In the sixth year of Shaotian's reign, it was the twelfth day of the first lunar month.
"Zhi said, I am here to accept the Duke of Qiantang, the governor of Guangdong, and the daughter of the Crown Prince's Young Master Zhang Huangyan as the Crown Princess. I ordered the ministers and others to perform the honorary ceremony of accepting the request!"
For the purpose of the prince's wedding, the emperor also specially selected more than a dozen important ministers from the cabinet bachelors, the dean of Taijian, and the six ministers and Dajiuqing to form the prince's wedding ceremony ceremony, and they were fully responsible for the prince's wedding.
Wen Anzhi, the first assistant bachelor of the cabinet and the chief minister of the Prime Minister's Office, acted as the main master of ceremonies. After receiving the emperor's imperial edict, he personally went to the residence of Qiantang County Duke Zhang Huangyan to perform the acceptance ceremony.
Zhang Huangyan's family opened the middle gate to greet them.
"The crown prince's acceptance of a wife belongs to the order's virtue. The state has a standing code, and the envoy should perform the gift of accepting a betrothal gift!" The way of Wen'an.
The eunuch Liu Chao came in and brought a pair of wild geese in person, "I have been ordered to select them."
Zhang Huangyan saluted respectfully.
The wedding was approaching, but they still had to follow the six etiquettes and go through the procedures. Liu Chao came with wild geese to ask about birth dates and Naji performed divination. Zhang Huangyan had to decline as usual.
Two days later, Wen Anzhi and Liu Chao came to the door again with a group of ministers. Liu Chao still came with a pair of wild geese. This time it was Naji Nazheng in the Six Rites. Naji was to ask about the bad luck of the marriage, Nazheng was
Send betrothal gifts.
Najib is just going through the process, and collecting taxes is certainly not a problem for the royal family.
What's more, the emperor has found so many sponsors this time, and all kinds of gifts are of the highest quality.
The gifts sent by Wen Anzhi include eight taels of four-wheeled carriages, including convertibles, sedans, and RV-type cross-country ones. They are all supplied and sponsored by several royal carriage factories under the supervision of the Shaofu. They are very exquisite.
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There were also sixteen saddled and bridle horses sent from several royal ranches.
There are also twelve pairs of armor.
There are eight self-ringing clocks and eight pocket watches.
A thousand pieces of silk and satin, three thousand pieces of weaving cloth, a hundred pieces of woolen cloth, and a hundred pieces each of sable and fox furs.
There are also millet, wheat, corn, glutinous rice and sorghum, each worth a hundred shi, and a hundred kilograms of ginseng and a hundred kilograms of deer bark.
Finally, there are the northern pearls of Liaoning and southern pearls of Hepu, as well as Burmese jade, Khotan jade, Annam ivory, and South China Sea spices.
One hundred and eight pieces of various gold and silver jewelry.
Eight thousand taels of gold, eighty thousand taels of silver, and one hundred and eighty thousand coins.
These gifts are amazing.
Countless relatives and friends of the Zhang family, as well as neighbors, gathered around to watch the amazing gift. After receiving the gift, the Zhang family held a wedding banquet.
This Nacai banquet was still given to the Zhang Mansion by the royal family, with one hundred wine banquet tables, one hundred pastry tables, one hundred and twenty sheep, and one hundred and twenty bottles of wine.
Liu Chao held out another gift list.
The gifts to the Crown Princess’s parents include two hundred taels of gold, ten thousand taels of silver, one gold tea canister, two silver tea canisters, two silver basins, one thousand pieces of silk and satin, one thousand pieces of weaving cloth, and a saddle and bridle.
There are twenty horses and forty idle horses.
The gifts given to the prince's grandfather were one hundred pieces of silk and satin, two hundred pieces of weaving cloth, four horses, and four sets of saddles and bridles.
For each of the younger brothers and sisters of the Crown Princess, forty pieces of silk and satin, a hundred pieces of weaving cloth, two horses, and two pairs of saddles and bridles.
In addition, we also prepared wedding items for the princess, including two golden Ruyi handles, sixteen pieces each of Dongzhu, coral, Baguio, green jade, and colored glaze, and nine pieces each of green jade, fat jade, and flannel incense.
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There are as many as 256 pieces of leather, cotton, jackets, singles, cotton robes, jackets, gauze jackets and other clothes made of various silks and satins, as well as 12 pairs each of warm boots and sandals.
etc.
After giving the gifts, they came to the house two days later to perform fortune telling on a tortoise shell to determine the wedding date.
After confirming the wedding date, Emperor Zhu Yihai wore a Tongtian crown and a crimson gauze robe, and entered the Fengtian Palace. Witnessed by hundreds of officials, he led the prince to Danqi to pay four respects and perform a ritual ceremony. The emperor faced the officials and treated the prince.
Advice and admonishment.
Everything is ready on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.
On the second day of the Lantern Festival, six rites are performed to welcome the bride, and the prince himself leads a wedding team to pick up the newlyweds at the princess's home.
On that day, the scene was extremely spectacular. With sufficient funds, the wedding was a sensation throughout Beijing. Four guards and six soldiers from the East Palace acted as honor guards. They all put on their formal clothes and held a guard of honor. They paraded around the main streets of Beijing in a grand manner.
We walked around for a while before arriving at Zhang’s house.
Fences and colorful sheds have been set up in front of Zhang's house in advance.
The agitation team and the honor guard opened the way with great force. The prince was also very energetic today. He came in a luxurious royal dragon-carved carriage wearing a royal robe. Four big white horses were also tied with big red flowers and pulled the carriage with dignity.
Amidst the sound of blowing and beating, firecrackers blasted together.
Zhang's backyard.
The bride was already dressed up, and Zhang Huangyan and his wife covered their daughter with a red hijab.
As soon as the red hijab fell, Zhang Huangyan's eyes turned red again. He stood there and gave his daughter the final instruction through the red cloth, "Be obedient, be respectful and diligent day and night, and don't disobey orders."
The Crown Princess's mother also held her daughter's hand while wiping away her tears, and said reluctantly, "You have to work hard. Your father taught you that you can only be respectful when accepting orders."
Zhang Huangyan's concubines also came over at this time, "Respectfully obey your parents."
Uncontrollable tears welled up from Zhang Jinghui's eyes under her hijab. She originally thought she wouldn't cry, but she still couldn't hold it back. "My daughter will remember the teachings of her father and mother."
The palace attendants came in and said that the auspicious time had come. They led, supported, guided or followed the princess and took her out in a carriage.
Go outside the door, get off the carriage, and change into the sedan chair.
Crown Prince Zhu Hongjia helped lower the curtain of the phoenix sedan chair, and then boarded the golden carriage himself.
The four guards and six men from the East Palace, under the sound of firecrackers and blowing, followed the etiquette and route they followed when they came, paraded around the main street of Beijing again, and then returned to the gate of the East Palace.
After entering the palace, the prince and the princess completed the marriage ceremony, drank and ate, changed into regular clothes, and the newlyweds went to see the emperor.
Zhu Hongjia took his new daughter-in-law Zhang Jinghui to the Yangxin Hall to meet His Majesty in the inner hall. Zhu Yihai ascended the throne and summoned him. The couple entered the hall and paid their respects again.
Zhu Yihai looked at the young couple and said, "Come forward and get closer. From such a distance, I can't even see you newlyweds."
The two men stepped forward.
Liu Chao also brought out a brocade plate, which was supposed to contain red dates and chestnuts. Zhu Yihai asked Liu Chao to replace it with red dates, peanuts, longans and lotus seeds in advance.
Zhu Yihai called the prince forward, grabbed his hand and said to the princess, "Today is a happy day for you. Let me say a few words, especially to the prince. You stepped out of the Zhang family gate and entered the door of Da Nei. From now on,
Then you are the daughter-in-law of our royal family, the old Zhu family. You are the princess whom I, Zhu Yihai, are marrying as the matchmaker for the crown prince. You were brought in from Fengtian Gate. From now on, you will be the mistress of the East Palace.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The prince is young, you should take care of him more for me in the future. If he is stupid and dares to wrong you even in the slightest, you can come directly to me.
From now on, I will be your father, and I will make decisions for you."
Zhang Jinghui looked at the usually thunderous Emperor Shaotian, who was so close and yet said such heart-warming words. The relationship between father-in-law and daughter-in-law was suddenly close, and they were no longer so strange.
"My daughter-in-law thanks my father."
"Don't be so polite, we will be a family from now on."
An explanation.
Since the middle palace was vacant, Zhu Yihai called Concubine Chen Huang and Concubine Ruan, who were in charge of the Sixth Palace, and they gave the princess a silk and satin plate as usual.
The Crown Princess brought water to Zhu Yihai and the two noble concubines to wash themselves and drink tea.
"You should go back and rest early. I won't disturb your newlyweds' auspicious occasion." After Zhu Yihai drank tea, he waved with a smile.
Before leaving, I also specially took out a string of East beads. This chain is made of one hundred and eight East beads, equally divided into four coral beads. There are eight lapis lazuli beads on both sides, and it is tied with a yellow ribbon.
The clouds on the back are connected together. The clouds on the back are inlaid with a piece of gold and cat's eye. The coral is carved into the shape of a bat to make a knot. There are four East beads knotted with beads. The falling corners are supported by gold threads and a ruby drops...
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These East Pearls are only produced in the lower reaches of the Songhua River in Liaodong. They are very precious. They were called Northern Pearls in the Song Dynasty. The larger ones are worth thousands of gold. This string of beads, as well as rubies, cat's eyes, corals, etc., are priceless.
Not an exaggeration.
It is made of Eastern beads paid tribute by Jurchen tribes in Liaodong, plus gemstones and corals paid tribute by Annan Champa and other places in Myanmar. It is made by the royal craftsmen with superb skills. It is completely a royal treasure.
But Zhu Yihai gave it directly to his new daughter-in-law.
Zhang Jinghui also saw at a glance that this item was of great value and could be worth millions, so he quickly refused and did not dare to accept it.
"Although this string of Dongzhu is valuable, it is just a dead thing. You are the priceless treasure of my Ming Dynasty old Zhu family. From now on, I will entrust the prince to you. You must take good care of it for me."
Only the emperor, queen mother, and empress are qualified to wear this kind of beads. Even the prince cannot wear 108 beads, not to mention they are all top-quality beads.
Now Zhu Yihai gave it directly to his new daughter-in-law, which was also a great compliment to this new daughter-in-law, and also reminded Zhu Hongjia to remember that he must treat the princess well.
The Crown Princess thanked her and returned to the East Palace with the Crown Prince.
At the gate of the East Palace over there, the dowries of the Crown Princess are still being sent into the palace. These dowries have been circulated twice more on Beijing Street. They are very rich.
There are three handles each for Jin Ruyi and Jade Ruyi, as well as various other clothes and utensils, from various lamps to various mirrors, to various boxes, tables, and even bowls, chopsticks, spoons, etc., all in a complete set.
The chiming clock, the glass mirror, and the dressing table are either inlaid with gold, inlaid with jade, or made of red sandalwood.
The wash basins are all gold, the mouthwash bowls are all gold, and the soap boxes are all gold.
The spit basin is also made of silver, the screen is carved from Han jade, the wash basin stand is made of rosewood, and the kang table, coffee table, footrest and seats are all made of rosewood.
There are sixty red sandalwood carved boxes, and another sixty red lacquered dragon and phoenix boxes...
The dowry of the Crown Princess exceeds one million silver dollars, but Zhang Huangyan did not pay for it. If he really had to pay for it, he could afford it. Although the Zhang family is just an ordinary gentry family in eastern Zhejiang, as the earliest Conglong ancestor,
It is also the group of confidants who rank at the top of the emperor's red book. The emperor has always brought Zhang Huangyan with him when setting up the emperor's store in these years. Every year, the dividends of the emperor's store alone are worth hundreds of thousands.
However, Zhu Yihai did not let him pay for it, and was still sponsored and supported by the imperial merchants.
The wedding ceremony was carried out three times around the city of Beijing, causing a sensation among the people of Beijing and shocking the envoys from all over the world.
This royal majesty and the national power of the Ming Dynasty make people feel unfathomable and extremely admirable.
Of course, all these exquisite betrothal gifts and dowries opened everyone's eyes, and made the sponsoring royal merchants more and more famous. After all, these are all used for the prince's wedding, and they are so exquisite, so they can't go wrong.
After reading this, many ministers and ministers from wealthy families couldn't help but think that in the future, they would have to do three or five things to hold happy events at home, such as the four-wheeled carriage, the self-ringing bell, the Liaodong Mink and Ginseng Dongzhu, and the Qinghai Grand
Mahetao horses and Mongolian horses are not allowed to have two if conditions permit?
What other Burmese jade, Annam ivory, Champa agarwood, or Siamese rosewood, maybe I can get some too?
Even many foreign envoys had a great impulse to buy after seeing it. If these top-notch luxury goods for the royal wedding of the Eastern Ming Empire were brought back to Europe, wouldn't the royal families of various countries like them?
Isn’t this another good business? The royal family are the richest people in the world.
These exquisite silk porcelain, gold and silver utensils, various lacquerware, precious wood furniture, even better chiming clocks, glass products, etc. than those in Europe, bought the same style and brought them back to Europe, and then described this grand wedding of the Eastern Empire to the kings
Scene, tell them these exquisite Ming Dynasty imperial royal imperial palace, will they not be moved?
On that day, many thoughtful envoys or businessmen began to inquire. Because the Imperial Store was sponsoring the wedding this time, and various sponsored products had obvious trademarks, it was easy for them to find the suppliers.
As a result, when they came to the door, they found that the entrances of these imperial stores in Beijing were already crowded with people queuing up. Many people were queuing up to place orders.
"We want to purchase goods from your company."
"Please wait in line for the guests."
"We are a foreign mission, and we want to buy them back and present them to the king of Europe."
"Hello, dear foreign envoys, please queue up here first. Thank you very much for taking care of me. However, because there are too many people who want to order at the moment, please queue up first." The waiter said politely, but did not say anything.
Ask them to jump in line, "If you need matza or tea, please ask at any time. If you are sure you have to queue, we can also ask the counter to write a number for you to queue up first. This can avoid disputes about jumping in line."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! When the business representative of the British East India Company really got a number plate and then a small horse, he was a little stunned.
But looking at the getting longer and longer queue, and the people who kept coming, he thought about it and decided to queue up here first. Such a popular situation showed that these products are indeed very attractive, so if we can negotiate
If you sign a purchase contract and buy it back to Europe, you will definitely make a lot of money.
In the early 2000s, the British East India Company made a fortune of 3.5 million pounds through the Ming Dynasty's foreign trade in tea. In the Ming Dynasty, the tea exported in the Ming Dynasty was more than 20 taels per load. When it arrived at the British Customs, they levied about 40 taels of silver per load.
tea tax.
Compared with other imported goods, the tax on tea is higher.
In the UK, the selling price of tea is as high as six to ten pounds per pound, and one pound is equivalent to a year's income of a working class.
If we directly calculate the precious metal value of pounds and silver dollars, one pound is about four silver dollars. During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, many Jiangnan tenants only had three taels of silver for food and accommodation for a year. The income of ordinary people at the bottom was almost the same.
Tea is a consumer product for the top upper class in the UK. At this time, their tea drinking basically imitated the Chinese tea culture, and even the tea sets were imported from the Ming Dynasty.
Chinese porcelain, tea, afternoon tea, these are all symbols of the upper class.
However, as the British East India Company controlled most of the trading rights for tea exported to the Ming Dynasty, they continued to increase the import volume of British tea and also reduced the tea tax to an ad valorem tax of 25%. Tea no longer had to be imported from other countries.
The Dutch, Portuguese and other merchants changed hands several times, which made the price of Daming tea imported from Britain much lower, and the number of tea drinkers also increased rapidly.
Afternoon tea has been extended to the middle class, who put on a suit and tie, hold a Chinese imported porcelain tea set, and drink imported Chinese tea to enjoy the afternoon leisurely.
Of course, many middle-class or business people are not used to drinking tea that is bitter, and cannot imitate the elegance of the top princes and nobles, so they simply add sugar to the tea, and some people add milk. The improved drinking method actually increases the amount of tea.
Tea crowd.
Tea imports have increased.
The British East India Company's profits increased significantly last year, but almost all of them came from trade with the Ming Dynasty, so they sent more people to the Ming Dynasty in order to make their business bigger and broader.
This business representative is very sure that these exquisite high-end Ming products displayed at the wedding of the Ming Crown Prince will definitely create a whirlwind in Europe and lead a new trend. This will definitely be another hot spot.
Definitely gotta catch it.
For the sake of the bonus, even if he had to queue up awkwardly here, he would endure it.
You must not fall behind others, you must seize this opportunity!
When he thought of the large bonuses and dividends, Fat John's face turned red with excitement and his eyes lit up.
