Harry Potter Morning Light

Chapter 2145 Flower Controversy (53)
Although Nick's Juren teacher repeatedly failed the exams, he was also familiar with the process of the "palace exam" after winning the exam.

The day before the imperial examination, the ministers who read the papers will gather in the Wenhua Hall to discuss the examination questions in secret, just like when the pope is elected, the cardinals gather in a room, and after the selection is made, the questions will be sent to the emperor for review, and then they will go to the East of the Meridian Gate together. The cabinet lobby on the side is monitored by the "examination censor" who is in charge of supervising the examination discipline, and the examination questions are carved overnight.Martial law is enforced in the cabinet lobby, and the Imperial Forest Army patrols day and night inside and outside the walls.At dawn the next day, the cabinet scholars put the test questions on the yellow case in the Baohe Hall, and then the Minister of Rites put the test questions on the yellow case outside the hall. , and then enter the palace examination.

The discipline of the examination room is very strict, and soldiers, not government officials, are often in charge.The barracks where Cao Xi arranged for Nick to live was not far from the Gongyuan, and the two soldiers guarding his gate did not restrict his freedom. He could go for a walk nearby with one of the two accompanying him.

Now is not the exam period, and there is no one in the Gongyuan except the gatekeeper. Nick hopes that the other party will allow him to go in and visit.

After passing through a courtyard, we arrived at Yimen. Candidates have to line up and search here to avoid being entrained. After passing through Yimen, you can see the central axis of the Gongyuan. The first two-story four-pillar The name of the building is "Dragon Gate", which means a fish jumping over the Dragon Gate, where candidates will receive their "number plates".

Behind the dragon gate, also located on the central axis, is Mingyuan Building, which is the tallest building in the entire Gongyuan. The examiner can have a panoramic view of the ground from the second floor.

Guangzhou Gong Yuan is one of the four major Gong Yuan. Candidates from Guangdong and Guangxi have to take the exam here. On both sides of the central axis, there are tens of thousands of "houses". Each row of "Houses" is close to the wall of the central axis. There are words written on them. At first Nick thought they were some kind of slogans, but later found that all these words were not repeated. "Plate" will say "Gong Bing", so he needs to look for a room with "C" written on it next to the row of houses with the word "Gong". Each room can only accommodate one person to sit in it.There are two wooden boards inside, one is used as a table and the other is used as a chair. When sleeping, the two are combined into a bed. All board and lodging are in the dormitory, and they are only allowed to leave when the papers are handed in.

There is also a watchtower near the outer wall, and it is said that there will be soldiers on duty during the exam.

After a simple visit, Nick was sent away, but he didn't feel unhappy, because he saw an unforgettable scene, and Europeans would be amazed when they saw it.

After he returned to the house full of red flowers, he drew the scenery he saw in the Gongyuan.

Guangdong has a long coastline, not only rich harbors, but also tidal flats that provide natural conditions for salt production. Therefore, Guangdong has a long history of salt industry. In addition to farming, local people can also fish and dry salt.

After experiencing the wars in the early Qing Dynasty and the "moving to the sea" during the Kangxi period, Guangdong's salt industry resumed its prosperity in the 17th century, and some salt merchants also accumulated considerable wealth.

The status of salt merchants can be said to be second only to merchants of the Thirteen Banks. Like the salt merchants in Jiangnan, they turned their attention to culture and education. The government supports the development of academies and encourages rich merchants to donate. After donating, the children of salt merchants enjoy special preferential treatment in the imperial examination. .

Due to the war, the cultural and educational level in Guangdong has regressed greatly, and the children of salt merchants have no place to study. Among the four major tragedies in life, "few children have no good teachers" corresponds to the four great happy events in life, "the time of being named on the gold list".

Nick didn't understand why Juren didn't apply for jobs in those academies, but made a living writing for people on the street.

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the ruler of Japan was Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He fought a war with Ming in Korea, and the trade between the two countries should have been interrupted.

At the same time, there is the Netherlands, who established the East India Company and gained the hegemony of East Asian trade in the 17th century.

As the seven northern states of the Netherlands gained de facto independence because of their victory against Spain, the Netherlands became a European power.Then the spice trade was snatched from Portugal, and the 30-year war concentrated commercial activities in Amsterdam. The Netherlands gathered a lot of wealth in a short period of time, and then there was a group of elegant people who were keen on collecting tulips, which caused a tulip craze. .

The poor and the rich in the Netherlands dress the same way. Why do the Dutch take the road of speculation?

In the absence of foreign copper and foreign silver imports, Yunnan's copper coins became very important. In the early days of the founding of the country, Ming Taizu tried to issue banknotes - Daming Banknotes, but due to the lack of a reserve system, they were gradually rejected by the market. Elimination, it is not difficult to imagine why the Ministry of Households will distribute pepper as the salary of officials.

These peppers brought back by Zheng He during his voyages to the West indirectly caused Columbus’s trip to the New World, and nobles and royal families needed to spend more silver to buy pepper.

The UK and the Netherlands competed fiercely for pepper purchases in Batavia and other Southeast Asian regions, resulting in a sharp rise in the price of pepper. As a result, farmers in Southeast Asia and other regions opened up more pepper plantations to meet the increasing demand in the European and Chinese markets. .

Later, there was a war between the Dutch and the British. The Dutch tried to bombard the British pepper ship to drive away the British. At this time, the British had not yet achieved maritime hegemony. They divided the trade share of clove nutmeg pepper with the Dutch in the form of a contract. .

After the bankruptcy of the Dutch East India Company, their trade share was not completely swallowed up by Britain, and merchant ships from the United States also came to the Pepper Coast. These ships came from Boston and Salem, which is famous for its witch trials. They visited Sumatra frequently, so that Local residents thought the two New England cities were two countries.

"What's the matter?" asked Bonaparte.

Georgiana didn't expect to see Salem here.

"Because of the witch trials?" said Bonaparte.

"There were a lot of innocent women in that trial who became 'witches' because of other people's stories."

"Pirates are not innocent," said Bonaparte.

"I know, do you think the pirates really came up with this plan?"

"Even if they hadn't intended it, they would have seen an opportunity to act," said Bonaparte after a moment.

"So it was wrong for the admiral to send soldiers here to guard Guangzhou?" Georgiana asked.

"You don't know how many sane people there are in that city. When I was in Egypt, Kleber told me that many soldiers felt as if they were in the Vendée, and the enemy surrounded us... Do you think the admiral let the island go Are the residents doing the right thing?"

"Guangzhou has no soil for rebellion, and they don't need to use fear to make residents obey." Georgiana said.

"Then have you ever heard of what Akpasha did?" He said teasingly, "He would build the slaves he bought into the wall alive, and he would also ensure that the price in the market was fair. If it is suitable, nail the tongue of the man to the wood, and he has raised many precious flowers in the garden, and then weaves the tapestry while looking at the sea and the flowers."

She is a little confused.

"Gizal was bought by Ali Bey from the slave market."

"I don't want to know that," she said bitterly.

"Don't you also shout for mercy like Nick?" He said indifferently.

"He was afraid that killing those islanders would cause the same public indignation as Yang Rong and lead to a larger-scale rebellion."

"What about you?"

"Civilization and humanity, do you want those children to be haunted by nightmares for the rest of their lives?"

He looked like he was going to lose his temper.

"Think about those soldiers wandering on the street. They can no longer return to their normal lives. The good thing about you is that you care about their lives. Unlike some people, who use them up and then throw them away." She said helplessly. Said "Keep what little conscience you have left, Leon."

"If you're a politician, you can't..."

"I'm not interested in politics," she cut him off. "I'm just interested in the story, if you don't want to read it..."

"Read." He said unhappily.

Georgiana glared at him.

"What?" he said impatiently.

"Why can't it be a simple love story?" she complained.

He smiled.

"why are you laughing?"

"Because this is a dream full of myths and epics, correct thinking is the best way to improve efficiency."

She still hadn't figured it out.

He shook his head with a smile, grabbed the book in her hand, and read it.

(End of this chapter)