Chapter 22: A Grand Entry

Chapter 22: A Grand Entry

After the episode of the salt dealers trying to hijack the ship, there were no more twists and turns on the road leading to the north.

On December 23rd of the Lunar Year, it was the Winter Solstice Festival. People had come out to celebrate outside the Dongbian gate. On the river, many boats can be seen cruising along.

Early in the morning, the servants of the rich from the Jia family displayed the Imperial Flag of the hereditary Rongguo family and ran amuck on the river like dumplings. It was rampant.

Although Sun Shaozong and Jia Yucun both felt that it was inappropriate to be so ostentatious under the Imperial City, they were helpless that Jia Lian had been away from the capital for nearly a year. It was not easy to come back, and still knew how to be ”low-key?”

Two men insinuated a few words of persuasion. Seeing that he seemed unheard of, they were too lazy to care about him anymore and stood on the bow of the ship being a statue.

Not long after, the passenger ship was berthing on the wharf. Before the boatmen could set up the plank, they heard someone jumping on the shore shouting, "Second Master, Second Master! You are back!"

Jia Lian probed his head and glanced to search for the voice that called him on the boat and said with a laugh, "Bao Er, it's you!”

As he spoke, he saw that the plank had been set up and walked ahead.

Sun Shaozong and Jia Yucun gave each other a few courteous excuses and then got off the ship. Initially, they were thinking about whether to take Jia's carriage into the city, or simply break up with him here and find another way to go back to their house.

"Second Master!"

Suddenly a man fell in front of him and grabbed his arm. Tears ran down his eyes. "How can you not say a word to me? I've been waiting here for more than half a month, and finally, you’re back!"

Only then did Sun Shaozong know that the calling voice of ”Second Master” earlier on had his share as well.

He was busy looking closely and saw that the self-proclaimed ”old servant” was about 50 years old. Although his hair was gray, he was quite strong and burly. He was only half as short as himself.

Looking through his memory, Sun Shaozong immediately remembered the identity of the person who came, Wei Licai, the old housekeeper of the Sun family.

When the Sun family fell into poverty, all their servants were scattered. Only Wei Licai never left. He continues to live with the Sun family for seven or eight years of hardship. Therefore, although he was called the master’s servant, which was no different from his family.

"Uncle Wei!"

After recalling this part, Sun Shaozong naturally did not dare to neglect it. He quickly held Wei Licai back up and pretended to be angry, "How can you wait for me here in the cold weather? What about those little monkeys at home? Have they rebelled one by one?"

A young man nearby hurriedly distinguished, "Second Master, it's not that the young servants don’t know the rules. It's really......"

"It was me, the old servant who wanted to be the first to see the Second Master, so I insisted on this job." As the old housekeeper said this, he looked up and down at Sun Shaozong. After a while, he said with great admiration, "I haven't seen you for more than a year. The Second Master has become more and more handsome!"

Sun Shaozong was speechless when he heard the speech. He's afraid that no matter how he described his majestic body, he would have no chance with the word ”handsome?”

"What about going back to the carriage!"

Sun Shaozong yelled, looked at the old servant, and said, "Uncle Wei, if Rong'er hadn't helped me, I would have died in the Kingdom of Qian Xiang. Not to mention the underlying friendship along the way, we have already made a lifelong commitment. Since she will be the hostess of this family sooner or later, what is the big deal to pass through the main gate in advance?"

With these words, he took half a step forward, and with only a gentle lift from his shoulder, he carried the housekeeper Wei to the side, and then pulled Ruan Rong to go in.

"Second Master!"

Seeing that the two were about to cross the threshold, Wei Licai was too busy to care about it. He shouted, "In the first founder of a Dynasty, rules were made that military generals should not take women from other countries as their wives. Those who violate the orders should strip off their official titles and be demoted as citizens!"

Is there such a rule in the Great Zhou Dynasty?

It makes sense to think about it. At the beginning of the founding of the state, the founders of the Great Zhou Dynasty had just expelled the ”Yuan Dynasty” and restored the rule of the Han people. It was at a time when national sentiment was high that it was not too much to set such rules.

When Sun Shaozong heard his words, he was shocked. Ruan Rong, beside him, suddenly changed her complexion. Even though she struggled desperately, her eyes were full of tears, and she said, "Brother Sun, as long as I can be with you, I will be satisfied. You must not..."

If she hadn't said anything, Sun Shaozong might still have hesitated a little. But hearing Ruan Rong’s words evoked Sun Shaozong's temper, so he immediately put his hand away from the old housekeeper and pulled Ruan Rong into the mansion!

After crossing the threshold, Sun Shaozong stopped again and looked at Ruan Rong, who was already in tears. He said with a laugh, "Why are you crying? If a military general can't marry, I'll just be a civil servant. When I see the Emperor, I'll ask to be a civil servant first, and then I'll marry you!"

He didn't just speak randomly to deceive Ruan Rong.

At the beginning of the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, to avoid repeating the disaster of the imbalance between civil and military affairs in the two Song Dynasties, a special rule was formulated. After the civil imperial examination, a group of scholars would be selected to take up military posts in the army. Then, a group of martial scholars who were proficient in writing and reading would be selected by the military officer to serve as people-friendly officials.

Unfortunately, this rule has not been able to reverse the inertia of history.

Decades after the world was peaceful, the group of civil officials gradually suppressed the dignitaries' families, and the bad habit of valuing literature over martial arts became common again.

Up to now, although this rule is still effective on the surface, it has long been changed beyond recognition.

On the side of being civil scholars, only the unlucky fellow scholars would be kicked out of being a civil servant and be sent to the army for training. In addition, they will all be promoted to six grades above their actual posts.

Among the military scholars, only the first class No. 1 to 3 scholars and the second class honor of the top 12 scholars were qualified to become civil servants. When they were transferred to the civil department, they often have to be demoted two to four ranks and then wait for an opening to fill the vacancy as a fellow scholar. Moreover, they can't be a county magistrate and other local officials at all levels. They can only be assistants to first-class scholars.

Not only that, after taking up the official post, the military scholars would have to endure the outcast of civil officials. If they were careless, they would be impeached.

But even so, military scholars still have a strong desire to be transferred to civilian work.

Sun Shaozong was the fifth-best martial scholar in the eighth year of Guangde. Otherwise, with his young age and not having won any title of nobility, how could he become an actual post of a sixth-grade Lieutenant?

It was because of this level of identity that Jia Yucun began to persuade him to wait for an opportunity to become a civil servant that day.