Chapter 170: 168 Collective Wedding

The Regional Commander's residence.

Chen Maosheng handed over a card. Zhao Han assumed it was official correspondence, but when he took it, he saw it was a wedding invitation.

This caught Zhao Han quite off guard. Smiling, he asked, "Who is the bride?"

"The Regional Commander knows her as well. Her name is Yang Chun'e," Chen Maosheng replied.

Zhao Han was somewhat surprised. "You mean Comrade Yang from the propaganda association?"

"Yes," Chen Maosheng nodded.

Yang Chun'e was the victim in that rape case. Zhao Han truly had not expected Chen Maosheng to marry her.

Chen Maosheng explained, "The Regional Commander knows my past. In my view, chastity must be judged by the heart. A person, whether man or woman, so long as they have sincerely turned to a virtuous path, is truly virtuous. Some within the Great Unity Society, even some within the propaganda corps, though they say nothing aloud, inwardly despise Chun'e. I believe this is wrong. I hope that after I marry Chun'e, I can thoroughly change their thinking."

Zhao Han started to speak, then hesitated. He suddenly did not know what to say.

Chen Maosheng continued, "It is not only me. Many comrades in the propaganda corps are willing to marry female comrades who once worked as prostitutes. We mean to show the world, to let the world know what truly distinguishes the virtuous from the base."

"I am not your equal," Zhao Han sighed.

Those ideals of the Great Unity Society were put forward by Zhao Han. Although he agreed with them in his heart, they were also a method and a tool for getting things done.

Especially over this past year and more, Zhao Han had been so busy with military and administrative affairs that he had grown somewhat detached from the true lower strata. He had become less pure.

On the contrary, it was people like Chen Maosheng, these Great Unity Society members of base-register origin, who still steadfastly upheld the society's oath of admission. They were actors, household slaves, coolies, pimps, prostitutes, military-household members. They were truly striving to practice equality of human dignity.

At this, Zhao Han felt ashamed in his heart, as if he himself were a betrayer.

Zhao Han suddenly asked, "What about Xiaohong and Xiaocui?"

Chen Maosheng's expression turned odd. "They… have no thoughts of starting a family."

Zhao Han had no idea how to resolve that either. He immediately changed the subject, saying, "I mean no discrimination at all, but have you considered that some of the female comrades may be unable to bear children?"

Many prostitutes took contraceptives and abortifacients, and as a result were left with the aftereffect of infertility.

Chen Maosheng nodded. "We have considered it. If we cannot have children, we will adopt from the relief home."

These people were the true revolutionaries.

It was a pity that Zhao Han could not lead a true revolution. All he could do was abolish the virtuous-and-base registry system, strike against all manner of inequalities, and do his utmost to make life a little better for everyone under heaven. This country was far too vast, and its cultural traditions too deeply entrenched. Overturning everything wholesale would inevitably bring even greater chaos.

Zhao Han sighed. "I will personally officiate your weddings."

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Half a month later, the collective wedding.

This was a novelty, drawing the curiosity of many, while at the same time setting tongues wagging in private, people deeming it a corruption of virtue and morality.

So many high officials of the propaganda corps marrying reformed prostitutes as wives — if that was not a corruption of virtue and morality, what was? Not only a corruption of virtue and morality, but a disgrace to their ancestors!

Rumors even swirled, saying that within the propaganda corps, unspeakable things ordinarily went on — why else would they recruit so many reformed prostitutes?

In truth, there were not many getting married this time, nine couples in all.

One groom was rather special. His name was Xiao Yuankui. Not only was he the scion of a great clan, he also held the xiucai degree. He had been married before, but his wife had died in childbirth. After that, he kept away from women. To say nothing of remarrying, he would not even take a concubine, saying only that he meant to devote himself single-mindedly to the imperial examinations.

Xiao Yuankui first served as a civil clerk in Zhao Han's army, then was transferred to the Luling county yamen as a civil clerk, and later went to Anfu County to serve as town chief, where he carried out land-redistribution work alongside the propaganda corps.

There was a female propagandist who not only resembled his late wife, but could also recite poetry and sing arias.

Outside of work, the two of them discussed poetry and dramatic arts together. Even after the female propagandist was transferred away, they kept up a correspondence, which from its initial focus on dramatic arts gradually shifted to chatting about the trifles of daily life.

On this day, the nine grooms, dressed in splendid Zhuangyuan robes (wedding imitation style), rode horses to the inn to receive their brides.

The horses in Zhao Han's possession had grown to eleven head, captured in battle some time ago.

Now, with great generosity, he let the grooms ride them to fetch their brides.

In the bridal procession, those responsible for the wind and percussion music were all army signal soldiers. All along the way they blew suona horns and beat brass gongs, so full of jubilation it was wonderfully lively.

Everywhere along the route, common folk gathered to watch. Some watched with cheerful delight; others pointed and muttered.

Suddenly, over a dozen people rushed out, men and women, old and young, blocking the bridal procession and shouting, "Kui'er, you cannot do this! You have utterly disgraced our ancestors!"

Chen Maosheng turned to look at Xiao Yuankui. Xiao Yuankui, not much of a rider, simply abandoned his horse and ran off toward a side alley.

He knew there was no explaining it, because he had tried countless times before.

The fellow ran all the way to the inn, where the nine brides were staying together. Ignoring the looks of others, he dashed upstairs and pounded on a door, shouting, "Lianlian, come with me, quickly!"

A bride stepped out, lifted her bridal veil, and said, "What's the matter?"

Xiao Yuankui grinned. "I can't wait any longer. I'll carry you downstairs right now."

The bride understood at once what had happened. Moved to tears, she said, "All right, carry me."

The other brides came out of their rooms one after another, waving as they saw them off.

Unfortunately, Xiao Yuankui's stamina was not very good. Having sprinted all the way to the inn, and then carried the bride downstairs, his legs were already weak and trembling. The two of them could only hold hands and run through the alleys, all the way to the Regional Commander's residence where the wedding was being held.

Zhao Han had also heard of the incident. Smiling, he teased, "In such a rush — you must have been longing to bow at the altar for a while now."

Xiao Yuankui laughed too. "The Regional Commander knows me well."

After a long wait, the real bridal procession finally returned. The brides stepped onto a carpet laid with hemp sacks to enter the gates of the Regional Commander's residence — symbolizing the passing down of generations, and also meaning that the bride must not tread on the bare ground before entering the household.

The mutual-bowing ceremony was held in the garden of the Regional Commander's residence. On the central table was placed the charter of the Great Unity Society; seated on either side were the elders of the grooms.

Those who had elders bowed to their elders during the obeisance to the high hall.

Those without elders bowed to the society charter during the obeisance to the high hall.

Only, some of the elders were not very willing, because the brides' backgrounds were either as prostitutes or as maidservants.

Although these elders were themselves of bitter origin, their sons had now entered the propaganda corps, which in their eyes counted as becoming officials. How could they marry such low and base women as wives?

Zhao Han, his face wreathed in smiles, not only acted as the officiant but also did the master of ceremonies' job, raising his voice to shout:

"Bow to Heaven and Earth!"

"Kowtow!"

Xiaohong stood to the side, cheerfully watching the ceremony. Xiaocui, however, was somewhat wistful, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on Zhao Han.

Both of them had gotten a bit sun-darkened, from being out and about for so long.

"Bow again to the honored elders!"

"Kowtow."

Only the three newlywed couples knelt and bowed to their elders; all the rest kowtowed toward the Society charter.

Outside the Regional Commander's residence, an uproar had already erupted. Xiao Yuankui's family wept and wailed as if someone had dug up their ancestral graves.

A gentry scholar shook his head and sighed: "Alas, the moral order decays by the day — where has virtue gone?"

Another xiucai laughed and said: "Brother Xiao is truly a free spirit. This ought to be written into a chuanqi tale. I shall take up my brush the moment I return home today."

Yet another commoner said to the Xiao family: "The women officers of the propaganda corps are all fine, good people. For Xiucai Xiao to marry one and bring her home is good fortune accumulated over eight lifetimes. What are you still crying about here?"

Xiao Yuankui's father, himself a xiucai by examination, now wept even harder: "A disgrace to the family, a disgrace to the family. After I die, how can I face our ancestors!"

"You dogs should have died long ago," a passerby who could bear it no longer shouted at the crowd. "My family used to be so poor we had to sell our own children. My son became a household slave, and I don't even know where my daughter was sold off to. Then Mr. Zhao came, and my son came home — he's now one of Mr. Zhao's personal guards. Are household slaves base? Are prostitutes base? I'll go home right now and tell my son to marry a woman officer from the propaganda corps!"

Someone jeered at once: "Liu San, do you think a woman officer of the propaganda corps is someone your son can marry just because he wants to? A toad lusting after a swan's flesh."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Many passersby began to roar with laughter.

Liu San grew flustered, his neck flushing red as he said: "The women officers of the propaganda corps are honored, but my son is no slouch either. My son is one of Mr. Zhao's personal guards. When we fought the government troops a while back, my son earned merit — he's a squad leader now! Do you know what a squad leader is? He commands a full ten men!"

Someone else shouted: "A squad leader is still just a soldier — not worthy of a woman officer from the propaganda corps!"

Liu San roared back: "My son will be a general someday!"

"Hurry home and sleep — your daydreams will come faster that way," another busybody teased.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Another wave of laughter completely drowned out the Xiao family's weeping.

In the eyes of some, the women propaganda officers were all of lowly origin, and marrying one into the family was a disgrace. But in the eyes of many common folk at the bottom, being able to marry a woman propaganda officer was a great honor that brought face, and they held these women in deep respect.

Under Zhao Han's rule, everything was changing, including traditional ideas and attitudes.

This could not be accomplished overnight; it had to proceed slowly, a gradual and subtle transformation.

That summer was full of happy events. Not long after the collective wedding, Fei Ruhe also married and started a family.

And far out at sea, Zheng Zhilong fought a great battle against Liu Xiang, and Liu Xiang's gang was utterly annihilated.

In the southern Jiangxi region, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi and the Governor of Fujian joined forces and shattered the allied rebel armies of Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi. They cut down over two thousand in battle, took more than four thousand prisoners, and seized the opportunity to retake the county seat of Huichang, leaving the southern Jiangxi rebels with only the single county of Ruijin.

The military situation was shifting faster than Zhao Han had imagined; the allied Fujian-Guangdong forces might march north as soon as the autumn harvest was over.

Upon receiving the southern battle report, Zhao Han immediately ordered the armory to prioritize forging equipment for the naval forces. At the same time, he transferred those one thousand archers to the boats for training.

But just at that moment, an uprising suddenly erupted in Guangdong.

It was purely because the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, in order to train his troops, had imposed far too many harsh levies and miscellaneous taxes. Moreover, the Governor-General had taken his soldiers off to fight in southern Jiangxi, leaving Guangdong's provincial forces hollowed out. Peasants rose up in six counties in succession, and the county seats of four of them were breached.

This situation quickly spread to Guangxi, where the minority brethren also exploded into revolt.

Many of those minority brethren lived under the rule of tusi and native officials. "Native officials" meant that after the policy of replacing tusi with regular administration, former tusi were appointed as assistant officials — and could pass their posts down in a disguised form of hereditary succession. They were the ones who exploited their own people most ruthlessly.

With beacons of war blazing everywhere across Guangdong and Guangxi, Governor-General Shen Youlong had no choice but to return and put out the fires, leaving the Governor of Fujian to continue the assault on Ruijin.

(End of chapter)