During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a Xiucai who was engaged to the daughter of a wealthy local man since childhood. However, after failing the imperial examination, the rich man was worried that Xiucai's future would be bleak, so he arranged for Yahuan to marry him pretending to be his daughter.
However, unexpectedly, Xiucai later went to the imperial examination high school, and since then his career has been smooth, and he has become an important minister of the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and the official has become the governor of Liangjiang and the crown prince.
And the former Yahuan was also canonized as a first-class lady.
This down-and-out talent later had a significant impact in the late Qing Dynasty, he promoted Lin Zexu, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan was his student, Hu Linyi was his son-in-law, and Zuo Zongtang was his in-law and a friend of his family.
And this person who was transferred by his father-in-law to contract his newlywed wife was Tao Shu, the governor of Liangjiang during the Daoguang period, known as the first minister of the Huxiang Jingshi faction. So, when Tao Shu found out that he was deceived by his father-in-law into marrying Yahuan, how did he deal with this matter?
The ending of the father-in-law's fraudulent marriage incident of the bride is actually very satisfying, and it also allows us to see the personality charm of Tao Shu, a generation of famous ministers. Tao Shu is a native of Anhua, Hunan, and his family has been Confucian for several generations, but unfortunately, no one in the family has ever won the imperial examination, and the best is Tao Shu's father, Tao Biquan, who passed the examination.
At that time, the social status was very high, and there was also the opportunity to be elected as an official, but the premise was that there was money and a way to open up the relationship, and it was possible to become an official, otherwise it would be in vain.
Although Tao Shu's father, Tao Biquan, failed to pass the Jinshi examination, he was a talented man with outstanding literary talents, and he had profound attainments in poetry and science, and had a certain status in the literary world in the middle of the Qing Dynasty at that time.
However, due to repeated failures, he eventually gave up the imperial examination and chose to become a teacher instead. He returned to his hometown in Hunan and taught at Yuelu Academy in Changsha, while also pinning his hopes on his son Tao Shu.
He carefully cultivated Tao Shu, hoping that he could fulfill his wish and gain fame in the imperial examination. Tao Biquan's reputation in the literary world is widely known in Anhua County, Hunan, so Anhua County specially hired him to return to his hometown Anhua County Government School to teach.
In this way, he found a stable job in his hometown of Anwar.
Huang Chongbang, a wealthy businessman in Anhua County, has been in business for generations and has a lot of wealth, but his family has never been an official. Although Huang Chongbang himself was wealthy, he had always longed to marry high-ranking officials and nobles, and for this reason, he wanted his daughter to marry into a family of eunuchs, so as to marry.
However, the society of that era attached great importance to the family style and status hierarchy, and although the Huang family was wealthy, they were only merchants after all, and the official eunuch family looked down on merchants at all.
Therefore, Huang Chongbang wanted to find a son-in-law with a meritorious future, but he ran into walls everywhere. In desperation, he retreated and turned his attention to those who had the potential to read.
He planned to marry them before they were admitted to the imperial examination, hoping that they would be able to gain fame in the future, which would be equivalent to a successful investment.
Tao Biquan is a well-known local scholar in Anhua, and is highly respected by the county's fathers and villagers. He attaches great importance to the education of his son Tao Shu, so Tao Shu's future imperial examination is very promising.
Therefore, Huang Chongbang offered to marry his daughter to Tao Shu. Tao Biquan was a generous and heroic man, open-minded, and unbiased against businessman Huang Chongbang. He readily agreed to this family affair and agreed to hold a wedding after Tao Shu and the eldest lady of the Huang family reached adulthood.
At the age of 16, Tao Shu was successfully admitted to the county school Xiucai, and then he went to Changsha to participate in the Hunan Township Examination. However, due to his lack of experience, he did not pass the examination.
At this time, Tao Shu was already quite young, so Tao Biquan suggested that he marry the eldest lady of the Huang family first, and then continue to retake the exam.
When Huang Chongbang learned that Tao Shu had failed the imperial examination, he became worried. He was worried that the fate of the Tao family would repeat itself for several generations, just like Tao Biquan, there was only one lifter.
He worries that if Tao Shu can't surpass his father, then his future may be the same as his father's, and it may even be worse, because he didn't even pass the exam. In addition, he heard that the son of a rich man surnamed Qian in the county wanted to marry his daughter, and this rich man had a lot of money.
Huang Chongbang began to regret his marriage even more, because on the one hand, he was a rich man with a lot of money, and on the other hand, he was a poor talent Tao Shu who didn't even pass the exam. But he can't easily repent of his marriage, because Tao Biquan is a man of choice and has a certain influence in the local area.
In addition, as a businessman, he attaches great importance to his reputation, and his repentance will destroy his reputation and affect his future business activities. Therefore, he neither wanted his daughter to marry Tao Shu and be poor, nor did he want to destroy his credibility because of repentance, which made Huang Chongbang depressed and hesitant all day long.
Huang Chongbang informed her of his daughter's marriage and let her make her own decisions. However, her daughter, Miss Huang, expressed her willingness to obey her father's arrangement, which put Huang Chongbang in a dilemma.
At this time, the maid ring beside Miss Huang saw their troubles and realized that Huang Chongbang did not want to marry his daughter to Tao Shu in his heart. Yahuan took the initiative to propose to Huang Chongbang that she could marry Tao Shu instead of Miss Huang, so that Huang Chongbang would not regret his marriage.
Huang Chongbang agreed to this method and accepted Yahuan as a righteous daughter and named Huang Defen. In this way, Huang Chongbang felt very proud, because he promised to marry a daughter to Tao Shu, but he did not clearly say whether it was his biological daughter or a righteous daughter, after all, a righteous daughter is also a daughter.
And Huang Defen also found a way out for her future, she knew that she was just a girl from a poor family, and Tao Shu was at least a talent, even if she became a teacher in the future, she could support her family.
Therefore, while doing so, she is also solving the urgent needs of herself and the Huang family.
Tao Shu married Huang Defen, who showed outstanding virtue and filial piety in the Tao family. Tao Biquan and Tao Shu father and son think that Huang Chongbang has a positive family style and does not spoil his daughter, they think they have found a good daughter-in-law.
Although Tao Shu participated in the capital's examination in the sixth year of Jiaqing, he did not pass the examination. After Huang Chongbang heard the news, he was glad that he could be admitted to the lifting of people at most, and it may still be useless to be admitted to the Jinshi.
However, Tao Biquan wrote a letter to encourage Tao Shu to stay in the capital to study his homework and continue to work hard, while Huang Defen became Tao Shu's virtuous helper, keeping the home and home in order, so that Tao Shu could concentrate on preparing for the next exam.