But Xu Yan returned home in glory after the banquet.
Father Xu Huaiyuan prepared a grand welcome ceremony for his son.
Men, women, and children from all over Dinghai County flocked to the streets, eager to catch a glimpse of Wenquxing. After all, since Dinghai County was established, there had never been such a rare event as winning the first, second, and third place prizes in a row.
Xu Yan also truly experienced the glory of being a scholar with honors, and felt that the Ming Dynasty was indeed the Ming Dynasty of scholars.
Xu Huaiyuan's illness has been completely cured and he is in good health.
Seeing his son win the first place in the county, prefecture and court examinations, Xu Huaiyuan was so excited that he burst into tears and kept calling on his ancestors for blessings. The Xu family's ancestral grave was filled with smoke.
Xu Yan thought to himself, this is too exaggerated. This is what it means to be a scholar. If he passed the imperial examination, wouldn't his father be so happy?
However, seeing his father so happy, Xu Yan didn't know what to say.
To be filial, you naturally have to obey your father.
Xu Yan cooperated with his father to emotionally share his experience of winning three prizes in a row in front of the neighbors, which really earned his father a lot of face.
After returning home, Xu Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Dad, can we be more low-key from now on?"
Unexpectedly, Xu Huaiyuan shook his head repeatedly: "My Xu family finally produced a scholar, how can we keep a low profile?"
“…”
"By the way, since my son has passed the examination for a student, he can be considered to have established a career."
Xu Huaiyuan suddenly changed the subject and said, "After establishing your career, you must start a family. Your father has thought it through and the daughter of the Hong family is very suitable, so I have arranged your marriage."
Xu Yan was surprised.
"Dad is engaged?"
"I know you're embarrassed to ask, so I'll do it for you!"
Xu Yan was completely speechless.
However, since his father had already arranged the marriage, Xu Yan couldn't refute it.
After all, in this era, marriage is a matter of parents' orders and matchmaker's words, and resisting the father's orders is a heinous act.
Fortunately, he and Hong Miaoyun had met before and had a good impression of this girl.
In terms of looks, Xu Yan seems to have earned...
"Why is father in such a hurry?"
"Of course it's because Lord Hong was recently transferred from the Hanlin Academy to become the Secretary of the Central Secretariat."
Xu Huaiyuan said with great joy, "Although the Hanlin Academy is quiet, it is, after all, a sinecure for officials. But the Zhongshu Sheren is different; he is a close minister to the emperor!"
Xu Yan suddenly realized that this Mr. Hong was actually Hong Cheng.
Hong Cheng was the son of Hong Zhong, the former Minister of Justice. He passed the imperial examination at the age of sixteen in the fifth year of Zhengde, and became famous at a young age.
According to the records of Ming History, this big man held the position of Zhongshu Sheren.
Although the Zhongshu Sheren was only a seventh-rank official, he had immense power, much like the Xunjian Yushi.
Because they held too much power, the imperial court could only lower their ranks to create a check and balance.
The Zhongshu Sheren was in charge of copying imperial edicts, imperial decrees, silver books, and iron certificates;
In addition, the Wenhua Palace and Wuying Palace, as well as the Imperial Edict Office and Imperial Decree Office under the Imperial Cabinet, also had Zhongshu Sheren (Zhongshu Sheren), with an unspecified number of positions. Wenhua Palace Sheren were responsible for copying books under imperial order; Wuying Palace Sheren were responsible for engraving imperial edicts, books, and albums; Imperial Edict Office Sheren were responsible for writing imperial edicts from civil officials, translating imperial edicts and foreign documents, and keeping records of military merits and official certificates; and Imperial Decree Office Sheren were responsible for writing imperial edicts, imperial decrees, imperial edicts, imperial memorials, imperial inscriptions, imperial tablets, imperial inscriptions, imperial records, lectures, inscriptions on steles, memorials, and other documents, as well as the records of imperial edicts from various princely palaces.
In short, the biggest job of the Zhongshu Sheren was to draft imperial edicts for the emperor, which was basically the same as the duties of a secretary. This was truly a close minister to the emperor!
Whenever the emperor makes any important decision, the Secretariat is the first to know.
Basically, the Zhongshu Sheren are the emperor's absolute confidants.
It can be said that apart from not being stabbed in the lower body, there is no difference between the Zhongshu Sheren and the eunuchs, and they all serve the emperor.
His father really had a unique vision and found such an old Taishan for him.
But Xu Yan always felt something was wrong.
Hong Cheng was sixteen when he passed the imperial examination in the fifth year of the Zhengde reign, so he should be fifty-three now. However, Hong Miaoyun looks only fourteen or fifteen. Given the Ming Dynasty's tendency to marry and have children early, this age doesn't quite fit.
Is she really Mr. Hong's daughter? Are you sure she's not Mr. Wang's from next door?
"Dad, this daughter of the Hong family isn't Mr. Hong's daughter who came back later in life, right?"
Xu Huaiyuan exclaimed, "How would my son know? Lord Hong was almost forty years old when he gave birth to Miss Miaoyun. He doted on her immensely and granted her whatever she asked for. None of her brothers enjoyed this treatment."
Xu Yan thought to himself that this was right.
The Hong family is a true family of officials, and has produced countless officials from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty.
He said that there were several Shangshu in the Ming Dynasty.
Dad has really good taste.
To survive in the Ming Dynasty officialdom, one must have someone to back him up.
Although the commander is important, the most reliable one is Old Taishan.
It is said that Old Taishan is choosing a son-in-law with a lantern, but few people know that the son-in-law is also choosing Old Taishan.
If Xu Yan remembered correctly, Hong Cheng had a son named Hong Yu, who was Hong Miaoyun's older brother.
This Hong Yu was quite famous in history and once worked in Prince Yu's palace.
It is said that Emperor Jiajing had few children. He had four sons in total, one of whom died young, leaving three.
In the 18th year of the Jiajing reign, the emperor appointed his second son Zhu Zaigang as the crown prince, his third son Zhu Zaiqi as Prince Yu, and his fourth son Zhu Zaizhen as Prince Jing. However, the crown prince was short-lived, passing away in March of the 28th year of the Jiajing reign. The Jiajing emperor was deeply saddened and suspended court for three days.
At this point, the Jiajing Emperor had only two sons left. Prince Yu Zhu Zaigui, the elder, was the rightful heir. However, because Zhu Zaigang died young after being appointed crown prince, the Jiajing Emperor considered it a sign of bad luck, and so he delayed appointing a new heir. At the same time, a Taoist priest slandered the Emperor, proposing the saying "two dragons cannot meet," which caused the Emperor to become very indifferent to Zhu Zaigui.
If Xu Yan remembered correctly, in February of the 32nd year of Jiajing, Princes Yu and Prince Jing would leave the palace and establish their own fiefdoms in Beijing.
In the court, there will also be the pro-Jing faction headed by Yan Song and the pro-Yu faction headed by Xu Jie.
As a time traveler, Xu Yan certainly knew that the person who would eventually succeed to the throne was Prince Yu Zhu Zaigui, who later became Emperor Longqing.
It won't be long before Hong Yu comes out and goes to Zhu Zaigui to accompany the young prince in his studies.
Isn’t this the legendary prince’s team?
Although Hong Yu did not ultimately achieve the same achievements as Gao Gong and Gao Xinzheng, he definitely had a place in Longqing's heart.
Tsk tsk, Old Taishan is a close minister to the emperor.
The eldest brother-in-law is the future crown prince and a close minister.
It smells so good!
In fact, Hong Yu was not only an excellent official, but also a writer, bibliophile, and sculptor. He was very fond of collecting vernacular novels, novels, and plays. In his later years, he established Qingpingshan Hall in Renxiaofang, south of Hangzhou, which became one of the most famous bookstores in Hangzhou during the Jiajing period.
It seems that my brother-in-law and he are in the same line of work.
If there is a chance, we can join forces and even discuss dramas and novels together.
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