Two days later, Xu Dai and his son, who had just returned to Hailing from the dusty life of Yangzhou, summoned a group of elders in the family.
Xu Dai took advantage of the time when the clan elders had not arrived, and said warmly to Xu Luan beside him: "Your eldest uncle specifically said before leaving this time that when encountering important family events, Xu He should be invited to attend together. This is also what I follow as a father." Your uncle just asked him to come here!"
When Xu Luan heard this name, he said angrily: "Dad, my uncle scolded me and you beat me, but you are my closest relatives. As a junior, I am beaten and scolded by you. It's nothing! But I can't figure out why I let that The little eldest son is attending such an important meeting of our family!"
"Besides, all matters discussed in the clan are discussed jointly by the clan elders and elders. How can he, Xu He, be fifteen years old?"
Xu Dai frowned and said, "You are just too petty, and your father has a very average opinion of Xu He, but your uncle feels that he will become a figure in the future. In this case, there is no need for us to confront him tit for tat!"
Xu Luan sneered: "If he wants to get ahead, it depends on our faces! I still can't figure it out. Dad, since you don't like him, then suppress him so that he can't get ahead. If he can't get ahead, then we still have to care. His thoughts?"
"Nonsense!" Xu Dai glared at his son, "If someone in the family can stand out, it will be a happy event for our Hailing Xu family. We can't even wait for it. How can we suppress it!"
Xu Luan choked and said: "I'm afraid that when someone becomes an official through the imperial examination, they will no longer take you and your uncle seriously. Haha, I don't know who will be the big sect and who will be the small sect at that time!"
Xu Dai's heart moved, and then he waved his hand irritably: "Just him? He can't make a difference!"
After saying this, he was still unhappy when he saw his son. He thought that this happy event was still relying on his son to help him, so he lowered his attitude and said with a smile: "Luan'er, no matter how Xu He jumps around, but the big head of the Xu family is like this." It was decided by your great-grandfather Kui Gong. How can you change it at will? Even if Xu He becomes an official in the future, if he does not respect the great clan, he will not have to hang out in Shilin. What is this called? This is called etiquette! I understand. In other words, even if he can become the chief minister of the cabinet one day, in the end he will still have to be at our mercy at home!"
In fact, what Xu Dai said is right or wrong.
Indeed, in this era when imperial power does not go to the countryside, the clan is even more important in everyone's heart than the court.
No matter how well they do outside, they still have to follow Chang Jingjing's rules when they return home, otherwise their reputation among the scholars will be that of ungrateful people who can't take care of their people. In this country, officials attach great importance to reputation. Years and months, this has a great impact on official career.
But in fact, you really have to get to the point where others can't afford to mess with you, like Qin Yan. If the Qin family asks him to do something, then whether he does it or not depends entirely on his own mood. If he does it, Shihlin will think that you can't even mess with the family. The wild dogs that guard the house are all brought to the bureau to serve as police dogs and eat royal food. Instead, everyone thinks that you are enriching your private life with the public; if you don't do this, you might be able to gain a good reputation for keeping private families at bay.
Soon, people from the clan who were qualified to participate in the meeting arrived one after another. A group of old people with gray hair and beards sat in Kong Huai Hall drinking tea and chatting, and they all speculated that there was something important that required them to be invited.
After a while, a handsome young man suddenly came from outside. The old men looked at the visitor in surprise.
When the Grand Master arrived that day, the clan elder accompanying him in the courtyard frowned and said, "Xu He, what are you doing here to discuss matters in the clan today?"
Some clan elders know Xu He, some don't know him, but they have all heard of this name. A rising star in the clan has just passed the county examination and the prefecture examination.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Xu He bowed slowly and said: "Elders, I am here to attend the clan meeting on the orders of my uncle."
"What? A yellow-haired boy actually participated in the clan meeting, what can he understand?"
"Is Zhongwang confused? Why do you call this guy..."
"What kind of decency is it? How can one be allowed to participate in a clan discussion on a major matter?"
Just as everyone was talking about it, Xu Dai and his son walked in from outside.
When Xu Luan saw Xu He, he shot him a look of hatred, while Xu Dai glanced at him with a faint expression and then sat on the main seat to preside over the clan meeting in his eldest brother's place.
Xu Song, a scholar, looked like he was holding a cup of tea and took a sip before coughing twice and suppressing the voices of everyone: "Brother has been in bad health over the years. He moved to Qinglong Lake for a short stay a few days ago. During this time, he had another He was unconscious and accompanied by vomiting blood. Although his condition was controlled by Hou Deshengye, a famous doctor in Rugao, and no longer worsened, he could not speak and was often unconscious!"
As soon as these words came out, everyone including Xu He felt as if they were struck by five thunders. Xu Song was the pillar of the Xu family. Now that his health is getting worse, it is bad news for the entire Xu family.
Xu Dai glanced at everyone with a stern look, then his eyes fell on Xu He and said: "Before the eldest brother moved to Qinglong Lake, I made an announcement that Xu He should participate in future clan meetings!"
After hearing this, everyone started whispering again.
Xu Dai saw Xu He sitting at the bottom with an expressionless face, looking neither sad nor happy, and thought to himself: "The Qi-nourishing skills are quite good."
At this time, a clan elder stood up and said, "Chang Yue, what is the purpose of this clan meeting?"
Xu Dai cleared his throat and said: "There are three things to consider in this clan meeting. One is that I may be appointed as the judge of the salt envoy of the capital in the near future!"
As soon as these words came out of Xu Dai's mouth, everyone was pleasantly surprised. Several elders from the clan even jumped up happily.
The Duzhuan Salt Envoy Department is David's organization in charge of the production and marketing of salt. Among them, there is one envoy from the capital, from the third rank, one from Tongzhi, one from the fourth rank, and one deputy envoy, from the fifth rank. There is no fixed number of judges, but they are from the sixth rank. official.
Xu Dai had previously served as an eighth-grade junior official in the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. Now he was promoted from a low-ranking eighth-grade junior official to a sixth-grade judge. This was a great joy, especially in the Xu family. It has been a long time since anyone has been in office today.
While all the clan elders were happily congratulating Xu Dai, Xu He frowned in thought.
I don’t know if it was because Xu Dai’s official position was related to [Salt], but Xu He always felt that something was going on.
Xu Luan stood behind his father and saw Xu He frowning, so he gently poked Xu Dai's back with his hand. Xu Dai turned around and followed his son's eyes to look at Xu He, seeing that he didn't seem happy for him. , so his face darkened and he felt unhappy!
Sure enough, at this time Xu He said: "Second uncle, why did the imperial court recruit you to be a judge for no reason? When will you take office? By then, Changlu, Hedong, Shandong, Fujian, and Liangzhe will all transfer salt. Which yamen in the commission is the judge?"
