Chapter 31 Thirty-first Festival Guangzong Yaozu

Zeng Guofan has five brothers, one sister and three younger sisters; two sons and four daughters. Zeng Guofan is the eldest son.The four younger brothers are: the fourth brother Zeng Guohuang, whose name is Chenghou, is ten years younger than Zeng Guofan; the sixth brother Zeng Guohua, whose name is Wen Fu, is twelve years younger than Zeng Guofan; the ninth brother Zeng Guoquan, whose name is Yuanfu, is fourteen years younger than Zeng Guofan; The younger brother, Zeng Guobao, whose name is Zhenqian, is eighteen years younger than Zeng Guofan.The elder sister's name is Guolan, and she is two years older than Zeng Guofan.The three younger sisters are: the eldest sister Guohui, who is four years younger than Zeng Guofan; the second sister Guozhi, who is eight years younger than Zeng Guofan; the third sister Guohuan, who died of pox and plague.The eldest son, Zhendi, died of acne; the second son, Jize, was six years old at the time.The four daughters are in order: the eldest daughter is four years old, the second daughter is three years old, the third daughter is two years old, and the fourth daughter is one year old.Ouyang's family visits Beijing once a year, one flower a year.

Zeng Guofan asked for leave and returned to Xiangxiang once in the second year of the pilot Hanlin in Beijing.Since then, with the improvement of his official rank and his busy business affairs, he never had the opportunity to go back and reunite with his family.The family can visit him anytime and anywhere, but unfortunately Xiangxiang is thousands of miles away from the capital, and Zeng's family has a lot of land, and the money from good years and prosperity has filled Zeng Guofan's debt hole. Once a year, there will be a husband meeting in the capital, so how can there be more spare money to throw on the road.

The fifth day of Zeng Linshu's arrival in Beijing coincided with the Queen's auspicious day, and the capital was very lively.Amnesty for the whole world was first, but amnesty for the whole world was not enough. According to the usual practice, the emperor gave certain gifts to their wives, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents in the Hall of Supreme Harmony for senior officials of the fourth rank and above in Beijing, as a token of celebration for the monarch and his ministers. The so-called feudal gift, to put it bluntly, is to honor the ancestors and honor the ancestors, and it is for "following the wishes of the courtiers to show off, and to encourage filial piety and loyalty."The enfeoffment system of the Qing Dynasty was formulated according to the level of rank, and special favors were naturally not the case.According to regulations, those who live in the first rank will be given four axes of imperial orders, and four generations will be given back, that is, the rank will be extended to the wife and great-grandparents of the official, and the rank will be first rank; As far as the official's wife and grandparents are concerned, the rank is the second rank; the third, fourth, and fifth ranks are assigned to the two axis of the imperial order, that is, the official's wife and parents are extended to the official's wife and parents, and the rank is the third rank, fourth rank, and fifth rank; The product seal was given to the member's wife and family, and what was given was not the imperial order, but the imperial order, and the title was naturally lower. It could not be called an imperial order, but an imperial order.

Zeng Guofan is currently a fourth-rank official, and should have received two orders; but the emperor gave him special grace, and made an exception for Zeng Guofan for three generations, and received three orders.Zeng Xinggang (grandfather) was conferred as the third-rank Zhongxian doctor, and Zeng Wang's (grandmother) was conferred as the third-rank Taigong; His wife Zeng Ouyang is a three-rank Gong. Zeng Guofan took the three-axis imperial order in his hands, and was so moved that tears filled his eyes.Finally, the grandparents didn't hurt themselves for nothing, and finally earned them a gift, an honor before they were alive.

Zeng Guofan knew very well in his heart that when he took the three-axis imperial order in his hands, how many people in the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty would be jealous, how many people would be jealous!You know, some people have struggled all their lives just to earn an imperial order for their wives.However, Zeng Guofan, who was supposed to get two-axis imperial orders, made an exception and got three-axis imperial orders, and was promoted from fourth rank to third rank!It's true that the emperor's grace is as high as the sky, and the emperor's grace is as deep as the sea.

Before Gaoming Zhuzi entered the mansion, the announcer had already rushed over, clamoring for a reward to Zeng Linshu.As soon as the servants saw the good news and entered the door, they all crowded into the main room to join in the fun. Mrs. Ouyang heard the commotion outside and didn't know what happened, so she hurriedly sent her close maid, Heini, to the main room to find out what happened, her heart just kept beating. After a while, Hei Ni walked in with a smile on her face, and said, "Young Mistress, you are overjoyed! The Eldest Young Master not only earned a third-rank order for the Old Master, but also earned one for the Young Mistress!"

"What?" Mrs. Ouyang was taken aback, and asked back, "According to the rank of the master, you can only confer it to the master?" She lowered her head and thought for a while, then suddenly smiled, and said, "Ni, orders are not given casually. The system is strict! Even if Jia En is awarded to the old lady, it is only a fourth grade. In the future, you can’t use this to make me happy!” Hei Ni thought for a while, and walked out of the bedroom again, looking very unconvinced.Hei Ni is a maid sent over by Ouyang's family, she has been fearless since she was a child, no matter what she says is deep or shallow, the entire Zeng family will let her go.

Mrs. Ouyang looked at Hei Ni's back, shook her head helplessly and said: "This girl is really stubborn!" As soon as the words fell, Hei Ni walked in with her nanny Xiasao, and said together while saluting: "Congratulations, young mistress! He was conferred the rank of third-rank Imperial Commander ①!" Seeing that Ouyang Shi was still half-believing, Hei Ni said urgently: "Oh my grandma! The letter from the young master has been passed on, why don't you believe it? Hurry up and get off the kang to clean up, and Ming Zhuozi is about to enter the mansion. !" Hei Ni always spoke loudly, as if she was teaching her servants a lesson.

Only then did Ouyang get nervous, knowing that the order of the third rank of the emperor was true, so he hurried down to the ground, waiting to kneel down to accept the order. Ouyang's Shuxian's slow and leisurely personality is related to her family background. Hengzhou Mansion at the southern foot of Hengshan Mountain in Hunan Province was the second largest city in Hunan after Changsha at that time. The school of Hengzhou Mansion was also very famous. There are countless people in a hundred miles around the state.The three generations of Ouyang were officials in Hengzhou. Although they were all low-level officials and officials of the eighth or ninth rank, the smell of books from their families was extremely strong.

When Zeng Guofan was 21 years old, he was recommended by someone to study in Hengzhou Prefecture School for half a year.At first, the instructor Ouyang Ningzhi hated this student very much.First of all, the appearance of this famous family is not elegant, and it is difficult to get into the lobby.According to "Mai Shenxiang", this kind of person is either a scoundrel or a bully, and it is absolutely difficult to achieve a positive result.Then there is the skin ringworm, itching every three days, and bleeding every five days, it annoyed the people in the same room, and no one dared to sleep next to him, for fear of infection.

But soon, he fell in love with this student again.This student not only behaved politely, but also did things clearly, especially stereotyped essays.Once I have a good opinion, I will naturally get closer, and I will work extra hard on teaching, and I have the heart to betroth Yuying, the eldest daughter of my boudoir.Although he also knew that Zeng Guofan's skin ringworm was really difficult to eradicate, but for the sake of his daughter's future and the prosperity of Ouyang's family, he couldn't care less about it. At that time, Yuying was already nineteen years old, and it was inevitable that a matchmaker from a wealthy family would often come to propose marriage.Old Ouyang has also been visiting here and there in the past few years, and he has not been idle, fearing that a trick will accidentally delay his daughter's life.Ouyang Yuying is not as beautiful as she is, and her talent rivals Wen Ji of the Han Dynasty, but her facial features are correct, and she can read some characters. She can not only recite "Book of Filial Piety", but also read "Twenty-two Histories".These are not the outstanding advantages of the young lady. What impresses people the most about her is her gentle and kind character, her good moral cultivation, and her lack of the squeamishness of a lady.At that time, it was everyone's consensus that a woman's virtue was a treasure. Zeng Guofan hadn't yet entered the county school at that time, he was just a boy who was studying everywhere, and he was already quite old, and the Zeng family was also looking for marriage everywhere.However, Guofan's appearance and body are not up to par, and the Zeng family's family background is not particularly good, so the marriage has been delayed.Although everyone admits that Zicheng is honest and willing to learn, and the Zeng family is indeed a good family, no one is really willing to marry their daughter and suffer. After old Ouyang told his wife what he thought, the old lady quite agreed at first, and it was seven days later that she disagreed. The old lady said to old Ouyang with tears: "Since I married into your Ouyang family, I have relied on you for everything, but this time I can't rely on you. I have heard clearly from someone that the young master of the Zeng family in Xiangxiang, It turned out to be a fish-scale body. Yuying married him, how did she get close to him? Isn't this making Yuying suffer?" Madam's words were naturally expected by the old pedant. Old Ouyang said slowly: "Which one of the men who have made great achievements in ancient times is perfect? ​​Han Xin looks like a man in three parts and a monkey in seven parts. Liu Yong and Liu Shi'an in the Qianlong Dynasty can be said to be very talented, but he was born like a hunchback! The old man looked at Zeng Zicheng , with virtue and talent, she will definitely be an extraordinary person in the future. And my Yuying, although she can read a few words, is born dull and weak. If you marry a gentleman, you will have an imperial order; if you marry a fierce man, you will surely have a short life." His wife was speechless when she said something that was emotional and reasonable, and she agreed with it.As soon as Ouyang's family's matchmaker stepped into the gate of Zeng's family, Zeng Xinggang immediately agreed, and asked Lin Shu to send Zicheng's birth date and dowry to Hengzhou the next day, lest old Ouyang would repeat himself. Soon, Zeng Guofan's bridal chamber candles ignited under the full control of his grandfather.After the guests dispersed, Zeng Guofan lifted the bride's red hijab and hugged the shy Yuying into his arms.But when performing Zhou Gong's ceremony, Miss Yuying was so frightened by her husband's mottled snakeskin body that she fainted. Waking up in the morning, Zeng Guofan had already gone out to meet the guests, but Yuying found that not only her body was covered with dander, but also bloodstains were left on the mattress, which was really disgusting. Yuying struggled to get up, dressed up under Hei Ni's service, and then reluctantly went to the lobby to meet her grandparents, grandparents, and uncles.After dinner, when I returned to my room, I was still alone in a daze. Zeng Xinggang saw tears in the corners of his new daughter-in-law's eyes, and concluded that he had been wronged, so he called his eldest grandson to his room and reprimanded him, "Zicheng, it took ten years to cross the boat, but it took a hundred years to sleep together. My Zeng family Working as a farmer, you can only earn a scholar in your father's generation. And your father-in-law, Mrs. Ouyang, not only taught the court himself, but also learned for three generations. How old is it that such a noble lady is willing to be my daughter-in-law of the Zeng family? Your glory! You are different from ordinary people, you have a hidden disease. Not only do you have to value Yuying, but the whole Zeng family should respect her!" Zeng Guofan was baffled by the training, and he didn't know where to start, so he could only keep saying "yes" repeatedly, which made his head slump and lose energy when meeting guests all day. That night, Zeng Guofan hid in his study and read alone until midnight.He was afraid of being scolded by his grandfather if he stayed in the study for too long, so he quietly went back to the bedroom, only to see his wife Yuying sitting alone under the lamp, thinking about something, clearly waiting for him. Zeng Guofan's eyes turned hot, and he said emotionally: "Yuying, I have wronged you!" Then he sat on the bedside and wept. Yuying stood up gracefully, poured a cup of tea for Zeng Guofan herself, and said in a soft voice: "Master, don't be too inferior. After thinking about it for a day, I finally figured out that all this is fate. In fact, the body of a snakeskin It's not your fault, it can always get better slowly. Besides, it really doesn't hinder anything. I just don't want to dislike it any more. Master, you must let go of all thoughts from now on, concentrate on studying, and earn an order for the slave family to come back. No matter what, Yuying can bear it!" In Yuying's speech, Zeng Guofan's heart was full of joy and all his suspicions were cleared up.He hugged Yuying tightly into his arms, and said emotionally: "I, Zeng Zicheng, what virtue and ability, God rewarded me with such a virtuous lady! If I don't work hard to study again, how can I go to see my ancestors?" !" Since then, Zeng Guofan's enthusiasm for reading has become even higher, and he has almost worshiped all the famous teachers in Hunan. What Ouyang Yuying didn't expect was that at such a young age, her husband earned her the order of the third rank!Zeng Guofan was thirty-five years old and Yu Yingcai was thirty-three years old.She was the first woman in Hunan to obtain a third-rank imperial order at the age of thirty-three.