Soldiers come to the world

From the day before the wedding, the city of Wuchang gradually became lively. Firecrackers were set off one after another, and the diabolo tubes were burned in the fire, making a crisp crackling sound to drive away evil spirits and filth. indispensable.

At noon, with the appearance of the welcoming team, all the people in Wuchang City were empty, and almost everyone ran to the street to cheer for the arrival of the welcoming team.

Marriage in the Han Dynasty has always been known for its extravagance. Even ordinary people would drive ten cars each, ride slaves and wait on children, and be courteous. Comparisons are becoming more and more popular. After a single marriage, countless bankrupt families are forced to save face for a while. But miserable.

In the Three Kingdoms period, due to the poverty of the people and their inability to afford extravagant consumption, this custom has gradually become more pragmatic and practical, and often a ox cart with three or five relatives can welcome relatives.

In the north, Cao Cao also advocated simplicity and strictly prohibited extravagance. The extravagant wedding atmosphere in the north gradually changed, but the Jingzhou area was less affected by the war. Compared with the extravagance of the Han Dynasty, it has been restrained a bit.

This time when Liu Jing got married, he also imitated Cao Cao and put on an attitude of striving for governance. He repeatedly explained to the officials and generals that money and food should be used for the army and soldiers, and should not be spent in a wedding. This is the consensus of the officials and the generals, so Liu Jing's marriage this time is also to show the people by himself and strive to be frugal.

Amidst the cheers of all the people, a team of more than [-] ox carts came slowly, followed by more than a hundred soldiers as a guard of honor, and a group of drum music cleared the way in front of them. Very lively.

Except for the first ox cart to welcome the bride, which has a brocade awning, the rest of the ox carts are all flat carts, which are full of various betrothal gifts, such as more than [-] kinds of cloth, silk, sheep, wine, geese, rice, etc. After the belt is tied, the "six rituals" are sealed on it, that is, various auspicious words.

The dowry has already been sent to the woman's house, but it was only taken out for a walk when welcoming the bride. At the front of the team, the groom Liu Jing was riding on a tall horse. Wearing a black leather belt around his waist, he looked full of energy. With a smile on his face, he bowed his hands and saluted the surrounding people, greeted with cheers,

Frankly speaking, Liu Jing's marriage ceremony is only comparable to that of the Nakato family, and it is a bit shabby compared to his status, but this is a benchmark. If he does this, then Jiangxia officials can't exceed his standard for weddings. If officials take the lead, the people will inevitably follow suit, or dare not overstep, and the extravagant trend of Jiang Xia's marriage will naturally stop.

Jiangxia's frugal style rises, and then Jingzhou's atmosphere will gradually change. This is called acting from top to bottom, and there will be immediate results.

According to the rules, the family members of the man's family should also accompany the bride, but Liu Qi and Liu Bei did not accompany them. Brothers Liu Pan and Liu Hu accompanied Liu Jing to Tao's house, and the group headed for Tao's mansion in a mighty manner.

Tao Mansion is located in the west of Wuchang City. It is a large house covering an area of ​​[-] mu. In the past few days, more than a hundred members of the Tao family have come from Chaisang two days ago, including Tao Zhan’s aunt and eldest sister who married to Jiangdong. Wu came.

In the room, Tao Zhan was wearing the bride's fine attire, and had been sitting quietly for two hours. Although Liu Jing tried to be simple in welcoming the bride, for the Tao family, some basic things were indispensable, except for the so-called dowry that shocked the world. , there is the bride's attire and the real dowry.

In the Han Dynasty, there was no fixed bridal attire. There was no phoenix crown and xiapei, and there was no hijab. Chunhua'.

Rich people's brides are "dressed with red raccoon dogs, and the roads are worn around the road", while ordinary people's brides are "long skirts with cross-legged, bi-sided hairpins".

Tao Zhan is wearing a high bun, her head is covered with emerald jewels, and a jasper step is slanted in her hair, which looks like pearls shining brightly, and her face is like the moon. Today she specially put on makeup, and put a thin layer of powder on her face. Fu Rong, her lips are a little bit red, making her even more charming and charming, looking bright.

She wears a long black skirt, a mink fur coat, a rare white fox fur around the collar, and moccasin boots with colorful belts on her feet, which makes her even more graceful, with a kind of national beauty and heavenly beauty.

Today is Tao Zhan's big day, her heart is full of excitement and anticipation, and there is also a kind of shyness of a young girl who is a first-time wife. In the room, except for the two personal maids, Gillian and Xiao Baozi, there are only Tao Zhan's aunt and elder sister. .

Tao Zhan has two aunts, one is the younger sister who taught her the art of changing faces since she was a child, and died of illness three years ago, the other is the elder aunt who married into Jiangdong Lu's family, and the elder sister Tao Min, Tao Zhan's mother has passed away Therefore, the eldest aunt took on the responsibility of being a mother and elder.

Aunt Tao came over, smiled and said to her: "You remember everything I told you last night!"

Tao Zhan nodded shyly, she remembered those things very clearly, and it was about to happen tonight.

At this time, the eldest sister Tao Min came forward with a silver plate, and there were two silk threads in the silver plate. Tao sighed and said: "It is logical that mother should open the noodles for you, but since mother is not here, I will do it."

Open face means that when a young girl gets married, some scattered hairs between the eyebrows and eyes are plucked to make the face smoother. It is very important to distinguish young women from young girls. The silk thread twists off the vellus.

"Thank you, Auntie!"

Tao Zhan raised his face slowly, and Tao carefully pulled out the scattered hairs between her eyebrows and eyes one by one. At this moment, the sound of drum music was heard in the distance, and a maid ran upstairs, shouting excitedly: "I'm coming!"

Tao Zhan suddenly became nervous, her heart was beating wildly, she took the elder sister's hand and said timidly, "Sister!"

Tao Min patted his younger sister's hand lightly and smiled, "It's not that you don't know him, so why are you afraid of someone you know so well?"

The aunt next to her also sighed a little: "It's like this when you are a new wife, but you don't have to serve your parents-in-law. People sigh and sigh, Jiuniang, I hope you can manage the family business, share the worries for your husband, have children early, and be worthy of the spirit of your parents-in-law."

Tao Zhan silently nodded in agreement, not knowing what mood she was in, whether it was joy or sadness, happiness or nervousness, her heart became blank at this moment.

The welcome team didn’t stay at the bride’s house for a long time. It was different from the later Sui and Tang Dynasties. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, they greeted relatives at night, and they had to chant poems and pay homage to each other. And get away (if you are interested, please refer to my work "Yuanqing Marries a Wife").

In the Han Dynasty, the wedding ceremony was relatively simple. The main activity was at the man's home, usually at noon.

So today is their happiest day no matter the soldiers serving as guards of honor or the drummers. The Tao family gave each of them ten taels of gold wedding money, which was enough to make them so happy that they couldn't sleep at night.

In the inner hall, Liu Jing sat in the middle. In front was Tao Lie, the old head of the Tao family. On both sides were Tao Zhan's father Tao Sheng, his uncle Tao Li, and his third uncle Tao Jun who came from Jiangdong. This was an important part of the wedding ceremony. Huan, the entrustment of the woman's elders to the son-in-law, followed by admonition and instruction to the daughter.

"Jiu Niang was spoiled since she was a child, she was ignorant when she was young, and she didn't know the ways of the world. I hope that my grandson-in-law will be more tolerant and tolerant. I also hope that you can love each other and share weal and woe. If you have difficulties, the Tao family will definitely help you..."

Liu Jing kowtowed heavily, "My son-in-law remembers it!"

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"The auspicious time has come, the newcomers set off!"

Following the shout of the bridesmaid Liu Hu, drums and music were played in unison. The six maids held painting fans in front, back, left, and right to cover the bride from coming out. car.

Amidst the sound of drums, Liu Jing set off first, followed by the ox cart. The ox cart behind was no longer a betrothal gift, but various dowries, colorful silks and satins, dress boxes and cages, followed by twenty servants of the Tao family.

The convoy drove towards the groom's mansion along the original road.

Liu Jing has his own house in Wuchang City, next to the county office, it is a middle house covering an area of ​​about [-] mu. This is the official residence of the Jiangxia prefect, and all the previous prefects lived here.

The mansion is divided into three entrances, the outer house is for the servants, the middle hall is the living place for receiving guests, and the inner house is the private residence of the owner. There is also an inner garden and a pond covering an area of ​​three acres, which is fresh and elegant. , every step of the way.

Today's wedding was held in the central hall. The wedding banquet in the Han Dynasty was very grand, with bells, drums and five music, singing and dancing. Although Liu Jing tried his best to be frugal and removed singing, dancing and music, the necessary banquet was still indispensable.

From the bride's entrance to the wedding ceremony, there are complicated etiquettes and strict rules, so I won't describe them one by one here.

The party lasted until the evening, when the groom flushed from drinking was sent into the bridal chamber. At this time, the bride Tao Zhan had been sitting in front of the bed and waiting for nearly an hour.

The doors and windows in the bridal chamber have already been tightly closed, and it is as warm as spring. Wedding candles are lit in the inner and outer rooms, and big happy characters are hung on the wall. Pots and cups.

Liu Jing closed the door, walked forward with a smile, sat down next to Tao Zhan, and said apologetically, "I was caught by them and insisted on forcing me to drink. I drank a few more glasses, my lady."

Tao Zhan pursed his lips and laughed in a low voice: "Can you be beaten?"

The bridegroom with the cane stick is the most popular way of joking in the weddings of the Eastern Han Dynasty and even the Three Kingdoms, but too much cane can often kill people, and Tao Zhan is also a little worried.

Liu Jing smiled, "They all know that whoever dares to hit me, I will pay back a hundred times tomorrow, so no one dares to mess around."

Tao Zhan smiled sweetly, took two wine cups, stretched out his jade fingers coated with bright red cardamom, picked up the jug and poured two cups of wine.

"Husband, would you like to drink a glass of wine from me."

Liu Jing smiled and said, "I'll drink it another way."

"What method?" Tao Zhan was puzzled.

"so!"

Liu Jing asked Tao Zhan to hold the wine cup, and the two of them put their arms across each other. Tao Zhan suddenly understood, her face flushed suddenly, and she drank a cup of wine with her husband shyly.

Liu Jing put down the wine cup, stood up and hugged Tao Zhan into his arms, kissed her cherry lips, and said in a low voice, "Are you excited today?"

Tao Zhan nodded slightly, his eyes dimmed, Liu Jing picked up her legs, hugged her in his arms, walked quickly into the inner room, and said with a smile: "This is the rule of my hometown, the bride must not touch the floor when she goes to bed. , and there must be no trace of it on your body."

When Tao Zhan heard that he was not allowed to wear clothes, he immediately buried himself in his arms in shame, and said in a low voice, "Turn out the candles!"

Liu Jing put her down, went to the table and suddenly blew out the candle, turned around and wanted to take off her skirt, but found nothing, only heard Tao Zhan giggling in the tent: "How can there be such a rule, don't even think about it." Lied to me!"

Even so, when she thought that she would take off her skirt tonight and lie naked next to her husband, she was extremely shy, and when she thought of what her aunt said, her heart was pounding with nervousness.

She lay down slowly, closed her eyes, and waited for that moment to come.

Liu Jing lay beside her, kissed her lips tenderly, unbuttoned her skirt gently, and slowly reached into her skirt with her hands. They fell in love for two years, and Liu Jing touched her incomparably smooth skin for the first time. Delicate soft jade body. ． ． ． ． ．

On the wedding night in the bridal chamber, when fish and water blend together, in the last few days of Jian'an's eighth year, a couple of newlyweds get married amidst the sound of blessings.