In feudal society, due to the social productive forces and social environment, it is difficult to gain a foothold in society by relying on the strength of individuals, and only by uniting together can we protect our own interests from being violated to the greatest extent. This is the so-called ethnic concept, the more united the family, the stronger the ethnic concept, and the greater the power of the patriarch.

As the patriarch of Xujia Village, Xu Deming has supreme authority among the villagers, even when Xu Jin's talented father was alive, he was in awe of Xu Deming.

Because of this, Xu Deming felt strange that Xu Jin, a little cub, was still so calm and calm in the face of his anger, so the crutches he raised did not hit for a while.

Xu Jin stood straight in front of Xu Deming, and said calmly: "Patriarch, my nephew dares to ask, is it against the law of the country to sell land?" ”

Before the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, land was not allowed to be bought and sold, and in the Warring States Period, the ban on land trading was loosened, and later Qin Shi Wang unified the Six Kingdoms, and even more explicitly allowed the circulation and sale of private land, and all dynasties after the beginning allowed land to be bought and sold. The Ming Dynasty was no exception, except for official land, military land, public land, Yongdian land, etc., private land was allowed to be bought and sold.

Xu Deming snorted coldly and did not answer, Xu Jin asked again: "Dare to ask the patriarch, did the nephew sell the land in violation of the clan rules?" ”

Naturally, there is no family rule in Xujia Village that does not allow the sale of land, and retrospectively, it is not the first time that Xujia villagers have sold land.

Xu Jin asked two questions in a row, which made Xu Deming silent, but when he was questioned by his juniors like this, his old face was a little unbearable, and his hands were shaking all the time, and the crutches could be smashed down at any time.

Xu Youcai's heart was secretly cool, the little cub was sharp-toothed, but unfortunately it was still a little tender, and he actually lost the face of the patriarch in public, so that he couldn't get off the stage, even if you are reasonable, today you will become unreasonable, without the permission of the patriarch, no one will dare to buy even if you want to sell land.

Xu Jin didn't seem to see that Xu Deming was already on the verge of going berserk, and continued: "The clan grandson dares to ask again, how did the field handed down by the ancestor of the Xu family come from? ”

Xu Deming was stunned for a moment, a little unable to keep up with Xu Jin's thinking, but if he couldn't answer the three questions of the juniors in a row, where would the patriarch's face go in the future, and snorted coldly: "The Xu clan in Shangrao County originated from the Jianghuai area, and the ancestors moved south to Huguang to escape the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and settled in Shangrao. The ancestral land is naturally accumulated by the hard work of the ancestors of the Xu family from generation to generation. ”

When Xu Deming said this, he poked his cane on the ground and said angrily: "As the patriarch of the Xu family, the old man will never allow an unscrupulous descendant like you to corrupt the inheritance that the ancestors put with blood and sweat!" ”

If the hat of this "loser" is fastened, Xu Jin is afraid that he will have a stain on his back for a lifetime and be poked at the spine and laughed at shame.

Xu Jin was secretly angry in his heart, and said lightly: "Patriarch, don't get excited, as you just said, the land of the Xu family has not always existed, but it was only slowly accumulated later."

The nephew lost his father at the age of ten, and the eleventh family lost his mother, and the family was in the middle of the road, lonely and helpless, and his life could not be sustained, so he had to sell his land to study.

Although the nephew is not talented, he sells his land and is determined to go out of the countryside, and when he is in high school in the coming year, he will set up a field house and expand my Xu family. ”

Xu Deming was silent for a moment, if Xu Jin mentioned that the national law and clan rules were based on reason, now he is moving people with emotion, to put it bluntly, he is fighting for sympathy, and then he expressed his determination, drew a big pie, and said that he would buy the land back when he was in high school in the future, and buy it ten times and a hundred times, glorifying his ancestors.

"Alas, yes, Brother Jin's father and mother died early, lonely and miserable, it's really pitiful!"

"Look at Brother Jin'er's house, he is still wearing broken straw shoes in winter!"

Most of the villagers watching around showed sympathy and whispered about it, and the balance of public opinion naturally began to tilt towards Xu Jin.

Xu Youcai realized that something was wrong, although the patriarch didn't speak, his attitude was obviously relaxed, and he hurriedly sneered: "Don't pretend to be pitiful and sympathize, who can blame you for being lazy?" ”

"That's it!" He hurriedly echoed: "Patriarch, don't let Lao Shi be blinded, what kind of high school glory is a lie, the ten paintings have not been skimmed, look at Guo Fuzi in the next village, he has taken the exam for a lifetime, and he hasn't even caught a show!" ”

Xu Jin sneered in his heart, he had long wanted to clean up the couple, and since he had put his face up, he was welcome.

"Fourth brother, aren't you sorry for what you said?" Xu Jin said with "grief and indignation": "Patriarch, my nephew and grandson are young and lose their (parents), the patriarch remembered that I was young and didn't know how to work, so he entrusted my family's six acres of paddy fields to the fourth brother to cultivate, so that the fourth brother could provide me with daily necessities, so that the nephew could study with peace of mind and inherit my father's will."

However, the fourth brother did not fulfill his original promise, and did not send me a grain of grain every other month, or even half a year, and he did everything possible to prevaricate when he came to urge, and his nephew had no choice but to pawn the seller to live privately.

Now the fourth brother actually said that I am lazy, in front of the patriarch, I want to ask the fourth brother if he is sorry and blushing! ”

As soon as these words came out, the surrounding area suddenly exploded, and the villagers scolded Xu Youcai and his wife for being shameless.

Xu Youcai and He Shi's faces were swollen and red, and the former said differently: "Don't listen to the old ten nonsense, this year's harvest is not good, what can I do, and I only gave the tenth brother a bucket of rice half a month ago!" ”

Xu Jin said coldly: "This year's harvest is not good, so last year and the year before last year were not good?" A month ago, I was seriously ill, and my family ran out of food, Xiaowan went to your house several times to ask for food, but was refused, and in the end, Xiaowan took the winter clothes and wedding clothes as the exchange money to buy food.

Half a month ago, I went to your house to ask for grain, and I bumped into your family secretly eating meat, but refused to give me a grain of grain, and then I said that I would take back the field next year, so I reluctantly gave me a bucket of rice! ”

The villagers were in an uproar, and some even scolded Xu Youcai for being bastards and not as good as livestock.

Patriarch Xu Deming raised his cane and smashed Xu Youcai's stick, scolding: "Bastard, you take care of your clan brother like this!" ”

Xu Youcai covered his shoulders and shouted, Xu Deming was going to fight again, He hurriedly protected her husband and shouted: "Patriarch, it's the old ten who sells land and loses, why do you beat me in charge!" ”

Xu Deming was angry and scolded: "It's all you, the pickled woman, who instigated bad men!" As he spoke, a cane struck He on his forehead, and his head immediately broke and bled out.

Xu Jin's eyelids jumped sharply, this old man was really ruthless, and he couldn't help but be afraid for a while, if Old Man Xu hit his head with a cane just now, I am afraid that the end would be the same as He's.

"Ugh!" He covered his head and screamed like a pig, Xu Deming wanted to fight again, and several elderly villagers hurriedly stopped him, while scolding Xu Youcai and his wife to leave.

Xu Youcai and his wife dared to stay, and left the yard as if they were fleeing, and when they went out, Xu Youcai even fell and broke his lips, and the two couples covered their mouths and covered their foreheads, and ran away in embarrassment.

Xu Deming also slammed his crutches in anger, in fact, he handed over Xu Jin's six acres of paddy fields to Xu Youcai for cultivation, Xu Deming was selfish, because Xu Youcai was his own grandson, so later Xu Youcai did not supply Xu Jin with food on time, he also opened one eye and closed the other, as long as Xu Jin did not complain to him, he would treat it as ignore.

It's just that now Xu Jin shook it out in front of the villagers, in order to maintain the authority and justice of the patriarch, he had to show that he had to show that he had broken the head of the He family.

Under the persuasion of everyone, Xu Deming slowly "calmed down" his anger, and glanced at Xu Jin who was watching the play next to him with some dissatisfaction.

"Brother Jin, although you are willing to sell your land, but after all, it is an ancestral property, and it is a shame to sell it to your ancestors, do you really decide to sell it?" Xu Deming asked in a deep voice.

Xu Jin nodded and said: "Patriarch Mingjian, the nephew's filial piety period has expired, and he plans to participate in next year's county examination, but he has no money at home, so he has no choice but to do so!" ”

Xu Deming nodded and said, "The old man can let the village gather some money and silver for you to use temporarily, and return it slowly in the future!" ”

Xu Jin didn't want to owe this favor, shook his head and said: "The patriarch is kind to his nephew, but it's just that the New Year is approaching, and everyone is not rich, not to mention that if the nephew is lucky enough to pass the county test, he will have to participate in the government test, the hospital test, and even the township test the year after tomorrow. ”

Xu Deming has a toothache, you kid can get it, don't you want to pass the imperial examination at one time, except for a few demonic characters in this dynasty, no one can really do it.

Although I am not optimistic about it, young people should still be encouraged if they have ambitions. Xu Deming nodded and said: "Okay, Brother Jin is ambitious, the old man agrees to you sell the land, but there is one condition, you will be admitted to Xiucai within two years, otherwise you will be expelled from my Shangrao Xu family." ”

"Ahh Xie Xiaowan's little face turned pale instantly, if it is said that being labeled as a "loser" is a stain on life, then being expelled from the family can ruin people, unless you move to a distant country to live, or don't want to have a foothold, and don't think about leaving the imperial examination, because no matter how good you are in the exam, you will not be admitted, and even the qualification for the exam will be deprived.

Therefore, Xu Deming's move is not ruthless!

"Patriarch, this seems to be a bit too much!"

"Yes, at least the term should be longer, I think five years is appropriate!" A group of clan elders pleaded one after another.

Xu Deming didn't really want to force Xu Jin to death, but this kid dared to challenge the authority of the patriarch, so he naturally had to teach him a hard lesson, as long as Xu Jin behaved a little softer, he would go down the slope and retract what he had just said.

Who knew that Xu Jin said indifferently: "My nephew will not teach the patriarch to be disappointed!" ”

Xu Deming was stunned, he really didn't expect Xu Jin to be so tough, and he regretted it a little, but he couldn't take back what he said at this time.

"Okay, good, worthy of being a good son of Wenxu (Xu's father)!" After Xu Deming finished speaking, he flicked his sleeves and left on crutches.

The villagers also shook their heads and dispersed, alas, Brother Jin is still young and vigorous!

"Xianggong, why don't you admit your mistake to the patriarch!" Xie Xiaowan said worriedly.

Xu Jin smiled and comforted: "The Buddha fights for a stick of incense, people fight for a breath, rest assured, the prime minister will take a show next year before coming back!" ”