554 The Number One Scholar is Here
Erqiang drove the carriage directly to the gate of the largest house in the middle of the village and stopped.
"Ping An, this is the clan leader's home. Sunjia Village is big, with fifty or sixty households and four or five hundred people. It is twice as big as a normal small village." Sun Hongyu said, "In recent years, with the money provided by the Sun family and the clan land purchased by the Sun family, the boys and girls in the village are getting married, and other villages are vying for it."
Ping'an helped his uncle get off the car. It was breakfast time and there was not much going on in the village in winter. When they saw the carriage coming, many people quickly gathered around.
Sun Hongyu was busy greeting people he knew.
"Hongyu, you came back to celebrate the Winter Solstice, and you brought many people with you." said an old man in his fifties or sixties.
"Brother Hongyi, I just had breakfast. The weather has been nice these days, so I brought Changsheng and the kids back to add some soil to the grave."
As soon as he finished speaking, a man in his forties came out supporting an old man in his seventies. Although they said "supporting", the old man actually looked healthy and in good health.
"Hongyu, you're back?"
"Uncle clan leader, you look better and better. I brought Changsheng back to celebrate the winter solstice. This is Changsheng's eldest son Ping'an, who is also Sicheng's apprentice. This is the second son Pingxuan."
Ping An and his brother bowed to the old man and said, "Ping An and his brother greet you."
The clan leader on the other side suddenly became excited: "Ping An, you are the Wenquxing Ping An, Hongguang, you are this year's top scholar, come, come and have a seat at home."
Such a Wenquxing must be invited to our home to have a visit. It would be good to have some luck with him. My grandson is over 20 years old, but he still hasn't passed the examination to become a scholar. Unfortunately, he is now in the county school, and it may be too late for him to come back.
Ping An looked at his uncle.
Sun Hongyu said, "Uncle clan leader, we brought back a pig. The pork was bought by Changsheng and Ping'an. Please help divide it up. Each family can get a little. It's not a big deal. It's just a token of our appreciation. There are also some candies for the children."
The clan leader smiled and said, "Hongyu, you don't have to be so polite when you go home in the future. How can you spend so much money? Forget it this time. Hongguang, you will bring people to divide the money later. Just divide it according to the households. Give more to those with more people, so that each family can get some of the luck and talent of the top scholar."
Ping An sighed in his heart, what does pork have to do with his talent or luck, it’s just some money.
Soon everyone in the village gathered around, and the top scholar entered the village.
Seeing that several clan elders were present, Sun Hongyu simply distributed the gifts he had brought at the clan leader's house. Everyone was delighted and smiling at the free gifts.
Sicheng's apprentice is here, and we have to treat him well today. I heard that Sicheng loves this apprentice more than his son, not to mention that he is his son-in-law.
Wan Changsheng was so surprised by the enthusiasm that he didn't know what to do. The last time he accompanied his uncle home, he hadn't been back for many years and had never been treated like this.
Half an hour later.
Sun Hongyu then took the brothers Changsheng and Ping'an to the cemetery. The village chief also brought people to follow behind, saying that they would help clear the way.
It was agreed that we would have lunch at the clan leader's house. The meat was ready, and there was no shortage of chickens and ducks. The village chief also asked the second son to drive to the county school to call back his son and nephew. It would be good to get acquainted with the top scholar.
In the spring, Wan Changsheng came back with his uncle to worship. At that time, they cleaned the path very well. Now it is overgrown with weeds again. Thanks to the village chief who brought many people, the path was cleaned up in a short time.
Sun Hongyu led Ping'an and the others to their ancestral grave: "Ping'an, Pingxuan, my grandparents are buried here. The ones behind are my parents. They died when I was 20 years old. The last one is your great-aunt. She died a few years after she got married."
Lin Feng and Er Qiang helped to arrange the offerings.
Wan Changsheng, Ping'an and Pingxuan performed the kneeling ceremony as juniors, and Sun Hongyu burst into tears.
Grandparents, parents and wife, I used to be a lonely person, so much so that I didn't want to come back to the North for many years. Now I have a lively family, and you don't have to worry about me being alone in my old age.
Pingxuan looked at his uncle with tears streaming down his face, and he also started crying, while handing a handkerchief to his uncle and asking him to wipe his tears.
Ping An helped his uncle up: "Don't be sad. As long as I have time, I will come back with you to pay my respects. Now you have a big family with us, and my great grandfather and his family will feel at ease."
The village chief was stunned not far away.
The handsome top scholar, who is as handsome as a god, actually treats his cousin Hongyu as his own grandfather. It seems that what Chun said when he came here is true.
In the future, the clan will spend money to hire people to clean up the road every year so that people won’t feel disappointed.
An hour later, they went down the mountain and arrived at the clan leader's house. The clan leader's two grandsons had already returned from the county school. Also returning with them were seven other teenagers from the village who were studying in the county school.
The oldest of the nine people is the village chief’s son Qiren. He is already twenty-one this year and has taken the college entrance examination for several years, but has always failed.
The other eight were also students of the Tongsheng school, and none of them was a scholar.
Ping'an wanted to help his uncle save face, so while lunch was not ready yet, he sat in the yard to bask in the sun and asked a few people about their knowledge, teaching them some things while asking.
The clan leaders and elders in the main hall lowered their voices one by one, or even stopped talking, and just listened quietly to the peaceful and pleasant lecture.
It was a really good talk. Even though they didn't understand it, they knew it was quite good. All nine boys were fascinated by it.
A large part of the silver given by Baicaotang every year was spent on the clan school. Many students passed the examination, but there was still no scholar. Everyone dreamed of having a few scholars in the village, preferably juren, and jinshi would be even better.
Ping An's lecture lasted for most of an hour. The knowledge of these nine people was decent for students, but their poems and essays were very stiff. It was probably because of this problem that their teacher had.
After Ping'an's teaching, the nine students all felt enlightened, as if they understood a lot of things. It's a pity that they couldn't always listen to the teachings of the top scholar, otherwise a scholar would be of little use, and they could also pass the examination to become a juren.
In the afternoon, Ping An and his entourage went to the county town with the farewell of the whole village.
Sun Hongyu's eyes were full of smiles: "Ping An's voice is hoarse today, how are they studying?"
"Uncle, they are just students. Their knowledge is quite solid, but their essays and poems are very average. They need to practice hard. Sunjia Village has no shortage of money for studying, so we can always produce a few scholars, but it is difficult to pass the imperial examination in a short time."
What Ping An didn't know was that after he left, the nine scholars acted like fools and sighed repeatedly.
"Grandfather, father, the top scholar's knowledge is so great. He taught us for an hour and we felt that we understood a lot and found some ways to study. It's a pity that we can't listen to his teachings all the time. What a pity."
The old patriarch sighed.
He is already an official in the Hanlin Academy. Even if he is not an official, it is impossible for him to always come to teach them.
"Dad, I heard Zhuangyuanlang say when I was in the mountains that as long as he has time in the future, he will accompany cousin Hongyu back to pay homage. They treat cousin Hongyu like their own father and grandfather, and they are extremely filial.
In this way, if Qiguang and the others can pass the examination, they can go to Jinghua Academy or the Imperial Academy to study. If we have a good relationship with cousin Hongyu, there is still a chance. Next time they come back, we can try to keep them longer and give them more guidance. This is the top scholar."
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