"Dream of Red Mansions": How good are the living conditions of the girls in Jia's house wearing gold and silver?

Jia's girls are divided into two types and five grades.

One is the deacon girl, these people are mainly in charge of the specific work of various places. Deacon girls are further divided into deacon girls and rough envoy girls.

The deacon girl is the most respectable girl in the Jia family. She is responsible to the housekeeper's grandma Wang Xifeng and belongs to the manager of the girls.

The rough maid is responsible for the specific work in various places and belongs to the manual laborers.

Xiaohong belongs to the little boss of the deacon girl. Silly eldest sister, cicada sister are rough girls.

The other is a personal girl, strictly speaking, it belongs to the division of labor among the deacon girls. Only responsible for serving the master, regardless of other work.

Yuanyang , Xiren , Qingwen , Zijuan , they are all personal girls.

The deacon girl is a special class and belongs to the manager. The original text did not actually appear as the deacon girl. Later, Xiaohong was asked by Wang Xifeng to go there. Instead of serving with her, she became the deacon girl.

First-class girl, serving the elders among the masters. The girls of Jia Mu, Mrs Wang, and Mrs Xing are all first-class, and they pay one tael of silver every month.

Note that girls' monthly bills are pocket money, not wages. It is different from the monthly routine of the men and women outside.

The second-class girl, the second-class girl in the elder's room, and the big girl in the young master's room. A monthly fee.

There are also second-class girls among the deacon girls. For example, Xiaohong is looking at the house in Yihong Courtyard, and she is a second-class girl.

One coin is about one tael of silver, but the actual purchasing power of silver is at least 20% higher than that of copper coins.

Strictly speaking, the first-class girl and the second-class girl are not the distinction of ability, but the difference between the advanced and the backward, and the difference of professional titles.

The little girl and the rough girl are the last.

The rough girl does the most tiring physical work. Sweeping, fetching water, watering flowers, etc.

Little girls generally refer to the reservists and apprentices of the girls in each house. Five hundred dollars a month. With the increase of age, the skills will improve, and the master will be promoted to the second and first class, and even become a deacon girl in the future. Depends on which line is allocated.

Generally speaking, "girl" refers to the big girl who serves the master, such as Yuanyang, Xiren, and Qingwen. Their benefits are the highest. Specifically, let's talk about their "food, clothing, housing and transportation".

① Clothes

The girls' clothes are also silk and satin, which is in line with the identity and pomp of the owners. Like the mandarin ducks beside Jia's mother, Jia Baoyu once saw her wearing a very good outfit.

​​(Episode 24) Baoyu sat on the edge of the bed, took off his shoes and waited to put on his boots, and when he looked back, he saw that Yuanyang was wearing a water-red silk jacket, a green satin vest, and a white crepe sweater. Over there, he looked down at the needle and thread, wearing a floral collar around his neck.

Yuanyang wears this outfit, and some people believe that she is a young lady. Although it is impossible to judge the specific value of it today. But Wang Xifeng's young girls need twenty taels of silver to make cotton-padded clothes. It can be seen that the girls spend on clothing every year.

Not only that, the girls will also be rewarded by their masters.

attacked people to go home, Fengjie saw that she was wearing a few golden hairpins and beads on her head, which was gorgeous; she also saw that she was wearing a peach-red Baizi engraved silver mouse jacket, a light green plate gold embroidered cotton skirt, and a green satin squirrel jacket outside. The several good clothes that

attacked people were all given by Mrs. Wang, and they were also mink furs, worth at least dozens of gold. Wang Xifeng still felt bad after reading it, so she took out a brand new azurite engraved silk eight-group Tianma leather jacket and gave it to others. This few pieces of clothes are enough to have a hundred gold.

And attacked people with gold hairpins and pearls on their heads, either pearls or gold, and even more precious.

Qingwen's clothes and jewelry after her death are worth at least two or three hundred gold, which is two or three hundred taels of silver. There are not many

for the Jia family, and there are dozens of "Qingwen". And for the family of Grandma Liu and , two or three hundred silver is enough for a lifetime of expenses. They don't expect to see that much money in their lifetime.

② Eat

Not to mention eating, Jia's eldest girl has a separate meal for each meal. Allocate according to level.

The girls are more selective and eat about the same as their masters.

such as Jia Baoyu's cheese for Xiren, tofu skin buns for Qingwen, daily fruits, etc. Fangguan 's meal is even more breathtaking.

​​(Episode 62) Xiaoyan then opened it up. Inside was a bowl of shrimp balls and chicken skin soup, another bowl of steamed duck with wine and , a plate of pickled goose breasts with rouge, and a plate of four creamy pine rolls Crispy, and a big bowl of steamed green rice fragrant rice. Xiaoyan put it on the table, went to get a side dish and a bowl of chopsticks, and set aside a bowl of rice. Fang Guan then said: "Greasy, who eats these things."

Such a good meal, Fang Guan also dislikes greasy food, but it is crazy.

Now that the material is abundant, such a meal with all the colors and flavors is not something you can eat every day, let alone a girl.

③ Not to mention living in

, the girls all have their own rooms. However, special attention should be paid to the big girls such as Xiren, Qingwen, and Yuanyang. Most of them have to live with their masters, so that they can take care of them nearby.

In the master bedroom of Jia Baoyu's room, besides his own bed, there is also a small bed, which is usually used by people, but later changed to Qingwen's residence.

Xiren was able to secretly try Yunyuqing with Jia Baoyu, because the door was closed at night, and the lonely man and the widow were in the same room.

Qingwen later moved in instead of Xiren, but she "occupied the pit and didn't poop" and blocked the way of others, so she was rumored to let Mrs. Wang drive away.

Outside the door of Jia Baoyu's room is a biscuit closet. That day, when people came home, Qingwen slept on it and did not enter the room, so she let muyue sleep in.

In the future, Qingwen will be expelled, and she will marry out, leaving only Mu Yue, so you can know who is Mrs. Wang's eyeliner.

④ OK

Girls can't just go out. Even the second door is rarely out once. But when you go out in a limited way, you have to take a car and a sedan chair like your master, and you are never allowed to show your face and be seen.

When the host of Jia's family entertains guests, the people around him are also servants, and there will never be a girl. It was the etiquette rule at that time. The host in the

TV series entertains guests, and the girl will bring tea. Absolutely not in A Dream of Red Mansions. Not to mention the Jia family, not even the Zhen Shiyin family.

Jia's girl has such benefits, which is better than that of ordinary girls, which will naturally cause a huge burden. Later, Lin Zhixiao proposed layoffs, saying "there are too many girls", and suggested layoffs to reduce the burden on the family. Although it is to be avoided, it is also a fact.

The above opinions are organized and deduced based on the story clues of "A Dream of Red Mansions" before 80 episodes.

Text|Jun Jian Yakan Red Mansions Illustration|Qing Dynasty painter Sun Wen's "Dream of Red Mansions"

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