Chapter 015: Family Dinner at the Duke's Mansion
Today, Chen Qingtong was wearing a lilac embroidered jacket with peony patterns embroidered with gold thread. The color matching and pattern were sophisticated but not flashy, making her look very elegant.
In addition, next to Chen Qingtong stood a maid in a light-colored skirt, looking at Shen Yichen with curiosity.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Shen Yichen bowed in return. He really didn't expect that Chen Qingtong would be waiting for him here in advance, because such a situation is indeed not very common in later generations.
"No, I just arrived."
Chen Qingtong waved her hand, but just as she finished speaking, the little girl next to her said, "Miss, haven't we been waiting for a while?"
"Xue'er, who told you to talk so much?"
Chen Qingtong scolded in a low voice, but the little maid named Xueer next to him stuck out her tongue and showed no fear. It can be seen that they should have a good relationship on weekdays.
"Since we have been waiting for a long time, let's go in first."
Shen Yichen smiled slightly apologetically.
"Well, let's go then."
Chen Qingtong was still as carefree as ever. She pulled her maid's arm and walked quickly into the corner door. She was completely different from the stereotyped ancient Jiangnan woman in Shen Yichen's mind.
But it’s better to be more natural this way. Otherwise, Shen Yichen would have to pretend to be elegant in conversation in order to avoid revealing his flaws, which would make him uncomfortable.
…
On the other side, inside the Duke Cheng's mansion, there was a scene of guests filling the room. Zhu Yong stood in the main hall, greeting several guests who came to the banquet. Those who could be entertained by the Duke Cheng were all lords of Nanjing and powerful figures.
Standing on Zhu Yong's left at this moment is the fourth generation Duke of Wei, Xu Xianzong. As a descendant of Xu Da, one of the six founding dukes, and the title of Duke of Wei was the first hereditary duke in the Ming Dynasty, Xu Xianzong's status and position was naturally self-evident.
On Zhu Yong's right is the second Earl of Xiangcheng Li Long. Compared with the hereditary dukes and marquises who were granted titles for founding the country and assisting the government in ruling the country and pacifying the rebellion, the title of earl is not too high. In theory, he is not worthy of standing on the right hand seat of Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong.
However, in addition to the title of Earl of Xiangcheng, Li Long also held the powerful position of Nanjing garrison commander, in charge of the Nanjing Central Military Governor's Office, and theoretically controlled the military forces of all the garrisons in Nanjing.
In addition, since the post of Nanjing garrison was established during the Yongle Dynasty, it has always been held by Xiangcheng Earl Li Long. He has been in office for four dynasties and is deeply rooted, so it is not surprising that he stands on Zhu Yong's right hand side.
In addition to several lords stationed in Nanjing, there were two officials without titles standing below Zhu Yong, namely Liu Ning, the eunuch garrisoning Nanjing, and Xu Qi, the Nanjing Minister of War.
Since Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, the six cabinets in Nanjing have basically become a place for the excluded or retired. However, as the administrative center of the south, no matter how sloppy it gets, there are still powerful officials. Otherwise, everything has to wait until the capital makes a decision, and with the efficiency of ancient times, the daylily will be cold.
The existence of these two people just illustrates the division of power structure in Nanjing during the Ming Dynasty. They are the Nanjing garrison, the garrison eunuch, and the counselor of machinery (who is concurrently held by the Minister of War).
In a sense, this division of power structure also represents the three forces of nobles, eunuchs, and civil servants in the officialdom of the entire Ming Dynasty.
While Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong was having a pleasant conversation with everyone, he saw from the corner of his eye that Marquis Taining Chen Ying was walking towards him. He walked in a hurry and looked around from time to time.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Yong bowed and apologized, then walked towards Chen Ying.
"Marquis Taining has not been to my residence for a long time, so he is a little unfamiliar, right?"
Zhu Yong smiled and joked. He and Chen Ying were in charge of the Central and Rear Military Governor's Offices in the capital respectively, so they could be considered old colleagues. In addition, Chen Qingtong studied at the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion since he was a child, so they were very familiar with each other and there was less false courtesy.
Facing Zhu Yong's teasing, Chen Ying shook his head helplessly and said, "It's all because of my little daughter Qingtong. She came with me, but she got off the carriage at the gate of the mansion early, and now she 's nowhere to be seen."
Hearing about Chen Qingtong, Zhu Yong laughed heartily: "Qingtong may be more familiar to me than to Taining Marquis Mansion, so you don't have to worry about it."
"This is not a waste of time. You know I am your only daughter, and she will be of marriageable age next year. But now she is still acting like a little girl. How can I accept this?"
Taining Hou was different from other nobles. He had no other children, only his only daughter, Chen Qingtong. Not to mention that in a noble family, one had to consider the issue of succession. Even in an ordinary civilian family, it was a big deal if there was no male heir to inherit the family business.
Therefore, Chen Ying paid special attention to Chen Qingtong's training, and even let her study in the Duke of Chengguo's mansion. He thought that after a hundred years, even if the title was inherited by a side branch, Chen Qingtong would have her own connections and abilities to be independent, and then marry a good family, so that she would not be helpless in the end.
Unexpectedly, Chen Qingtong could even disappear at a banquet. He is really ignorant!
Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong naturally knew what his old friend was worried about, so he comforted him, "Qingtong has been smart since she was young. Maybe she went to the private school to meet her classmates first. Don't worry too much."
As they were talking, a group of students from the inner courtyard private school walked towards the main hall, and Chen Qingtong happened to be among them. So Zhu Yong smiled and pointed, "Look, I was right, wasn't Qingtong coming here with his classmates?"
But soon the smile on Zhu Yong's face faded, because he found that the person standing next to Chen Qingtong was not his classmate from the inner courtyard, but Shen Yichen!
Why is he here?
Zhu Yong's eyes suddenly became sharp, and he began to speculate on Shen Yichen's motive for appearing.
A few days ago, in the private school of the outer courtyard, Shen Yichen finally refused to study in the inner courtyard, which was beyond everyone's expectation. At that time, Zhu Yong did not see through what Shen Yichen wanted, but after years of ups and downs in the officialdom, he knew that there must be a reason behind it, but he was not interested in delving into it.
Today's family dinner, in addition to the reminiscing and discussing of old times among nobles and important officials, is also an opportunity for the students in the inner courtyard to show themselves.
You have to know that in the imperial examination, what determines your final admission and ranking is not only your absolute hard power, but also a certain amount of luck and connections.
Take Shen Yichen, who had taken the Tongsheng exam for several years, for example. The county exam only had numbers and the names were not covered, not to mention the operation of transcribing to prevent the recognition of handwriting. This means that the examiner knows who wrote the test paper, and it is easy to manipulate it behind the scenes.
Even if the examiner is fair and honest, there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts, and everyone has different preferences for literary style. If you have a good relationship with the examiner, or even a teacher-student relationship, then the chances of being favored will be greatly increased.
As the Duke of Chengguo, there is naturally no need for him to cheat openly, but it is not too much to invite the chief examiners such as the prefect and the governor of education to make acquaintances with the clan disciples in the prefecture, right?
In fact, let alone the college examination, even if it comes to the examinations for Juren and Jinshi, no matter how strict the anti-cheating measures are, people with connections can still find ways to get preferential treatment.
Even Zhang Juzheng, the first prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, could not escape this kind of behavior. Several of his sons were either top scorers in the imperial examinations or first place in the imperial examinations. Everyone knows the reason behind this.
When Shen Yichen showed up at the family banquet, Zhu Yong could only think that it was related to the county exam next year. In fact, it was just as Duke Cheng thought. Chen Qingtong pulled him over just to attract the attention of the examiner who was attending the banquet today.
But there is one thing that Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong still can't figure out, that is, if Shen Yichen wanted to seek an opportunity during the family dinner, then why did he refuse to study in the inner courtyard before? Wasn't it a waste of time?
