The Xiangxian Ancestral Hall of the Chongqing Hall will only enshrine the famous eunuchs of the Chongqing Prefecture of this dynasty, and although the fourteen prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of the Chongqing Prefecture cannot be compared with those prefectures and counties in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there have been many Jinshi since the Shunzhi Dynasty. The Xiangxian Temple is so big, it can't hang the portraits of all the township sages and eunuchs, and only one can be selected from one state and county, and other Jinshi can only stand up a stone monument.

The Ao family is a famous family in Rongchang, but including Ao Tongchen himself, there are only two Jinshi in the Inner Dynasty, and his cousin is not comparable to the Jinshi of other states and counties in terms of knowledge and career, and if it is really compared, it is not even ranked, but Han Xiufeng wants to invite the portrait of his cousin Ao Youxian into the Xiangxian Temple, how can Ao Tongchen not be grateful.

As soon as he thought that the portrait of his uncle could be hung together with the portrait of Zhou Huang to be worshiped by his fellow villagers in Beijing, Ao Tongchen couldn't sleep with excitement, and got up overnight to let his family serve him with pen and ink, and repaired the book to the clan elder who was far away in Rongchang's hometown, telling the clan elder the good news of this day, and asked the clan elder to ask the best painter to copy a picture of the portrait in the ancestral hall, and quickly sent someone to the capital after the copy was completed.

The hall was renovated very quickly, and he was afraid that he would not be able to catch up. Early the next morning, he personally went to "Rishengchang", spent fifty taels of silver, and asked "Rishengchang" to go 800 miles to expedited, in short, the sooner the letter was delivered, the better!

"Rishengchang" just wanted to help the Chongqing Association verify the matter of the 2,000 taels of bills of exchange, and just went to the door of the Ministry of War to verify the letter, this silver is not profitable in vain, and the shopkeeper not only happily agreed, but also promised to be delivered within 20 days.

In fact, he should be grateful, because Han Xiufeng racked his brains to send this great favor.

I ran to the provincial hall several times before and after, checked the list of Jinshi in Chongqing Mansion over the years, and learned about the life of the Jinshi of the past dynasties.

"I have estimated that after the construction of the Xiangxian Temple, it can enshrine the portraits of 14 sages and the tablets of 28 sages. Then engrave a tablet and engrave the names of the other sages. Han Xiufeng pointed to the sketch of the Xiangxian Temple that had been prepared earlier, and added: "I think we can't just care about the present and the future, so I plan to leave this wall empty first. ”

Ji Yunfei couldn't hear the meaning of his words, and couldn't help but joke: "Well, it's not easy to renovate the guild hall once, and the Xiangxian Temple is only so big, if all the four walls are used, where will my Ji Bowen's name be engraved in the future?" ”

"Master Ji, don't get me wrong, I really didn't mean that."

"I know, I mean there should be a wall." Ji Yunfei raised his head, looked at Han Xiufeng with a smile and asked, "Zhixing, which fourteen sages do you plan to enshrine, and what are the tablets of those twenty-eight sages?" You have to think about this, if you can't convince the public, don't say that you can't do this first thing, even I have to be scolded! ”

"Master Ji, in fact, I have been thinking about this since the day you explained to let you build the Xiangxian Ancestral Hall."

"Have you figured out why?"

"There's a rough charter, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it to you today."

Ji Yunfei had thought about it before, but this was really not something that could level the bowl of water, if this sage was allowed to enter the ancestral hall of the township but not the other one, the descendants of others would definitely not agree. But the Xiangxian Temple is dedicated to the Xiangxian, it is impossible for a Xiangxian not to worship, and I can't think of the best of both worlds.

As soon as Han Xiufeng said that he had a general charter, Ji Yunfei blurted out: "Since you have a charter, why don't you say it earlier, hurry up and listen to it!" ”

"Okay," Han Xiufeng took out the draft list from his sleeve, and said slowly: "Master Ji, since the Shunzhi Dynasty to the present, there have been a total of thirteen Jinshi in Ba County, and I plan to enshrine the portrait of Liu Ruhan, a Jihai Kejinshi in the sixteenth year of Shunzhi, and the tablet of Li Weidong, an Enke Jinshi in the first year of Qianlong, and Zhang Jin, a Jinshi in the forty-ninth year of Qianlong. ”

Ji Yunfei had heard of these names, and he liked the poems of Zhang Jin, a scholar of Jiachen Branch in the forty-ninth year of Qianlong, but he couldn't understand why Han Xiufeng chose these three among the thirteen Jinshi in Ba County, and subconsciously asked: "Zhixing, what do you say by choosing these three?" ”

"Although Liu Ruhan is only one hundred and ninety-one in the top three, he is the first Jinshi in our Ba County in this dynasty!" Han Xiufeng smiled, and continued: "Li Weidong did the best in the exam, ranking 34th in the second class in Chinese style. Although Zhang Jin's Chinese ranking is only ranked in the top three and thirty-three, his knowledge is not worse than that of the first and second grades, which you know better than me, and he is an honest and honest official. ”

Ji Yunfei groaned: "It's also a way to choose like this. ”

Han Xiufeng couldn't help but smile when he thought about it: "In fact, there is a higher ranking in the Chinese style, Duan Dazhang Master Duan, you must know it, Daoguang eighteenth year Wuxu Kejinshi, the second twenty-one!" But the family is still alive, and he is currently the prefect of Hanzhong Prefecture in Shaanxi. I wrote a letter to Master Duan in the first month, and I just received a reply a few days ago, and he just remitted fifty taels of silver. ”

"The farther and farther it goes, only say that the one who is alive, don't say that he is alive, if it spreads, people will think that we are cursing him."

"Yes, yes, not to mention those who are alive."

"Next, which ones are you going to choose in Fuzhou?"

Han Xiufeng glanced at the draft list and said with a smile: "There are a total of twenty-four Jinshi in Fuzhou in this dynasty, and the first Jinshi is enshrined according to the example of Ba County, that is, the portrait of Wenjingfan, a Jinshi in the twelfth year of Kangxi. ”

"What about Zhou Huang, Zhou Huang Lord Zhou is one of the three sages of our Chongqing Mansion, the Xiangxian Temple can have no portraits of others, but it can't be without Lord Zhou!"

"Master Ji, I thought of this a long time ago."

"Then you don't choose Lord Zhou!"

"There is Lord Zhou, but I didn't count Lord Zhou in Fuzhou, others don't know that you know, we have 14 prefectures and counties in Chongqing Prefecture, and there are several prefectures and counties that have never been out of Jinshi."

Ji Yunfei reacted and couldn't help laughing: "It's good to have it, go on." ”

"The two tablets in Fuzhou are Zhou Xingdai, the second and sixth in the 36th year of Qianlong, ......" Han Xiufeng said four prefectures and counties in a row, and his mouth was dry, so he rested first, picked up a cup and drank tea to quench his thirst.

Ji Yunfei finally figured it out, and the portraits he intended to enshrine were all selected as the first Jinshi in each state and county, and the tablet was either the highest ranking in the selection style, or the largest selection of officials, or the most famous in Chongqing Prefecture and even the whole of Sichuan.

For example, Wang Shu of Tongliang County, Kangxi was a jinshi for 60 years, an official to the governor of Fujian, and among the six sons, Wang Ruzhou, Wang Ruji, Wang Rupeng, and Wang Ruhuan were all raised, Wang Rujia and Wang Rubi Jinshi. The father and son are three jinshi, and no one dares to disagree.

Another example is the long-lived Yongzheng eight-year top three jinshi Li Zuomei, who was unwilling to be an official after the Chinese style, set up a museum in his hometown to educate people, and taught many talents and people. It is worth mentioning that the Li family is a famous family in longevity and the Wang family in Tongliang, and Li Binran, a second-class jinshi in Jiaqing in the twenty-fourth year, is also a member of the Li family.

Rongchang has two Jinshi in this dynasty and all of them are Ao family, Ao Tongchen is naturally not to think about it, but although his Chinese rank is not high, and the official did not do much during his lifetime, he is fully qualified to hang the portrait in the Xiangxian Temple of the guild hall according to the example of Ba County.

The more Ji Yunfei thought about it, the more he felt that it was the most appropriate choice, and he couldn't help laughing: "Zhixing, it's really difficult for you to think of such a charter, hurry up and write to the descendants of these sages on the list, their descendants must be very happy to know this news." ”

Han Xiufeng said without thinking: "Master Ji, it is not appropriate for me to write this letter, you should write it yourself, and I will take it to 'Rishengchang' to send it to us after writing." ”

"Zhixing, you have done so much for the guild hall, we all see it, although this first thing has been done for a short time, it cannot be done in vain, you write these letters, pay your money, and sign your name."

"Master Ji, this is not appropriate!"

"What's out of the ordinary? Besides, this favor is just icing on the cake with me, but it is a charcoal in the snow with you. No matter how hypocritical you are, no matter how much you push, you are not only sorry for yourself, but also for the ancestors of your Han family! ”