After the two newlyweds came out of the palace, they walked slowly north along the root of the imperial city. There were constant shouts and shouts along the way. Some people were cheering for money and others were saying congratulations. The faces of the young and old men and women were all full of smiles because of the welcoming procession.
Along the way, candy and happy money were scattered.
The house that Wuzhong and Song Luoshu bought is not far from Chang Yu's mansion. It is in the alley north of Dongcheng Bingmasi. The two houses are separated by a wall and a large courtyard. But now that wall has been demolished, and today they will be here.
We arranged the marriage of both families together.
The alley outside is already packed with people. Dozens of people in the house are busy preparing for the wedding banquet. There are fans from Dongchang and people from the Thirteenth Taibao. They organized Chang Yu's housewarming party last time. This time
Naturally, we won’t let fertilizer and water slip into other people’s fields.
It was already noon, and the sound of suona, gongs and drums could be vaguely heard in the distance: "Come on, come on, the bride is coming." Then the firecrackers exploded in the house, crackling with joy.
"Hurry up and throw the wedding money," the children at the door of the house shouted at the instigation of the adults. Li Muchian smiled and said: "Neighbors, don't be anxious, don't be anxious, the bride will need the wedding money as soon as she arrives."
"Coming, coming...someone shouted, and two large sedan chairs came slowly from the alley entrance surrounded by the crowd. Li Muxian grinned widely: "Fang San, give me some money..."
"Look at how pretty the bride is..." Some scoundrels and talkative women are shouting. Of course, they also know that it's impossible. They haven't even paid homage to the bride yet. It's impossible for the bride to show up in public. She won't be able to show her face until tomorrow at the earliest.
See the true face.
So when do you go to church?
In later generations, the north and the south were still arguing about this. Southerners said that northerners thought it was strange to have a wedding in broad daylight and then break up after drinking...
The northerners said to the southerners: You are weird. Weddings should be held in the bright daytime, and only second weddings are held at night...
So when should the ancient traditional wedding be held?
In fact, many people know the answer, yes, it is evening, that is, night.
Marriage, female, dusk, dusk refer to dusk.
In pre-Qin documents such as "The Book of Songs", "Rituals", and "Zuo Zhuan", "hun" was originally used to represent marriage. Later, in order to highlight this meaning, a new word was added next to "woman".
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi" explained the word "marriage": "Li": When a woman is comatose when she is married, the woman is yin, so it is called marriage.
In addition to classics, there are also folk records of arranging weddings in the evening and evening. The famous Yuefu poem "The Peacock Flies Southeast" in the late Han Dynasty describes Liu Lanzhi's situation when she remarried:
"On that day, the cows and horses are neighing, and the bride is entering the green house. After dusk, it is dark and quiet, and people are at the beginning of the night."
Putting aside these, we can also know it from some common sayings and vocabulary, such as: the night of flowers and candles in the bridal chamber.
But why did marriages have to be held in the evening or at night in ancient times? "Shuowen Jiezi" also explains an important point: "Women are yin" is not a curse word? This yin is relative to yang.
"Kangxi Dictionary" gives a more detailed and comprehensive explanation of the word "hun" quoted from "Etiquette Shihun Li" notes: "The ceremony for a scholar to marry his wife is based on the period of fainting? Hence the name. It must be a fainting person, Yang goes and Yin comes
? When the sun enters the third shang, it will be dark."
According to this view, the reason why weddings should be held after sunset is because this is when the yin and yang of heaven and earth intersect. This view should come from Ban Gu's "White Tiger Tongyi" of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Ban Gu believes that weddings should be held when yin and yang intersect? And finally
Is it better to choose in spring? The reason is also to comply with the rhythm of nature:
"Marriage must be based on spring? Spring is the communication between heaven and earth? It is the time when all things come into being and the handover of yin and yang."
To sum up Ban Gu's statement, "the day when Yin and Yang are handed over" should be matched with "the time when Yin and Yang are handed over."
As for the tradition of getting married during the day in the north, it is not that old? It was after Kangxi. Some people think that the curfew was implemented in the late Qing Dynasty and people had to do it during the day, but there is no documentation to support it. Others think it was influenced by the Manchu royal family? Qianlong 20th In December of the fourth year? The Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that it was an auspicious time for the four princesses to get married. The first wedding ceremony was held on the third day of April in the twenty-fifth year of Qianlong's reign, and the wedding was held on May 13th - it was in the morning. 9-11 o'clock.
This is the earliest recorded wedding to be held during the day, but the Manchu royal family did not always hold it during the day. For example, in the 14th year of Guangxu's reign, Empress Yehenala Jingfen's father Guixiang held a grand reception banquet at home in the evening, but the wedding procession However, it was not until 23:55 in the middle of the night that she set off for the Forbidden City. She arrived at the Qianqing Palace in the Forbidden City at 3:30 in the morning, got off the phoenix chariot, and officially married into the royal family.
Furthermore, Puyi's wedding ceremony was held on "December 1st".
At this time, ordinary people had gradually focused on "auspicious times", and it did not necessarily have to be done at night. It could also be done during the day. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, due to the impact of Western ethics, getting married during the day became commonplace.
But it is still the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign in the Ming Dynasty, and everything must be done according to the rules of the ancestors. The bride is taken to the house, but the formal wedding ceremony cannot begin until the evening.
The two brides were sent to the room by the bride and the maids to rest. No man, including the groom, was allowed in. If you wanted to have a wedding, you had to wait until night. Li Muchian arranged some meals for the maids to bring in. The bride was not allowed to go in until the wedding. Can't leave the room.
What is the groom doing?
Receive guests who come to congratulate you.
Although the wedding banquet was chaired in the evening, the noon lunch was considered a deputy banquet. It was mainly for some close relatives and friends and colleagues who were helping. There were more than a dozen tables set up. In addition to the people in the yamen, there were also Jinyiwei and Octopus. The Thirteen Taibao people, as well as the Fujunwei, Tengxiang Siwei, and several people from the Guards who are close to Dongchang (actually those who are very familiar with them, such as several commanders Cheng Ming and others, are here) (Shidu was leading troops outside Beijing)
When you come, you are a guest. To hold a wedding in Dongchang, a glass of wine and a pair of chopsticks are all that is needed. As long as you look familiar and come to the door with a gift and say congratulations, you are a guest and I will care whether you eat or drink well.
Eat quickly and clean up quickly. After noon, guests will start to arrive one after another. If you receive them well, there will be no mistakes elsewhere... Li Muxian is the host of the wedding. He is running around in the two courtyards with the Fairy Whisk in his hand. Yelling.
Chang Yu was in the hall. The three masters of the house, Chen Wangting, Qiao Sanxiu, and Jiang Fa, were drinking tea after lunch. Wuzhong trotted in: "The Governor, Master Wu of the Jinyi Guard is here..." Chang Yu grabbed the teacup before he could finish his words. Pretending to hit him: "You don't have to do so many things, and you are here to run errands and deliver messages..."
Wuzhong was scurrying around, and Wu Mengming walked in with his signature smile: "The Governor returned to Beijing yesterday. He was busy with official duties and could not go to pick him up. Please forgive me..."
"Come on," Chang Yu pouted and stretched out his hand to signal him to sit down. The maid next to him quickly made tea for him, and Chen Wangting and others also turned around and left.
"What have you been busy with lately? Can't you see anyone?"
Wu Mengming sighed: "I have been working hard. I went out of the palace with the emperor a few days ago. Just now I came back from Baoding Mansion and a big thing happened again. Jin Yiwei got a clue that there was a Tatar conspiracy in the capital that was planning to do something big. These two
We are investigating this matter every day.”
Oh, Chang Yu frowned. The Tatars have been coveting the Ming Dynasty for decades. They have already prepared for a rainy day. Not to mention that there is a small operation in the capital. It is not surprising to have ten or even a hundred stocks. But after the battle with the Tatars a few months ago, Chang Yu
Yu once ordered Dongchang to severely punish him, but unexpectedly he showed up again and wanted to cause trouble.
"Did you find anything?"
Wu Mengming shook his head: "We are only focusing on this line right now. We don't know what their intentions are. To avoid alerting the snake, we can't arrest them... Governor, do you think these dog Tatars can't stop beating them like that?"
If you want to stir up trouble, it’s really abominable.”
Chang Yu sneered: "If he asks us to stop, he will not feel comfortable. Dorgon is hiding in Jinzhou at this time and wants to blow up the city of Beijing..." He was suddenly startled: "That Tatar trick
I want to do something big, and I won’t take advantage of this wedding..."
"No, no" Wu Mengming quickly waved his hand: "At this moment, within a radius of two miles outside this house, there are no less than 500 and no less than 200 people in Jinyiwei. No disturbance can be hidden from our eyes."
Chang Yu nodded slightly: "We should also send more people to the Yamen side to prevent them from taking advantage of the situation."
"Don't worry, Lord Superintendent. I've sent people to keep a close eye on that line. No movement has been found yet. I've ordered that whenever something is wrong, I'll kill it immediately, even if it scares the snake."
"It should be so." Chang Yu frowned and said, "Perhaps it's because the emperor has been out of the palace and the capital very frequently recently, and he has been spotted by these minions who want to get the emperor's attention. You must not be careless." Wu Mengming slapped his thigh: "The governor and the
I thought of going together, but don’t worry, Governor, since you are busy outside, the humble position in this house must be guarded and no trouble will occur, otherwise it will be too obvious that I, the Jin Yiwei, are incompetent, and I, Wu Mengming, will become a waste."
Chang Yu smiled slightly: "Master Wu is joking, Jin Yiwei is still very capable. Dongchang relies on Jin Yiwei for help in many aspects." But he cursed in his heart, besides being good at making money, you are really nothing else.
A waste.
This matter was serious. Just in case, Chang Yu decided to let Dongchang intervene in the matter and sent a secret message to Jiang Quan to investigate.
The two of them were talking in the hall, and the yard was busy. Before they knew it, noon had passed, and there was an endless stream of guests coming to express their congratulations. Li Muxian, Lao Hu, and a few stewards were waiting at the door to welcome the guests. This was the same as the last housewarming banquet.
It’s different. If you come to have a wedding banquet, you need to register and give gifts.
Shi Kefa was not the first to come to congratulate him, but he was the first civil servant and the first to reach the level of six ministers. He had a close friendship with Chang Yu. No one was surprised at all. He took ten taels of silver and gave him a horse.
cloth (about thirty meters) and several boxes of pastries.
What came next surprised many people. The leading eunuchs from the Fourth Division, the Eighth Bureau, and the Twelve Supervisors in the palace came, and even the eunuch Wang Chenen came, and all the eunuchs from the twenty-four yamen came at once.
It can be said that Chang Yu's face was too great, and it can also be said that Emperor Chongzhen was too generous this time. You must know that Chongzhen did not give these eunuchs a collective holiday during his housewarming party.
These eunuchs were also very observant of the rules. Each of them brought twenty taels of gifts, including some silks and satins, etc. It was not very rich, but they would definitely be available no matter where they were placed.
Chang Yu and these power supervisors were both colleagues and had interests, so there were many topics to talk about. Everyone was drinking tea and chatting leisurely in the hall. Wu Mengming felt a little bored among them, so he withdrew and joined Li Muchian to greet the guests at the door.
.
"Governor, Lord Governor..." Chang Yu, who was chatting with Wang Chengen and others in the hall, suddenly heard Wu Mengming's shouting and saw him running over: "The distinguished guest is here."
Chang Yu couldn't help but frown. The distinguished guest in Wu Mengming's mouth...could it be a distinguished person? Logically speaking, they would not come to the wedding in person. At most, they would send someone to come and just pay the ceremony and it would be over.
"Master Li, the first assistant, Master Wu, the second assistant, and Master Ni, the minister of household affairs...are here together." Wu Mengming's words surprised Chang Yu. How could they come? They didn't even come to his housewarming party, and Wu Xuan...
What I dislike the most is...something is wrong today.
But when I thought about it, I suddenly smiled bitterly. Yes, Emperor Chongzhen tried his best again. He regarded this wedding as Chang Yu's wedding! He wanted to use this wedding to punish those who could not deal with Chang Yu.
Call everyone over, and just say one simple sentence: Chang Yu and I have to give face to each other.
The reason why he did this was firstly to give Chang Yu face, and secondly to see who would not give him face!
You used to sit on my head and poop and urinate, and you would let me take the blame for everything, and you would make me issue an edict at every turn. Things are different now. I have someone with a straight back, and I would like to see what happens.
Whoever fails to position himself correctly will have to give you eye drops in the future. This was also the inspiration given to him by Chang Yu. Chang Yu always talked to him before to consolidate the prestige of the imperial power and the imperial power.
supreme...
So he will use this wedding to test the waters. Anyone who doesn't go will not give me face!
Nowadays, no matter whether it is a court official or a cabinet minister, there is no one who can't figure it out clearly. The young eunuch Wu Ding Qian Kun and Wen Jue of the Tang and Song Dynasties are talents that are rare to see in a thousand years. The Ming Dynasty is reborn in this person. Even a blind man can do it.
It was obvious that no one was willing to go against him. Moreover, upon closer inspection, this eunuch had not done any real evil deeds, and he did not regulate the civil service group like Wei Zhongxian. Now that the emperor was testing him again, why should he seek trouble? Even if
I still hate this eunuch in my heart, but it's time to calm down in terms of face.
After figuring this out, Chang Yu couldn't help but smile bitterly. It was originally a happy wedding, but now it has changed a bit. He would rather not let these people come to congratulate him.
………………………………
Originally this wedding was planned to be brushed aside, but it was written down...