A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 200 Governor Ji wants to see Wang Dou

"How should this be handled?"

His mother, Mrs. Zhong, was sitting there frowning. It was a good thing for her son to take concubines and have more children.In this era, the premature mortality rate was high. Eight or nine children were often born, and only two or three survived in the end.If Wang Dou took more concubines, the Zhong family would only be happy.The key is that the new Miss Ji is the daughter of the governor.His daughter is a concubine, so he can't talk about it.

But she is not a concubine, is she going to be a wife?This is certainly not the case.

Although Ji Junjiao is good-looking and has a noble status, Zhong only recognizes Xie Xiuniang as his daughter-in-law. She was raised by herself since she was a child, and she and her three sons are also dependent on each other. The relationship between them is so deep that no one can replace it.

Moreover, in ancient times, there were strict patriarchal etiquette requirements for marrying a wife and divorce, and the husband was not allowed to do anything wrong.As an official ordered by the imperial court, Wang Dou divorced his wife and remarried for no reason. This would be a serious crime. The official impeachment memorial would overwhelm him, and Wang Dou had no such intention at all.

What should be done, Zhong frowned.

Xie Xiuniang sat next to her with her head down, without saying a word, she was in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking.

After Wang Dou entered the room, Zhong said: "My son, the little lady in the governor's mansion, what are you going to do?"

Wang Dou wondered: "Mother, didn't you already agree? Let her be a concubine, and she agrees."

Zhong said: "I'm confused, as Miss Ji, how can I be a concubine? Spread the word and make outsiders laugh at our Wang family for not having a tutor."

Wang Dou said: "According to mother's wishes, what should I do?"

Zhong said: "I'm just worried. I only recognize Xiuniang as the genuine daughter-in-law. I don't allow outsiders. There can only be one daughter-in-law. This..."

She frowned for a long time but couldn't think of any good way.

At this moment, Xie Xiuniang got up suddenly, knelt down in front of Mrs. Zhong, and said, "Mother-in-law, why don't you divorce Xiuniang and marry the little lady from the governor's mansion into the door, and be Brother Dou's wife."

Zhong said: "Ah, what is my daughter-in-law doing? Get up quickly."

Wang Dou said softly, "Xiu Niang, get up."

Xie Xiuniang just knelt and said nothing.

Wang Dou frowned. His wife was weak on the outside, but she actually had a stubborn side in her bones. He said, "Xiu Niang, get up, how can I divorce you?"

Xie Xiuniang tilted her neck and said, "Xiuniang is useless, she can't help my brother. Miss Ji is the governor's daughter. If my brother marries her, he will have a bright future. It's much better than having Xiuniang as his wife."

Wang Dou was furious, he shouted: "Xiu Niang, do you think I let Ji Junjiao in because I like his father's influence?"

He suddenly realized that his voice was a little louder, he slowed down his tone, and said softly: "Xiu Niang, why do you think so?"

He pulled Xie Xiuniang up, let her sit next to him, then reached out to hold her softly, and said calmly: "Xiu Niang, think about your husband's journey of development, from the common pier army to the general banner, and then to Qianlong. Housekeeping, defense, which time did you develop, didn’t I rely on my life to fight? If I, Wang Dou, have any kind of help from a woman’s heart, I’m afraid I’m still just an ordinary pawn.”

He looked at Xie Xiuniang: "Xiuniang, I don't need to rely on anyone, let alone any woman, to gain my future. This has been the case in the past, and it will still be the case in the future!"

His tone was quite heroic: "I will be prosperous in the future, but I don't need to rely on Governor Ji's support and protection."

He said: "The reason why I took Ji Junjiao as my concubine is because she escaped from marriage and came to find me. I couldn't bear to let her down, so I just gave her a title."

Wang Dou said quietly: "Perhaps I will take in some concubines to procreate. As far as the main wife is concerned, you are the only one in my heart. I can swear to you that if I, Wang Dou, have any thoughts of divorcing my wife and marrying another, I will let the sky thunder Chop, there is no place to die."

Xie Xiuniang burst into tears, she choked up and said, "Brother, stop talking, I believe you, I believe you."

There were tears in her eyes, but she was filled with joy.Mrs. Zhong was also happy, she said: "My son is also happy as a mother when he says this. That's right, the ancients also said that a wife of filth should not be abandoned, so why is my son not as good as them?"

Wang Dou said: "There are only three things, Xiu Niang, if you say such stupid words again, you will be severely punished as a husband."

Xie Xiuniang nodded obediently and hummed.

Looking at Xie Xiuniang, Wang Dou sighed.In fact, no matter in later generations or in the current Ming Dynasty, Wang Dou doesn't care much about women, it doesn't matter if they don't have them, having them is just icing on the cake.When he came to Daming in the seventh year of Chongzhen, he had no relationship with Xie Xiuniang.

However, after a few years of marriage, it can be regarded as sharing joys and sorrows, and the husband and wife have no feelings but also show feelings.And this kind of relationship is mixed with all kinds of mutual support, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar tea, children's diapers and the like, which is stronger than the love brought by the romance between men and women.With feelings, there is the responsibility of taking care of each other and growing old together.

The wife was good as before, and Wang Dou didn't want to find any troubles, and married again and again.

……

After the turmoil subsided, mother Zhong started to have a headache again about how to deal with Miss Ji.

At this moment, a servant girl came in to report that Mr. Feng, the official, had come. Mrs. Zhong was overjoyed, and said, "Quickly invite Mr. Feng to come in."

Zhong smiled at Wang Dou: "Mr. Feng is a scholar and has a lot of knowledge. My mother wants him to give us an idea."

Wang Dou smiled and said, "Mother's thinking is all about worrying."

Feng Dachang pays attention to his appearance at all times, his beard and clothes are well-groomed, and he always has a smile on his face.After he came in, he saluted Wang Dou and the others meticulously. With his mother on top, Wang Dou would naturally be in charge of her.

Mrs. Zhong asked Feng Dachang to sit down without courtesy, and Feng Dachang gave another deep salute, and then sat down calmly with a smile.

Mrs. Zhong told about Mrs. Ji, and then said expectantly: "In Mr.'s opinion, how should this matter be?"

Feng Dachang was also very surprised. The little lady in the governor's mansion escaped from marriage and went to Baoan Prefecture, willing to be the concubine of the garrison master. This is really unheard of.At the same time, he was secretly happy, the guarding lord discussed such an important matter with him, which showed his weight in the lord's mind.

He pondered for a while, and said: "From the students' point of view, Miss Ji's behavior as a concubine is absolutely unacceptable. If the adults do this, it must be a disaster rather than a blessing."

Seeing that Wang Dou and the others seemed to be ignorant of the Ming Dynasty's etiquette system, he explained a little bit. It turned out that the status of concubines in ancient times was extremely low, and wives could be said to be equal to their husbands, protected by strict etiquette laws and regulations.A wife can refuse to favor or pay attention to her husband, but the husband often has nothing to do.

The concubine is different. The relationship between a concubine and a wife is a master-servant relationship. A concubine is the property of the husband and also the property of the wife.If the concubine has any transgressive behavior towards the wife, the wife can kill the concubine on the spot, but the husband cannot say anything wrong.

In terms of treatment, the two are also very different. The concubine must greet his wife every day. When the wife sits down, the concubine can only stand. When the wife eats, the concubine has to serve her. My biological mother is my aunt.In the case of Emperor Jiajing's grand gift, Emperor Jiajing, who was born in a concubine, wanted to recognize his biological mother, but he was also strongly opposed by his officials. Hundreds of people were killed with sticks, but the result could not be changed, which shows the strictness of ancient etiquette.

In China's thousands of years of "every man, every woman" system, powerful and wealthy people can have hundreds of concubines, while the official wife can only have one.Because of the dignity of the wife, the lowliness of the concubine, and the dignity of the governor, if he heard that his daughter who had escaped from marriage went to be a concubine in the garrison mansion of Baoan Prefecture, he would be furious and feel extremely humiliated.

Although as Miss Ji, everyone in the Garrison Mansion will treat her with courtesy and will not treat her badly, but would outsiders think so?What would Governor Ji think?He would definitely think that Wang Dou was disrespectful to him, deliberately humiliating and embarrassing him.

In Feng Dachang's view, it is a good thing that the little lady in the governor's mansion loves her own adults, and it is a great opportunity to take advantage of the power behind Miss Ji, so offending Governor Ji, it is very bad and worthless, so Ji Junjiao's behavior as a concubine must never be allowed!
After listening to Feng Dachang's words, Zhong Shi also broke out in cold sweat, she said: "Thanks to the reminder, sir, otherwise I almost made a big mistake."

Wang Dou was also quite surprised. He didn't know much about the ancient system of wives and concubines. Ji Junjiao was at the height of his love. Even if he knew about it, he might ignore it and just remember that Wang Dou was good to her.The negligence of all parties almost caused a big mistake.

Although Wang Dou didn't want to rely on Ji Junjiao to take advantage of Governor Ji's future influence, it was not wise to offend Ji Shiwei.

He said: "According to Mr. Feng's opinion, what should we do?"

Feng Dachang pondered for a while, and said: "According to the current position of your lord, if Governor Ji permits, your lord can propose marriage to Governor Ji, and marry Miss Ji as his wife, as your ordinary wife."

He carefully explained to Wang Dou that flat wives have been popular all over the world since the Ming Dynasty. Apart from the fact that flat wives enjoy lesser treatment such as uniforms and cars, their family status is basically the same as that of hair wives.There is no need to perform concubine ceremony to the main wife, and the children are also counted as descendants. After death, they have the right to be listed on the tombstone or ancestral tablet.

Of course, there are quite a lot of restrictions on the number of flat wives in the Ming Dynasty's etiquette. Even the old cabinet ministers can only have two flat wives at most. Fortunately, the garrison now has no flat wives, which is a good opportunity.

However, Feng Dachang thought in his heart that with the respect of governor Ji, even if the garrison has no wife, it is impossible for him to marry his daughter to him as a wife, let alone a common wife whose status is lower than that of a generation, Da Mingwen It's not just casual talk about expensive and cheap.

Of course, the garrison master also has an advantage, that is, Mrs. Ji lives in the garrison mansion, and the raw rice is cooked. Although it is very difficult to propose a marriage, the possibility of Governor Ji agreeing is also very high.

……

The matter was decided in this way, how to propose marriage to Governor Ji, this question Wang Dou had to think carefully about.

Considering that Ji Junjiao escaped from the governor's mansion at the beginning, it is not the time to propose a marriage, so let's take a moment and wait for the wind.

What Wang Dou didn't expect was that although the governor's office tried its best to cover up the matter of Ji Junjiao's escape from marriage, it still spread and caused a commotion.Governor Ji was furious, his daughter couldn't get married again, and this was the second time he regretted the marriage, Governor Ji became the laughing stock of the officialdom, feeling that his face had been swept away.

Somehow, when Governor Ji learned that his daughter was hiding in the garrison of Baoan Prefecture, Governor Ji was even more furious.A few days later, several fast horses came to Wang Dou's mansion, and Governor Yan Daoji summoned Wang Dou, the garrison officer of Baoan Prefecture.

(End of this chapter)