"Marriage" has two meanings: one means that a man marries a woman and becomes husband and wife, and the other means the parents of the married man and woman. "Shuowen" says: "Marriage is in the wife's family, and marriage is in the son-in-law's family."
In ancient times, when a woman got married, it was said to be "Gui". "Shuowen" says: "Returning means a woman marries." "The Book of Songs·Zhou Nan·Taotian" says: "When a son returns, it is appropriate for him to live in his family." It can be seen that a married woman regards her husband's family as her home.
"Bai Hu Tong" says: "Those who marry have a family." It can be seen that the word "marry" itself means "having a family." "Baihutong: Marrying" also says: "To marry is to take a wife." "Shuowen" also says: "To marry is to take a wife."
"Book of Changes" and "The Book of Songs" write "take", which means that a man brings the daughter of another family into his own home.
The custom that men are superior to women can be proved by the words "marry, marry".Marrying is passive for women. In ancient times, it was only said "marrying a daughter" or "marrying a sister" but not "marrying a husband." This shows that the power of marrying lies in the hands of the father and elder brother.
Marrying is an initiative for men, so in ancient times we often said "marrying a wife" or "marrying a wife".
The ancients believed that dusk was an auspicious time, so they often chose to perform the ceremony of marrying a wife at dusk. The etiquette related to men marrying women is called "evening ceremony". "Mo Zi Fei Ru Xia": "The majesty of the obscurity is like offering sacrifices." "The Book of Rites Jiao Te Sa": "The obscurity of rituals is the beginning of the world. It is taken from a different surname, so it is attached to a distant and thick column."
The "Evening Ceremony" belongs to the "Jiali" among the "Five Rites" and is the second milestone in life after the "Guan Ceremony" for men or the "Hairhair Ceremony" for women.
Han marriage etiquette, founded in the Western Zhou Dynasty, refers to the six etiquettes in the process from marriage proposal to consummation.
"Book of Rites" stipulates that the procedures for "marriage" are: accepting the invitation, asking for the name, accepting the gift, accepting the invitation, asking for the date, and welcoming in person. Among them, accepting the invitation and welcoming in person are the most important, plus the "three letters" (letter of appointment, letter of ceremony) and the Welcoming Letter) are collectively known as the "Three Books and Six Rituals".
Nacai: A man proposes to a woman with a goose as a gift. "Etiquette Shihun Li": "The ritual is to use geese."
Asking for name: After accepting the bride, ask for the woman’s name in order to predict whether she will get married or not, and how good or bad it will be. "The Ritualist's Faint Ceremony": "The guest holds the wild goose, please ask for his name; the master agrees, and the guest enters the ceremony."
Najib: After asking for his name, the man returned to the temple for divination, and when he got a good omen, he sent an envoy to tell fortune-telling, the man and woman ask for their names. If there is a good omen, he will send an envoy with geese to the woman's house to announce the good news, and the ceremony will be like accepting it.
Nazheng: The man sends an envoy to the woman's family to recruit her for an engagement. "Etiquette·Shihunli": "Zheng means success, and the messenger pays coins to complete the wedding."
Requesting period: The man chooses an auspicious date for the wedding, formally agrees with the woman, and gives the goose as a complimentary gift. "Rituals from Man to Heaven·Shihun Li": "To ask for a date, use wild geese." Zheng Xuan noted: "The husband's family must divine it first. If the day is auspicious, he will send the envoy to say goodbye and inform him immediately."
Qingying: that is, welcoming the bride.
Liu Han's wedding preparations naturally didn't require him to worry too much, except for Nacai.
On the day of the acceptance, Liu Han went there in person, followed by the palace steward Liu Yi, who came to Cai Mansion with a total of 120 betrothal gifts, blocking two streets. Everyone who saw this grand scene, including Cai Yong, was shocked.
Liu Han's private property such as land deeds, shops, restaurants, etc., contained 28 units. The remaining [-] units were given by the emperor and the empress dowager over the years and from Bingzhou, Youzhou, Grassland Xianbei, Xiongnu, All kinds of rare treasures "borrowed" from Wuhuan, as well as the money, gold, and jewelry existing in the palace.
In order to marry Cai Yan, Liu Han emptied his private treasury.
“One hundred thousand gold!
One hundred million dollars!
One hundred pieces of brocade!
Twenty boxes of jewelry! Ten boxes of emeralds!
A pair of five bats holding longevity jade screens
A boy stepped on a deer and a golden fruit..."
The singing ceremony lasted for an hour.
The people were all shocked when they heard Liu Yinian's gift list one after another.
"Is this to marry a princess?"
"The queen's betrothal gift is nothing more than this."
"Didn't you see all those things that were brought in just now? King Hejian must have spent all his money to propose marriage."
"Miss Cai is so lucky. The King of Hejian came to propose marriage in person and gave her so many betrothal gifts, which shows how much he values her."
The people outside were talking a lot.
In the mansion, Cai Yong was also shocked by Liu Han's so many betrothal gifts: "Your Highness's betrothal gift is too much."
Liu Han chuckled softly and said, "You can never marry her too much, but I still don't think it's enough."
Cai Yong didn't say much. He saw from Liu Han's clear eyes that he only had pure love for Yan'er without any interests.
Because the wedding was approaching, Cai Yan was locked in the courtyard to learn pre-wedding etiquette and was not allowed to go out. Liu Han felt sorry for her. She did not need to embroider the wedding dress herself, it was directly prepared by the inner court, so it was much easier.
But these days are also very boring. Fortunately, there is a little spy who can come in and out of the yard and bring him news from the outside.
Naturally, Cai Jue would not miss such a grand event. After seeing the betrothal gift, he hurriedly ran into Cai Yan's courtyard and said, "Sister, sister! Your Highness came to the mansion to propose marriage today. I saw with my own eyes that the betrothal gift was stuffed with two One street!" "Two streets? Jue'er, you are young, you are not allowed to talk nonsense."
Cai Yan still knew how long the street outside Cai Mansion was. With two streets, how much dowry would be needed?The queen doesn’t have that much either, right? "It's true!" Cai Jue handed the gift list copied from his sleeve to Cai Yan, "Sister, this is the gift list I copied. His Highness really likes sister!"
Cai Yan took the gift list and after just a quick glance, he knew that what his sister said was true. His face turned red and he said, "Get out, get out!"
"Sister, shame on me! Shame on me!"
Cai Yan pushed his sister out of the room and immediately closed the door. Snow-white Rou Yi stroked her red face, wondering what she was thinking.
# Liu Han's sincerity impressed everyone in the Cai Mansion, but Cai Yong and Cai Yan suffered because the Cai Mansion was not big enough to hold the betrothal gift, so they had to order people to keep it in the house and guard it day and night.
"This wasteful thing! They say you forget your mother when you marry a daughter-in-law. She hasn't married yet, and all the family property has been given away!"
Although the Queen Mother likes Cai Yan, her younger daughter-in-law, it does not mean that she will not be jealous of her son.
"Mother, then our betrothal gift..."
Liu Han's betrothal gift represents him personally, not the royal family. After Liu Han's betrothal, the emperor will make another betrothal gift.
According to the etiquette system, the betrothal gift used by the princes to marry the princess was about 100 million to 900 million yuan, but Liu Han did this, and the emperor could not get rid of the betrothal gift.
"What else can I do! The little beast I gave birth to is just to make me angry! Liu Zhong, increase the betrothal gift prepared by me to 64 units. Don't cut corners!"
"Here."
The emperor was also helpless. Although he loved his biological brother, he also loved money!Liu Hong felt a pain in his heart after spending so much money all at once.
What can I do? dear brother!
only! Liu Hong gritted his teeth and said: "Zhang Rang, increase the betrothal gift to 64 units, the same as the Queen Mother's, and send it over together tomorrow."
"Here."
It doesn’t need the emperor’s advice, Zhang Rang also knows that there are some treasures that cannot be reached, especially the King of Hejian. He doesn’t like to reason with you. He only talks about physics and the entertainment of the three tribes. He can’t be offended! The news from Nanyang came back, vigorously and resolutely. I heard that many people were implicated. Those who were lucky went to build a city outside the Great Wall, while those who were unlucky went directly to the Yi tribe.
So, the next day, the same scene as the day before appeared in the Cai Mansion. The two streets were filled with betrothal gifts. If the person singing the ceremony had not been changed from Liu Yi to Zhang Rang, everyone would have suspected that it was the wrong time.
"Eunuch Zhang, is this wrong?"
Cai Yong is confused. Isn’t this how the Tian family pays for betrothal gifts?
120 eight units again? I, Cai Yong, am marrying my daughter, not selling property! If you do this, our Cai family in Yuxian County won't be able to collect enough dowry even if we sell our family property! "Cai Yilang, don't worry, you won't be wrong. Our family prepared this all night long under the holy orders. His Majesty attaches great importance to His Highness's wedding, and he also attaches great importance to the princess. Our family would like to congratulate Yilang here first, so that we can have a wedding drink in the future. "
"Don't dare, don't dare."
Cai Yong bowed and even said he didn't dare. Although he hated eunuchs, he said that he would not hit the smiling person. Zhang Rang lowered his attitude this time and was very respectful. Cai Yong rarely smiled at Zhang Rang.
"Then our family will leave."
"Eunuch, wait a minute!"
With that said, Cai Yong took the wedding money from his servant and handed it to Zhang Rang, "It's just a small gift, I hope my father-in-law will accept it with pleasure."
"Then, let's thank Yilang here."
Zhang Rang left just as quickly as he came.
But this trend has spread all over Luoyang City. Everyone knows that the Cai Mansion received a betrothal gift of 250 yuan from the Tian family in two days! "Cai's daughter is so lucky!"
This is the consensus of all.
Envious, really envious.
I can only envy it.
Who prevented you from having the blessing of becoming the King of Hejian's favorite person?
"Cai Yong is tied to the King of Hejian."
Whether Cai Yong admits it or not, this is a fact. (End of chapter)