The dust has settled in the spring of God's ninth year, and the futures of everyone related to Wei Chen have been settled.
From then on, Wei Chen could finally relax and concentrate on his own affairs.
The new house purchased has been unoccupied for too long. Except for the main house, which is relatively well preserved, most of the other buildings are basically in a dilapidated and abandoned state.
As for the extensive back garden, it was originally home to many famous flowers and trees. However, it was dug up when the previous owner moved, leaving only deep pits full of water and overgrown trees. of weeds.
In such an environment, it is definitely not a problem to clear an area for people to live in, but it is still a bit difficult to hold a grand wedding banquet here.
Therefore, although the people of Weichen moved in early, the renovation and renovation work of the surrounding buildings has been going on in full swing.
After more than two months of renovations, which cost a lot of labor and money, Wei Chen's new house gradually lost the staleness caused by being vacant for a long time, revealing the dignity and style of its former residence as a marquis' residence.
During the renovation project, the command and supervision was mainly taken by the staff Fang Yuan, and the money withdrawn was also provided by Wei Ruyi.
During the whole process, Wei Chen basically just sat back and enjoyed the results, except for putting forward some of his own requirements in terms of decoration style.
However, now it is time for Wei Chen to take action personally.
On the east side of the front hall of the new house, the magnificent yet solemn Wei family ancestral hall has been built.
The main hall of the ancestral hall has three rooms and two outer doors, with cornices and brackets, withered beams and painted pillars.
There are several rooms outside that store sacrificial vessels and suicide notes, surrounding the main hall, forming an independent building complex.
Generally speaking, there should be four shrines in the main hall of the family ancestral hall, namely the great ancestor, the great ancestor, the grandfather, and the father's heir.
At present, the wooden niche is available, but the ancestral tablet hidden in the wooden niche has not yet been found. Wei Chen needs to go to the Wei Ancestral Hall in Xiyin Village, Youyang County to welcome it back.
Therefore, before the palace examination, Wei Chen took Wei Ruyi's family of three and took a boat back to Youyang to worship their ancestors and visit their relatives.
In the ancient feudal era, officials did not leave their hometowns. When they went out in the morning, they served their king, and when they returned in the evening, they supported their relatives. Therefore, loyalty and filial piety are always both balanced.
But in today's world, officials need to adhere to the principle of avoidance when they become officials. Except for a few senior ministers who return to their hometowns to retire, most officials cannot serve in their hometowns, making it difficult to go home.
Wei Chen has been an official for three years since he became a Jinshi. He has been busy with government affairs and has not yet returned to Youyang. This time he took advantage of the opportunity to return to his hometown to visit his relatives.
As the ancients said, a son of a man considers showing off his relatives as filial piety, and an official considers returning home as a matter of pride.
Although Wei Chen has never met Wei Mingzhao and Song Ying, since he has inherited the name of his son Wei Chen in this life, it is natural for him to act on his behalf.
Moreover, Wei Chen was an orphan without a father or mother in his previous life. Although he is still like this in this life, he knows who his parents are and how much they love him. He no longer has to be like a rootless person like in his previous life.
To be honest, Wei Chen has always longed to have such a pair of parents in his heart, even though they have been dead for many years.
…
Bianjing is a water transportation hub connecting the Yellow River and the Grand Canal. The surrounding water system is developed, and four canals of water transportation run through the city. ….
Among them, the Bianhe River is known as the lifeline of Bianjing. "The wealth of the South China Sea and half of the world, as well as the department stores of Shanze, all come from this road."
Wei Chen and his party sailed south along the Bianhe River in a passenger boat, passing through Suzhou, Sizhou, Chuzhou, and Yangzhou all the way to Jiangning. The journey of thousands of miles away seemed to have happened in a blink of an eye.
On the official road from Youyang County to Xiyin Village, Wei Chen reined in his horse and looked into the distance. He saw the dusk in the distance, smoke from cooking fires and birds, and could faintly hear the sound of chickens crowing and dogs barking. He couldn't help but sigh: "Finally we are home. Already..."
Zhang Ming sighed with emotion: "It has been eight years since Brother Chen left home to study. It has been eight years since you left home to study. These days have passed so fast."
Yes, it has been eight years.
Wei Chen was silent for a long time.
In his mind, he recalled the days when he had just recovered from a serious illness and walked along this dirt road to study at the Sheng Family Volunteer School.
From the secluded Xiyin Village, to the county seat, the provincial capital, and then to Bianjing at the foot of the emperor...
Now that he is a dignified Hanlin lecturer, he has achieved great success, but when he looks back on the past, he still feels that everything is so unreal, like a dream.
Under the big locust tree at the entrance of Xiyin Village, people stood in a dark place.
Wei Chen's third uncle, the old patriarch of the Wei family, led all the villagers to greet him at the entrance of the village.
Several soft sedans were parked beside the road, and a large number of government officials were waiting around the soft sedans, including more than a dozen officials.
The leading middle-aged official was talking to the old patriarch, with a warm smile on his face.
Wei Chen took a closer look and discovered that this person was Xiang Shiyuan, who had just been promoted from Jiangning Tongzhi to prefect.
During the Hajj banquet at the end of last year, Wei Chen met Xiang Zhifu once in Jianji Hall, so he naturally knew him.
Wei Chen couldn't help but feel helpless when he saw this. He was returning to his hometown to handle private matters. He didn't even display his title tag along the way, just because he didn't want to make a big fuss and disturb the place.
After getting off the ship at Jiangning Pier, Wei Chen did not enter Jiangning City, which was nearby Chichi, but went straight to Xiyin Village.
Unexpectedly, when they arrived at Xiyin Village, there would still be such a big fight, even Xiang Shiyuan, the prefect of Jiangning, was alarmed.
When the magistrate of Jiangning went on a tour to Youyang, the magistrate of Youyang naturally had to accompany him. The two prefectures and counties traveled together, shouting in front of and behind each other, and the gongs and drums were so loud that it probably caused a sensation in all the villages ten miles away.
Fortunately, Wei Chen glanced around and could not find Liu Xun, the governor of Jiangnan. He must not be here, otherwise Wei Chen would really not know how to deal with himself.
"Congratulations to welcome Bachelor Wei to his hometown!"
Seeing the carriages and horses of Wei Chen and his entourage approaching from a distance, people at the entrance of the village were already bowing down. For a while, gongs, drums and firecrackers were blasting, making it very lively.
"Please get up quickly, please get up quickly!"
Many of the people who bowed down were elders of the Wei Chen clan. How could Wei Chen dare to entrust him? He immediately got off his horse and quickly stepped forward to help the elders up one by one.
After not seeing Wei Chen for many years, everyone could not help but feel a little timid and uneasy.
I had the intention to call Wei Chen "Brother Chen", but I felt Wei Chen's unruffled official aura, so I didn't dare to speak, and I didn't even know where to put my hands.
Wei Chen smiled nonchalantly, looking at these familiar yet unfamiliar faces, and immediately called his third uncle and fifth aunt over one by one.
Everyone's restraint was now a little less restrained.
At this time, Wei Chen saw Xiang Shiyuan, the prefect of Jiangning, walking towards him. He couldn't help but shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Brother Xiang, Wei is just returning to his hometown to visit relatives. Why should he be so extravagant and bother Brother Xiang to come? It's really frustrating." Kill me too!"
Xiang Shiyuan laughed and said: "It is true that the number one scholar returns to the province and welcomes you thousands of miles away. Brother Wei has achieved the rank of six yuan, which is unprecedented in all ages. He is better than the number one scholar. No matter how extravagant it is, it is not an exaggeration!"
Although Wei Chen came here in a low-key manner, he was not sneaking in disguise after all, and naturally he could not hide it from those who wanted to.
Xiang Shiyuan is such a thoughtful person.
In Jianji Hall, he saw with his own eyes how solemn Zhao Zhen was about Wei Chen's holy scroll, and he had long made up his mind to be on good terms with Wei Chen.
[In view of the general environment, it is now time for Wei Chen to return to his hometown to visit relatives, Xiang Shiyuan will naturally not let this opportunity pass by.
In fact, when Wei Chen set out from Bianjing, someone from the Jiangning Prefecture stationed in Beijing came back with a message.
After entering Jiangnan Province, Xiang Shiyuan was notified of Wei Chen's whereabouts at one stop along the way.
That's why Xiang Shiyuan was able to find the right time and lead officials from the two prefectures and counties to greet Wei Chen at the entrance of Xiyin Village. .
Take a ride on a piggy
