The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Chapter 72: Rong Mansion Division
Jia Zheng soon returned to preside over the New Year affairs of Rongfu, including receiving relatives and distinguished guests.

After the Lantern Festival dinner, Jia Lian returned from Jinling, where there were many beautiful women, in great glory.

On the third day of February, Jia Rong was invited to Rongfu by Jia Lian.

Also present were the elders of the clan.

If you don’t separate the family in the first month of the year, now you can separate them in the second month.

Jia She's assets mainly consist of money.

The title is inherited by the eldest son, so there is no doubt that it can only be given to Jia Lian.

The legitimate and illegitimate sons of the Jia family are all masters and have the qualifications to divide the family property, and their daily treatment is similar.

There is a big difference between Jia Huan and Jia Baoyu because Jia Baoyu's mother is Lady Wang, and he was born with special abilities that made the old lady like him.

There is a difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, but it is not so absolute.

There is always a huge difference between Jia Yuanchun's children and Baoqin's children, and they cannot be simply distinguished by legitimate sons or illegitimate sons.

Jia Lian and Jia Cong stood in the hall and saluted Jia Rong and others who were sitting down.

Wang Xifeng and other female members of the family were also standing here. There were many occasions when they did not pay attention to the differences between men and women. For example, if the daughter-in-law was not allowed to witness the division of the family, there would definitely be unpleasantness in the future.

Mrs. Xing and Mrs. Wang also sat aside and watched. Dividing the family was a big deal and it also concerned the future of the family.

Jia She's silver has been found. From the confessions of several servants and concubines, a total of 100,000 silver coins were added up.

Now the main thing is to divide the 100,000 silver coins.

Jia Rong is mainly a witness, serving as a witness as the patriarch, while Jia Zheng is the elder responsible for dividing the family property.

"I checked the accounts a while ago. The Zhou family borrowed 30,000 silver coins from your father to build the garden. Your father also borrowed a lot of silver from others. This is the IOU."

Jia Zheng showed Jia Lian and Jia Cong the loan notes, IOUs, and pawn tickets left by Jia She.

Not only property is inherited, but debts are also inherited.

The two brothers stepped forward respectfully and checked one by one according to the rules.

"I've checked it all. There's no problem. Please make the decision, Master Zheng." Jia Lian bowed respectfully to Jia Zheng.

No amount of respect is excessive at this time.

Jia Cong was the same, equally polite and considerate.

Some things can be divided equally, but some cannot. As a concubine's son, it is impossible for him to take away half of Jia She's assets directly, not even one-fifth of them.

If it was divided equally, it would have been lost by generations of the Jia family.

Jia She and Jia Zheng had separated long ago. What Jia She inherited was the title, part of the property, the ancestral hall sacrificial land, and various gold and silver objects used for sacrifices. These were all exclusive items kept by the eldest son's family and would not be divided equally.

Considering the need to support the elders and entertain guests, the eldest son's family will take more.

Each family's mother's dowry, accumulated land, houses, silver, shops and houses belong to each family and are not included in the distribution.

Apart from these, there is not much else to share.

It mainly consisted of Jia She's private property and money, some antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and cash.

It is not easy to get land in the capital. The Jia family has been selling land instead of buying land in recent years, so Jia Cong could not get any means of production, but mainly some equipment and cash.

After everything was distributed, Jia Cong received about four or five thousand taels of silver, as well as some furniture and a house outside owned by Jia She.

This was already a huge sum of money for an ordinary illegitimate son, and Jia Cong was very satisfied.

Jia Zheng asked, "Do you agree to divide the family this way?"

The two brothers said in unison: "Agree."

"In that case, let's sign the division document." Jia Zheng took the paper handed to him by the servant, put it on the table and asked the two to come over to sign.

There is a separation agreement when dividing a family, and after it is signed, all members of the family will serve as witnesses together.

"Always abide by it and do not cause any disputes." "Everyone is willing and cannot regret it."

"Each of us should stick to our own business and not argue."

In order to avoid disputes among the brothers after the division of the family, and also for the sake of the Jia family's reputation, both parties need to repeatedly emphasize that the division agreement must not be violated.

There is an obvious difference between Jia Lian and Jia Zong. Not only is the dowry left by his mother large, but the dowry brought by his wife is also large. He also holds an official title. It seems that they are like heaven and earth.

However, when it came to dividing the property, the two of them did achieve relative fairness.

The Jia family has eight branches in the capital, and they all came this way. This is the rule, and there is nothing you can do if you don’t accept it.

Even within the emperor's family, there was no talk of dividing the emperor's territory equally.

The distribution of the Jia family was actually not much different from that of the emperor's family. The heir inherited the vast majority, and a portion was given to the other brothers.

If Jia Cong's maternal family was not promising, or if Jia She did not have any private money, the mansion would have to give Jia Cong more.

After the family split up, where Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian lived also became a problem.

The imperially built Rongguo Mansion is a noble property, an asset bestowed by the emperor without any distribution, and is currently inherited by Jia Zheng.

Jia She only inherited the title but not the property, so in theory the Rongguo Mansion was still the asset of Jia Mu and Jia Zheng. Jia Zheng and his mother took Jia She's feelings into consideration and invited Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian to manage the household.

The only thing Jia Lian could inherit was what Jia She inherited, and he could not get what his father could not get.

Jia Lan had no right of inheritance, just like a title, it was passed down to his son and not to his grandson, because if it was passed down to his grandson, it would mean one more generation.

Jia Rong looked at the old lady and asked, "How are we going to live after the family division? How are we going to clean up Master She's yard?"

Jia She has his own courtyard, which is separated from the imperially built Rongguo Mansion by a wall, so he has to take a detour to enter through the main gate.

Grandmother Jia had been thinking about this matter for a long time, and when she was about to say it, she still pondered for a few seconds.

"Just stay here for now."

The old lady’s meaning was very clear. It was still better for Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian to help manage the Rongguo Mansion.

Jia Zheng also had many feelings about the division of the family property. After all, it was the estate he inherited from his brother. Now that death is the greatest thing, his own family was indeed not suitable for being a manager.

"Just the same as before." Jia Zheng also agreed with the old lady and made the decision on this matter.

After the official separation, although Jia Lian still lived in the original place, he also sent people to clean up Jia She's yard and prepare for his own residence.

The original concubines were all sent away because the Jia family wanted to save face, otherwise they would just sell them the same way they were bought.

Jia Rong was not interested in how free and easy Jia Lian was. He was busy with the exam and read books behind closed doors.

The February imperial examination was soon held in Beijing, and Jia Rong went to take the exam.

The results will be out in March.

First place, Huiyuan!

He took part in the palace examination again in early April. He was supposed to win the top spot, but he was reported by a jealous guy for marrying a girl of the same clan and surname. Fortunately, the emperor showed mercy and gave him the third place.

Let’s not worry about the matter of marriage between people with the same surname. The emperor is more concerned about Jia Rong’s talent now.

It turns out that the question in the emperor's exam was because he felt he was quite kind, so why were there always villains and assassins doing evil in the capital?
Jia Rong's answer is that no matter what you think, it is useless, and it will only be true if everyone can see it.

Because Jia Rong was brave enough to tell the truth, the emperor regarded him as a loyal minister and sent him to the Hanlin Academy to edit books and draft imperial edicts.

After returning home from the court, Jia Zheng, Jia Lian and others came to congratulate him.

Jia Lian shouted with a smile: "Congratulations to the third place winner! You have brought honor to our family!"

Jia Rong was in great glory at this time, and the house was full of guests. He was busy until very late before he saw them off and rested.

The ones responsible for serving tonight are naturally You Erjie and You Sanjie. Jia Rong, who is in a good mood, lets these two little sluts get the full benefit of the literary talent of the third place in the imperial examination.

(End of this chapter)