GBP Chapter 146 Magistrate Yang: It's all your fault for being so useless!
Chapter 146 Magistrate Yang: It's all your fault for being so useless!
The next morning, after the heads of the eight communities and sixteen villages arrived at the county government office, Magistrate Yang went straight to the point and said, "I have some good news to share: Brother Limpy Fifth and his wife are getting married."
"I counted yesterday that there are a total of sixty-three retired soldiers who are getting married this time. Some of these soldiers stayed in the county to work as yamen runners, while others were assigned by me to your respective communities to be responsible for the security of your communities."
"Now that they are getting married, I, as the county magistrate, cannot remain completely silent. However, I do not know how to arrange their wedding, nor do I know the entire wedding process. After all, you good-for-nothings are useless. More than half a year has passed, and not a single one of the eight communities and sixteen villages in the entire Ningyang County has invited me to their wedding banquet."
Originally, the heads of the eight communities and sixteen villages were listening attentively to Magistrate Yang's lecture. However, when they heard Magistrate Yang say that they were not up to par and that not a single person in Ningyang County had gotten married in the past six months, these heads of communities and villages immediately felt that they had been greatly wronged.
Is it that there are no men and women of marriageable age in Ningyang County?
No.
Are the people of Ningyang County unwilling to get married?
Nor is it.
It was because of the drought and locust plague after the start of spring. In order to prevent drought and control locusts, the county magistrate treated all the women in Ningyang County like men, and the men like livestock. He used the livestock to the point of death. The people lived in fear every day, afraid that they would have to wander to other places to beg for food after the drought and locust plague. How could they have the mind to think about getting married?
Now look what's happened! Your Excellency, the county magistrate, with a twist of your tongue, it's become that we common folk are the ones who are disappointing us?
Feeling increasingly aggrieved, Liu Thirty-Two couldn't help but step forward and say, "Don't worry, sir, I'll urge all the eligible men and women in the village to get married as soon as I get back!"
The other village heads and elders also stepped forward and told Magistrate Yang, "Don't worry, Your Excellency. Two people in our village have already gotten engaged recently. We'll urge them to get married as soon as we get back!"
"Sir, there are a few people in our village who are scheduled to get married after the New Year. I'll ask them to find a way to move it up when I get back!"
"We have them in our village too!"
"..."
The heads of the eight communities, sixteen neighborhoods, and twenty-four neighborhoods all expressed their opinions, which stunned Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate.
No, since the wedding date has already been set, why would you urge them to hold the wedding ceremony beforehand?
No, the reason these scoundrels are urging the people is because I scolded them for being useless. When they go back, they will definitely repeat what I said to the people, and some of them might even think of holding the feast in advance so that I, the county magistrate, can attend.
Knowing all too well what kind of people the people of Ningyang County were, Magistrate Yang's face immediately darkened, and he snorted coldly, saying, "Alright, I was just saying that. After you go back, no one is allowed to urge the people to get married ahead of time. I didn't call you here today to urge the people to get married ahead of time."
After Liu Sanshier and the other village heads and elders bowed and agreed, Magistrate Yang added, "You all better remember this: when you get back, no one is allowed to urge you! If you try to hide it from me again like you did with the Chen clan, I won't let you off the hook!"
Liu Thirty-Two's face fell, and he bowed and replied, "Yes, we all remember, and we will never dare to act recklessly again. Please rest assured, sir."
Magistrate Yang then grunted and said, "Alright, I've called you here today for two things. First, Brother Limpy Fifth and his wife are getting married, and I'd like you to help with the arrangements. See what the procedures should be, such as where to pick up the bride, what kind of gifts to prepare for the wedding, where to send off the women who don't have family, and whether the county should find some respected elders to temporarily act as their parents. Also, where to hold the banquet, and what dishes to order—all these miscellaneous things need your help to take care of."
Liu Thirty-Two bowed and said, "Your Excellency, according to the long-standing custom of Ningyang County, we should first invite a matchmaker, then exchange invitations, then set the wedding date, then get married, and after the wedding, we should thank the matchmaker and return to the bride's parents' home three days later."
"Fifty Fifth Master and his family didn't ask for names, didn't exchange invitations, didn't set a date, and didn't have a matchmaker. This matter..."
"Logically speaking, Your Excellency is the magistrate of this county. If Master Limpy and those women do not have parents, it would be most appropriate for you to preside over the replacement of their official documents."
The so-called "exchanging small slips of paper" involves each party preparing a slip of paper with their name and birth date written on it. After receiving the names and birth dates, the parents of both parties will consult someone to calculate whether the birth dates are compatible. Sometimes, incompatibility in the birth dates can affect a marriage.
The crippled soldier and the wounded soldiers who were assigned by Xu Da and Chang Yuchun basically had no family, so naturally no one could take care of things like changing their comrades' notes for them.
As the magistrate of Ningyang County, Yang Shaofeng was a truly benevolent official, both in terms of his official rank and his reputation. It was appropriate for him to preside over the exchange of official documents for Limpy Wu and others.
However, Magistrate Yang couldn't accept it—he was always called "Lame Fifth Brother" all the time, but suddenly he was asked to take charge of changing the notices for them. This whole thing just felt a bit awkward.
After all, even in later generations where adoptive fathers and rebellious sons were common, no one dared to stand up and say they would take charge of changing the stickers for their brother.
Therefore, Magistrate Yang waved his hand to interrupt Liu Thirty-Two: "I can't do this. At most, I can write down the names and birth dates of Brother Limpy Fifth and the others, and then match their birth dates. You'll have to find someone else to do things like changing the notes."
Liu Thirty-Two bowed and agreed, then tentatively said, "How about this? When we go back, we'll first find matchmakers for Lame Fifth Master and the others, and then find some respected elders to be their parents for those women and Lame Fifth Master. Then we'll exchange wedding invitations for them, set the wedding date, and after the wedding, we'll have them thank the matchmakers and also thank the elders who will be their parents."
Magistrate Yang immediately nodded and said with a smile, "That's very good, very good."
Liu Thirty-Two breathed a sigh of relief. After discussing with the other village heads and elders, he continued, "As for the gifts and banquet that the county magistrate just mentioned, we've discussed it and what do you think is acceptable?"
"As for the gifts, let's agree on four types of gifts: five catties of steamed buns, half a catty of sorghum candy, three feet of floral cloth, and two catties of pork. That's the four types of gifts."
"..."
Liu Thirty-Two recounted the four kinds of gifts and the banquet, among other things, while Magistrate Yang listened and nodded.
"Row."
"it is good."
"That's it."
After Liu Sanshier finished explaining these matters, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng continued, "Also, we need to quickly discuss and decide on a good date. We should try to choose the same day for Brother Limpy Fifth and his wife's wedding, and have them all done together. You should also notify the people of each village and neighborhood to come to the county town."
"Damn it, we've been busy all year, dealing with droughts, locust plagues, and torrential rains that drench the crops. We've experienced all sorts of ridiculous and messy things. Now, with Brother Limpy Fifth and his family getting married, the people of Ningyang County can finally have some fun."
Liu Sanshier and the other village heads bowed in agreement, and only then did Magistrate Yang bring up the second matter: to have them summoned.
"The second thing is that His Majesty has issued an edict to abolish all foreign customs, rituals, languages, and clothing. After you return, you must explain this to the people of your respective villages and communities, and that all such messy foreign customs and rituals should no longer be used."
As soon as Magistrate Yang finished speaking, Liu Thirty-Two and the other village heads and elders burst into laughter.
Hu customs and etiquette?
Nonsense and nonsense?
These things did exist in Ningyang County, but only the local gentry would bother to think about them. Ordinary people were only thinking about how to survive, and the bolder ones even rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty. Who would bother with those things from the barbarians?
Ever since those gentry fled with their buckets, not a single person in the entire Ningyang County has used nonsensical names, etiquette, or spoken nonsense.
As for someone like Chen Er from Yanzhou Prefecture... is that dog even human? Moreover, there was only one Chen Er in the entire Yanzhou Prefecture. And even that, he didn't use a Hu name. He only wanted to force his sister-in-law to marry him because he coveted her, so he tried to take advantage of the Hu custom of levirate marriage. In the end, didn't he also end up in a miserable state?
Magistrate Yang was well aware of this, which is why he remained calm and even seemed somewhat indifferent when he received the official document yesterday demanding the complete abolition of barbarian customs.
Of course, the proper procedures still had to be followed. After all, he was serving Emperor Zhu Chongba, and before that old man married his daughter to him, he had to perform well and at least make that old man think he was a good servant worthy of his attention.
Come on, I'm going to crush the officials of the Ming Dynasty!