In early April of the 11th year of Hongde's reign, Mr. Shen, who had been busy at the Ministry of War for two and a half months, finally got some free time and returned to Jiangdu with his family to visit relatives.
This time I went back to my hometown, firstly to visit my mother's grave, and secondly, to take Shen Yuan to worship at the Shen family ancestral hall. If everything goes well, I can also settle my younger brother Shen Heng's marriage.
This time, not only Shen Zhang, but Shen Yi's family of three, and Shen Heng, who worked at the Hanlin Academy, also took leave of absence and followed Shen Yi back to his hometown.
Jiankang is very close to Jiangdu, only about 200 miles away. Shen Yi and his family sat in a carriage and hurried faster, arriving at Jiangdu in just two days.
Because Shen Hui was notified of this trip in advance, the "eldest master" of the Shen family was very happy. He took more than a hundred people from the Shen family ten miles out of the city to greet them, beating gongs and drums all the way, and brought the Shen brothers back.
to the Shen family mansion.
This is the house built by Shen Yi's great-grandfather, the foreign minister of the Ministry of Industry, after he became rich. It is already the ancestral home of the Shen family.
Of course, this house has nothing to do with Shen Yi's family now. It is the property of the main family, that is, uncle Shen Hui.
However, Master Shen and his brother Shen Heng have achieved far better achievements than their great-grandfather, and their branch of the Shen family has far surpassed the main line.
Uncle Shen Hui, when he saw the two brothers Shen Yi, his face lit up with excitement, and he deliberately took the brothers around Jiangdu City beating gongs and drums. When Shen Hui wanted to go around for a second time, Shen Yi was
Was stopped.
It was already approaching noon, and Mr. Shen said with a smile: "Uncle, lunch is about to come, so let's go home to eat first."
Mr. Shen, a doctor in the Ministry of War, may not be very prominent in the Jiankang court, but in the land of Jiangdu, he can be described as having a high position and authority. His words naturally have weight in the Shen family. Shen Hui
Although he wanted to continue showing off, when he heard what Shen Yi said, he could only smile and nod, and took the brothers home.
Not long after I arrived home and finished my meal, the prefect of Jiangdu and the county magistrate of Jiangdu came to visit me.
The prefect of Jiangdu is a local official of the fourth rank. In theory, he is one rank higher than Shen Yi, a doctor of the fifth rank. However, Mr. Shen is a doctor of the Ministry of War with the rank of middle-ranked doctor of the fourth rank, so he is on the same level as the prefect of Jiangdu, plus the official of the capital.
Born to be "nobler" than local officials, the fresh-faced Jiangdu prefect was extremely polite when he saw Shen Yi, calling him "Mr. Shen" one after another, extremely polite.
As for the officials of Jiangdu County Government, naturally there is no need to say more.
In the officialdom, no matter how big an official you are, you must try your best to maintain a good relationship with the officials in your hometown. Otherwise, if they are in charge, they will just move their fingers and make your family miserable.
Therefore, Mr. Shen also gave the Jiangdu magistrate a lot of face, calling him by the prefectural title.
When strangers meet in officialdom, the main purpose is to compliment each other.
After all the compliments, the guests and hosts were naturally happy. Master Shen and the Jiangdu magistrate sat together and chatted for most of an hour before the governor left with satisfaction.
At this time, it is already afternoon.
In the afternoon, uncle Shen Hui took brothers Shen Yi, Shen Heng, and Shen Yi's son Shen Yuan to the Shen family ancestral hall to worship their ancestors.
The Shen family is a big family in Jiangdu, and the ancestral hall used to be quite large, but now that it has been renovated, it is even more grand.
What is more conspicuous is that two new archways have been added at the entrance of the Shen Family Ancestral Hall.
One has the words "Hanlin Family" written on it.
On the other one, there are four large golden characters written on it.
"Jinshi passed!"
Compared with the former, the Jinshi and the fourth character have much higher gold content and are more eye-catching.
Mr. Shen pointed to the Jinshi and Di memorial arch, smiled at Shen Heng beside him and said, "Zichang Guangzong has honored his ancestors."
Shen Heng raised his head and stared at the plaque on the archway for a long time, his eyes filled with light.
For scholars of this era, these four words are the ultimate dream.
For the children of the gentry in this era, the four words "Guangzong Yaozu" are even higher than life and death.
When he was in Jiankang, Shen Heng didn't feel much. Now when he saw this Jinshi and Difang, his whole body started to tremble slightly with excitement.
Mr. Shen silently patted his younger brother on the shoulder and said softly: "Calm down."
"What is in the past is in the past. Just keep it in your heart. Don't always live on this plaque."
Shen Heng woke up from his dream. After a long time, his emotions slowly calmed down. He bowed his head slightly and said to Shen Yi, "Thank you, brother, for your teaching."
Shen Yi said "hmm" and followed Shen Hui and Shen Zhang into the Shen family's ancestral hall to worship their ancestors.
The procedure of worshiping ancestors is very complicated. A group of people worked hard for nearly an hour before the procedure was completed. At this time, the time was already late.
After coming out of the ancestral hall, Shen Zhang took the brothers Shen Yi and Shen Yuan to worship Shen's mother's grave.
Shen's mother's tomb has been renovated according to the specifications of the Fifth Grade Imperial Order. It looks much better than before. The two brothers knelt down in front of their mother's grave and kowtowed respectfully to her.
After the two of them kowtowed, Shen Yi asked Shen Yuan to come forward and kowtow to his grandmother.
By the time I finished paying homage to my mother, it was almost dark.
Shen Zhang looked at the two brothers and said, "Your uncle held a family banquet at the ancestral home. There were more than a dozen tables of people present. It's getting late. Let's go back to the banquet."
Shen Yi glanced at his father, shook his head slightly and said, "Dad, please go back with me. My son is taking Yuan'er to spend the night at Ganquan Academy tonight."
"Qingque has already left in advance."
Shen Zhang's eyes widened and he said: "How can you not go to a family banquet with so many people coming? If others know about it, they will say behind your back that you have become an official, and you will no longer agree with the clan members!"
"There's no point in going there."
Shen Yi shook his head slightly and said: "Moreover, my son is now in charge of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War, and he has a lot of power. After he returns, he will inevitably be entangled by others."
"Dad, just go there often with your son."
Mr. Shen smiled and said: "He is a Jinshi of Sandingjia. If you take him here, he will be more respectable than me."
Shen Heng glanced at Shen Yi helplessly, smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, please don't make fun of me."
Shen Yi bowed his head slightly to his father and said, "Dad, if anyone asks about me, just say that I caught the cold and am recuperating at home."
Shen Zhang frowned and said, "That's nonsense. What kind of disease can you get from me?"
As parents, we always don’t want our children to get sick.
Even talking about it won't do.
Shen Heng on the side persuaded in a low voice: "Dad, you have been living in Jiankang these past few months. You should know how many people came to see my brother during this period. It would be fine if more than a dozen of us sit together for dinner. Ten
How many tables are there…”
At this point, Shen Zichang snorted and said, "Uncle, he didn't even say hello in advance."
He pulled Shen Zhang and said, "Okay dad, I'll accompany you to the ancestral home, and don't let those people harass eldest brother."
Shen Zhang naturally supported his son's career. Hearing this, he sighed and stopped insisting. He followed his younger son back to the Shen family's ancestral home.
Shen Yi, on the other hand, hugged his eldest son Shen Yuan, got on the carriage, and ran towards Ganquan Academy outside the city.
By the time the father and son arrived at the gate of Ganquan Academy, it was almost completely dark.
Shen Yi's carriage stopped at the gate of the academy. Mr. Shen held his eldest son in his arms and said with a smile: "We are going to see grandpa soon. Are you happy?"
Shen Yuan now has no problem speaking, but the last time he saw Mr. Lu, he was only a few months old and had no idea about his grandfather, so he followed Shen Yi's words and nodded ignorantly: "
Happy."
Master Shen smiled when he heard this and carried his eldest son into Ganquan Academy.
Master Lu lives in the backyard of the academy, which is still a long way from the front door. However, Master Lu already knew that Shen Yi was coming. As soon as Shen Yi entered the front yard, Master Lu greeted him. Before Shen Yi could salute, Master Lu gave him a hand
He hugged his grandson with a smile on his face.
"Let grandpa take a good look at your grandson."
Shen Yi smiled at the side and said to Mr. Lu, "I have met my father-in-law."
Master Lu, who was somewhat thin, held his grandson firmly in his arms. He glanced at Shen Yi and said with a smile: "Isn't Ziheng the head of the Military Selection Department in the Ministry of War? He should be very busy. He has to do it no matter what.
Kong has returned to Jiangdu?"
"Come back and take your children to worship your mother and visit your father-in-law."
Having said this, Mr. Shen sighed helplessly.
"I can come back now when I have free time. In a few days, my son-in-law may..."
Having said this, Shen Yi paused and looked around. When he saw that there was no one nearby, he said softly.
