In February of the ninth year of Chongzhen, after nearly three months of hard work by more than 30,000 displaced people, and thousands of blacksmiths and craftsmen worked overtime day and night, the preparation of farm tools, seeds and other materials also came to an end.

Spring ploughing is a very important festival for China, and the mistakes of the Han Dynasty are in the "On Guisu Shu" with clouds "Spring ploughing, summer cultivation, autumn harvest, winter storage...... Between four o'clock, the dead are rested. ”

On this day, Pang Gang took almost all the general flags, hundreds of households, scribes, wardens and other civil and military officials and military households of Lingshanwei all the way to beat drums and gongs, blow and blow, and let everyone carry paper spring oxen, plows, etc., from the Lingshan Guard to the fields several miles away.

Along the way, the military households set off firecrackers and threw rice, soybeans, etc. to the paper-tied ploughing oxen, indicating a bumper harvest in the new year.

After the paper was carried to the thatched factory, Pang Gang burned incense to worship the emperor's earth, led the three dogs and bows, and all the military households followed to worship in the back. After paying tribute to the gods of heaven and earth, Pang Gang personally supported the plough and performed a trial ox ploughing the field to show the start of spring ploughing, and the shouts of the onlookers resounded in the sky.

Countless women, young and old, also sang the spring ploughing song that has been passed down for hundreds of years: "Autumn ploughing is deep, spring ploughing is shallow." Spring ploughing is like turning cakes, and autumn ploughing is like digging a well. Spring ploughing is one inch deep, and it can be used to top dung. Spring ploughing and spring ploughing are unwilling to be busy, and the face is hungry and yellow after autumn. Plough well and rake well, and grow crops without grass. The crops don't recognize their father and mother, and they work intensively and do more grain......"

In the expectation of everyone, Pang Gang picked up the plough and followed a ploughing ox with a red cloth around his neck, ploughed a ridge of land in the field symbolizing his surname, and finally stopped in the earth-shattering cheers of the surrounding military households.

In the end, the military households lifted the paper-tied spring ox and swam inside and outside the Lingshanwei for a few laps, and then burned the paper-tied spring ox, and the spring plowing ceremony ended.

In the following days, everyone began to be nervous about spring ploughing, as the saying goes, spring rain is as expensive as oil, which shows people's expectation of rain in the spring ploughing season, because there are 50 large water wheels that continue to carry water from the river near Lingshanwei day and night, this most headache problem in previous years has been solved. The active surnames of the military households who were allocated to the fields were brought into full play at this time, and they intensified their work all night, and by mid-February the spring ploughing had come to an end.

At this time, Pang Gang was finally ready to usher in the biggest event in his life, that is, he was about to get married.

In the small hall of the inner courtyard of the Yamen of the Qingzhou Prefect, Wei Tongnian was having lunch with his concubine Rou Niang and daughter Wei Manyao, and when he was halfway through eating, Wei Tongnian asked: "Rou Niang, Lingshanwei's Qianhu Pang is just going to get married tomorrow, have you prepared all the He Yi I asked you to prepare the day before yesterday?" ”

Rou Niang replied softly: "Master, the concubine body is ready, a total of one hundred taels of silver, ten pieces of silk and a pair of gold Ruyi. But master, is this one hundred taels of silver a little less, and the concubine heard that Commander Song sent five hundred taels of silver. ”

"Hmph, the old man can't compare with Song Xing and that rich man, he just received a benefit fee of 1,000 taels of silver from Pang Gang last month, and now he has only paid this amount of money. Now Lingshanwei's iron mine is producing a steady stream of ore every day, of which he has a thirty percent of the shares, which is all white silver, can he still be generous? How can the old man, a poor prefect, compare with him! ”

"Poof!" With a sound, Rou Niang covered her mouth and smiled, "The master is so stingy, didn't Pang Qianhu also send you the dividends of the cement factory last month, and now their cement has begun to sell in Qingzhou, don't you also have thirty percent of the shares there, can you still get your dividends?" ”

Wei Tongnian's face turned red, and he defended himself: "The old man is different from that Song Xinghe, his two sons are not yet adults, but the old man only has such a daughter in the boudoir, the old man has to prepare a rich dowry for his baby daughter, otherwise if he arrives at the husband's house, he will not be looked down upon." ”

Hearing this, Rou Niang couldn't help but sneered, "Master is really, Manyao hasn't even found her mother-in-law's house now, you thought of preparing a dowry for her, you really hurt Manyao, look at the concubine, sir, you better find a son-in-law who comes to the door, save you reluctance." ”

Wei Tongnian glared at Rou Niang, "What kind of son-in-law, the person who is going to marry in our family in the future is not a person who is also a jinshi, how can someone like this be the son-in-law of our family?" ”

Here Wei Tongnian and Rou Niang are talking about Wei Manyao's marriage, but Wei Manyao, who is the party concerned, is silent, just cares about eating the rice in the bowl, and the whole person seems unusually quiet, which has attracted the attention of Wei Tongnian and Rou Niang.

"Manyao, what's wrong with you, see if your face is not very good, are you unwell, do you want to ask a doctor to take a look?" Wei Tongtong asked with concern.

"It's nothing, daddy, don't worry, my daughter is in good health, you don't have to bother." Wei Manyao raised her head and smiled reluctantly, then lowered her head and pulled the rice in the bowl.

"This" Wei Tongnian was a little depressed, he raised his eyes to look at his concubine, but Rou Niang gave him a helpless look, meaning that she didn't know either.

Seeing that her daughter was in a bad mood, the atmosphere in the small hall was a little dull, and Wei Manyao hurriedly finished eating and went back to her embroidery building. Sitting on the stool and carefully looking at his daughter's back, Wei Tongnian asked a little strangely: "Rou Niang, what's wrong with Manyao, the old man seems to be in a bad mood when she sees her, could it be that she has something on her mind?" ”

Rou Niang shook her head: "I don't know about this concubine, she seems to be a little unhappy since the day before yesterday, and the concubine doesn't know what's going on." ”

Wei Tongnian sighed helplessly, his daughter grew up and had her own thoughts, but he was not good at asking too much as a father, and soon Wei Tongnian also put down the dishes and chopsticks and walked into the study.

The time soon came to the next day, the day of February 16 of the ninth year of Chongzhen was Pang Gang's marriage, the big boss of Lingshanwei wanted to get married, it was a big deal, Lingshanwei was busy up and down, everywhere was full of lanterns, loess paving, the military households of ten miles and eight townships and the hundred households that originally guarded the forts and officials at all levels also rushed to Lingshanwei from everywhere to drink wine.

On this day, Pang Gang was pulled up early in the morning by Li Xian, who was in charge of preparing for the wedding, wearing a bright red wedding dress, wearing a champion hat, and thick-soled boots.

"Li Judian, this official is not a champion, and he is also a military attaché, isn't it inappropriate to wear this champion hat!"

"My lord, today you are the groom, and you can wear this hat according to the system."

"And what's this bag? Why does it smell weird? ”

"Back to adults, it is a sachet containing peanuts, lotus seeds, red dates and other things, which is auspicious, and you should bring it today."

"Okay, I put up with it, but this official is a man, what are you doing with nothing to smear and powder on the official's face, you really think this official is Jia Baoyu! What, you don't know Jia Baoyu, okay, Cao Xueqin hasn't been born yet. ”

After tossing and turning like this for an hour, our Pang Qianhu finally broke out, asked someone to bring a basin of hot water and towels, quickly wiped off the messy things on his face, and strode towards the hall of Qianhu Mansion, leaving only Li Xian and a group of old mothers with a wry smile.

Pang Gang just went to the door of the hall to greet the guests, thinking that this was better than being tossed by them in the house, but he never thought that because there were too many guests, Pang Gang began to cramp after smiling at the door for an hour with a smiling face. In the end, I had to come to the hall and sit down to rest, and immediately someone served hot tea, took a sip beautifully, and rubbed the muscles on my face after a long breath, and then sighed at the cumbersome marriage in this era. Suddenly, our Pang Qianhu began to miss the simple customs of later generations, as long as the two of them went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get the red book, they were two people protected by national laws. No matter how bad it is, you can still try to get married, but if you don't feel good, you can change people and try again, how can it be as ink as it is now, it will simply tire people to death.

Just as Pang had just calmed down, the next person came to report that the prefect of Qingzhou and the commander arrived at the same time. The officials of these two people are bigger than Pang Gang, and they must be greeted at the gate.

When Pang Gang walked to the gate of Qianhu Mansion, he saw that Wei Tongnian and Song Xinghe had already gotten off the sedan chair and walked towards Pang Gang side by side, and behind them were more than a dozen sergeants and servants carrying boxes.

Pang Gang hurriedly greeted him and arched his hand: "Lord Song and Lord Wei are here, and it is an honor to be humble. ”

Song Xinghe laughed and said: "Pang Qianhu doesn't need to be polite, today is your good day, let's not come to that." No, the old man knows that you are a rich man now, but this is a little bit of the old man's heart, so you can accept it. After speaking, Song Xinghe took out a red congratulatory list from his sleeve and handed it to Pang Gang.

"Also, this one belongs to the old man, you can take it too!" Wei Tongnian, who was on the side, also smiled and handed over his share.

These two do give face, in this happy day, they do not claim to be their own officials, but use folk titles, which in itself has proved the subconscious meaning of their words, that is, they came to Pang Gang's wedding in a private capacity, and this face Pang Gang can't help but receive it.

Pang Gang took He Yi and handed it to the servant behind him and said with a smile, "The two adults can come to the lowly wedding in person, and the lowly are grateful, the two adults please sit inside." ”

Accompanied by Pang Gang, Wei Tongnian and Song Xinghe walked into the Qianhu Mansion and came to the hall, at this time, all the guests and military households in the hall saw that even the prefect and the commander had given their own Qianhu face to come to the hall in person. In a lively atmosphere, the banquet soon opened in the hall, and everyone began to push the glasses and change the lamps

(To be continued)