Chapter 1 Recognizing the old, changing the base (2)
Ye Long stood under the eaves of Qihe's new house, looking at the red plaque hanging slowly on the door, shining with golden light; he smiled broadly, walked a few steps back and forth, smacking his lips, and listened to the servants on both sides say: "This
According to the master's instructions, everything that needs to be done about the new house has been done and all work is completed."
"Well..." Ye Long rubbed his hands and said with emotion: "None of you can compare to Cheng Congyuan. I have to do these things myself. It's a pity that such a capable person should accompany me who is not so good."
I am a filial son." The servants lowered their heads. Ye Long raised his feet and crossed the threshold. The door opened, and two rows of green bamboos came over one after another, guarding the bluestone road, and he walked through in a twists and turns.
, then the shade of the bamboo forest disappeared, and the sun flooded my body.
Ye Long finally finished arranging the work, but his body was really a little sore, so he deliberately stopped and basked in the sun with peace of mind.
"What?" Ye Long heard the thumping noise on the stone road behind him, but he never looked back.
"Is there someone from the court?" Ye Long immediately woke up after hearing the man's report. In a blink of an eye, he walked to the door. There were two stout men wrapped in black robes - they came back to congratulate him on his promotion.
Two of them. They laughed at Ye Long, and Ye Long also smiled slightly and slowly walked down the stone steps. "Are the two messengers here to repair the ancestral hall?"
"Exactly. How dare we forget Mr. Ye's instructions and go through a lot of twists and turns to get it done! When we first told the emperor, the emperor said that we should consider it... so we went to invite the general. After the general persuaded the emperor, the emperor
That’s why I agreed.”
"Which general? He speaks so eloquently..." Ye Long looked up at them, and the two of them laughed: "You don't know, he is the son of Liu Liwen, the Marquis of Dengzhou, named Liu Zhennian; you are not in the official position.
At that time, General Liu marched southward and defeated the barbarians. He petitioned for peace and strengthened the power of the Celestial Empire, so he was promoted to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of the Gyeonggi Province. This kind of thing... I would like to ask him."
"What does a man in charge of soldiers do?" Ye Long muttered a few words.
The two men continued: "Finally, we have decided to go to the province to give your eldest brother the posthumous title of 'Zhongjing', so that the plaque of 'Ye Zhongjing Gong's Temple' can be hung."
"Also, Mr. Ye has been appointed the censor of Zuodu for a long time, and he should go to Beijing." After hearing this, Ye Long sighed and said, "I don't know about the official business. I haven't finished the work at the ancestral hall, and I have to catch up with some recent affairs at home.
, I can’t make time. But since the emperor is urging me, I don’t want to disobey the imperial court. I can leave in about five days. However, you also have a lot of work. If you want to bring me to Beijing quickly, you can understand that."
The two big men looked at each other, then smiled and said to Ye Long: "If the emperor can afford to wait, the little people can also afford to wait. Your family is the largest mansion in Jinan, and the food must be good. If there is no official business, we would like to stay here
This will stay for half my life." Ye Long laughed for a while, and immediately shouted to his servants: "Come into the house and prepare meals, so that you can comfort the two officers!"
"Sir, I'm leaving. I asked you to go out and see me off." A servant bowed and reported to the study. Ye Yongjia was still reading without moving his eyes, and he didn't respond. He only focused on reading his sage's writings.
Cheng stood up from Yuanma and said, "Go back and tell the master first, and he will be back in a while. I will take him out." The man obeyed and did as he was told.
Cheng Congyuan turned around and pulled Ye Yongjia, and persuaded: "I have been locked up for a few days, but I am still not stable. What is he going to do about this? Let's go." Ye Yongjia snorted reluctantly, stood up and looked.
Cheng Congyuan stood there for a while, feeling full of resentment. He wanted to curse a few words, but after thinking about it, he decided not to go out together. When he stepped out, he saw ladders set up on the doorposts on both sides, and several people were standing high.
A new plaque was nailed everywhere, "Zhongjing Gong Temple"; Ye Long gave orders at the door. Ye Yongjia had bowed to salute early, but Ye Long didn't say anything; so he just bent there, frozen.
"Master." Cheng Congyuan said in a reminding tone. "Oh..." Ye Long lowered his head and looked at Ye Yongjia with his peripheral vision, "Is he honest? Or... he was eager to come out after hearing about the new residence?"
Cheng Congyuan glanced at Ye Yongjia and responded quickly: "In the past few days, my son has been diligently reading the articles of saints and sages. He also wrote a few decent articles for his father to read." After saying this, he trotted to think.
Returning to the house, he suddenly heard his father speak again, so he turned around and stood still, his face ashen.
"There's no need to take it. Cheng Congyuan taught me really well." Before he could finish his words, Cheng Congyuan's knees fell to the ground with a "pop", his eyes full of determination:
"Whatever the master has to say, I will not defend myself if I doubt my servant. But I have been with the master for so many years and I have never given him any opportunistic ideas, let alone written any articles on his behalf."
Ye Long realized that his words were serious and hurriedly pulled Cheng Congyuan's arm: "Get up quickly. I didn't mean this. You are a loyal and strict person, and everyone in the government knows it. How can I doubt you? I'm just
I said it in a moment of anger, because I was angry with this unfilial son for not caring about it!" Cheng Congyuan stood up following Ye Long's force, and did not forget to look back at Ye Yongjia and saw him raising his head indifferently and looking around; then he looked forward at Ye Yongjia.
Long, he had already arranged the sedan chair and helped several servants get on it. Cheng Congyuan strode forward and grabbed the curtain of the sedan chair.
Ye Long leaned forward and asked what was going on. Cheng Congyuan said, "Master, are you going to Beijing?"
"That's right."
"After moving to Qihe, who will take care of all the household affairs?"
"My wife has never been able to take care of things. Now she is getting older and it's time to enjoy her life. You have to do the hard work for the family." Cheng Congyuan lowered the curtain, but Ye Yongjia shouted from behind: "Father, have a safe trip!
Father, please be careful in court! When father comes back, you will see that your son has won the imperial examination!"
For some reason, Cheng Congyuan watched the sedan go away. When he heard Ye Yongjia's last words, he couldn't help feeling weak and sweating on his body, as if a knife had been stabbed viciously in his heart, which actually hurt. He covered his head
After returning home, Ye Yongjia asked confusedly what was going on, and his answer was dazzling.
When Cheng Congyuan returned to the house, his lofty status made the ordinary servants dare not disobey him. When Cheng Congyuan gave orders, they all stood up and started to do it. But Cheng Congyuan knew his duty well and still stood by to ask the old lady.
When she and Ye Yongjia made requests, the old lady naturally nodded in agreement.
Cheng Congyuan wrote a list and assigned three groups of people to move things according to the list. In less than three days, all the things that needed to be moved arrived at Qihe's new residence, and then Ye Yongjia and others were allowed to get up. Cheng Congyuan
Then he went to the new house first, checked the list, and arranged for someone to move the things in. When the work was done, he stepped out to greet Ye Yongjia - Ye Yongjia happened to be here.
"Mr. Cheng, thank you for your hard work."
"What's the matter? Come in and take a rest."
"The matter of building an ancestral hall..."
"You don't need to worry about me," Cheng Congyuan said with a steady smile, "I sent someone to supervise the work of the ancestral hall before I left. There are enough people there, so there will be no delay in the work on both sides."
Ye Yongjia sighed: "Mr. Cheng is so thoughtful in his work!"
They walked through the bamboo forest path and took a few shortcuts through the side entrance. The names on the way, such as Zhai, Yuan, etc., all followed the original names, but they did not notice any general difference with the house in Jinan.
After parting, Ye Yongjia sat in the meeting room where guests were entertained, listening to Cheng Congyuan's requests for instructions back and forth. It seemed that after his father left, the whole family was more united. Although he could enjoy himself as much as he wanted, Qiuyue's imperial examination was gradually approaching, so he could only do what he did before.
Study harder.
Cheng Congyuan was naturally very busy. He not only had to deal with official matters during the day and night, but also squeezed out time to teach Ye Yongjia how to learn calligraphy. The old lady advised him to entrust some things to his servants, but Cheng Congyuan firmly opposed: "
Your Ye family has been sincere to me for more than forty years, and I wish I could do it until I die!"
On the last day before the examination, Ye Yongjia stayed up until midnight and turned off the lights. Before going to bed, Cheng Congyuan did not forget to take a few piles of manuscripts from the students, saying that he wanted to see how the articles were written. Ye Yongjia didn't think much about it.
, handed it to him directly. Cheng Congyuan showed some hesitation in his eyes, and after a while he took the manuscript with his rough hands.
He quickly returned to the room where he rested, held a candlestick to the corner, and lit it. The faint yellow light illuminated the manuscript he was holding in his other hand. Cheng Congyuan read it roughly several times.
I didn't dare to speak out, but I sighed heavily in my heart.
But there is always a way. Cheng Congyuan thought about it, staring at the candle with wandering eyes.
…
Ye Yongjia woke up when the rooster crowed. He hurriedly changed his clothes and ran to the meeting room. When he saw Cheng Congyuan outside, he hurriedly bowed and went to the room to meet his mother. After drinking a few sips of tea, he hurriedly went on the road.
Followed by a few slaves - sent by Cheng Congyuan himself. Ye Yongjia urged his horse to go on the road. The sun was rising little by little in front of his eyes. He entrusted all his hopes to it: he only hoped that his good luck would follow the sun.
The scientific examination has not yet started, but there are already crowds of people outside. Ye Yongjia dismounted, and several servants around him stared at the surroundings with vigilance. "Okay. I'm not an important member of the court, where is the danger? No need to put on airs for me.
." The servants lowered their heads. Ye Yongjia sat on the stage at the door, and several people gathered around to talk. They were all talking about the imperial court's strict ban on all living things. Ye Yongjia just listened to the story, as if it had nothing to do with him. After all, he
After gaining fame, such nasty things still won't happen.
Not long after, it was announced that the candidates had entered, and Ye Yongjia entered the room. The people outside locked the door. As soon as Ye Yongjia started writing, he remembered the embarrassing incident, and said, "I know it is unfair and I have done it as soon as possible."
The title is written very briskly.
After a few days of exams, although Ye Yongjia was idle in his apartment, he still pretended to study, his voice was louder than usual, and he pretended to be extremely calm when doing things, but he was very uneasy in his heart. He was afraid that what he said to his father was a lie, and he would be angry when he came back.
, he had to lock himself up for a few more days. However, a quick knock on the door made Ye Yongjia relieved. He loudly ordered his servants to open the door. He strode forward and saw a solemn-looking policeman holding a hand tightly.
The big red newspaper poster was extremely dazzling in the sun. Ye Yongjia could hardly open his eyes. Joy quickly jumped from his heart to his face, and he could not suppress the ecstatic expression at all. He knelt on the ground hard and saw
The slowly opening poster, the large gold embroidered characters, and the messenger's crown and ribbon were all so eye-catching... He didn't remember the contents of the poster at all, as if he was half asleep, and everything was a little confused. But he still didn't forget it.
After placing the incense table and offering the report, he kowtowed devoutly and handed it over to the messenger. Ye Yongjia didn't want to stay for a moment longer, so he hurriedly found the stable, informed his slaves, and started running around regardless of official and unofficial ways.
The news that Ye Yongjia was elected spread like wildfire, and the people didn't comment much. On the contrary, some noble families in Jinan Prefecture hated it. Although they still sent people to celebrate it in order to save their face, they still slandered it.
Ye Longyuan was in the capital. After hearing about this, he still found time to write a letter to his family. Cheng Congyuan opened the letter and read loudly: "Hearing about the affairs of the family, I am honored by the list. I can't say how happy I am. I can only bathe in Shun."
, what I thought... This boy is stubborn and has no special skills, but he is very knowledgeable in literature, and he taught it with pen when he was young, and he actually wrote a book by himself... He is disobedient and unworthy, but he succeeded in the first try. He did not use the power of Shun, so what else can he do?
?In ancient times, a gentleman was called a gentleman. He was righteous in virtue, regardless of his superiority or inferiority. He was worried about his family when he was bathing in Shun, but he was still concerned about education. He was able to coordinate education and family. Isn’t that what he is?... I tried my best to comfort Yun Shun, and don’t let Shun down.
..." Cheng Congyuan's eyes were red, a few tears rolled out of his eyes, and his voice was slightly sobbing, but he didn't let himself cry loudly, so he flicked a few tears away and slowly put down the letter.
, ordered his servants:
"Master has been so kind to me, so I must treat him benevolently and righteously... If you are going to advocate paving the road, well, you have to line up for ten miles, all covered with red satin, to show me that this is the Ye family!"
It only took Ye Yongjia half a day to arrive at Qihe from Jinan. The ceremonial procession invited by Cheng Congyuan had already been arranged. They were draped in red satin, which looked like sporadic flames in the sunlight. He saw a few horses in the distance gradually approaching the official road.
He immediately raised his hand and picked up the sheng. Standing in front of the earth wall, there were rows of shengs, about dozens of them.
But the sound was not noisy, it was played in an orderly manner, and Benrou's sheng suddenly played in unison, becoming so sonorous and powerful. As soon as Ye Yongjia approached, the honor guards dispersed, surrounding Ye Yongjia on the left and right, playing the sheng to clear the way;
Gongs, Xiao's ceremonial guard, and then Sheng's ceremonial guard appeared, followed by many teams. As soon as they saw the way coming, they all gave way. Several groups of fire retreated layer by layer, moved closer to the walls on both sides, and turned into two burning lines.
Red fire dragons, shengs and other objects gleamed like dragons' golden lins; those golden lins shook, and three kinds of music sang simultaneously, low and majestic. The people outside the earthen wall seemed so different amidst the vocal music and the fire array.
They all huddled together, yelling and shoving.
When he arrived at the Ye Mansion, he heard someone coughing a few times in the house. Suddenly, all the music was extinguished and the fire gradually subsided - Cheng Congyuan walked steadily out of the gate.
He saw Cheng Congyuan's face was livid at first glance. For some reason, Cheng Congyuan had already changed his expression and smiled briskly: "...Look at my way of celebrating, okay?" Ye Yongjia also looked proud and said seriously.
After landing, he held the horse with one hand and said with a smile: "I have never seen the scene you arranged in my life! But Mr. Cheng is such a frugal person, are these ceremonial guards too expensive?"
Cheng Congyuan curled his lips and said, "Oh, master, I just want to be happy. I have a sense of proportion in these things!" After saying that, he asked again: "I wonder what the order will be when the list is released?"
Ye Yongjia couldn't remember it for a moment, so he said vaguely: "I only remember what I wrote about connecting the provinces and joints. After the examiner read my article, he seemed a little uncomfortable and a little angry... But I still earned a scholarship!"
Cheng Congyuan was about to go back home, and seemed to be thinking about something. Unexpectedly, he didn't look at the road well. His feet slipped, his waist flashed, and he was about to fall face to the ground. Ye Yongjia stepped forward in a hurry and pulled Cheng Congyuan's feet.
After sliding up a few steps and finally standing, Ye Yongjia asked Cheng Congyuan with concern. Mr. Cheng was so frightened that he was out of breath and panicked - he almost hit his head on the threshold.
"It's okay! I won the prize, I'm so happy!" Cheng Congyuan dusted off his dark cloth, laughed and walked towards the house.
Since the young master of the Ye family was elected, the hospitality affairs in the palace have become complicated: officials from the Jinan area frequently come to congratulate them, and there are also some poor people in the same year to fawn over. Ye Yongjia is very annoyed by these interactions, and he has not seen the magistrates several times.
If he couldn't refuse, he would just ask his servants to do the work. Later, it was Cheng Congyuan's earnest words that made him adapt slowly, but in the end he was still a little bored.
This Ye Mansion should be managed by Cheng Congyuan! Ye Yongjia thought this way when he got angry.
Ye Long came back about ten to twenty days later. He couldn't help but be happy, but even though he was happy, he kept a straight face. When he walked home, he scolded Ye Yongjia first and said: "Don't think that taking the exam will be easy. You don't have to work hard."
Read it. If you are still as busy studying and doing things as before, you should be locked up for a year, not just for a month!"
Ye Yongjia responded humbly. Ye Long glanced at Cheng Congyuan again and immediately smiled: "Thanks to Yu Shun for everything in this family. There are a lot of people here these days, right?"
"There are a lot of people coming these days, but it's all the young master who comes out to deal with them. I'm just busy serving them." Cheng Congyuan deliberately put the credit on his master.
Ye Long heard this and looked at Ye Yongjia intentionally.
His son was so anxious that he sweated, and the sweat flashed on his cheeks. He couldn't help but smile and explain: "This is also Mr. Cheng's fault."
Ye Yongjia really didn't want to stay here. He waited until his father asked him all over and got up to leave before he dared to wipe the sweat on his face with his sleeves. He originally wanted to go out with a few slaves for a while, but looking at it now, he had no choice but to go again.