Heroes of the Sons and Daughters

Chapter 2: Hidden in the West Mountain, the Closed-door Lecture
The wife, the son, and the family members inside and outside refused to sleep, and they were still looking around, looking around, to see when the bright clock [Bright Bell: means the time when the sky is about to dawn.In ancient times, the five o'clock clock was struck when the sky was about to dawn. ] If there is no letter in the future, everyone also feels hopeless, tired and sleepy, and has no interest, so they have to go to sleep.The upper room is about to close the door, and suddenly there is a knock on the door, and a crowd of people reported: "The first two or three reports, report that Mr. An won the No. 3 Jinshi!"

Lie Gong, since you, Mr. Dao'an, got such a high score, why didn't you report it until now?

The original rule of filling in the list is to start from No.6, and the top five names are called "Five Tops".When it was time to fill in the five quorums, all the committee members in the field, as well as the clerks, yamen servants, cooks, and firemen, were allowed to buy a few catties of candles, put them in large wooden trays nailed with nails, hold them in their hands, and take turns surrounding them. Shining like daylight, it is called "Naowukui".Taking out the lit candles and giving them away is considered an auspicious gift.Therefore, the name of Mr. An was filled in, and it was already the fourth watch.Those who announced the good news would not think of the headline of the five chiefs. As soon as they got the letter, they followed the carriages and horses that got off from the Old Summer Palace in the early morning and galloped from Xizhimen overnight, so it was still dark when we arrived here.

Don't gossip.The wife was taking off her make-up and going to bed because she was waiting for the good news. Hearing the commotion outside, she hurriedly asked someone to open the door and go out to inquire.The family members on the door have already received the newspaper slips and congratulated the master, wife and son.After all this noise, Mr. An also woke up, and hurriedly put on his clothes. The young master presented the newspaper and read it, full of joy.

Thinking about it for a moment, I worked hard for half my life, with yellow curls and green lights, until my beard and hair were gray, and I finally realized this wish.The wife also felt that she was quite touched, and persuaded with tears and a smile: "Master, this is exactly what I like, why do you feel sad?" After a while, everyone beamed with joy and burst into smiles.

The young master then went to sort out the manuscript, the post title, and the teacher's opinion, door bag and envelope.The family members are developing Xiqian outside.Immediately afterwards, relatives and friends from various families in the inner city read the list and sent people to congratulate Mrs. An, who was too busy to clean her head and face.It's just that "people are refreshed on happy occasions", and they forget when they are tired, and when they are sleepy, they busily lead the maids and servants, while arranging hats and clothes, they go to exchange silver, look for red felt, and get worship boxes.What I like is the benefit of my usual diligence, and it is not troublesome to get everything done in advance.Seeing that his wife was so busy that he didn't even have time to eat a bag of cigarettes, Mr. An said, "Madam, don't be busy. I have nothing to do today. I have one day to spare. I won't be too late to go to the city in the second half of the day. Let's take a rest and pack up later!" After washing and washing myself, I hurriedly put on my clothes, first set up an incense table, offered incense and kowtowed in front of heaven and earth, then went to Buddhist halls and ancestral halls to perform rituals, and then family members inside and outside came to kowtow.These plots do not need to be detailed.

While Master An was cooking some things for his own use, he urged to eat earlier.In the middle of the meal, the young master said: "Although my father has worked hard a few times, he has now won the third place. It can be said that 'God pays off his painstaking efforts, and the article has its own conclusion'. In the future palace exam, no one will be ranked first. Dare to be sure, just be the third place!" Master An said with a smile: "This is a child's talk again, the top three champions, the second place, and the third place, we Bannermen have no points. They are not Bannermen either. It must not be worthy of the number one scholar, the second place, and the third flower. According to the regulations of this dynasty, it is believed that bannermen can eat money, take translation exams, and choose guards. Ingratiate yourself. This is the meaning of this dynasty's cherishing fame and cultivating talents. Besides, do you know what he said about the word "Tanhua"? The number one scholar, of course, has to choose someone who has both talent, appearance, character and learning. Needless to say Even Tanhua needs a handsome young man to match him, so that on the day of the Qionglin Banquet, he was asked to pick apricot blossoms, and everyone put hairpins on their heads to make a good story about Qionglin. This is the story of the Tang Dynasty. You see, even though I am so old, I am still a man of five. Is there such a white-headed Tanhua in the world? Wouldn’t he be laughed at by Xinghua! Sure enough, that is not called "Tanhua", but a "joke" Son' gone!"

The young master said: "You can't explore the flowers, and the Imperial Academy is also stable." The master said: "That's not the case. In terms of common sense, those who are serious about names naturally want to order the common things of the Imperial Academy; those who are serious about profit naturally want to be a list Go down to the county magistrate; those who are talented, naturally want to be the head of the branch; when they arrive at Zhongshu, not many people think about it; If I do it with a conscience, I can’t get over it; if I do it with a conscience, I can’t go on the road of the world—that road can’t be broken! As for entering the golden horse and ascending the jade hall, it is the career of young friends, and I have passed the scene. Just use a subordinate, and you can still do it, but at this age, with a handful of manuscripts tucked in the bucket of your boots, and looking for the court officials all the way, it is boring. I would like to use a cold one. Zhongshu, internal and external use for three years—can I still use it for external use?——At that time, it was a pleasure to submit a paper and hang it under the forest. Otherwise, I simply returned to the class and could not choose it until ten years later. Don't ask what will happen in the next ten years, just in these ten years, I will study with my son and have a son, and this life is not wasted!" The young master dared not answer.After hearing this, Mrs. An said, "Master is too far-sighted. I just say that everything is done according to human beings, and I have my own destiny." The master said, "Madam's words are not bad."

During the conversation, after eating for a while, several disciples and students who worshiped to read the article came to congratulate him.People came and went, and after a lot of socializing, it was getting late that day, so Mr. An had to go to the city.When I arrived at the residence, the head of the department sent a letter to tell the master which room he was in, and the official title, name, department and residence of the room teacher.From the next day, I went to pay homage to the house teacher, visit the teacher, recognize the seniors, meet in the same year, meet in the same door, invite teachers publicly, go to teachers to invite, engrave tooth records, and engrave vermilion scrolls.When the house teacher and the seat teacher saw it, they all said: "As soon as I saw your paper, I knew that I was a veteran Confucianist, and I became a master lately. Now it is true. It can be seen that the text has a definite evaluation." As he said, he was very impressed.

Mr. An has been busy for several days in a row, and he has never been free. He didn't get a little quiet until all the affairs of Xie En's banquet were over. A 50-year-old man also has to bury his head at his desk and write regular script.

In a blink of an eye, the re-examination and the court examination have passed, and the palace examination will follow.Although the master's policy essay is not comparable to Dong Zhongshu's "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man", it has some economic arguments, which is different from the copy of the policy material filled in the sentences.When they met in the same year, they all said, "I will be selected for the high election." However, the master is a person who walks squarely, and he doesn't know how to do those ways of sending letters and poems.I am in my fifties, and although the papers written in the palace examination are magnificent, the writing is not full of energy, so I was awarded a top three.As for the introduction, when he arrived at the master's row, after playing his biography, the saint looked down and saw that he was at the age of serving the government, his face was full of righteousness, and his heart was naturally full of sincerity.This is the reason why a local official must cherish the lives of the people, so he put a red dot on the prefix of "An Xuehai" in the list, and used the county magistrate under the list.

When I was young, I introduced a scattered, and passed down this will.When Master An heard this, he said in his heart: "It's over! It's the road I'm afraid to take, so I just walked on this road!"The annoyance in my heart not only regretted that I shouldn't have tried this time, but also regretted that I shouldn't have studied back then, and I almost didn't cry in the crowd.Then a group of teenagers came together to join hands in congratulations.Some said: "Let's go, how can you become an immortal!" Some said: "In the past, it was 'holding the right to worship the little princes', but now it's really a 'Hundred Lihou'!" Another group of lay friends said yes : "This list is the 'tiger class', and it will fill up the gaps as soon as it arrives." Another said: "'Monk in Beijing, official going out', that's it!" , recommend long-term follow-up.A few teachers who were still behind were seriously concerned, and came to ask: "Used for external use? Don't mind. Articles and political affairs are all for the country. Besides, this official career is like a sea, so there is a certainty? Let's go back and rest for a while." This master also I have to pay one by one.There are also those disciples who worship and read the article, and then give them an introduction. Seeing the master go this way, they feel reluctant to part.Master An came down from the top, greeted everyone, went back to the bottom, ate something, made a reluctant turn to the places he should have been, and then returned to the manor.

At that time, it was reported by the newspaper, and the family members were overjoyed when they heard that the master had got a foreign job.Only when the wife and son saw that the master came in with a worried look on his face, he knew that it was for external use.It was not comforting for a while, but I raised my spirits and talked about some unimportant gossip.The master also forced a laugh and said, "I've been making trouble for many days, and I'm really tired. Let me take a rest and talk about it slowly."

Who would have thought that an elderly person, who has suffered from the usual hard work outside, and added all these worries and worries in his heart, will feel a little stuffy, chest tight and dizzy the next day, and he will become an external infection and internal injury disease.Mrs. An urgently asked for medical treatment, and finally sweated, and she suffered from cold and fever, and then contracted malaria. After the malaria stopped, she contracted autumn dysentery again.Helpless, he had to submit a petition to the official department and ask for leave to recuperate.The doctor never leaves the door every day, and the medicine never leaves the mouth. Mrs. an is so anxious that she burns incense, eats white fast, asks for signs and wishes, and makes sleep and food restless.Even the young master's schoolwork was gradually neglected because of serving the decoction.It wasn't until the end of autumn and the beginning of winter that Mr. An got sick and retired, and his daily life was as usual.In Master Yi'an's heart, he had already made an idea of ​​not going out of the mountain, but those teachers, friends, relatives and flesh and blood who cared about one side all urged them with the righteousness of repaying the country and the people with the grace of the ancestors. Those who are struggling have to submit a false confession.Coincidentally, it happened that the Yellow River broke through in the Gaojiayan area of ​​the Nanhe River. As the saying goes: "If Gaojiayan is down, Huaiyang will not meet." This flood has hurt many people's lives!Feizhang, a local official, came in to ask for money, and asked twelve county magistrates to be dispatched to work for commission.This time, the master was again selected among the candidates.

Lie Gong, Mr. An is such a man of economics and knowledge, can't he even be a county magistrate?Why do you worry about getting sick and worrying about this field!There is a reason.It's just because the old man is calm in nature, has great knowledge, reads a lot of poetry and books, and reads all the state of the world.Seeing those state and county officials in the world, they don't know how to influence people's customs, don't know how to cherish people's lives, they talk about walking around, easy to get money, curry favor with their superiors, and easy to seek promotion.What is the criminal name of money and grain? All friends, relatives, servants, and scribes will not be asked. Let's just look at the luxury of flags, gongs and umbrellas, and the pleasure of wine and meat stalls.Even if someone who knows a little bit about self-love, suffers from the fact that everyone is drunk and cannot allow one person to wake up alone, wins the hearts of the people, but can't conform to the boss's style, he will either be added to him as "difficult to the people's community" or add to him. The last one was "not very suitable", and it was taken away lightly, and it still has a beginning without an end, seeking glory but disgrace.

Therefore, when I became a Jinshi in my own middle school, I regarded the county magistrate as a daunting way.Now he simply picked a river worker, who is even more famous for making false claims about the work section, stealing money and food, running around with caterers, eating and drinking, and disturbing him, which is even more difficult to do than the magistrate.When I think about it, I can see that the officialdom is uncertain, the way to eat is well-placed, and the fate has already been arranged there. It is better to obey the order and let the sky go, or set up a career on this road. It is not necessary to live up to what you have learned.With this idea in mind, the master cheered up, and after the introductions and farewells, all the trivial things were done before returning to the manor.

After a short rest, some family members replied: "The imperial limit is urgent, please ask for instructions to discuss how to start."Those family members also said that they should take a long boat, some said that they should take a dry road, some said that their luggage should be taken separately, and some said that their families should go together.Mr. An said: "You all don't have to talk about it, I already have an unbreakable opinion here." This is exactly:

Proud people lose their minds, some joy and some sorrow.

If you want to know what master an's idea is when he goes to the official this time, I will explain it in the next letter.

(End of this chapter)