Therefore, when he heard that Ping An had come to report that many people had gathered around the gate of the government office, Lin Yuanqiu was still a little stunned for a moment.
What do you mean there are so many people gathered around the yamen gate, okay, what are so many people doing?
Soon, Lin Yuanqiu remembered that the three families of Yang, Zhao and Chen came to ask for explanations, and asked quickly, "Are they Patriarch Yang and Patriarch Zhao?"
Ping An shook his head and was about to say no when he saw his master walking in with a smile on his face.
"In the distant autumn, many people came to the gate of the government office. Dad just asked about it. They all came to see us deliver dowries."
Lin Sanzhu was in a very good mood. He had just led his servants to clean the street at the Yamenkou, but he saw a lot of people standing densely on the street opposite. Lin Sanzhu was shocked at that time, because he I also thought of the tribesmen who came to ask for explanations. After calming down, Lin Sanzhu hurriedly stepped forward to inquire. After asking, he found out that these people were actually here to watch the dowry delivery today.
Lin Sanzhu was overjoyed to come to see the dowry. He was worried that no one would know about his dog's good deeds. Now that so many people came to witness it, it was just a good opportunity to make his dog famous.
I was so sleepy that I brought a pillow.
Lin Yuanqiu quickly went to the front office and saw that there were indeed many people standing on the street opposite, and many people were coming this way. Lin Yuanqiu hurriedly called the government officials and asked them to maintain order quickly. The streets would definitely be very lively later, so don't be too crowded and cause an accident.
At this time, among the crowd across the street, many people were talking about dowry.
Everyone has the same opinion, that is, where do these mountain wives get the dowries to send to their husbands' families?
A young man was a little unconvinced after hearing this, "There is no dowry anywhere. My fourth uncle works in a carpenter's shop in the city. I heard from him that their boss sent a lot of dowry to the government office a few days ago. There are treasure barrels for children and grandchildren, and there are blessings." Basin, yes, there is also a camphor wood box and a dressing cabinet."
The round-faced woman next to her nodded quickly after hearing this, "Yes, yes, I saw it too. Just the day before yesterday, we pulled a dozen cars. The suitcases and dressing tables were all used. The red paint looks very festive. I thought it was ordered by some shopkeeper, but now that I heard you say it, I realized that it is actually a dowry. Ouch, this is too decent. "
Hearing this, a middle-aged woman who looked a little bit bitter couldn't help but echoed, "What a decent person, isn't it just wooden boxes and barrels? They are all wooden household items, and they are worth a few coins."
Another woman standing side by side with the middle-aged woman also said, "That's right, how much are just a few wooden household items worth?"
The round-faced woman didn't like to argue with others, so she stopped talking when she saw the two people talking in such an unkind tone.
Not only the people in the city came to watch the show today, but also some members of the Yang, Zhao and Chen families.
And these two women with bad voices belonged to the Chen family.
The reason why they spoke as if they had been stung by a bee was because both of them had grudges against Aunt Chen.
Originally, I thought that the other party would actually arrange a marriage for his son with Shan's wife, and I was already overjoyed. But now they heard that the prefect had actually prepared a dowry for them, how could they be happy?
Think about it again, there are five dowries for five daughters-in-law. Even if they are all made of wooden barrels, it is still a lot.
Now, the two of them felt even more uncomfortable.
…
At about midnight, everyone who was discussing when the dowry delivery would start saw a long line of soldiers coming up the street. It looked like there were three to four hundred people.
Wearing uniform military uniforms and riding boots, looking from a distance, they look particularly imposing.
As soon as the guards arrived at the yamen gate, five or six people who looked like servants came out, each carrying a basket.
Just when everyone was guessing what was in the basket, they saw the leading soldier leading the team into the government office one after another.
But here, after the servants put down their burdens, they opened the lid of the basket and took out rolls of firecrackers.
It was all filled with firecrackers, and there were more than a dozen baskets. This was too respectable.
Everyone lamented that this trip was not in vain.
Also, are those soldiers and guards here to help carry the dowry?
The few servants with quick hands and feet quickly took out the thin bamboo poles prepared from the yamen, and then began to hang firecrackers on the bamboo poles.
About a quarter of an hour later, a Yamen official ran out of the Yamen in excitement, shouting, "Quick, quick, quick, set off the firecrackers, the dowry burden is out!"
The servants were also unambiguous. As soon as they finished speaking, the crackling sound of firecrackers started.
The eyes of everyone present were all focused on the yamen gate. At this moment, everyone is thinking about what kind of dowry can match this scene of military guards and firecrackers.
Everyone didn't wonder for long. The first dowry carrier was quickly carried out by two soldiers. Unfortunately, it was a little far away, so everyone stood up on tiptoe.
Hey, why does it look like many clods of soil?
No, everyone shook their heads, the clods of soil in the dowry represented fields.
Therefore, they must have seen it wrong.
Following closely behind the dowry bearers were three official matchmakers. Their task today was to sing the name of the dowry, so when they left the yamen, the three of them shouted in unison: "Ten acres of good farmland!"
Although the name of the dowry was reported, the several official matchmakers at this time had not recovered from the dowry they saw in the back office.
The magistrate must be too willing to give up.
As for the crowd, before the official matchmaker could finish her words, a "boom" was heard, like a pot exploding.
Did they hear it right? It was actually a paddy field, and it was only ten acres.
Some people who really couldn't believe it turned to everyone for confirmation, "What those official media just said was ten acres of high-quality paddy fields, right?"
"seems like it."
"It seems so." The round-faced woman pointed forward, "Look, there are quite a few clods of earth in the dowry burden."
Everyone present hurriedly turned around to look, and saw that on the dowry burden that had been lifted much closer, there were indeed ten small clods of earth neatly stacked.
Therefore, there is no doubt that it is indeed ten acres of paddy field.
But this is too incredible.
Immediately, someone suddenly realized, "Tell me, are these ten acres of paddy fields the dowry of all brides?"
When everyone heard this, they nodded like garlic, "Yes, yes, it should be like this. Perhaps the prefect was worried that these brides would have less food in the future, so he specially bought them a dowry of ten acres of paddy fields, and packed food when the time came. If everyone shares a share, they won’t go hungry.”
Before the others could nod in agreement, soon another dowry burden filled with earth was carried out from the yamen, one, two, three, four...
The eyes and mouths of all the people were synchronized, and they all raised their heads and counted in unison.
In the end, including the first one, there were a total of twenty-seven loads of fine paddy field dowry.
God, twenty-seven acres are lifted, and for every ten acres lifted, that’s two hundred and seventy acres of paddy field!
Before everyone could catch their breath, the official matchmaker shouted and sang, and the dowry burdens tied with red silk were carried out of the government office one after another.
"A pair of camphor wood boxes!"
"Six treasure barrels for descendants!"
"Six pieces of cotton!"
"Two beds with bedding!"
"Two sets of clothes for each season!"
"Twenty taels of silver in the box!"
…
After hearing that there was actually twenty taels of silver left in the box, many members of the Yang, Zhao, and Chen families in the crowd no longer cared about being shameless, and finally expressed unbearable dissatisfaction, "This is not okay, my family There are also unmarried children, why should they only marry mountain wives?"
"Yes, my youngest son hasn't started a family yet. The prefect posted a notice saying that all members of our clan can marry!"
"That's right, why did Mrs. Chen marry five of her family? My family doesn't accept it either!"
God knows, five daughters-in-law means fifty acres of high-quality paddy fields and one hundred taels of silver. Who can accept that?
However, every word of dissatisfaction was quickly drowned out by the festive sound of firecrackers, leaving everyone looking at the complainer like a fool.
The soldiers and guards were divided into twenty-seven teams according to the dowries sent to each family.
The last ones to leave the government office gate were twenty-seven soldiers holding wooden Ruyi in their hands. After they were organized into the dowry delivery teams, the dowry team began to set off.
Suddenly, there was the sound of crackling firecrackers; the faces of the soldiers and guards were full of joy; the dowry burden was tied with bright red silk; and the brand-new twenty small silver ingots shone with dazzling silver light under the sunlight.
…
Today's Chenjiacun is no different from usual. The same smoke curling up from the kitchen, the same naughty children playing.
If there was any difference, it would be that more than a dozen families in the village who were having weddings had red happy characters posted on their courtyard doors, and relatives came to congratulate them.
Others, there is no more.
As for the villagers, they didn't think about visiting these people's doors today. After all, the bride won't come until tomorrow. If they want to join in the fun, they will definitely have to wait until tomorrow.
As for the day before the wedding is the day when the woman gives the dowry, everyone automatically ignores it.
It can also be said that no one has thought about it at all. In their opinion, what will the mountain wife use to buy a dowry? It will only be a few buckets of descendants and a few clothes in a bag.
So when the dowry procession with firecrackers arrived at the village entrance, no one in the village realized what was going on.
I just thought that the wedding party might have found the wrong place.
So some villagers stepped forward quickly and kindly reminded, "Brother Bingwei, where are you going? This is Chenjia Village."
The other villagers nodded in unison, "Yes, this is Chenjia Village."
The leading soldier replied with a smile, "We are coming to Chenjia Village. By the way, could you please tell me where Chen Dalang's family lives? It is the house where the five brothers will marry tomorrow. We are here to deliver dowries."
What! Chen Dalang? Five brothers?
Oops, isn't this Chen Tugen's house?
The villagers were immediately dumbfounded.
When I looked at the long dowry queue again, I had lost the calmness I had just now.
Who will tell them what is going on?
Also, the clods in this load could not be what they thought.
The official matchmaker, who got off the sedan chair later, was worried that the guards would send the wrong family to her, so she hurriedly took three steps at a time and said, "It's not just Chen Dalang's family, there are also Chen Guinian's family, Chen Shizhu's family, Chen Xingcai's family, Chen Daniu's family..."
…
Chapter 218 Getting Married (2)
After traveling around Chenjia Village for a month, the official matchmaker was already very familiar with which family lived where, so she quickly led the dowry team into the village.
There were twelve families getting married in Chenjia Village this time. Thinking of the prefect's repeated warnings when he went out, he told him not to show off, so the official matchmaker took out the paper in his arms. On top of it, the prefect had put every household Everyone's wishful thinking has been clearly distinguished.
A woman who had been friends with Aunt Chen for a long time ran to report the news to her. Obviously, neither Aunt Chen nor the five brothers Chen Dalang expected that there would be such a large dowry.
So when the dowry was carried through the courtyard gate, the mother and son were all confused.
