In the second year of Yongzheng (1724), Yuanhe County was separated from Wu County, and the Chen family was subordinated to Yuanhe. Chen Shuxun, the eighth grandson of Chen Ximin, was knowledgeable about the past and the present. He was a rough and broad-minded man. He traveled all over the world and was honored by all the nobles and ministers as honored guests. Chen Shuxun's son, Chen Chuzhe, was named Zaichu and also nicknamed Yongzhai. Chen Chuzhe was studious and motivated, smart and alert, and gained a literary reputation at a young age. In August of the 25th year of Qianlong's reign (1760), Chen Chuzhe passed the Jiangsu Provincial Examination and became a civil servant. But he failed in the examination in March of the following year. Chen Chuzhe was not discouraged and devoted himself to studying knowledge. He and his younger brother Chen Xizhe were famous in Jiangnan for their poetry and poetry, and were sometimes known as the "Er Chens". In the 30th year of Qianlong's reign, Emperor Qianlong visited the south. Chen Chuzhe's brothers were both summoned to take the examination for presenting gifts. Chen Chuzhe's examination results ranked first and he was awarded the cabinet secretary; Chen Xizhe's paper ranked second because of a wrong word. In March of the 34th year of Qianlong's reign, Chen Chuzhe passed the general examination. During the palace examination on April 21st, Chen Chuzhe wrote more than a thousand words, making profound arguments, and his regular script was excellent. The "reading minister" who was responsible for evaluating papers selected the 10 best papers, ranked them from first to tenth, and submitted them to Emperor Qianlong for his decision. Chen Chuzhe's paper ranked second. Emperor Qianlong read the top 10 examination papers. He admired Chen Chuzhe's paper the most and ranked first.
Chen Chuzhe became the fifty-first number one scholar since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, and the first number one scholar since Yuanhe was divided into counties. This year, Chen Chuzhe was 33 years old. Both of his parents are still alive and they are not too old. The villagers are proud that they have such a young and promising son like Chen Chuzhe.
According to the usual practice, Chen Chuzhe entered the Hanlin Academy as a compilation editor after winning the first prize. Emperor Qianlong specially ordered Chen Chuzhe to study Manchu literature in the Common Hall as a editor of the Hanlin Academy. Chen Chuzhe knew the gist of it after reading it. Two years later, the new Jinshi who studied in the Common Hall held their final examination, and Chen Chuzhe ranked first. Emperor Qianlong said happily: "Such a talent is rare in the country." He was appointed as the editor of the "Fang Lue Pavilion" and appointed to the Wuying Palace. Wuying Hall is located in the Forbidden City. There are book repair offices on the left and right sides of the hall. All official books are decorated here. Chen Chuzhe also served as a daily commentator, accompanying Emperor Qianlong to participate in various major activities and recording the emperor's words and deeds for future compilation and inclusion. Chen Chuzhe became a highly trusted minister of Emperor Qianlong.
In the thirty-seventh year of Qianlong's reign, a grand project in the history of Chinese culture began. This is Huang Huang's masterpiece "Sikuquanshu". Emperor Qianlong ordered the establishment of the "Siku Guan" as an institution for compiling the "Si Ku Quanshu". Chen Chuzhe was ordered to join the "Si Ku Guan" to participate in the compilation. After each proofreading of a book, the original purpose of the book is stated. At that time, the ministers had to recommend several people to write transcripts. For this good job, most of the ministers recommended their own relatives and friends, but the ones recommended by Chen Chuzhe were all poor scholars. Everyone admired Chen Chuzhe's magnanimity.
Soon after, Chen Chuzhe became the school manager of Wenyuan Pavilion and was responsible for the school's books. Later, Chen Chuzhe served as the co-examiner of the joint examination and the main examiner of the Shaanxi rural examination. Since Chen Chuzhe became an official, he has met the Beijing police twice. The Beijing inspection is an assessment of officials in Beijing, which occurs every three years. For those of the third rank and above, the ministry will list the facts and make a ruling. For the fourth and fifth ranks, special kings and ministers will be sent to inspect them, and for those below the sixth rank, they will be inspected by the superior officers. Chen Chuzhe's official official position is still that of the Hanlin Academy, and his other positions are all ***. Compiled and edited to the sixth grade. Chen Chuzhe belongs to the level inspected by superiors. Chen Chuzhe ranked first in both Beijing inspections.
He was specially appointed as a Taoist priest in Jingyi, Hubei Province due to his outstanding achievements in the first-class examination in Beijing twice. Jingyishi Road governed three prefectures: Jingzhou Prefecture (prefecture governed Jiangling, now part of Hubei), Yichang Prefecture (prefecture governed Yichang, now part of Hubei), and Shinan Prefecture (prefecture governed Enshi, now part of Sichuan). As soon as Chen Chuzhe took office, he encountered a lean year, so he immediately donated money to help the hungry. The next year, the river surged and overflowed outside the embankment in Shashi east of Jiangling. Chen Chuzhe urgently ordered the officials and people to carry earth to block the river. He personally went to the embankment to direct the rescue and fought for seven days and nights. The river gradually receded and the residents along the river were safe. Next year, Chen Chuzhe used his salary to build river embankments, and the embankments were strengthened. In the past, Jingzhou had envoys responsible for collecting taxes, which were changed once a year, but the tax amount was often lacking. Emperor Qianlong issued an edict to withdraw and ordered senior officials to take charge of it. The governor of Hubei requested Chen Chuzhe to take charge of the task. Chen Chuzhe inspected the officials and collected them according to regulations. The tax amount is sufficient, and the business people have no complaints. Chen Chuzhe's achievements in teaching Taoism in Jingyi were highly praised by both the government and the public.
However, Chen Chuzhe also did some ridiculous things. For example, in the third year after he took office, there was a severe drought. Chen Chuzhe prayed for rain at the Dragon Temple according to the method of praying for rain in Dong Zhongshu's "Spring and Autumn Dew". It is said that it really rained heavily.
Chen Chuzhe has been a Taoist priest in Jingyi for five years. In the sixth year, his mother died of illness, and Chen Chuzhe left his official position to attend the funeral. Two years later, my father passed away again. After Chen Chuzhe mourned his mother, he also mourned his father.
The old father and mother passed away one after another, and the Chen brothers divided their property and family. There are three brothers, Chen Chuzhe, the eldest brother, Chen Xizhe, the second brother, and Chen Tongzhe, the third brother. According to their parents' wishes, Chen Chuzhe and Chen Xizhe gave up their entire family home to their younger brother Chen Tongzhe, and they bought another house to live in. Chen Chuzhe's new house is in Guxue Lane. He built three buildings next to the house and planned to enshrine the ancestors' shrines as ancestral halls. There were some sloped stones in the courtyard. He named the new house "Xiao Pengying". Penglai and Yingzhou are legendary sacred mountains. From this, it seems that Chen Chuzhe has the intention of retiring from the world.
Just when the new house was about to be completed, Chen Chuzhe suddenly fell ill and could not afford it. He died soon after at the age of only 51. Chen Chuzhe died young, and everyone in the government and the public expressed regret.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the system of the Ming Dynasty was followed. The number one scholar stayed in the capital to serve as an official and was never sent to other places. However, under the Qianlong Emperor, he was cautious about the administration of officials and integrated internal and external affairs, so there was a case of sending the number one scholar to local officials. The first person to serve as a local official was Liang Guozhi, a native of Kuaiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang) and the number one scholar in the 13th year of Qianlong's reign. The second person to serve as a local official was Bi Yuan, a native of Zhenyang (now Jiangsu) and the number one scholar in the 25th year of Qianlong's reign. The three are Chen Chuzhe. However, Liang Guozhi and Bi Yuan served as officials in the capital for several terms before being released to the outside world. However, Chen Chuzhe was directly recruited from the Hanlin Academy to serve as a local official and was a Taoist priest. Emperor Qianlong made this move because he was preparing to reuse Chen Chuzhe. Unexpectedly, he died young, and Emperor Qianlong deeply regretted it.
Chen Chuzhe first married Zhang, whose father Zhang Peng was a civil servant in the 11th year of Tongzhi (1872). Unfortunately, Zhang died early, and Chen Chuzhe married Jiang Xiangen's daughter. Jiang was good at writing and careful in running the family, and was known as the "virtuous wife". Chen Chuzhe had two sons. The eldest son, Chen Zhaoxiong, died early; the second son, Chen Zhaoyan. When Chen Chuzhe died of illness, Chen Zhaoyan was still very young. Chen Chuzhe is filial and loyal to his friends, and abides by etiquette. He does not like to interact with senior officials at home, and he does not like to be ignored. He is humble and humble about relatives and friends, and his knowledge is far-reaching and unpredictable. His poems are gentle and elegant, just like the person he is; his calligraphy is wonderful, like Yan Lu. In his later years, he did not write easily, and his relatives and friends were proud of his handwriting. Three years after Chen Chuzhe's death, his younger brothers Chen Xizhe and Chen Tongzhe built a tomb for him next to the tomb of the ninth ancestor Chen Ximin and buried him there.