(This was posted last night, but it never passed the review, so I had to delete it and repost it. Please help me testify that I am not lying)
There were no powerful families in the Song Dynasty, but there were still real big families. In Meizhou, the Cheng family was the real big family. Starting from Su Shi's great-grandfather, the Cheng family had served as officials for three consecutive generations. At least in Meizhou, they were considered to be noble officials.
Already.
Although the Su family is not poor, it is very different from the Cheng family. The reason why these two families were able to marry was because Cheng Jun, the head of the Cheng family, and Su Shi's uncle Su Huan were both Jinshi in the same discipline.
If it were in other places, this kind of relationship with the same subject might not be enough to bridge the gap between the two families. But in the Song Dynasty, the history of Sichuan and Shu was half a history of blood and tears. A few years after the founding of the country, even survival was a problem, and how could we talk about it?
What kind of culture and education? So it was not until the Tianxi reign of Zhenzong that a man named Sun could reach the rank of Jinshi.
Meizhou waited for another twenty years before Su Huan and Cheng Jun passed the exam. When the news came, the whole state was really celebrating, and the procession to welcome them back home was endless and grand.
It is so unprecedented that future generations cannot even understand it.
It was under this background that the Cheng family, already a prominent official in the family, condescended to marry the Su family. Cheng Jun's sister Jiuniang married Su Huan's younger brother Su Xun... At that time, Cheng Jun
Everyone believed that since the Su family had a Jinshi, it would be easy for them to achieve great success. What's more, although the Su family at that time was not a big family, it was also a large landowner with extensive land.
Who knows, more than ten years have passed, and instead of becoming prosperous, the Su family has become more and more miserable... The three brothers Su Huan himself is a well-known upright official, but it is difficult to travel abroad, let alone Zhou Ji brothers. But they stay in
Two brothers, Su Dan and Su Xun from Meishan, one worked in farming and the other failed in exams many times. Naturally, they were looked down upon by others.
On the other hand, the Cheng family became more and more prosperous as Cheng Jun's official position grew bigger and bigger. Now Cheng Jun has been appointed as Kuizhou Road Transport Envoy... "Road" is a first-level division in the Song Dynasty, equivalent to a province in later generations. The entire
Sichuan and Shu were divided into four roads, and the highest official of each road was the transfer envoy. Kuizhou Road was later referred to as "Yu", and its importance is self-evident.
This is also the largest cadre produced in Shu so far...
"The Cheng family is not only the first family in Meizhou," Chen Xiliang introduced when seeing his son's interest, "it is also the richest man in Meizhou."
"What do they rely on to make a fortune?" Chen Ke was not surprised. With such a powerful family, it was difficult not to make a fortune.
"I don't know the specifics." Chen Xiliang said: "I only know that the Cheng family has extensive land and manor, and it seems that the Cheng family is related to relatives, and many people are merchants." The so-called merchants refer to those engaged in salt, iron, wine, etc.
Merchants who trade goods... Although these state-monopolized goods are nominally sold by the government, the government is a government agency and cannot do business in person. Therefore, this power must be entrusted to certain individuals or firms, who will sell the goods on their behalf.
The businessman who is entrusted with the power is called a queshang.
The merchants sell the most profitable products and are backed by the government, but without a strong background, ordinary businessmen cannot even think of getting involved in this happiest business.
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Chen Ke's eyelids jumped when he heard the word "discussing business". He blurted out and asked: "Does the Cheng family discuss wine?"
"I don't know, I guess I'm wondering." Chen Xiliang said uncertainly, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing..." Chen Ke knew what the next year would mean to Chen Xiliang, so he was not prepared to tell the truth about Huang Jiaojiu. Otherwise, with his father's character, he would not be able to take the exam with peace of mind.
"Although the Cheng family is rich and powerful, they are not a good match." Chen Xiliang did not think much and continued: "This is not to belittle them. Just look at the three boys of the Cheng family..." Thinking of talking about people behind their backs, it is not As a gentleman would do, he abruptly stopped talking, slapped his son on the forehead and said, "Why tell you this is irrelevant." He chuckled and said, "However, Su Laoquan mentioned that the younger sister of the Su family is not yet married. How about my father appointing you?"
"Thank you for your kindness..." Chen Ke shook his head like a rattle and said: "My child heard that 'it is a virtue to marry a wife'. What does it mean? It means finding a stupid wife. I heard...I heard from Su Che that he This sister is amazing, and she is even more talented than him. I don’t want to do brain teasers all day long, and have to write poems and lyrics to answer questions. If I don’t do it right, I will be laughed at in all kinds of ways... What kind of dignity does a man have when he marries such a wife? ?”
"..." Seeing Chen Ke's reaction so strongly, Chen Xiliang couldn't help but laugh. Does he look like a child now? But he dared not agree: "You may have preconceived ideas. The daughter taught by Mrs. Cheng will not be like you imagined."
"Then let others enjoy it." Chen Ke's thinking was very clear: "I just want to marry someone stupid..." He wanted to go on to say, "I can marry as many wives as I can," but this The words really didn't make sense, so I changed them to: "It makes me look smart."
"Hahahaha..." Chen Xiliang was so amused that he burst into laughter and said, "Come on, my father will find you a stupid wife. Don't cry when the time comes."
"I still hope I can find it myself..." Chen Ke said seriously.
"Don't think about it." Chen Xiliang felt that this topic should not be continued, so he flicked his forehead again and said: "Go and comfort the second brother, don't let him really jump."
"Oh..." Chen Ke walked to the stern of the boat and sat down side by side with Erlang, whose feet were dangling on the water. He saw his resentful eyes: "Do you still have any sympathy? I am sad!"
"What's so sad?" Chen Ke picked up a pebble on the boat and threw it into the water: "If I were you, I would never give up easily!"
"Why don't you give up?"
"Isn't she not married yet? There is hope even if she is not married!" Chen Ke threw another piece, and this time it missed. He proudly raised his right fist and said: "To say the least, even if you are married, There is hope too.”
"How can there be hope after getting married?" Erlang said with wide eyes.
"Divorce was not uncommon in the Song Dynasty," Chen Ke said with great experience: "Can a third party intervene?"
"This is all such a mess." Erlang said depressedly, "They are childhood sweethearts' cousins. Can I get in there?"
"Then forget it."
"If it can be so simple, forget it, I don't deserve to say that I like her." Unexpectedly, Chen Erlang, who is usually gentle and honest, still has the seed of love.
After saying that, he patted his butt and tried to stand up. However, Chen Ke grabbed his arm and said, "If you don't want to give up, just go for it. Don't drag your feet and make people unhappy!"
"How can I fight for it? They are already engaged!" Chen Chen was going crazy.
"Even if it's marriage, I can help you get the bride back!" Chen Ke said angrily: "If the river hadn't been cold, I would have thrown you to wake up."
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Chen Xiliang's original intention was for Chen Ke to persuade Erlang that there is no grass anywhere in the world, so why not look for it in the Su family. If he heard it, Chen Ke would keep encouraging Erlang, and his nose would twist in anger.
Fortunately, all his attention at this time was on the square inkstone. Chen Xiliang wanted to open his bag and find some dry food to satisfy his hunger, but unexpectedly he touched this thing and took it out to take a look... The color of the square inkstone was like fish scales.
, with a shimmering light blue color. The stone is fine and smooth, with slightly exposed veins. It can make a pleasant sound when struck, which is obviously extraordinary.
"Where did this come from?" Chen Xiliang said solemnly, holding up the square inkstone.
"Su Laoer gave it to me," Chen Ke said, "He said it was dug out of his own land and was given to me as a thought."
"This prodigal!" Chen Xiliang scolded, but obviously not scolding Chen Ke: "You actually gave away such a mascot!"
"Does this Fang Yan have a good background?" Chen Ke asked curiously.
"Well, I've seen this inkstone before." Chen Xiliang nodded and said, "Su Laoquan said that Su Shi discovered it last year when he was digging the ground in the backyard for a play. He carefully ground the stone into an inkstone, and then he discovered that the stone not only
It is easy to ink and can keep the ground ink moist for a long time.”
"Su Shi showed it to his family, and they all said it was very good. Su Laoquan even praised it and said: 'This is a symbol of the knowledge God has given you. You should use it as a treasure!"
"Su Shi was really very fond of that precious inkstone. Even I only showed it once." Chen Xiliang pointed to the base of the inkstone and said, "Look, there is an inkstone inscribed by him here: 'Once you receive it, you will succeed.
, and cannot be changed. Either it is focused on virtue, or it is all about shape. It is both, take care of yourself and take it. With your lips raised and your feet raised, there are many in the world!'"
"This calligraphy is much better than yours." Chen Xiliang shook his head, but secretly shouted in his heart: 'Obviously he's a bit taller than me...' After saying that, he withdrew his admiring gaze and said in surprise: "So
Why would he give you something valuable?"
"Maybe it's because you like me." Chen Ke shook his head.
"I don't know if Su Laoquan knows." Chen Xiliang thought about it and chuckled: "That's all, let my son get a taste of literature, and Su Laoquan will give it to him again." After saying this, he put away the square inkstone,
While staring at Chen Ke, he said: "Having met Erlang of the Su family, does my son feel any pressure?"
"There is no pressure. He is more talented than anyone else. It doesn't matter if he has one more than me." Chen Ke thought about it and said slowly.
"Hey..." Chen Xiliang was so angry that he glared angrily and said, "How can my son, Chen Xiliang, be so cowardly before fighting?!"
"..." Chen Ke stopped replying, obviously disapproving.
"It seems..." Chen Xiliang is worthy of being an old ginger, and he immediately made up his mind and said: "We must let the Su family live in our home!" He knew very well that Chen Ke had a strong pride and strong will in his heart. He didn't believe it and Su Shi
Studying together, he can be willing to be too far behind.