Great Song Dynasty Writer

Chapter 275 Past events

After his sister Lu Nanzhi's description, Lu Beigu gained a detailed understanding of the "Kaifeng Pei Clan" at that time.

He also understood why his sister-in-law Pei Yan said during the Cold Food Festival, "In Kaifeng, on the last day of the Cold Food Festival at dusk, the Emperor would actually send an imperial envoy to bestow new fire upon his ministers."

The Pei family of Wenxi has been a prominent family in Shanxi since ancient times, and a prestigious family with a great reputation in Chinese history. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, the family has flourished through six dynasties, and reached its peak in the Sui and Tang dynasties. For example, Pei Ju, a veteran of three dynasties, Pei Ji, a founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, and Pei Du, a famous prime minister of the mid-Tang Dynasty, all came from the Pei family. There are no fewer than several hundred family members recorded in official history, and countless dukes, marquises, generals and ministers have emerged from the family.

However, after being destroyed by Huang Chao and experiencing five generations of war, the Pei clan of Wenxi had long lost its former glory.

The "Kaifeng Pei Clan" branch originated from the Wenxi Pei Clan after Pei Yan, the great-grandfather of Pei Yan, came to Kaifeng to take up his post during the reign of Emperor Taizong.

During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong, the second generation of the "Kaifeng Pei family," namely Pei Yan's grandfather, consisted of three brothers: Pei Ji, Pei Lizheng, and Pei Lize. All of them passed the imperial examination and became prefects, creating a remarkable situation of "three prefects from one family."

By the third generation, those with the character "德" (De) in their name showed a clear trend of falling into lower social classes.

The only ones who could uphold the reputation of the "Kaifeng Pei Family" were Pei Yan's father, Pei Deyu, and her uncle, Pei Degu.

Pei Deyu rose through the ranks from Prefectural Magistrate of Kaifeng to Prefect of Yingzhou, eventually becoming the Judicial Commissioner of Zizhou Circuit, the Judicial Commissioner of Jingdong Circuit, the Transport Commissioner of Kuizhou Circuit, and the Military Commander of Yizhou Circuit. His career was bright, and normally, the next step would have been to upgrade his official rank from scarlet to purple.

Unfortunately, Pei Deyu was unlucky. Shortly after being transferred to Hebei, he encountered the infamous "Beizhou Mutiny" and was demoted for his poor handling of the situation. He was then constantly transferred between various prefectures, which was the norm for prefects in the Song Dynasty.

Two years ago, Pei Deyu was appointed as the prefect of Jingzhou. Before he could take up his post, he fell ill and eventually passed away at the age of 67.

Pei Deyu had two wives, Shi and Li. These two wives had two daughters who both married Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), namely Yang E, the former military judge of Luzhou, and Zhao Jie, the former military judge of Wenzhou.

As for Pei Yan, Lu Beigu's sister-in-law, she was not born to his wife, but to a concubine. Therefore, when she was in charge of criminal justice in Zizhou Road, she was betrothed to the Lu family by chance.

Now that Pei Deyu has passed away, Pei Degu is the de facto head of the "Kaifeng Pei Clan".

Pei Degu entered officialdom as the magistrate of Fenghua County. He served as the vice-prefect of Nanjing Garrison Command and as the prefect of six prefectures: Peng, Jiang, Jie, Guo, Ze, and Yi. He is currently the Director of the Ministry of Works, a powerful position mainly responsible for managing mountains, lakes, gardens, hunting, and all matters related to logging, firewood, charcoal, and medicinal materials. In addition, he is also responsible for the disposal and recycling of mines for gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin.

As for the other members of the third generation of the "Kaifeng Pei Clan" with the character "De" in their names, such as Pei Deji and Pei Defeng, their official positions were not high; they were just ordinary officials in the capital.

The fourth generation of the "Shi" generation was even more disappointing. Apart from Pei Deyu's second son, Pei Shiyu, who is now serving as the Prefectural Judge of Xijing, Pei Degu's sons, Pei Shilun, Pei Shilin, and Pei Shijie, were all officials in positions such as Temple Assistants, without any specific duties, just collecting a salary and getting by.

However, Pei Degu's eight daughters all married well, all of them to officials. One of his sons-in-law, Wang Yirou, was the son of Prime Minister Wang Shu.

"Each generation is worse than the last, but there's nothing to be afraid of."

Lu Beigu thought to himself.

In fact, this is also when his mindset changed.

If he were still a student at the county school in Hejiang County, then the prestigious Pei family of Kaifeng, which had produced several prefects, would be someone he simply couldn't compete with.

Even if his sister-in-law Pei Yan severed ties with the "Kaifeng Pei Clan" due to some grudge, he had no way to avenge it. However, now, thanks to the guidance of Song Xiang and others, and with the ability to accurately grasp the writing style required for next month's Ministry of Rites provincial examination, Lu Beigu was very confident in passing the examination.

Moreover, Zhang Fangping and Fan Xiang urgently need someone like him who understands economics.

Therefore, Lu Beigu believed that with his own efforts and the appreciation of influential people, he would definitely have a place in the imperial court in the future.

Therefore, they had no fear of the "Kaifeng Pei Clan," a family that was gradually declining.

After a moment of contemplation, Lu Beigu asked.

"Then what was the cause of your father's death back then?"

After hearing this, Lu Nanzhi remained silent for a long time before speaking.

“My father was framed.”

Lu Nanzhi's gaze passed over Lu Beigu and fell on the twilight outside the door, as if piercing through fourteen years of time and returning to those thrilling days.

“At that time, my father worked at the Water Conservancy Bureau and was in charge of ‘managing the materials for the construction of the Rainbow Bridge’.”

Lu Nanzhi's voice was somewhat hoarse: "The imperial court wants to abolish the old bridge and build a new bridge across the Bian River in Kaifeng, modeled after the rainbow bridge built by Chen Xiliang in the Suzhou section of the river, without piers, spanning both banks. This is a good thing that benefits the country and the people and facilitates the smooth flow of grain transport. My father worked tirelessly day and night, revising the blueprints again and again and calculating the materials again and again."

Her fingers gripped the rough edge of the wooden table, her knuckles turning white.

"But this bridge blocks other people's path to wealth, namely those businessmen whose houses have collapsed."

"The owners of these warehouses along the Bian River rely on the old bridge's low height and slow boat traffic, forcing goods to be unloaded and loaded in their cramped quarters. They exploit boatmen and extort merchants, making a fortune every day! If the new Rainbow Bridge is built, and boats can travel at lightning speed, who will bother unloading their goods in their cramped quarters and let them skim off their coattails?"

Lu Beigu listened intently.

“These people have been operating in Kaifeng for many years, and their influence is deeply entrenched.”

Even as she recalled it, Lu Nanzhi's voice still trembled slightly: "They first came to my door, trying to bribe my father with gold and silver to delay the construction, or to suggest that the court preserve the old bridge piers and make the bridge arches lower. My father was upright and hated such corruption and self-dealing, and he sternly refused."

"When they realized they couldn't bribe him, they first spread rumors that my father had embezzled materials and lined his own pockets. Then they asked officials in the court to write to him, slandering the new bridge project as having an unstable design, wasting manpower and money, and that it might collapse after completion. These slanders quickly spread throughout the city."

“My father argued with reason, and he explained the blueprints and calculations to the officials in the Water Conservancy Bureau. The officials in charge of the Water Conservancy Bureau understood, but it was still to no avail. This was because, in addition to those merchants who had collapsed, there were also people in the imperial court who did not want the bridge to be built smoothly, and did not want to see the canal transport to be unimpeded and the national treasury to be full!”

Lu Beigu felt a chill run down his spine. It seemed that the people involved in the Lu family's past were not of low status.

(End of this chapter)