Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 1177 Postscript 33: I love the evil old society

(I forgot that I would posthumously confer titles on Li Yanxian. I have changed his title to Prince of Longxi.)

At dinner time, Minister of Works Chen Wenzhao strolled back to the house.

When he was young, he was honest and upright, not greedy for money and beauty. He had only one wife and one concubine in his life, and the concubine was brought by his wife as a dowry.

When he was old, he was transferred back to the capital, and he was in a high position. He rarely had social events.

Whether it was pretended or not, the ministers of this term were extremely honest and selfless. Because they were all upright ministers who were demoted in their early years and were not appointed until the young emperor ascended the throne.

There must be people who embezzled and seized power, but it was not obvious at this stage.

"Meet the old husband!" Xie Yan stood up to greet him.

Chen Wenzhao raised his hand and said, "Sit down. No need to be polite. You have been out of town for only a few days, but you have made such a big fuss. You are really a young genius."

Xie Yan said, "It was just luck."

Sitting down to eat, they continued to chat. There was no rule of "no talking while eating".

Chen Wenzhao asked a lot about the academic conference, and naturally turned to the princess, reminding her, "If you marry the princess, you can't pursue a career in government. In the early years of the country, the highest position a son-in-law could reach was the prefect, which was already a special case. After that, the late emperor loved his daughter and let the son-in-law serve as a county magistrate for a year."

Xie Yan explained, "I just used the princess's hair to weigh it."

"Your own affairs, you should solve them yourself. I am just reminding you." Chen Wenzhao did not talk about this topic again.

Officials do have to give face to top scholars, but as the Minister of Industry, Chen Wenzhao only needs to give face to the old president. The rest of the scholars are just like that in his eyes.

That's not right. Those medical experts must be coaxed, just in case they or their family members get sick one day.

Chen Wenzhao took special care of Xie Yan and his brother, mainly to win over Xie Yan's uncle. His foundation in the local area was unstable, and there were even fewer capable people who could be entrusted with important tasks.

Regardless of Chen Wenzhao's original intention, since he sat in this position, he must cultivate his own confidants, otherwise many tasks would be difficult to carry out.

After dinner, Xie Yan returned to his bedroom.

The maid Yanyan asked him if he wanted to take a bath. Xie Yan really wanted to take a bath, but it was inconvenient to take a bath in the school dormitory.

When the bath water was ready, Xie Yan soaked in the bathtub. The excitement of the day gradually faded, and he began to reflect on his mistakes in the past few days.

First, he was a little arrogant.

Relying on plagiarized academics and his own six months of research, he caused a sensation at the academic conference. He was cautious at first, but he heard too many compliments and was flattered. He really thought he was a genius.

Even after two days of being in a state of excitement, he could still maintain a respectful attitude when facing important people.

Second, he did things without thinking.

Especially asking the princess to borrow her hair for weighing, this matter was really outrageous. He did it in a fit of anger and kept the lock of hair as a souvenir afterwards.

At that time, I really didn't think much about it. It was purely for show, without considering the consequences at all. Now it seems that it is difficult to end.

"Pah!"

Xie Yan slapped his forehead and muttered: "I am really not suitable for being an official. I only have a little cleverness, and I am sure I can't play with those old-timers in the officialdom. Alas, the peach gossip spreads so quickly, and the princess may not be able to get off the stage. What was I thinking at the time?"

Is the princess angry and resentful of me because of this, or will she really come to marry me?

I still want three wives and four concubines.

Can I take concubines if I become a prince consort? I need to ask someone about this.

In all dynasties, prince consorts can take concubines, and it depends on whether the princess is strong.

Princesses in the Tang Dynasty were very powerful, and their husbands were all henpecked.

Princesses in the early Song Dynasty were relatively powerful. As the emperor's supervision of the royal family became strict, the princesses in the Song Dynasty gradually became weaker, so it became more common for the husbands to take concubines.

In the Ming Dynasty, another time and space, princesses became weaker, and almost all the husbands would take concubines. Even if the husband died, the princess could not remarry. Of course, if the princess died, the husband would not remarry - that would be equivalent to giving up all the princess's inheritance and his own status as a husband.

In the Ming Dynasty, a husband was impeached for taking concubines because he took hundreds of concubines, including a large number of prostitutes.

In addition, the children born by the concubines of the husbands in the Ming Dynasty were all white-skinned commoners and did not receive any clan treatment. Princesses and husbands usually lived separately. The husband had his own house, and the concubines were also kept in private houses.

The Qing Dynasty basically continued the Ming Dynasty system, but before the princess got married, she would first send a maid to live with the prospective prince consort to determine whether the prince consort had any health problems.

Moreover, the prince consort in the Qing Dynasty was like a slave, and the couple lived separately, just like in the Ming Dynasty. Every day, they had to go to the princess's mansion to pay their respects and get the princess's approval before they could enter, and even eat at the same table with the princess's permission. After the princess died, the court would take back the real estate and land, and the prince consort and his son could only get a little floating wealth.

"Do you want to add hot water, my dear?"

Xie Yan was excited and tired these two days, and fell asleep in the bathtub while taking a bath.

"Dong, dong, dong!"

"Do you want to add hot water, my dear? The bath water may have cooled down."

The shouting outside the door woke Xie Yan up, and he replied: "No, I'm done."

Not long after, Xie Yan came out dressed and said to the maid: "You should also go to bed early."

Yanyan was a little annoyed, complaining that she was not beautiful enough to attract the attention of the young scholar Xie.

Alas, I'm afraid I can only marry a male servant from now on.

Nothing happened that night.

Xie Yan got up early in the morning and went to say goodbye to Chen Shangshu and the two old ladies. He had already talked about moving to the suburbs last night.

Chen Shangshu gave a few words of encouragement, had breakfast and went to work.

Since Chen Shilang returned to his hometown to take the imperial examination, the two old ladies had no children and grandchildren around them, so they cared more about Xie Yan at this time. They pulled Xie Yan and talked a lot, then sent a carriage to take Xie Yan out of the city, taking away even the bedding that Xie Yan had used.

The maid Yanyan hid behind the pillars, watching reluctantly, but she didn't even dare to step forward to say goodbye.

Southern suburbs.

Li Minqiu went out to greet him personally.

Knowing that the driver and entourage who brought Xie Yan here were all servants of the Minister of Industry, Li Minqiu generously rewarded him.

He now claims to be the head of the Li family clan. No matter how tight the money is, he has to show his respect, otherwise it will be very shabby if word spreads.

Xie Yan was speechless when he saw it.

The money Li Minqiu just rewarded was enough to cover two months of Xie Yan's rent.

You are a down-and-out nobleman with no official status, no title, and not much wealth left. Why are you so poor and generous here?

Of course, if Li Minqiu is willing to sell his real estate and land, given his home's superior geographical location, he can become a truly wealthy family in an instant. But he will never sell it even if he dies. He still wants to revitalize the family.

"Bachelor Xie, this is Zhuo Jing Xiuniang, from the Guan family in Kaifeng." Li Min asked to introduce his wife, and deliberately introduced her family background.

The Guan family in Kaifeng is a descendant of Guan Sheng.

But with Li Minqiu's strength, he could only marry a girl from the Guan family.

This is just a show of flattery to a blind man. How has Xie Yan ever heard of the Kaifeng Guan clan?

Guan Xiuniang bowed down and said a blessing.

Xie Yanzuo bowed and said, "I'm taking the liberty of borrowing it. It's really disturbing me."

Guan Xiuniang said: "Thanks to the bachelor's young talents, living in my house will make Pengpi shine."

Immediately afterwards, Li Minqiu introduced his son: "This is Li Dunshi, the son of a dog. He is diligent in writing and is currently studying in the Imperial College."

Xie Yan quickly greeted him.

Li Dunshi, who was seventeen or eighteen years old, was very excited when he saw Xie Yan: "I went home yesterday and learned that Bachelor Xie was moving in. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night."

After chatting for a while, Li Minqiu added: "I have two other daughters who are married, a son who is an official in Huainan, and a brother who leads the army in Gaochang."

These are all trying to put money in one's own face.

His younger brother barely graduated from the military academy and was assigned to Gaochang after giving him a lot of money. He was entrusted to the Li family branch in Gaochang to take care of him. Because this person's talent is mediocre, the Li family of Gaochang is not in the mood to take care of him, and now he only manages a hundred or so big soldiers.

His eldest son was not working as an official, but as a scholar, he was admitted to a government office in Huainan as an official. From now on, if you wait until you die, you will be promoted to a first-class official at most.

Officialdom is too complicated.

Nowadays, if you want a civil servant to be promoted to an official position, you must at least have a good background.

In the eyes of the tenants, Li Minqiu was a big boss. His glory faded away after leaving the village, and he could only scare some unsuspecting people. He always emphasized these things, insisting on saying that his younger brother was leading the army, that his eldest son was serving as an official, and that his wife was from a famous family.

Now I have something to say again, Bachelor Xie lives in my house!

"This private courtyard is a guest room," Li Minqiu was still bragging, "Master Xie, don't feel shabby. In the third year of Longsheng's reign, Queen Xiaoduan went to Longmen Grottoes to worship Buddha and pray for His Majesty Longsheng, who was seriously ill. She stayed in this courtyard that night. "

Xie Yan could only follow the words and say: "The Li family of Luoyang really has a profound background, which is comparable to that of an extraordinary family."

These words made Li Min smile happily, and he continued to talk about the glorious history of his family with great interest.

His son stood nearby a little embarrassed.

Li Dunshi knew what was going on in his family. Every time his father said this, he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in.

After talking a lot, Li Minqiu said: "Bachelor Xie has four male attendants, but no maids around him. I will assign a few strong women to do the chores in the courtyard. I will also find two beautiful girls. , To add fragrance to Bachelor Xie’s red sleeves, there’s no need to worry about food. Let the maid bring it to Bachelor Xie’s courtyard. There is also a carriage for Bachelor Xie to go out.”

Xie Yan said: "Thanks to Mr. Li's care, the food expenses will be included in the rent and paid according to the market price every month. I can hire a maid myself."

"How can we feel at ease with a maid hired from outside? Bachelor Xie is a charming person, so he must look down on ordinary women," Li Minqiu said to the housekeeper immediately, "You sent people to the two villages to spread the word from door to door, saying that Bachelor Xie wants to recruit maids. "If you are willing, send your daughter to Bachelor Xie to have a look at it. If it's too ugly, don't bring trouble to yourself."

Xie Yan didn't even have time to refuse, and the housekeeper ran away.

Li Dunshi hid his face and hid aside, saying that he did not know this biological father.

At noon that day, applicants began to arrive.

In the afternoon, a large group of village girls were brought to Xie Yan, and he could choose any of ten or eight.

Those village girls were available for selection like goods, but they did not feel any grievance. Instead, they were all excited, hoping that they would be selected by Bachelor Xie.

Especially after seeing Bachelor Xie in person, her handsome appearance makes people like her even more, and she even fantasizes about being a concubine in the future. Even if you don't have that blessing, it would be nice to be a maid all the time. Firstly, you can make money to support your family, and secondly, you will have more confidence to find your husband's family in the future.

Xie Yan looked carefully at the group of girls and found that there were quite a few with pretty faces. In future generations, they might not know how much the bride price would be.

He's just a stinky takeaway delivery guy. If he could marry someone like this, he would have to go back home and be the ancestor's supporter.

Now, it's up to him to choose.

You can pick any of them, you can do whatever you want.

This damn old society!

Xie Yan compared them seriously with anger, wanting to pick the most beautiful one. But after comparing them, he found that the two were equally good, and it was difficult to compare them at the moment.

Forget it, take both of them, there will be plenty of time to compare them later.