dognovel Chapter 990 I've thrown away all my pride.
Chapter 990 I've thrown away all my pride.
Zhu Biao, who was already used to Yang Shaofeng's perverse sense of humor, simply curled his lip and said, "It's good that the officials are busy. As long as the officials are busy, they won't have time to collude with the local gentry."
"I just don't know how long this will keep them busy."
"Especially the University of Denzhou."
At this point, Zhu Biao looked at Yang Shaofeng again and asked with anticipation, "Dengzhou University should have students graduating this year, right?"
"And what about the Ningyang County School? There should be a few candidates who failed the imperial examination this year, right?"
"Get a few of them for my younger brothers to serve in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices."
"One hundred or two hundred is not too much, ten or eight is not too little."
Yang Shaofeng's eyes widened immediately.
"One hundred or two hundred isn't too much?"
"Your Highness, do you take these people for cicadas that crawled out of the ground?"
"You wouldn't mind having ten or eight more?"
"no!"
"not a single one!"
Zhu Biao's eyes darted around, and he asked, "Really not?"
Before Yang Shaofeng could answer, Zhu Biao interjected, "Brother-in-law, have you forgotten that the Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away?"
Yang Shaofeng was a little confused.
Could you please tell me if there are any students from Dengzhou University and Ningyang County School who can be transferred to the Imperial Household Department, and is there any necessary connection between this and the Mid-Autumn Festival?
Zhu Biao chuckled twice and said, "Generally speaking, in rural areas, married daughters are expected to return to their parents' home twice a year."
"One trip is on the second day of the Lunar New Year."
"The other trip is for the Mid-Autumn Festival."
“It was fine before that my sister lived in Ningyang County, after all, it was a thousand miles away.”
"But right now..."
Zhu Biao smiled meaningfully: "You are in the capital right now. My sister has been married into the Yang family for so many years, and this is the first time she has returned home for the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Yang Shaofeng was still a little confused and couldn't help but ask, "And then?"
Then?
Zhu Biao rolled his eyes and said, "Then, brother-in-law, you'll have to prepare two big gifts!"
"Let me tell you, this is only because my sister has already married into the family. If she hadn't, the gifts you would have prepared would have been even more substantial."
"This has been the custom since ancient times!"
As it turns out, Zhu Biao's map of the Yan state was always very short.
In just a few words, he directly demonstrated to Yang Shaofeng what it means to reveal one's true intentions.
"I don't really care for other grand gifts."
"What about four-color gifts, eight-color gifts, fruits and candied fruits, smoked chicken and cured meat? My family has plenty of these things."
"I want the candidates from your Ningyang County School who failed the imperial examination."
"One gift of four colors is equivalent to four successful candidates in the imperial examinations."
“Brother-in-law, since you married my two older sisters, you should at least receive two sets of four-color betrothal gifts, which is equivalent to eight scholars.”
"And since my sister married you, this is the first time she's returning home for the Mid-Autumn Festival, so the gifts should be doubled."
Zhu Biao held up one finger, "I won't ask you for more, just sixteen candidates for the imperial examination."
Yang Shaofeng was completely numb.
There is indeed a folk custom of returning to one's maternal home during the Mid-Autumn Festival, commonly known as "returning home on the eighth month festival." However, the time for returning home on the eighth month festival is not the Mid-Autumn Festival itself, but rather a day earlier, on the fourteenth day of the eighth month. The fifteenth day of the eighth month is still spent at the husband's home.
In addition, as Zhu Biao said, the son-in-law is indeed required to prepare gifts for the return visit to his wife's parents during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and these gifts are usually prepared according to the different customs of each region.
In places like Shandong, wealthy families would prepare more elaborate gifts, while ordinary people would typically prepare things like rice, flour, oil, and meat.
The rice, noodles, oil, and meat here are not fixed, but vary depending on changes in living conditions.
In later generations, rice, flour, oil, and meat evolved into steamed buns, fried dough sticks, meat, and biscuits. Later, malted milk powder, milk powder, white sugar, and tea were also popular for a period of time.
The bride's family will not accept all the gifts, but will keep only a small portion of them. Most of the gifts will be taken back to the groom's family by the bride, which is called "pressing the basket," to show that "the bride's family does not want anything, but only hopes that the daughter and son-in-law can live a good life."
Later, as conditions improved and people became less concerned about such things, the so-called four-color gifts became more casual.
but!
While the custom of giving gifts in four different ways became more casual, the tradition of bringing gifts when returning to one's parents' home was preserved. The custom of accepting only a small portion of the gifts from the parents' home and then "sending the rest back" has also been passed down.
Now, this black sesame dumpling, in order to get more successful candidates from Ningyang County School to the Imperial Academy, is blatantly "demanding four kinds of gifts," and has even ingeniously invented a conversion formula to convert the four kinds of gifts into the equivalent of failed candidates.
They have absolutely no shame!
Yang Shaofeng laughed in anger and said, "If Your Highness wishes to convert the four gifts into the equivalent of the failed candidates from Ningyang County School, I can agree."
“One gift of one color is equivalent to two successful candidates in the imperial examinations, one gift of four colors is equivalent to eight successful candidates in the imperial examinations, and two gifts of four colors are equivalent to sixteen successful candidates in the imperial examinations.”
"Furthermore, as Your Highness said, since this is the first time in recent years that the princess has returned home for the Mid-Autumn Festival, the four-color gifts will be doubled, making two sets of four-color gifts, which will be equivalent to thirty-two scholars."
Zhu Biao's eyes lit up immediately.
I've thrown away all pretense of dignity, and I only dare to ask for sixteen successful candidates in the imperial examinations.
My brother-in-law waved his hand and doubled the amount, giving me thirty-two scholars to replace the four-color gifts.
Generous!
atmosphere!
My brother-in-law must love my two older sisters very much, so I don't have to worry about them being mistreated in the future.
Just as Zhu Biao was secretly pleased, Yang Shaofeng suddenly changed the subject and looked at Zhu Biao, saying, "However, I have prepared double the amount of the four-color gifts. How much do you intend to 'take back' for me, Your Highness?"
The smile on Zhu Biao's face gradually froze and then slowly disappeared.
Hastily!
I was only thinking of using the pretext of the Four Colors Gift to demand people back, but I forgot that part of the Four Colors Gift had to be "pushed back," and I would have to prepare a return gift later.
If my brother-in-law really sends thirty-two failed candidates from Ningyang County, according to folk tradition, I will have to "suppress" twenty-four of them back to him.
So, I've suffered a huge loss again?
Thinking about this, Zhu Biao couldn't help but feel conflicted again.
He wanted to throw his pride away again, but the scholar wouldn't back down once, yet he was afraid his brother-in-law would hold a grudge.
My brother-in-law even dares to slander his father-in-law. He was the one who instigated this whole thing with Miss Liu. Do you think he would care about me, his brother-in-law?
But if I were to "return" the scholar who was sent by my brother-in-law, I would always feel like I had lost money since I didn't find any.
Especially since the "money" was dangling in front of them and even lingered in their hands for a moment.
Thinking about it this way, my heart ached even more!
Seeing Zhu Biao's conflicted and troubled expression, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but chuckle again and said, "His Highness just mentioned that unmarried prospective sons-in-law should prepare generous gifts to visit their future fathers-in-law's family during the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
Zhu Biao nodded absentmindedly, but Yang Shaofeng stroked his chin and smiled meaningfully, saying, "It seems that His Highness's wedding date is set after the Double Ninth Festival?"