On the same day, the elder Meng Jian followed Meng Zhong to the latter's home, intending to persuade the latter's mother, Ge Shi, to allow her second son Meng Zhong to leave her side and go to serve Zhuangzi.

Meng Zhong's home was also in the township, and it wasn't long before the old and the young arrived.

When Meng Jian and Meng Zhong came to the latter's house, Meng Zhong's brother Meng Bo was repairing the family's wooden cart in the courtyard, and inadvertently looked up and happened to see his younger brother Meng Zhong.

He was about to say hello, but suddenly saw his younger brother Meng Zhong respectfully welcoming the elders of the clan into the courtyard, and he couldn't help but be stunned, holding the wooden hammer and stupidly on the spot.

"You're saying hello."

Meng Zhong secretly felt anxious for his brother, and reminded him: "Brother, Elder Recommendation is here." ”

"Uh-oh." Meng Bo woke up like a dream, and hurriedly put down the wooden hammer in his hand, bowed down, and saluted: "Boy Meng Bo, I have seen the elder." ”

"Okay." Meng Jian nodded with a smile on his crutches.

Although Meng Bo's reaction was very slow, and he was afraid that he would be angry because of other old people who were not familiar with the former, Meng Jian knew this junior very well and knew that he had a simple and honest personality, so he would not be surprised.

But in the bottom of his heart, he felt more and more that Meng Bo was inferior to his brother Meng Zhong.

You see, it is clear that the elder brother Meng Bo is five years older than his younger brother Meng Zhong, and he is also a head and a half taller than his younger brother, and his body is quite strong, but at this moment, the two brothers are in front of the elder's recommendation, but the elder brother is submissive and restrained, on the other hand, the younger brother Meng Zhong is polite and generous.

So it's no wonder that Meng Jian attaches more importance to Meng Zhong.

Probably noticing that Meng Bo was quite restrained when he saw him, Meng Jian stepped forward and talked to him casually, first asking what was going on with the cart that Meng Bo was repairing, and then praising the latter a few words, which finally calmed Meng Bo's mood gradually.

At this time, Meng Jian opened his mouth and asked, "Son, is your mother at home?" ”

Meng Bo nodded and was about to speak, a woman with her hair in a bun happened to appear in the main house on the north side, looking at the courtyard with a confused expression, and when she saw Meng Jian standing in the courtyard, the woman hurriedly walked out and greeted happily: "The elder is here?" …… These two stupid children, the elders didn't say a word to their mother when they came. ”

She said in a reproachful tone to the two brothers, Meng Bo and Meng Zhong.

This woman, who was Ge Shi, the mother of the brothers Meng Bo and Meng Zhong, was sewing and mending clothes in the house when she suddenly heard a voice from the courtyard, so she stood up and looked curiously at the courtyard.

"The old man has just arrived."

Meng Jian smiled and waved his hand, indicating that it was not the business of the brothers.

Seeing this, Ge Shi saluted Meng Jian, and immediately said with a little joy: "The elder came here today, could it be that the concubine begged the clan a few days ago?" ”

"Huh?"

Meng Jian opened his mouth, but he didn't react for a while, he didn't know what to respond, and his embarrassed demeanor made Meng Zhong smile when he looked at it.

Fortunately, he was not old enough to be forgetful after all, and after recalling it for a while, he immediately remembered it, and hurriedly said: "Yes, yes, the old man made a special trip for this matter today." After that, he was still afraid that Ge would not believe it, and added: "About the marriage of Bo'er, the old man remembers." ”

However, after saying that, he glanced at Meng Zhong, presumably hoping that the latter would not demolish him.

"The concubine has been waiting for the clan's response for the past few days."

Although Ge Shi felt that Elder Meng's demeanor was a little strange, he didn't think about it, and happily welcomed the latter into the main house.

The main house, that is, the house where the head of a family lives, has the highest status in a courtyard, and since the death of Meng Qu in battle, Ge has lived here alone, and as for the two brothers, Meng Bo and Meng Zhong, they used to sleep with their mother, but when the brothers were eight or nine years old, they moved to live in the house on the east side of the courtyard according to common etiquette.

The house on the west side of the precincts is currently used as a kitchen and a firewood room for storing firewood and miscellaneous items.

Although it is the main house, the furnishings in the house are extremely simple, about three zhang square in the room, there is a straw mat in the center, and a square wooden low table is placed on the straw mat, the wood of the low table is unknown, but looking at the cracks on it, it is not difficult to guess that this low table is afraid that it is some years old, and it may be older than Meng Zhong's age.

In the corner of the house, there are two half-man-high earthen jars, presumably used to hold grain, wheat and grain.

And against the wall on the north wall, there is also a small case, on which are placed several clay statues.

These clay statues are called "corpses", and they are worshiped by Ge and the brothers Meng Bo and Meng Zhong on behalf of the late Meng Shu and Meng Qu father and son. [PS: The corpse was the earliest 'substitute' that specifically referred to the substitution of the deceased ancestors to be worshiped and sacrificed by descendants, and was replaced by a living person (usually a grandchild), and also replaced by a clay statue. The so-called corpse should actually be a corpse, and corpse is a word specifically used to refer to a dead person. 】

There are three clay statues, which refer to Meng Shu, Meng Shu's wife, and Meng Qu, Meng Zhong's grandfather, grandmother, and father.

When he saw that the small table was clean, and that some food and fresh fruits were enshrined in the clay basin in front of the three clay statues, Meng Zhi nodded slightly.

More than 100 years after the death of Confucius, Confucianism is gradually becoming a prominent science, although the monarchs of various countries may not really choose Confucianism as the ideological proposition of a strong state, but some ideas in Confucianism, such as filial piety, have long been spread in the Central Plains countries and become one of the standards for measuring a person's morality.

Today, I saw that Ge Shi meticulously worshiped her in-laws and husband on weekdays, and she was very appreciative of it, and even her evaluation of Ge Shi increased a few points.

On the east and west sides of the room, there is a small door that leads to the inner rooms on the east and west sides. The inner room on the east side was previously occupied by Meng Zhong's grandmother, Hua, and Ge lived in the inner room on the west side.

Later, Fahrenheit passed away, and Ge was used to living in the west room, so he didn't bother to move to the east room, so he simply used the east room as a utility room, and piled up the furniture and boxes used by his in-laws and husbands, and those things that were old but reluctant to throw away.

By the way, the leather armor and weapons used by Meng Qu before his death were also treasured by the Ge family in the box in the east room.

"Elder, please be seated."

Ge Shi is invited to take a seat in the honored seat.

According to the rules of the world, the north is the main position, which is the seat of the master, and the Central Plains generally respects the left, so the left hand side of the master (that is, the east position) is the honorable position, the west position is second, and the last position is the south position.

Although Ge is now the mistress of the family, she is older than her and has a higher status in the clan, so according to the etiquette, she should not sit on the main seat, but on the west seat, as a sign of respect for the recommendation.

With Meng Zhong's support, he knelt down in the seat on the east side of the low table, and at the same time he gently tapped the south part of the low table with the fingers of his left hand, apparently motioning for Meng Zhong to sit down in the south seat—after all, Meng Zhong was the youngest here.

At this time, according to his mother's instructions, Meng Bo brought a bowl of hot water, held it in both hands and brought it to Meng Xuan, and stammered: "Elder, elder, please, please drink water." ”

His restrained expression made Ge Shi, who was on the side, anxious.

"Yes, good boy."

Meng recommended a word of praise and took a sip from the bowl.

During this period, Meng Bo was called to his side by his mother Ge Shi and knelt beside his mother.

Ge Shi didn't notice Meng Zhong's small gesture of motioning for Meng Zhong to sit down, and when she saw that her youngest son Meng Zhong was also sitting down at the low table, she said, "Zhong'er, for the sake of my mother and the elders to discuss some things, you can go outside the house and play for a while." ”

Meng Zhong said with a smile when he heard this: "Mother, isn't it my brother's marriage, just let the child listen to it, maybe the child can still give an idea." ”

Hearing this, Ge Shi hesitated slightly, after all, compared to the eldest son of Honest Muna, it is indeed the second son Meng Zhong who is smart and clever, so there are many things on weekdays, although Ge will not hide from the eldest son, but will discuss more with the second son.

But for a ten-year-old child, it's too early to get married, right?

Thinking of this, Ge Shi was about to drive his youngest son out with a straight face, but Meng Jian said with a smile: "It's okay, just let this child listen, after all, this child is also ten years old, and in five years, it will be his turn to get married." ”

The elders all said this, and Ge Shi couldn't say anything more, so he had to assume that Meng Zhong did not exist, and discussed with Meng Jian about the marriage of his eldest son Meng Bo.

In this era, commoners and men from noble families generally married at the age of fifteen - if the concubine of an upper-class aristocratic family did not have a suitable marriage partner at this time, it was possible to take a concubine first, and then marry the wife when there was a suitable marriage partner - from then on they could be regarded as adults and assume the responsibilities of this small family. [PS: The fifteen-year-old adult here refers to the "worldly" point of view. However, within the family, it is generally not until the age of twenty that the crown ceremony is performed before being regarded as a true adult by the elders of the clan, and at this time they are qualified to express their opinions on the affairs of the family. 】

And this year, Meng Bo has reached the age of fifteen, so the day before, the Ge clan went to the clan and asked the clan to marry his eldest son Zhang Luo.

At this time, the marriage of men and women is basically based on the orders of their parents and the words of the elders.

Although there are actually young unmarried women within the Mengshi clan, in view of the principle of "unmarried with the same clan" - initially "unmarried with the same surname", and later gradually relaxed to "unmarried with the same clan" - Meng Bo could not marry those young women in the clan, and he could only marry women from other families, such as the brothers' father, Meng Qu, who married Ge, a woman from the Ge clan.

The intermarriage between the clansmen mainly depends on the old people with high moral standing in the clan, such as the suzerain Meng Qi and the sect Zhu Meng, to propose marriages with other families.

If a man and a woman who are not approved and blessed by their elders and parents unite without permission, it is called adultery, which is not allowed by the world.