang family.
His brothers told him, "The Xiang family was investigated for crimes, their property was confiscated, and members of both the direct and side branches were exiled for their crimes, but the only ones who died were the head of the Xiang family, his two sons, and the father and brother of the rebel king's concubine."
Father Lin's eyebrows were sharp, "Are all the bastards who attacked our family dead?"
His second brother nodded slightly, "The mastermind was the head of the Xiang family, and the people who acted on orders were the Xiang family guards. In order to appease the public anger, the officials appointed by the new dynasty publicly tried the Xiang family as soon as they took office. At that time, we had already gone to appeal for justice. And Yan'er's in-laws, I also sued them."
When his wife, son and daughter-in-law passed away, her daughter insisted on returning home to attend the funerals despite opposition from her husband's family. After the funeral, her mother-in-law had the servants dragged out and beaten with a stick on the grounds that they had failed to serve their master well and had instigated the master to run around everywhere.
His daughter wanted to stop it, but was dragged into the house by the old woman beside her mother-in-law without saying a word.
They wanted to kill her, but since there were too many servants she brought from her mother's home, it would be difficult to kill them all at once.
So after being beaten with a stick, the servants were sold out.
After Master Lin Er heard about this from his friend, he immediately took out money and redeemed the few servants he could still find. When he heard that all his daughter's companions had been sold, he couldn't help but worry about his daughter's situation.
He went to his daughter's in-laws' home and asked to see his daughter, but the other party refused to see him and only asked the servants to convey that his daughter had died of an acute illness and that their family had already buried her.
Of course he didn't believe it. His daughter was in good health when she returned to her parents' home. But no matter what he said, the other party always said, "She died of an acute illness."
The other party's mansion and ancestral tomb were guarded by people. Most importantly, the Lin family at that time did not dare to have anything to do with the word "official". He could only secretly keep this blood feud in his heart.
After finally getting a new sky above his head, he immediately sued that heartless family.
He had witnesses (the servants who were taken to his daughter's in-laws' home, sold and then bought by him) who could prove that his daughter's death was strange.
He insisted on opening the coffin for an autopsy, and the newly appointed county magistrate agreed.