There is an idiom in China called :"More children and more blessings", and the older generation thinks that the blessings of more children in the family will follow, so they require the women in the family to keep giving birth to children. If this is put in the present, it will definitely be rejected by women, they want to be born, they do not want to be born, they will not be born, and they will never become a "fertility machine" for others. However, in the last century, when women's minds were not open enough, a beautiful woman in Yangzhou gave birth to 14 children in 16 years for the prosperity of her family, and for 16 years, she was pregnant almost every day, and died in the delivery room before enjoying a relaxed day.
During the Republic of China, Anhui had four major families: Li Hongzhang, Duan Qirui, Zhang Shusheng, Gong Zhenzhou, and today's male protagonist Zhang Jimu is from the Zhang family of these four major families. Zhang Shusheng, the head of the Zhang family, was a heavy minister of Li Hongzhang, who led the Huai army to successfully suppress the Taiping Army many times in 1862, and his official position rose step by step with his merits, and he served as an inspector and governor.
In 1889, Zhang Jimu was born in the Zhang family, is the son of Zhang Shusheng's five sons, because his uncle has no children, he was born shortly after he passed on to the uncle as a stepson, although he is not the uncle's biological flesh, but the uncle loves him very much, hoping that he can grow up healthy and healthy.
In 1906, Zhang Jimu was already 17 years old, almost to the age of marriage, the family had long given him a good look at a woman, their family is an official, find a woman in business to be a wife is the best, they found Lu Ying, the daughter of the Yangzhou salt merchant. The marriage of the combination of official and business shocked the local area, and everyone wanted to see what the bride and groom looked like, so they went out of the house and lined up in a long line to see the kissing line.
Lu Ying's mother's family in order not to let the Zhang family look down on her gave a rich dowry, these dowries were transported by ship to Hefei, to the door of the Zhang family's house, the dowry from his house ten streets, full of gold and silver jewelry, even the broom is hung on the silver chain, the people around the lively people are stunned, never seen so much treasure in a lifetime.
Lu Ying married into the Zhang family under the eyes of everyone, Zhang Jimu still saw Lu Ying's appearance on the day of marriage, no matter whether Lu Ying looked ugly or beautiful, he was too late to quit the marriage, fortunately, Lu Ying belonged to the latter, looking very symbolic, Zhang Jimu saw that the big stone in her heart at first sight finally fell.
Zhang Jimu and Lu Ying's relationship after marriage is very good, and soon after marriage, they have three children in a row, and it is reasonable to say that the Zhang family should be very happy to have three children, but their family is sad, because these three children are girls. From Zhang Jimu's life, it can be seen that their family is very patriarchal, preferring to inherit the family business with a son rather than a daughter inheriting, Lu Ying is a grandmother, she must have a son to inherit the family business, if she can't give birth, no matter how rich her mother's family is, she will be looked down upon.
Lu Ying herself is also a woman of feudal tradition, can not give birth to a son is also very anxious, just and Zhang Jimu has been working hard to have a son, born to the sixth finally gave birth to a son, Lu Ying was relieved, and later gave birth to several children, a total of 14 children in 16 years, 10 survived, 6 men and 4 women.
Lu Ying struggled to give birth to a son, but in the end her daughter's reputation was even greater than her son, her four daughters were the famous "Zhang Sisters" in Anhui, and all four daughters grew into talented women, especially the third daughter Zhang Zhaohe, a famous writer in China, and also the wife of Shen Congwen, Ye Shengtao once commented on the four sisters of the Zhang family: "For example, the four talented daughters of the Zhang family in the lane, whoever marries them will be happy for a lifetime." ”
As the children grew up, Zhang Jimu found that the idea of preferring sons to daughters in Anhui was too heavy, which was not conducive to the growth of his daughter, so he moved to Suzhou with his family and founded Leyi Girls' High School at his own expense to let girls who could not afford to study study. Lu Ying is very supportive of Zhang Jimu to let girls read, she read books when she was a child, knows the importance of reading, usually at home with her daughter and the next person to read, in order not to let them become nerds who only know how to read, but also teach them Kunqu District, the four sisters of the Zhang family under the influence of their mother to understand both literature and Kunqu.
In 1922, Lu Ying toothache unbearable to run to extract teeth, who knew that infected with scurvy, blood has been non-stop, the medical technology at that time was limited, doctors failed to find out the cause, only a few days later Lu Ying died, his eldest daughter was only 15 years old when he died, and he did not have time to watch the daughters start a family and die first. Although the four sisters of the Zhang family have the cultivation of Zhang Jimu, but there is also Lu Ying's painstaking efforts behind it, if she does not hand over the good habit of reading to her daughters, the four sisters of the Zhang family may not become talented women, which shows that she has married a wife for three generations.