Chapter 1698 The Shen Family Enters Beijing (1)
On November 9, after more than a month of travel, Lord Shen and his family finally arrived in the capital as scheduled. On the day of arrival, Lord Shen went to report to his post. Juhua and her mother went with the servants to the new mansion allocated to Lord Shen by the court. They were busy checking the new mansion and settling the boxes and servants.
The Jin Dynasty clearly stipulated that the width of the main hall of the residence of officials above the fifth rank, including the fifth rank, should not exceed five rooms, and the depth should not exceed nine frames. It can be made into an I-shaped hall, with a hip roof, and decorated with hanging fish and grass; the main hall of the residence of officials below the sixth rank (including the sixth rank) and civilians can only be three rooms wide and four to five frames deep. Only hip roofs can be used, and no decorations are allowed.
However, the house that the Shen family was allocated obviously exceeded the specifications of a sixth-rank official. Not only was the width of the main hall of the house more than three rooms wide, but it also had a hip roof and used decorations such as hanging fish and grass. Mrs. Shen Cui was frightened by the specifications and did not dare to move rashly. She did not dare to unpack the boxes and boxes, and waited until Lord Shen came back in the evening to make a decision.
It was not until the evening that Lord Shen came back drunk. According to the servant who served him, his colleagues in the department welcomed him and everyone took turns to persuade him to drink, so he drank too much!
Lord Shen was already drunk and could not be called up. It was already late, and he refused to make the decision. Cui had no choice but to order the servants to move out the luggage and prepare for bed.
The next day
After Lord Shen got up, Cui told him about the situation of the mansion. Lord Shen was shocked and hurriedly got up to look around the front and back yards. As expected, he saw that his mansion exceeded the specifications of a sixth-rank official. He was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat and hurried to the Ministry of Revenue to inquire.
The official of the Ministry of Revenue treated him very politely and explained in a friendly manner that although the mansions of officials of all ranks and levels have certain specifications, they are not absolute. Sometimes the mansions in the public palace are not enough, so they can only temporarily live in houses of other specifications. For example, the mansion of the sixth-rank specifications that Lord Shen should live in is no longer available in the public palace, so he can only temporarily live in the house of a fifth-rank official who was transferred to another place, and wait for the sixth-rank house to be vacated in the future before letting him move in.
"However, maybe when there is an empty house, you will have been promoted to the fifth rank!" The official of the Ministry of Revenue said with a smile, and his attitude was extremely kind.
Although Lord Shen had been an official for many years, he had always been an official in a small place like Qing County, so he did not understand the rules of the capital. After hearing what the people from the Ministry of Households said, he believed it to be true, and sent someone back to tell his wife and daughter to open their gifts and settle down with peace of mind...
Juhua settled down in the capital, but after a few days, she could not stay at home and ran out in various ways all day long, because she had been attracted by the prosperity and wealth of the capital, and she felt itchy if she did not go out for a day.
It was winter at this time, and there were no special attractions, but there were many old shops, cakes and fruits, jewelry and fabrics, rouge and powder, and gold and silver shops. Juhua had broadened her horizons and strolled from morning to night. Whether she bought anything or not, she was just feasting her eyes.
There are so many wonderful and novel things on the street that you can't see in Qing County, for example: a wooden car running on the street, this car has two wheels, no need for cattle and horses to drive, just one person sitting on it and pedaling the pedals, the chain on the pedals can drive the wheels to rotate, so that the car can run, it's really interesting.
Also, there are many men on the street with a plug in their mouths, they pull out the plug when they speak, and put it back when they don't speak. She secretly asked others, and they told her that thing is called a cigar, just like the wooden car, it was invented by Liu Gonggong, it is very popular in the capital, the children of the rich and powerful in the capital are fashionable to own a good car and smoke cigars, people who can't ride a car or don't have a car, and people who can't smoke cigars, will be regarded as ignorant and backward!