In addition to regulatory reasons, the reason why the Ministry of Rites hinted like this was because of the emperor's hint.
The emperor prepared a lot of dowries for the two princesses. No matter how much betrothal gifts the Bai family prepared, they would be converted into dowries, which would exceed the etiquette system too much. The emperor felt that this was not good.
The reason why he felt so guilty was naturally because he was scolded by Wei Zhi for marrying his daughter a few years ago. Of course, he admitted his mistake, but he just didn't change it.
This time, two daughters were married in succession. The emperor asked the treasury to prepare a large amount of dowry. He followed the etiquette list and gave some more privately. The queen also divided her dowry. This accidentally exceeded the limit.
There's just a bit too much.
Wei Zhi had already remonstrated last time, and the emperor didn't really want to see him during this period. Every time he saw him, he would recite it, feeling guilty.
Old Zhoutou didn't understand this very much, "Why is this Mr. Wei so busy? What's the point of a father giving a dowry to his daughter? This is the emperor's money. He can give it to whomever he likes. Why should he listen to an outsider?"
What did you say?"
Man Bao said: "You can't say that. It's a selfless matter for the Tian family. What's more, this matter involves etiquette. It's not His Majesty's business alone, let alone the royal family's business. Mingda has already rejected such a high dowry twice, but this is
His Majesty and the Queen love her so much that she can't be too tough, otherwise she will break His Majesty's heart."
Lao Zhoutou didn't understand, "Isn't it my family's business to marry my daughter?"
Man Bao shook his head, and Bai Shan also shook his head, and said: "The etiquette system regulates people's identities and social relationships. Your Majesty also has sisters. According to etiquette, the late emperor's princesses are more valuable than your majesty's princesses. A dowry that exceeds the etiquette system will not only break this
relationship, and will leave a bad example to future generations. What should we do if someone imitates me in the future?"
Bai Shandao: "It is understandable that His Majesty loves his daughter, but Mr. Wei is not wrong. He looks at the matter from the overall situation. Now His Majesty is just stepping on the line of etiquette and letting the treasury prepare the gift list, and subsidizes the rest.
But what if there is an emperor in the future who is unwilling to take money from his private treasury, or has no money in his private treasury, but wants to have the dignity of a married princess?"
Old Zhoutou: "What should I do?"
"He will transfer it to the national treasury, and the bottom line is being stepped down bit by bit," Bai Shan said: "What's more, His Majesty's private treasury does not belong to him alone. In addition to him, it also involves other princes and children.
, not to mention the Imperial Medical Office and Taichang Temple, which are departments that often need subsidies from the emperor. If he gives more dowry to the princess, there will inevitably be less for the Imperial Medical Office and Taichang Temple."
Forty percent of the Imperial Medical Office's expenditures still come from the emperor's private treasury, and it will take a long time for the national treasury to fully cover its expenditures.
Don't tell me about Taichang Temple.
Taichang Temple is responsible for building the imperial mausoleum, which is a large part of the expenditure. Of course, this money comes from the national treasury, but today in order to relieve the pressure on the treasury, it has been independently shouldering part of the expenditure. Otherwise, why would the emperor be so poor?
On the one hand, having to marry off wives for sons and daughters year after year, such fixed expenses are also a big reason.
Looking at the Daming Palace, it has been built for twenty years and half of it is wasteland, which shows how poor the emperor was.
So this is really not the emperor's problem alone.
But the emperor was also stubborn. Wei Zhi and others scolded him, but he listened honestly, turned around and prepared what he should prepare for his daughter, but did not change.
Wei Zhi was helpless. The Chinese New Year was coming soon. All kinds of taxes had to be consolidated, and plans had to be prepared for where to spend money in the coming year. Moreover, this year was also the time for the Ministry of Personnel and Supervision. Important officials from all over the country had to return to Beijing to report on their duties. Qin Tian Supervisor
Warnings were issued two months ago, saying that the cold weather will arrive early this year, and that there may be snowstorms in the Central Plains and the South.
That's right, the snowstorm is not in the north, but in the Central Plains and the south, which happen to be major grain-producing areas. It's really a headache.
So there was a lot to do, and Wei Zhi didn't want to get into too much trouble with the emperor over such a trivial matter, especially when the two of them were about to become in-laws.
Therefore, he wrote twice and tried to persuade him twice in person. When he found that the emperor admitted his mistake in person and did what he did behind the scenes, he turned a blind eye and ignored it.
The emperor felt guilty for a few days and found out that Wei Zhizhen had stopped asking. He was instantly overjoyed and felt at ease. When preparing the dowry for his daughter, he even asked about the dowry of his courtiers.
The main reason was that Zhou Manlai came to ask for peace of mind for the queen. They were both children who were getting married, so the emperor asked one more question, "Have your parents prepared a dowry for you?"
Man Bao nodded, "There are quite a few prepared."
The emperor smiled and asked, "I heard that you also make a lot of money. Will you put it into your dowry?"
Manbao shook his head.
The emperor frowned, "Why, you want to leave your money to your parents and family?"
How can a father ask for his daughter's hard-earned money?
Man Bao said: "No, my father didn't let me put the money in the dowry, so he asked me to keep it secretly, saying it was a private property. If it was put in the dowry, it would be public. I should still put some private property on my body, so
To make things easier, no one knows how much money I have."
In fact, if she hadn't looked at the account books, she wouldn't have known how much money she had."
When the emperor heard this, he began to think deeply, and afterwards he told Mingda, "It's a pity that our family's belongings are all in the account books, and I can't secretly leave them to you as a private house. But Zhou Man's father is right, you still
There should be some private houses. Later I will find an excuse and ask for some money from the private treasury, and you can secretly take it to build a private house."
Mingda: "...Father, didn't you and your mother prepare a box of silver for your son? That's enough."
"That's for public use, not a private house."
Mingda felt that Bai Erlang would not remember this and might embarrass him a bit, but the emperor persisted and she had no choice but to say: "My daughter does not have much expenses. You can give some to your sister, and I will have less."
The emperor nodded, reached out and touched her head and said: "You are weak. When the time comes, I will ask someone to prepare more medicinal materials for you. From now on, you will live in the princess's mansion. If the medicine is not enough, I will send someone back.
Say, I will ask someone to find it for you."
Mingda smiled and nodded. Her father's mood has been ups and downs recently. Forget it, let's deal with everything in advance.
The emperor was overjoyed. He held his daughter's hand and sighed, "Unknowingly, you are getting married. I remember you were so small a few years ago. Your hair was yellow and sparse. No matter how much you ate, it was useless. At that time, you were so small."
Your mother and I were worried to death. The hospital told us that you were weak and had a weak spleen and stomach. You were nothing like your sister. You ate like a kitten. I didn’t expect you to be so big now.
"
The emperor looked at Mingda's hair, which only had some yellowing at the tips, and reached out to touch it with satisfaction. His daughter's health was getting better, and you could tell just by looking at her hair.
Mingda didn't really want to talk to her father. She was pretty in every aspect, but her hair was not that good, but her father specifically mentioned it.