early morning.

The bell of the Qingdao Port Clock Tower rang at six o'clock in the morning.

The sky was slightly bright and Zhu Cian got up.

"Isn't it the end of the day today? Why did you get up so early? Get some more sleep." Mrs. Wang said softly while checking on her youngest son.

"You can go to sleep. Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. I will go to the ancestral hall to worship and offer incense."

"It's the first day of the Lunar New Year again, and I can't even count the days. Then you invite the three brothers to go together. Don't forget to pay homage to your ancestors on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year." Wang said quickly.

Zhu Ci got up and went to the east chamber to wake up the eldest brother, Shen, the second son, Jing, the third son and Lun. The four of them squatted in the courtyard to fetch water, brush their teeth and wash their faces.

The housekeeper over there came over and asked, "Master, I'm going to the ancestral hall today. What should I prepare? Is there anything special to tell you?"

"The sacrificial basket is ready, a pot of wine, a chicken, a fish, a large piece of pork, a bowl of rice, four steamed buns, and a handful of incense."

"These are all ready. The chicken, fish, meat and rice are all prepared early in the morning."

"Well, prepare the carriage and prepare the clothes for the young masters. Remember to prepare the hats and belts. Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. After the sacrifices at the ancestral hall, we have to attend the clan meeting."

"I understand, sir." The steward wrote down and then left.

After the four men had washed up and had breakfast, they immediately changed their clothes and went out. Zhu Cian also specially checked the red belts around their waists for all three sons and tightened them a little tighter.

Outside the door, the housekeeper and the coachman were waiting at the door, and the coachman had also prepared the carriage.

"Go to Hengxing Bank first, then go to Longsheng Hotel."

The driver shook the reins, and the horse started to trot.

Sitting in the four-wheel carriage, through the curtains, you can see that on the golden autumn morning in October, Qingdao Port is already bustling with activity.

The ships were loading and unloading, and the laborers started working hard early.

All the shops on the pier are open for business, and those doing small business and setting up stalls are even more energetic and shouting.

Looking at them, Zhu Cian looked at the satin clothes on his body and the carriage. He felt very complicated. Looking at the three sons who were playing and having fun, he was extremely proud and even more grateful for the saint's kindness.

Qingdao is an emerging port city. Although the emperor has moved back to the old capital of Beijing, Dengzhou still retains its status as the capital of Tokyo, which is equivalent to Nanjing Yingtian. Qingdao Port is an excellent northern ice-free port, and there are also

A Jiaolai Canal, after the capital was moved to Beijing, the Jiaolai Canal became more prosperous than before.

Although maritime transportation is developed, Qingdao Port reaches Laizhou directly through the canal, but it does not need to go around the Shandong Peninsula, which stimulates Qingdao's further improvement.

Not only is the transportation of Qingdao Port very busy, but also the Jiaolai Canal is very busy. In addition, some emerging industries such as shipbuilding here are also very good, the population has increased greatly, and industry and commerce are prosperous.

Zhu Cian also fully enjoyed these dividends.

He was a poor side branch of Defan. In the previous generations, he had no name, no title, no food, and almost starved to death. Later, Emperor Shaotian's clan reforms not only rescued but also liberated them. He settled in Qingdao and was captured by the clan's mansion.

Arranged to work as a clerk at Hengxing Bank.

This property, a partnership between the Royal Young Master and the Clan Mansion, has been doing very well in business in recent years. Under the leadership of the old shopkeeper Zhu Linkun, the business is booming. Under the personal guidance of the old shopkeeper, he

Progress has also been rapid, and within a few years, I have become the third shopkeeper from a clerk.

I have started to receive good stock dividends early on. Because the business is good and the profits are high, I don’t need to pay dividends every four years. I pay half of it first every year.

As the third shopkeeper of Hengxing Hao, and being in a financial industry with the title of "emperor" like a bank, the income is not generally high.

In just a few years, he bought land and built a large house. He even bought several more pieces of land next to the original allocated land for a farm in the countryside. Now the village has one hundred acres of land.

The family even hired a servant driver and a four-wheeled carriage.

The big house cost more than a hundred silver dollars to buy the land, construction, furniture decoration, etc., and his four-wheeled carriage, plus the fodder money, driver's wages, etc., cost at least thirty dollars a year.

Blocked.

He was once so hungry that his newborn children were forced to exchange for food.

"Master, the bank has arrived."

The coachman stopped the carriage steadily and reminded him loudly.

Zhu Cian recovered his thoughts, tidied his clothes, and got off the carriage with his three sons.

"Uncle, good morning."

The old shopkeeper Zhu Linkun is from the Tang Dynasty lineage, and he is his great-uncle in terms of seniority. Thanks to his guidance and support in the past few years, the old shopkeeper was dancing Tai Chi sword in the courtyard. When he saw him coming, he smiled and said, "You are here too."

Morning, some of the boys are awake."

Zhu Ci'an asked his son to call him Uncle Zeng.

"Let's go," Zhu Linkun went back to change clothes. Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. For the children of the royal family, the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year are important days. They don't worship gods or Bodhisattvas, but they must go to worship their ancestors, and they must come together.

Go to Beijing to pay homage to the Emperor.

No matter how much business you do or how busy you are, you must get up early and go to the ancestral hall respectfully.

Nowadays, there are Zhu family ancestral halls all over the Ming Dynasty. Although the status of the ancestral hall is far inferior to that of the Emperor's Ancestral Temple, the vassal temple, and the clan's family temple, for these royal children who have passed the fifth level of service, although they are not qualified to build temples, the emperor

However, he also specially ordered all the distant branches of the royal family to build ancestral halls in many places, and the descendants of the Zhu family could worship and worship. Compared with the emperor's Taimiao, the ancestral ancestral temple worshiped in five temples, and the ancestral vassal Duke Hou Bozinan worshiped in four temples and three temples.

The Zhu family ancestral halls in various places can directly worship Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.

This sacrifice is only allowed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple of the Emperor. Each ancestral temple and family temple can only offer sacrifices to its own ancestors.

Li, the branches are not sacrificed.

For example, Zhu Yihai used to be from the line of King Lu, the son of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, so there was an ancestral temple in King Lu's palace, but Zhu Yuanzhang could not be worshiped. Zhu Tan could only be worshiped with Zhu Tan as his ancestor, and the first person to be named began to worship.

However, the Lu vassal county and prince's palace cannot offer sacrifices to King Zhu Tan of Lu. He has to be the ancestor from the first county prince.

Under the principle that the eldest son set up a temple and the branch sons worshiped, the emperor's ancestral temple, the ancestral prince's ancestral temple and the general's family temple formed a clan and ancestral temple system that did not interfere with each other and was interlocked.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! However, after Zhu Yihai carried out the great reform of the Zong clan, the Zong clan of the emperor's fifth service was changed to be called the royal family, or the royal family. It was not considered a clan, and could not be ennobled or awarded.

Naturally, they no longer have the qualifications to build temples.

As for those in the fifth server, because the title is not hereditary, they build temples based on their official rank, whether it is an ancestral temple or a family temple. Those with titles above the county king can establish ancestral temples, and those with titles below the county king can establish family temples.

The ancestral temple is dedicated to five temples, the ancestral temple is dedicated to four temples, and the family temple is dedicated to three temples.

Worshiping heaven and ancestors is a very important matter for the Chinese nation. It is also very important who can offer sacrifices and who cannot. This is also the distinction between clan and descendants.

A family is divided one by one. Only the eldest son can build a temple, and the branch sons can only worship.

Zhu Cian and others used to be affiliated members of various vassal clans, but now they are all members of the royal family, so they now directly offer sacrifices to the Zhu clan in various places, directly offering sacrifices to the great ancestor Zhu Yuanzu. If Zhu Cian passes away in the future, he will

His son Zhu Heshen can have his memorial tablets put in. There is no requirement to only put them in five temples, and there is no need to enter one and withdraw one from the other.

The old man changed his clothes and put on a red belt.

This is the symbol of the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. The red belt means that the emperor's relatives outside the five clothes are all descendants of Taizu. Those within the five clothes are called royal clans, and they wear yellow belts to show distinction.

The two carriages first went to the Longsheng Hotel. This was the restaurant of Chu Fan Zhu Fuji. In the early years, he set up a stall to fry oysters at the pier. With his hard work, loyalty, good ingredients and freshness, he won a good reputation. Later,

Zhu Cian and Zhu Linkun persuaded him to open a store. After some consideration, he accepted the suggestion and invited two tribesmen to become shareholders. The restaurant opened and business was indeed very good.

There are many royal families in Qingdao, and they are now scattered in different walks of life, but they are all very united, and those who can help will definitely support them.

When the carriage arrived at the gate of Longsheng, Zhu Fuji had already changed into formal clothes and was waiting for them with his son.

"I've prepared hot fried oysters for you, eat them quickly."

After a few simple greetings, everyone got in the car. Zhu Cian and his children ate together. It was fragrant, crispy and fresh. After several years, I never get tired of eating this.

The business of the Longshenghao Hotel has been very good in recent years, and it has opened branches in Laizhou and Fengtian. Now it can bring a lot of dividends to Zhu Cian every year.

In the south of Qingdao City, there is the Qingdao Zhu Family Ancestral Hall, where all descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang can come to worship. This ancestral hall was built in a very grand manner. The emperor's inner treasury and the clan's office all donated money, and clan associations from all over the country also donated money.

Not to mention the local red belts, regardless of whether they have money or not, they will donate whatever they can. Whether they donate a thousand yuan or a hundred cents, they are all engraved on the big monument at the completion of the ancestral hall.

When their carriage arrived, there were already many carriages parked in the broad square in front of the ancestral hall. There were also many horses, donkeys, and mules tied to the horse posts on the other side. The square was full of people.

Everyone put on red and black dresses, very solemn, with red belts tied around their waists. Almost all the male men of the Zhu family nearby came.

Everyone spontaneously lined up while saying hello.

At seven o'clock, the gate of the ancestral hall opened. There is a clan association responsible for daily management and maintenance. Everyone filed in carrying their own sacrifice baskets and offerings.

Offer incense and offer sacrifices.

The adults bowed and the children kowtowed.

The whole ceremony is solemn and solemn. No matter what status you usually have, here you are all family members.

After the sacrifice, Zhu Cian came forward with his three sons to donate.

"Zhu Ci'an has ten silver coins, Zhu Heshen, Zhu Hejing, Zhu Helun, and Zhu Hegang who haven't come yet, two coins each."

The person responsible for keeping accounts is a director of the Clan Association and also the accountant. He is also very familiar with him. The third shopkeeper of Hengxing is also a decent person with status in Qingdao. They say that he earns at least several thousand yuan a year. More importantly,

It is Hengxing Bank, one of the largest banks in Qingdao, and it is owned by an imperial brand. Many people in business rely on it, and the personal connections of the third shopkeeper are naturally quite high.

"My uncle is so generous. He donates 18 yuan on the first and fifteenth day of every month, and even more on the Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Winter Solstice, New Year, etc."

Zhu Cian smiled and said, "We, the Zhu family, are all members of the royal family with red belts. We suffered a lot in the early years. Now Saint Hong'en has given us this good policy. I also rely on Saint Hong'en to live a good life. Naturally,

Don’t forget other clan members.”

The account was registered, and the custodian on the side collected the money, and they also gave him a receipt as a voucher.
To be continued...