Do you know that my grandfather was entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple?

Chapter 123 Persuasion

Chapter 123 Persuasion

"When talking to these old foxes, you not only have to think things through, but you also have to consider your words carefully before you speak."

On the way back, Wang You finally understood why Ouyang Xiu had gone to find Hai Wenqing.

It has to be said that these officials have too many hidden agendas.

Many things are left unsaid and left to guess, which explains why those in higher official positions are better at understanding people's hearts.

Those who lack the ability to understand and have no connections or background will naturally not be promoted.

Upon returning home and learning that his father was there, Wang You went to the study, met his father, and told him what Hai Wenqing had said.

"I overlooked the fact that Vice Minister Hai has already left the Hanlin Academy."

Wang Min suddenly realized, "Now that Vice Minister Hai is no longer serving in the Hanlin Academy, you certainly won't stay there for long once you officially take up your post."

.

"Does this have anything to do with the teacher leaving the Hanlin Academy?" Wang You asked in surprise.

He heard Hai Wenqing say it was because he had been on temporary assignment for too long, but now his father said it was because Hai Wenqing had left the Hanlin Academy.

"nature."

Wang Min said, "There are countless people eyeing the position in the Hanlin Academy. Although you previously held a position in the Hanlin Academy, you were not officially in charge, so it has no impact on you."

If you were to officially take up a position, you would be taking up a spot, and even though Vice Minister Hai has some influence in the Hanlin Academy, it would still attract gossip.

Wang Min explained the intricacies to his son in detail, and only after listening did Wang You realize how many nuances there were.

The number of positions in the Hanlin Academy was limited, and a large portion of them were filled by those who performed exceptionally well in the imperial examinations.

Some officials' families have sons who pass the imperial examinations, but their rankings are often quite ordinary.

These people will then have to compete for the remaining small number of spots.

Although Wang You was assigned to the Hanlin Academy, he was not allowed to officially serve due to his age, which did not affect the original quota.

But it would be different if he were to officially take up his post. Although the Song Dynasty had a bloated official system and the new policies of that year did not change this, the emperor was already intentionally controlling the number of people in each government office.

Although it hasn't decreased, it would be difficult to increase it under normal circumstances.

Other government offices are fine, but the Hanlin Academy is located inside the palace, so no one dares to mess around in this regard.

The number of places for the sons of officials was already limited, so if Wang Youruo had just been assigned to the Hanlin Academy, they had nothing to say.

However, Wang You had been holding a position in the Hanlin Academy for many years, and if he were to take up their spots, he would offend people.

After all, the Hanlin Academy valued seniority more than the length of time spent there.

As for making a good impression on the officials, there was even less of a chance.

Those who served as compilers or editors in the Hanlin Academy were not qualified to have direct contact with the government.

Of course, given Hai Wenqing's status, it wouldn't be difficult for him to keep Wang You in the Hanlin Academy.

But this would make Wang You resented by others.

Those who could get their offspring into the Hanlin Academy would not have low social status.

Who knows which local officials were their protégés and former subordinates?

When Wang You went to take up his post in a local area, it would be difficult for others to secretly cause trouble for him.

Wang You recalled that when he entered the Hanlin Academy, Hai Wenqing told him to study and go to the Hanlin Academy in his spare time.

Perhaps it was out of a desire to protect his own interests.

Even if he was personally selected by the emperor to enter the Hanlin Academy, he would still take up the spots of those sons of officials.

"If that's the case, why doesn't the teacher say so?" Wang You said.

"How do you explain this?" Wang Min countered.

Wang You thought about it carefully and realized that it really couldn't be said.

Many things are understandable, even without explanation.

But if you can't understand it, no matter how much you explain, you still won't understand.

Take this incident for example. If Hai Wenqing were to explain it to him, would Wang You think that his teacher was unwilling to help him?

"I understand," Wang You nodded.

"You should hurry up and settle your marriage."

Wang Min said, "I'll discuss it with your mother later."

"father."

Wang You asked, "Have you and Mother taken a liking to your cousin Rulan from your aunt's family?"

Wang Min glared at him and said, "Marriage is a major event, decided by parents and arranged by matchmakers. You just need to wait to get married."

"I just heard people say that marriage between close relatives is bad, and that children born from such unions are more likely to have problems," Wang You said.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Wang Min frowned and said, "That's your cousin, not a close relative!"

The ancients had a different understanding of close relatives than later generations. As early as the Zhou Dynasty, there was a concept that "if men and women share the same surname, their offspring will not prosper."

In ancient times, people with the same surname could not marry, even if they were completely unrelated.

There is a folk saying that goes, "We were one family five hundred years ago," meaning that people with the same surname all share the same ancestor.

Therefore, even if the blood ties are very distant, they consider them to be close relatives by blood and cannot marry.

Of course, children born to first cousins ​​are more likely to suffer from various genetic diseases, resulting in early death or birth defects.

The ancients were not completely unaware of this situation; it was just that the situation was very vague.

Through long-term observation of life, people in ancient times may have indeed noticed that deformities, premature deaths, or intellectual disabilities were more frequent among offspring of consanguineous marriages.

However, they cannot understand the genetic principles behind it. Therefore, these phenomena are often attributed to mystical or philosophical concepts such as "bad luck," "divine punishment," or "imbalance of yin and yang."

In addition, the infant mortality rate of ordinary people is much higher than that of wealthy families.

It's actually quite difficult to make a comparison when all factors are considered.

Given the limited medical resources in ancient times, it was difficult to determine whether a child's death was due to a congenital or acquired problem.

The idea that protagonists in some time-travel novels investigate data and use it as evidence to persuade their parents is complete nonsense.

The proportion of children with problems is higher in consanguineous marriages, but only compared to children born to non-consanguineous couples.

However, the overall proportion is not actually that high; otherwise, the ancients would have realized this problem long ago.

Therefore, it is actually very difficult for Wang You to persuade his parents using data.

So he didn't say anything foolish like asking his father to investigate, but instead said, "Anyway, I have some reservations about these rumors and don't want to marry my cousin Rulan."

"you--"

Wang Min was furious upon hearing this, but seeing the persistence in Wang You's eyes, he restrained himself and asked, "Have you taken a fancy to any girl?"

"no."

Wang You shook his head calmly.

"If that's not the case, then you're unwilling to marry your cousin just because of a rumor?" Wang Min didn't believe Wang You's words at all.

"Then I'll speak frankly."

Wang You said, "My eldest aunt wanted me to marry her daughter a few years ago. It would be fine if I married someone else, but what will my eldest aunt's reaction be if I marry my younger aunt's cousin?"

"You don't need to worry about this. Your grandmother also agreed to the marriage alliance with the Sheng family," Wang Min said, waving his hand.

"Grandmother has agreed now because they are both her daughters, and she loves them both equally."

Wang You countered, "But if she finds out I'm going to marry my aunt's cousin, and comes to make a scene with my grandmother, or even threatens suicide to force her, it's hard to say what my grandmother will do."

After all, my eldest aunt's life was indeed difficult; in comparison, my youngest aunt's life was much smoother.

Although this was just his excuse, Wang You was certain that what he feared would happen.

Strictly speaking, Mrs. Wang wasn't biased, but her mentality was the same as most mothers.

Some parents show favoritism; that's because their hearts are twisted.

Some parents show favoritism simply because both children are equally beloved.

In their view, if one of their children is doing well while the other is not, even if it is due to the child's own fault, they will ask the other children to help them out.

If one child is doing well, but another is not, they will still do the same thing.

Grandma Wang belongs to the latter category.

Not to mention that the marriage to the Kang family was arranged by Grand Tutor Wang, so the parents inevitably had to take responsibility themselves.

I feel it's my own fault, and I feel guilty.

Even though Wang You scolded Old Mrs. Wang for this back then, Old Mrs. Wang hasn't said anything about it all these years.

But if Madam Kang comes to the Wang family and makes a scene, Old Madam Wang will probably soften her heart.

Wang Min frowned. He knew his mother's temperament very well. If the situation Wang You described really happened, it was inevitable that the old lady would soften her heart.

Although Kang Wangshi was his own sister, he found her quite annoying.

"Father, if Grandmother speaks up, would you dare to disobey her?" Wang You asked.

"I—" Wang Min opened his mouth, but ultimately lacked the confidence.

From the perspective of etiquette and law, disobeying one's parents is an unforgivable crime.

Although the punishments for parents beating their children to death varied across dynasties, one thing remained consistent.

That means children must not be disobedient or talk back to their parents.

In other words, if children disobey and talk back to their parents, and the parents beat their children to death, they will not bear any responsibility.

Of course, such parents are ultimately a minority.

However, morality has always been an important criterion for officials.

In the Han Dynasty, the selection of officials was called "recommending the filial and incorruptible," with filial piety being the most important factor.

Anyone who fails in filial piety loses the right to be an official, even if they have already become one.

Even after the imperial examination system was introduced, filial piety remained a standard for selecting officials.

However, the selection process had already taken place before they participated in the imperial examinations.

When candidates participated in the imperial examinations, there was a system of joint guarantee. This system was not only to ensure that the candidate was the person in question and not someone taking the exam on their behalf.

It is also necessary to ensure that the person providing the guarantee is of sound moral character.

In addition, the local government would conduct investigations to ensure that there were no errors before issuing the tickets, which candidates could only use to participate in the imperial examinations.

If Wang Min dared to disobey his mother, regardless of the reason, his official position would be over.

From an emotional perspective, before Grand Tutor Wang passed away, he was busy with official duties, and his wife took care of everything at home.

After Grand Tutor Wang passed away, Grandma Wang was in charge of the household affairs.

As a son, he also felt sorry for his mother's hard work over the years and couldn't bear to talk back to her.

"Father, look."

Wang You shrugged and said, "You yourself aren't confident."

"snort!"

Wang Min glared at Wang You and said, "That's your own aunt. Do you think you can escape this by not marrying her daughter?"

"Some things are unavoidable, but it can save us a lot of trouble, right?"

Wang You shook his head and said, "A marriage between close relatives would cause a lot of trouble in the future."

Wang Min naturally understood what Wang You hadn't said aloud: it was nothing more than what would happen after the old lady passed away.

He glared at Wang You and said, "But your mother and I have already secretly expressed our intentions to your aunt and uncle. If we don't arrange a marriage, what will happen if we damage our relationship?"

Wang You pretended to be nonchalant and said, "My aunt's family doesn't only have cousin Rulan as a daughter. Her other two cousins ​​are about the same age as her."

Besides, they weren't born to the younger sister-in-law, so there's no need to worry about the dangers of consanguineous marriage, and it also shuts up the older sister-in-law's gossip.

"How can those two be illegitimate daughters?"

Wang Min frowned and said, "And how can you bring this up with your aunt?"

Wang You sighed inwardly; social class distinctions were indeed a difficult issue to resolve.

Many people say this is a bad habit, but even in later generations, when city dwellers look down on rural people, isn't that also a matter of social class?

This concept is not only about social class, but also about the people around you.

If a man marries a concubine's daughter from a family of much higher social standing than his own, there's naturally nothing wrong with it.

If one marries a concubine's daughter of equal or lower social standing than one's own family, relatives and friends will inevitably laugh at one's actions.

"Then there's nothing I can do. You should discuss it with your mother. If you don't want to get involved with your aunt's troubles in the future, you'll have to make other plans."

Wang You shook his head and said, "I don't think family background or whether someone is legitimate or illegitimate is a big deal."

A wife should be virtuous. So what if I married my cousin Rulan? How could she possibly help my child's future?

My child is studying at the Sheng family's school and thinks my cousin Minglan is quite good. Although she is born out of wedlock, she was raised by Old Madam Sheng and is no worse than those born out of wedlock in any way.

A friend invited me to dinner at Fanlou, so I went home first.

After saying this, Wang You got up, bowed, and left.

Everything in excess is bad. If he had directly said he wanted to marry Minglan, his parents would definitely not have agreed.

Even with his resolute attitude, Minglan still faced numerous difficulties after entering the house.

However, both parents disliked Kang Wangshi, and as long as they didn't want to get involved with her, they would inevitably hesitate.

However, that's not enough; we need to get Lady Kang to add fuel to the fire.

Wang Min watched Wang You leave, but was pondering Wang You's words.

He had to admit that what Wang You said made him somewhat tempted.

The reason why the ancients valued marriage so much was because there were significant differences in status and values ​​between different social classes.

In later generations, when wealthy young men marry rural girls, the rural girls at least have received some education, and some have even attended university.

But what about in ancient times?

A girl from an ordinary family who can't even read or write, how can she manage household affairs well after marriage?

Even for girls from scholarly families, the social status of their family still determines their style of behavior.

Although ancient society was patriarchal, it also involved diplomacy based on wives.

Men working away from home have relatively little free time.

The matriarch not only has to manage the household finances, but also take her children and friends to maintain relationships.

The difference in social status and the different circles they come into contact with make it difficult to manage these relationships effectively.

Of course, this cannot be generalized, but it is true in most cases.

Secondly, there's the matter of money.

In the Song Dynasty, it was customary to give generous dowries, and the dowry for a bride was often very large.

Although the husband's family cannot use the dowry, as long as they do not divorce, it will definitely belong to Wang You's children in the future.

It's not that marrying down means the other party will give more dowry because of the difference in social status.

Although there is no fixed standard for dowry, it is certain that the dowry of a concubine cannot exceed that of a legitimate child.

Moreover, given the Sheng family's circumstances, it's impossible for them to give their illegitimate daughter a large dowry.

But Minglan doesn't seem to have any concerns about this.

Even Old Madam Wang admired Old Madam Sheng. Minglan was raised by Old Madam Sheng, so there was no need to worry about her abilities.

As for the dowry, Old Madam Sheng will definitely contribute some money.