The Australian Revolution of 1828

Chapter 93 The King of Xia's Kindness (Part Two)

Tang Boling worked quickly, putting the completed letter into an envelope and saying, "Father, the letter to my brother is finished. I'll go to the post office and send it right away!"

The postal service of Xia Kingdom was temporarily managed by the Civil Affairs Bureau, and no separate postal ministry was established.

Local mail was generally handled and delivered by a separate post office. For places outside the local area, such as Xunyang County, Zhaoyang County, and trading posts, there were immigrant ships or trading ships responsible for delivery.

However, due to the docking and rest of trade ships and immigrant ships, the delivery of letters took a long time, at least 25 days to reach Lanfang.

The cycle is too long; it takes almost two months for them to communicate once.

Tang Boqian's wife also missed her husband, so she handed Tang Boling another letter she had just written, saying, "Boling, I have another one here. Put it in your envelope!"

Tang Boling took the letter, put it in an envelope, resealed it, and then said, "Father, sister-in-law, the New Year is almost here, let's go out and get haircuts!"

Since settling in Hanyang at the end of November last year, the family has been living here for almost three months. Tang Boling and his wife are both relatively young and quickly accepted the new system in Hanyang, and they are not opposed to things like getting their hair cut.

Tang Yichen, on the other hand, was getting old and had always wanted to return to Jiaying Prefecture in Guangdong, but he had many concerns and was quite reluctant to do so.

Upon hearing Tang Boling mention the haircut again, he glanced back at the gifts piled on the coffee table, then touched the braid behind his head. Finally, he came to his senses and said, "Now that we are citizens of Xia, it is indeed time to cut this braid."

"Wait for me a moment, I'll go change my clothes right away."

When Tang Yichen returned to the living room, he had changed into modern Xia Dynasty clothing. With a braid, he looked very much of the era.

Seeing his father relent and no longer dragging a pig's tail, Tang Boling smiled happily and said, "Dad, you really look much younger in this outfit!"

"If my older brother saw this, he would be very pleased!"

The old man, who was so conservative, made a change, which was tantamount to acknowledging Tang Boqian's choice. This was undoubtedly an affirmation of Tang Boqian and an endorsement of the Xia Kingdom.

With no more conflicts, the family naturally lived in harmony.

At Tang Boling's urging, the family of six—three adults and three children—went to a nearby barbershop. The barbershop occupied an area of ​​about 200 square meters and was divided into men's and women's sections.

Guided by the shop assistant, Tang Yichen took his two grandsons to the men's section, while Tang Boling and his wife took a girl to the women's section.

While the Tang family was getting their hair cut, patrol officer Chen Zhangyi and his wife Lu Xiulian were shopping in the inner city's commercial district, preparing for the upcoming Lunar New Year.

While I was shopping, I ran into Lao Wei, who was also preparing for the New Year.

Old Wei, a miner during the gold mine era, was named Wei Lusheng. He was born on August 3, 1802, and was 27 years old, five years younger than Chen Zhangyi.

Upon encountering the older brother on the street, the talkative Old Wei inevitably became a chatterbox again. Looking at the pregnant Lu Xiulian, he asked, "Brother, how many months pregnant is your wife?"

Soon they would have a legitimate son or daughter, and Chen Zhangyi was overjoyed. A smile unconsciously spread across his face as he said, "Xiulian is only three months pregnant. We just don't know if it's a boy or a girl!"

"By the way, is there still no sign of your wife?"

When it comes to this, Old Wei has endless things to say. He reached out and touched his wife's belly, who was from Xunyang, and said, "Brother, she's a month and a half younger than your wife, and she's not showing yet."

"You know what, that 'danger period' thing really works."

Wei Lusheng had only been married for a little over three months, and his wife became pregnant just a month and a half later. It would be hard to believe that it wasn't due to the "danger period."

Upon learning that his sworn brother's wife was also pregnant, Chen Zhangyi was genuinely overjoyed and pulled Wei Lusheng aside, saying, "Brother, we must congratulate you."

"How about this? Since we both have time today and aren't at work, let's have a good get-together at home."

Wei Lusheng was more than happy to agree, and didn't even plan to buy any New Year's goods. He said, "Brother, come to my house today. We can eat hotpot and chat, and maybe even arrange a marriage between our children. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

After getting married, Wei Lusheng wanted a stable life, so he borrowed 30 silver dollars from Chen Zhangyi, added 50 silver dollars himself, and took out a loan of 90 silver dollars from the bank to buy a 300-square-meter house in the inner city.

The house is still a traditional courtyard house, but it's a single-courtyard house, not as grand as the Tang family's 2000-square-meter three-courtyard house.

Before they knew it, the two families had arrived at Wei Lusheng's house.

The 300-square-meter house is the same size as Chen Zhangyi's house, with a 30-square-meter plot of farmland in the middle, where flowers can be planted or vegetables can be grown, depending entirely on the owner's preference.

The farmland is surrounded by five houses, a warehouse for storing grain and other supplies, and a kitchen.

One of the apartments, with an area of ​​approximately 100 square meters, serves as both Wei Lusheng's master bedroom and a living room for receiving guests, making it a versatile space.

Wei Lusheng pointed to the wooden sofa in the main seat of the living room and said, "Brother, sister-in-law, please take a seat."

"I am able to own my own house entirely thanks to my elder brother's great help."

Chen Zhangyi didn't stand on ceremony. He helped his pregnant wife to sit in the main seat before saying, "Brother, you sit down too. It's rare that I'm off work today, so we should have a good chat."

"Once I go back to work the day after tomorrow, I probably won't have time!"

Wei Lusheng was puzzled. While pouring tea for the two of them, he said, "Brother, this shouldn't be the case. Our shipyard has already been notified that we will have a seven-day holiday during the Spring Festival."

"I was thinking of visiting your house on the second day of the Lunar New Year to wish you a Happy New Year, but don't try to fool me!"

There is indeed such a statement regarding the Spring Festival holiday.

It wasn't that Chen Zhangyi was trying to fool people or was unwilling to receive them; it was simply a matter of duty for the patrol officers.

With the Spring Festival just around the corner, it's inevitable that there will be incidents of people getting drunk and causing trouble, committing criminal offenses, or engaging in serious fights.

In order to ensure stability within the country and to ensure a good Spring Festival, Han Qingyun specifically instructed the police department to strengthen prevention and control measures, ensure timely dispatch of police officers, and prevent any serious incidents from occurring.

At the same time, in order to guard against a sudden war, the army was required to make all preparations, hoping that the first Spring Festival after the establishment of Xia Kingdom would be held in a proper and orderly manner, so that overseas Chinese would feel like they were coming home.

As long as the Chinese people are loyal to the Xia Kingdom, the Xia Kingdom will remain invincible.

Having learned the reason, Wei Lusheng felt a deep sympathy and said with great emotion, "Brother, our Emperor is truly a rare and wise ruler."

"May everything go smoothly and nothing happen to you during your duty."

Having experienced much in Hanyang over the years, Chen Zhangyi deeply felt and agreed with this statement, saying, "That's absolutely right!"

"If this happened in the Qing Dynasty, which emperor would have thought of us poor people?"

"Under His Majesty's diligent governance, we not only made money from the mines, but also bought a house in Hanyang and started a family. By the middle of the year, a child will be born."

"Before coming to Hanyang, I never dared to imagine this!"

"By the way, the institute also gave us Spring Festival gifts, saying that His Majesty specially approved them."

Speaking of this, Wei Lusheng was also very excited, saying, "Our shipyard also has gifts, said to be from His Majesty, there are 5..."

Pisong River cotton cloth, a can of tea, and five boxes of chocolates.

The value of gifts at the grassroots level was lower: a bolt of Songjiang cotton cloth cost about 1 silver dollar, a can of tea cost about 1 silver dollar, and a box of chocolates cost about 1 silver dollar.

The three gifts were worth a total of about 11 silver dollars, which was not even comparable to the value of a bolt of brocade from the Tang family.

However, the fact that Han Qingyun remembered the grassroots officials and approved the Spring Festival gifts was a great honor. Chen Zhangyi and Wei Lusheng were both flattered and overwhelmed.

In particular, Chen Zhangyi and Wei Lusheng, who are both from the grassroots level and are not officials, received unexpected Spring Festival gifts.

Chen Zhangyi remarked with deep emotion, "I received the same gift as you."

"Brother, His Majesty is truly a rare and wise ruler. We must be dutiful and not disappoint him!"

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