Chapter 3494 Mr. Zhuang 9
So when he asked for an official position, even if the memorial reached the emperor, the emperor would throw it aside and ask the people from the Secretariat to approve it for him, telling him to take good care of his health at home, saying that it would be good for him to enjoy his grandchildren as he was old, and not to work hard outside.
Governor Du tried for many years but had to give up and placed his hopes on his son.
But his son is worse than him.
At least he became an official, but Du Dalang failed the imperial examination, was not selected for official rank, and the path of imperial favor was cut off. After many years of struggle, he gradually became an ordinary squire.
The father and son can only place their hopes on the next generation, but the next generation...
After much hardship, the grandson of Governor Du finally passed the examination and was admitted to the county school. Suddenly, he received the news that Zhuang Xun had been promoted to the position of Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince.
At first, Governor Du did not take it seriously, thinking it was just a case of having the same name and surname, until he ran into his former subordinate Wei Ping.
He was transferred to his provincial capital to serve as a governor. Wei Ping, who was previously just a soldier, was not only on an equal footing with him, but his status was even higher than his.
In fact, he was already above him, but they had a superior-subordinate relationship before, and Wei Ping treated him with courtesy, so he seemed noble. But if Wei Ping did not treat him with courtesy...
Although Wei Ping looked down on Governor Du and didn't like him, he still had to be polite on the surface.
He smiled and said, "I wonder if Mr. Du still remembers Mr. Zhuang?"
Governor Du not only recalled the incident of being dismissed from office and investigated, but also regretted driving Zhuang Xun away. Of course he remembered, but he refused to admit it. He smiled and said, "Governor Wei suddenly brought it up, and I couldn't remember who it was for a moment."
"Zhuang Xunmei, she used to be an aide to Lord Du. She has been by your side since you were a Sima, and has been helping you get to the position of Governor."
Seeing that he was tactless, Governor Du could only suppress his displeasure and said, "It's him. I remember now. What happened to him?"
"Mr. Du, don't you know? Mr. Zhuang has just been appointed by His Majesty as the Crown Prince's Junior Tutor and is now the Crown Prince's teacher."
Governor Du was stunned for a moment, and it took him a while to come back to his senses. "Zhuang Xun... is it him?"
"That's him."
"How is this possible?" The old Governor Du couldn't help but raise his voice sharply. "He plagiarized someone else's poem and was expelled from the capital. How could he possibly enter the court with such a stain?"
Wei Ping couldn't help but smile and said, "Others may not know, but Lord Du has employed him for many years. Doesn't he know Mr. Zhuang's character? That story must be false. I heard that the man who framed him has been dismissed from office and expelled from the capital. Although it's been so long that evidence is difficult to find, I think he will never be able to enter the capital again in his lifetime."
Governor Du's hands and feet were cold and he couldn't utter a word. The first thing he thought of was the contract he forced Zhuang Xun to sign many years ago.
His forehead was throbbing and his heart was beating a little fast.
Wei Ping saw that he looked unhappy, so he leaned back and smiled relaxedly, "Mr. Du has been focusing on taking care of his parents these years. I'm afraid he doesn't know that Mr. Zhuang is a late bloomer. After returning to his hometown, he took in three powerful apprentices. You must have heard of them. The chief one is Zhou Man from the Imperial Medical Bureau."
Governor Du said with difficulty, "The world-famous Dr. Zhou?"
"That's her," Wei Ping said with a smile, "She and Mr. Zhuang are from the same hometown, both from Luojiang County. Her second disciple is also very famous, a descendant of the Longzhou Bai family, Bai Shan."
Governor Du's expression darkened. "I know. It is said that this person and Dr. Zhou worked together to redress the injustice for my father."
The rebellion of the King of Yizhou caused such a big stir, how could he not know about it?
Without Wei Ping continuing, he continued, "This third disciple must be Princess Mingda's consort."
Wei Ping smiled and nodded: "Not bad."
Governor Du no longer tried to hide his feelings and said with a wry smile, "I've heard that they were from the same school, and the teacher they followed was surnamed Zhuang. I thought they had the same name, but I didn't expect they were the same person."
Wei Ping sighed, "Who would have thought of this? Actually, the only reason I know Mr. Zhuang is Mr. Zhuang is because of my disappointing son."
Wei Ping couldn't suppress the smile on his face. "That kid happened to be a classmate of Bai Shan when he went to Yizhou Prefecture School. I was also surprised when I heard about Mr. Zhuang by chance. After asking carefully, I confirmed that it was Mr. Zhuang. At that time, Lord Zhou and his group had not yet arrived in the capital. It must have been difficult for Mr. Zhuang. He has been teaching for so many years and living a poor life."
"With his talent, if he had entered the government back then, he would have reached his current position long ago."
Du Gong's face became increasingly gloomy. He understood that Wei Ping was feeling sorry for Zhuang Xun.
In the end, the party ended in a bad mood.
Mr. Du returned home angrily and happened to see Mrs. Du punishing her daughter-in-law. "If you can't even do good things, what's the point of having you?"
Du Gong strode in and became annoyed when he saw her. In the past, he would avoid such things, but today he couldn't help but said to his daughter-in-law, "Go down."
The daughter-in-law retreated quickly as if she had been pardoned.
Madam Du frowned and looked at him, "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? You still have the nerve to ask what's wrong? Can't you just be quiet? Every day you're either causing trouble for this or that. If it weren't for you..."
"Explain yourself clearly. How did I cause trouble? Is it easy for me to manage this entire household?"
The couple broke out into a fierce quarrel, which frightened everyone outside and even alarmed Du Dalang.
The truth is that both of them are not young anymore, and they suddenly quarreled like this. People who didn’t know would think that something big had happened at home.
The servant, who knew nothing, hurriedly informed Du Dalang.
Du Dalang ran over to see what was happening. As soon as he asked a question, Du Gong suddenly flew into a rage and pointed at his nose and cursed, "You are the root of all this trouble. If it weren't for you, our family wouldn't be in such a state today."
Du Dalang: ...What does it have to do with him? It was you who were investigated for accepting bribes, and he was the one who was implicated, okay?
Mr. Zhuang didn't know that the Du family, thousands of miles away, was arguing because of him, but the joys and sorrows of the world are sometimes shared, and the atmosphere in the Chen family, which is far away from them, is not very good either.
Chen Fulin has become quiet since returning to his hometown.
Since going to the capital, he has only returned to his hometown twice, and this time it has been five or six years since his last return.
His clansmen and neighbors were very surprised that he came back suddenly and resigned from his official position. Chen Fulin could only use the excuse that he was in poor health, so he resigned and returned home.
But some news still came through.
The Jin Dynasty was very large, but the circle of scholars was very small, especially the circle among fellow townsmen and classmates, which was even smaller.
So when Zhuang Xun plagiarized his classmate's poem, scholars outside the capital probably just heard that there was a man in the capital who copied his classmate's poem and submitted it, and was then expelled from the capital, so as to warn future generations not to repeat the same mistake.
But in the Yizhou area of Jiannan Road, the hometown of the two people, educated people would know that the plagiarist and the person whose plagiarism was plagiarized were from the same hometown as them, and they even knew their surnames and what year they were students.
No one may talk about it at ordinary times, but once these files are needed, these things will be brought up again and again.
That’s why Mr. Zhuang’s career as an official was cut short.
(End of this chapter)
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