Episode 178 Hanfu + Cheongsam = The end of the war
On February 25, 1937, the Lantern Festival, Princess Liaoyang of the Ming Dynasty and Count Xiang Xiaoqiang of Jiang Xinzhou were officially engaged.
The two began their legendary encounter at the end of 1935, turning from enemies into friends, and then from friends into lovers. After more than a year of love marathon (to be fair, one year is not a long time, but to Xiang Xiaoqiang it is already a marathon).
After the marriage), the two are now finally engaged. The next step is, as long as the Northern Qing Dynasty is completely defeated and China is unified, the two can officially enter the marriage hall. And this is also a matter of a snap.
When Xiang Xiaoqiang officially wears the title of "Consort", another title will follow - Marquis.
It has been a tradition in China for many years to confer princes-in-law with princes. However, in the Ming Dynasty, especially after the Constitutional Reform, the various titles have become roughly two types. One is real, and the other is nominal.
"Genuine", just like King Yanping:
Financial allocations provide support, there are generous annuities, and hereditary succession means that each generation of kings can establish a prince and then pass the throne to him, and the title is passed down from generation to generation intact. But after the establishment of the constitution, even the emperor himself
All expenses depend on financial allocations
, the words "the emperor is rich all over the world" are only in name. Which properties belong to the royal family, which properties belong to the government, and which properties are privately owned by the people are clearly divided. The royal family's financial resources are limited, so this kind of
There are also very few "hereditary" titles, and
It is not easy to grant a grant. There are also generous annuities, but they are not "hereditary" and can only be "decreasing". Each generation is lower than the previous generation, and after a few generations, they will still be civilians. This is like Xiang Xiaoqiang, and the Northern Expedition.
This is the case with meritorious ministers and important surrendered generals.
Another kind of title is mainly in name. It means there is only a small symbolic annuity, or there is no annuity at all, only the title and noble status. This kind of nobility is the most common, and it is mainly lower-level titles such as viscount and baron.
.The function is
It is a symbol of status. For example, you can enjoy specific courtesy when attending high-society occasions; for example, when a man gets married and a woman gets married, she can show her noble origin and good family background to the other party; and it can also be printed on a business card, which can be used in social situations.
Let people take a high look.
Xiang Xiaoqiang's current earl title is basically "real". Although it can only be "decremented", after all, he has a huge annuity of 500,000 yuan per year. Now the marquis title he is about to receive can only be nominal. Zhu Yourong has made it clear
I told him that the annuity will no longer increase. Xiang Xiaoqiang also "understood the general situation" and didn't make any fuss. He nodded and agreed. Now the "young couple" are very open-minded. Anyway, it will be their turn soon.
Got it
When the time comes to marry the queen home, there will be no annuity. Xiang Xiaoqiang’s earl annuity is already too high. If the tide rises again, many people will be dissatisfied. It may add a lot of resistance by then. And Xiang Xiaoqiang is now
I don't care much about money. In this time and space, you can only have five years, so it's useless to ask for so much money. In the first year of my life, the money I made with the help of "prophet" and "mineral map" was already more than ten times more than the annuity.
.
…
The engagement ceremony was in a traditional style. Although it was hastily prepared, it was held in the Fengtian Hall of the Forbidden City, and still showed a royal style. From Queen Zhu Yourong and Yanping King Zheng Gongyin down, there were royal relatives, state relatives, nobles, and ministers with no important matters in Nanjing.
, almost all qualified celebrities came. Even Shen Rongxuan, who was busy with everything, showed up and gave a congratulatory message.
Surrounded by bronze cranes, sundials and ancient trees, on the high white marble guardrails and stone steps of Fengtian Hall, there are reporters on both sides carrying cameras and cameras, and the ceremonial officer at the highest point in the middle sings loudly and directs the steps.
The elders and family members of both sides followed the royal etiquette step by step.
Coincidentally, neither the man nor the woman had any elders or direct relatives in the Ming Dynasty. All Shi Shigege's family members were killed in Beiqing, and Xiang Xiaoqiang had none. The public opinion is that his parents are all in England.
But they all passed away a few years ago.
Therefore, this was very difficult to handle. It happened that this was not a marriage, but an engagement, and the "drama" between the families of both parties was very large. So, the Fourteenth Gege invited a Beiqing tank expert who swam from the Yangtze River last year -
- Dr. Aixinjueluo-Pu Heng, the person named "Pu" is also the person who is the uncle of Shishi Gege, and serves as the elder of the Shishi Gege family. Regardless of whether the eight poles can be beaten or not, at least they are from the same clan, and
The seniority is here.
Xiang Xiaoqiang did have elders here, but one was his father-in-law and the other was his mother-in-law, both of whom were the parents of the other wife. It seemed too inappropriate to act as an elder here. So he followed his authority and invited Zhang Zhaoxian, the chief of general staff of the headquarters.
Act as Xiang Xiaoqiang's elder. Since Xiang Xiaoqiang calls "student, student" all day long, he naturally has the title of "teacher and student". And Youdao is a teacher for one day and a father for life, so it is better to be an elder now.
That's what I said in the past.
The greater impact is not this.
What made all the royal relatives, ministers, celebrities, and reporters feel a huge impact was the dress worn by Princess Liaoyang at the engagement ceremony.
Since the ceremony was in Chinese style, everyone wore traditional clothes. The engaged man and woman also wore full formal attire.
Xiang Xiaoqiang is naturally dressed in Ming-style Hanfu, with a wide robe and big sleeves, a long wig and a crown, showing the majesty of the Han Dynasty crown.
And the Fourteenth Princess is actually wearing the palace cheongsam of a Manchu princess!
…
In three hundred years, this is the first time that cheongsam has appeared in public south of the Yangtze River.
From the moment Shi Shi Ge Ge appeared until the end of the ceremony, she was the focus of the audience. Countless eyes and flashlights were focused solely on Shi Shi Ge Ge, who was wearing a cheongsam. There were hundreds of nobles and ministers on both sides, and even more so.
There was no mental preparation at all. Everyone was talking about it, and there was always a "buzzing" sound in the whole place.
Princess Liaoyang is so eye-catching that Xiang Xiaoqiang next to her, as well as the empress, the chief minister, and even the engagement itself have become supporting roles.
Several respected old men suffered from heart attacks. After taking medicine to feel better, they walked out without giving any favors to anyone. There were also some middle- and senior-level officers in attendance. Many of them had angry expressions on their faces.
color. But they are soldiers, discipline
He has strong discipline and cannot be as unrestrained as a civil servant. He can show his character and integrity at any time. Moreover, the other protagonist is Xiang Xiaoqiang, and the "elder" is Zhang Zhaoxian. Their faces must be respected. So those unhappy officers still maintained their
Got restrained.
However, those who came to the engagement ceremony were not ordinary people. While a few people left the scene angrily, more people immediately grasped the political meaning of this cheongsam. In the current context of East Asia, this marriage, both men and women,
Identity, a set of Hanfu and a set of cheongsam standing together, the meaning is clear. This is not just a set of cheongsam.
Especially the reporters, except for the few who were still filming, were all burying their heads and writing in their notebooks. Those famous reporters were full of words and thoughts like lightning. They were always the first to finish writing, and then
He tore it off in one go and handed it to the attendants next to him. The attendants grabbed the manuscript and rushed out to send it to the newspaper office to rush to the first place. Those who were not famous reporters had no followers, so after writing down the manuscript, they had to run out and deliver the manuscript themselves. But
, are also scrambling to be the first.
More than two hours later, the engagement ceremony was not over yet, but some reactions were reflected on the blackboard of the Shanghai International Stock Exchange.
First of all, the stock prices of several domestic military-industrial companies in the Ming Dynasty began to slow down. Two of them, including Lianfenghao, which mainly produces ammunition, saw their stocks even fall slightly. Because Lianfenghao not only produces
In addition to light weapons, another major business is bullets. The consumption of artillery shells and bullets is the most sensitive to changes in the battle situation.
Secondly, the automobile industry stocks, led by Yuhuacong, also turned from rising to falling.
Half an hour later, the "Voice of China" radio station was the first to broadcast:
"... We saw that at the engagement ceremony, Her Royal Highness Princess Liaoyang was wearing a cheongsam, while Xiang Xiaoqiang was wearing a Hanfu. The two stood together and accepted Her Majesty the Queen's blessing... Mr. xx, what do you think about Princess Liaoyang's dress?
What are you looking at?"
"Well, I think this fully demonstrates the Ming government's ethnic policy of reconciliation... It is obvious that in the last few days, the Qing army that is still fighting hard will see a wave of surrender, and the scale may be quite large...
…”
Less than ten minutes later, the "Voice of Jinling" also broadcast its own report.
…
Not only direct military-industrial companies, but also other industrial stocks that made war fortunes, such as mining, steelmaking, aviation, petrochemicals, textiles, etc., all fell to varying degrees. Some fell quite sharply.
On the contrary, the stocks of various consumer industries such as light industry, commerce, culture, film, service industry, etc., which have been stagnant for more than a year, quickly got rid of the decline and rose sharply.
The price of war bonds issued before had been rising steadily with the Ming Dynasty's victories. Now, it has almost reached its peak. The people who lined up to buy war bonds are now grinning from ear to ear.
All of these reflect a common expectation: the war will end sooner than expected.
As soon as Xiang Xiaoqiang and Shi Shigege got engaged in Hanfu and cheongsam here, a more optimistic mood immediately swept the entire exchange. Everyone came to the conclusion that the war was about to end.