The reason why Xu Yue is what he is today has a lot to do with Uncle Xie Fang.
He passed the Juren exam three times, but never got the chance to become a Jinshi.
Since Lizong was very strict about the transfer of three-term candidates to Jinshi, it would be difficult to pass without special support.
At that time, Xu Yue was a little discouraged and did not want to take part in the imperial examination again.
His father Xu Hou saw his son so dejected and couldn't help but have an idea.
Xu Hou prepared a heavy gift and took Xu Yue to the clan leader Xu Qingsou.
Xu Qingsou looked at Xu Yuezai carefully and tested his homework.
"Zi Liang, Sanlang can only be said to be average, not too outstanding. It is very difficult to pass the Jinshi examination." Xu Qingsou thought for a while, and finally told the truth.
Xu Hou couldn't help being surprised, and bowed deeply: "Patriarch, this is the only nephew's son who is good at studying. I beg the patriarch to think of a way."
What he didn't know was that after hearing these words, Xu Yue burst into tears and secretly wiped away his tears.
He himself thought that he had studied hard for ten years, but he did not expect that the patriarch would come to this conclusion.
"What else can I do?" Xu Qingsou pulled his beard hard and even pulled off a white beard.
Xu Hou thought for a while, bowed deeply again, and finally couldn't help but say: "Isn't it stipulated in the Song Dynasty that three people can be promoted to Jinshi?"
After saying that, he looked at Xu Qingsou expectantly.
"Ziliang, that was in the past. Now there are too many officials in the officialdom and there are too many people. It was difficult for the officials to pass." Xu Qingsou walked around the case for a few steps, and finally shook his head heavily.
Xu Hou suddenly pulled Xu Yue, and the two of them knelt down in front of Xu Qingsou: "Clan leader, please leave this matter to me."
After saying that, he pressed Xu Yue's head hard and kowtowed loudly in front of Xu Qingsou.
"Get up quickly, get up quickly." Xu Qingsou hurriedly helped the two of them up and rubbed his forehead. He had a headache.
Xu Hou refused to get up at all and continued to kneel on the ground: "If the patriarch doesn't agree, my nephew won't get up."
"Okay, let me think about it." Xu Qingsou could only nodded and fell into deep thought.
Xu Hou saw that Xu Qingsou agreed, but had not yet come up with a solution, so he had to kneel on the ground.
Xu Qingsou walked around a few more times, looked at Xu Yue's face, and suddenly his expression changed.
He said to Xu Yue: "Sanlang, stand up and let me take a look."
Xu Yue was at a loss and looked at his father.
Xu Hou didn't understand what Xu Qingsou was thinking, but what Xu Qingsou said made sense, so he nodded.
The father and son got up from the ground together and dusted themselves off.
"Although I am the Minister of the Ministry of War, I am not a governor participating in politics, so I cannot propose this matter in front of the officials." Xu Qingsou looked at Xu Yue and shook his head in embarrassment.
Xu Hou never expected that Xu Qingsou would say this. He wiped away his muddy old tears, cupped his hands, and was about to leave.
Xu Yue's tears had already flowed out, and he bit his mouth hard to prevent himself from crying in pain.
Seeing that the father and son were about to leave, Xu Qingsou said in a deep voice: "Stop, I haven't finished speaking yet."
Xu Hou didn't understand what Xu Qingsou meant. You said no, why don't you ask us to stop?
"Clan leader, a small courtesy is not a sign of respect." Xu Hou thought Xu Qingsou was about to withdraw his courtesy, so he hurriedly expressed his stance.
In any case, Xu Qingsou is the clan leader, and the Ministry of War does not have a chancellor. If the gifts are placed here, there will be more places for him to do things in the future.
"I accept the gift," Xu Qingsou nodded, and then continued, "Although I can't speak, there are people who can."
Xu Hou couldn't help but be overjoyed. The other party accepted the gift and was obviously able to do things.
He stepped forward and bowed deeply to Xu Qingsou: "Please give the clan leader a clear explanation."
"Although I'm not good at it, Germany is a political governor and he has the right to speak." Xu Qingsou nodded while stroking his beard.
Xu Hou suddenly understood and bowed deeply: "Tell the clan leader, what kind of gift does Mr. Xie need?"
After all, I am asking to thank my husband, and it is obviously not possible without paying the price.
"There is no need to be too polite. Germany has a niece who is quite old and has not yet left the cabinet." Xu Qingsou looked at Xu Yue and said what he meant.
Xu Yue actually looks very talented, with a long body, particularly fair skin, and extraordinary facial features.
Xu Hou looked at his son. He liked this son very much. He could almost be said to have both talent and appearance.
He gritted his teeth and asked flatly: "What does the other party want?"
"With both talent and appearance, you must be a scholar." Xu Qingsou shook his head as he spoke.
Not only are they talented and beautiful, but they also require Jinshi. This requirement is too high.
He took a look at his son. He must have an extraordinary appearance. He had been elected to the imperial examination for three times and could barely be considered talented.
However, the son is not a Jinshi, and obviously cannot meet the other party's conditions.
"Clan leader, Sanlang is not a Jinshi, so it seems difficult to have an eye for the right method." Xu Hou thought for a while, then shook his head with a wry smile.
Xu Qingsou shook his head and looked at the father and son, feeling a little funny: "Chi'er, Chi'er, aren't the same Jinshis the same as Jinshis?"
"Thank you, patriarch, for your advice. How does he look like?" He finally understood what Xu Qingsou meant.
Seeing how talented his son was, he really didn't want to put his son in a bad position.
"I'm not sure about this. I just know that the German niece is a married woman, virtuous and dignified, and has a comfortable home." Naturally, Xu Qingsou had never seen the niece of the other party, but he was just talking casually.
Xu Hou thought for a while and replied decisively: "Thank you, patriarch, but it is up to the patriarch to make the decision."
Thinking about it now, as long as the other party is not ugly, he will accept this divorced wife.
No, even if it was an ugly monster, Xu Hou could only grit his teeth and accept his fate.
In their room, only Xu Yue could study, and the rest were not suitable for studying.
As long as his son can become a fellow Jinshi, it is certainly worth it.
What's more, it's worth it for the Xu family to take the Xie family's path.
Lingquan County official residence, magistrate Xu Mansion.
Xu Yue, the county magistrate, returned to his residence humming a tune with a very relaxed expression.
Xie Lingmo, who was cooking, took off his waistband and made tea while welcoming him.
Xie Lingmo has a nice name, but her appearance and figure are exactly the opposite.
She has a disheveled face and a very thick frame, which makes her unattractive.
Although she is not very beautiful, her skin is fair.
Although her appearance is not particularly outstanding, she is very fertile. Although she is only in her early twenties, she already has three children and one more in her belly.
She looked at Xu Yue, looked at his happy face, put the tea cup on the coffee table in front of him, and asked in surprise: "What's the official happy event?"
Following the shouting of "Daddy", the three children also gathered around, hugging her thighs, climbing on her shoulders, and pulling at her clothes.
"Daddy, daddy, candied haws on a stick, candied haws on a stick." The children shouted while looking at his sleeves.
When Xu Yue heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. As a father, he couldn't even pay for the candied haws.
These three children are not old. The oldest daughter is only five years old. The other two are sons, one is over three years old and the other is over one year old.
The one holding the thigh is Erlang, the one holding the shoulders is Dalang, and the one pulling the clothes is the aunt.
Xu Yue took out three candied haws from his sleeve, tore open the banana leaves on them and gave one to each person.
After his three children got their beloved candied haws, they no longer bothered him.
"Lingquan County is really fat." Xu Yue drank the spring breeze with a happy face, "The salary is about five times that of Ba County."
When he was the county magistrate in Ba County, he had less than ten months in a month, and he was still a Huizi. He could barely drink tea, sometimes even broken tea or powdered tea.
It’s good for the three children to have enough food and clothing. They have a candied haws of apples every year and festival, let alone one every day.
Now in Lingquan County, there are four pick-up cards every month, and one pick-up card is equivalent to ten pick-up cards.
Xu Yue's three children have different looks. His daughter absorbs the advantages of both of them and is particularly handsome.
The two sons look particularly like Xie Lingmo, and they look particularly strong.
However, my son is lovable, saying he is strong and easy to raise.
Xie Lingmo looked at his three children eating candied haws, his face full of happiness and tenderness.
She thought for a while, but couldn't help but said: "Guanren, do you know there is a girls' school and kindergarten here?"
"I've heard of girls' schools, but they seem to only exist in the capital. What about kindergartens?" Xu Yue was confused after hearing this, put down his tea cup and asked.
Xie Lingmo touched his belly and moved a little slowly.
She said to Xu Yue at this time: "The kindergarten is for children aged three to six, both male and female. The girls' school is a school dedicated to teaching young ladies women's virtues, music, chess, calligraphy and painting. I didn't expect this aspect of Lingquan County , no less than the capital city."
Xu Yue looked at the aunt and the eldest man, and fell into deep thought while drinking tea.
He thought to himself that he had thought that his income would only increase when he arrived in Lingquan County, but he did not expect that his expenses would also increase significantly.
"Guanren, our aunt is so handsome, we must not let it go to waste. Da Lang has also reached the age of entering kindergarten and makes noises every day to go to kindergarten. Guanren, you must make up your mind." Xie Lingmo saw Xu Yue. Without saying anything, he rubbed his belly again and said, "I have another baby in my belly, and I can no longer take care of my three children."
Hearing what Xie Lingmo said, the aunt and Dalang stopped eating candied haws and looked at Xu Yue.
Looking at the longing eyes in his children, Xu Yue couldn't help but move. It's hard to be a father, but it's even harder to be a good father.
In the past, I just thought of raising my children into adults, but now I have to cultivate them into talents.
Not only must you become a talent, but you must also become an outstanding talent.
What is an outstanding talent? It means that boys start from kindergarten and girls start from women's moral school. They must not lose at the starting line.
However, this is another heavy expense.
"Guardian, if my aunt is not allowed to enter the Women's Virtue School, can she still find a good household? If Da Lang does not enter the kindergarten, others can already recite the "Three Character Classic" and "Tang Shi". What will your Da Lang do in the future? , besides playing in the mud, I just dig out bird's nests." Seeing that Xu Yue still didn't answer, Xie Lingmo became anxious and hurriedly told the consequences.
Yes, if you don’t do this, the children in other people’s families will be better than your children in every aspect.
If there is no comparison, there will be no harm. When compared with others, your children will be inferior to others in every way.
Not only can the children be unable to hold their heads up, but one’s own face is also lackluster.
"Yes, yes, there was no such condition before, but now the salary can allow them to attend kindergarten and women's moral school." Xu Yue saw the longing eyes of his children and immediately nodded in agreement.
The aunt and the young man hurriedly put away the candied haws on a stick and saluted Xu Yue: "Thank you, dad."
The two looked at each other and found that each other was glowing with excitement. They had been looking forward to this day for a long time.
In fact, not only Xu Yue's family is like this, but also Zhu Yuanwai and his wife, especially Mrs. Zhu, are like this.
Now Mrs. Zhu can come to Zhaojiazhuang in a dignified manner. The reason is very simple.
Their granddaughter Liang Yujie is here and she often comes to visit her.
Not only that, she also brought a little tail, the eleven-year-old Jiuniang.
Mother Zhao Ping looked at Mrs. Zhu and Jiuniang, and she didn't quite understand.
"Mother, Jiuniang likes piano, chess, calligraphy and painting very much. She really wants to study here." Mrs. Zhu led Jiuniang, her eyes full of pleading.
The mother looked at Zhu Jiuniang and saw that although she was not very old, she was as beautiful as a flower, with willow eyebrows and apricot eyes, a face with oval seeds, red lips and white teeth.
Seeing her mother looking at her, she hurriedly bowed and said, "Jiu Niang has met the mistress."
"Do you have a foundation?" Mother nodded and asked lightly.
Jiuniang gave another Wanfu gift: "Tell my mistress, I have learned a little bit and know a little bit about it."
"Since you have the basics, can you play a little something?" My mother didn't want to accept disciples at first, but seeing that these little ladies looked pretty good, but didn't know what their basic skills were, she asked.
Zhu Jiuniang immediately washed her hands before entering the piano room.
When I came to the piano room, I burned incense again, took a deep breath, and then started playing the piano.
My mother saw this in her eyes and nodded, with proper etiquette.
Jiuniang played "Butterfly Lovers", and her mother sat aside and listened.
Later, Jiuniang also performed painting, chess, and calligraphy performances in the study room.
My mother looked at them one by one and finally nodded: "It's acceptable."
Mrs. Zhu and Jiuniang couldn't help being overjoyed, and immediately presented gifts to become their disciples.
Xu Yue was entertaining his children when he suddenly heard a knock on the door.
There were no servants at home, so Xu Yue had to open the door himself.
When he opened the door, he couldn't help being surprised. He hurriedly greeted warmly: "It turns out to be Master Chen. Please come in, please come in."
The person who came in was Chen Qin, the chief registrar of Lingquan County, named Xiangqin, who was already in his forties.
"Xuzhi County, a small gift is not enough to show respect." Chen Qin cupped his hands and presented the gift list.
Xu Yue took the gift list with both hands and said hurriedly: "Master Chen, you and I work together, why are you so polite?"
Although he said this, he still held the gift list tightly and did not hand it out.
"Hurry, bring it in, don't delay." Chen Qin didn't care how Xu Yue looked, he said to the servant behind him.
The servant got off the flatbed truck and said, "As you command."
What Chen Qin gave this time were all the latest things made by Zhaojiazhuang, including sweaters, clam oil, glass teacups, glass wine glasses and other latest things from Zhaojiazhuang.
These things have just come out and are relatively expensive, making it difficult for non-rich people to afford them.
"Haha, the weather in Xuzhi County is cold now, so it's just right." Chen Qin took the sweater and handed it to Xu Yue without any explanation.
Xu Yue wanted to recommend it, but when he thought about it, there were too many people in the family and no sweaters, so he had to accept it.
Xu Yue didn't have a teacup at home, so he made tea in a teacup himself. The two chatted for a while, becoming more and more intimate with each other.
Chen Qin asked casually: "Xuzhi County will transition to Lingquan County?"
Seeing that Chen Qin had a lot of gray hair and wrinkles on his forehead, I didn't know what he was thinking.
This man is already over forty years old, has many children and grandchildren, and is still a bookkeeper. He obviously has no backing.
Xu Yue's great-uncle Weng was a political governor, and his wife's uncle was the prime minister, so he obviously wanted to take a shortcut.
"Of course, as long as you have some political achievements in Lingquan County, you will naturally make a transition here." At this point, he looked at the other party and said to Chen Qin, "Xiangqin is in the prime of life and there is still room for improvement."
Chen Qin shook his head and said embarrassedly: "I have poor qualifications and a very old age. How can I compare with the youth and high-spiritedness of Xuzhi County?"
Pretend, you just pretend. You obviously want to pursue progress, but you have to pretend here.
Xu Yue chuckled and bowed his hands: "Xiangqin has rich experience and is very good at dealing with the grassroots. Yue is ashamed of himself."
Chen Qin thought to himself, even though you are the magistrate of the county and have people in the court, you are obviously not as good as me in dealing with the houses, senior squires and taxes.
"Xuzhi County has given me a prize, but I have only grown a few dozen years in vain." But he couldn't say these words, and instead made a sigh of life.
Xu Yue doesn't care how humble the other party is, but when the other party comes, he must give him a certain answer.
Xu Yue thought of this and bowed to Lin'an: "Master Chen is in his prime and has rich experience. If Yue is promoted one day, Yue will definitely recommend Master Chen."
"I am not qualified enough to be recommended by Xu Zhi County." Xu Yue gave a solemn reply. Chen Qin was overjoyed after hearing this, but his mouth was modest.
"Master Chen's political achievements are extraordinary and of course worth recommending." Xu Yue stared at Chen Qin with bright eyes and changed the topic, "The key now is that Lingquan County must have political achievements."
He thought in his mind that even if your qualifications are mediocre, the court thinks you are good or not.
Thinking of the county magistrate Cheng Liang who had not given him a gift, he suddenly became furious.
Although you have outstanding qualifications, the court thinks that you are not good enough and you are not good at it.
If you don’t come and give gifts to this county, it won’t do.
Although this is not a matter for the imperial court, he has a strong backing, so he should speak for himself anyway.
