Christmas Eve in 1773 came quietly in a goose-feather snowfall. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Four days ago, the whole of Scandinavia was covered in heavy snowstorms. This year's winter was particularly cold, and the Baltic Sea coast roared for four days and nights like a snowstorm like the frost giants of Norse mythology, and the snow in many ports was more than a meter deep, and some small houses were even covered by heavy snow.

The bad weather discouraged anyone from doing any activity in the open air. Including the Christmas Eve celebrations, the decorations that had been put up by the residents themselves for several days in the streets and alleys were completely destroyed under this heavy snowfall, and it seems that even tomorrow Christmas, the wind and snow will not stop.

Located on the east coast of Sweden, on the Baltic Sea, at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, Stockholm is a wonderful place of scenic beauty. But now the city's ports, docks, streets, squares, residential buildings surrounded by trees, and government offices are covered in white.

The 278-metre-high Christmas tree in the central square, harvested from the Upland Forest, is adorned with hundreds of glass lights and brilliant decorations, radiating a brilliant glow every night, and has been a wonderful sight in Stockholm at night since the day it was erected. Christmas is the biggest holiday in the Western world, especially in Sweden, where Santa Claus is home. [Finland is now ruled by Sweden]

The entire tall Christmas tree is now covered in snow, and the lights and ornaments that had been shining every night a week ago have been taken down.

Churches and bridges in the distance are serene and peaceful in the twilight, quietly waiting for Christmas Eve.

On a snow-covered path, a thin middle-aged man wrapped in a thick winter coat walked towards his home in the distance with difficulty through the snow while holding a large package. The windows facing the street are pasted with stars of different sizes and colors, which is a traditional Swedish Christmas decoration. The warm and bright lights in the room shine through the windows, filling with the warmth of a family that is unique to the festival season.

Ekdal, a former math teacher at Larson Middle School and now an Eastbound entrant on the East India Company's Oriental Register, passed a difficult exam yesterday to move his signature on the roster up a notch. Ekdar knocked on the door of his house with a large package and a snowstorm. As soon as he entered the house, a warm wind and waves rushed over his face, and the snow residue on his beard, beard, and face melted at a rapid speed.

A home with a burning fireplace is warm and as red as burning charcoal. Ekdal's house was flat, however, with only a layer of cheap pine planks and carpet felt, and nothing on the walls except hyacinths for Christmas decorations. Anyone could tell that Ekdal had not lived a wealthy life.

But it's not a contradiction, is it?

"Oh dear, you're finally back. I'm so worried about you! It's a long way to get to the store from here! ”

Ekdal's wife, Rebecca, quickly closed the door from the side, blocking out the oncoming wind and snow, and the sharp and whistling wind and snow came to an abrupt end.

"Daddy!"

The four children, who had been lying on a large sand table and drawing, ran out happily, knowing that their father had gone out to buy gifts for them. Two months earlier, his father had signed up for the East India Company, a large group of scholars, technicians, teachers, doctors, and so on, but the destination of this large group was far east.

The distance of more than 10,000 miles was daunting, but Ekdal signed up anyway, because the meager salary in Larson was not enough for Ekdal to support his family.

Yesterday, Ekdal, who received the report card, successfully passed the primary Chinese test in the last Chinese exam of the year, because Ekdal had a certain curiosity and study of China during Larson's teaching, so it only took two months for him to succeed.

Today, with his transcript, Ekdal received a lump sum payment of 550 Swedish kronor worth 100 silver dollars at the East India Company's office in Stockholm. This is a huge income for the Ekdal family, who have been cut off from financial resources for two months!

Ekdal and his wife, Rebecca, had a total of six children, four of whom survived, two daughters and two sons. Now they are all around Ekdal, or more precisely around the big package, Ekdal's eldest daughter is no more than ten years old, and his youngest son is only four years old.

"Haha, dear children, Christmas is coming, Daddy is going to give each of you a present!"

He placed the heavy package on the long table in the living room and unsealed it, revealing many daily necessities and four tightly wrapped boxes.

"Alicica, go and give the gifts to your younger siblings, one for each!"

The eldest daughter, Elicica, is the eldest of four children, the second daughter, followed by the eldest and younger sons. With the sparkle in the eyes of the four children, Alicia stepped forward and hugged the four boxes tightly, "Thank you, Dad." "I rushed to the bedroom with my younger siblings.

"Rebecca, come and see what this is?" Ekdar pulled out a small box from the package and opened it, a dazzling golden light shining brightly in the reflection of the light.

It is a gold hairpin with fine workmanship!

If it is a woman, no one can refuse this beauty. But ......, the price. "Beloved, we should be frugal. You've quit your job as a teacher, and our family will have to live on the rest of the money for the next few months, and we're going to the far east, where God doesn't know what the situation will be. We need to set aside some of the funds, just in case. "The ships of the Swedish East India Company will not be opened until April. Ekdar smiled and shook his head, "Don't talk about that, it's Christmas Eve." ”

A chicken, pork, smoked sausages, snow-white bread, delicious wine, these are the perks found by the East India Company, and they are enough for the Ekdal family to have a merry Christmas. But Ekdal still paid for another chicken, as well as chunks of bacon, beef, and tender lamb.

In Belica's opinion, this is too rich. The things taken out of the package covered half of the tabletop, which was like the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner in the homes of ordinary people suddenly had more ginseng abalone and monkey's bird's nest. Her heart was about to pop out.

"Don't worry. I will continue to study next year and will definitely pass the intermediate Chinese exam by April. We'll get more settling-in allowance then. "Ekdal believed from the bottom of his heart that the East was good, because the East India Company was too rich. Anyone who registers and is admitted will receive a settling-in fee worth SEK 550 as long as they can pass the Chinese preliminary exam; And if you can pass the intermediate Chinese exam, there will be another fifty Chinese silver dollars, which is worth a lot of money similar to that of the Spanish Eagle Ocean. Although this policy does not target the identity of the applicant, whether you are a university professor or a craftsman of status.

The fact that the East India Company spent so much money in itself proves that their 'words' can be trusted, because the cost they put in is simply too great. If it weren't for the Chinese behind their backs, it wouldn't have been worth it for the East India Company to sell all the scholars, mechanics, teachers, doctors, and their families who wanted merchant ships to the Middle East as slaves.

The East India Company would have made a profit, but it was too small. It's better to put that money into normal business. So Ekdal believed in the East India Company's promise, and he was even more convinced that if he could pass the intermediate Chinese exam, the Swedish East India Company would earn more than fifty silver dollars.

An hour later, dinner finally arrived, and the family gathered around the table to feast.

In addition to her two older daughters, Belica has to take care of her two younger sons at the same time. The youngest son's scarf was sprinkled with soup, and his mouth was covered with mixed grease. Today's meat is different from the cured meat of the past, and the fresh meat makes the meal taste far better than before, not only the children, but also Ekdal and Belica.

Soft white bread with honey tastes much better than bran bread, which was traditionally made by the Ekdal family only on holidays or birthdays, and without honey. Sugar is nowhere near as precious in Europe as it was hundreds of years ago, but honey is still very valuable.

After two months of fear, one was lifted out of poverty, and this night was the most wonderful time for the Ekdal family, a day that the family will always remember.

There are many people who have the same experience as the Ekdal family, and one man's salary in this era may keep the family hungry, but how many men can make a good life for the whole family?

Ekdal was only a teacher in a middle school, not a professor at a university. But he can also make up for the average salary, right?

So across Europe, there are still tens of thousands of Ekdal who are having a miserable Christmas this time. They either don't know it's going on, or they don't know it's up to it. And even for those who are determined, not all of them will be able to pass the elementary Chinese test in the pre-Christmas exam, or even less than 10%.

And these people who show that they have no 'language talent' can only get half of the settling-in fee that Ekdal can get.

"Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Special, Specialized. The foreigner's Chinese test is temporarily divided into these five levels. "It is also snowing heavily in Beijing, and Li Xiaomei has been away with her children for many days. Chen Ming's life has become monotonous again, and without children by his side, it will be monotonous.

Some things in Nanjing have been reported to him one after another, and some of these things need to be cut off by Chen Ming, and some need not be cut off by Chen Ming. For example, Chen Han's canonization of North Korea, Li Zhen failed, although his strength is not only not weaker than Enyanjun Li Hao, but the issue of status is a roadblock.

China has always stood on the side of 'orthodoxy' in this matter. As long as Li Zhen is alive and has not committed any unforgivable mistakes, it is impossible for Li Zhen to take over. Even if he puts Li Yu in the air next, he can't be the king of Joseon.

Chen Ming didn't care much about the things in North Korea, after the news reached North Korea, Li Zhen just didn't do it, Chen Ming would do it for him, and the people who did it were all Li Zhen's people, and they all thought it was Li Zhen's order.

As a matter of fact, the two monarchs of North Korea have done this with each other, sending people to each other, wooing people, and plotting against people, and it is not clear how many people on both sides are the secret lines of the other side, and it is not even clear how many people have infiltrated into the secret camp of North Korea.

So when you do this, you have to be careful and careful.

Chen Ming is now very interested in the Chinese grading test, "Regarding the future naturalization of foreigners, you must make a systematic review standard, such as this Chinese level, any foreigner who wants to obtain Chinese nationality must pass the Chinese test above the middle level." Chen Ming said as he read the papers of the Chinese exams at all levels. Damn, Chen Ming was very excited, in his previous life, he was so miserable by John Bull's bird language, and now it is his turn to torture foreigners.

This made him feel like a student grew up to punish teachers for 'copying homework', not simply for the sake of China's current strength. "There's also a special regulation." It's like the special genius clause in English football. Special Special!

The emperor takes turns, and when he comes to my house this year, although outsiders will not know the refreshment in Chen Ming's heart at this moment, Chen Ming is so happy in his heart that he can't do it. The only problem is: "Poor." How can this level be able to appreciate the breadth and profundity of my Chinese language. Chen Ming shook his head, the test paper of this special grade exam was too bad, far from the questions he saw on the Internet in his previous life, which were the Chinese themselves scratching their heads. Chinese is the most complex and difficult language on the planet to learn.

"Change, change big." Chen Ming threw down the scroll and shouted to Xiong Bingzhang beside him. A pinching of the test paper was quickly accepted.

Chen Ming called Zhao Yi, who was transferred to the secretariat, "You come and draft an official letter and send it to the Ministry of Culture and Education." "There must be a level in the exam papers, don't make some two, three, four, five or six, and let them clearly understand the meaning of "the Chinese team defeated the American team" and "the Chinese team defeated the American team" when they were junior and junior high!

"The Chinese test for foreigners is the face of the country and should not be taken lightly." The import of any culture to the outside world is essentially a kind of spiritual conquest and invasion of the outside world.

The theory of the superiority of Western culture, which was fictionalized in the previous life, has seriously corroded the thinking of some so-called elite figures since the end of the Qing Dynasty. Its most extreme manifestation is that even Chinese characters have to be abandoned, how inferior should this be? The self-indulgence and criticism of the national culture has become a fashionable fashion in China, so much so that after the change, this trend has surged again, and it can be said that there are endless troubles in the future. It seems that only by adopting a thorough critical attitude towards the traditional culture of their own nation can they show themselves to be a pioneer of reform, and it seems that only by adopting an attitude of contempt for their own culture to the greatest extent can they prove that they have a global character. In the eyes of some people, their culture has become a tattered garment, something that must be discarded, a stumbling block that prevents them from moving towards a 'new society'.

Chen Ming's biggest indignation at this is the mandatory English test, which he thinks is a typical example.

To a certain extent, the state attaches more importance to English than to the education of Chinese in the national language. How many Chinese students in their previous lives would attend Mandarin tutoring classes outside of class? To study classical Chinese poetry? On the contrary, there are a variety of English tutoring classes.

It cannot be denied that compulsory English education, as well as the fourth and sixth level exams, have in fact played a certain role in 'de-sinicization', weakening the role that the national culture should play during the growth of young people.

The most ridiculous thing is the pop song, a few half-baked English words embedded in the song, I don't know if this represents the advanced nature of the Chinese? Or does it show the inferiority complex of those people in China?

When the Western world's policy of military conquest does not work, cultural conquest and aggression, this invisible form of civilizational aggression, has become the most effective weapon.

In the time and space of the previous life, the Chinese did not completely lose their national fortunes on the battlefield of desperate bloodshed, but later they were very likely to cut off their roots on the soft knife of 'culture'.

Moreover, many Chinese people who think they are very patriotic have unwittingly become some kind of accomplices in this process, compared with the force of Hongguoguo, cultural invasion and conquest are easier to achieve the goal. Because cultural aggression and conquest do not directly lead to direct emotional confrontation. This is a kind of invasion and conquest similar to spiritual opioids, and its subtle effect is to make more and more Chinese people consciously or unconsciously become accomplices and lackeys of the West. And these accomplices and lackeys will not be aware of the fact that they are enslaved by the West. On the contrary, they often think that they are the advanced elements among the Chinese people, and they are drunk alone and I am sober!

Of course, there are indisputable practical reasons for China's poor performance in this area in the previous life, most of the world is white, and the rabbits in the weak period can only accept the rules of the white game if they want to integrate into it. And by the time the rabbit's strength jumped to the forefront, the reality was already like that.

Chen Ming does not allow the world to repeat the mistakes of the previous life, China in this time and space will be more bullish than John Bull in its heyday, and it will not weaken and belittle its own national culture if it is in line with the West.

"There has to be a standard. It is necessary to make the foreigners who have passed the exam feel a kind of happiness. (To be continued.) )