Great Tang princess

Chapter 128 The Prince's Wedding
From the tenth day of the fifth lunar month, the Taoist priests in Qintianjian have been busy.

Of course, although they are busy, the expressions on everyone's faces are all smiling, as if they are celebrating the New Year.

Marriage in this era pays attention to the six rituals, and one of them is that the man who comes to propose marriage asks for the horoscope of the woman's birthday and then goes to a fortune teller to see if it is suitable.

If it is in the folk, this step usually goes to Taoist temples or temples, and no matter how bad it is, you can find a half fairy who sets up a stall to show you.

But the marriage of the children of the officials naturally fell to the Qin Tianjian.

Eight out of ten of the Qin Tianjian are Taoist priests, and many of them will start some side jobs such as fortune-telling for others to earn extra money.

So recently, many Taoist priests in Qintianjian would meet some court officials and hand them a note whenever they went out.

"This is the birthday of Gouzi and the person he loves. Please ask the Taoist priest to see if it is suitable."

"Oh, it's about..."

The officials on the opposite side are often willing to give a lottery and put in some money: "Please take a good look at it, the Taoist priest, a small gesture is not a respect, it is a donation of incense..."

After receiving the money, they would count their fingers and nod their heads: "Well, the two people's birthdays match, it's a match made in heaven!"

So another couple's wedding was put on the agenda, and all parties would be happy.

Of course, most of these married men and women are second sons or even bastards.

The marriage of the eldest son is often closely related to the family, and it is impossible to let him choose freely.

Of course, if the person they like happens to be useful to the family, the parents don't mind being more open-minded.

Even Li Zhi was very happy in this situation.

Although it has been nearly 50 years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, the population has always been a headache for the court.

Because the population was too small, even in the first year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong ordered the people to get married as soon as they reached the age.

Even those widows and widowers are advised to stay in mourning for about three years, so hurry up and make do with it, don't always stay alone.

You know, the Tang Dynasty only completely completed the unification in the second year of Zhenguan, and this order has already come out in the first year of Zhenguan!

One can imagine how anxious the court was about this matter.

Even now there is a kind of official media, that is, official matchmakers, who will check their household registrations all the time to help men and women of similar age find suitable partners.

This even includes widows or those who have been divorced, etc.

So in Datang, it is very common to get married twice and get married three times, and they will not be discriminated against.

While the children of the officials' families were holding their weddings, the palace was also busy preparing for the prince's wedding.

If we talk about civil marriage, the so-called "six rituals" should be saved as much as possible, and simplified as much as possible.

But the royal family and nobles cannot be simplified.

Even the prince's big wedding, not only cannot be simplified, but a lot of complicated details have to be added.

In the past few days, three wild geese have been caught and kept in the palace. They can only be released after the wedding.

At the same time, the emperor also ordered the main wedding envoy and the deputy wedding envoy. These positions are generally held by the prince, Taifu and people from Zongzheng Temple.

In the past few days, Prince Li Hong has officially entered into intense training, and the officials in charge of the wedding ceremony have sent someone to teach him the precautions at that time.

In this era, apart from the fact that the supreme emperor does not have to come to greet his relatives in person, even if he is a prince, he must come to greet his relatives at that time, and complete his wedding process strictly according to the etiquette system.

Six ceremonies, one called Nacai (picking): The man asks the matchmaker to go to the woman's home to propose marriage, and he must bring a wild goose as a gift.If the other party accepts it, it means that they are interested and can proceed to the next step.The prince's matchmaker is naturally an official from the Ministry of Rites.

The second is to ask the name: the man will bring another wild goose here, give it to the other party, ask the woman's name and birth date, and then go to a fortune teller to see if it is compatible.This stage is naturally undertaken by Taishi Ling Li Yan.

The third day is Najib: After the male party combines the horoscope, go and tell the other party the result.If you decide to marry, you can bring another wild goose, and the other party will accept it and express your agreement.

The fourth day is called Na Zheng: bring a gift to make a betrothal gift, get engaged.That is to say, at this stage, neither party can regret it.In the civil society, it is also at this stage that the law begins to intervene, because property exchanges have already taken place.

Five-day request date: The man chooses an auspicious day, writes a letter of respect, and discusses the date of marriage with the other party.

Six days to welcome relatives: It is the day when the wedding is officially held.

The prince's marriage is not a trivial matter. From the beginning to the end, the time span is very large.

This year there is a run in May, and the auspicious day given by Taishi Ling Li Yan is the second day of the leap in May.

It seems that there are still more than [-] days, as if time is abundant, but it depends on who it is.

Recently, the Shangyi Bureau has been busy to death, rushing to make wedding clothes for the prince and princess.

Li Yuechen is fine, and he still maintains a healthy life and rest according to his own habits every day.

It's just that in the afternoon, I will discuss with the two sisters how to play when they have a bridal chamber.

In this era, there is also the custom of making trouble in the bridal chamber, but it is not really in the bridal chamber, but when it is picked up.

For the future princess, ordinary people would definitely not dare to make trouble, but it is naturally different for a family, and a little joking is still okay.

The two sisters think that it's almost the same meaning, don't go too far.

To this, Li Yuechen nodded in agreement, and he had to play with a degree, absolutely not too much.

At the same time, I did not miss the class. When I am free these days, I will go to the blast furnace production experiment base on Mangshan Mountain.

Now the grooves on the platform have been punched out, and the rest is to choose materials to build a blast furnace for experimentation.

A total of six grooves were knocked out on the platform. Li Yuechen asked them to try different materials, keep the successful ones, and remove them if they failed.

The craftsmen agreed, and immediately began to enter the experiment.

Back in the palace, just after entering the imperial city, Wang Gangdan was waiting here, handing over some recently made bearings to Li Yuechen.

Li Yuechen didn't let him be idle, and asked him to make more bearings when he was free, so that he could use them for roller skates or other things.

Asking Fulai to put away the bearings handed over, Li Yuechen waved his hand and planned to go back.

Suddenly, he seemed to think of something, and stopped again: "How do you usually make gold wire?"

Li Yuechen asked this because he was thinking about a question, can iron wire be made in this era?

If you can make iron wire or steel wire, then you can make iron and steel cables. As long as you have this thing, it is possible to make a hang glider or a hot air balloon.

Among other things, at least the skeleton part needs to be fixed with these.

When Wang Gangdan heard the princess asking this question suddenly, he was a little confused for a while, but he explained obediently.

After listening to his explanation, Li Yuechen nodded, probably understood
To put it simply, the production of metal wire in this era relies on something called a drawing board.

Simply put, there are small holes arranged on an iron plate or steel plate, and these holes gradually shrink from thick to thin.

Metals such as gold or silver are softer and easier to shape.

Therefore, it is generally made into long strips first, and then passed through the thickest holes to pull it into filaments.

Then, as needed, a little bit is forced through the finer holes, pulling it into filaments of different thicknesses.

Li Yuechen nodded: "Then can this method be used to make iron wire or steel wire?"

Wang Gangdan thought for a while, and finally shook his head: "Returning to Your Highness, this steel is very hard. If you pull it forcibly, it may enlarge the holes on the drawing board, which is very difficult."

"Do you have a solution?" Li Yuechen asked.

"Yes." Wang Gangdan nodded, "If you heat it until it becomes soft first, and pass it through the wire drawing board before it cools down, you should be able to do it."

Hearing his answer, Li Yuechen nodded: "Well, you can make one and try it first, and then talk about it if it works."

"Dare to ask Your Highness, how thin and how long?"

Li Yuechen thought for a while, then raised his little finger: "It's thinner than mine, only three...five feet long!"

Wang Gangdan bowed and saluted: "Your Highness, let Xiaolao go back and try. Although I can't guarantee it, I will try my best!"

"En!" Li Yuechen nodded, "If it is done, I will reward you a lot!"

……

After bidding farewell to Wang Gangdan, on the way back to Anfu Hall, Li Yuechen was thinking while walking.

In this era, steel cables are no longer necessary, but it doesn’t matter if steel and iron can be mixed to make steel cables of slightly lower quality.

The big deal is to wrap it thicker at that time. As long as the pulling force is enough, the skeleton of the hang glider can be made.

Hang gliders and hot air balloons can be said to be the most likely aircrafts to be produced in this era.

Although hot air balloons cannot control the direction freely, and hang glider is an unpowered aircraft, but even so, it is definitely an artifact against the sky in this era.

Especially the hang glider, the flying speed is not slow, and it can turn freely and control freely.

You can even fly to altitudes above 6000 meters if you want.

Although there is no independent power, theoretically speaking, the battery life will be longer in this way.

As long as you can keep catching the updraft, you can fly in the sky without coming down.

If one day this thing can really be made to fly around in the sky, it should be worshiped as a god... Li Yuechen couldn't help thinking in his heart.

Back at Anfu Hall, just after entering the hall, Shangguan Wan'er came over with a bowl of Su Shan.

"Your Highness, the weather is hot, how about eating a bowl of Su Shan?"

"Yeah." Li Yuechen took a bite, the weather is really hot recently.

Shangguan Wan'er smiled lightly: "Has the ice cellar in the palace expanded? The saint has given a lot of ice recently."

Li Yuechen smiled: "You will know this after a while."

"His Royal Highness is about to get married, and His Highness has been very busy recently." Shangguan Wan'er lowered her head, "It's been a long time since I played with Wan'er."

"Hmm..." Li Yuechen nodded, seeing that she was a little depressed, and suddenly asked, "Wan'er, have you ever thought about what would happen if you flew into the sky?"

Shangguan Wan'er raised her head in doubt: "Fly to the sky? How can a person fly to the sky?"

"Just say, if you can, what would you do?" Li Yuechen asked.

"Should be very happy?" Shangguan Wan'er thought for a while, "But His Highness asked me to think, but I can't think of it."

Li Yuechen smiled and nodded: "It's also..."

Shangguan Wan'er felt baffled, she didn't know why she suddenly asked such a question.

But Li Yuechen was thinking, to make a hang glider, the first is the bone armor and the second is the wing surface.

If steel cables can be made, then the skeleton will naturally be fine.But the problem is that the wings are hard to find.

Although textiles can indeed be used as airfoils, it depends on the strength of the material.

The most critical point is that because of the weaving method, the cloth in this era is not wide.

The spinning jenny and the flying shuttle loom can be made, and they are not too difficult things.

Not to mention that I have personally seen or even experienced it when I was in the corrupt country. The principle is very simple, but it is something that modern people have not thought of yet.

But even if this thing can be solved, the strength of the fabric itself is still a big problem, and then we can only find a way to do a little bit of experimentation.

……

In a blink of an eye, it was the second day of the fifth lunar month, the prince's wedding.

Li Yuechen will also be a family member today, and will go to welcome his relatives with Li Hong.

Of course, this will not disrupt my plan, because weddings in this era are held at night, and there is no time to start preparations in the afternoon.

In the morning, he still practiced according to his usual habits. After lunch, Li Yuechen ran to the East Palace and got ready with his brothers.

Prince Li Hong had already put on a bright red dress under the service of the maid, and was sitting in the hall eating crispy crisps.

There is no air conditioner here on a hot day, and I wear long-sleeved trousers, sweating constantly on my hot forehead.

Eunuchs and court ladies ran around, festooned and hung up red lanterns.

The welcoming team had already waited in the East Palace early and finished packing.

A tall brown-red horse with a satin big red flower tied to its head was snorting non-stop, as if lamenting the hot weather.

Li Yuechen, who was wearing a bright red round neck robe, entered the East Palace. Seeing Li Hong wiping his sweat while eating crispy rice, he couldn't help laughing.

"Brother, are you a little nervous?"

Li Hong shook his head: "This wedding is too cumbersome! I knew it was so..."

"Brother, today's wedding day, you can't say those unlucky words." Li Xian next to him advised.

Li Hong nodded to show that he understood, and took another big mouthful of Su Shan and put it into his mouth.

Li Yuechen was rather curious about ancient weddings, looking left and right with anticipation.

As the sun gradually set, the drums sounded to start the curfew in the city, and the heavily armed soldiers rushed to block the road first.

The band in charge of beating gongs and drums also checked their musical instruments for the last time, and a big red carriage had already parked in the courtyard of the Eastern Palace.

As officials from the Ministry of Rituals came in and said it was time to leave, Lu Sheng quickly tied a big red flower on Li Hong's chest.

With the sound of the gong, the band began to blow and beat.

Li Hong put on the black gauze hat used for the wedding, got on the horse with the support of Lu Sheng, and led the team playing music all the way to welcome the bride.

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(End of this chapter)