Standing in his yard, Wang Xichen heard the sound of drumming coming from the northwest and couldn't help but nodded in appreciation. This voice sounded upright, peaceful, and dignified. It was truly worthy of being called a "golden voice and jade vibration." He had never heard it before as a low-level official of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
But when he thought of his daughter, Wang Xichen really had a headache.
Wang Zhenyi went to the elementary school library early this morning with her book bag, and Wang Xichen, who knew her daughter's character well, had actually understood her daughter's thoughts a long time ago. Even though he was studying medical skills in the hospital all day long, rumors and gossip also reached his ears.
After coming to Beihai Town for so many days, Wang Xichen understood that if there is anyone in the world who can tolerate Wang Zhenyi, provide understanding and support, and give her an environment where she can study astronomy, calendar and arithmetic to her heart's content, it is only Zhao Xin.
Only in Beihai Town, an environment where men are not superior to women and women are not suppressed by common etiquette, can my daughter live a carefree life.
Not to mention anything else, the few calculation drafts that Zhao Xin wrote for Wang Zhenyi when they met by chance in Guangzhou were regarded as treasures by her daughter. When she occasionally took it out and looked through it, her face always showed the shyness and smile of her daughter.
Thinking of this, Wang Xichen couldn't help but let out a long sigh, wishing he could meet her before they were married!
At the same time, in the second entrance of the Shen Family Courtyard on the west side of Beihai Town Square, Shen Xuan, one of today's protagonists, also started the wedding ceremony. It's just that the people she wants to worship first are not Shen Jingdan and his wife.
Shen Jingdan's whole family almost didn't sleep all night. Not only them, but other members of the Shen family were also as if they had been given chicken blood. It is said that in order to prevent Qianlong's petty revenge, more than 100 people from Shen Jingdan's three direct clans all moved to Beihai Town at the beginning of the year. And now that Shen Xuan is finally going to marry Zhao Xin, the big stone in these people's hearts has finally fallen to the ground.
In their view, the thousands of miles they had left behind to travel north were not in vain. In the future, I will become in-laws with King Zhao. If the Shen family is not developed, it will be a joke!
At this moment, in the newly completed ancestral hall of the Shen family, the tablets of dozens of members of the Shen family who were executed by the Qing court in the "Dongtai Yizhulou" case have been placed, and layers of black spiritual tablets are filled with them. The entire wall looks extremely gloomy and depressing, forming a strong contrast with the red and green Shen family courtyard outside the ancestral hall.
On the incense table, all kinds of sacrifices have been placed, and a futon has been placed there. Facing the futon are the memorial tablets of Shen Xuan's biological parents.
Shen Xuan, who was wearing Yanju crown uniform, was supported by A Miao and accompanied by Shen Jingdan and his wife. She slowly walked into the ancestral hall, knelt down on the futon, and prepared to salute, drink libations and read blessing messages to her ancestors.
The support was originally arranged for Shen Xuan's younger sister, Ayu, but yesterday, Ayu felt very frightened after seeing the room full of memorial tablets, and dared not go in despite any words. So Shen Xuan asked A Miao to accompany her in. The Shen family was concerned about her relationship with Zhao Xin, so no one dared to object.
At this moment, Shen Xuan is wearing a Yanju crown with six dragons and three phoenixes, a round-necked bow robe, a bright yellow coat, and two Xia pei embroidered with dragon patterns and decorated with pearls. This solemn dress coupled with Shen Xuan's exquisitely beautiful appearance, not to mention other people outside the door, even the old eunuch who was invited to sing the ceremony were stunned.
He had been in the palace since he was a child and had stayed in the Forbidden City for at least forty years before being exiled. He had met many empresses and concubines with outstanding beauty, and even the fragrant concubine. But when it comes to beauty in the world, those ladies are not even close to this one.
Little A Miao, who was standing by the side, was also dressed brightly and attractively today. Her original hair was combed into a bun, and she wore a satin-fronted cape with a plain base and embroidered with light gold thread. She wore an off-white gilt brocade horse-faced skirt, and she wore a heavy necklace on her wrist. Xuan gave her a mutton-fat jade bracelet, and a pair of jade dripping earrings hung on her earlobes.
At this time, the relatives of the Shen family standing outside the ancestral hall did not even dare to express their anger, listening to the old eunuch's melodious singing.
"Xing~~"
"Kneel down~~"
"Bye~~"
And when Shen Jingdan began to read the blessing message on behalf of Shen Xuan's father, Shen Xuan thought about how she had been hiding in Tibet and moving around all these years, and she was the only one left in the family of dozens of people. They all cried.
After the ceremony, Shen Xuan returned to her boudoir with the support of A Miao and A Yu. Taking advantage of this gap, even if she had to touch up her makeup, she also had to eat something to fill her stomach. Otherwise, she would have to wait until night if she wanted to eat again that day!
After Shen Xuan has finished her meal, she can proceed to the next item. Shen Jingdan and his wife first came to the main hall and sat on the Grand Master's chair in the middle to wait. Then Shen Xuan was helped to the main hall by relatives of the Shen family who had been rehearsed in advance and acted as deacons, and bowed four times to Shen Jingdan and his wife.
Although Shen Jingdan and his wife had smiles on their faces at this time, their eyes were red and filled with emotion. For Shen Jingdan, after ten years, he finally had an explanation for Shen Xuan's biological father, who was his acquaintance!
Thinking back to the time when he wanted to save the only descendant of the Shen family in Dongtai, Shen Jingdan had been living in fear all these years. In order to avoid Wang Jinglong's entanglement, he took Shen Xuan east to Nagasaki. If it hadn't been for meeting Zhao Xin, I really don't know what would have happened to this poor child.
The female member of the Shen family who served as the deacon noticed that Shen Jingdan was deep in thought and was silent, and quickly gave Mrs. Shen a wink to remind her. Mrs. Shen coughed twice quickly, and Shen Jingdan came back to his senses. Then he followed the warning he had memorized before: "As a princess, you must be diligent and careful at all times and be filial."
Mrs. Shen wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief and choked with sobs: "Your father has taught you, and you should respect it."
Shen Xuan's tears fell again at this time, biting her lips to hold back from crying. When Mrs. Shen saw it, she no longer cared about the courtesy. She leaned forward slightly and said, "Ah Quan, you should be happy on this big day."
After listening to her adoptive mother's words, Shen Xuan, who was kneeling, replied: "Nuo. I don't dare to forget my life for fear of being embarrassed."
According to the rules of the Jiao Jie ceremony, one should stand up at this moment and then salute the other elders of the Shen family. But Shen Xuan still stubbornly kowtowed to Shen Jingdan and his wife again, then got up and went back to the room to change clothes and wait for the wedding.
The ceremony for the Shen family was successfully completed, but in the Mingtang, Cai Jigong, who came from the Li Dynasty, immediately became confused as soon as the song started playing.
The complacent group of time-travelers still didn't know what kind of joke they had made in front of the ancients. In fact, it's a good thing that there weren't so many educated people in the audience today, otherwise it would have caused an uproar.
However, Wang Zhong, who was the recipient of the praise, understood. He looked at the movements of Li Chao's delegation down the steps and felt bright in his heart, but he had to remain calm on his face, pretending that nothing happened.
The Confucian group represented by Liu Yong is right to despise it. The top officials of Beihai Town are a group of barbarians who are dressed in Han attire but have no culture!
What is Zhonghe Shaole? To put it bluntly, it can only be used on formal occasions involving "important national affairs", and it is reserved for the exclusive use of the emperor!
Zhonghe will only be played during ceremonies such as court greetings, enthronement ceremony, enthronement ceremony, honor title, emblem title, edict issuance ceremony, emperor's acceptance of the queen, crown prince's acceptance of concubine, entrance ceremony, queen's ceremony, crown prince's ceremony, etc. Shao Le.
According to the "Da Ming Gathering Ceremony" formulated during the Zhu Yuanzhang period, the prince's wedding should use ceremonial music instead of Zhonghe Shao music. The so-called "ceremonial music" is divided into front music and rear music. The front part is a percussion music form composed of percussion instruments and wind instruments, and the rear part is a "big music" form. The "Da Le" instruments used are the same as those used in Danbi Da Le, but the number is different due to the level.
For example, the "advocacy" instruments of the emperor and the crown prince in the front have gold and golden dragon horns, while the prince's ceremonial guard does not have gold and the horns are decorated with gold dragons. The prince's ceremonial instrument must include gongs; and on the "big music" instruments in the rear, The type used by the emperor and the crown prince is the same, but the quantity used by the prince is slightly different.
Although I don’t know how to perform the ceremonial music, Cai Jigong has been an official for many years and has participated in countless ceremonies. People know how to listen! Cai Jigong said to himself, "Why don't you come and ask us if you don't understand?" The king of our country follows the proper etiquette of the Ming Dynasty Prince!
Well, it is estimated that even if King Zhao temporarily occupies the position of prince, with this momentum, he will become emperor sooner or later. Moreover, there are foreign vassals coming to congratulate him today, so even if there are some arrogances in the rituals, they can still be tolerated.
It's also a good thing that Beihai Town didn't arrange for the "Eight Hundred Civil and Military Dancers" to dance on site, otherwise it would really have become "Eight Hundred Dance in the Courtyard, which is tolerable, which one is intolerable", and Cai Jigong would definitely jump out and criticize it on the spot.
As for the border tribesmen and Ainu people, at this time, each one of them was either beaming with joy or looking dull and stupid. It’s not my fault. After living for so many years, who has heard of this scene before? Even Huo Jihun, who had gone to Beijing to find a Banner woman as his wife, had no chance of meeting her.
These people thought that King Zhao was really giving too much face! After returning home, I was quite blown away.
Most of the three waves of people from the island country were warriors. Some people had only seen such things as Ming and Qing music in books, but had never heard of them. The Gagaku played at the imperial ceremony in Kyoto was completely different from this. Come to think of it, the poor man only had 100,000 dan left, so how could he afford such a large team of musicians?
Katsuyama Denzo and Murata Jiro Uhei, who were walking behind Ishikawa Murafumi and Shibata Kakuzo, both looked satisfied, with chrysanthemum-shaped smiles on their faces, saying that it was really a worthwhile trip!
When Zhao Xin came out after bowing and everyone was about to leave, Cai Jigong realized that what was enshrined in the Mingtang was actually the word "Heaven and Earth" instead of the royal tablet of Zhu Ming. He was so angry that he stamped his feet and sighed: "This, this It’s completely inappropriate!”
Kong Xiaoyuan, a Confucian scholar behind him, also sighed: "You don't worship the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, but you use the words "heaven and earth". It's really unheard of!"
In the eyes of Cai Jigong and others, it would be unfilial for Zhao Xin not to worship Zhu Ming's ancestors. If etiquette is messed up and filial piety is not observed, how can we talk about benevolence, justice and legality? After all, the Tartars still wear the cloak of Confucianism and orthodoxy, but Beihai Town doesn't even want this cloak. This is a regime that is even more unpredictable than the Manchu and Qing Tatars!
It was from this time on that Cai Jigong aroused deep doubts about Zhao Xin's claim to be "Queen of King Zhu Ming and Zhao". Not only that, he was also more worried about how the Li Dynasty would get along with such a powerful multi-ethnic force in the future.
Let’s talk about the French. A painter in the expedition team used charcoal strips to depict the whole ceremony. The Mingtang with a mixed structure of steel and wood was painted with great momentum. Until Zhao Xin came out and walked onto the corridor, the painter was still observing him. The ribbons and jade ornaments on the waist are carefully displayed in the picture.
The Count of La Perouse thought that his adventure diary had another legendary experience that he could write about. It turns out that the Seris people are not only far ahead of Europe in science and technology, but the wedding ceremonies of their nobles and princes are so complicated and solemn. In comparison, the wedding ceremony held by European aristocrats in the church was really lackluster.
But the biggest question on the minds of those who came to watch today is that the sound of the music is bright and clear, but why can’t they see the band? Where are all those people hiding?
Before noon, the Beihai Town cafeteria was in full swing, and the seven or eight Yangzhou and Nanjing cooks who had been cooking big pots of food were finally put to use. They started preparing half a month ago, and with more than 300 people working as handymen and cooks, they have only shown off their eighteen martial arts skills today.
In winter, Beihai Town is not short of vegetables, but there is also no shortage of various meats and dried seafood. Even if there was a shortage of vegetables, "Zhao" made two special trips to another time and space to make up for it.
According to different levels, the local residents of Beihai Town mainly eat the eight bowls of Suzhou. The improved flowing mat includes Wan San Hom, Shamiwan, Braised Prawns, Braised Sea Cucumber, Braised Pork, Braised Salmon, and Glutinous Rice Balls. Dishes such as stuffed pork and braised eel are paired with white wine, cakes and three snacks.
The food for the Chuanchuan crowd and the viewing groups from all over the country was much more upscale. Today’s banquet was the “Little Manchu Banquet” that is popular in Yangzhou. In addition to Huaiyang dishes such as abalone stewed with loosestrife, mussels and shrimp soup, shark fin and crab soup, mushroom braised chicken, fish maw braised ham, shark skin chicken soup, etc., there are also pigeon and pig that are suitable for the tastes of the border people in the Northeast. Miscellaneous, haggis, boiled pig and mutton, boiled pork and mutton, steamed piglet, lamb, chicken, duck and goose, steamed deer tail, pheasant slices soup, wind pig slices, wind sheep slices, rabbit breast, milk house first grade soup Rice, white flour pastry rolls, etc. There are a total of 50 hot dishes and 30 cold dishes in large and small dishes, which is simply overwhelming.
The various viewing groups who came to attend the banquet were stunned by such a sumptuous banquet, and their saliva wanted to flow into a river and go straight to the sea.
There was no room for so many people in the cafeteria, so the construction team built a large steel frame shed on the street outside more than ten days in advance. They would demolish it after the wedding was over, without delaying traffic at all.
Although the weather was cold and the oil condensed on the dishes soon after they were brought outside, the people were still eating happily and their mouths were full of oil. Even though life is getting better now, the many disasters in ancient times have caused farmers to still maintain their diligent and frugal living habits; they would not be willing to eat such a table on weekdays. Now that Zhao Xin is treating a guest, why not rub his cheeks wildly!
The commotion outside was almost overwhelming, but Zhao Xin, who returned to his new house, no longer looked as solemn as before.
In the warm room, this guy was wearing a medium-sized singlet and his own black coat. He was smoking a cigarette and beating his sore waist. At this moment, the door curtain swung and Shino walked in with chef Hu Fugui. Chef Hu was holding a big jar in his hand.
As soon as he entered the door, Chef Hu put the jar on the table and said to Zhao Xin with a smile: "Sir, Buddha jumped over the wall, do you want to have a bowl first while it's hot?"
"Okay, okay~~"
When Chef Hu opened the clay seal of the jar, an extremely complex aroma instantly wafted out. Except for Chef Hu, everyone present couldn't help but swallow their saliva.
Unexpectedly, Chef Hu had just poured all the contents into the big basin, and before he could put the dishes on the plate, a few more people came in from outside the door. It was Deng Fei, Ding Guofeng and a bunch of other foodies who smelled the smell.
Deng Fei shrugged his nose and praised: "It smells so good!"
"Okay! You actually dare to eat secretly by yourself! Fortunately, I haven't gone to the banquet yet." Ding Guofeng laughed, reached for the bowls and chopsticks on the table, and went straight to the largest Jipin Bao.
When Zhao Xin saw that there was no chance of being alone, he hurriedly shouted: "When spring comes, hurry up and serve me a bowl first!"
(End of chapter)
