ps: It’s been a long time since I last received a reward of 10,000 yuan. Today I would first like to thank the reward of 10,000 gold that I like. Thank you, Haoyuan!
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The situation in India was transmitted by ship across the Bay of Bengal to the former capital of Dongwu, Ava, now Wangben City;
There were 5,000 Qin troops stationed in Wang Ben City, commanding 70,000 vassal troops. They not only controlled the main grain-producing areas around Wang Ben City, but also continued to attack the mountainous areas of Indochina. The war was still in full swing, and countless people died every day.
Wang Ben had just built a telegraph line in the city, connecting Kunming, Guiyang, Changsha, Nanchang, and Nanjing. Therefore, news from India could be quickly transmitted back to Nanjing by speedboat across the Bay of Bengal.
In Nanjing, the spring imperial examination in March had just ended, and the people of the city were scrambling to see who would be the top scorer. In addition to those who came to see the list, there were also those who came to catch a son-in-law.
The practice of catching a son-in-law under the list of successful candidates began in the Song Dynasty. On the day when the list was announced, wealthy families from all over the country would go out and compete to select the successful candidates as sons-in-law. The scene was simply a fight, so people called it "catching a son-in-law."
Ever since the imperial examination was established, it has been the main way for the court to select officials. Winners of the examination gain both fame and fortune, with generous treatment, which has led people to regard taking the exam and pursuing a career in officialdom as the ultimate goal of their life struggles. Once one's name is on the list, the "wedding night" of marrying the daughter of a wealthy family will immediately follow.
After all, there were limited official positions in the imperial court, and they could not withstand the competition from all over the world. Only the best could hope to win, so everyone had to work hard and study diligently. "No success, no family" became the oath of some people.
Even Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Zhao Heng, expressed this idea in his poem: "A rich family does not need to sell good farmland, as there are thousands of bushels of grain in books; a house does not need to be built with sorghum, as there are golden houses in books; do not regret not having a good matchmaker to marry a wife. There are beautiful women in books; do not regret not having a companion when going out, as there are many carriages and horses in books; a man who wants to fulfill his life's ambition should study the Six Classics diligently in front of the window."
This created many unmarried young people and even middle-aged men, which also affected the ladies of the Song Dynasty. "Women are afraid of marrying the wrong man." Since being an official was popular, ladies from wealthy families would scramble to become "official wives." Thus, the unique Chinese practice of "catching a son-in-law under the list" began to appear in the Song Dynasty.
The people of the Song Dynasty called "selecting a son-in-law" "catching a son-in-law", and jokingly called it "脔婿". "脔" means a piece of meat, which is a metaphor and quite ironic.
But no matter how you satirize it, this phenomenon has continued, and by the time of the Qin Dynasty, it seemed to be getting worse.
Because the policy of emphasizing commerce in the Qin Dynasty was exactly the same as that in the Song Dynasty, which promoted the rapid development of industry and commerce, it also made the social atmosphere more pragmatic. Therefore, more and more wealthy merchants came to the list to find a son-in-law.
This time, there are 387 Jinshi candidates in both the North and South lists, which is still a lot of people. Now the territory of Daqin is constantly expanding, and there is a big shortage of officials. Therefore, the admission rate of the Ministry of Rites exam is naturally higher.
In addition to being able to attend the Qionglin Banquet hosted by the emperor, the newly-appointed Jinshi who passed the imperial examinations were also accompanied by the Minister of Rites to visit the memorial halls for the victims in Jiangyin and Yangzhou and take an oath. This was something that had never happened in any dynasty, only in the Qin Dynasty.
Qin Mu drank some wine at the Qionglin Banquet, and his face was slightly flushed. He suddenly remembered that there was still a person imprisoned in the West Garden, so he walked along the gallery towards a small courtyard deep in the flowers and trees.
In this season, the willow catkins are shrouded by the Mochou Lake, and the apricot blossoms are reflected in the lake, dyeing half of the lake's clear water a light rouge color.
The plums are not yet yellow, and yellow orioles are playing among the flowers and leaves.
The West Garden was quiet, and the slow time and lush greenery created a sense of emptiness and loneliness. Qin Mu walked outside the courtyard and heard a faint sound of music coming from the courtyard shaded by flowers and trees.
Qin Mu couldn't help but stop, because he just knew that the song was called "Empty Cicada". The original meaning of "empty cicada" was the empty shell left after the cicada molted. Later, it was extended by Buddhists to mean "flesh body", that is, the rest of a person except the soul. Because the life of a cicada is very short, the word "empty cicada" also means "life is short and the world is impermanent".
This piece of music is related to a woman named Utsugami in The Tale of Genji. Utsugami was the first woman Genji met by chance after he became an adult, and the only woman who refused to accept Genji's love throughout her life.
Just like her name, Utsugami is thin and fragile, like a cicada shell that is barely visible. She is gentle yet strong, like a thin bamboo that seems to be about to break, but never breaks. Even when Genji broke into her inner room and confessed his love to her, she still maintained her purity.
This is because she believes that she is a married woman and is not qualified to accept the love of a brilliant and handsome man like Genji. This is in stark contrast to other beautiful and noble women in the story.
Her appearance is far from the most beautiful, but her overall posture is extremely dignified, which is indeed attractive. Her temperament, which is both fragile and strong, has prevented her from being submerged among the countless beauties in the story. In the hearts of readers, she has become the most beautiful and refined one.
Qin Mu stood there for a while, then walked slowly into the courtyard following the sound of the music. Next to a swing in the courtyard, there was an octagonal pavilion. Beside the pavilion, pear blossoms were falling like snow.
Sitting in the pavilion was a woman in her twenties. She was not very pretty, but her zen-like posture blended in quietly with the scenery in the courtyard.
Seeing Qin Mu coming, she looked up. The music stopped and the surroundings became even quieter. Qin Mu did not speak either and sat down on the stone bench opposite her.
Xingzi finally couldn't help asking, "Who are you?"
"You can speak Chinese?" Qin Mu was a little surprised. He didn't expect that she could speak Chinese.
"What are you doing here?"
Qin Mu did not answer, but looked at the paper on the stone table, which had a few lines of Japanese characters written on it:
白鸟はかなしからずや
Sky Blue
On the sea
Dyed with
Qin Mu couldn't read Japanese characters, but only understood six Chinese characters. There are many Chinese characters in Japanese, but the meaning of the Chinese characters that are retained in Japanese is not much different from that of Chinese. He was a little curious, so he asked, "What did you write?"
"You haven't answered my question yet, who are you?"
Okiko was the seventh empress of Japan. Japan is also a society where men are superior to women. The reason why empresses were produced again and again was that the first one or two generations did so to avoid bloody conflicts caused by military emergencies. Later, it became a "transitional means" to keep the throne among one's own clan. Okiko was the most typical example of the latter.
Then why was the Japanese "Empress" able to avoid bloody conflicts, why was the "Empress" able to peacefully change traditional killings and allow the throne to be passed down vertically among her own direct relatives, but the male emperor could not
This is a very interesting question
Qin Mu looked at Xingzi with great interest. After thinking about this question for a long time without getting an answer, Xingzi asked, "Are you the emperor of Qin?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "That's right. Now can you tell me what's written on this paper?"
Xingzi lowered her eyelids and looked at the poem on the white paper. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she whispered: "White bird, you can neither blend into the blue sky nor be accepted by the azure sea. How sad it is! The blue of the sky that makes the white bird lament cannot be soaked in the blue of the sea, and they cannot reflect each other..."
Qin Mu listened quietly, as if he heard the sigh of an empty heart. This white bird was probably a portrayal of her. She was originally a princess admired by everyone, but fate made her become an empress.
In Japan, once a woman becomes an empress, she cannot remarry. No one can marry her and she will live a lonely life.
But on the other hand, she, the queen, is just a puppet without any real power. She cannot fly to the sky, but she cannot return to ordinary life. She can only watch this world alone. How sad is that
Qin Mu looked at her. Her appearance was not very beautiful, but her posture was very graceful, and she exuded a kind of fragility, yet she seemed very dignified. This kind of temperament was indeed very moving.
Qin Mu stretched out his hand and pinched her chin, lifting her face up. Xingzi wanted to say something but stopped herself, with a hint of hesitation and a bit of shyness in her eyes.
She should be twenty-six years old, but she was still a virgin. She became a queen at the age of seven, and had never been looked at by a man by his chin like this.
She didn't know what would happen next, but she knew she couldn't resist. Her full breasts rose and fell with her increasingly rapid breathing...
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ps: There are so few monthly tickets now, and it’s already the second half of the month. Dear brothers and sisters, updates have basically resumed. Please encourage me with some monthly tickets. I will try my best to accumulate some manuscripts and update more!
.(To be continued..)
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