Back in the rose garden from the north, in less than a week, Sean received a flood of social invitations.

Social life is the lube, the spice, and perhaps a necessity especially for high society and those who want to be among them.

Because in order to gain a good so-called reputation and a high social status, it is necessary to have a high level of social activities that are commensurate with the subordinate, but all this is based on the accumulation of wealth. Obviously, the poor aristocracy was also not very likeable.

These social events weren't a necessity for Sean, but he couldn't be insulated from the world and had to respond, so Sean held a hunt.

It was a real thing for the upper echelons of Poitou to come out of the west, and it made the invitation so precious that everyone was proud to receive the invitation from Sean.

If he is not invited, it means that this person must not be of sufficient grade and his social status is questionable. This is especially true for the new nouveau riche, as well as some high-ranking municipal officials, who instinctively seek respect from the outside world and satisfy their vanity by having a certain amount of wealth and power based on the easy-to-understand honor.

In order to earn and maintain people's respect, wealth or power alone is not enough, they must present evidence, such as hunting, a noble leisure activity, to prove that they have detached themselves from pure labor.

Leisure activities are the most readily available and decisive evidence of the strength of money and power, and thus become a kind of conspicuous leisure. Therefore, it is appropriate to call them the leisure class, even though they have lost quite a bit of their hair for the drill camp.

As a result, many people began to operate in private, such as donating to the primary and secondary schools in Vichy in exchange for "thanks" from Sean, and even caused some people to show off each other.

Sean laughed at this, which caused more people to follow suit, and as a result, the invitation list expanded to as many as two hundred. If you add in the attendants of all the guests, the town of Vichy suddenly poured into more than a thousand people, and it became very lively.

But the prey of Mount Rocky suffered.

Viscount Brandon was the most prominent performer in the hunting grounds, where he single-handedly hunted two wild boars and five antelopes – he single-handedly picked the big prey.

It has to be mentioned here that when the old Viscount Connelly was alive, in order to make up for the financial difficulties, he founded a hunting club, and as long as he paid a certain annual membership fee, he could enter the Rocky Mountains to hunt. When the old viscount sold the woods to the Robinson family, the hunting enthusiasts did not have the opportunity to show their marksmanship.

However, Viscount Brandon was very dissatisfied with Sean's refusal to come, and while cleaning his rifle with a strip, he raised his chin at the nouveau riche in the distance, and then said to Sean:

"Look at these nouveau riche, they are richly dressed, made of the finest fabrics, made to order by the best tailors, they are bejeweled, but they smell of copper all over their bodies. Are they hunting in this outfit? This isn't a prom!"

Brandon kicked the boar that was still twitching at his feet: "It's like this!"

It was a fat female boar with a flock of baby boars, and in order to protect the piglets, this great mother bravely pounced on the muzzle of Viscount Brandon.

"The smell of copper, I can understand it. But what does it have to do with wild boars?" Sean wondered.

"They chase different pleasures from you and me, without exception they are characterized by roughness and indulgence, eating more, drinking more, and therefore more 'love'. "Viscount Brandon bites the word love very clearly.

"Viscount, you know, most of them are not well educated. Sean laughed.

"Sean, I know you're not like an old-school guy like me, and you've even laughed at me behind my back, right?" Brandon said suddenly.

"God testifies, there is no such thing!" Sean, of course, would not admit it.

"Well, times are different, and I have to admit the reality. Like these nouveau riche, they also came to the house and began to get into power and decrees, and in their eyes, God could also buy them with money, and if it wasn't enough, then double. Brandon didn't dwell on whether Sean was laughing at him behind his back, "That's right, there are many abusive people among the nobles. It has been said that a nobleman without a lover is not a good nobleman, whether hypocritical or hypocritical, they can always maintain a semblance of elegance and morality. These people are different, they have no restraint about anything, they think that money can buy everything, some people pick their daughters, some people choose mothers, and some people simply take mothers and daughters together. By the way, they are particularly interested in the so-called women of good families. You've heard of 'Lover's House', right?"

"What house? Does it have anything to do with **?" Sean really didn't know.

"There is an industry in Poitou that is usually played by the owners of the inn. Their job is to introduce wealthy women to good families. If you see a strange woman on the street, who looks like a well-educated, well-educated and knowledgeable woman of a good family, you can tell the innkeeper and he will come to visit the lady, and the success depends on the price. Once an agreement is reached, the lady will come to the hotel at an agreed time, so this is where the lover's house comes from. "But her municipal clerk or her husband, a lawyer, knows it." ”

"What a moral depravity. Sean actually yearned, "Could it be that all the warblers are broken flowers and willows?"

"The nouveau riche is happy to do this, not only because of the beauty of a good woman, but also because you can let a well-behaved woman do the most unruly deeds to satisfy their darkest curiosity. "The more their wealth accumulates, the more rapidly their morals decay!

"Listening to your words, it's really better than reading a book for ten years. "Sean suspects that Viscount Brandon has practiced it himself, otherwise how can he know so much?

Viscount Brandon seemed to be venting that for an old-school aristocrat like him, the traditional education and power structure he received in the past would undoubtedly bring pain and anxiety to himself when facing the impact of the tide of the new era.

But this kind of thing he can only say to Sean, who is also an aristocrat, although he knows that Sean is not a traditional aristocrat in any way.

In fact, in an industrial town like Gyeonggi Province in the north, the moral decline is even more shocking, and not just the private lives of the nouveau riche.

Child labor was used extensively in the factories of Gyeonggi Province, working from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, in extremely poor working conditions, and under the whip of the overseers, they were engaged in monotonous work that damaged their eyesight and health, and became literal slaves. Textile women, on the other hand, were bound by machines and had to use opium to quiet their babies in order to take care of them during their rare breaks.

But whatever the poor weavers, child laborers, or miners who toiled in the darkness for long periods of time, the idle class before them was enjoying a noble activity.

They shouted and called friends, chased their prey, and a group of errand servants served them tea and water.

Bonfires are lit, and the prey is skinned and disemboweled, then roasted with an oily scent.

Sean was thinking about things, and he was touched by Viscount Brandon's grumbling.

Mayor Stanley walked over, and of course he and Governor Byrne were on Sean's invitation list, but the latter politely declined and did not show up - Byrne was a Puritan, did not smoke, drink, dance, and certainly did not hunt animals.

"It's a great event for everybody to enjoy. Stanley laughed.

"As everyone knows, I don't know how to dance, so the prom is free or something. Sean laughed to himself, "It's all I can think of as a social event." Fortunately, there are people who are willing to come and cheer, so it will not be too lonely. ”

"The Viscount was overly concerned. Stanley shook his head and said, "You underestimate your influence, although the knighthood gives you an innate advantage, if it is Viscount Brandon who holds a social event, I am afraid that there are not so many people who squeeze their heads to get invitations." ”

"What does Mr. Mayor seem to be missing?" asked Sean, "Is it because of the new Estates-General?"

"That's right, Viscount. The composition of the previous Conference no longer seemed to represent the interests of the broadest range of Genoese people, and it was proposed that the membership list be expanded. Stanley said, "And Viscount, your opinion is quite important, more important than you think. ”

Sean had certainly heard of it.

Of the 109 delegates of the Estates-General of Genoa, 43 were nobles or nobles, 23 were high clergy, and the remaining 43 were representatives of the Third Estate.

The Church and the nobility held the majority of the power, and they were often able to determine the agenda and the final outcome of the council, which the Third Estate had always been intolerable, and this revolt would only increase as the Third Estate grew in status and power.

Although the members of the Third Estate who were eligible to participate in the conference were mainly bankers, usurers, big businessmen, and large landowners, these vested interests also secretly encouraged the petty bourgeoisie to rise up for so-called rights, because this would undoubtedly increase their voice.

The third estate wanted to increase the number of representatives, on the one hand, they added obstacles to the collection of taxes by the tax collectors, and on the other hand, they launched a war of public opinion, for example, recently in Poitou, a comic book called "Secrets of Genoa", which had a lot of pornographic content, and the protagonists were either clergy or nobles.

One of the paintings is impressive: a werewolf dressed in the black robes of a priest with a girl in his arms.

Bishop Shakli was so enraged that he even threw out a huge bounty, vowing to find out who was behind it.

Mayor Stanley took the initiative to mention this to Sean, which was also selfish. In his and the governor's position, he hoped that the Third Estate would challenge the first two levels to their advantage, but he was also worried that he would not be able to win over the Third Estate, which was increasingly yearning for "freedom".

This notion of freedom, or so-called citizenship, came from the north and now also affects Genoa.

"I heard they want to add 30 slots, right?" Sean asked.

"Yes, that's too much. Stan said in a sympathetic tone.

"I think the addition of five is appropriate, it is impossible to do it in one step. "In addition, I think the current tax system needs to be improved, especially when we in Genoa have considerable autonomy, which is a prerequisite for increasing the number of representatives of the third estate." ”

"For example?" asked Stanley tentatively.

"Can the military service tax and its surcharge be appropriately reduced? and the poll tax!" Sean said.

"What if they don't agree?"

"Then don't even think about it!"