Chen Jingke did not ask anything about Wu Yuanshuang's affairs. He believed in the ability of people like Jing Hengyan to deal with people, so he returned to Zixiaoguan and started to get busy.
First, he went to Su Guogong's Mansion with gifts to visit Cheng Yaojin.
Qin Qiong was invited to be the matchmaker for Xiao Sizi's marriage. This time, she could only find Cheng Yaojin or Yuchi Gong.
Yu Chigong's character is not suitable for being a matchmaker, so Cheng Yaojin can only be used.
The two of them didn't talk about his marriage. Everything had been discussed. The matchmaker's visit was just a formality and there was nothing to talk about.
They were talking about other things.
Cheng Yaojin said: "Do you know why we returned to Beijing suddenly?"
At the beginning of the year, a large-scale population census and the construction of the academic and political system were carried out. In order to prevent anyone from causing rebellion, some important officials were sent to the local areas to take charge. Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong also went.
At the beginning of September, the emperor summoned them all back with an edict. The superficial reason was that the danger had been resolved, but in fact it was because the envoys who had gone to Fusang to investigate had returned.
They brought back a lot of news, two of the most useful:
Firstly, the imperial court controlled gunboats and was invincible at sea; secondly, there was indeed a large area of unowned land that could be divided among the princes and kings.
These two items are the prerequisites for enfeoffment. Since they are true, it is natural that the real deal should be carried out.
Therefore, Cheng Yaojin and others were recalled to the capital.
Chen Jingke nodded and said, "I heard that the people who went to Fusang are back. How about it? Are you tempted?"
Cheng Yaojin said without hesitation: "If you say you don't feel like it, then you are lying. We have been working hard all our lives for something, isn't it just to make our wife a shadow?"
Chen Jingke smiled and said: "Then I would like to congratulate you. This time, not only can you be granted the title of wife, but you can even build an ancestral temple together."
Anyone can build an ancestral temple, but only the ancestral temples of princes and kings can be called ancestral temples.
Cheng Yaojin shook his head, and then said pointedly: "It's just that the overseas country is vast and no one knows which place is suitable for a feudal state. My wise nephew is well-informed and I wonder if he has any suggestions?"
Chen Jingke pondered for a while and said: "I don't know what you think...well, but there are some things that are not good if they are too early or too late. It is best not to do it early or late and not to fight for it."
Cheng Yaojin felt relieved and said with a smile: "It's not too early or too late. I didn't expect that my nephew, as a Taoist, is also well versed in the Confucian mean."
Chen Jingke said modestly: "Uncle, I have given you a compliment. I understand a little, just a little."
Cheng Yaojin added: "That cannon is too powerful. It is a blessing to the world that a saint can obtain this thing."
Chen Jingke said with deep approval: "That's true. Fortunately, this thing is in the hands of a saint, otherwise everyone would have trouble sleeping and eating."
Cheng Yaojin said worriedly: "I'm afraid that this thing will be taken away by others. Then we will be in trouble if other people's feudal states are as good as ours."
Chen Jingke said: "It is true. Artillery technology is actually not complicated. I believe that many people already know what is going on. It is only a matter of time before a suitable cannon is cast."
Cheng Yaojin said: "To be honest with my nephew, I have also had such thoughts. I just gave up because doing so would be disloyal to the court and His Majesty. I am afraid that some people may not think so."
Chen Jingke nodded and said: "If a cannon is too powerful, some people will inevitably have other ideas. Moreover, you can have this thing but not use it, but you can't live without it."
Cheng Yaojin touched his palm and said: "Wonderful, this is a very wonderful thing. But I don't want to cause unnecessary misunderstandings among the saints, and I don't know what to do."
Chen Jingke complained about the old fox in his heart, but as an ally he had to help, so he said: "I wonder what uncle thinks about the study of physics?"
Cheng Yaojin thought for a moment and said, "Is that the research class on research on objects that you have been doing recently?"
Chen Jingke said: "Yes, this class is specially designed to study the study of wu studies... It's just a pity that everyone doesn't pay attention to this study. My wu class is short of money and people."
Cheng Yaojin immediately said: "Okay, it is good to study knowledge. It is best for me to study knowledge."
"If you are short of people and money, tell your uncle that I will ask Erlang to send you one hundred taels of gold tomorrow. I just don't know what kind of manpower you need."
Chen Jingke said: "Young literate people should preferably be those who like arithmetic. Such people often have good talents in investigating objects."
Cheng Yaojin said: "Okay, I will immediately select a few such people from the clan and send them to you, but use them vigorously and don't be polite to me."
Chen Jingke said: "Then I will thank uncle first."
Cheng Yaojin glanced at him and suddenly said seriously: "I should thank you. There are some things... well, let's not talk about it. This time the saint will definitely get what he wants. I hope the enfeoffment can go smoothly."
Chen Jingke could roughly guess his concerns and said: "There are some things that I can't say clearly, but as long as the saint still has ambitions, enfeoffment is inevitable."
Cheng Yaojin didn't understand. What does it mean to do something imperative? It can't be done without sealing it? But he didn't ask any more questions, but said: "Then I'll be relieved."
After that, the two talked about other things, such as Xuanzang.
Cheng Yaojin asked: "I heard that Erlang said that you sent something to a monk named Xuanzang?"
"Yes." Chen Jingke gave an overview of Xuanzang's experience and said, "Buddhism has been suppressed for a long time because of Zixiao Temple. Once Xuanzang returns, there will definitely be a big explosion."
"I didn't want to cause unnecessary internal friction, so I gave Master Xuanzang a small gift. I hope he can consider the overall situation and not go against the trend."
Cheng Yaojin said very puzzledly: "Aren't you afraid that he will know your plan and make preparations in advance?"
Chen Jingke asked rhetorically: "Do you think Buddhism still has the ability to make trouble in the Tang Dynasty now?"
Cheng Yaojin analyzed: "Because of Zixiao Temple, Taoism has become the most prominent school in the world. After the establishment of the academic and political system, Confucianism will also usher in prosperity."
"If Taoism and Confucianism can join forces, Buddhism will indeed be powerless. I'm afraid that you two will fight first and Buddhism will take advantage."
Chen Jingke said confidently: "Such a situation will indeed occur, but precisely because of the academic and political system, Confucianism will not conflict with Taoism for at least twenty years."
"If I still can't resolve the dispute between Buddhism and Taoism in twenty years, I will accept it as someone else's profit."
Cheng Yaojin disagreed. Buddhism and Taoism have been fighting for hundreds of years with no result. You want to solve it in twenty years? It is too unrealistic.
But Chen Jingke himself hid too many secrets, and he was not sure whether the other party was arrogant or confident.
So he didn't say much, but said: "As long as you are prepared... the empress's fleet will set off in more than ten days, and Xuanzang should be able to receive what you gave him by the end of the year."
Chen Jingke didn't explain too much and followed his words: "After this trip, the world will usher in a new era."
Cheng Yaojin didn't understand what a new era was. Could it be that the expansion of sea trade was a new era? But he still didn't ask any more questions. That's how it was when chatting with Chen Jingke. There were too many things that he couldn't ask.
Fortunately, he had a good attitude, otherwise he would have been suffocated to death.
The two continued to chat about other things, and finally Chen Jingke mentioned the purpose of coming today: "I will trouble my uncle about the marriage proposal."
Cheng Yaojin smiled and said: "This is a good thing. Mrs. Wu and I have also met several times, so don't worry."
After settling the matter, seeing that it was getting late, Chen Jingke got up and left.
After returning, we will continue to prepare for the wedding.
Bedding, clothes, betrothal gifts, betrothal gifts, dowry, etc. for the wedding must be prepared.
As for the birth date and wedding time, they had actually already calculated it with someone. The two were naturally a match made in heaven, and the auspicious day was chosen on the sixth day of October.
But only a few people know about it at this time, and it will not be revealed until the process of the three media and six certificates. This is etiquette and rules.
All these external items are easy to prepare, but the difficult part is who to invite to the wedding.
Under normal circumstances, it is enough to send an invitation to everyone you know, whether the love comes or not.
The problem is that the queen has already said that their wedding cannot be a grand affair, and naturally there should not be too many guests. In this case, who should be invited and who should not be invited becomes a problem.
Chen Jingke's side is relatively simple. The three allies of the Qin family, Cheng family, and Yuchi family, plus Lu Cai, are gone.
Sun Simiao knew a lot of people, but he was a monk and did not need to observe so many common etiquette. He only needed to invite a few old friends from Beijing, and the total did not exceed ten.
The trouble is with the people over at Wu Shu.
The warrior Yu had been prime minister for so many years, so he still had many old friends, and the Yang family had even more relatives and friends.
Even though none of these people helped Wu Shu when she was in trouble, if she doesn't invite them now that she's getting married, it's just a lack of etiquette.
After sifting and sifting, I found that the number of people was increasing.
In the end, Wu Shu gritted his teeth and said, "Just invite your relatives over, and don't care about anything else."
Chen Jingke said worriedly: "I'm afraid they will say bad things about you behind your back."
Wu Shu said angrily: "From now on, I will be a member of the Sun family. If you have any objections, let them go to the master and see which one of them has the courage."
But then she explained: "They should all know about my situation. Even if I don't invite them, it's okay. I can just apologize afterwards and let it go."
"The biggest fear is that if you invite part of the party and don't invite the rest, you really can't explain why you didn't invite the party."
Chen Jingke nodded, that was indeed the truth: "But will there be too few guests attending the wedding?"
Because he was demoted, the warrior Yu had no relatives in the capital, and the only one who could come was Wu Yuanshuang.
The Yang family's side wasn't much better. The family didn't fare well, and several generations of heads died young.
As a result, they have a noble identity and status, but no corresponding power. They rely entirely on the connections left by their ancestors for support.
When a family loses the talents who can support the family, it also means that it is not far from decline.
This was one of the reasons why Wu Yuanqing and Wu Yuanshuang dared to kick Yang out of the house because they had no support from their natal family.
Therefore, there are actually not many people here from the Yang family.
Wu Shu bit his lip and said, "It's quite a few. There are hundreds of people in the temple, all guests."
Chen Jingke felt a little distressed, thought for a while and said, "I'll write an invitation to Prime Minister Wei, Taoist Li and the others."
Wu Shu felt a lot better, but shook his head and said: "No, why bother them."
…
Once the guest list is confirmed, things will be much easier to handle.
After choosing an auspicious date, Yao Jin came to the door with gifts, had a symbolic conversation with Mrs. Wu, and then entered the second step.
On the third day, Cheng Yaojin came to the house again, took out the birth date and wedding date that had been prepared long ago, and presented a betrothal gift.
The two parties exchanged marriage letters.
It's just that the name written in this marriage certificate is not Chen Jingke, but Jingke, the son of the Sun family.
After everything was settled, invitations began to be sent out. The invitations from the man's side were delivered personally by Chen Jingke, and Mrs. Wu was responsible for sending the invitations from the woman's side.
In fact, there are only about twenty invitations in total, which are easy to send. Even if they are delivered to the door in person, it only takes two or three days.
The rest of the time is waiting.
What made Chen Jingke speechless was that according to the rules at the time, men and women were not allowed to meet before marriage.
Usually half a month, and no less than seven days at the latest. So Wu Shu left Zixiaoguan a week early and returned to her nominal home.
Three days in advance, Zixiao Temple made an announcement that Zhenren Chen was going to get married and would not receive pilgrims in the temple for the next few days.
It was a serious happy event, and the people would not say much, but instead congratulated them one after another.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye, and the wedding day soon came.
Naturally, the job of picking up the bride was left to Cheng Huailiang and Qin Huaidao. Both of them looked as if they were ready to die, leaving Chen Jingke speechless. A kick from one of them made both of them honest.
…
Wu Shu was dressed in a bright red wedding dress and had a red hijab on his head. He didn't feel very worried, but was very sweet and happy.
However, the bride needs to cry before she gets married. She took out the garlic that she had prepared a long time ago and wiped a little on her eyelids, and tears flowed down her eyes.
When the wedding team arrived, Wu Yuanshuang personally carried his sister on the sedan chair. This was the rule, and the elder or younger brother carried the bride onto the sedan chair.
Wu Yuanshuang was very haggard, his skin was much darker, and he was also much silent. It was obvious that he had not been very comfortable in Baiqisi these past few days.
But he didn't dare to make any trouble and sent his sister to the sedan chair honestly.
There is nothing to say about the rest. After worshiping the heaven and earth, entertaining the guests, and everyone eating and drinking together, the wedding is over.
During the Tang Dynasty, the groom did not need to go to the table to toast the guests. This job was done by the elders in the family. The groom only needed to show up and say hello, and then he could leave.
A moment of spring night is worth a thousand pieces of gold, and the good times should naturally be reserved for new talents.
Chen Jingke went out to show his face and left amidst everyone's laughter.
On the way to Wu Shu's room, his heart couldn't help but beat violently.
I am getting married for the first time in my two lives, and my partner is the empress from my previous life. If I say I am not excited, I would be lying.
But fortunately, the two of them have known each other for such a long time and are familiar with each other. They often kiss and touch each other, and they don't lose their temper.
Relatively speaking, Wu Shu was more nervous. When he heard the sound of pushing the door, he grabbed the handkerchief with both hands.
Chen Jingke closed the door, walked to her side gently, and used Yu Ruyi to lift the red hijab, revealing a pretty face as bright as a flower and jade.
He was about to pounce on him on the spot, but was stopped by Wu Shu: "Master, I haven't had a glass of wine yet. Besides... besides, I haven't eaten for a day, so I'm a little hungry."
Chen Jingke had no choice but to take her to drink a glass of wine and eat some food.
I don't know whether she was drunk or shy, but her face became redder and redder, and soon even her neck was red.
Chen Jingke also felt his mouth was dry, so he drank half a glass of water and asked, "Sister Wu, have you finished eating?"
"Hmm." Wu Shu lowered his head and made a kitten-like voice.
Chen Jingke's blood immediately surged up, and a princess picked her up. She walked to the bed in three steps and then jumped on her like a tiger.