Volume 3 Chapter 36: Reconciliation (Part 1)
Zhang Rong obviously misunderstood what "catching a son-in-law under the list" meant.
This kind of "catching a son-in-law from the list" is actually divided into two types.
One of the reasons why this saying got its name is that the servants of the wealthy families in the capital would wait in front of the East and West Huamen in advance, and when the list was posted, once they saw a Jinshi appear they would rush up and promise a large amount of money and dowry as long as the person was not married. Many Jinshi were originally from poor families, and were taken away to get married half-heartedly.
Because this process is usually quite intense and the actions are generally urgent and hasty, there is absolutely no problem in saying "catch".
Moreover, the situation where money and beautiful women come to you once you make the list is extremely dramatic. It truly proves the saying that there is a golden house in books and there is a beautiful woman in books, so it has been widely circulated.
However, it must be emphasized that this situation generally occurs between wealthy merchant families in the capital who have no political status and Jinshi who are ranked middle and lower and come from humble backgrounds. Both sides have essentially complementary needs.
Otherwise, this kind of thing would not continue year after year.
As for those who really reached the level of Jinshi, especially those handsome men who seemed to have great political prospects, the so-called "picking a son-in-law from the list" was only a privilege for prime ministers and truly famous families. Moreover, at this level, those Jinshi who really had a bright future and were capable and determined often had their own opinions and would often politely refuse or even seriously refuse because of the other party's political stance or personal moral choices.
However, due to the traditions and rules of the officialdom, it was the prime ministers who were in a weak position at this time, at least on the surface... It was not uncommon for a newly-minted scholar to politely refuse the offer of an offer from his prime minister's father-in-law.
They are all catching the son-in-law, the one below is real catching, and the one above is fake catching.
Therefore, when the matter came to Zhang Rong, it was obviously a joke. Born as a fisherman in Shuibo, he only knew that he could catch the son-in-law of a Jinshi, but he didn't know that this was an internal game between high-ranking civil servants and candidates for high-ranking civil servants.
But jokes aside, if this matter is not handled properly, it will have a very bad impact... No matter the result is that Zhang Rong forcibly kidnapped one of the youngest and most promising Jinshi and forced him to get married, or that a new Jinshi openly expressed his clear attitude of looking down on a Jiedushi in the resistance, it is not acceptable... The former may make the civil servants feel grief for the loss of their loved ones and have a stress reaction like the end of the world in the Five Dynasties and the late Tang Dynasty, and the latter may make the generals, who are the most sensitive in terms of their status, feel frustrated and centrifugal.
No matter which possibility it is, there is a probability that the situation will further deteriorate, eventually leading to the presence of a powerful enemy, the re-emergence of the struggle between civil and military officials, and simply destroying the overall situation of the anti-Jin war.
Therefore, Yang Yizhong reported the matter seriously, and Zhao Jiu almost ignored everything and went to Daxiangguo Temple with a lantern.
However, when the anxious Emperor Zhao arrived at the Daxiangguo Temple and went straight into the courtyard where Zhang Rong lived, he was shocked to find that there was no most handsome scholar here, only the newly-minted Jinshi Yue Fei who came out to greet Zhang Rong.
Moreover, when the two saw the emperor coming in person, they both felt embarrassed.
Zhao Jiu secretly sighed at this.
How could he not know that Yue Pengju must have heard the news, and because of his friendship with Zhang Rong for several years and the experience of fighting side by side several times, he came to remind him despite the suspicion. However , he did not expect that he, as an official, would catch two thieves in the act just after handling the matter... The separation of civil and military affairs is a big taboo, but is there no reason for the generals in adjacent defense zones to be so close?
Of course there is no explanation!
Returning to the present, Emperor Zhao heaved a sigh of relief, entered the courtyard, sat down casually, and then got straight to the point: "I summoned General Zhang to the capital this time, originally intending to let him come and see for himself, but I didn't expect this to happen..."
Zhang Rong became more and more embarrassed, and did not even sit down, but stood there awkwardly and said: "I am also a country boy and do not know how to behave. I did not know that the people who arrested the son-in-law were civil officials. I have caused such a thing for no reason, and embarrassed the emperor and General Yue."
From what he said, it was clear that he understood what was going on, listened to the advice, and was a little apologetic, but he was also obviously a little depressed ...which was understandable.
Zhao Jiu felt helpless when he saw this, so he continued to ask, "Did Yu Yunwen do anything rude?"
Zhang Rong then calmed down a little, "The young scholar was very honest. He just said that his parents were in Shu and it was not good to marry without permission. He didn't say anything else. General Yue came in and told me about it and let him go. He didn't forget to pay his respects seriously... In comparison, I was the one who lost my manners."
Zhao Jiu nodded slowly, as long as nothing happened.
However, even so, Emperor Zhao still felt somewhat helpless, but suddenly sneered: "It can be said that I am to blame for this. It may be that Yu Yunwen saw that General Zhang did not even have a house in Tokyo and was now living in Daxiangguo Temple, so he was not happy..."
Although he had been hot-headed in the past few days, tonight a basin of cold water was poured on him, and Zhang Rong, who had been the boss for many years, regained his composure, or even his clarity of mind. Naturally, he knew that the official was joking, so he tried hard to laugh, but couldn't.
"Listen to me." Zhao Jiu waved his hand and sighed, showing a rare sign of fatigue. "In fact, with my care for all the generals, how could I forget to give them a house? Especially since Tokyo is still empty now, and the other generals have customized houses in Tokyo... To be honest with you, General Zhang, I originally had some intentions for you. I heard people say that you think wearing flowers in your hair is beautiful, and then I heard you say that only a man who has passed the imperial examination is a hero, so I planned to commend you greatly after the Qionglin Banquet tomorrow... At that time, not only will you be given a house, but I will also let the new imperial scholars ride horses and wear flowers in their hair and parade through the Donghua Gate. You, General Zhang, General Yue, and Yang Yizhong, who have made great contributions in Dongping, will ride horses and wear flowers in their hair and parade through the Xihua Gate... It may become a good story."
Yue Fei and Zhang Rong were almost stunned at the same time, and Yang Yizhong who followed them was also stunned for a moment.
After a moment, Zhang Rong felt even more ashamed: "The emperor is so sincere and righteous. I didn't expect that I would mess around and not only make myself look bad, but also ruin the emperor's arrangement... I should have known better. How could a fisherman and a pirate marry such a handsome man?"
Zhao Jiu shook his head and continued, "Today's matter is not because you, Taiwei Zhang, were born a fisherman. No matter how ridiculous our dynasty is, we no longer have the few surnames and aristocrats of the Tang Dynasty. The hundreds of surnames are lined up in a row. Although there is a certain order, they are also words on a piece of paper. Therefore, since you have become a military governor and a Taiwei, your family background is really not a problem... Today's key point lies in the distinction between civil and military officials."
During the Song Dynasty, civil officials were valued and military officials were despised. Not to mention Yue Fei and Yang Yi Zhong, who had been in the army for a long time and knew the truth, even Zhang Rong would probably realize it when he heard this.
"The civil and military are separated." Zhao Jiu deliberately avoided the words "noble and humble", but everyone knew it. "This is a tradition that has been created for hundreds of years after the indiscriminate killing of military leaders during the Five Dynasties and the end of the Tang Dynasty. Although it is now a time of war and the increasing importance of military generals is unstoppable, it is still difficult to change the hearts of the people for hundreds of years... As for tomorrow's matter, since it is embarrassing, it will not work out. Anyway, we will have plenty of opportunities in the future. However, since I have come to see General Zhang today, I must tell him my original intention to avoid General Zhang's misunderstanding... It is really difficult to change the tradition of hundreds of years, but in my heart, there is no noble or humble!"
In the end, I still have to use the words "noble and humble" because this is the problem.
Hearing this, Yue Fei took the lead and bowed together with Zhang Rong. Yang Yi Zhong, who was standing in front of the door, was startled for a moment and suddenly went out.
Of course, having come to this, and having said all that, there seems to be nothing more to say, and there is an inevitable silence in the courtyard... Because in the final analysis, it is still the same old saying, to tolerate each other for the sake of the country.
But no matter how much you endure it, you always feel very frustrated.
Especially in this incident, no one actually did anything wrong, it was just a misunderstanding at most, but because it involved the problem of the civil and military system, some people suffered unwarranted injustice.
In order to avoid resentment from these useful people, Emperor Zhao had to rush to be the punching bag with everyone else.
However, just when the courtyard was silent for a moment, Yang Yi Zhong hurried back and came to report in the court - the newly-crowned Jinshi Yu Yunwen had actually returned.
"Call him in."
Zhao Jiu felt powerless and aggrieved, but he couldn't vent it on Zhang Rong. Instead, he got angry when he heard that the other person involved had returned... According to what he thought, if this person agreed, wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?
I have no idea why I should be the son-in-law for no reason.
You are a descendant of a famous family, you passed the imperial examination at the age of 20, but you were tied up by a military governor who was a pirate. He wants you to marry his daughter... You don't know whether she is black or white, pretty or ugly... Anyone with a little self-respect would refuse.
But who made Yu Yunwen just a twenty-year-old empty-headed scholar?
How can he be compared with Chief Zhang, who has tens of thousands of soldiers and guards one side for the country?
Reason is reason, but now we need to talk about usefulness, usefulness to the country, not usefulness to the officials themselves! Since you are useless, you deserve to be humiliated.
"Why would a newly-appointed Jinshi have to go back?" Emperor Zhao, who was sitting in the courtyard enjoying the breeze, smiled at the tall young Jinshi. "It's just a misunderstanding. There was General Yue in front and I in the back. I came here in person to talk to General Zhang... It's better to go back to the Imperial Academy and have a rest. After the Qionglin Banquet tomorrow, I'm afraid I'll have to parade in the streets with flowers in my hair!"
Yu Yunwen bowed his head in confusion, but his mind was already in a mess.
He had just been rescued by Yue Fei, and he just wanted to escape in a panic. Halfway through the run, he felt that he had overreacted and embarrassed General Zhang... After all, the other party was a favorite general of the emperor, and he was a newly-minted Jinshi. If he went back in such a panic, and the news spread, there would probably be some rumors, saying that he was a sour Confucian who despised the current generals, or that these warriors did not take the pillars of the court seriously.
Unexpectedly, the official was here, which also verified his previous thoughts.
This matter is not that simple.
"I... if I go back now, I'm afraid there will be rumors." Yu Yunwen, who was supposed to be meeting the emperor for the second time, but in fact it was the first time, thought for a while and said the truth in his heart. "So I came back to save General Zhang from embarrassment."
"It's not that serious." Zhao Jiu responded kindly. "This is just a misunderstanding. Even if there are one or two things wrong, how can I blame you?"
Zhang Rong also quickly spoke out to persuade him.
Upon hearing this, Yu Yunwen was almost moved to tears of gratitude. He felt that the emperor was a good emperor, and the general was a good general. They were all well-educated, amiable, and very kind. How could they be as inappropriate as Brother Hu Quan said?
If you say it is inappropriate, that kind of article can only be ranked fifth.
Thinking of this, the newly-appointed scholar bowed again and again.
