Traveling back to the Northern Song Dynasty: Picking up a princess as my wife

As July arrives, the weather is getting hotter and hotter. Although Lijiazhai is located in the mountains, the scorching sun still makes people afraid to go out.

The summer sun poured down like molten gold, relentlessly scorching the earth, filling every inch of space with suffocating heat. The sky was a deep, clear blue, with a few sparse white clouds seemingly hiding far away from the heat, leaving only an endless expanse of azure, appearing both vast and distant.

The cicadas' chirping rose and fell, tirelessly singing their hymn to summer. Their sharp, persistent sounds pierced the air, reaching straight to the heart, adding to the restlessness and unease. In the distance, the occasional laughter of children playing in the water drifted up—the most beautiful melody of summer, reminding people that even in this unbearably hot season, coolness and joy still existed.

There is a spring halfway up the mountain where Lijiazhai is located. The cool and sweet spring water is the water source for the entire village. In order to protect the village's water supply, Li Zhen ordered people to reinforce and protect the surrounding area with cement, and assigned special personnel to guard the place around the clock.

Li Zhen took out white plastic pipes from his spatial storage and laid them on the ground. Then, he piped them along the hillside to various parts of the village, providing a continuous supply of clean water to the canteen and bathhouse. The villagers of Li Family Village, watching the water gushing from the white pipes, couldn't help but step forward and take a sip, exclaiming how sweet it was.

After the Jin army attacked the mountain stronghold last time, the people of Li Family Village were united. They knew that all of this was brought about by their leader, Li Zhen, so they obeyed Li Zhen's orders without question.

After the situation stabilized, Li Zhen decided to hold his wedding with Zhao Yingluo to celebrate their victory over the Jin army.

The news was met with cheers throughout the mountain stronghold, everyone happy for the two of them. Li Zhen was considered a god in everyone's eyes, and Zhao Yingluo was the princess of the former emperor of the Song Dynasty, so their status was very suitable, at least that's what they thought.

Although the two had been living together for some time, Li Zhen felt he should give Zhao Yingluo a legitimate status, as this was highly valued in ancient times. Since Li Zhen's spatial storage lacked a full range of supplies, he sent Yue Peng with a dozen or so people in a donkey cart to Tangyin City to purchase supplies.

At this time, the population of Lijiazhai had reached more than 1,300 people. Although they lived in three villages, various conflicts gradually emerged as the population grew.

The first issue was land. Li Zhen implemented land communal ownership in the mountain stronghold, but land could be contracted out to individuals for cultivation, with 30% of the annual harvest collected as rent. This effectively resolved the issue of land ownership. Land annexation had always been an intractable problem in the Song Dynasty, and Li Zhen decided to strictly enforce land communal ownership from the beginning, not only in their Li Family Stronghold but also on surrounding lands within their sphere of influence.

Then, a points system was implemented. All the residents of Lijiazhai were registered, and each person was given points based on their contributions to the village. These points could be exchanged for supplies or improved housing. The villagers of Lijiazhai were given points for the number of days they worked on repairing the village's fortifications, while the soldiers earned points based on their battle merits. To this end, Li Zhenhai specially took out some good things from his spatial storage that were not available in this era to motivate everyone.

The old eunuch who accompanied Zhao Yingluo was originally from the Ministry of Rites of the Imperial Palace. He selected an auspicious day according to the Chinese almanac and held a grand wedding for Li Zhen and Zhao Yingluo.

Under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village, a festive canopy had already been erected, with red silk hanging high and lanterns swaying gently, illuminating smiling faces. People dressed in their festive best were either busy moving between the kitchen and the banquet table, or gathered together chatting and laughing, sharing their best wishes for the newlyweds.

As a melodious tune began, the wedding procession slowly approached. At the head of the procession was a tall, brightly decorated horse, upon which sat Li Zhen, dressed in a bright red wedding robe, a smile on his face and eyes sparkling with boundless anticipation for the future. Following closely behind were sedan chair bearers carrying various betrothal gifts, and musicians playing festive tunes. Their music pierced the morning mist, echoing in every corner of the mountain village.

In front of Zhao Yingluo's temporary residence, a bustling crowd had already gathered, and lanterns and decorations were everywhere. The gate slowly opened, and Zhao Yingluo, surrounded by her female relatives, emerged gracefully. She wore a wedding dress embroidered with auspicious dragon and phoenix patterns, a phoenix crown on her head, and her face was as beautiful as a peach blossom, her eyes sparkling like autumn water—she looked like a fairy stepping out of a painting. Holding a round fan, she gently concealed her shy face as she walked step by step toward the bridal sedan chair waiting outside.

Amidst the blessings of the crowd, the bride was gently helped into the bridal sedan chair, the curtains hanging low to shield her from the curious gazes of those outside. The wedding procession set off again, the music growing even more joyful, accompanied by the booming of firecrackers, as the large group circled Li Family Village once.

Finally, Li Zhen rode his horse to a stop in front of his house. The house was decorated in festive red, and countless people knelt down to worship the newlyweds.

Many people secretly admired their leader, thinking, "Our leader is truly capable; he actually managed to marry a princess! How amazing!"

Wang Changdao, Yue Peng, and others carried wooden trays filled with wedding candies. As soon as Zhao Yingluo entered the bridal chamber, they stood on high ground and began to scatter the candies downwards. Many teenagers immediately began a frenzy of grabbing them, and many women also joined the queue, since candy was a rare treat in those days, especially modern fruit candies.

The entire Li Family Village was filled with more than 150 tables of banquet food, each table featuring modern baijiu, red wine, and beverages, with peanuts and melon seeds in the middle, which really broadened the horizons of the villagers.

As dish after dish of stir-fried rice and meat was served, everyone's eyes widened in amazement. Leaving aside the large portions of meat and fish, the various desserts and dishes were things they had never seen before; their mouths were already watering before they even tasted them.

In fact, Li Zhen had specially ordered pre-made dishes when he traveled through time to prepare this wedding banquet. He set up several large pots in the mountain stronghold's canteen to boil the dishes, and then poured them onto plates. These dishes were originally the kind of wedding banquet dishes served in modern restaurants, so both their taste and appearance far surpassed those of the major restaurants in the Song Dynasty.

At this moment, Zhao Yingluo had changed into a Tang suit, which Li Zhen had specially ordered from modern times. He himself was also dressed in a wedding gown. The two stood on the raised platform, and instantly everyone in Li Family Village stared at the newlyweds.

Li Zhen happily raised his wine glass and shouted to everyone, "Eat and drink well today! Drink as much as you want, eat as much as you want, have a great time!"

"Great! Congratulations on your marriage, Chief!"

"May the Chief and Princess have a son soon!"

At this moment, the entire village was immersed in a sea of ​​joy, and the scene of a banquet with thousands of people was truly spectacular.