On the day when the Shen family opened the ancestral hall, early in the morning, several alleys near the left were blocked by cars and horses.

Originally, the Shen family spread the post widely and invited people with heads and faces on the ground in Songjiang to come to watch the ceremony and witness, but the Shen family did not post it, and there were also curious people who came to see the excitement.

The first family of Songjiang is divided into sects, is it falling apart, or is it going further? The pattern of the entire Songjiang Mansion is going to change, what will happen to the He family?

If the Shen family declines, which one will replace the Shen family as the first surname in Songjiang?

And when it was learned that Lord Qincha and the acting prefect would be there in person, the officials of all sizes in the Songjiang officialdom naturally came to cheer one after another.

Fortunately, the Shen clan is a big clan, the clan room every year in the spring, summer solstice, autumn, Chinese New Year's Eve, the sacrifice of the death day to entertain the tribesmen, the big scene has seen more, although today is more than twice the number of people in the past, but the children and servants are well-trained, receiving people and things without half a minute of panic and rudeness, regardless of the noise outside, entering the Shen family fang, everything is in order.

The guests couldn't help but secretly praise that Songjiang's first surname was really extraordinary, and it was strange that the Shen family could produce two champions in 20 years.

Shenjiafang is located in the east, and the east road of the old house of the sect is where the ancestral hall of the clan is located. Nowadays, each room has a separate ancestral hall, and this big ancestral hall in the clan is actually the "ancestral ancestral hall".

The ancestral hall of the Shen family is 12 zhang from east to west, 18 zhang from north to south, covering an area of three and a half acres, and the courtyard of the four entrances is extremely broad. The outermost pavilion; The second entrance is the public hall, where the clan deliberations are; The third into the temple of the gods is enshrined as "Dacheng Most Holy Wenxuan King"; The fourth entrance is the ancestral hall.

In the major event of dividing the sect, the children of the clan wanted to worship in the ancestral ancestral hall first, and because foreign surnames were not allowed to enter the ancestral ancestral hall, the Shen family set up a seat in the public hall of the second entrance and invited the witnesses to go and settle it.

Originally, women were not allowed to enter the ancestral shrine, and if there was such a thing as a bride's worship, they were only worshiped in the courtyard of the four entrances. And if there is a discussion, it is not related to the person, and they all listen to it in the east and west wings of the second entrance, and the boy boy will pass the word back and forth.

Today, there are many foreign guests, and the female relatives should avoid it, but because of the major events of the sect, the clan women should also be present, so they opened a small courtyard on one side, and the daughters of each house worshiped their ancestors and listened in the courtyard.

Outsiders came here to see the scenery of the Shen family today, and how many officials and bigwigs came. The Shen family members are all looking for two people with their necks stretched, both of whom were said to be "sick" by their own sons when they opened the ancestral hall last time - one is the patriarch Shen Hai, and the other is Shen Yuan of the fourth room.

Looking for Shen Hai, it was because today was the meeting of the clan to open the ancestral temple, and the patriarch would not be able to say it if he didn't show up again. It's only been three days since Shen Jun said last time that his father was "sick", and I don't know if the patriarch will be "fine" at this time.

But Shen Hai really hasn't appeared, and even Shen Jun has no shadow.

On the clan's side, it was Shen Jiang, the second master of the sect, who greeted him with a few children; On the official's side, Shen Zhou took Shen Li, Shen Ying, Shen Jin, Shen Rui and several famous children to entertain.

However, the eldest wife of the sect, He, took the eldest daughter-in-law, Xiao He, to support the female dependents, and Shen Jun's wife was still in confinement, so it was not surprising that she did not appear.

Seeing this situation, the clansmen exchanged heads and speculated a lot.

Looking for Shen Yuan is purely profit-driven, and the few houses damaged in the Japanese rebellion got the news, knowing that Shen Yuan was the root cause of the Shen family's troubles, they all pointed to get it back from the fourth room. If it is against Shen Jin, the champion prince, the clansmen still have some consideration; If you ask Shen Yuan directly, you will strive to be strong.

However, since Shen Yuan came back from Yangzhou, he has been "sick", and it is really hard to say whether he can come out this time. When the clansmen saw the two champions socializing with the officials, they couldn't help but be depressed.

Fortunately, this depression didn't last long, and soon the clansmen saw Shen Yuan who appeared in the ancestral hall with a blue face.

When the time of dividing the sect was approaching, Shen Hai was also helped in by two servants, but Shen Jun, who had been in charge of the affairs of the sect, was still nowhere to be seen.

Compared to Shen Yuanlai, who just had a blue face and dark circles and big eye bags under his eyes, Shen Hai really looked like he was seriously ill, his temples were frost-stained, his face was gray, his eyes were cloudy, and his steps were staggering. As soon as he appeared, it caused a discussion among the clansmen.

And Shen Hai didn't hear it, and he didn't talk and laugh politely with the clansmen with a warm smile as before, even if someone greeted him, he only nodded and responded with a wooden face, and didn't say much.

Shen Hai was helped all the way into the ancestral hall, first went to meet with the officials, and then led the crowd into the ancestral hall to worship the ancestors.

Although he looked sick, he could sacrifice three animals and put incense on the plate very neatly, and after the ceremony, he took everyone back to the second hall.

Shen Haizuo circled, stood in the middle hall, took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, cleared his throat and began to read, "I, Wuxing Shen, my ancestor crossed south with Gaozong, and settled in Songjiang for three hundred years......" is to start talking about the history of the Shen family.

This paragraph was also familiar to the Shen family, but they didn't care, and they didn't want Shen Hai, who had a mediocre voice, to suddenly lose his temper when he said "big branches", his words were choked, and his eyes were red, and he was in tears.

The guests sighed, but the Shen family was open-minded.

In the past three hundred years, the Shen family has not suffered from the war, and then go back to the Mengyuan period, the Han people were bullied, and the Shen family withered for a while, but no matter how difficult it was, the Shen family was in a group to resist together, and so on one hundred and fifty years ago, the Zhongxing ancestor Shen Du was born, and it really laid the pattern of five or nine rooms inside and outside.

And now, in this rebellion, the children of the Shen family suffered heavy casualties and losses, and the sect Shen Haimo said that he would lose the position of the patriarch, and now he can't even unite the clansmen, so the Shen family is divided, and he Shen Hai is the sinner of the sect, and he is not sad but has no heart and lungs.

However, it is sad, and there are not a few people in the clan who secretly scold him for "deserving". It can be seen that over the years, the way of doing things in the clan and the mud has made the clansmen dissatisfied.

Shen Zhou looked at it coldly for a moment, and then stepped forward to persuade: "It is inevitable that the tree will branch into branches, Brother Hai doesn't have to be too uncomfortable, now that you are still witnessing the guests, it is better not to miss the time." ”

Shen Hai had mixed feelings in his heart, and nodded for a while: "What Second Brother Zhou said is that he is confused for his brother." ”

He took the handkerchief handed by his disciple, cleaned his face briefly, and continued to read a short opening sentence, officially announcing that the Shen family was divided.

The original hall name of the Shen family is "benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, faith, gentleness, courtesy, and frugality", each sect has a separate branch shrine, and worships the lord of Gao, Zeng, Zu, and You in accordance with the law of the Ming Dynasty. The ancestral hall still exists as an ancestral shrine, dedicated to the ancestors of the He clan, but only on Chinese New Year's Eve to worship the He.

Shen Hai said with some difficulty: "The old man is really not in good health, and he is no longer able to take care of the clan affairs, my eldest son has been released, and the second son, Shen Jun, all the clansmen know that he injured his leg this time, and it is difficult to walk......"

There was a buzzing discussion in the hall, everyone knew that the sect would not serve as the patriarch again, but that was just what Shen Jun said, Shen Hai, who was the old man, would refute his son's words, and even whether he would rely on the old man and refuse to give up the position of the patriarch on this occasion.

Everyone was surprised when they saw that Shen Hai really let him out.

Shen Hai paused for a moment, frowned slightly, and immediately a deacon's children shouted "Silence", and the hall was silent.

Shen Hai looked at the people in the five rooms sitting on the side with a complicated expression, took a deep breath, and said loudly: "Since the clan has been divided, the new patriarch of the He clan has been elected, and it can't just talk about blood and kinship, when there is virtue, Shen Qi, the brother of the fifth house, is a square person, and smart and motivated, and has made a name for himself. ”

Speaking of this, Shen Hai paused, looked around, and saw that many clansmen nodded frequently, knowing that the general trend of the clan had gone, he couldn't help but feel bitter in his heart, opened his mouth, and said, "I don't know what happens to the relatives of each clan?" ”

The nine-room master was already the highest-ranking in the house, and he was the first to propose the election of Shen Qi as the patriarch of the last clan meeting, so he immediately said loudly: "The nine-room seconded the proposal and elected the fifth-room Shen Qi as the patriarch." ”

The second, sixth, seventh, and eighth rooms also seconded the proposal.

In the third room, Shen Hu sat in the front row of the head of the room, and when Shen Hai spoke, he frequently looked back at Shen Yong who was sitting in the listening seat behind him.

Shen Yong glanced at him vigorously, and Shen Hu turned around and seconded it.

Sifang Shen Yuan clenched his fists, clenched his teeth, and trembled slightly, which was angry.

It's just a matter of dividing the clan, what does it mean to choose a patriarch regardless of blood and kinship? Without Zhongxing Zu Shen Du, where is there any Songjiang Shen family?

The sect is incompetent, the second room is moved, and the fourth room is the only remaining branch, so it should be selected as the new patriarch first! Obviously, he is the most qualified to be the patriarch, Shen Qi is a little cub who lifts people, isn't he a lifter? What's more, Shen Qi is a little cub and is crippled! Are all the people blind? Why didn't you choose Shen Qi or him?

Shen Yuan's face was blue and white for a while, if it weren't for the fact that there were too many officials present, if he hadn't been suppressed by Shangguan in Yangzhou as a student official, he would have jumped up and shouted at this time.

Shen Jin, who was sitting in the audience behind Shen Yuan, knew about his father's virtue, his eyelids drooped, and he leaned over and lowered his voice: "Master forgot what his son said yesterday?" Even if you forget, looking at today's situation, the idea of each room has been decided, and the lord is just humiliating himself when he stands out, so it's better to avoid it, and he also expresses his support for the five rooms. And the fifth room has always been good friends with the fourth room, so it has become closer and closer. ”

Shen Yuan "bah" eight hundred times in his heart, secretly scolding the five rooms for being troublemakers, where is the friendship with the fourth room, it is clear that he is biased towards Shen Rui's little brute. But the situation is stronger than people, he shook his hand loosely, loosened his grip, and in the end still shouted a "four-room secondment".

Shen Hai saw that the third and fourth rooms, which were the most eventful in Su Ri, also seconded the proposal, thinking about what his son said yesterday, "There is more help for the righteous and less help for the unjust", he sighed in his heart and announced: "Today's clan discussion, Shen Qi of Xinyi Hall is publicly recommended as the patriarch of the Shen family!" Later, the ancestors and ancestors were sacrificed, and Shen Qi took over the position of patriarch. ”

Shen Ying sat on the seat of the head of the fifth room, Shen Qi sat behind him, heard the words and got up and came out, first saluted Shen Hai, then bowed slightly to the surroundings, and then saluted to the witness seat, then stood beside Shen Hai, straightened his waist, and said loudly: "Thank you for your love, although Qi is not talented, he is willing to shoulder the burden and make benefits for the clan." In the future, we will act impartially and live up to the high expectations and love of our people, and all of you today, your fellow villagers, and your clansmen are witnesses! ”

Although there are not many words, the words come from the heart, and Shen Qi has a good reputation, although he was imprisoned and even broke his arm this time, he never let go, he is really a tough guy, and the clansmen are all supporting and applauding.

After a moment of excitement, the deacon's children shouted "silence" again, and then they returned to silence and moved on to the next item.

Each sect elects the sons of its own sect and the respected old people as the clan elders, and then determines them by public discussion in the clan.

Generally speaking, after such a division, the original head of each house is the son of the sect. The Shen family has three rooms Shen Hu, five rooms Shen Ying, six rooms Shen Qi, seven rooms Shen Li, and eight rooms Shen Liu, and the other rooms are different.

The head of the second room was originally Shen Cang, after Shen Cang's death, Shen Zhou and Shen Run's brothers did not separate their property, in fact, they were already the side branch of the second room, according to the rules of the inheritance of the elder, Shen Rui became the head of the house, and now the sect is divided, although Shen Zhou is the highest official position under the Shen family, but he still takes Shen Rui as the son of the sect and recommends himself as the clan elder.

Shen Li, the seventh room, chose the school official as a person, and now he is not in Songjiang, so it is his son-in-law Shen Qin who comes forward on behalf of his father.

After Shen Hai of the sect gave up the position of patriarch, he once again gave up the son of the sect, and let the eldest son Shen Hui be the son of the sect, and also recommended himself to be the patriarch.

What was more unexpected was the fourth room, it was Shen Yuan who was the head of the house, such a person who loved to take power and wealth, actually gave up the position of the son of the sect to his son Shen Jin, and he himself did not mention that he wanted to be the elder of the clan, which really surprised the clansmen, and looked at Shen Jin with a little more reverence - worthy of being the champion of Wenqu Xing, such a father can also be adjusted well.

And although Shen Lu was the head of the ninth room, but in detail, Shen Li's branch is the head of the line, and the clansmen thought that with Shen Li's identity as the champion, it was necessary to bring the concubine over, but the ninth room master had the heart to give in, but Shen Li did not accept it.

The ninth master was happy and worried, happy that his precious grandson could still sit in his own sect, and worried that Shen Li was afraid that he would not help Shen Lu wholeheartedly.

On such an occasion, the master of the ninth room did not dare to make a mistake even if he relied on the old and sold the old, so he only knocked Shen Li and said: "Now Brother Lu is the son of the Jianyi Hall, the sixth brother, you have to let the sect come back with all the tails." ”

Shen Li only said lightly: "The master is too worried, Zongzi is just a 'witness'." ”

didn't even give a basic guarantee, the ninth room master exploded his lungs, but he was helpless, and then looked at the Lord Qincha on the witness seat, he still endured his anger and stopped talking.

The three-room Shenhu is another moth. Originally, he was the head of the sect and directly became the son of the sect, but after listening to the words of the master of the ninth room, he suddenly wanted to give up the position of the son of the sect to his son Shen Zhu, and said to Shen Qi and Shen Li: "Now Brother Zhu is also a son of the sect, you must also ensure his safety!" ”

The ninth room master is the elder of this room, and no matter how much Shen Li doesn't like it, he can't ignore it in this public. The three-room Shen Hu is out of the five suits, and he is a muddy person, so Shen Li simply pretended not to hear it.

Shen Qi knew that Shen Zhu had lured the wolf into the room, and when it came to his own sin, he also owed Shen Zhu to death, and he hated Shen Zhu to death, how could he be willing to accept this? At the moment, he asked loudly: "Is Brother Zhu outstanding in talent, or is he highly virtuous, and he may serve the public as a sect son?" Did everyone in the Hall of Rites elect him? Saying that, he stared at Shen Yong coldly.

Shen Yong was already angry that the eldest brother was talking nonsense, and seeing that the new patriarch was so dissatisfied with Shen Zhu as the sect son, for fear that the new patriarch would stumble when he mentioned Shen Ling's matter, he hurriedly said: "The eldest brother is confused, the eldest brother is not sick or sick, so what should Brother Zhu do?" Besides, the Zhugeer people are still ...... Ahem, the person hasn't come back yet, and now he can't take care of it, it's better for the eldest brother to be the son of the sect. ”

There are also side branches in the third room to listen outside the hall, and there are already people who have seen Shen Hu and Shen Zhu's father and son unpleasant, Shen Hu is the head of the house, and it is just a matter of being the son of the sect, and he wants to let Shen Zhu's little cub with his eyes on the top of his head become the son of the sect, and the side branch of the third room has no way to live, so he also shouted, and shouted to let Shen Yong be the son of the sect.

Shen Hu was anxious when he heard this, for fear that his younger brother would come to snatch the position of his sect son, so he hurriedly said: "What are you barking at!" I am the head of the house, the head of the branch, and naturally the son of the sect! Zhu Ge'er...... Brother Zhu is going to pick me up in the future, I'll do it first! ”

Shen Qi smiled coldly, and didn't say much, and the sects of each room were also decided.

After that, each room elects the elders of high seniority, age, good moral character, and prestige as the clan elders, because the clan elders are eligible to participate in the clan affairs, and one person at the head of each room is to speak for the clansmen.

And there are really not many people in the generation of the Jiufang grandfather, and some are too old and in poor physical condition, so most of the clan elders are still from the generation of Shen Hai and Shen Zhou.

After electing the clan elders, they began to divide the clan property.

Shen Hai ordered the deacon's children to take out the account book, inadvertently squeezed it tightly, and then let go of it in a dejected manner, waving his hand to let the deacon's children read out the family property and division matters.

The earliest clan rules and sect houses led the clan affairs, and the second room was responsible for the sacrificial field, and the expenditure of the sacrificial field was discussed by the head of each house. Later, due to the departure of the second room, the sacrificial field was returned to the management of the sect, and the joint discussion of expenditure became a formality. It is no secret that the clan house has become richer and richer by operating the clan property and sacrificing the fields.

The clan has gained great benefits, but it does not do anything when something happens in the clan, which is the root cause of the clan's dislike of the clan.

Now when they hear about the announcement of the clan property, everyone up their ears and wants to hear whether the clan house is hiding the clan property.

I never thought that it was not less, but it was much more. The clansmen all know that there are 5,000 acres of sacrificial fields, and if the sect house hands over 5,000 mu, no one can say anything, but the sect house hands over 12,000 mu.

Not only the clansmen were sensational, but even the heads of the families in Songjiang were also shocked.

According to the land price at that time, one mu of land was only ten taels, and the extra 70,000 taels of silver was nothing, not to mention in the Shangjia family, and in the wealthy house of the Shen family. But in fact, the fertile land in Songjiang is not so easy to buy.

The people of Songjiang are rich, and the people of the world buy property and the most recognized land, and no one will sell the good land in vain until they can't get by.

Moreover, this is only a sacrificial field, and the land under the name of each house will only be counted several times.

The heads of each family couldn't help but secretly think, blaming the Dao He family for always wanting to swallow the Shen family, the Shen family has such a thick family background, tsk.

For the clansmen, this extra 7,000 acres of land can be said to be very sincere. Listening to it again, the number of clan property shops is also twice as small, which shows that the clan has never hidden its secrets, and the dissatisfaction of the clan with the clan has gone a lot for a while.

Shen Hai saw that the clansmen praised him one after another and even bowed their hands to him from afar, and couldn't help but sigh, the second son handed over this account book, and he was so angry that he wanted to add ten more boards, which were all the money of the sect. But the second son said that only in this way can he save some of the reputation of the clan, and the eldest son will also benefit in the future, and the clansmen will also help more when he goes up. Now that he looks, he is really old, not as good as his son.

According to Shen Ying's previous discussion with the head of the house at the small clan meeting, Shen Qi announced that half of the clan property would continue to be kept as the clan property, and the rest would be divided equally into each sect for the branch ancestral shrine. The shop is also distributed in the same way, but there are houses with a large population and poor families can choose the best and most profitable shop first. In addition, it is stipulated that the clansmen must donate silver taels or fields according to their grades, and the clansmen can make voluntary donations for business and prosperity.

Shen Zhou took the lead in donating 200 taels of silver, and then Shen Haidai donated 200 taels of silver to Shen Hui, the eldest son of the prefect, Shen Li, Shen Ying, Shen Jin and other younger generations as officials, and the seventh room was in a bad situation, but Shen Qin also donated 50 taels on behalf of his father. There are also people who are well-off in their families or who are relatively wealthy in business.

The people of the clan applauded, and there was no objection to the division of the property.

Even Wang Shouren, deputy Qincha Zhang Yong, and acting prefect Dong Qihe all nodded in approval, and the generations of hairpins and good people were really reasonable.

Since the family property has been divided, one person should be selected according to the ancestral system to take care of the family property; manage one person and keep account books; There is one deacon, and the overseer fills the vacancies, and rotates every three years.

After Shen Qi handed over such a sincere family property account book in the sect room, he originally wanted to recommend Shen Jun to be in charge of the family property, but Shen Hai actually declined, saying that if he wanted to hand it over, he would pay it thoroughly.

In addition to Shen Jun, if you want to say that there is no one in the clan who has the ability to make the clan rest, it is the three rooms that do business. However, there is no need to mention the loser of the three-room lord Shen Hu, it can be seen from Shen Ling's matter that the second lord Shen Yong is also confused, and the rest is the three-room and four-room master Shen Lian.

When the three rooms were separated, there was a lot of trouble, and Shen Lian almost regarded Shen Hu as an enemy, and it was impossible for Shen Hu to get involved in the family property.

Shen Qi had discussed it with his brother and Shen Li Shen Rui before, and immediately proposed Shen Lian as a candidate.

And the bookkeeping can be entrusted to Shen Qi of the sixth room, he lost his father when he was young, and there are some means to support the affairs of the sixth room for the head of the house.

As for supervision, there are only eight houses left in Songjiang in the water generation, and he can use his generation to suppress the people of all tribes. And Shen Liu is now guarding the filial piety of the old lady in the eighth room, and the grandson has to guard it for three years, and he can't do anything else.

Once the candidate was proposed, except for Shen Hu and Shen Yuan, who wanted to reach out to the clan property, no one else objected.

Shen Hu wanted to go on his own, but Shen Yong dragged him hard, and he didn't obey his own house, so he had to give up, just thinking that the fourth child was in charge of the family property anyway, and he was the eldest brother, so he dared not listen to him?

Shen Hu thought about it beautifully, and he had long forgotten Shen Lian's decision when the three-room family was separated.

Shen Yuan couldn't bear it anymore, he was warned by Shen Jin that he didn't want to meddle in anything in the clan, and he felt that Shen Hai was afraid that he would pluck the goose, and there was nothing left of the clan's property.

But as soon as he heard that the clan property was so rich, Shen Yuan's brain immediately became active, thinking that he couldn't take care of the clan property, and with his seniority, he could always be a supervisor, and he might not be able to reach out.

can see that the Shen Liu of the outer five rooms can be supervised, but there is no matter of his four rooms, how can there be such a reason!

The silver was in front of him, and Shen Yuan couldn't see the officials sitting there, so he hurriedly roared and jumped out and said, "Where does Brother Qi want to put me in?" ”

Shen Jin almost wanted to rush over and knock down his father, embarrassing himself in front of these many officials, and his son was afraid that he would become a laughing stock in officialdom in the future, he was really the father of his son.

Shen Qi was not angry or annoyed at all, and only said gently: "Uncle Yuan, don't worry, your matter will have to be discussed in the clan later." After the separation, there is also the clan association. ”

Shen Yuan was appeased by his gesture, his heart was overjoyed, and he thought about what other good position he had, so he sat back absentmindedly.

Shen Jin breathed a sigh of relief, and looked at the stupid father who was daydreaming with some sympathy, your business--your treacherous and trouble--the matter of your treachery and causing trouble for the clan-will be discussed in the clan later.

Shen Qi had already announced the end of the Shen family's division, and then the sons of each sect and his new patriarch went to the Sijin ancestral shrine to worship their ancestors, and it was officially completed.

The clan property was properly divided in front of the witnesses, and at the end of the clan meeting, they would go to the yamen to exchange the red deed and distribute it to the sons of each sect.

Because the patriarch gave up the position of the patriarch, the courtyard where the ancestral shrine is located will be separated from the old house of the patriarch, and the title deed and the deed have been prepared here for a long time, and they will also be handed over to the new patriarch.

The work of the Witnesses also ended here, the officials led by Wang Shouren, Zhang Yong, and Dong Qihe got up one after another to say goodbye, and the heads of the families did not stay long, Shen Hai and Shen Zhou took Shen Qi and Shen Li to send the guests away.

The clansmen were told not to leave first, to worship their ancestors for a while, and to have a clan meeting to "deal with some matters".

The clansmen looked at Shen Yuan in the fourth room as if they were looking at fatty meat, but Shen Yuan didn't know it, and dreamed of whether there was fat meat to bite into later.

And Shen Yong, on the other hand, was thinking about opening the ancestral hall, so he would remember Brother Ling back to the family tree, and mourn early, and he wanted to come to Yangzhou to finish it, and after the funeral, he just received the Yan family's pension silver... Cat flutter Chinese