Rose curtsied and took out a stack of newspapers from the bamboo basket: "I met the postman Roll in the town and brought it to you by the way."
"Thank you Rose. What kind of flower is this?" Sean pointed to a bouquet of flowers in her bamboo basket.
These flowers are not delicate and expensive. They are all golden, white, pink and sky blue flowers with thin petals. They are not conspicuous alone, but when combined together, they are like the stars in the sky on a clear night.
The outside is beautiful, stylish and interesting.
"I picked these in the wild. Are they beautiful?" Rose said.
"It's beautiful." Sean praised. "It would be better if you could put these flowers in a long-necked vase in my study."
"Okay." Rose smiled brightly and walked into the rose garden.
Sean was sitting on a lounge chair under the big banyan tree, reading the newspaper brought by Rose, and the maid brought a pot of tea.
Sure enough, the biggest news was that Emperor Carlos II declared the True God religion to be an illegal religion.
This news caused shock and backlash in the world. Although the True God Religion, an ancient religion, is weak, it has a strong mass base among the people. Even Sean's loyal servant Emma is a devout True God Cult believer.
Many True God priests were forced to take off their white robes, but some openly rebelled, and the north was already full of small-scale riots or riots.
Many knowledgeable people are worried about this. Some newspapers are hinting between the lines that the 61-year-old emperor is weak in energy and has made mistakes in judgment, and the young and powerful crown prince should be allowed to assume more important responsibilities.
Another source said that the Pope of the True God Religion requested an audience with the emperor, but was ruthlessly rejected. The Pope, filled with grief and anger, left a suicide note, arguing that the True God Religion had nothing to do with the True God Party, although some priests did secretly join the True God Party.
, but it is definitely not the true purpose of the True God Religion.
The pope tried to commit suicide by taking poison, but was saved by his followers. I don't know if he really wanted to be done with it, or if he was obsessed with the world and deliberately attracted sympathy.
Other gossips said sarcastically that the imperial court was interested in the property of the True God Sect. Although it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the Catholic Church, it was still quite large in quantity. The most conservative estimate of its value was 30 million gold louis.
Compared with the major newspapers in the Holy City, some tabloids focus on news about werewolves.
It is said that werewolves have existed in history as a kind of alien species since human beings began to record written words. Legend has it that they were normal humans, but they turned into evil creatures because they secretly drank the devil's wine.
They have the characteristics of both humans and wolves. Although they walk upright like humans, they are good at running. Their running speed can be compared with that of wolves, but they cannot last long.
They have the same IQ, strength, and speed as humans, and are much stronger than humans. However, like the blood warriors, their short lifespan is their weakness. Coupled with the harsh living environment, the werewolf population has been unable to expand.
In the ancient times, after the werewolves failed in the war with humans, they could only escape into the mountains to survive. They rarely entered human life and only existed in religious paintings and legends, becoming the best way for the elderly to scare children.
Excuse.
It is not clear yet that they suddenly rekindled the war and provoked civilized society. You must know that human beings today have become more powerful since the invention of gunpowder weapons.
The local newspaper "Poitou" was published this morning, and it still exudes a pungent smell of ink. The printing quality is very poor, and your hands will be stained black if you are not careful.
What caught Sean's attention the most was that the front page devoted a lot of space to reporting on the horrific things happening north of the Otter Mountains.
Intimidation, absolutely intimidation.
Thinking of the purpose of Director Daley's arrival today, the results are self-evident, and the official tone of public opinion has long been set.
This threat reached its climax when a werewolf corpse was sent to Poitou.
When he saw the werewolf's body, Sean was invited to attend the Estates-General of the Province of Genoa held in Poitou on February 1, 1831.
This is a meeting composed of clergy, nobles and wealthy people, especially the urban bourgeoisie, three privileged classes. This is the essence of the Estates-General.
Not to mention priests and nobles, the third class mainly consists of bankers, loan sharks, factory owners, big businessmen, guild presidents, big landowners, and also includes some scholars, lawyers and doctors with higher social status.
In terms of wealth, the bourgeoisie in the third class has surpassed the first two classes as a whole, and their wealth has grown much faster than that of the church and aristocrats who mainly rely on the land for their income. These people are mainly concentrated in provincial cities.
Wattu pays no less than 7 million in taxes every year.
As wealth and tax payments increase, the capitalist class will inevitably demand more say.
They respect and yearn for the nobility, because the nobility has many more honorary rights than them, such as being able to wear the coat of arms passed down by the family from generation to generation, and having a prominent seat in the church where priests offer incense. When a noble is accused of a criminal case
, the case can only be heard by the High Court of the Holy City, and local governments are not allowed to interfere.
They don't pay as much tax as they do, and they all own land. The nobles don't need to pay land tax, but they have to pay it, not to mention their other properties. However, when voting on issues they care about, the weight of the nobles' voice is much greater than theirs.
.
This is what the bourgeoisie hates. Rather, they are political groups created to allow them to pay taxes. They do not have the characteristics that class should have - dignity.
Most of the nobles looked down on the bourgeoisie from the bottom of their hearts, thinking that they reeked of copper from head to toe. As for whether they were jealous of the wealth possessed by the latter, only they themselves knew.
There are only two counts, three viscounts and seven barons in Powapu, and there are another thirty small nobles in the province. They live in five other cities in the province, and their wealth ranges from an annual income of 300 gold.
It ranges from louis to 300,000 gold louis, and the gap is huge.
The Robinson family, with an annual income of 300,000 gold louis, can be called a wealthy family. This is of course not a pure income, but the nobles with only 300 gold louis income are definitely the poorest nobles.
The poorest noble is undoubtedly the Davis family from the city of Bern. This is a small family with no sense of existence. As a noble, this family naturally has a seat at the meeting of the three estates.
Baron Davis heard that he was bedridden. His eldest son, Edward Davis, a twenty-three-year-old young man, represented the baron at the meeting of the three estates.
If Baron Davis died today, his successor Edward Davis would not even be able to raise enough money to obtain recognition from the court and the royal family, and the title would be in danger of being lost.
The title of baron requires a donation of at least five thousand gold louis to keep it, which is difficult to raise just by earning interest from a small piece of land. The debt the old baron borrowed when he inherited has not yet been paid off.
Therefore, the Davis family is willing to try any industry that can make money. For example, his family has opened a new small textile factory and purchases some raw silk from the Robinson family every year. This is contrary to the conservative southern aristocracy.
The so-called tradition of the nobility - the nobility should rely on the land to make a living.
This factory was just a larger workshop. Edward Davis hoped to continuously produce massive amounts of silk like those large textile mills in the north, but he had no capital.
The reason why Sean knew this was because Percy Robinson introduced it to him, and the implication was that he asked Sean if he could lend him a sum of money.
This surprised Sean:
"Is there anyone in Genoa richer than the Robinson family?"
"But that's not my personal wealth." Percy replied seriously. "If it were me personally, I could only give out two thousand gold louis, but he needs twenty thousand. The steam engine is a money-eating monster and he is very squeamish."
Sean somewhat understood that the Robinson family was obviously a very traditional family. They were keen on investing in real estate and other real estate, and were not interested in new things. Although Percy was an outstanding member of the family and shouldered very important responsibilities, the big family
There are always too many constraints.
"Do you have any history with the Davis family?" Sean asked.
"Edward is my college classmate." Percy said, "I even want to introduce a cousin of mine to him, but his family's financial situation..."
"Oh, you can introduce me to me later." Sean said politely, without really taking it seriously.
He didn't ask why Percy came to him. Could it be that his reputation as "a fool with a lot of money" was already known to everyone?
"Okay, that's because he's so high-spirited."
No matter what the people in Poitou said, in Poitou's view, Sean was not an ordinary country nobleman. As a neighbor, Sean's series of coquettish actions were seen in his eyes.
Edward Davis was just an heir to a baronet, and he was very poor. Introducing him to Sean was considered a high ranking.
The meeting was held in the Great Hall of the Governor's Palace. In front of the great hall, 43 nobles or representatives of the nobility, 23 senior clergymen, and the remaining 43 representatives of the third estate had gathered.
This number combination is worth studying and represents a certain balance.
Those who wear black robes are priests. In order to distinguish themselves from ordinary priests and acolytes, these senior priests will decorate the cuffs of their black robes with gold thread.
Of course, for them, it would be great if they were qualified to wear the red robe representing the bishop of a province.
Nobles generally wear brighter dresses and tuxedo styles, mainly in deep red, purple, and royal blue. Their clothing has always been more gorgeous and elegant. Their tops have complex embroidery and dense button decorations, and their trousers tend to be loose and loose.
Comfortable, if male nobles used to wear tight pants, earlier, men also wore wigs, high-heeled leather shoes and stockings.
Sean also followed the Romans. He did not wear a complicated and pleated collar around his neck to look elegant and dignified like others. His shirt had an obvious turned-out collar and he tied a bow tie with sky blue muslin. This was so unconventional.
Dress up to make him the center of attention.
As for the third level, the clothing styles of the rich are the same as those of the nobles, except that their clothing is not so colorful and complicated, and they only pay more attention to the texture of the clothing, otherwise they will be criticized.
Contemporary civilian clothing is becoming more and more simple, concise and natural. Sean usually only wears a three-piece tuxedo, but currently he does not dare to wear black.
Based on Sean's observation in the Holy City, the northern nobles are not as particular about their clothing on important occasions as the southern nobles. This seems to indicate that southerners are conservative and stubborn in their ideas.
Here Sean and Percy were talking quietly, and the elegant Viscount Lincoln walked over.