Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 18 Marriage
The sixth day of September in the 25th year of Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty was a good time to get married.At noon on this day, the wedding boat of Wang Daoqiu and Shen Xiangning, and five wedding boats loaded with dowries, sailed into Tandu Village with wind and firecrackers.

At this time, the villagers who were here early in the morning were eating wedding candies and melon seeds distributed by the Wang family while waiting to join in the fun. When they saw the wedding boat coming, they immediately shouted "Come on, come on" and surrounded them. on the river bank.For a time, the sea of ​​people on the river bank became a sea of ​​joy.

When Wang Zhaowen saw his son coming back from the wedding, he also hurriedly ordered the young people in the village to set off firecrackers, and all the guys in the band started playing.Good guy, now firecrackers are set off on the boat, blowing and blowing, and firecrackers are also set off on the river bank, blowing and blowing.The scene was immediately filled with the continuous sound of "cracking" firecrackers and the sound of suona and gongs filling the heaven and earth. It was a lively and festive scene.

When the boat approached the crowd, the young men welcoming the bride began to throw wedding money, wedding candies, and steamed buns with big red happy characters on the shore.The Shen family, the richest man in Zhejiang Province, scattered more than a dozen baskets of copper coins along the way in Hangzhou City in order for their daughter to marry decently.Now when I arrived at Tandu Village, I was even more happy. I was throwing away the coins one after another, as if it were raining.

At this time, the people on the shore were also facing the rain of money and began to scramble excitedly.Especially those naughty kids who are crazy about people. They don’t know what “sorry” means. Anyway, when they see someone grabbing wedding money and candy, they are like a group of frightened loaches, chasing the wedding boat and screaming in the crowd. He wandered around and grabbed whatever he went, causing the adults behind him to laugh and scold him.

When the wedding boat docked, the crowd on the shore exploded like a ladle of cold water poured into boiling oil.The villagers stretched their necks and weighed their feet to see what the bride looked like. Unfortunately, Shen Xiangning, wearing a red hijab, failed them.

Wearing a red hijab, Shen Xiangning was helped off the boat by his dowry girl Cui'er. At this time, the female members of the Wang family also hurriedly stepped forward to help, helping to hold up people and skirts, and together with Cui'er, Shen Xiangning was welcomed into the Wang family. .

At this time, the villagers who had not seen what the bride looked like saw the bride being helped into Wang's house.Their attention naturally shifted to how much dowry the bride had brought.

This look didn't matter, and then there were uniform exclamations of "wow" and "oh".In ancient times, the dowry of a woman from a wealthy family was divided into a whole amount of 64 dows, which was called a full dowry; while a rich man whose family did not have much money would give a dowry of 32 dows, which was called a half dowry.

Of course, the full and half-gifts refer to the dowry of the daughters of wealthy families.When an ordinary farmer's daughter gets married, she basically only has a few quilts, a few clothes, and some daily necessities such as pots and pans.

The biggest rich man in Tandu Village is the fat man Jiang Zhijian.The year before last, Jiang Zhijian's sister got married, and the rich man Jiang collected a full dowry. At that time, the folks in the village were in awe of the Jiang family's wealth.

But today!Compared with Shen Xiangning's dowry, the Jiang family's dowry back then, how little money does Jiang Laocai have?I saw Shen Xiangning's dowry and dowry boxes and cupboards being carried off the ship with their doors open. This was to show off to people how much the woman's mother's family felt sorry for their daughter.

The dowry started with ten picks of silver ingots and one pick of gold ingots, followed by boxes of gold and silver jewelry, agates and jade, cosmetics, exquisite porcelain, rolls of silk; barrels of spices and Chinese herbal medicines. A hundred sets of four-season clothes, a dozen beds of silk quilts, a piece of exquisite furniture, a set of books and study rooms...  

There were too many dowries, and the amount was beyond the imagination of the villagers. When these dowries were picked up and lifted up, they were carried in an endless stream from the eyes of the villagers to the Wang family for Wang Daoqiu's marriage. This time, it was just built. of the new house.The eyes of all the villagers surrounding him were blurred, they were so intoxicated!
After the bride and dowry have entered the house, the next step is the formal wedding ceremony.Amidst the sound of firecrackers and cheers, Wang Daoqiu and Shen Xiangning bowed to heaven and earth, bowed to the high hall, and worshiped each other as husband and wife... amid the loud singing of the wedding emcee.

After completing the tedious wedding procedures, the bride was sent to the bridal chamber, accompanied by her dowry girl Cui'er.Wang Daoqiu stayed to entertain the guests and eat the wedding banquet.

At this time, dozens of tables of running water mats were set up on the road outside Wang's house, six pots were set up, pigs and sheep were slaughtered, chickens and ducks were boiled, fireworks were lingering, and the wine and meat were fragrant.People were eating and drinking happily, and Wang Daoqiu, as the groom, went to every table to toast, shouting uncles and aunts.

And when the villagers looked at Wang Daoqiu, a Jie Yuangong, they all called them uncle or aunt, which made them feel more honored.Rural people are all like this.

The villagers felt that they had gained face, so they all took Wang Daoqiu to drink. At this time, the fat man Jiang Zhijian, who had booked Wang Daoqiu as the number one dog leg, stood up to block the wine for Wang Daoqiu and let Wang Daoqiu. Take the opportunity to run away.

The wedding was lively and lively, the atmosphere was good, and everyone was happy, but Wang Daoqiu fell apart from exhaustion.When the wedding was over and the villagers went back to their homes, he felt as if he had experienced a disaster. Even when he returned to the bridal chamber, he didn't have the energy to fulfill his obligations, so he could only pretend to be drunk and get over it.

(End of this chapter)