The marriage ceremony of the Song and Chen families shocked the local people with its hugeness and luxury, and gave them something to talk about for many years to come.
And some of the upper-class people invited from the local and surrounding areas also knew deeply how deep Song Erniu's financial resources were, and many of them were particularly envious of the Chen family.
This was originally just a run-down family. To put it nicely, it was a scholarly family with a history of hundreds of years. From the Ming Dynasty to the Guo Dynasty, there were officials from generation to generation, but now the head of the family is just a seventh-grade section chief, and the next generation is even more so. No one can enter the officialdom... Such a family is already very inconspicuous in the officialdom. In terms of financial resources, the Chen family has also lost all its assets early. It seems that they still live in a luxurious and huge manor, but in fact they have very few assets.
However, after the Chen family hooked up with the Song family, its textile company merged with the Song family's garment factory to establish a United Textile Company, and received capital injection from Song Erniu and a loan from the bank. Overnight, this company The United Textile Company re-emerged, and the Chen family, which owned many shares in it, also benefited from this.
Not to mention, Song Erniu directly spent more than 10,000 Chu yuan in the form of betrothal gifts... In addition to some traditional gifts and the like, the majority of these betrothal gifts were actually easily liquidated gold, national bonds, and real estate. A sum of money greatly filled the Chen family's shortfall and allowed the Chen family to relax.
Today, the Chen family cannot say that it has risen again, but its assets have begun to turn losses into profits, at least without the need for continuous large-scale blood loss.
As long as Chen Yuanxiang, who will be in charge of the family business in the future, doesn't be stupid and don't blindly and impulsively engage in venture capital or gambling to ruin the family property, then he will rely on the dividends from the United Textile Company and the future share dividends from the local branches of the Song Clothing Company. , there will be no problem in maintaining a decent upper class society.
Such changes have made many upper-class families who were also in ruins envious...
Some people are even thinking that the Americas seem to be very easy to make money, and there should be a lot of people who get rich suddenly. Is it possible that they can imitate the Chen family and find a marriage with a newly rich family in the Americas or other overseas territories, and then make a lot of money? A big sum, and at the same time seeking a stable and sustainable source of income?
Song Erniu naturally didn't know that his marriage had aroused the envy and attention of others, and even if he knew it, he wouldn't care.
It has nothing to do with him anyway!
Now he has been staying at home for the past few years, accompanying his newlywed wife Song Chen... Song Chen just got married, although when she got married, several maids and old ladies who used to follow her also came with her. , continuing to work for her is not considered alone.
But after all, she has arrived in a new and unfamiliar environment, and has a new identity: the daughter-in-law of the Song family.
The changes in environment and identity made Song Chen feel very awkward...it took time to adapt.
Song Erniu didn't know her inner thoughts, but he also knew that he should accompany her more during the wedding period. In order to make the newlywed wife feel better and quickly adapt to the new life, and not to irritate the newlywed wife, Song Erniu even let the two A personal maid brought back to the mainland has been staying in the other courtyard for the past few days, so as not to show up...
Although Song Chen is the legitimate daughter of the upper class, she is actually very aware that not only are men in the upper class common, but eight out of ten have many women... It has only been more than thirty years since the Ming Dynasty. , and the empire itself was still a traditional feudal dynasty, so some ancient traditional concepts still deeply affected the operation of society.
This concubine thing is no exception.
Although the laws of the Dachu Empire firmly promoted the monogamy system, and even had the criminal offense of bigamy, the crime of bigamy only targeted legal couples, using various legal loopholes, such as using false identities to register marriages with other people. Specific Offenses.
It's not just cheating, or having an extramarital affair, or finding a lover... these are personal matters, and the law doesn't care.
After all, official marriages in the Dachu Empire have always only recognized legal marriages, that is, registered marriages, and other de facto marriages and the like are not recognized...
The laws of the Dachu Empire do not even recognize illegitimate children...
In the laws of the Da Chu Empire, marriage is very serious. Everything is based on registered legal marriage, and everything else does not count... because it involves a very critical issue of inheritance rights, especially the issue of aristocratic inheritance rights, and further extends ...It can even affect the issue of imperial power succession.
Due to the current limited technical level of the Dachu Empire, it is difficult to determine the parent-child relationship based on technical conditions... Who knows if this is your son... This will lead to a series of troubles that are difficult to figure out.
If you recognize de facto marriage, then since they are all legally recognized marriages, do children born out of wedlock, that is, illegitimate children, have inheritance rights?
If the inheritance rights of illegitimate children are recognized... then the problem will be even more troublesome. For example, if a big noble dies, and then a woman comes out holding the child, saying that this is the illegitimate son of this noble, what should you do? Do you recognize it or not? Should I give you this title or not?
You said there are not that many nobles, but there are quite a few ordinary wealthy people among the people... If you dare to admit the inheritance rights of illegitimate children, then countless people claiming to be illegitimate children will appear in every minute to snatch the inheritance rights, but you can't do it yet. Technically distinguish authenticity.
Since they were not sure, the officials simply identified them... and made a one-size-fits-all decision, only recognizing the children of the legal marriage, and not recognizing anything else... Even the children of the legal couple before marriage would not be recognized.
Only the children born to the legal couple during the marriage have the right to inherit...nothing else.
Of course, there will also be embarrassing situations where a woman cheats, and then the child born with another man gets the inheritance rights... However, the inheritance rights are given priority by the will. If you suspect that the son is not your biological son, you can directly make a will and not leave him any inheritance. That’s it.
If you don’t know it yourself... who can you blame... The official is not your father, your wife cuckolded you, what does it have to do with the Yamen...
However, the right to inherit a title is different... The right to inherit a title is directly legal. The inheritance of the eldest son cannot be given to whomever you want. If you want to deprive the eldest son of the right to inherit the title, it will be very troublesome... Generally speaking, Say, unless you come up with irrefutable evidence to prove that this is not your son.
For example, for example, you were clearly not together with your wife during a certain period of time, but nine or ten months later, she gave birth to a big fat boy... Or for example, you and your wife are both serious people from the Chu country. , it turns out that your wife gave birth to a white or black child for you, or some other very clear and ironclad evidence, otherwise don’t expect to deprive your eldest son of his inheritance rights.
The issue of inheritance rights in the Da Chu Empire is very serious. It involves the succession of titles in the aristocratic system and even the succession of the throne. The Da Chu Empire has always attached great importance to this aspect.
Because of the issue of inheritance rights, the empire also attached great importance to marriage relationships. In order to avoid various potential troubles that would cause the inheritance system to shake, the laws of the Dachu Empire only recognized legal marriage relationships, and other relationships were not recognized, and there was no so-called de facto marriage.
Since the law does not recognize de facto marriage, then naturally there is no illegal situation...
It's just that now there are no such terms as concubine, aunt, and maidservant. Instead, they have become terms such as personal maid, adopted daughter, concubine, concubine, and concubine. There are many different titles in different places and different classes, but they are basically the same. That means.
Many people will live together openly. As long as your wife doesn't care about you, you can keep as many as you like... call them whatever you want, personal maid, concubine, adopted daughter, lover, confidante, etc. You can even call them in front of others. It doesn't really matter if the couple is compatible.
At least it's not illegal!
Of course, it’s hard to say whether your wife will divorce you and take half of your property, or steal in revenge and give you a son who is a groom, a gardener, a servant, or even a monk, and then inherit all your property. .
In short, the laws of the Chu Empire do not care about many things... After all, the law only guarantees the most basic lower limit, and is not used as a standard for moral judgment.
Legal standards are far lower than moral standards!
If a person follows legal standards and lives on the edge of the law all his life, then there is a high probability that he is not a human being, but an animal!
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Although Song Erniu likes women, it is only a human nature. After all, he was single before and had no shortage of money. It was normal for him to hire a few personal maids to take care of his daily life day and night.
But he would not let his personal maid come to Song Chen's house when he was newly married to cause trouble for Song Chen.
So I sent the personal maid next door to avoid meeting her first.
In fact, Song Chen also knew that Song Erniu had brought back two personal maids before... After all, Song Erniu didn't actually hide them. He let the two personal maids meet his parents and asked them to serve tea to them. Well... although there is no title, it can still be considered a long-term relationship.
In fact, Mrs. Song and Chen know all these things... But Song and Chen, who grew up in a big family, have long been accustomed to these things. Her father has many women... There are several aunts and wives who have long-term relationships, including illegitimate children. Five or six.
Her eldest brother Chen Yuanxiang also had several so-called personal maids. Her sister-in-law initially forbade her eldest brother to have these personal maids, but after she became pregnant and gave birth to a child, she slowly let go of this aspect. She couldn't control it anyway... ... Divorce is even more impossible. It is better to bring those women around as personal maids for better control and management, so as to prevent him from getting sick or causing anything else while messing around outside.
These things are common in big families... The Song and Chen family have been exposed to and understood a lot since childhood. Although they are dissatisfied with this, they will not object too strongly.
Again, you can't control the situation, and divorce is impossible... If you let him mess around outside, it's better to let him go home, so that you can still control the situation.
Regarding the two personal maids who had not been seen in the past two days, Mrs. Song Chen also knew what she was doing. This new husband also knew what he was doing and did not let herself down too much... And she did not want to overdo it, so After thinking about it, I asked the maid to send some small gifts to the two so-called personal maids, so that they would stop hiding...
Anyway, it's impossible for these two women to get out - they have been following Song Erniu for a long time. If we really want to talk about feelings, we still don't know who the third party is. Under such circumstances, hiding in the house next door is nothing!
Song Chen's actions made the two personal maids very panic... Although they had known Song Erniu earlier and had been with Song Erniu for several years, their family knew about their own affairs, and the relationship between them and Song Erniu was Relationships never come to the fore.
Moreover, it is nonsense to talk about feelings... Just like Song Chen married Song Erniu because he was a millionaire, these two personal maids were also willing to marry Song Erniu because he was a millionaire. To be with him, we don’t even need a title... let alone feelings and the like.
If Song Erniu had no money, who would fall in love with him...
With the looks of these two personal maids, even if they are from a low background, in the eyes of middle-class and even ordinary high-income men, they are nothing but good-looking, and each of them will work hard to pursue them but not get them.
I am not from a really poor family like those who sold their girls in the pre-Ming Dynasty... In America, I am actually a farmer's family with hundreds or thousands of acres of land. It can be considered a middle-income family. In fact, I am a truly poor family. I can't raise such a top-notch-looking woman.
If you are malnourished and have to work every day, even doing all kinds of farm work outdoors, you can't expect to be very beautiful... Basically, you have a decent appearance, a very thin body, not much meat, and your whole body is dirty. They are stained, especially the gaps between the nails, and the teeth will definitely not have good white teeth, and the hair will not be black and shiny, but like twigs!
Beauty is something that needs to be developed in addition to innate genes.
So if you travel to ancient times, don’t expect to find any beautiful women in the homes of poor people... That is impossible... There is a high probability that you will only see a little beggar in rags, dirty, and full of fleas. You can't even tell whether someone is a male beggar or a female beggar.
It must be at least a middle-class family, because in this way the girls do not have to do hard work since childhood and can have enough to eat. If the genes are good, they can raise a small family, but don't expect temperament and the like.
And the stunning beauties that people like to talk about in time travel are most likely to appear in the homes of powerful people... Generations of rich and powerful people have married beauties and gradually optimized their genes, and coupled with the subsequent cultivation of a wealthy life, then as long as the foundation is good, beauties can appear. .
Therefore, these personal maids who can appear next to Song Erniu, even if their families are poor, are not the kind of poor who cannot have enough to eat... many of them are actually raised by middle-income families.
It's just that compared to ordinary middle-class families and super rich people like Song Erniu, they are still on a par with each other. The gap is so big that they are willing to be a personal maid with no name or status.
Now that the Song Chen family is married, it doesn't embarrass the two of them too much, which makes them relieved... They had originally discussed in private that if the Song Chen family really couldn't tolerate others, Song Erniu didn't have the firm determination to do it for them. If they fall out with their wives, they can only leave with the money Song Erniu has given them over the years, and then find a man from a middle-class family to marry.
Now the Song Chen family is not embarrassing them, which is good. They will continue to stay with Song Erniu, give birth to a son and a half daughters in the future, and continue to enjoy a prosperous life.
Although this kind of life does not have any formal status and it is not pleasant to talk about, it does not lack any material conditions, and it is a proper upper-class living standard.
And this level of life is something they can't even scratch the surface of if they struggle for a lifetime under ordinary circumstances.
Of course, this is their own opinion. As for Song Erniu himself, he feels that these two women have been following him for a few years, and they are very good in all aspects. They claim to have some feelings... a typical self-impression!
If Song Erniu goes bankrupt today, tomorrow these two personal maids will dare to abandon Song Erniu and return to America... Song Chen will also dare to divorce directly...
The upper class is such a reality!
Song Erniu knew something about it, but he didn't care because he didn't think he would go bankrupt. He boasted that his business ability was reliable...
To put it bluntly, even if he was really unlucky and his core asset Song Clothing Company went bankrupt due to poor management, he would still have hundreds of thousands of personal assets worth Chu Yuan.
As a mature and successful businessman, he knows well enough not to put all his eggs in one basket!
So Song Erniu's ability to resist risks is actually very strong... Even if his career is ruined, he can still live a comfortable life with hundreds of thousands of Chu Yuan's personal assets, and he can still live a luxurious upper-class life, eating and waiting to die. lifetime!
So many so-called ideas and even encouragements actually don't matter to him... If he really cared about these, he wouldn't go all the way back to his hometown and marry the legitimate daughter of a strange upper-class family...
Not to mention that he would not sign a prenuptial agreement with Song Chen before the marriage, after negotiation between the lawyers of both parties... He is not stupid, and he will not marry a strange woman, and then two days later, she will divorce him and take him away. half of the property.
According to the prenuptial property agreement, if the marriage relationship between the two parties really breaks down and they get divorced in the future, Song and Chen can only receive a compensation, but don't expect large assets or anything like that.
Therefore, before officially registering the marriage, both parties hired a team of lawyers to negotiate a prenuptial agreement... and finally signed a complete prenuptial agreement.
This is also a common method of getting married among the wealthy class of the contemporary empire... This not only protects the interests of the men, but also the interests of the woman... Because when contemporary Chu people marry women, those with good family conditions often give a lot of dowry. Asset safety also needs to be guaranteed.
For example, Chen Yuanxiang's wife brought a large dowry with her when she got married. There were more than twenty shops of various kinds, as well as a lot of government bonds, stocks and other marketable bonds. According to the prenuptial agreement she signed with Chen Yuanxiang, These dowries are at her personal disposal.
In the event of divorce, these dowry assets, including the income generated from the investment of these dowry assets, can be taken away directly.
Even though the Chen family has declined and the family is already facing difficulties, they still collected a dowry worth nearly 10,000 Chu yuan for the Song Chen family... In fact, they also used a large part of the large betrothal gift given by Song Erniu. It was given to Song Chen as a dowry.
Of course, the big head is given, but the small head is kept. After all, the Chen family is really in financial difficulty, and it will be difficult to recover for a while... Song Erniu also made preparations in advance, and specially gave an extra few thousand Chu Yuan as a betrothal gift.
However, the above situation is only limited to the upper class. For ordinary families, there is not much dowry, but there are also few betrothal gifts... After all, they are all poor...
There is no situation where only a betrothal gift is given but no dowry... Unless you really have the mentality of selling your daughter and want money for life and death, but the daughter is also marrying with the attitude of selling herself for her parents and family, so that will There are situations where only betrothal gift but no dowry is received.
But generally speaking, this situation rarely occurs... After all, the Dachu Empire is relatively traditional!
Another point is that the ratio of men to women in the Dachu Empire is very balanced. There is no situation where there are more men than women. There is no imbalance between supply and demand, and women do not have the mentality of living with rare goods.
After all, although sons were also favored over daughters in the Chu Empire, the problem was that there was no B-ultrasound in this era... Families that favor sons over daughters cannot go for an abortion directly after knowing that they are pregnant with a daughter!
China has favored sons over daughters since ancient times. This is a fact and a common feature of patriarchal society.
But why was the issue of male-female ratio not so prominent in ancient times and even in modern times? That’s because in ancient times and even in modern times, it was impossible to tell the gender of the fetus and then abort it!
However, modern technology has developed, and the popularization of B-ultrasound can accurately determine the gender of the fetus. In addition, we cannot have more children... so many families directly abort the fetus after discovering that it is a girl.
Then the pregnancy continues, if a boy is born, then a girl is aborted...
After giving birth to a boy, I will not continue to have children...
There is only one goal: to ensure that a boy will inherit the throne of the family!
There doesn’t need to be many families like this. If only one out of ten couples are involved, the male-to-female ratio will be completely ruined!
That's why there is such a weird male-to-female ratio.
There are also cases where female babies were born and then died, but these are extreme cases. Although they exist, they are not enough to affect the sample...
Because even if 10,000 pairs of animal parents kill 10,000 baby girls in a year, it is still not enough to affect a large-scale data sample of 10 to 20 million newborns.
If you want to have an impact, you have to kill hundreds of thousands of them, and that's obviously impossible, after all, there aren't that many beastly parents.
The serious imbalance between men and women in later generations is mainly due to abortion... and the cessation of having more children after giving birth to the first boy... As a result, the next generation in many families has only one boy, or even two boys!
But in the contemporary Dachu Empire, the medical technology is not very good, but there is no such thing as B-ultrasound. You can't know whether it is a boy or a girl before giving birth... At the same time, the empire does not encourage or restrict people from giving birth to children. Do whatever you like...
After all, whether I have children or not is none of your business; whether you have children or not is none of my business!
Therefore, among the many factors, there is no such thing as aborting the baby after discovering it is a girl, and not having a baby after giving birth to a boy.
The fertility rate in contemporary Chu State is generally high, with basically two or three children.
At the same time, it is very rare for an animal parent to kill a baby girl after birth... After all, there is no restriction that only one child can be born, so there is no need to kill the baby girl to make room for the younger brother!
Anyone who can be fed will basically stay and feed...
But then again, except for a few regions and groups in the Great Chu Empire, for more than 99% of the people, it may be a bit difficult to get big fish and meat, but if you really want to have a full meal, it is actually It's not difficult, but it's super difficult to starve to death... So it's difficult to raise children well, but feeding children is actually not a big problem.
Again, if you really can’t do it, just immigrate. If you immigrate to the Americas, you can farm hundreds of acres of land in a matter of minutes. You can also apply for official immigration. Even if you are penniless, you can go directly!
If you can starve to death, there is really no hope.
Therefore, the ratio of men to women in the Chu Empire is not unbalanced. Although there are slightly more boys, the mortality rate of boys is also higher than that of girls. Therefore, by the time they reach the age of marriage, the ratio of men to women is basically the same...the supply and demand in the marriage market are balanced.
Therefore, the marriages in the Dachu Empire were relatively balanced, and the emphasis was on a well-matched family, with both betrothal gifts and dowries. At the same time, although free love was stipulated in the law, most marriages were actually blind date marriages, and the emphasis was on a well-matched family. I don’t stand high, so don’t expect me to help the poor...
The marriage between the Song family and the Chen family is a typical example!
One is famous but not rich, the other is rich but not famous, they just complement each other and get married!
So the two young men and women, Song Erniu and Song Chen, got married directly after knowing each other for just over a month, meeting each other only three or five times, and spending less than an hour alone together...
