Since early in the morning, people have been coming to Chen Qing's mansion to send congratulatory gifts. Two invited Ya people served as temporary accountants and were responsible for registration, and then several soldiers moved the gifts to the inner courtyard.
Generally, the man and the woman send invitations and receive gifts separately. This kind of favor must be repaid in the future.
As for the expenses of Fengle House, Chen Qing will bear the cost. It is not cheap. Generally, thirty tables of banquets cost about one hundred guan. Even a large restaurant only costs two to three hundred guan. But a wedding banquet held in Fengle Building costs one hundred guan.
Start with a thousand dollars.
Afterwards, Chen Qing spent a total of 2,000 guan on the Qinglu, worship hall, decoration, bridal chamber and welcoming the bride. In addition, he spent another 1,000 guan on decorating the mansion. This wedding cost 3,000 guan.
It is enough for an ordinary family to earn more than 20 years of income.
This does not include the gift of five thousand guan and a box of priceless jewelry and clothes.
Since the morning, there has been an endless stream of people giving gifts. Many people who did not give invitations also sent gifts. For example, Han Shizhong and Yue Fei, who were not in Chang'an, also had family members send gifts. The gifts were the same for both of them.
They all cost twenty guan, so I guess I had some ventilation beforehand.
Zhang Jun also sent someone to deliver a gift of thirty thousand dollars. These are high-ranking military officials who will be contacted in the future.
"Mr. Chen, the Huyan family is here to give you gifts!" the accountant shouted.
Chen Qing walked quickly from the courtyard. Standing at the door was the housekeeper of Huyan Mansion. The housekeeper clasped his fists and said with a smile: "Congratulations to General Chen on your wedding. This is a little congratulation from my master. It's just a small thought and it's not respectful!"
"Thank you! Thank you for your hard work, housekeeper. I'm going to go tonight!"
"I want to go. He said that he will definitely attend General Chen's wedding."
Chen Qing gave a hint to the soldiers, who immediately stepped forward and gave each of the two servants a bag of money, three hundred Wen, which is equivalent to a small red envelope in later generations. The money is not much, just for celebration.
Most people only gave ten cents or dozens of cents, but Chen Qing gave three hundred cents, which was pretty good. The soldiers also stuffed a small bag into the housekeeper, but it was only one tael of silver.
The steward thanked him again and left with his two attendants.
The clerk took the gift list and started copying it. He was immediately shocked. It turned out to be two hundred taels of silver and a pair of mandarin ducks carved in tortoiseshell. This was the largest gift so far. Even Zhang Jun only gave one hundred taels of money.
It was because Chen Qing gave his mother a white jade Guanyin statue before.
People in the Song Dynasty had many exchanges of various favors. The most common ones were weddings, funerals, and birthdays. Others included having children, full moons, entering a higher school, getting promoted, building a house, moving, etc. Every month, they received several invitations.
, people are overwhelmed and the burden is heavy. The people at the bottom usually only give gifts of one or two hundred yuan, while relatives and friends can only get a lot of money at most.
For middle-class families, one or two guan of money is usually enough. Giving ten guan of money is a sign of deep friendship.
Most of the entertainments of wealthy families are usually ten or twenty guan, but even so, an official family like Li Mei can't afford it. Often several people give a gift together, and people don't go to the banquet. But the family is rich and
They have a close relationship and occasionally give Bai Guan some support.
But some gave particularly generous gifts. For example, the Huyan family in front of him actually gave two hundred taels of silver, equivalent to one thousand guan, and a tortoiseshell mandarin duck worth a hundred guan. This was no ordinary gift. Chen Qing knew in his heart that this
It has something to do with Hu Yantong being transferred to his own army.
At this time, Zheng Ping came in person with people to deliver gifts. He was the best man today and would accompany Chen Qing to welcome the bride.
"I'm not late, am I?" Zheng Ping turned over and dismounted from his horse and asked the question with a smile.
"It's just in time. Xi Niang, who is putting on makeup, has already arrived and is getting ready."
Zheng Ping handed a gift list to Chen Qing, "My father gave me too much, so I won't give it to you."
Chen Qing took the gift list and couldn't help but sigh, "How can I repay this gift from your father in the future?"
Zheng Ping's father actually gave a gift of one thousand taels of silver, five thousand guan of money! This gift list is a bit hot.
"He has a lot of money. This little money is just a small amount to him. Don't think that he gives too much. My father is buying favors! When he encounters danger in the future, he will definitely take his family and run to you to seek asylum.
."
Chen Qing nodded, "As long as I have an army, I will definitely protect him, even if I come with an imperial edict to arrest him, it will be useless."
Zheng Ping grinned and said: "Just say that my father has very sharp eyesight!"
At this time, the cook came out and invited them to have a simple lunch. Chen Qing smiled and said: "Eat first, and then start putting on makeup after eating!"
After lunch, dozens of people came to Chen Qing's house, all of whom were arranged to do things. They began to lay out carpets and laid them all the way to the lobby. The house had already been decorated with lanterns, and two extremely exquisite palace lanterns hung above the door.
The wedding team sent by Fengle Tower also arrived at Chen Qing's house, including an eight-member drum band, a luxury carriage, eight dowry carts, nine coachmen and nine attendants, a master of ceremonies,
As well as Chen Qing's twelve personal guards, the team is indeed very large.
In the afternoon, it was time to set off. Chen Qing and Zheng Ping came out of the mansion on horseback. The groom, Chen Qing, was naturally wearing a bright red wedding robe, a gauze hat on his head, and a silk flower on the hat. His face was also carefully modified, and he looked extraordinarily tall and handsome.
, full of energy.
The best man, Zheng Ping, also dressed similarly, but he did not wear flowers on his head. This is the biggest difference from the groom, and he can tell them apart at a glance.
"This carriage is nice!"
Even though Zheng Ping had seen the world, he also admired the big carriage for welcoming the bride. The two white draft horses were extremely tall, the body was majestic and beautiful, the shaft was wide, and the wheels of the carriage were as tall as a person. The carriage was like a room, with gold foil on the outside.
The decoration is brilliant and extremely luxurious. Ten Double Happiness flags are placed in front of the roof. At first glance, you can tell that it is a wedding car.
The coachman smiled and said: "This is one of the three most luxurious carriages in Lin'an. Apart from the emperor's dragon chariot and the empress dowager's phoenix chariot, this is it. Usually, even our proprietor does not sit on it. It is only used to welcome the bride. Lin'an people
You can tell by looking at it that it is the wedding carriage from Fengle Tower."
"The auspicious time has come, let's go!"
The master of ceremonies shouted loudly, and the welcoming procession set off in great force.
.........
Chen Qing's residence is actually not far from the Lu Mansion, only two miles in a straight line, but the convoy has to circle the city. There is no way around it. Fortunately, Lin'an City is a long strip, and you can walk back and forth along the main street.
Just circle it.
Although it has been agreed in advance that the wedding will be simple, there are some aspects that cannot be simplified no matter what. The wedding is one of the most important aspects. What we call a glorious marriage refers to this aspect.
Seeing that he was about to arrive at Lu Mansion, Zheng Ping suddenly remembered something and shouted loudly: "Oops!"
"What's wrong?"
Zheng Ping slapped himself on the forehead and said with a frustrated face: "Assign me to memorize a few opening poems, but I completely forgot about it."
In the Song Dynasty, there was also a rule of knocking on the door when going to the bride's home to welcome her. However, the Song Dynasty did not rely on brute force, but relied on poetry and money to open the door. Usually, the best man would recite a few limericks, and then he would definitely not pass, and then money would clear the way, but everyone could speak poetry.
If you can't sing well, you will never say that the money given is too little. Using poetry to cover up the request for benefits can be regarded as a kind of fake elegance!
But if the best man can't even recite a poem, then he's not even qualified to pay bribes.
Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "I'll do it myself! I'm good at limericks. I'll make up two poems on the fly. You're responsible for paying me. If you pay harder, they won't embarrass me."
"Okay! Just be harder, it's not my money anyway!"
Chen Qing glared at him fiercely.
The procession finally stopped at the gate of Lu Mansion. Naturally, the gate of the manor was closed tightly. More than a dozen children of the Lu family were blocking the door, and there were crowds of spectators standing outside.
The master of ceremonies ran over and shouted: "Go and recite poems to call the door!"
Chen Qing turned over and dismounted, walked forward slowly, and chanted loudly: 'I am a banished immortal in the sky, with a thousand-mile marriage tied to me by a thread. I don't admire wealth or glory, but I want to rekindle the fate of my previous life.'
Someone inside yelled, "The voice is too quiet, I can't hear you clearly!" This was Lu Wei's voice.
Chen Qing winked at Zheng Ping, and Zheng Ping threw a wooden bucket in and shouted: "All the good poems are in the bucket, see for yourself!"
In the wooden barrel were fifty ingots and one tael of silver, all wrapped in red paper.
The children of the Lu family did not expect to be given money, so they burst into laughter, snatched up the money, and shouted: "What a poem! What a poem!"
The door opened with a bang, and the wedding party filed in. The Lu family invited them to drink sweet-scented osmanthus egg custard.
Now Chen Qing is going to pass the second level.
The best man, Zheng Ping, followed him holding the silver bucket.