Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The emperor is going to auction off the quota for bestowed marriages!
The news spread like wildfire throughout the capital.

Although the reason given for bestowing the marriage was to share joy with the people, everyone knew that the emperor's purpose in doing so was to amass wealth.

Even Yuan Keli regretted his harsh words upon hearing them. This incident had caused the court even greater embarrassment.

Now everyone knows that the imperial court is unwilling to spend money on the emperor's birthday celebrations.

The emperor had to use the imperial treasury to hold the celebrations and recoup the money by auctioning off the slots.

This clearly exposed the differences between the emperor and his ministers to the world.

People began to realize that even emperors could not do whatever they wanted, and that their spending was subject to constraints.

Taking this opportunity, the inner court's propaganda personnel further explained the differences between the inner and outer treasuries.

Furthermore, it lists the disaster relief funds allocated by the emperor over the years to demonstrate the emperor's benevolence.

The ongoing compilation of "The Record of the Sacred Virtues of Emperor Chongzhen" is attracting more attention.

Many people, after seeing this, believed that the current emperor was a wise ruler who cared for all the people.

Upon learning this news, the wealthy enthusiastically expressed their support, hoping to share in the emperor's joy during the celebrations.

Lin Maode was one of them; his second son was about to get married, so he had to participate in the auction.

As the second son in the family, Lin Zhongxuan did not receive as much support as his elder brother. Given his brother's great abilities, it was impossible for him to inherit the family business.

So when he learned of the emperor's bestowal of a marriage, he begged his father to help him seize the opportunity.

However, despite the Lin family's considerable wealth, Lin Maode remained very hesitant about whether to spend money to buy this spot.

He said to his son:

"Xuan'er, it is indeed an honor for the Emperor to bestow a marriage upon you."

"But to buy this spot, you need at least 10,000 yuan."

"If someone else is competing for it, the cost will be even higher."

"It's not worth spending so much money on a wedding; you might as well buy land!"

A starting price of 10,000 yuan already falls within the scope of property owners as defined by the imperial court.

Families like Daming's are rare, and not every family can easily come up with 10,000 yuan.

The Lin family's entire portfolio is likely worth close to a million. However, Lin Maode is very hesitant about spending ten thousand yuan to buy his son a marriage quota.

His son, Lin Zhongxuan, was naturally very unhappy when he heard this. He felt that his father was showing favoritism and complained to his mother:

"Mother, look at Father, he's not even willing to pay ten thousand yuan."

"The wedding is blessed by the Emperor, but Father doesn't want his son to have such good fortune."

She cried as she recounted how much her elder brother's wedding had cost, and felt that her father's refusal to buy her a marriage quota was a sign of favoritism.

The mother naturally loved her youngest son and felt that since the family had the money, there was nothing wrong with buying a spot.

Lin Maode, feeling a headache coming on, explained to them:

"Back then, the Liang family only spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to bribe Princess Feng Baoshang."

"Now a marriage by imperial decree costs 10,000 taels of silver, which is far too expensive."

"This is an order from the Emperor for the imperial merchants to serve the royal family. Why should our family get involved?"

I still think this is not worthwhile and not worth spending 10,000 yuan.

However, Lin Zhongxuan had been reading more newspapers in recent years and no longer listened to his father in everything. He muttered to himself:
"Can those be the same?"

"The Liang family concealed their illness to bring good luck in a marriage, but suffered a backlash and died."

"The current emperor is bestowing blessings openly; he is a true god among men, and those who bestow blessings will surely be blessed."

"And I've also heard that the Emperor specifically ordered that quotas be reserved for wealthy people in the common people, so that imperial merchants wouldn't monopolize them." "Wealthy young men in the capital who want to get married have to go to the auction."

"If Father doesn't go, people will think the Lin family is poor!"

These words jolted Lin Maode awake, making him realize that the issue wasn't whether he would attend the auction or not, but that he absolutely had to go, so as not to give the impression that the Lin family was poor.

If all the prominent families in the capital who are getting married go, but the Lin family doesn't, the Lin family might become a target, and they might have to pay even more money later.

So, at his son's urging and his wife's request, Lin Maode finally brought his wife and son, along with his in-laws, to the auction.

As soon as he arrived, he felt he had made the right choice.

Because almost all the wealthy families in the capital gathered here.

Even many nobles and officials appeared here.

They also have a limited number of slots and must participate in the auction.

Lin Maode saw Liu Xiaozu, the Earl of Xinle, appear here from afar. After inquiring, he learned that Liu Xiaozu was buying a place for his second son, Liu Wenyao, to marry the second daughter of Zhang Guoji, the Earl of Taikang.

This surprised him greatly, and he asked in bewilderment:
“The Earl of Xinle is the maternal uncle of the current emperor, and the Earl of Taikang is the maternal family of Empress Yi’an.”

"Do their two families need to purchase a marriage quota to get married?"

"The Emperor will even accept this little bit of money?"

These words were rather blunt, directly implying that the emperor was accumulating wealth. His in-laws, upon hearing this, quickly said:
"You can't say that!"

"This marriage was arranged during the Emperor's birthday celebration, and the Emperor also bestowed blessings upon us. What a great blessing!"

"Moreover, I heard that the dragon-patterned python robe and phoenix coronet and embroidered gown used in this wedding can be purchased as imperial gifts."

"Where else would you find such an opportunity? How can you receive such a reward without merit?"

"It is said that one can also purchase a Nine-Phoenix Crown to match a Dragon-Patterned Python Robe."

Pointing to the crowns and robes displayed on the stage, envy was evident in his eyes.

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, only women of the first rank could wear the five-pheasant crown, while the nine-pheasant crown was worn by the princesses of princes.

Unlike the python robe, the pheasant crown worn by noblewomen was not frequently bestowed by the emperor. Without such an opportunity, the pheasant crown, which exceeded the prescribed etiquette, could not be worn in public.

The Xinlebo family must have come to purchase the quota for this very reason. They wanted to demonstrate their respect for the Taikangbo family so that Empress Yi'an's sister could wear the Nine-Pig Crown.

Seeing the expressions on his in-laws' faces, and the attitudes revealed by his wife and son, Lin Maode, despite feeling the pinch of the money to be spent, still decided to participate in the auction.

He wanted his son to have a dragon-patterned python robe and his daughter-in-law to have a nine-phoenix crown.

Many wealthy young men made up their minds after learning the news.

The dragon-patterned python robe and the nine-pheasant crown are not something you can buy every day, so you must seize this opportunity.

In the future, when they go out wearing such official robes, who will dare to look down on them!

With these two divine objects protecting us, we don't need to worry about evil spirits.

Whether they were wealthy families who considered themselves to be of noble birth or noble families with titles, as long as they had eligible sons of marriageable age, they all decided to participate in the auction.

Liu Ruoyu, who was in charge of the auction, was overjoyed.

He had already prepared himself to find people to share the cost if he couldn't sell them, but he didn't expect so many people to come.

In particular, the preferential treatment given by the emperor was, in his opinion, excessive.

I really don't know how much these people would be willing to pay to buy it after they find out.

With this idea in mind, he ordered his men to take out the printed flyers and distribute them to the arriving guests.

Let these people know that in addition to the official robes, their rights also include housing, household registration, insurance, and other aspects. (End of Chapter)