Aristocratic family's career in the Red Chamber

Since the decline of the aristocratic family, the imperial power has been increasingly concentrated, the emperor's power has continued to expand, and the foundation of the imperial examination system has become more and more stable.Since the children of poor families entered the field of power, the teaching of the difference between monarchs and ministers made them respect the majesty of the emperor, and naturally they could be used by the superiors.At the same time, there are natural contradictions between the poor family and the rich and noble family, and it is a good balance between the two forces.As time goes on, even the rich and honorable have the protection of their ancestors and can donate official positions. On the surface, they don't care much about the imperial examinations, but in private, they really hope that some children in their families can occupy the ranks in the imperial examinations and rank among the top three.

Without him, the style of writing prevails, and most of the power in the court is in the hands of officials who have graduated from the imperial examination. These people are linked into factions, and those who are not from the imperial examination are not allowed to enter.

Jia Daishan dreamed that his second child would pass the imperial examination.

He thought clearly, Jia Zheng was the second son, with Jia She in front of him, the title of Rongguo Mansion had nothing to do with him.The ancestral property is distributed according to the current age, and most of it belongs to Jia Amnesty. Besides the immovable ancestral property and Fukuda, there is not much Jia Zheng can get in his hands.Under such circumstances, if Jia Zheng wants to live well, the imperial examination is the best way.At that time, he will be active again and find a good position for Jia Zheng. Maybe in the future he will be able to help Jia She, the incompetent eldest son. Starting from the Rongguo Mansion, Jia Zheng was wronged in vain because of the order of seniority, so he valued him more and more.There is nothing wrong with this, people's hearts are already biased to the left, who in the world dare to say that there is no time for them to be biased?It's just that Jia Daishan treated Jia Zheng too well, and ignored Jia She too much. The two brothers were different, but their treatment was completely different from that of other families. Full of unwillingness, causing restlessness in the house.

Jia Zheng grew up under Jia Mu's teaching and following Jia Daishan's preferences since he was a child. Before he could remember, Jia Mu coaxed him to read with a book. When he grew up, he really worked hard on reading. Even The deceased Duke Rong was also very happy with him.Jia Daishan has high expectations for him, and when he is 17 years old, he can't wait to let him try his skills.Unfortunately, missed.

Jia Dai's kind heart felt lost, but it only passed by.After all, housekeeping is still young, and it is naturally worse than those who have been immersed in books for decades. It is the first scientific examination, and nervousness is inevitable, so Jia Daishan invited Mr. Jiazheng to concentrate on studying at home for another three years. A sum of money was arranged for him, which was specially used for him to talk about literature and affairs with literati outside.When the three-year imperial examination came again, Jia Daishan was full of expectations and sent Jia Zheng to the Gongyuan. After the exam, he asked the Manchu government not to disturb Jia Zheng's rest.On the day when the announcement was made, the servants prepared the firecrackers. Jia Daishan waited in the mansion for a whole day, but there was not even a sign of the person who announced the good news.Another miss.

At that time, Jia Zheng's face was flushed, and he knelt in the main hall, apologizing that he had let them down. Seeing his disheartened appearance, Jia Daishan was worried that he would be depressed, so he hurriedly comforted him. He is still young now, and there will be opportunities in the future. He told everyone in the mansion not to talk about Jia Zheng's imperial examination, and dare to gossip about it. Once found out, the whole family sold it, making everyone silent, and Jia She was so angry that his eyes were red.

Another three years passed, and the imperial examination came again. Jia Daishan's expectations for Jia Zheng were not lower than before, but even higher.Even Ruo Jia Zhu, a child, congratulated Jia Zheng in advance for the imperial examination.If Jia Zheng loses his name to Sun Shan again this time, the fun will be great!

Chen's mother gave Jia Hu a gossip about Jia Zheng's years ago, and she had some hopes that Jia Zheng would fail the ranking: "Now that the spring is approaching, in the eyes of the master and wife, only the second master is left. Relationships, preparing utensils, and even the wife who eats and uses the second master every day pays attention to them one by one. I am afraid that the second master will spoil the food at this critical moment and delay the opportunity... My brother goes to school every day, so tired. , and I didn’t see the master and wife asking.”

Jia Hu didn't care, recalling what Mother Chen had just said, she said with a smile: "Mom, you also said that the second uncle failed the ranking twice, and it's only three things. The master thinks so much about the second uncle, so don't worry about everything." He came first? How long have I been studying? I'm used to going back and forth between the two houses, so there's no need to find the old lady and watch them all the time."

Mother Chen disagreed with this: "Why don't you use it? My brother is only so old, so he should take care of it even if he is nervous. Aren't we grandpas and grandmas just caring about us every day?" Attitude, "Brother is just too magnanimous, and he doesn't take everything to heart, how can this be done. How much is the difference between the old man and his wife's treatment of brother and Zhuge? Anyway, brother also knows." The assistant student was afraid that Jia Hu would be deceived by Jia Daishan and Jiamu.

Jia Hu knew that she had good intentions, so he didn't refute her. He just smiled and said, "Mom thinks I'm a fool? Just keep your heart in your stomach."

Mother Chen thought about it, it wasn't true, who is her brother Hu, who is praised by everyone for his early wisdom at a young age, she knows everything, how can my brother not know.However, I still couldn't help reminding a few words: "It is a good thing to be magnanimous, but if you are too magnanimous, if you don't know it, you will think it is easy to bully. gone."

Jia Hu sounded very reasonable. Seeing that Chen's mother was worried about him, she sat up straight and accepted her words seriously and humbly, expressing that she would definitely remember her words.

Mother Chen was satisfied now, she turned her head and smiled and talked about Jia Zheng again, with a trace of disdain in her voice—the first house, especially the members of the Zhang family, didn't have a good opinion of the second house: "Let me tell you, Mrs. and Mrs. It’s very unnecessary to be like this, and if the second master comes back...hehe, then I don’t know how it will end.” Looking at Jia Hu’s confused face, he sneered, “I don’t know when I’m young, it’s the same when the second master took the imperial examination last time Later, when the second master landed to plead guilty to the master, he said that he cared too much about the imperial examination at the beginning, but he couldn’t remember it during the exam. It's really not good, the master believed it right away, and blamed himself for his fault." Cursing his lips, "It's not the first time for the second master to enter the examination room, and he wasn't nervous back then, but he became nervous the second time."

Hui Zhi listened with gusto, and laughed and said, "Then if the second master loses this time, isn't it the fault of the master and wife again?!"

Mother Chen crossed her eyes: "What are you talking about, why did the second master not win? You dare to say such nonsense, how can you let people listen to it? You don't have to make my brother tired" looked up Around, another white look at Huizhi.Although there are only a few of Zhang's confidantes and close friends of Jia Hu standing in the room now, they can still be regarded as trustworthy people, but who knows if they are used to talking here, and they will blurt it out in the future.Some words, just know it well, don't be so naked, what good can it do if you get caught?

Huizhi quickly slapped her mouth, not too hard, she just put on a show, and said: "Yes, yes, I was wrong, the second master must be hit, he must be hit!" After a while, all of them laughed, and Qing'er and Xiaoman beside them also laughed lowly.

The two of them made eye contact, and Mother Chen smiled lightly and said, "No one can say for sure what will happen then, but now Brother Zhu is memorizing and studying, and Brother Hu has worshiped famous teachers. As the younger generation grows up, the second master will not be able to get a good job, and it won't sound good to say it!" He said it was a pity, but the expression on his face was very cheerful.

Huizhi, Qing'er Xiaoman and the others exchanged looks, and laughed tacitly.

Jia Hu shook his head, let them chat and laugh, sent someone to tell Mrs. Zhang, and led the little servant Shu Tong to Xu's residence.

Zeng Sa is also going to participate in Chunwei this year. Unlike Jia Zheng, who is under the cover of the Rongguo Mansion, he can directly participate in Chunwei. He has just passed the provincial examination and obtained the qualification for Chunwei himself.Now that spring is approaching, Xu Wei cancels Jia Hu's homework, and concentrates on reminding Zeng Sa every day-of course, Jia Hu's daily homework is still indispensable.

After studying together for so long, Jia Hu has a general understanding of Zeng Sa.

The Zeng family's ancestral home was in Shaoxing, a family of officials and eunuchs. His ancestors had been officials for several generations, and his family was well off. His father and Xu Wei were of the same age and had a good relationship.Zeng Sa was originally the third son, but when he was young, he saw that the first two brothers were gone, and at the same time, there were not a few concubine brothers in his house. This made the Zeng family a bit thinner. Well, his mother even regarded him as a top-notch person, and she didn't dare to let him suffer any grievances.When Zeng Sa was young, his elder brother was in front of him, and he lived a carefree and stress-free life. He developed a leisurely and playful personality. When the burden on his back was heavy, he couldn't bear it immediately.Master Zeng wanted to train him well, but he couldn't stand his body becoming weaker day by day. Madam cried in her ear every day, but she had no choice but to think of Xu Wei, a good friend, and sent him over while licking his face.

Xu Wei's stereotyped articles are very good, and he is also proficient in calligraphy, poetry and painting. After accepting Zeng Sa, he taught him carefully, and he really taught Zeng Sa a few things. He is proficient in all six arts. .These days Xu Wei is giving him extra lessons. It is impossible for him to come to the top three, but there should be no problem for him to be a Jinshi.

When Jia Hu arrived, Xu Wei was commenting on Zeng Sa's article.When you see him, just nod your head.Jia Hu lightly put the large characters completed today on the desk, quietly approached the side, and listened to the two explanations—he had done this behavior many times.At first Xu Wei and others said that he didn't understand and asked him to read the book, but later Jia Hu insisted on listening. After a long time, they got used to it and stopped objecting.

What Xu Wei was talking about was the questions he gave Zeng Sa, and the essays Zeng Sa wrote.The title "People with lofty ideals and benevolent people" comes from "The Analects of Confucius?"Wei Linggong", Confucius said: "People with lofty ideals and benevolent people, if they don't seek to survive, they will harm benevolence, and if they kill themselves, they will become benevolent." There are requirements for binding the strands and knotting.Jia Hu glanced at the paper, the handwriting was straight and unrestrained, vividly showing Zeng Sa's cheerful character, the scroll surface was neat and clean, without any alteration, it was pleasing to the eye.Looking at Xu Wei Zeng Sa's expression again, it is very relaxed and freehand. It seems that Zeng Sa wrote well.

Sure enough, after hearing Xu Wei's comment on the finale, he nodded and said with a gratified smile: "The homework of the school is getting better and better, and it is much wider. If we can maintain this level, the small imperial examination will be no problem."

Hearing this, Zeng Sa breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a smile: "The teacher said that, but it made me feel relieved. My father urged me every day, hoping that I would pass the imperial examination, but it made me worry about it, and I was up and down. of."

Xu Wei has always been kind to his disciples, and he said with a smile: "Brother Zeng is also nervous about your studies, and you are about to lose the crown. If you can make progress in your studies at this time, your father can also arrange the way for you. A loving father Heart, you have to understand."

Zeng Sa didn't dare to joke anymore, bowed his head and said solemnly: "The teacher's father's painstaking efforts, the disciple understands in his heart, and the elders are made to worry about me, and the disciple is terrified."

Xu Wei laughed and said: "You have been by my side for eight years. You study and study with me. You respect your teachers and you are outstanding in character and learning. In my heart, you are no different from Wenhua. What's the point of worrying about you? As long as you If you live up to my thoughts, this old man will be content."

Zeng Sa was more moved, and said like a curse: "I will not let the teacher down."

Satisfied, Xu Wei let him rest and asked Jia Hu to come over to check his homework. He read his handwriting and saw that there were no mistakes. He nodded and praised: "You are so young, it is rare that you are willing to hold your temper. Writing, there are three more characters today than yesterday, and you can still finish them to perfection, and the edge of the brush is more rounded than before, which is very good.” Pointing to a few more characters for Jia Hu to read, “But these characters, The turning point is a little scattered, but you have described it?"

Jia Hu took a look, it was exactly where he intentionally made a mistake, and nodded to admit his mistake: "It's my disciple who made a mistake."

Xu Wei liked Jia Hu's temperament of correcting mistakes when he knew something was wrong, nodded, and said, "Add five more big characters today." Jia Hu agreed.Xu Wei checked the essays he had memorized in the past few days again, but this time he didn't find anything wrong. He assigned him tomorrow's homework and went back to work.

As soon as Xu Wei left, Zeng Sa, who was still sitting upright, suddenly softened his body, leaned back on the chair, and let out a long breath: "Finally~"

Jia Hu was not used to seeing the scene, so he found a chair and sat down, copied his article, read it at a glance, and said with a smile: "Brother, you can bear it any longer, just wait for your exam." After passing this imperial examination and being on the list, the master will naturally stop staring at you like this every day."

Zeng Sa frowned and wailed: "You have to pass the exam. Now my father in my family is forcing me to study every morning, noon and night, and the master asks me to write essays every day... If I can't do it this time, I won't wait until three years later." I have to do it again this year..." She patted her forehead, and her whole body became listless.

Jia Hu was amused by him: "Senior brother, you still missed someone. If you don't pass this time, not to mention Mr. Zeng, but only Senior Brother Liu, he will not let you go easily."

Speaking of Liu Yan, Zeng Sa shuddered Lingling, his brows were so bitter that he could squeeze out bile, and wailed: "How can I live these days~"

Jia Hu shook his head, smiling with crooked eyebrows.Maybe it really is one thing that overcomes one thing, Zeng Sa's temper is jumpy, and the bright temper that was raised by coddling, even in front of Xu Wei, is also able to advance and retreat, but when Liu Yan turns cold, he trembles in his heart.According to Zeng Sa, when he was a child, Liu Yan stared at him for reading, and if he slacked off a little, he would be beaten with a ruler. But according to Jia Hu, Zeng Sa respected Liu Yan as much as Xu Wei.

"Senior brother, please bear with it. The master also said that you are making great progress in your homework. You just need to pay close attention to this last day and don't relax. There will be no problems in this imperial examination."

Zeng Sa sighed: "That's the only way to go!" Then there was another howl of ghosts and wolves, "There are still many days to come, so don't you have to read a book every day and write an article?" Open paper and pen to do your own homework...

When Jia Hu came back from dinner at Xu's house, it was getting late. He was going to pay his respects to the Zhang family's Jia Amnesty, and when he entered the mansion, someone stopped him and said that it was Jia Daishan who was looking for him.For no reason, Jia Hu followed others to Jia Daishan's study, after much deliberation, he couldn't figure out what Jia Daishan could ask him for.At this moment, isn't he busy paving the way for his young son?

"Grandson pays respects to grandfather and second uncle."

Unexpectedly, it was not only Jia Daishan who was waiting for him in the study, but also Jia Zheng.Jia Hu was really confused, what could the two of them look for him for?Also Baba asked people to wait for him to come back at the door. "I don't know what business Grandpa is looking for with his grandson?" Just ask if you don't understand, Jia Hu is not in a hurry, everyone else is here, if you want him to do something, Jia Daishan will naturally ask.

Jia Daishan didn't seem to know what to say, paused for a while, and asked with a smile: "The servant said that you just came back from the Xu Mansion, how are you doing, is your homework tight now?"

Out of the corner of Jia Hu's eyes, Jia Hu noticed the anxious look on Jia Zheng's face, and he became more curious, and replied: "The teacher is busy these days, so he asks me to do more homework. Don't be nervous, mostly writing and reciting, which is relatively easy."

Jia Daishan admonished: "Study is the most important thing to pay attention to hard work. Since you feel that you can do a job with ease, you should read more books outside of homework."

Jia Hu didn't refute, just bowed his head and agreed.

There was silence in the room again, after a while, Jia Daishan asked in a deep voice: "You just said that Mr. Xu is busy with things recently, what are you busy with?"

Jia Hu was very strange. It's not like Jia Daishan didn't know that Zeng Sa was going to take the Chunwei exam, so why did he ask the question knowingly? "Brother Zeng is about to take the exam, so the master left him to teach the questions..." At this point, Jia Zheng's pupils shrank at the end of his line of sight, and a strange color appeared on his face.The next moment, Jia Daishan uttered a cry and asked him: "Is your master doing homework for your brother? What questions did you do? What did you say?"

Now that the question has come to this point, Jia Hu still doesn't understand what the father and son are up to.It's strange that Baba found someone waiting at the door to bring him here. It turned out that he wanted to find out how Xu Wei taught his apprentices.No, looking at Jia Daishan's appearance, he looks very embarrassed. On the contrary, Jia Zheng is impatient, worried and nervous, and there is still some dissatisfaction with him. Based on Jia Hu's understanding of Jia Daishan and Jia Zheng, he is afraid of this idea. It was Jia Zheng who proposed it first. Of course, Jia Daishan did not refuse.

Jia Hu felt a little unhappy, he was still a child studying at the teacher's place, but Jia Daishan wanted him to reveal the things about the teacher's school, this behavior is not what a gentleman would do.So what Jia Daishan asked was not a secret, there was nothing he couldn’t say, and Jia Hu didn’t hide anything, and told them the steps Xu Wei taught Zeng Sa: “Generally speaking, the master will give senior brother Zeng the first question. , Brothers first read the book and read the articles of the predecessors, the master will come in the afternoon to ask questions about the content of the book, and then come to comment on the article. If the other three brothers want to be there, they will discuss the current situation of the article together."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jia Zheng hurriedly asked: "Then what's wrong with Mr. Xu? What kind of books do you usually read, Senior Brother Zeng? Are they talking about current situation articles?"

Jia Hu glanced at him, but said nothing.Jia Daishan coughed lightly, and said uncomfortably, "Brother Hu, your second uncle is asking you."

Jia Hu said: "The master's questions are different every day, and the books that the brothers read are nothing more than the Four Books and Five Classics. It is the current situation that the brothers are talking about. There are laws and regulations that have been implemented this year. General Liang Boss is sick and going to Xirong, and he is about to move."

Jia Zheng was very happy after hearing this: "Everyone in the academy is talking about these things. I was talking to my friends about the peach blossom flood in the Yellow River yesterday."

The corners of Jia Daishan's mouth also curled up, looked at Jia Hu and asked, "Have you read the questions your master gave your senior brother? Do you still remember?"

Jia Hu said: "I roughly remember something. Yesterday, the master asked the senior brother a question, "Spiritual and benevolent people", let the senior brother solve the problem and write an essay."

"Spiritual and benevolent people?" Jia Zheng muttered a few words, and fell silent, looking like he was thinking about how to solve the problem.

Jia Daishan didn't bother him, and asked Zeng Sa's situation with concern: "Then your senior brother has done it? How did your master comment?"

Jia Hu was already a little impatient: "Brother tried his best, but the master said it was okay."

"Well, so~" Jia Daishan nodded to show that he understood, hesitation flashed in his eyes, he looked at Jia Zheng who was still thinking about the topic, and finally made up his mind, saying: "Now you are old enough to understand It makes sense, and you should know that now you are rich and honored, all from your family. The family gave birth to you, and you should know how to repay your family."

These words were quite in Jia Hu's mind: "Grandpa said so."

He was so obedient, Jia Daishan was also happy, and then said: "You also know that in the future your second uncle will take the imperial examination with your second senior brother. Your second uncle is the first in my Rongguo Mansion to take the imperial examination. Your father If your second uncle is not an official, it will be of great benefit to our mansion if he can pass the imperial examination." He paused and looked at Jia Hu, Jia Hu didn't speak, and he said again, "It's just that your second uncle is no better than you. Brother, with your master taking care of you every day, even if you break the topic and make an article, there is no one to help you comment..."

There is no need for Jia Daishan to say the rest. Jia Hu already understands everything. Also, if it is just to find out how Xu Wei taught his apprentices, it is enough for one person to ask. It is not necessary for two people to be together. This is because he wants to help. Intercede and ask Xu Wei to help teach Jia Zhengwen together.No, no, no, I definitely didn't say that at the beginning, I must have given an article to Xu Wei to comment on first, Xu Wei is not in the way of face, this little effort will definitely not sweep his disciple's face, and will help him.Then it will be easier to deal with later, if there is one, there will be two, if Jia Zheng sends the article, Xu Wei can no longer refuse it!As for whether Xu Wei would hate such trivial matters because of this incident, in the eyes of Jia Daishan and others, it is naturally not as important as Jia Zheng's imperial examination results!

Jia Hu pursed her lips tightly, and there was a chill on her little face...