Chapter 227: Discussing the Wedding
Except for Cheng Yu and the officials from the border town who all looked happy, the officials from Chang'an all looked confused and worried.
Especially the officials of the Ministry of Rites, they all looked worried when they looked at each other. This reaction made Gu Changxiao very angry: "What do you mean? Do you still want to object to my getting married?"
In Chang'an, dozens of memorials were submitted every day "urging the emperor to get married", as if the emperor was not worthy of being the emperor if he did not marry.
Even though he drove out the Hu people, saved Chang'an, killed Prince Yu and eliminated the trouble for the aristocracy, in the eyes of those old censors, they still kept saying every day that Your Majesty must get married.
Now that I want to marry, you guys are reacting like this again? Haven't I killed enough people in Chang'an? Isn't that enough to intimidate you? Do you still want me to go on a killing spree in the border towns and live up to my reputation as a tyrant?
The official from the Ministry of Rites stepped forward to plead guilty: "Your Majesty, we are not opposed to it, but the New Year is approaching, and Your Majesty's wedding requires the issuance of official documents to all corners of the country, which may take at least a year, and at most three years..."
Gu Changxiao waved his sleeves to interrupt their nonsense. If they really prepared for three years, I don’t know how much money your Ministry of Rites would use this as an excuse to embezzle.
Moreover, my wedding with Suisui should be held according to the rules of the border town, rather than the old-fashioned and cumbersome rules of Chang'an.
“There is no need for extravagance. The Queen and I have already tied the knot. The wedding only needs to be announced throughout the world. There is no need for them to come to the border town to attend the wedding banquet.
How about this, Taoist Ling, you come and choose an auspicious day for Sui Sui and me."
Grandpa Ling was good at this. He immediately took out a copper coin to tell fortunes and asked about Gu Changxiao's birth date. He ignored the official's sullen look and said with a smile, "Your Majesty and Sui Sui's birth date are very compatible. The Taoist priest has chosen the best auspicious day, which is February 2 next year."
Gu Changxiao calculated that there were still more than three months until February 2nd. It was too long, too long!
Then he asked with a smile, "Grandpa, is there an auspicious day closer to February than February?"
Even Grandpa was called, and Grandpa Ling smiled happily and made another divination: "On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, everything will be auspicious. Your Majesty will get married, which is just in time for viewing the lanterns all year round."
Gu Changxiao asked Jinsui with a smile: "What do you think, Suisui?"
Jin Sui nodded: "I'm fine with either." Anyway, I've already decided to marry you, so it's better to hold the wedding earlier. It's much more convenient to act in the name of the queen than in the name of Miss Ling.
"I have long wanted to take Sui Sui to watch the lanterns and admire the moon. It's settled. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, I will marry the Queen! The Ministry of Rites should prepare!"
The officials of the Ministry of Rites were about to cry. The fifteenth day of the first lunar month was less than two months away. How could they rush a wedding? And it was the wedding of the Emperor and Empress!
Of course, looking at the current capital, even the imperial palace is still under construction, and His Majesty is anxious to move the capital. Our Majesty is also impatient.
Later, all the officials realized that Gu Changxiao was not impatient, he was just anxious about marrying Suisui.
Officials from the Ministry of Rites were in a state of not touching the ground. The workload after coming to the border town was even greater than the workload they had in Chang'an for ten years! Because everything in Chang'an had old rules to follow, such as when the royal family got married, which door to go through, and what etiquette to use, all followed the old rules.
But it was not possible in the border town. The imperial palace was brand new. Although the queen's central palace had been built, the interior decoration had not been completed, and the pepper room was not even dry, but they wanted to hold the wedding.
Some people are also happy that Your Majesty is getting married, because according to the old rules, after marrying the Empress, he will then take in more concubines in the harem, including the three palaces and six courtyards.
A new round of beauty pageant competition is about to begin. No matter whether the daughter is a noble, aristocratic, or an official, as long as she can be included in the harem, her wealth and glory for the next few decades will be secured.
As a result, after His Majesty took a look at the palace that was still under construction, he immediately stopped all construction work in the harem except the central palace, and all the personnel were required to prepare for the wedding.
An official was anxious: "How can this be done, Your Majesty? You should have chosen a concubine after the beginning of spring!"
Gu Changxiao knew that if he said he would not choose a concubine, he would not be able to hold a wedding in peace, and the officials' letters of persuasion would pile up on his desk. He would also frequently harass Sui Sui, and she, the queen, would become a target.
So what he said was: "I have just ascended the throne, and the national strength is not stable. How can I waste money on the selection of concubines? Besides, how can the queen save her face if I take concubines right after I marry her? After the selection of concubines, we can discuss it again in three years. Let's focus on city construction first, and there is no rush to expand the harem."
Having the central palace is enough. The remaining space can be used as a garden, where you can take a walk with your parents and enjoy the scenery. When you have children in the future, you can build a yard for them.
As for the three-year agreement, it was just an excuse. After three years, my imperial power will be centralized, the national strength will be strong, and Chang'an will be completely peaceful. I will not be afraid of your noise.
Jin Sui didn't know what other queens had to do before getting married? Did they just have to wait in their boudoir?
Anyway, she was very busy, even busier than the officials in the Ministry of Rites. First, she had to choose a good place for her wedding. In theory, Ling Mansion would be a good choice.
But the Ling Mansion has now been included in the imperial palace. If you marry from the Ling Mansion to the old royal palace, there is no need for ceremonial guards or parades around the city. It only takes a few steps.
If she and Gu Changxiao were asked to walk, it would be faster to climb a wall or take a tunnel!
So the wedding place had to be re-selected. Grandpa said to choose the Taoist temple. In the future, the Taoist temple would be his and Jin'an's home. The tombs of Ling's father and mother were also here, so it was very suitable for Jinsui's wedding place.
Jin Sui didn't think so: "I pretended to be a Taoist nun in the northern border, and then got married from the Taoist temple. Will the unofficial history say that I am a Taoist nun who returned to secular life?"
Now it was Grandpa Ling's turn to remain silent, because this was very likely! Especially if the Northern Frontier also had such records, it would be even more confirmed.
The queen is a Taoist nun who returned to secular life. This reputation is not very good! I have only heard that the queen kept her hair uncut and practiced Taoism after being deposed, but I have never heard of the emperor falling in love with a Taoist nun.
Jin Sui laughed and said, "The reputation of our emperor is already bad enough, and now he is obsessed with a Taoist nun. Haha, he will definitely become a big celebrity among emperors in a thousand years! Let's just forget it."
Well, the records of her in unofficial history are even more interesting. She disguised herself as a man and fell in love with the King of Li, and the nun returned to secular life and married the emperor... It has the potential to be a melodramatic online novel.
Grandpa Ling was so anxious that he pulled his beard: "Then where shall we send her off? The officials of the Ministry of Rites are still waiting to arrange the route! It is also Grandpa's negligence."
Jin Sui pointed to the academy not far away and said, "I'll get married there! That's my most powerful dowry!"
The academy is indeed Jinsui's most powerful dowry. Even a powerful queen like Shen has to go to the imperial temple after being deposed.
Women of this era have very few assets of their own. The dowry comes from her parents' home, the betrothal gift comes from her husband's family, and Jinsui's college tuition was earned by herself.
She wanted to put a deeper mark on this academy, letting everyone in the world know that this was the place where the Queen was married and that this was the academy founded by the Queen herself.
In the future, when the Imperial Academy, Imperial College, and Prefectural College are built one by one in the capital, they will not be able to laugh at our college for being low-end.
Jin Sui took Gu Changxiao for a walk through the academy: "The road is very wide, so it is no problem for the emperor's procession to pass through. From the academy to the palace, it almost goes around half of the border town, and the people along the way can also watch the ceremony. What do you think?"
Gu Changxiao didn't even look at the road. He just looked at Jin Sui tenderly and asked softly, "Will Sui Sui feel that the wedding was too rushed and aggrieved?"
Jin Sui laughed: "Where is she wronged? The officials from the Ministry of Rites are running so hard that smoke is coming out of their legs. If they knew that His Majesty would call them 'the Queen is wronged', they would probably hide and cry!"
Gu Changxiao also laughed: "I really want to marry you home as soon as possible. I don't want to climb over the wall again, nor do I want to take the secret passage. I was jealous when I saw Han Xing and Yan getting married in Chang'an. They got married before us!"
Jin Sui was speechless: "So many people get married every day, are you jealous enough to come here?"
Gu Changxiao laughed even louder and began to instruct the officials of the Ministry of Rites behind him to take notes: "Flowers should be placed along the way."
Seeing the official hiss, Jin Sui smiled and said, "Don't worry, there are many flowers and trees in the greenhouse, enough to display all the way."
The officials were relieved. If they had to move fresh flowers to the south, or move wintersweets and daffodils, that would have been a waste of manpower!
The more Gu Changxiao looked at this road, the more he liked it: "Well, when spring comes, let the Ministry of Industry plant flowers and plants on both sides of this road, and then plant two rows of ginkgo trees, so that every year when I go to the college, I will feel relaxed and happy along the way."
That is the green belt. In later generations, major cities competed to see how beautiful their green belts were. In this era, this was considered a special grant from the emperor.
Gu Changxiao was very satisfied with the street lights: "Chang'an still has no street lights. After dark, the whole city is pitch black. Haha, they actually think the border town is desolate."
Jin Sui nodded and said, “When those officials first came to the border town, they also found it incredible that there were street lights all over the city’s main roads.
Especially now that street lamps are powered by gas, unlike before when you had to lower the lamps and add oil, now you only need to change the gas once every two weeks.”
She asked Gu Changxiao to try to press the switch: "The palace has also installed it. There is not much oil now, so it is impossible to install gas pipes in civilian houses. When we develop the oil field, ordinary people will also be able to use such convenient lights."
Gu Changxiao nodded repeatedly: "I have already asked the Northwest Army to look for oil outside the Great Wall, and I have also asked Liuyun to look for it in the northern border."
"Well, then I can teach the Ministry of Industry how to refine oil, and then we can build a workshop directly at the oil field. There are many uses for oil! You will know later."
Of course, it is not possible to make an oil car yet, so she can leave the manuscript behind. As long as the people in the Ministry of Industry and the Academy are committed to research, she believes that an oil car can be made within a hundred years.
All the way to the college, Gu Changxiao found that there were only female students in the college, and asked curiously: "Have they not recruited other students yet?"
Jin Sui nodded: "The college is not yet completed. If we recruit both men and women, it will be detrimental to management. I plan to recruit more students after the college is completed. Currently, Sister Chen is in charge, so we only have a female branch."
Chen Yunniang led the students to pay their respects and introduced the current situation of the college to Jinsui and His Majesty. She heard that the women's school branch had opened departments such as "medical care", "textiles", "cooking", "clothing", "management", and "accounting".
Gu Changxiao said admiringly: "The six arts of a gentleman. From now on, you women will also have the six arts of self-reliance in addition to the music, chess, calligraphy and painting."
Jin Sui said proudly: "We also teach music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but you still have to learn a skill to rely on. In the future, students who graduate from our women's college will not have to rely on others. Just relying on their own hands, they will be able to have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of their lives."
She also specifically introduced the more than 200 female students in the medical academy: "They haven't graduated yet, but they have already been recruited by military doctors. Your Majesty knows that our Black Feather Battalion was the first to have female medical staff, and the cure rate of wounded soldiers has increased to 80%.
The Tuntian Camp also had female medical staff, and the survival rate of newborns and mothers increased to 90%! All babies delivered by female medical staff survived. "
Even the officials following behind were stunned. Giving birth to a child was like walking through the gates of hell. No matter whether you were a royal family member or a commoner, a noble or a slave, you had to face this problem.
If the female doctors trained by the Empress can achieve a 90% survival rate for mothers and newborns, that would be a great achievement! All dynasties have attached great importance to population development.
One official could not help but suggest: "In this case, why not recruit more medical and nursing students? If we recruit tens of thousands of them and distribute them all over the country, wouldn't there be no more difficult births or premature deaths?"
Jin Sui said seriously: "That is the future goal of our college, but we are currently short of teachers and students.
Not everyone can learn medical care. Most people prefer their daughters to learn textiles and cooking, which can earn money after just one year of study. However, it takes at least three years to become a master of medical care.
Wait a little longer. Once these medical and nursing students graduate, people around the world will see the respect and remuneration they receive, and they will naturally send their daughters to study medicine.”
Gu Changxiao nodded and said, "The court will strongly support the Queen's academy. I believe that the Queen's academy will cultivate another kind of talent for Daxia and the people of the world."
After that, Gu Changxiao whispered to Jin Sui, "Is there enough money to build the academy? If not, I will allocate some money from the Chang'an treasury to the academy."
Jin Sui shook his head and smiled, "No, Your Majesty has more places to use money. Besides, I have raised the funds."
She told him about the young master of the Yan noble family who was willing to spend 50,000 taels of silver to buy a position in the academy, and Gu Changxiao also laughed:
"It's a bargain for them. With 50,000 taels of silver, they can work with my queen."
Jin Sui advised: "Your Majesty, you'd better move the Chang'an treasury here as soon as possible. Some heavy objects and antiques that are inconvenient to move can be stored in a museum in Chang'an.
It also prevents the damage of antiquities during transfer. Paper preservation is easy to lose. Your Majesty can also follow the example of the pre-Qin Dynasty and use bronze or stone carvings to leave more historical relics, which will be very helpful for future generations to study our history. "
“What is a museum?”
Jinsui then explained the significance of the National Museum, and Gu Changxiao felt that it was very necessary to build it, not only in Chang'an, but also in border towns.
After the capital was moved, many mansions were left in Chang'an, and any institution could be vacated to build a museum.
The official from the Ministry of Rites saw that the two of them were chatting and changed the subject to other political affairs, so he stepped forward and reminded them: "Your Majesty, we are here to discuss the wedding."
Jin Sui and Gu Changxiao looked at each other and felt that it was necessary to get married quickly. They would probably talk about political affairs in bed after their marriage.
The officials from the Ministry of Rites began to talk about the wedding process, starting with the wedding ceremony at the academy, and the eight-man sedan chair...
This was rejected by Jin Sui: "It's uncomfortable to ride in a carriage or a sedan chair."
Well, change it to a four-horse carriage. There aren't many royal relatives coming, so choose someone from the royal family to welcome the bride...
This was rejected by Gu Changxiao: "I want to go to the wedding in person."
The officials from the Ministry of Rites became worried again: "If Your Majesty goes to welcome the bride in person, it will delay the sacrificial ceremonies." Historically, the emperor never went to welcome the bride in person when he got married.
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