African Nationhood

Chapter 215 Concurrently
  Anhai Town Lakeside Park is located in the southeast corner of Anhai Reservoir, covering an area of ​​more than 30 acres. It is usually a good place for Anhai Town Military Family Home and Anhai Town citizens to relax and play.

The security here today is tight, with uniformed personnel patrolling and inspecting everywhere for fear of encountering chaotic elements.

Because this was chosen as the venue for Mr. Shi's wedding, the security measures here are very strict.

News of Mr. Shi's wedding had been conveyed through governments at all levels a month ago. In order to prevent civilians from all over the country from crowding into Anhai Town to watch the ceremony, local governments adopted a lottery method to select civilians to attend the ceremony.

Lots will be drawn publicly in various places, and civilians who are lucky enough to draw will receive a road ticket issued by the government as a voucher to go to Anhai Town to watch the ceremony.

Only those holding the sticker were allowed to enter Anhai Town. After entering Anhai Town, there were special signs guiding civilians to enter the lakeside park.

There were only a thousand civilians allowed to watch the ceremony, and the residents of Anhai Town were not subject to this restriction.

Therefore, the entrance of Lakeside Park was crowded with people early in the morning. Chen San only arrived in Anhai Town yesterday.

He was very lucky to win the lottery this time, so he was able to take the train to Anhai Town for free with the Tongcheng District ticket.

His wife did not have such luck. He came to Southwest Africa in August 1883 and settled there.

After being recruited by Tang Yang, he was among the first to receive land, but in order to help Liu Wu recruit immigrants, he came behind him.

He transferred the priority land to his second son, and he regained the land by recruiting immigrants.

In the process of recruiting immigrants, he also found a wife for his second son.

The eldest son's family was also brought to Southwest Africa by him.

As a result, their family became a real wealthy landowner. The second son came first to choose land, and the eldest son also chose land.

And for the sake of relaxation, he changed the land under his name into a cattle and sheep pasture.

With his wife and the work of black laborers, his life should not be too comfortable.

The climate in Southwest Africa is mild and there are no alternations of seasons, so when he came here it was like going to heaven.

He spent the whole day either walking his dog or playing with the birds. After two years of leisurely life, he finally got tired of it and wanted to go outside.

It happened that the train from Meibu City (today's Chumebu, Nagoku) to Hot Spring City (Windhoek, Nagoku) was opened. In addition, Mr. Shi was getting married, so civilians had to be selected to watch the ceremony.

Although he has been in Southwest Africa for a long time, he has never met the big boss who changed the fate of his family.

And if you win the lottery this time, you can go to Anhai Town for free. He is naturally happy to wait for something good, so he dragged his wife to sign up.

Finally, he won this precious and lucky opportunity, and set off happily, taking the train and watching the scenery along the way.

When passing through Jinshan Town, he also visited a casino where foreigners gathered, but unfortunately they were only allowed to play there.

When he arrived in Anhai Town, he was arranged to sleep overnight in the school cafeteria.

He was already light-hearted and had not slept long before he was woken up by excited people at five o'clock in the morning.

After sleeping on and off for a while, I heard the big clock ringing six times. People in the entire cafeteria got up one after another, shouting to see Mr. Shi and the bride.

Chen San was naturally curious about what Mr. Shi and his bride looked like. On the way here, he heard that Mr. Shi's bride was a foreigner.

While feeling envious in my heart, I was even more curious about what a foreign woman who could be chosen by Boss Shi would look like.

After casually eating some breakfast, he followed the excited crowd to the entrance of Lakeside Park.

When he came here, he saw many soldiers with live ammunition. Instead of being afraid, Chen San wanted to get closer and take a closer look. However, he was afraid of being scolded and embarrassed by the soldiers, so he did not dare to take the risk.

He looked at the long queue boredly. As the ticket check began, Chen San finally entered the lakeside park.

There are green trees, flowers and plants everywhere, and purple flower trees are everywhere.

Hearing someone say that this kind of flowering tree is called purple cherry blossom, he curled his lips. It would be better to use such a good place to grow crops. We have to grow these flowers and plants that cannot be eaten or used.

He walked around the Hubin Company and finally came to the square where Mr. Shi was getting married. Many well-dressed people had gathered here.

There were also many foreigners gathering together to talk and laugh, all speaking foreign languages.

Chen San looked at these people who were dressed similarly to himself, and he couldn't help but smile.

His own clothes, trousers and leather shoes are of the highest quality. He sold more than 20 sheep to get them. Now it seems that he is not much worse than them.

The drumming band here never stopped, and Chen San couldn't help but feel tired for these drummers.

But I also feel that it is worth the hard work these people have done for Mr. Shi. After all, Mr. Shi cannot always get married.    …

The roaring "salute" startled Chen San. He looked up and saw a group of soldiers in a corner of the venue, firing cannons slowly.

Chen San couldn't help but be speechless, this is too arrogant!

It's just a marriage, why are you having a real fight?
  Then the crowd cheered, and they saw a young and heroic man leading a white woman onto the red carpet with a red silk flower. No need to ask, this must be the boss Shi that he longs for.

The foreign woman next to her was quite tall, with a plump body. Such a woman was really attractive. No wonder Mr. Shi fell in love with her.

Moreover, this foreign woman's blond hair and green eyes give people a sense of nobility at first sight. Her face is round and noble, and her butt is big, so she is easy to give birth to.

Generally speaking, Boss Shi is quite discerning when it comes to women.

There was noise in the crowd. Chen San turned around and saw that there was a Chinese woman behind Boss Shi and the white woman. She was also being led by Boss Shi with a red chip.

This, is this an equal wife?

Chen Sanzheng was confused when he suddenly heard someone shouting next to him, "Oh, I know, 'Jianxi', yes, this is 'Jianxi'."

After listening to the words of the people next to him, Chen San suddenly realized that "concurrently practicing" was an old custom in the Qing Dynasty.

If a man is the only son in the family, and his father's generation has many brothers, but all the other brothers of his father's generation have died, the only son is allowed to marry more wives for the sake of heirs from other houses.

However, there are still high and low levels of wives married under this "concurrent marriage" method.

Although a woman who is an ordinary wife is on an equal footing with her first wife, she still needs to respect her first wife when dealing with others, and she should always call her first wife sister.

In addition to the people who just called out "Jianzu", there were still people beside them who explained, "Mr. Shi's hometown, Ludi, suffered a disaster and his family was wiped out.

It is with his name that he declares to the world that he wants to marry two wives to fulfill his filial piety. Our Mr. Shi is really benevolent and filial! "

As soon as this person finished speaking, someone immediately echoed, "Yes, Mr. Shi Renxiao is a blessing to us."

Following these people, people chanted in low voices: "Mr. Shi Renxiao!"

The voices of the people watching the ceremony became louder and louder. At this time, someone stood up and raised his hand to make a stop gesture, and everyone's chanting in unison stopped.

……

Governor Robinson, President Paul Kruger, President Brand and other dignitaries who were watching the ceremony had puzzled expressions on their faces when they saw Shi Jintang leading the two women out.

Fortunately, there was a translator stationed by Wenhuakou beside them. At this time, the translator told them that this was the custom of the Qing Dynasty and they could marry two wives at a time.

Governor Robinson's expression immediately changed, and then he brushed away the translator beside him and walked away.

Paul Kruger also had an angry look on his face. This honorable white man was so presumptuous that he openly challenged European conventions.

But he was not as direct as the British. He said angrily to the translator beside him: "I condemn General Manager Shi's actions. This is a provocation to our European order. Please make sure to convey my attitude in place."

The translator nodded immediately, "Okay, President Kruger, I will convey it truthfully."

……

The wedding was still going on. After Boss Shi and the other three passed by, three more couples followed and walked down the red carpet.

They are Ouyang Geng and Betsy Tranda, Cai Shaoji and Li Wei, Xue Youfu and Katie Turner.

These three classmates were going to get married together with Boss Shi. Someone in the audience specially explained who was walking over, letting the audience know that these three grooms and Boss Shi were classmates. This was called a collective wedding.

As a result, the crowd also burst into waves of blessings for them. As the voices of the blessing crowd became louder and louder, the scene turned into a sea of ​​cheers.

Three newlyweds walked slowly down the red carpet, and then the "four" newlyweds stood in the middle of a square.

Then, according to the new custom, the "four couples" first bowed to the heaven and the earth, then bowed to their parents, and then the husband and wife bowed to each other.

The whole wedding ended here, quickly and easily. As for the wedding ceremony, it was a follow-up matter.

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  (End of this chapter)