In the spring of the seventh year of Shaofeng, Wang Chong finally returned to Beijing and was promoted to the right deputy censor of the capital for his merit. After the Lantern Festival, he was going to patrol Guangdong to rectify the Guangdong Shipping Department and rectify the firearms smuggling chaos!
"After all these years, Brother Zhongde went to Thailand and the West. It was really hard work." Xia Yan said with his fists clasped.
Wang Chong smiled and said: "Where, where."
Since Wang Chong was promoted, there was a vacancy in Honglu Temple. Xia Yan just filled it, and finally got to the fourth rank.
Wang Chong said: "The Taixi students who came back together this time are all children of nobles, and there is a princess among them. Don't give them a good look, don't be negligent, just teach them how you want."
Xia Yan asked: "Can a foreign princess enter the Imperial College?"
Wang Chong said with a smile: "I am only responsible for bringing people back. As for other matters, the Ministry of Rites will discuss and resolve them."
The two stopped talking about official matters. Out of curiosity, Xia Yan asked about the customs and customs in Europe.
Wang Chong summed it up: "Western Thailand is like the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with numerous princes and princes. Nestorianism is very powerful and has a pope, and kings of all countries must be canonized by the pope."
Xia Yan was surprised and said: "Then the pope is not the supreme emperor of all countries? How can the leaders of all countries tolerate the existence of this person?"
Wang Chong said: "The king of England had already fallen out with the pope and established a new Protestant religion within Nestorianism. He exceeded his authority and appointed a state preceptor (archbishop), refused to pay tribute to the pope, and divorced the queen to marry another, so the pope
Excommunicate him. In addition, there is a monk named Ma and a monk named Jia in Taixi, both of whom are advocating religious reform. Anyway, they just want to get rid of the control of the Pope."
Xia Yan nodded and said: "It seems that the Pope is tyrannical and the whole world is rebelling against him."
Wang Chong added: "There is another emperor in Western Thailand, but he exists in name only and is only equivalent to the sign of Emperor Zhou. According to legend, his throne originated from the Qin Kingdom in the Western Regions (Rome) in the Han Dynasty. After the Qin Kingdom in the Western Regions collapsed, the heroes of the Western Regions
Since then, the throne of Great Qin has become a mere decoration. Now, the King of Spain has won the throne of Emperor of Great Qin through bribery. This man is unparalleled in the West, and his national power and power must be the first in the West."
Xia Yan said: "Then the Ming Dynasty should beware of Spain."
Wang Chong shook his head and said: "Spain is thousands of miles away, and it only relies on its navy to dominate the West. As a country on land, the Ottomans should be more careful. It is said that this Ottoman country was founded by the descendants of Turks, and its territory is no less than that of the Ming Dynasty."
Xia Yan was surprised: "But the Turks were destroyed by the Tang Dynasty?"
"Exactly." Wang Chong said.
Xia Yan said with emotion: "As the saying goes, it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books. If I had not gone to the West, how would I have known that the remnants of the Turks had actually built such a big country."
After a small chat, Wang Chong said goodbye and left, while Xia Yan went to meet the foreign students in person.
These European students also served as envoys from various countries. They were received by Honglu Temple and taught etiquette. After learning the etiquette, they were sent to see the emperor.
"Greetings to Da Honglu!" Pengzhang, the Prime Minister of the Secretariat of Secret Service, bowed.
Xia Yan asked casually: "What are you giving them to eat?"
Pengzhang replied: "Every meal is served according to the regulations, and the envoys of the vassal country are received with etiquette. The first meal of the envoys from various countries is Jinling roast duck, accompanied by Shaoxing rice wine... Well, to put it bluntly, these barbarian envoys,
If you don’t know the etiquette, you will be like a starving ghost reincarnated.”
Xia Yan said, "Take me to see it."
The first banquet was hosted by Zuo Si Cheng of Honglu Temple. This shows that the Ming Dynasty despised European countries and even a young minister was too lazy to show up.
At this moment, Zuosi Cheng Chen Kui was sitting in the main seat, eating Jinling roast duck by himself, and did not want to talk to the European students.
Xia Yan stood outside the door and was speechless for a moment.
Regardless of gender, regardless of status, they all ate with mouthfuls full of oil. And they didn't know how to use chopsticks, so they all grabbed the food with their hands and stuffed it into their mouths. The only exception was Catherine. This woman was imitating the eating method of Zuo Temple Cheng Chen Kui.
The Secretary of State signed off on Cheng Pengzhang, pointed inside and said: "The first on the left are the son and daughter-in-law of the Marquis of Spain. The first on the right are the son and daughter-in-law of the King of France..."
After Xia Yan observed carefully, he was deeply impressed by Catherine, because she was the only one in the audience who used chopsticks.
The next day.
The Europeans were taken to the Office of the Master of Ceremonies, where they were taught etiquette by the director, who made those guys stunned.
At this time, European countries, even France, lacked etiquette and were far from the "elegant and noble" France.
These aristocratic children are very serious about learning etiquette, and they seem to want to bring etiquette back. In their eyes, China's royal and court etiquette are far more valuable than China's advanced knowledge. Once they return to Europe with etiquette, they will inevitably become the most popular
Dear nobleman.
Training for a few days, holiday for the Lantern Festival.
Xia Yan came to see these guys in person, and the translator quickly introduced: "This is His Excellency Xia Yan, the minister of Honglu Temple in the Ming Dynasty. He is the largest official in the yamen for receiving foreign guests, and he is also the fourth rank among the nine-rank and eighteen-rank officials in the Ming Dynasty."
These aristocratic children are known to have eighteen ranks of official positions in the Ming Dynasty. When Wang Chong went to Europe as an envoy, he was in the fourth rank.
In their opinion, Wang Chong is very awesome, so all the fourth and fourth grades must be awesome.
Using the etiquette they had just learned, everyone came forward to pay their respects. Xia Yan also bowed his hands and said in return: "On the tenth day of the Lantern Festival holiday, the officials of Honglu Temple will also have a rest. You are leaving your country and your hometown. On this festive occasion, I will take you all there."
Watch the lanterns.”
Viewing lanterns?
When everyone heard the translation, some people couldn't understand. What's so good about the lamp?
The next night, they finally knew the answer. The gorgeous lanterns all over the city made these European nobles reluctant to blink.
A young priest named Alexander looked up at the lanterns inside and outside the imperial city, and said dumbfounded: "God, we must have arrived in heaven."
Those Ao lanterns were presented by the Tianzhu Cotton Association. They were ordered from Suzhou six months in advance and shipped to Beijing for assembly. The average height is thirty meters!
Whether it was the French prince or the British princess, they all entered a state of sleepwalking dementia at this moment.
Prince Henry said to the princess: "Mary, I don't even want to go back to France. I just want to live in China all my life. Eating Chinese roast duck, looking at Chinese lanterns, I heard there are many fun things."
Princess Mary smiled and said: "You can ask the Chinese Emperor to give you an official position."
Prince Henry suddenly pointed at Xia Yan and whispered: "How is your contact with that Chinese official named Xia?"
Princess Mary shrugged: "No progress has been made. He seems to prefer your wife, and he just pretends not to know about my active seduction."
Prince Henry said: "Among us, only Kate (Katherine) can communicate with the Chinese skillfully. I asked her to find out that in addition to the emperor, China also has an institution called the cabinet. The five prime ministers have the largest
Right. The prime minister is called Wang Yuan, who is the one in "Journey to the East". We must establish a relationship with this prime minister. The prime minister's home is in the western suburbs outside the city. After you learn Chinese, you can try to visit the western suburbs.
"
Princess Mary asked: "Is the Prime Minister an old man?"
Prince Henry said: "Only in his forties."
Princess Mary suddenly became excited: "Maybe, I can give it a try."
Prince Henry said: "It's probably difficult. I heard that the Prime Minister has several wives, each of whom is very beautiful. It seems that bed politics is not popular in China. Men can have many legal wives, so there is no need to provoke women outside the family. And
It was a taboo and officials were allowed to go to brothels but not have affairs with ordinary women."
"What a weird custom." Princess Mary frowned, feeling like she couldn't use her skills.
Xia Yan led a group of Europeans through the streets and alleys of the capital, but did not attract much attention because there were more and more Western faces in Beijing.
When I went out to visit the lantern festival today, many wealthy businessmen were accompanied by Orchid, and a few officials were also accompanied by Orchid.
All the preferences of the chief minister Wang Yuan are being deliberately imitated by people, including taking several Hu Ji as concubines. This matter is often impeached by officials, who say that Wang Yuan takes too many concubines, but officials and wealthy businessmen have followed suit.
Waving his money, he went around looking for beautiful orchids.
This has become a kind of business. After Tianzhu Cotton Society killed the Indian nobles, they often sold beautiful high-caste women to the Ming Dynasty. The south is slightly cheaper, and Beijing is simply unbelievable. A beautiful Orchid can easily cost hundreds of taels of silver, and she has talent.
Those who are alive should get at least a thousand taels of silver.
After the brothels in Beijing were rectified, one reopened and was renamed Xiaoxiang Pavilion.
The Xiaoxiang Pavilion bought a Persian girl last year. She claimed that she did not sell her body as a performer, and she specialized in performing Persian songs and dances. Her beauty and skills were so legendary that if you wanted to meet her, you had to make an appointment and pay a deposit of 100 yuan. Some nobles even
They started fighting out of jealousy.
"Scholar Yang!" Xia Yan happened to bump into Yang Shen.
Yang Shen seems to be a master of his wife and his children. Two years ago, his second wife also died, and three of his children died in infancy. Now, he no longer dares to marry a real wife. He only has two concubines with him, one of whom was redeemed from a brothel.
The Hu Ji.
Poor Yang Shen, only one daughter survived. She is not yet five years old this year, and she is sitting on his neck watching the lantern.
Yang Shen glanced behind Xia Yan and asked, "Are these the envoys from Taixi?"
Xia Yan said: "Exactly."
The two chatted for a few more words, then left and continued watching the lanterns.
Prince Henry asked: "Your Excellency Da Honglu, who was that person just now?"
Xia Yan introduced: "Yang Shen, the most talented man in the Ming Dynasty."
The translator said: "This is China's most erudite scholar and most talented poet, named Yang Shen. He passed the Jinshi examination in the same year as Wang, with Wang Xiang first and he second. In terms of talent and learning, he
It’s still above Wang Xiang, but Wang Xiang created his own school of physics, so we can’t make random comparisons.”
In Europe, poets and scholars are still very popular, and nobles often give them preferential treatment in order to show off.
These noble children heard that Yang Shen was the most talented man in the Ming Dynasty, and they couldn't help but look at his back a few more times.
Next, Xia Yan met many officials one after another, and finally bumped into Wang Yuan's family outside Donghua Gate.
Under the bright lanterns, Princess Mary saw the appearance of Wang Yuan's wife and concubines, and instantly lost the courage to seduce the chief minister. Regardless of appearance, figure, makeup, and temperament, no matter how you compare them, she looks like a girl who is on fire.
Prince Henry pointed at Wang Ji and quietly said to Princess Mary: "I asked Kate to find out. He is the son of the Chinese Prime Minister. He is only fourteen years old this year. He has slightly European features and I heard he has Persian ancestry. You can try
If you keep in touch with him, children are easier to fool, and giving birth to a child is easier to be accepted by the British aristocracy. Think about it, if you gave birth to a grandson or granddaughter for the Chinese Prime Minister, would he not support you?"
"But..." Princess Mary was feeling ashamed because Wang Ji's mother (Xiang Xiang) was so beautiful. How could Wang Ji like her?
Prince Henry turned to look at his wife Catherine, and then at Wang Yuan's son Wang Ji. His eyes were wandering and he didn't know what he was thinking.