The Prosperous Era of Longwan

When we returned to Wu's house from Jingshui Tower, the sky was gradually getting dark.

The banquet lasted until the end of the Shen Dynasty. Wei Guangde didn't know why time passed so quickly. It was only after the farce and when everyone's enthusiasm faded that he began to consult with Zeng Shengwu.

As the banquet continued, the atmosphere gradually recovered.

It's just that Tai was still young after all, so his brothers Wei Wencai and Wu Dong didn't care about his drinking at first, but later they both got a little tipsy, and then they realized that it was wine and not water.

So later on, Wei Guangde stopped drinking. When he left Jingshui Tower, he was the only one in the table who was still sober and could walk downstairs by himself. Everyone else needed help from servants.

After returning home, he washed his face and drank a bowl of hangover soup. Wei Guangde thought deeply in his room and recalled what he had learned today.

I didn't eat much dinner, and my eldest brother Wei Wencai and my cousin didn't come over. They were already drunk and fast asleep.

The next day, the eldest brother followed his parents to visit Liu Qianhu. Only then did Wei Guangde realize that it was actually a time for the Liu family to visit.

According to the customs here in Jiangxi, after the elders agree to the marriage, they must first visit the husband's family to inspect the situation, and only make a decision when they are satisfied. This is considered a marriage. After that, there will be questions about names, birthdays and horoscopes of both parties, and then there will be gifts. Betrothal gift, that is, payment of taxes, application period, etc.

Liu Cheng, deputy director of Liu Qianhu, had a good impression of his eldest brother. For his eldest brother Wei Wencai, the next step was to complete the customs step by step, and then he could enter the bridal chamber.

The next day, Wei Guangde begged his cousin Wu Dong to visit the Zeng family with gifts, mainly for Shi Wen's sake.

In Zeng Yuanshu's study, Wei Guangde saw many books and historical texts. It was the first time he saw the heritage of the scholarly family. Not to mention the excellent historical texts in recent subjects, historical texts from previous decades were also preserved. very good.

In the study, Wei Guangde also met Zeng Shengwu. During his stay in Pengze, in addition to worshiping his ancestors and having some social activities, he also spent most of his time hiding here to clean himself. That is to say, he read books here and wrote some articles about Zeng Yuanshu, etc. The brothers in the clan discussed.

After greeting everyone in the room, Wei Guangde selected a lot of manuscripts. Since they were all handwritten copies, he could only take them home for a few days and find someone to copy them. He couldn't finish the work himself.

Fortunately, his cousin Wu Dong is here. He knows that the poor scholars near the county have hired people to help copy books in the past two days. Looking at the things Wei Guangde found again, he also knows that he needs to find more people when he goes back. OK.

A simple classification. Among them, Zeng Xingwu’s articles on the Huguang area should be copied first. After all, after the fifteenth year, people will go back to their hometown to continue to review their lessons and prepare for the Huguang Township Examination.

After staying at Zeng's house until dinner in the evening, Wei Guangde went home with a lot of loot.

The next day, Wu Dong helped Wei Guangde find a lot of people to help copy the book. They were very efficient in their work. After all, they had money to take. Moreover, they all copied two copies, and he had to keep one copy for his own reference. .

During dinner on the eighth day of the lunar month, Wei Guangde heard his father say that he would leave for Fucheng tomorrow, and then he remembered that his father had indeed said before that he would go to Jiujiang Prefecture in a few days.

Well, it is the first big city that Wei Guangde has entered after coming here, and Wei Guangde is still looking forward to it.

After calculating the time, he didn't know how long he would stay in Jiujiang Mansion this time. Wei Guangde had no choice but to discuss it with his cousin and arrange for his family to send it back to Zeng's home after copying the article.

"Let's all get on board."

Uncle Wu Zhankui ordered the family standing on the dock.

Zepeng County is more than a hundred miles away from Jiujiang. If you continue to ride there by horse and car, it will take more than half a day.

The key is that the distance is too far. Pengze County is not directly adjacent to Jiujiang Prefecture, but Hukou County is in the middle. If something happens to the carriage on the road, it may have to spend the night in the wild.

Fortunately, you can reach Jiujiang Prefecture by going upstream along the Yangtze River. Although it seems to take a little more time, you don't have to endure the bumpy ride of carriages and horses.

The ship was a ship under the guard station arranged by Zhang Tongzhi. It arrived at Pengze Pier yesterday just to pick up Wu Zhankui and his party.

After boarding the ship, her mother, sister-in-law, and two nieces went into the cabin to rest. Wei Guangde and the others stood outside for a while, but the weather was really cold, and soon they all went into the cabin to avoid the cold.

When the ship docked, it was already dark. Fortunately, we had contacted them before. There were servants arranged by Zhang Tongzhi waiting for their uncle at the dock. They got off the ship and got on the carriage and went directly to the city.

When the carriage arrived in Jiujiang Fucheng, it was completely dark and lanterns were hung on the carriage.

The city defense of Jiujiang Prefecture is under the responsibility of the Chinese Army Qianhu of the Jiujiang Guard stationed in the city. The carriage carrying the lanterns of the guard commanders and comrades traveled unimpeded. Although the north gate of Jiujiang Prefecture should have been closed at this time, when the carriage arrived at the city When the door opened, the city gate was still open.

"Hey, brother, why is there no curfew in Jiujiang Prefecture? The city gates are not closed either?"

As the carriage entered Fucheng, Wei Guangde was quickly attracted by the lively scene of people coming and going on the street. However, the plot of watching TV series and movies also came to mind. At night, the city should not be the only one with the night watchman. He would knock on the door while walking. Gongs and drums, shouting "The sky is dry and things are dry, be careful of the candle"?

"Well, I've never been to Fucheng. I don't know. Pengze has a curfew at night. Maybe Jiujiang doesn't."

Having said that, Wei Wencai himself felt that something was wrong.

"Isn't this a festival? The curfew will be reinstated after twenty."

At this moment, cousin Wu Dong on the side smiled and said, "The rules set down during the Yongle period started from the eleventh day of the first lunar month. They gave ten days of Lantern Festival holiday. All the officials did not participate in the affairs, but listened to the soldiers and civilians lighting up lanterns and drinking wine. For fun, relax the night ban, and follow the orders."

As he spoke, my cousin recited a section of the law, which was obviously the decree issued by Emperor Yongle.

"On the eleventh day, isn't it here yet?"

Wei Guangde also listened carefully to Wu Dong's words and was still a little surprised.

"The world has been at peace for a long time, and many rules are not enforced so strictly, especially now."

Having said this, Wu Dong glanced at the lanterns hung on the carriage and said: "Here, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. To put it bluntly, the lanterns of the prefect's house and the guard station are hung, and the officers and soldiers on night patrol will not do anything. .

The night ban is only for ordinary people. Who cares about the rich and powerful people?

If it is really banned, how many people's livelihoods will be affected by whether brothels, casinos, and theater troupes should be opened? "

When Wei Guangde heard this, he felt it made sense.

Even in Bengshan Fort, there is actually no curfew, but the fort gate has to be closed at night, and a few people are arranged to watch the night. Movement in the fort at night is actually very free.

"Night ban?"

Wei Guangde also noticed that the TV used to talk about the night curfew, but just now his cousin always said the night curfew. The meaning should be similar, but tomorrow, it should be called the night curfew.