There is an old-fashioned castle for the nobles of the Principality of Moscow on the outskirts of Meaux. The architectural style of this castle is the architectural style of the Byzantine Empire. Under the pointed spire is a round building with a dome.
However, this ancient castle can also see a lot of elements from the East. Red festive lanterns can be seen everywhere, and the glass windows have auspicious cloud patterns from the East.
There are also Spring Festival couplets at the gate of the castle and the word 'Chen Mansion' on the plaque. There is even a pair of stone lions placed at the gate. The style of the gate is also built in the style of the Ming Dynasty, with rows of huge
Copper nails show the identity and status of the owner of the house.
This is the residence of Chen Luofu, director of the Education Bureau of Heitu Province.
At this moment, Chen Luofu was preparing for his son Chen Peter to take the imperial examination in the capital.
"Son, these things are all for your sister. She will definitely miss some things and food from her hometown in the capital. You can bring more with you and meet your sister then."
"And these are for your sister's little prince. They include swords, precious stones, jade, pearls, emeralds, gold and silver jewelry, etc."
Chen Luofu pointed to the piles of things and gave instructions to Peter Chen.
Ever since my daughter married Prince Zhu Houzhao and became the wife of Prince Zhu Houzhao, we have not seen each other for several years since we said goodbye. It is unknown whether we will see her again in the future.
This time, my son had a rare opportunity to go to the capital to take the exam, so he naturally wanted to see him and brought a lot of things with him.
There has always been a tradition in Europe that daughters are regarded as heirs. In the absence of sons, daughters, sons-in-law, and nephews can also inherit the family business. This can also be reflected in the inheritance of European royal families.
For example, the current Spanish King Fernando has no sons and only a few daughters, so from now on the throne will be passed on to his son-in-law and nephew.
This is completely different from the Ming Dynasty. If there were no sons but only daughters in the Ming Dynasty, the throne would definitely not be passed on to the daughter or son-in-law. It would be impossible to pass it on to someone with a different surname, and it would be impossible to pass it on to a daughter if it was passed down from brother to brother.
and people with foreign surnames.
Chen Luofu attached great importance to the little prince born to his daughter and His Highness the Prince of Ming Dynasty. This time he also prepared a lot of things for Chen Peter to take with him.
"In addition, the people of the Ming Dynasty have always said that the poor will be rich. Now, it is a long way to go to the capital of the Ming Dynasty to take the exam, and there are many places where money is needed."
"In addition, I also asked about some of the rules of the imperial examination. This imperial examination is not only as simple as taking an exam, but more importantly, establishing personal connections. In the same year, classmates, classmates, and everything in the same period are very important relationships."
"Therefore, the exchanges between people are also very important. Bring more money with you and make more friends when the time comes, which will be very useful for your future career."
After saying that, Chen Luofu also took out a small box. When he opened it, there were stacks of banknotes filling the entire box.
He used to be a noble here, and his family had a lot of savings. During the Ming Dynasty's war across Eastern Europe, he surrendered to the Ming Dynasty early and gained a lot of benefits from it.
In fact, he led people to search the homes of many nobles. When Mocheng was invaded, he even boldly ransacked the homes of several big nobles and made a huge fortune.
After the Ming Dynasty established the Black Earth Province, he also relied on his identity and status to engage in some commercial transactions. Because he was a Slavic nobleman, his business was quite good and he made a lot of money.
This time, he was very generous and directly gave tens of thousands of taels of silver to his son.
Tens of thousands of taels of silver, this is a very huge amount of wealth. You must know that a house in the capital of the Ming Dynasty only costs more than 2,000 taels of silver.
These tens of thousands of taels of silver can buy more than a dozen houses in the capital, and the purchasing power is amazing.
"Father, you don't need much money, do you?"
Chen Peter took a look and saw that the piles of banknotes were all 100 taels of silver each. Filling this small box, there were tens of thousands of taels of silver.
"I said it was missing."
"I have already asked your teacher Wen Shiliang. As one of the few local Slavic candidates in our Black Earth Province, you can definitely pass high school even if your test result is not very good."
"You still don't know where you will be transferred to be an official by then. According to the official rules of the Ming Dynasty, you will definitely not be able to return to Black Earth Province to be an official."
"So bring more money with you now so that you can use it when you need to be an official in the future."
"In addition, there are several boxes of gold and silver jewelry here. You should bring them with you. You will definitely be able to use them in the future."
Chen Luofu smiled and shook his head.
He used to be a nobleman of the Principality of Moscow, but now he is the director of the Education Bureau of the Black Earth Province of the Ming Dynasty. He is also a well-informed person. He has been around these officials of the Ming Dynasty for a long time, so naturally he understands some things and rules of the Ming Dynasty officialdom.
This son is going to take the imperial examination, which is a big deal. He will also become an official in the future, which is a very important thing for his family.
My family used to be a noble. After the Black Earth Province was incorporated into the Ming Dynasty, my status as a noble was of no use, and it was of no use in front of the people of the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, the Chen family must take the path of the imperial examination, transform from a Slavic aristocracy to a scholarly family in the Ming Dynasty, and cultivate and inherit the family. Only in this way can their family continue to be glorious.
Chen Peter became an official, which is a good start. I hope that he can become bigger and bigger and make a good start.
"Yes, father~"
Peter Chen nodded solemnly and agreed.
Having been in contact with some students from the Ming Dynasty for a long time, he also knew that these scholars in the Ming Dynasty actually spent a lot of money. Traveling, eating, drinking and having fun, anything else was very expensive.
Making friends with contemporaries, classmates, fellow disciples, etc. also costs money. Treating guests to dinner is nothing. Sometimes I go to visit some seniors and so on. This requires someone to polish my pen, a calligrapher, etc.
Silver is indispensable.
Yesterday I went to visit my mentor Wen Shiliang. Although I just went to have some tea, I spent dozens of taels of silver. This is called respecting teachers.
In short, whether it is studying or becoming an official, there are indeed many places to spend money. Only rich people can afford to study. This is why many children of immigrants from the Ming Dynasty only go to free new schools.
Because it is very expensive to study in academies where you can take the imperial examination. Xiu Xiu is just the beginning, and it will be like a bottomless pit later and you need to dig money into it.
"Hmm~"
Chen Luofu nodded with satisfaction, and then touched his beard. Now he even grew his beard like the people of Ming Dynasty. He also tried his best to learn from the people of Ming Dynasty in terms of clothes, living habits, speech, etc., in order to blend in.
The Juche Society of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty has been expanding to the outside world, and a large number of tribes have integrated into the Ming Dynasty. The people of the Ming Dynasty also treat all tribes equally. Whether they are barbarians or barbarians, whether they recognize you or not depends entirely on your degree of Hanization and Ming Dynasty.
If you speak like the Ming people, have the same habits, lifestyle, etc., even if you are not Han, they will still recognize your identity.
But if your living habits, lifestyle, etc. are different from theirs, even if you look like a Ming Dynasty person, they will still think you are a barbarian.
Cultural identity is the most important point.
"I'm going to the capital now, and I don't know when we can meet again."
"Whether you arrive in the capital or go out to be an official in the future, you should be more careful and cautious and don't offend anyone."
"After all, we are Slavs. No matter how well we speak Ming and how beautifully we write Chinese characters, it cannot change the fact that we are Slavs."
"So we still have to be as low-key as possible."
Looking at his son, Chen Luofu also sighed.
The Ming Dynasty is really too big and its territory is too vast. Moreover, people in the Ming Dynasty have always been officials in other places, and it is impossible to be officials in their hometown.
Except for returning to your hometown to take care of yourself when you are old and retired, you rarely go home during your entire life.
Chen Peter is going to take the scientific examination and become an official in the future. He doesn’t know where he will be sent to the end of the world.
It will be really difficult to meet him in person from now on.
He was very reluctant to give up, but he still had to do this.
Because he knows that this is an important thing to maintain the glory of his family. In the Ming Dynasty, only scholars are the most noble, and only those who are officials can be regarded as scholars.
Otherwise, even if their family wants to marry someone from the Ming Dynasty, the other party may not be willing.
"The child knows that after the child is gone, the father and mother must also take care of themselves."
Chen Peter's eyes were slightly moist. After this farewell, it was estimated that it would be difficult to see each other again in the future. Thinking of this, he felt even more reluctant to part with him.
"Don't worry, we will take care of ourselves, but you, you have to be careful everywhere when you go out."
Chen Luofu's eyes were also wet. His daughter was in the capital with the prince, and his son was going to take the imperial examination and become an official in the future. We were so far apart today that it was very difficult to see each other!
