Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 715 Marriage Customs

It turned out that Bailiyun heard that the sedge grass in Hualei's area was ready to be harvested, and wanted to use the feces and Hualei in the barracks' toilets to exchange for a batch of sedge grass to be used as food for the horses in the barracks.

Hua Lei thought it was a good idea, as there were military camps stationed in the various states under Xichang Prefecture. So, Hua Lei informed the governors of the states.

They were asked to carry feces from the toilets in the nearby military camps within their jurisdiction to use as compost, which made several prefects very happy and also made other prefects who did not have military camps in their jurisdictions envious.

In the western border, fertilizer was the most in need. Unexpectedly, Master Hua only used a handful of grass seeds to get it. So, the governors below also followed Hualei's example and began to spread grass seeds on the wasteland.

After the sedge is harvested, the manure can be exchanged with that in the military barracks toilets, or it can be directly composted, or it can be used as food for livestock in the government office. It really is a multi-purpose item with no waste.

Why didn’t I think of it before? Wan Tongpan thought about it and realized that it was not that he hadn’t thought of it before, but the previous prefects were somewhat discouraged after arriving here.

He just wanted the three years to pass quickly so he could leave and never wanted to make any changes. If the top leader is like this, the officials below him will have no other ideas.

Even if there were suggestions, and the prefect did not respond or adopt them after one or two times, he would not dare to say anything, let alone exceed his authority to enforce anything. Then the people below would naturally remain as they were.

Anyway, this place is not like Mobei where there is a possibility of freezing to death, so there is no need to add clothes. So as long as you fill your stomach and don't starve to death, you can get by.

The most important thing is that the people here seldom go out, and even if they want to make changes, they lack the vision and conditions, so gradually, the people of Xichang Prefecture have become less enterprising.

In addition, this place has been harassed by neighboring countries for years. In order to appease the people, the imperial court has lowered the tax burden here compared to several wealthy prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River.

Therefore, from top to bottom, everyone just muddles along and has no desire to make progress.

Fortunately, now here comes Hua Daren, an official with ideas and willing to make changes. More importantly, she is also willing to listen to the opinions and suggestions of her subordinates. Xichang has hope, Wan Tongpan thought to himself.

The days passed slowly, and after more than half a year, Hualei finally sorted out the affairs of Xichang Prefecture temporarily, and spent more time with Jinnian and Jinshi.

On this day, at the invitation of Feng Shuangxi, the Minister of the Household Department, Hua Lei and Rong Jin took their two children to Feng Shuangxi's house to attend the wedding banquet of Feng Shuangxi's youngest daughter.

The marriage customs here are very different from those in the capital. Here, at noon, the man will go to the woman's house to pick her up, then have lunch at the woman's house and meet the woman's aunts and uncles.

During the meeting, these aunts and uncles will give the groom a gift, which usually ranges from a few to dozens or hundreds of copper coins and is placed next to the elders themselves.

How much to give depends on whether the relationship is close on the one hand, and on whether the groom greets the bride warmly and whether he greets her sincerely on the other.

Here, sincerity is shown by calling people louder and louder, the louder the more sincere they are, so the banquet was quite lively. Of course, in Hualei's opinion, it was also a little funny.

In order to get a few more coins, the groom may have to call the same elder more than ten or twenty times before he can get all the coins in the other person's hand.

Of course, this is the custom, and the groom's family has also made preparations in advance, so they bring a lot of brothers and cousins. When the groom calls, his brothers and cousins ​​follow behind and call together, one louder than the other, until all the copper coins are in hand, and then it is the turn of the next elder.

By the time all the elders from the bride's family have finished paying their respects, the groom may have a cloth bag full of copper coins in his hand.

Of course, if the bride has nephews, nieces, and nephews, the groom, as an elder, must also give them red envelopes. Thus, a new round of greetings begins again, and the groom's newly acquired copper coins are drastically reduced.

While the groom was heartbroken, it was the happiest time for the children. It was fun and they could get pocket money, so the children shouted louder and louder.

Moreover, you can also ask your friends to help call people, so not only Jinnian followed behind, but even Jinshi, whose speech was not very clear, also followed behind to join in the fun.

By the time the bride and all the younger generations had finished their greetings, Jinnian had already returned with his hands full of copper coins. And Jinshi, who was one and a half years old, also returned happily with half a bowl of copper coins because his hands were too small. Hualei laughed at this.

Of course, the groom may have very few coins left, but don't think that he can take these few coins home.

After lunch, when the groom is about to take the bride out of her parents' home, a new round of customs begins.

Because at the front door of the bride's house, there is a knife stuck on each of the door frames on both sides, which means that the groom will stand by his bride in the future.

To pass through this door, the groom has to place copper coins one by one on the blade, and let the weight of the copper coins make the knife stuck in the door frame fall off by itself. Only then can he take the bride out and go home.

If the knife is inserted deep, the remaining copper coins will definitely not be enough. The groom not only has to pay all the remaining copper coins, but he may also have to pay out of his own pocket to solve the problem.

Of course, at this time, all the relatives and friends of the bride's family will gather at the gate to join in the fun, clamoring for the groom to put more coins. If the groom puts one more, the relatives and friends will send a blessing.

The whole process was lively and fun. Hualei said that it was rare to see such a thing and it really opened her eyes. It was not until the afternoon at 5 pm that Hualei and Rongjin took Jinnian and Jinshi, who had enjoyed themselves so much, home.

A few days later, Hualei and Rongjin took Jinnian and Jinshi to the border market in Changwu Prefecture. On the one hand, they wanted to take the children out for a walk.

Since arriving here, the two children hardly leave the house, at most they walk around the government office. Compared with the prosperous and splendor of the capital city, the conditions here are really poor, and Hualei feels very sorry about it.

Some time ago, Rong Jin had already hired a teacher for Jinnian to start his studies. However, he didn't have much homework, so he could still go out for a walk.

On the other hand, Hualei also wanted to go to the border market to see what was really going on. There was a big market there every first and fifteenth day of the lunar month.

The people living near the border would often trade their produce here, and even more groups of merchant caravans would stop here.