Thursday, December 22, 1622, the winter solstice of the lunar calendar.

In the history of the development of the calendar of the Chinese civilization in the East, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, people used the ancient method to determine the shortest day and the longest night in the northern hemisphere, and it was also the earliest one of the 24 solar terms.

During the Zhou and Qin dynasties, the lunar winter moon (November) was used as the last month of the year, so the winter solstice became the beginning of the new year for a long time. Even after the Han Dynasty, the first lunar month became the symbol of the new year, but the winter solstice is still a traditional festival in Chinese folklore, called "Winter Festival" or "Ya Sui", which symbolizes the last important node before the end of the year.

Since the popularity of this lunar festival in the Tang and Song dynasties, it has gradually disappeared from the lives of ordinary people, and when it came to the Ming Dynasty, the most delicious meal for the people at the bottom was a slightly meaningful thing on this day. Only scholars and scholars will continue this elitist and bureaucratic festival under the influence of the emperor's "winter solstice suburbs" etiquette.

On this day, dignitaries and dignitaries would "stab" each other (deliver famous posts) and write a few elegant poems to show their friendship. There are also a bunch of literati talents, playing the "Ninety-Nine Chilling Picture", with the traditional Chinese characters of "weeping willows in front of the pavilion cherishing the spring breeze", one stroke a day, ninety-nine eighty-one days are completed, and the spring green returns. Or nine white plum branches, nine flowers per branch, one flower a day, and a ninety-nine eighty-one day.

However, these habits that only belong to the upper class of Chinese culture, in the eyes of modern people, are really elegant and extremely painful, but the elite consciousness of Chinese culture is like this.

Government office area. Next to the Department of Immigration, a new office has been renovated to the bustle. Western-style oil lamps, Western-style doors and windows, Chinese-style desks, Chinese-style bookshelves. This is the Cabinet's new temporary work unit under the Ministry of Immigration: the Department of Chinese Immigration Management.

Director Chang Kun was sitting behind his desk in a dignified and gorgeous Han-style official robe at this time, with rice paper, pen, ink, paper and inkstone spread out in front of him, with a smug smile on his face.

It is said that this is a modern version of the official Hanfu designed by Yang Wenwen with reference to the style of several dynasties. Now that he is wearing it on Chang Kun, it is really a bit of a style. But the funny thing is that Chang Kun didn't wear the net scarf crown that covered his short hair. Let the original designer's humane and good heart fall short.

Chang Kun has keenly realized the trick of "following the form" and "being one step ahead", and it had a good effect when he first met Yan Xiaosong. Aren't all of these high-ranking cabinet officials in China and the United States having short hair? Even if he has this Han family dress in order to take care of the Ming immigrants, he wants to climb up. Nature needs to be brave enough to "follow the locals".

In the office in front of him, there were four men with flattering smiles on their faces, old and young, all of whom were immigrants from China who had studied Mengxue and could barely read and write. They were selected by Chang Kun to serve as the secretary of the Department of Chinese Immigration Affairs, and they were all the lowest level of fifth-level assistants, according to the old saying of the Ming Dynasty, they were small officials with a knife and a pen.

Pity these 4,000 immigrants, all the people who can read and write add up to less than twenty! Chang Kun, an old boy, is currently the highest diploma in storage.

Feeling that his feelings were almost brewing, Chang Kun coughed lightly twice. The four subordinates in the room quickly held their breath and looked like they were listening carefully.

"Colleagues, a few days ago, President Chen Laozhi summoned this official and was very concerned about the settlement and purchase of real estate by Chinese immigrants from Middle Earth. Such a great kindness is really a great fortune in the life of people like us who have crossed to the west! Chang Kundong shook his fists with both hands and looked towards the north, with a solemn face, and his official authority was full, "Elder Qi Ge, the first assistant prime minister of the cabinet, Zhong Gelao, the supreme judge, and the officials of various ministries. I have also inquired many times, and everyone should know that China, the United States, and North Korea attach great importance to the compatriots in the west! ”…,

"Lord Sitai's family is in the middle of the country, congratulations! How is the politics and politics of the country, we will naturally teach the people not a word, and we will never slack off! The four semi-illiterate people hurriedly patted their ass, and Chang Kun shook his head when he heard it.

"China's dynasty originated from the Great Song Dynasty after the Chinese Zhengshuo, both to imitate the Zhou Republic, naturally people-oriented, non-virtuous people can not ascend to the throne. The ancient saint Xuanyuan can be the supreme of all ages, in addition, all kinds of hypocrisy and pseudo-emperors in the world are against the holy way in our China and the United States, everyone remember! ”

Chang Kun pondered the various education he had received these days, and used his limited knowledge of books and allusions to barely draw a circle. Even if he is a clear paste in his mind, at least on the surface, he must show a kind of enlightened and intelligent demeanor.

"Lord Sitai, as the lower officials have seen, there are a lot of people in our country, if there is a conflict with the people of Xidu, how should the lower officials deal with it?" A young clerk said with his head bowed.

"If you enter China, you will be Chinese, and if you enter Diyi, you will be Diyi! If there is an incident, the court has its own rule of law, you and I only take care of the affairs within our parts, and we have to tell right and wrong! Chang Kun's face sank, and his tone was a little cold, but in fact, he directly played Tai Chi.

"What Lord Sitai said is very true, the lower officials should remember!" The four people who listened to the training hurriedly lifted the hem of their clothes, bent their knees, and actually knelt on the ground in unison to salute.

"Hey, the official law of the dynasty is close to the people, so the bad habits of the Eastern Ming Dynasty can't be followed! Foreign Minister Su has a good saying, after the people of our country are all Chinese Yan and Huang nobles, their bodies are precious and noble, and they kneel to the sky and kneel to their parents, but they don't kneel to the officials! Don't mess with the etiquette of the country, it makes people laugh! Chang Kun hurriedly stood up, with a look of hatred that iron could not become steel.

"Yes, yes, the lower official is rude!" The four and a half illiterate people were so frightened that they quickly straightened up again.

"Well, this winter festival, the Ministry of Immigration has a law, you must go around the neighborhood more, listen to the people's opinions, and the people's needs must be remembered, this is a big deal." As he spoke, Chang Kun picked up the teacup and gently pulled the surface of the tea with the tea lid.

"Xiaguan will do it!" It seemed that they were going to drive people out, and after looking at each other, the four of them exited the office with a smile on their faces.

Hey, it's not easy to be an official in China and the United States, look at it, you have to worry about these trivial things every day! Chang Kun took a sip of tea and leaned back comfortably in his chair. Wonder if you're missing something.

"Director Chang, please sign for it!"

Suddenly, the door opened again, and a female European clerk in a Victorian-style dress walked in with non-standard Chinese, holding a large booklet in her hand. He was followed by a European girl wearing a palace skirt and Hanfu, pushing a small cart with many cloth bags.

"This is an administrative subsidy for government civil servants in winter. There is also your salary for two months, you can sign for it. The European female clerk at the head grinned and placed the pamphlet on Chang Kun's desk.

"November salary, December salary, year-end double salary, winter warmth fee, New Year's Day holiday fee, child allowance, ......" Chang Kun has seen the lines and lines that are half familiar and half unfamiliar, and they are not cursive upright simplified characters. When I got to the statistics bar, I didn't understand a strange string of symbols.

"Hehe, it's $265 in total. You take inventory. When Chang Kun was using a brush to sign his name in the last blank column with doubts, another female clerk also picked out a cloth bag with Chang Kun's name on it from the car and put it on the table.

Yes! Two hundred and sixty-five dollars?! In this way, it is not nearly one hundred and eighty taels of silver! Chang Kun's brush shook and almost dripped ink on the book.

Feeling that he seemed to be out of shape, Chang Kun hurriedly pushed over the booklet, stood up and smiled and saluted with both hands: "There are two little ladies." ”

The two European clerks each went out with a smile, and Chang Kun hurriedly opened the cloth bag and counted them one by one. Touching the delicate and delicate silver coin, Chang Kun's heart trembled. …,

It's been less than two months since Huamei. That's how high the salary! Thinking that Daming is a seven-grade county, the monthly income is only seven taels, even if you eat and take the card, you may not be able to catch so much in a year.

Such a solid income made Chang Kun fidgeting excitedly, and his mind began to think about whether to let his wife and concubine give birth to a few more sons for him.

It's evening. On the South Commercial Street in the Long Island New Area of Manchuria, there are significantly more people today. It's not just the effect of the surge in the immigrant population, because today is the Oriental Winter Festival, and the Chinese immigrants who have initially settled down and started to live and work are beginning to consider buying the last batch of ingredients to go home after work today.

Adjacent to the west side of South Commercial Street, a new community was developed in the second half of this year, and all the houses are in a unified and concise style that combines Chinese and Western styles. Single-storey, multi-room apartment with precast cement and stone bricks, mixed timber structure. With a lawn green fence area and a small backyard sundries storage area, it is also a small villa-level residence covering an area of nearly 300 square meters.

There was a charcoal fire in the fireplace, and the living room was warm, with a cheap gray carpet on the floor. The surrounding walls are only plastered with white plaster, and there are no other decorations, and there are only a few sets of simple living room furniture.

The temperature in the room was not low, and Towne had changed his cotton robe, and was now sitting quietly on the cotton cushion of the living room bench, smoking a dry cigarette and smiling at the two grandchildren playing on the carpet.

Town, whose name is Shangbo, is forty-five years old this year and lost his wife at an early age. With a thin goatee and wrinkled facial skin, he looks like an old man in his fifties and sixties.

Tang En, a native of Kaifeng, Henan, fled to Shandong with his son's family because of famine, and was coerced south by local refugees in Shandong, until Haizhou was brought here by a group of maritime merchants.

Tang En is an honest craftsman, speaking of which, he also participated in the renovation of the palace of the Zhou Dynasty in Kaifeng Mansion, can read and read the construction techniques of the past dynasties. Even the legend passed down from the family is that his ancestor is still the apprentice of Cai Xin, the craftsman who built the Forbidden City in Beijing!

Therefore, on the day of resettlement, Tang En should choose the construction worker position of Oriental Construction Company. His qualifications surprised the management of the Oriental Construction Company, so they made him an intermediate mechanic, and his monthly salary was much higher than that of other craftsmen, reaching $30.

His son's craftsmanship is also good, because he can be away for a long time because he is young, he was selected by the state-owned construction engineering group, and now he is far away at the construction site of West Point Town in the north.

Although he thought he was proficient in construction, Towne was terrified when he first entered the construction site. He watched a huge elevated 20-horsepower steam-powered pile driver make a shocking bombardment sound, and in less than half a pillar of incense, he drove a processed log pile into the ground!

Then the cement prefabricated parts of various shapes and cement, masonry, iron bars, and wooden planks were quickly sorted by other construction workers and combined with cement and big nails, and in almost a day, a house similar to their own house had a few outlines.

In addition, the light is the kind of architectural plans and engineering perspectives drawn on the drawings. It made Towne ponder for a long time, and then saw the kind of inland steamship on the dock that could sail on its own without sails, and Towne was even more impressed. Regarding this legendary and superbly technical knowledge of Huamei built by the remnants of the Great Song Dynasty, Tang En was secretly amazed.

It's been almost two months since I came here, and as a result of the lottery, my family was placed in a nearby community. More than half of the community is Fanyi, and those compatriots who have also been arranged by lottery have immigrants. It is also full of retail investors from all over the Ming Dynasty, and the Tang family, who are not familiar with the place, basically do not go out except for usually going to the commercial street to buy vegetables. Even if you have to go out to buy it, you can barely say hello to the Chinese neighbors around you. …,

"Grandpa! Ask for sugar! The little grandson and the little granddaughter interrupted Towne's thoughts, and they all got tired of his knees.

"Good. Good! Give Xiaobao and Erniu candy! Tang Enle happily took a wooden box from the table on the side, took out a small piece of rock candy and stuffed it into the mouths of his two grandchildren.

On the table was a large pile of things he bought from the shopping street after work, not so much that he had figured out and started spending heavily in his life, but that he had to do it today.

Today is the winter solstice, and the owner said that he would give out a $5 reward, but he happily lined up with a stack of paper tickets with "vouchers" printed on them, and the face value of the tickets ranged from 1 cent to 10 cents. said that it was the winter solstice festival reward, and Tang En wondered if this was not the former Ming treasure banknote?

But then Towne was told. This kind of holiday voucher cannot be exchanged for money, you can buy things in various shops on the commercial street, and the value of silver is exactly the same, but there is a time limit, and it will expire on the first day of the lunar month!

Boy. Isn't this forcing the big guys to spend it quickly? Counted, in Daming, this is more than three taels of silver!

There was no way, and it couldn't be invalidated, so Towne hurried straight to the shopping street, staring at some suitable shops and getting in. Don't say it, those Fanyi shops really recognize this kind of paper ticket when they see it!

In accordance with the provisions of the Civil Law and the Enterprise Law of the People's Republic of China. Only nationals with formal residency rights are eligible to apply for the opening of private individual shops, so there are not many private shops that can be seen in the entire commercial street, and most of them belong to the shops under the state-owned import and export group.

I haven't really had any winter solstice festival before, at most I have a good meal, but now a large amount of expired and invalid "reward money" is sent down, and it would be a pity not to spend it. Well, let's change the taste today, eat fresh meat dumplings, and buy some fabrics, so that my daughter-in-law can make a new set of winter clothes for my grandchildren.

Speaking of clothes, the shops here don't sell them cheaply, and the cheapest adult cotton robe costs at least $2! It's better to buy fabric and let your daughter-in-law do it. But as soon as I entered the store, the fabric was not cheap, almost three times more expensive than Daming, and half a cotton cloth cost 2 dollars!

A family of five people, the daughter-in-law is also working as a garment worker in Yang Wenwen's life art company, and a pair of grandchildren are only a few years old, and the monthly income of the family adds up to nearly 60 US dollars, which is equivalent to 40 taels of silver in Daming before! It should be said that life can be very nourishing, but Towne, who is used to being thrifty, still hopes to buy cheap ingredients.

In the butcher's shop, the meat sold by the merchant was very fresh, and it looked like beef, and it was said that it was a whale in the sea. The price is very cheap, only 6 cents a kilogram. Pork and beef are a bit more expensive, but they don't exceed 10 cents a kilogram.

However, the grain rice flour in the grain store is unbearably expensive, a kilogram of white flour costs 45 cents, and rice is even more expensive, a kilogram is 60 cents! If you want to be cheap, you can choose the kind of potatoes or corn, which can buy several kilograms for 10 cents.

In the past two months, fish and meat were all available, except for changing their appetite and eating rice and white flour a few times, basically the Towne family usually bought corn or potatoes, and even fresh vegetables and fruits did not dare to buy more, it is said that the vegetables and fruits in winter are either grown in the greenhouse or shipped from abroad, and the price is much more expensive than meat.

It's so expensive, and I can't help it, so I can only put down my mind and continue to purchase, and buy some honey rock candy and small pastries for my grandchildren, which cost 10 cents; Potatoes and corn were bought for a dozen kilograms, and 40 cents were used; Look at the snow-white candle is quite large, one will last at least two days before it sells for 1 cent; One kind of sausage looks quite flavorful, 3 cents a piece; Matches are a good thing, save a little use, a box can last more than half a month, 3 cents looks okay; Is there a miscalculation of refined salt here, how can a kilogram only be 5 cents .........,

In the end, the $5 Winter Solstice bounty was finally spent. I bought a lot of things, and the ingredients alone were enough for the whole family to eat for seven or eight days. There were so many things that Towne almost didn't bother halfway.

"Hey, this Huamei seems to be a paradise, but everything is expensive, and it is also a place where you eat people and don't spit out bones......"

Sitting in the living room, recalling the hardships of bargaining at that time, Towne helplessly uttered the usual mantra.

Then I looked back at the large pile of various goods on the table next to me. It's just a moment, and I wonder if I'm mistaken. How can such a scary place not have a big impact on your life?

What's more. These days, my family has not eaten badly, and many of these things can be used for a long time. The $20 settling-in fee per person in the family hasn't been used much yet!

"Father-in-law, I'm back."

"Mother! Mother! ”

The door opened, and the daughter-in-law, who had returned from work, was delighted, carrying chickens, fish, and many other things in her hands, and judging from the weight, it would not be much less than the one that Towne had brought back himself.

"Xiaofeng, you are ......"

Looking stupidly at the pile of ingredients and household items brought back by his daughter-in-law, and even some expensive fruits and vegetables and white noodles that he was reluctant to buy, Towne had not smoked the dry cigarette holder that he had put to his mouth for a long time.

"Ahh Father-in-law, you are also ...... Today, the owner issued a $5 voucher, which will be invalid if you don't spend it in a few days. So I ......."

The daughter-in-law, who thought she had done something wrong, lowered her head and nervously hugged a pair of children.

"No, no! It's cold here, and the meat is not afraid of spoilage, so turn around and smear it with salt! ”

Towne quickly knocked out the cigarette butt in the ashtray on the side. Walk up and help clean up this big pile.

At this time, outside the door that had not yet been closed, a middle-aged man wearing an official Han costume suddenly appeared.

"How is the old man? Now that he has taken up the post of the Department of Chinese Immigration Affairs, he has no need to be afraid of the people's feelings today. Can you buy good things for your family this winter season? ”

Chang Kun is idle, and he also wanders around the neighborhood when he has nothing to do. Greetings from the people all the way, but the Chinese immigrants I met along the way were reluctant to hide. Think about what kind of police officers are all on errands, why don't you also come to the door to get close to the people?

"Ahh Grass people see adults! Towne was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly planned to kneel, but with a flour bag in his left hand, a bunch of meat in his right hand, a bundle of vegetables around his waist, and a cloth on his shoulder, he was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.

The daughter-in-law on one side was faster, and directly threw away the chicken in her hand, and knelt on the ground with the two children in her arms.

"Oops, don't kneel, don't kneel! The law of the country, only kneeling to the parents of heaven and earth, you are going to harm the official like this! At the beginning, the notice was a thousand instructions, and the old man should remember it! ”

Chang Kun also hurriedly helped Tang En's family, and while looking back at the street, he happened to see two policemen walking across the street, so he quickly raised his voice, "The people's winter festival must be good, and the court will be at ease, uncle, but what's wrong?" ”

"No, no! Anything, everything! Towne lowered his head nervously, feeling uncomfortable all over.

"Well, that's okay. See the mailbox at the corner of the street? If you have any unsatisfactory thoughts, you can write to me, and the heart of the court can be towards everyone! ”

Chang Kun laughed out loud and walked away with square steps.

"It's so dangerous...... Towne wiped his forehead with his arm, only to realize that he was sweating in the cold.

It seems that Chang Kun, a conspicuous official, came to the community and alarmed many Chinese immigrants who returned home from work, and many people stood from a distance to watch, and also cast nervous eyes, making Tang En feel that he was not very lucky today. …,

In the end, the overseas country of the remnants of the Great Song Dynasty is different from the Ming Dynasty, it seems that we should pay more attention to it in the future. Towne kept reminding himself.

After a quarter of an hour of packing, most of the things were in place, and there were a lot of things that were a little more. Looking at it this time, I don't have to go to the street to buy anything for almost a month!

"Xiaofeng, Da Qiang is still working outside, there are few people in the family, you go to the house next door and call Cai Sanniang, the orphans and widows are strange and pitiful, and they usually help the neighborhood take care of the children, the big guy can go out to work, but it doesn't all depend on others? Let's spend the winter festival together at home today, and pick up some extra ingredients and supplies to send over! ”

Thinking that there was a family living not far from the Daming Henan Township who had not moved for more than a month, and that she was also a young widow with two small children alone, Tang En thought of a way to not only enhance the feelings of the villagers, but also solve the current "problem".

"Okay, father-in-law, I'll go and invite Sister-in-law Cai!"

Thinking that when she goes to work every day, she only needs to send her children to the neighborhood kindergarten to take care of them all day, and the Tang family's daughter-in-law is relieved, and that Cai Sanniang works in the neighborhood kindergarten.

At the beginning of the day, people returning home after a hard day's work finally ushered in another warm night in their own homes.

In the past two months, the wives and concubines have decorated their homes more and more pleasing to the eye, although there are no porcelain calligraphy and painting manuscripts, Chang Kun still feels very satisfied.

There are exquisite curtains hanging on the glass windows, the ground is a dark carpet, the wall is inlaid with glass candlesticks, and there is a picture of "Winter Plum Blossom Welcoming Spring" painted by himself, the charcoal fire is burning in the fireplace, and the furniture purchased from Huamei Wood Industry is a combination of Chinese and Western, quite a mood, and a few firecrackers can be heard at the street outside the window. Holding the tea, Chang Kun felt as if he had returned to the worry-free life of his grandfather's generation.

"Master, what kind of letter did my sisters receive from the immigration department at the door of their home today, look at ......" After the family's economy has changed greatly, the wife is now also dressed in a beautiful lady's outfit, holding a letter in her hand.

When I opened it, I saw that the red seal of the Ministry of Immigration of the United States of America was indeed stamped under the letter. In fact, the content of the text has long been known, and all immigrants from the Ming Dynasty who have lived in Xidu for two months have been upgraded from temporary residency to formal residency. Now Chang Kun's family has become a citizen with the right of official residence, and some social benefits can be enjoyed.

For example, for the right of temporary residence, all localities work on a "six days off", and once you become a citizen with the right of official residence, you are entitled to "five days off and two days off", and you are also eligible for work-related injury insurance.

For example, young children at home with the right of formal residence can be sent to government-run kindergartens on weekdays and enjoy free care.

For example, if you are a citizen with the right of full residence, you can get some of the medical expenses waived if you take medicine at a national hospital......

Continue to turn the second page of the letter, requiring all families with children to allow their children over 6 years old and under 16 years old to attend state-designated schools according to the regulations, and the number of years of schooling is not equal, otherwise it is a violation of the law!

The first page is purely a lot of benefits, and this second page is a bit confusing. Although the women of the Ming Dynasty eunuchs are also good at piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, they are also taught privately. How can you let a few daughters not be tutored, but show up and go to public school?!

Thinking that among his seven daughters, the eldest daughter will not turn sixteen until another year, strictly speaking, now belongs to the age where you can find a mother-in-law, but from this year, five of them will all enter the imperial court.

After thinking about it carefully, Chang Kun nodded slightly: "It's okay, the imperial court is a big public school, the people are intelligent, and the talents are taught, and the prosperity of the country is nothing more than this, as an official of the imperial court, Chang Kun naturally has to lead by example!" ”

In the future, it is said that there are many young talents in the Diet and the Cabinet who teach part-time in public schools, and several daughters who are studying in public schools. The Chang family's female tutor is also so-so, and it can also be called gentle and gentle, if she can marry into those families in the future, thinking that it is Austrian aid, why is the Chang family not prosperous?

Chang Kun, who had preliminarily locked in several future son-in-law candidates, showed a smug smile. (Your support is my biggest motivation.) )