A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 39: Prominent Ancestors

However, his grandfather pulled the eldest grandson of their branch out of the quagmire for the sake of the third branch.

Song Xuan's elder brother was adopted out and had a better future.

Maybe in the future I will be able to enjoy the remaining blessings of my second uncle.

After all, Song Xuan's father and second brother are both gamblers.

In the eyes of his grandfather, this group is completely hopeless.

As for him, the third child, who had never been the type to obey orders since childhood, no one cared about him and didn't care if he fell into a mud pit.

As a result, Song Xuan started his own business at a young age and was allowed to work hard on his own.

"Shi Erlang's family is in such a state. They are all blind and don't know how powerful you are. When you become a big star, they will all cling to you."

Zhang Kang quickly brought the topic back.

"I'm just too lazy to show off in front of them. They're all mentally unstable and still want to cling to me. Let's wait and see."

Song Xuan thought of the people on his father's branch.

As for the other cousins, they may have different ideas from me and seem out of place.

When Song Xuan complained about his family, Zhang Kang, who was always heroic, did not agree with him.

No matter what, we are family.

Perhaps when Song Twelve grows older, he will no longer think so.

"Zhang Tuiguan's family connections are much better than ours, right?"

When he said this, Zhang Kang also smiled:

"My eldest brother passed the imperial examination and became an official before me, and his position was higher than mine. It is a great honor for our family that both of us brothers passed the imperial examination and became officials."

Zhang Kang took another sip of wine. "However, my father also fell into the government service in his early years. My brother and I relied on the books left by our grandfather for our enlightenment."

"Oh, two Jinshi from the same family." Song Xuan looked at Zhang Kang with admiration:
"You two brothers have truly brought honor to our family. Your father is a very powerful figure in the village and clan!"

The Song Dynasty, from top to bottom, promoted the high status of scholars and encouraged people to read. You can imagine how complicated this track was.

Before the Jiayou second year list, it took two or three years for only about a hundred people to pass the exam.

Because the rule of holding the examination every three years had not yet been established at that time, there are examples of imperial examinations being held every one, two, or three years.

Two Jinshi in one family.

Zhang Kang was also very excited a few years ago because he passed the exam and had this excuse.

However, the path to becoming an official is no easier than passing the imperial examination.

Without any foundation or support from noble people, they all had to be sent out to gain experience.

It is rare in the world to find someone like Yan Shu who can wear a purple robe at such a young age.

Which of these people who passed the imperial examination is not a dragon among men?
If they could wear scarlet clothes in their lifetime, they would be considered to have a successful career.

(Before the Yuanfeng reform, purple robes were worn by the third rank and above, scarlet robes were worn by the fifth rank and above, green robes were worn by the seventh rank and above, and cyan robes were worn by the ninth rank and above)
Even though Zhang Kang switched from literature to military affairs in his later years and his reputation rose in the northwest, his career was bumpy throughout his life and he offended many people, such as Xia Song, so he never became famous until his death.

Instead, it was his elder brother Zhang Kui, who had always been a civil servant, who finally wore a purple robe in his later years. After his death, Han Qi wrote his epitaph, and only then did later generations know the name of their father.

Zhang Kang switched from literature to martial arts and pursued and worked hard for his whole life, but he did not achieve any of the things he had worked hard for.

But what Song Xuan said made sense. Zhang Kang's old father was very arrogant and respected in the village.

Nowadays, the imperial examinations were no longer controlled by aristocratic families like in the Tang Dynasty, so the failed scholar Huang Chao failed the exam three times. He made up his mind to break into Chang'an City and trampled all the bones of the nobles in the streets.

What high-ranking aristocratic families, they are really just a bunch of pigs being slaughtered. Nowadays, in the Song Dynasty, if a family has a Jinshi who passes the imperial examination, it is enough to open a separate page in the family tree.

Not to mention the Zhang family, which has two Jinshi in its family.

It must be mentioned prominently in the family tree, and in the future, the epitaph must be written by a high-ranking official of the Song Dynasty.

"Hey hey hey."

Even though Zhang Kang had a heroic character, he couldn't help but show a smug look on his face when he heard Song Xuan boasting about his father.

"Shi Er Lang will also be able to bring honor to our family in the future."

Song Xuan leaned back on the bamboo chair, listening to the sound of the boat breaking through the flowing water, and said leisurely:

"I heard people say that if a mother is weak and becomes a merchant, and a father is strong and becomes a scholar, then the fame will stay in the hometown, but the poverty will lead to other places."

Zhang Kang stopped drinking and looked at Song Xuan blankly.

He can swear!
I have never heard of these four sentences in my life.

With the previous example of Song Xuan's casual remark becoming a famous quote throughout the ages, Zhang Kang could be sure that this must have been said by Song Xuan through someone else's mouth.

This fact is too straightforward.

Song Xuan himself was born into a weak family and had to run a cold soup shop to support himself at a young age. The Song Dynasty's system of favoritism could naturally help him cope with it.

"Shi Er Lang has such insight, it's really admirable."

Zhang Kang's words made Song Xuan stunned for a moment. He thought that this sentence was very common and had been passed down for hundreds or thousands of years.

However, these four summaries were written by Shi Nai'an in the Water Margin in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty.

"Actually, I'm just like you. I don't have much help from my family. My grandfather was at least a county magistrate."

Zhang Kang snorted and laughed: "I usually claim to be the seventh-generation grandson of Zhang Quanyi, but I find that this does not help me in the officialdom."

Seventh generation grandson?
Song Xuan counted on his fingers. Even if people in ancient times gave birth to children early, they would have to wait until the Tang Dynasty to make up for it!
This is completely unrelated.

Moreover, the Tang Dynasty's aristocratic families were almost strangled by Huang Chao, Zhu Wen and others, so how could there be any bloodline left?
But Song Xuan thought it was normal. Sun Quan's ancestor was Sun Wu, and Li Shimin's ancestor was Lao Tzu. There were so many things, and they were all common practices of the ancients.

"May I ask who Zhang Quanyi is?" Song Xuan glanced at Zhang Kang and asked seriously:
"I haven't read much in the country, so I've never heard of this person."

"Zhang Quanyi is my fellow villager. His family has been farmers for generations. He worked as a minor official. After being humiliated repeatedly, he followed Huang Chao and attacked Chang'an, becoming the Minister of Personnel of the Great Qi."

"Oh." Song Xuan didn't know much about the specific details of the Huang Chao Uprising.
"Your ancestor is quite powerful."

Zhang Kang did not refute, but continued to speak:

"After Huang Chao's defeat, he defected to Zhuge Shuang. After Zhuge's death, he set up his own faction and attached himself to Li Keyong, separatist Luoyang. Later, he broke with his enemies and defected to Zhu Wen, who was crowned king by the emperor.

During the reign of King Wei in Later Liang, Zhu Wen had all his wives and daughters raped by him. The key point was that his daughter married Zhu Wen's son. Because he once lived on sawdust and was saved by Zhu Wen, he stopped his son from taking revenge and killing Zhu Wen.

When the Later Liang emperors were fighting among themselves, he defected to the Later Tang.

Later, due to his involvement in Li Siyuan's rebellion, he died of anxiety at the age of 75. He was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Tutor and the posthumous name of Zhongsu.

Because he wanted to pretend to be the seventh-generation grandson of Zhang Quanyi, he had already memorized all his deeds and even verified many details.

"Oh."

After hearing this, Song Xuan was quite impressed by the person who was able to survive in the late Tang Dynasty and save his life by maneuvering.

Especially when facing Zhu Wen's family, there are too many lunatics, comparable to the Gao family of Northern Qi.

Zhang Quanyi managed to save his family, which is truly extraordinary!
"Is there still any descendant of their family?"

(End of this chapter)