Chapter 908 Flagpole
Sun Shan chatted with his four sisters at home for an entire afternoon. When it was time for dinner, he invited the village chief and clan elders over, and while they ate, they discussed the matter of erecting a monument to honor their achievements.
Uncle Sun said proudly: "Village head, I think it is better to put Shanzi's monument at the entrance of the village. When people from other villages come in, they will know that our Sunjia Village is a village of Jinshi."
Although the village chief didn't like Uncle Sun very much, he thought this suggestion was very good and agreed: "Shu Wen's suggestion is good. The flagpole should be placed in the most conspicuous place so that people can see it at a glance. Let outsiders know that our Sunjia Village has produced a good man."
Uncle Sun continued proudly, "Village head, on the day when the digging starts, you must gather everyone to dig the soil. Let everyone in the surrounding area know that the first Jinshi of Zhangzhou Prefecture came from Sunjia Village. On the day when the work is completed, gather everyone to let everyone in the surrounding area know that only Sunjia Village is qualified to erect a monument to its achievements."
This was a better idea. The village chief was a little more pleased with Uncle Sun San, nodded with satisfaction and said, "Shu Wen is right. We must let the whole village, no, the whole Huangyang County know that the only Jinshi master in Zhangzhou Prefecture is in Sunjia Village. We must hang lanterns and decorations, set off firecrackers, and make it lively so that everyone knows the honor of Sunjia Village."
The village chief became more and more excited as he spoke, and looked at Sun Shan happily.
I thought to myself: The men in Sunjia Village are all outstanding and good men, and they are good men worthy of marriage in the surrounding area.
The village chief couldn't stop smiling when he thought about the fact that the men in Sunjia Village would never have trouble finding marriage.
Elder A also said, "This time the ceremony of erecting the monument to honor the meritorious service must be bigger. It would be best to invite the village heads and borough heads from all over the area so that they can see what the monument to the successful candidates actually looks like. Haha, they have definitely never seen one before, and they can only see it by coming to Sunjia Village."
When everyone heard this, they thought it was a great idea.
Sunjia Village is the only place in the entire Huangyang County that has a Jinshi stele. If you don’t come to their village to see it, where else can you go to see it?
Uncle Sun raised his hands and feet in agreement: "Good, good, good, we must hold a big banquet and invite all the village heads and borough heads in Huangyang County to come and see the Jinshi Monument of our Sunjia Village."
His eyes rolled around, and he turned around and asked, "Shanzi, why don't we invite the people from the government office over as well, haha."
As if thinking of something, he said regretfully, "It's a pity that Mr. Tang of Huangyang County has been promoted, but there is no new county magistrate in the government office. It would be nice if we could invite the county magistrate to watch the ceremony. What a pity, what a pity."
Uncle Sun thought it would be great if the county magistrate could also come and participate in their monument-raising ceremony.
Sunjia Village must be very prosperous, and their family is even more prosperous.
Sun Shan just smiled at the previous exaggerated style and did not refute it.
Just hearing the name Lord Tang, Sun Shan's heart ached.
Because Sun Shan finally understood why County Magistrate Tang was promoted.
In fact, strictly speaking, it is not a promotion, but a horizontal transfer.
It is said that County Magistrate Tang was transferred to a superior county to serve as magistrate. The exact location has not been discovered yet, and one has to go to Zhangzhou Prefecture to ask.
The reason why County Magistrate Tang was transferred out was entirely because he passed the imperial examination.
The assessment criteria for local officials mainly include "six items": schools, fields, household registration, taxes and labor service, lawsuits, and thieves. Among them, schools (i.e. education) is one of the core contents of the assessment.
During his tenure as county magistrate in Tang Dynasty, Sun Shan was not only the first Jinshi in Huangyang County, but also the first Jinshi in Zhangzhou Prefecture.
It turns out that County Magistrate Tang was far ahead of all the other officials in terms of education and was awarded full marks.
Therefore, County Magistrate Tang became the most outstanding county magistrate in Zhangzhou Prefecture.
No one knew what method he used, but he quickly transferred himself from Huangyang County to serve as an official in another province.
When Sun Shan heard the reason, he was so angry that he vomited and wanted to catch up with Tang Junyi and beat him up.
Sun Shan shook his head and stopped thinking about Magistrate Tang. He was afraid that he would become obsessed with him and actually vomit blood.
Sun Bomin saw Sun Shan shaking his head and thought that Sun Shan had some objection, so he asked, "Shanzi, why are you shaking your head? Do you disagree?"
Sun Shan certainly disagreed, but he waited until the village chief and the clan elders had finished speaking before raising his objection.
This is really too exaggerated and not in line with his principles.
Sun Shan quickly explained: "As for the monument, it's enough for our village to know about it. There's no need to invite people from other villages."
Before Sun Shan finished speaking, Uncle Sun objected, "Shanzi, it's impossible for only our village to know about this. Your success in the imperial examination is not only a happy event for Sunjia Village, but also a happy event for Huangyang County and even Zhangzhou Prefecture. If Zhangzhou Prefecture was not too far away, we would definitely invite the big shots from Zhangzhou Prefecture to come. Shanzi, you are the first Jinshi in Zhangzhou Prefecture, it is not too much to invite everyone in Zhangzhou Prefecture to come and watch the ceremony."
Elder B highly agreed with Uncle Sun's words and said seriously, "Shuwen is right. Apart from Shanzi from our village, who else in Zhangzhou Prefecture passed the imperial examination? It's not okay for only our village to watch the ceremony. The more people who come to watch, the better."
The village chief gave a thumbs up, nodded and said, "Shanzi, such an important moment must be seen by more people. Zhangzhou Prefecture is too far away to invite people, but since it is so close, we must invite people. Let them see the style of the Jinshi master from Sunjia Village."
Sun Bomin thought the same and advised, "Shanzi, I know you like to keep a low profile. Forget about the time you passed the imperial examination, but this time you passed the imperial examination, there must be a lot of gongs and drums, and it will be a big deal. It's not easy to have such a happy thing, and we must let everyone know."
Even the usually taciturn and honest Uncle Sun said, "Big brother is right. We must let everyone be happy about such a happy event. I have never seen the Jinshi Monument. I must take a good look at it that day."
In fact, Uncle Sun has seen the Jinshi Monument from Hejiacun.
However, it is a rare opportunity to erect a Jinshi monument in Sunjia Village.
Seeing that his elder and second brothers agreed with his opinion, Uncle Sun said proudly, "Shanzi, it's decided. On the day of the monument, we must invite the important people in Huangyang County to come and let them see how majestic the Jinshi monument of our Sunjia Village is."
Sun Shan got a headache when he thought of the people swarming together.
Still shook his head and said, "Father, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, this is not good. When my eldest cousin was in high school, he couldn't invite people from the neighborhood to come over. We just do what the He family does, and there is no need to do too much."
This silenced the group for a second.
Then Uncle Sun retorted: "Shanzi, you are different from Jing'er. There are many Jinshi masters in the He family, one more Jing'er is not too many, and one less Jing'er is not too few. That's why they held such a low-key event. You are different. You are the first Jinshi in our Sunjia Village, so the event must be held in a grand manner and let everyone know about it. You have set a good example for the younger generation."
The village chief nodded with a smile and was very satisfied with Uncle Sun today.
He said with finality: "Just do as Shuwen wants. Shanzi, you don't have to worry about it. You don't have to do anything. Just show up when the time comes. The village will take care of everything else."