Chapter 290 The Big Wedding
Wang Sizheng said:
"General, I am here to study."
Studying?
This answer stunned the three people present.
Wang Sizheng said:
"The defeat in the Weiqu Shayuan battle was due to my lack of knowledge and the mistake of talking about war on paper, which led to the defeat of the King of Beihai."
After Wang Sizheng said this, everyone present had a better impression of him.
There are many reasons for defeat in a battle. In fact, everyone who knows about the Battle of Shayuan knows that the failure of this battle was not entirely Wang Sizheng's responsibility.
The King of Beihai underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. After defeating Jin Wei's army, he was greedy for military exploits and spoils, and set up camp near reeds that were easily flammable, which was also an important reason for his defeat.
However, when Wang Sizheng met Su Ze, he did not put all the blame on the King of Beihai, but looked for problems in himself. Any superior would like such subordinates.
Wang Sizheng looked at Su Ze eagerly and said:
"General, I heard that you were a student of Li Gong and you have 13 volumes of Shui Jing Zhu written by Li Gong himself. I would like to borrow the book from you, General."
Yu Jin and Yuan Fotto were also dumbfounded. Wang Sizheng was so bold.
One of the biggest differences between local tyrants and aristocratic families is that the aristocratic families have inherited academic knowledge.
Books are very precious these days.
Su Ze was able to study "Shui Jing Zhu" because he was a disciple of Li Daoyuan.
Wang Sizheng asked to borrow Su Ze's "Water Classic" right away, which was very presumptuous.
Su Ze was not angry, but asked:
"Why do you want to borrow the Water Classic?"
Wang Sizheng said sincerely:
"That day, I suggested that the King of Beihai set up an ambush at Weiqu. I only knew about the situation of the Wei River through the fragments of Yu Gong and Shui Jing at home. I didn't know that the Wei River had been silted up for hundreds of years. Some places in Weiqu were shallow, allowing Hu Chen's army to cross the river and set up an ambush."
"Later, Wang reflected on the gains and losses of this battle and realized that he had not read enough books and had not investigated the battlefield enough. If I had been more careful when offering advice, perhaps the King of Beihai would not have suffered such a great defeat."
When Wang Sizheng said this, his face showed true emotions, and it seemed that he really blamed himself for not offering good advice.
This time even Yu Jin and Yuan Buddha were moved by him, and they all looked at Su Ze.
Su Ze thought for a moment and said:
"My Shui Jing Zhu was taught by Master Li, so it cannot be taught lightly. Si Zheng, if you want to borrow the book, you must become Master Li's disciple and get Master Li's permission."
"How about this, I will go to Master Li and ask him if he is willing to accept you as his disciple."
Wang Sizheng couldn't help but said with great joy:
"Thank you, General!"
Su Ze waved his hand again and said:
"Don't thank me yet."
"A few days ago, Su Chao, the secretary of the General's Office, mentioned to this general that the 'Tribute of Yu' is too old and many records are no longer accurate. The names of counties and prefectures, as well as the mountain and river hydrological data, are all missing."
"Ling Chuo offered advice, collected information, visited the site, and compiled the "Map of Five Prefectures and Counties."
Su Ze looked at Wang Sizheng and asked:
"Is Si Zheng willing to assist the Chief Secretary Su Chao and take on this task?"
Wang Sizheng said almost without hesitation:
"I am willing to compile the 'County Map' for the general!"
Maps of counties and prefectures were compiled in the Tang and Song dynasties respectively.
The "Yuanhe County Atlas" of the Tang Dynasty was personally reviewed and compiled by Li Jifu, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.
The "Shoulingtu" (a map of counties and prefectures in the world) of the Song Dynasty was compiled by Shen Kuo, a famous scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty.
This is not just a simple map, but also important administrative information.
For example, the "Yuanhe County Atlas" of the Tang Dynasty not only marked the location of counties in detail, but also the important passes, products, and land fertility in these counties.
These data are important references for tax statistics, official appointments, and military operations.
This is more than just a picture book.
Su Ze was very satisfied with accepting Wang Sizheng and arranging this job for him. It was also Su Ze's way of training him.
Just like Hou Jing, these famous historical officials are still in the "leveling" stage, which is different from the "full level" status that has been finalized in history books.
For example, Wang Sizheng is no longer the tower defense master who built the jade city. He still makes mistakes and misjudges the flow of the Wei River.
Of course, the growth process of these famous ministers and generals will not be recorded in history books.
Asking Wang Sizheng to compile the "Map of Five States and Counties" was also a process of training him.
After discussing official business, Su Ze was in a good mood and invited Wang Sizheng to stay for a banquet.
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The tenth day of the fifth month, the first year of Xiaochang.
The six ceremonies are naturally indispensable for a royal wedding. At this time, Su Ze could not talk about frugality. The wedding of a politician has a strong political significance. A grand wedding is not only a need for the Northern Wei royal family, but also a way for Su Ze to show his strength.
Thanks to the help of the Su brothers and the summoned followers, Su Ze completed the five steps of accepting the marriage proposal, asking for the name, accepting the good news, accepting the betrothal gift, and asking for the date without any problems.
Su Xiang (an astronomy student who likes to brag) calculated the auspicious date as May 26th based on the birth dates of Su Ze and Princess Chenliu, and the exact date of the wedding was set.
After completing the date-setting ceremony, the fortune teller beside Princess Chenliu also calculated that this was an auspicious day, and the wedding date was officially set.
The envoys from five states and one county who were attending the wedding also gathered in Yongle City.
Su Ze also secretly wanted to go to Wengcheng to enjoy the long-lost happiness with Princess Chenliu, but unfortunately Princess Chenliu became shy before her wedding and refused to let Su Ze enter the room.
Moreover, Princess Chenliu was so anxious preparing for her wedding that she had no intention of meeting Su Ze.
By the time the wedding came, most of the work had been taken care of by his subordinates, and Su Ze unexpectedly became the most leisurely person in the entire Yongle City.
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On the wedding day, all the civil and military officials around Su Ze changed into new clothes and rode into the Baichi Tower in the city wall along with Su Ze, who was wearing auspicious clothes.
Among the people who came, Yang Zongjia had the loudest voice. He directly knocked on the door of the Hundred-foot Building and shouted:
"Bride! Hurry up and come out!"
This is the unique door-banging ceremony of the Northern Dynasties. Su Ze actually had a sense of time reversal. It turns out that the custom of door-banging in modern weddings originated at this time?
But the person guarding the gate was Yuan Buddha.
This guy is a fierce general on the battlefield and also a fierce general when guarding the goal.
It was really like one man blocking the pass against ten thousand. The people around Su Ze were unable to break into the Baichi Tower.
In the end, Princess Chenliu became anxious and sent Lu Zhu to tell Yuan Fotu to get out of the way, and only then did Su Ze rush into the Hundred-foot Tower.
When Su Ze rushed to Princess Chen Liu's boudoir, he saw Princess Chen Liu sitting upright on the couch, fanning herself with both hands, covering half of her face.
As Su Ze rushed in, everyone was shocked by Princess Chenliu's nobleness and dared not play around like before.
Su Ze looked at Princess Chenliu sitting on the couch, and couldn't help but think of the time when they first met. All these years of military career seemed like a dream.
Princess Chenliu also looked at Su Ze across from her through the fan.
At this time, Su Ze was not wearing the warrior's clothes, but had changed into the scholar's auspicious clothes, but Su Ze still wore the Diao Chan crown on his head, which represented the warrior.
Princess Chenliu saw that it was an old crown, and it seemed to be the one she had given to Su Ze that year.
When she thought of this, Princess Chenliu raised her eyes and felt that all these years of waiting were worth it.
The female historian who was watching the ceremony immediately urged:
"The bride and groom, hurry up and get in the car. Don't miss the auspicious time."
The crowd surrounded Su Ze and Princess Chenliu. Su Ze helped Princess Chenliu, who was dressed in wedding clothes, onto the ox cart. He then sat on the cart and drove it himself to Qinglu where the wedding was held.
The line "On that day the cattle and horses neighed, and the new bride entered the chapel" in "The Peacock Flies Southeast" refers to this scene.
However, before entering the Qinglu, the newlyweds still have to complete the wedding worship in the curtained house, and after accepting the blessings of the guests, they can enter the Qinglu for the Hebi Ceremony at dusk.
The ox cart carrying the newlyweds, surrounded by Su Ze's followers, finally arrived at the wedding scene.
The Governor of Liangzhou and Prince of Linhuai, Yuan Yu, was the most senior member of the Yuan family in the entire northwest region, and was also invited by Su Ze to preside over the wedding.
The wedding customs during the Northern Wei Dynasty were relatively relaxed, incorporating some customs from the grasslands. Ordinary guests were responsible for watching the ceremony and eating at the banquet, just like in later generations.
The wedding process was not complicated, and there was no wedding prank like in later generations at the wedding scene.
However, according to Su Liang, there were also wedding pranks during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
However, this wedding prank takes place when the bride returns to her parents' home three days after the wedding. When the groom brings his bride back to her parents' home to meet his father-in-law and mother-in-law, the bride's family will ask the young men in the family to prepare wooden sticks and chase the groom with the sticks. This is called "beating the son-in-law with a stick."
Su Liang recalled that when he got married, he was beaten badly by his wife's family.
Su Ze was still frightened, but fortunately he did not have this worry. Princess Chenliu got married in Yongle City, and her parents did not need to return to her home, and the royal family would not observe such folk customs.
Sitting in the viewing booth, a Sogdian woman dressed like a woman, holding a jade-like girl in her arms, looked at the newlyweds in the curtain with mixed feelings.
Madam An knew that she would never have the chance to attend such a wedding with Su Ze in this lifetime, so she naturally felt a little lonely.
He was also worried that the first wife was a member of a royal family and would be difficult to get along with in the future, and would be bullied in the backyard.
But after Su Ze got married, there was a first wife in the house, and only then did he and his daughter have a legitimate status.
Su Ze doted on this concubine's daughter very much, and Madam An herself had a dowry. As long as she could give her daughter a status, Madam An just wanted to raise her daughter in peace.
Lu Xiuning, who was sitting at the same table, had even more complicated feelings.
Although people have always loved weapons rather than red makeup since childhood, which woman has not fantasized about her wedding?
My identity is unclear, and this lady is so precious, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get along with her in the future.
More importantly, Lu Xiuning had just become close to Su Ze, and now that they were newly married, she was afraid that he would neglect her again.
Following Su Xiang's words "the auspicious time has arrived", Su Ze took Princess Chenliu to pay their respects.
The first worship is to the heaven, earth, sun and moon, and the second is to ancestors and parents. The parents of Su Ze and Princess Chenliu have both passed away, so just worshiping them is enough.
Then Su Ze bowed to Princess Chenliu, and Princess Chenliu just put her hands together and lowered them to return the greeting. This is the Northern Dynasty's etiquette of "bowing to a woman."
Finally, all the trouble was over. Su Xiang shouted, "Let the music begin." The sound of stringed instruments rang out. Su Ze sighed, and the feast was finally about to begin.
(End of this chapter)