Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 770
In the sixth year of Shaotian, the twelfth day of the first month.

"Zhi said that the daughter of Zhang Huangyan, the Duke of Qiantang County, the Governor of Guangdong, and the Prince Shao Fu, is enshrined as the Crown Princess, and ordered the Qing to perform the ceremony of accepting and asking for fame!"

For the prince's marriage, the emperor also specially selected more than a dozen important ministers from the cabinet scholars, the dean of Taijian, and the six ministers and nine ministers to form the prince's wedding ceremonies, and they were fully responsible for the prince's wedding.

Wen Anzhi, the chief minister of the cabinet and the chief minister of the prime minister's office, acted as the master of ceremonies, and received the emperor's imperial decree and personally went to the mansion of Zhang Huangyan, the governor of Qiantang County, to accept and ask for fame.

Zhang Huangyan and his family opened the middle door to welcome them.

"The imperial concubine belongs to Lingde. The state has a regular code, so that a certain person can perform the ceremony of accepting the lottery!" Wen'an said.

Internal servant and eunuch Liu Chao came in and brought in a pair of wild geese himself, "Someone was ordered to pick them."

Zhang Huangyan saluted respectfully.

The wedding is approaching, but still have to abide by the six rituals, Liu Chao holds a wild goose to ask the birth date, Najib divination, Zhang Huangyan has to decline as usual.

Two days later, Wen Anzhi and Liu Chao brought a group of ministers to the door again. Liu Chao still came with a pair of wild geese. This time it was Naji Nazheng in the Six Rites. Give a gift.

Najib is just going through the process, and Nazheng 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 top-notch.

The gifts sent by Wen Anzhi included eight liang of four-wheeled carriages, among which the open ones, the sedan chairs, and the off-road type of the house model were all supplied and sponsored by several royal carriage factories under the Shaofu Supervisor, and they were very exquisite. .

There were also sixteen horses with saddles and bridles from several royal pastures.

There are also twelve pairs of armor.

There are eight chiming bells and eight pocket watches.

One thousand pieces of silk, three thousand pieces of weaving cloth, one hundred pieces of woolen cloth, one hundred pieces of sable and one hundred pieces of fox fur.

There are also millet, wheat, corn, glutinous rice, sorghum, each with a hundred stones, and a hundred catties of ginseng and a hundred catties of deer.

Finally, there are Liaobei Pearl, Hepu South Pearl, Burmese jadeite, Khotan jade, Annan ivory, and South China Sea spices.

One hundred and eight pieces of various gold and silver jewelry.

8000 taels of gold, 8 taels of silver, and 18 taels of money.

These dowries are amazing.

Countless relatives and friends of the Zhang family, as well as neighbors and common people, watched the astonishing dowry gift. After receiving the gift, the Zhang family held a reception banquet.

The Nacai banquet was still rewarded by the royal family to Zhang's mansion, with one hundred banquet tables, one hundred pastry tables, 120 sheep, and 120 bottles of wine.

Liu Chao held out another gift list.

Gifts to the Crown Princess’s family, including 200 taels of gold, 1 taels of silver, one gold tea pot, two silver tea pots, two silver pots, one thousand pieces of silk and satin, one thousand pieces of weaving cloth, and one with saddle and bridle Twenty horses and forty idle horses.

The presents given to the grandfather of the Crown Princess were [-] bolts of silk, [-] bolts of weaving cloth, [-] horses, [-] pairs of saddles and bridles,
For the younger brothers and sisters of the princess, forty pieces of silk and satin, one hundred pieces of weaving cloth, two horses, and two pairs of saddles and bridles each.

In addition, we prepared wedding supplies for the princess, two gold ruyi handles, sixteen pieces each of Dongzhu, coral, Baguio, green jade, and colored glaze, and nine pieces each of green jade, fat jade, and Jiang Nanxiang. .

There are as many as 250 six pieces of leather, cotton, jacket, and single clothes made of silk and satin, cotton gowns, jackets, gauze jackets, and [-] pairs of warm boots and sandals.

and many more.

After delivering the presents, two days later, the tortoise shell came to the door for divination to determine the wedding date.

After confirming the date of marriage, the emperor Zhu Yihai wore the Tongtian crown and crimson gauze robe, and in the Yufengtian Hall, under the witness of all the officials, he led the prince to Danchi for four worships, and performed the precepts. Exhortations and exhortations.

Everything is ready, the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.

On the second day of the Lantern Festival, six ceremonies were performed to welcome the bride and groom, and the prince personally led the wedding team to pick up the bride and groom at the princess's house.

On that day, the scene was incomparably spectacular. With sufficient funds, the wedding was a sensation in Beijing. The four guards and six leaders of the East Palace acted as guards of honor. They all put on their uniforms and held a guard of honor. After a circle, I arrived at Zhang's house.

The tents and colorful sheds have been set up at the gate of Zhangjia in advance.

The advocacy team and the guard of honor led the way. The prince was also very energetic today, wearing a crown suit and riding a luxurious royal dragon-carved four-wheeled carriage. Four big white horses were also tied with big red flowers, and they were pulling the carriage with dignity.

In the sound of blowing and beating, firecrackers were fired.

Zhang's backyard.

The bride had already dressed up, and Zhang Huangyan and his wife covered their daughter with a red hijab.

As soon as the red hijab came down, Zhang Huangyan's eyes turned red again, and he stood there through the red cloth and finally taught his daughter, "Be obedient, be respectful and diligent day and night, and don't disobey orders."

The mother of the Crown Princess was also holding her daughter's hand, wiping her tears, and said with great reluctance, "You must work hard. Your father taught you that the only way to take orders is to be respectful."

Zhang Huangyan's concubines also came over at this time, "obey your parents respectfully."

Uncontrollable tears poured out of Zhang Jinghui's eyes under the hijab. She thought she would not cry, but she couldn't hold it back. "My daughter will always remember the teachings of my father and my mother."

The palace people came in and said that the auspicious time had come. They either led or supported or guided or followed, and took the princess out of the house, and went out by public opinion.

Go outside the door, get off the bus, and change the phoenix sedan chair.

Crown Prince Zhu Hongjia helped put down the curtain of the phoenix sedan chair, and then boarded the golden chair by himself.

With the sound of firecrackers and blowing, the four guards and six leaders of the East Palace paraded around the main street of Beijing again according to the etiquette and route when they came, and then returned to the gate of the East Palace.

After entering the palace, the crown prince and princess concubine completed the wedding ceremony, drank and ate, changed into ordinary clothes, and the newlyweds went to see the emperor.

Zhu Hongjia took his new daughter-in-law Zhang Jinghui to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and met His Majesty in the inner hall. Zhu Yihai ascended his seat to summon him, and the couple entered the hall to pay their respects again.

Zhu Yihai looked at the young couple, "Come forward, come closer, I can't even see you couple clearly from such a distance."

The two stepped forward.

Liu Chao also brought a brocade plate, on which should have been red dates and chestnuts, Zhu Yihai asked Liu Chao to replace it with red dates, peanuts, longan and lotus seeds in advance.

Zhu Yihai called the prince forward, grabbed his hand and said to the concubine, "Today is a day of great joy for you all, let me say a few words, especially the concubine, you stepped out of Zhang's house and entered the gate of Da Nei, from now on From now on, you will be the daughter-in-law of the old Zhu family of our royal family. You are the concubine I, Zhu Yihai, is marrying as the prince's matchmaker.

The prince is young, you will take care of him for me in the future, if he is foolish, if he dares to wrong you, you can come to me directly.

From now on, I will be your father, and I will make decisions for you. "

Zhang Jinghui looked at the usually thundering Emperor Shaotian, who was so close at hand, but said such warm words, and suddenly approached the relationship between father-in-law and daughter-in-law, and was no longer so strange.

"My daughter-in-law thank you, Father."

"Don't be so polite, we will be a family from now on."

Some explanation.

In the absence of a seat in the middle palace, Zhu Yihai summoned Chen Huangguifei and Ruan Guifei who were in charge of the sixth palace, and the two of them would give the crown princess a silk plate as usual.

The crown princess brought water to Zhu Yihai and the two noble concubines for washing and tea.

"You guys also go back to rest earlier, I won't disturb the auspicious time of your newcomers." Zhu Yihai waved his hands with a smile after drinking tea.

Parting, I also specially took out a string of east beads. This chain is made of one hundred and eight east beads, divided into four coral beads, and eight lapis lazuli beads are worn on both sides. The back of the cloud is connected, and a gold-studded opal is inlaid on the back of the cloud. The coral will be carved into the shape of a bat to make a knot. There are four oriental beads. ····

These East Pearls are only produced in the lower reaches of the Songhua River in Liaodong. They are very precious. In the Song Dynasty, they were called Beizhu. Among them, the large ones were worth a thousand gold. This string of beads, as well as rubies, opals, corals, etc., are priceless. Not too much.

It is the Dongzhu that was tributed by the Jurchen ministries in Liaodong, and the gemstones and corals that were tributed by places such as Annan Champa in Myanmar. They are made by old craftsmen with superb royal skills, and they are completely royal treasures.

But Zhu Yihai gave it to his new daughter-in-law directly.

Zhang Jinghui also saw at a glance that the value was not outrageous, and it could be worth millions, so he quickly declined and dared not accept it.

"Although this string of oriental beads is valuable, they are just dead things. You are the priceless treasure of my old Zhu family of Ming Dynasty. From now on, I will entrust the crown prince to you. You must take good care of me."

Only emperors, empress dowagers, and empresses are eligible to wear this kind of beads, not even a prince can wear a hundred and eight, let alone all of them are top quality beads.

Now that Zhu Yihai gave it directly to his new daughter-in-law, it was also a great compliment to the new daughter-in-law, and let Zhu Hongjia remember that he must treat this princess well.

The princess thanked her and returned to the East Palace with the prince.

Over there at the gate of the East Palace, the dowry of the crown princess is still being sent into the palace. These dowries have gone around Beijing Street twice more, and they are very rich.

Gold Ruyi and Jade Ruyi each have three handles, and various other clothes and utensils for wearing, from various lamps to various mirrors, to various boxes, tables, and even a complete set of bowls, chopsticks, and spoons.

Chime clocks, glass mirrors, and dressing tables are either inlaid with gold or inlaid with jade, or made of red sandalwood.

The washbasin is all gold, the mouthwash bowl is also gold, and the soap box is all gold.

The sputum basin is also silver, the screen is carved from Hanyu jade, the washbasin stand is all made of red sandalwood, and the kang table, coffee table, footrests, and seats are all made of red sandalwood.

There are only sixty red sandalwood boxes, and sixty red lacquer boxes with dragons and phoenixes...
The crown princess’s dowry was more than one million silver dollars, but Zhang Huangyan didn’t pay for it, and he could afford it if he really wanted to. Although the Zhang family was just an ordinary gentry family in eastern Zhejiang, as the earliest Conglong Yuanxun, It was also the group of confidantes who ranked the top in the emperor's red book. The emperor had always brought Zhang Huangyan along with him when he was running the imperial store in these years.

But Zhu Yihai didn't let him take it out, and was still sponsored by the imperial merchants.

Ten miles of red makeup to send off the wedding, circled the Beijing city three times, shocked the people of Beijing, and shocked the Quartet.

This royal majesty, this great national power of the Ming Dynasty, makes people feel unfathomable and admires it very much.

Of course, such exquisite betrothal gifts and dowry opened everyone's eyes, and made the sponsors of the imperial merchants more famous. After all, these are all used for the prince's wedding, and they are so exquisite, so there is no mistake.

Many ministers, relatives, rich and powerful families, after reading it, can't help but think that in the future, when they hold their own weddings, they have to do three or five things if possible, such as four-wheeled carriages, self-ringing bells, Liaodong mink and ginseng pearls, Qinghai big Mahe Taoma, Outer Mongolian horses, if you have conditions, you can't get two?

Other Burmese emeralds, Annan ivory, Champa agarwood, Siamese red sandalwood, can I get some?
Even many foreign envoys have a great urge to buy after seeing it. If these top-level luxury goods for the royal wedding of the Ming Dynasty in the East are brought back to Europe, wouldn't the royal families of all countries like it?
Isn't this another good business?The royal family are the richest people in the world.

These exquisite silk porcelain, gold and silver wares, all kinds of lacquer wares, precious wood furniture, even better chime clocks and glass products than in Europe, etc., buy the same style and bring them back to Europe, and describe the grand wedding of the Eastern Empire to the kings The scene, tell them these exquisite models of the same style used by the Ming Dynasty, will they not be tempted?
On that day, many envoys or merchants with lively thoughts started to make noises. Because this time the royal store sponsored the wedding, all kinds of sponsored products had obvious trademarks, and they found the suppliers very easily.

As a result, as soon as they came to the door, they found that the entrances of these imperial stores in the capital were already crowded with people queuing up, and many people were queuing up to order.

"We want to buy goods from your company."

"Please line up the guest officer."

"We are a foreign mission, and we want to buy it back and dedicate it to the king of Europe."

"Hello, respected foreign envoys, please line up here first, thank you very much for supporting the trumpet, but because there are too many people who want to order at present, please line up first." The man said politely, but did not Let them jump in line, "If you need Mazza, or tea, please order at any time. If you are sure to queue, we can also ask the counter to write a number for you to queue, so as to avoid queue jumping and disputes."

When the business representative of the British East India Company actually got a number plate and then a small maza, he was a little stunned.

But looking at the longer and longer line and the people who kept coming, after thinking about it, he still planned to line up here first. Such a hot situation shows that these products are indeed very attractive, so if we can negotiate If they enter into a purchase contract and buy it back to Europe, they will definitely make a lot of money.

In the past year, the British East India Company made a fortune of 350 million pounds through the foreign trade of Ming Dynasty tea.In the Ming Dynasty, about 40 taels of tea were exported, and when they arrived at the British customs, they had to collect a tea tax of about [-] taels of silver for each tael.

The tax on tea is higher compared to other importers.

In the UK, the selling price of tea is as high as six to ten pounds per pound, and one pound is equivalent to the annual income of a working class.

If the value of precious metals in pounds and silver dollars is used directly, one pound is about four silver dollars. During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, many tenants in the south of the Yangtze River only had three taels of silver for one year's food and housing, and the income of ordinary people at the bottom was about the same.

Tea is a consumer product of the top upper class in the UK. At this time, their tea drinking basically imitates Chinese tea culture, and even the tea sets are imported from Daming.

Chinese porcelain, tea leaves, afternoon tea, these are all signs of the upper class.

However, as the British East India Company controlled most of the trading rights of tea exported from Ming Dynasty, they continued to increase the import volume of British tea, and also promoted the reduction of tea tax to 20.00% ad valorem. Waiting for the merchants to change hands a few times, this made the price of Daming tea imported from Britain much lower, and the number of people drinking tea also increased rapidly.

Drinking afternoon tea has expanded to the middle class, who put on a suit and tie, hold a porcelain tea set imported from China, and enjoy the afternoon leisurely with imported tea from China.

Of course, many middle-class or businessmen are not used to drinking bitter tea, and cannot imitate the elegance of the top princes and nobles, so they simply add sugar to the tea, and some people add milk to the tea. Tea crowd.

Tea imports have increased.

The profits of the British East India Company increased significantly last year, but almost all of them came from Ming trade, so they sent more people to Ming to make their business bigger and wider.

The business representative is very sure that the exquisite high-end products of the Ming Dynasty displayed at the wedding of the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty will definitely create a whirlwind in Europe and lead a new trend. This is definitely another hot spot. Definitely gotta grab it.

For the sake of the bonus, even if he had to queue up in embarrassment here, he could bear it.

Never fall behind, must seize this opportunity!
Thinking of the large bonuses and dividends, Fat John's face flushed with excitement and his eyes lit up.

(End of this chapter)