I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 755 The Ming Dynasty is too luxurious!

"it is good!"

"Finally, a big case has happened!"

"Hai Qingtian is in Shanghai, let's see who dares to abuse his power for personal gain!"

"That's right. He dared to break the law under Hai Qingtian's nose. He must be tired of living!"

"A small cabbage, even sheep and dogs will eat it. It is indeed a good and juicy cabbage."

Marcelo and Leon looked at José.

What are you shouting outside?

Everyone was full of passion, joy and enthusiasm. What happened?

Jose listened for a while and replied, "It must be a big case in Shanghai. The people are very interested. We just passed the intersection. There is a bulletin board there for posting notices.

It is said that the Court of Justice will hold a public trial tomorrow, and the people are running around telling each other about it."

"The Court of Justice is trying the case?"

"Yes, we will get the details when we get to the guest house. We should know the details if we ask the waiter."

Marcelo pursed his lips and said, "I have tried more than a dozen cases and I think I was very fair. Now I really want to see how the Ming Dynasty tried cases."

Marcelo was a great Portuguese nobleman. At that time, the nobles in Europe were not only feudal lords and military leaders, but also had judicial power and were responsible for the trial of cases in their territories.

Jose nodded: "The judicial system of the Ming Dynasty is very unique and advanced. The judicial systems of the local and military are basically the same, divided into the judicial department and the administrative department."

"Is there a judicial system in the Ming army?"

"Yes, the judicial system in the military is responsible for handling cases that violate military law. It is similar to the local judicial system but also different."

"So what are the duties of the prosecutors and managers you mentioned?"

"Yes, the procuratorate and the courts are responsible for reviewing the cases solved by the criminal investigation department, checking whether the evidence is conclusive and complete, and whether there is any torture or false charges.

After the review is confirmed, a public prosecution will be filed with the Magistrates’ Court.”

Marcelo felt a little dizzy after hearing this. "Public prosecution, what do you mean?"

"That is, the procuratorate and the court confirm that there is no mistake, and then, as the court's judicial representative, file a lawsuit with the Supreme Court regarding the crime committed by the criminal, and request the Supreme Court to decide whether the criminal is guilty based on the evidence, and if guilty, to determine the sentence according to the law.

That’s roughly what I meant. When I was studying at the Nanhai Naval Training Institute, I attended a course on legal knowledge. The content was rather complicated and difficult to understand, but that’s how I understood it.”

Marcelo sorted it out in his mind, a little confused, "Filing a national lawsuit as a judicial representative of the court. Why does it have to be so complicated?"

“There is litigation only when there is a lawsuit, and there is a third-instance ruling only when there is a lawsuit. Civil cases are filed by plaintiffs, who ask the court to protect their legal rights and interests and punish the defendant for infringing their rights and interests.

Criminal cases are brought to state prosecution by the procuratorate and courts on behalf of the judicial department to protect the legitimate rights and interests of victims and other citizens, and to severely punish the defendant's behavior that infringes on the life and property rights of others.

The reason why it is so complicated is that it is based on the system of separate courts for trial and adjudication in the Song Dynasty three or four hundred years ago, and has been further improved and perfected to ensure judicial justice through procedural fairness.

Seeing that Marcelo was going to ask more questions, José quickly replied: “Uncle, I only took a few lessons in law during my further studies and listened to them a few times, so I only know the surface of these things.

What you just said is all I can understand. If you keep asking, I really can't answer you. How about we go to the Court of Justice to hear the trial together tomorrow when we are free? It is better than me explaining it ten or twenty times."

Marcelo nodded grimly.

Leon looked at him, his eyes flickering.

Marcelo volunteered to go on a diplomatic mission to the Ming Dynasty to His Majesty the King, but his real intention was definitely not that simple.

The carriage stopped in front of the Shanghai Guest House.

This is a building modeled after the Changyi Pavilion in Nanyuan, Beijing. It is square like a city tower and eighteen stories high, six stories higher than the Changyi Pavilion.

The roof has flying eaves and brackets, and is surrounded by carved beams and painted buildings, which is very magnificent.

Standing at the door, Marcelo and Leon looked up at the tall building that was over sixty meters high, and felt like they had come to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The highest point of St. Peter's Basilica is the top of the dome, which is about 138 meters high and is located in the center of the church. But that is the top of the tower. The main building of St. Peter's Basilica is only meters high, which is much lower than the building in front of us.

The main entrance of the guesthouse is a memorial archway. Inside, there are three glass doors standing side by side, and then there is the lobby.

The hall is ten meters high, with a felt-like dome in the middle. The top, which is five meters in diameter, is inlaid with glass, and the sunlight shines down, making it colorful.

The roofs around the dome are painted with exquisite murals, showing fairies in gorgeous clothes dancing on auspicious clouds, with colorful ribbons on their skirts fluttering like birds.

She has a graceful posture and a beautiful figure.

Eight huge glass oil lamps are hung around the dome, shining with colorful lights under the sunlight.

The walls are towering, and on the side near the door are floor-to-ceiling glass windows that are one story high. The sun is shining brightly outside and inside.

On the wall opposite the door, there is a huge painting, mainly in green, with continuous mountains and rushing rivers, vast and boundless, stretching the eyes to the limit.

Jose pointed at the painting and introduced it: "This painting is called "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", a famous painting from the early Song Dynasty. The Guest House invited a skilled painter to enlarge it dozens of times and copy it on the wall."

Marcelo and Leon looked at this painting, which was in a completely different style from Western oil paintings, and were infected by a certain temperament in the painting.

"Although I don't understand this painting, standing in front of it, I feel touched from the bottom of my heart. I just don't know where this feeling comes from."

"Uncle, this painting vividly tells the Ming people's understanding of the universe and nature."

"What is your realization?"

"Harmony between man and nature, Tao follows nature!" Jose first transliterated it, and then translated it word by word. After saying a lot, he was able to roughly explain the profound meaning of these eight simple words.

Marcelo and Leon were confused and didn't know what was going on.

"I am God, and God is me? Oh my God, such thoughts would be sent to the stake by the Inquisition in Europe."

Marcelo made the sign of the cross on his chest.

Leon shook his head, “In fact, these eight words, as far as I understand, have another meaning.”

"What's the meaning?"

"Man can conquer heaven."

Marcelo was stunned, and the meaning contained in this sentence shocked him even more.

On the walls on both sides were smaller paintings. Jose tried hard to introduce them. This one was Pangu creating the world, that one was Laozi converting to Buddhism; this one was Yugong moving the mountains, that one should be Jingwei filling the sea; this one was Xingtian dancing with the halberd, that one was Dayu controlling the flood.

Each painting not only displays magnificence, but also seems to tell a magnificent ancient story.

After listening to Jose's stuttering and word-stumbling translation, Marcelo couldn't help but sigh: "In ancient times, when we encountered a flood, we built Noah's Ark to escape. But they dug mountains and trenches and spent two generations to control the flood.

Perhaps this is the biggest difference between them and us.”

Leon also sighed: "Although I have been to Ming Country, I have not really understood their history and culture. Yugong moved the mountains, Jingwei filled the sea, and Xingtian danced with Ganqi. Such a country and people make life difficult. Lord Marquis, our mission to Ming Country this time is very correct and timely."

Marcelo understood what Leon meant and nodded with a complicated expression.

"Yes, if we still don't know anything about them, we will suffer a great loss sooner or later. This is indeed a formidable country."

As the three were talking, a man wearing a green robe with a white pheasant patch and a black hat came up and asked politely, "Are you the Portuguese envoys, Mr. Ma and Mr. Lai?"

The interpreter behind him, wearing a yellow oriole green robe, translated the words into Portuguese.

Marcelo quickly replied, "I am the plenipotentiary envoy of King Sebastian I of Portugal, Fernando Cassel da Marcelo, Marquis of Mahazan."

Leon replied, "I am the deputy of the Marquis of Mahazan, Baron of Sebania, Conceda Aveiro Leon."

"I am Qu Jinxian, the chief official of the Huzhou Government Office. I am here to greet you two on the orders of the prefect, Lord Li."

Jose also stepped forward, saluted, and introduced himself: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Jose, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Second Fleet of the South China Sea. I have been ordered to go to Beijing. At the same time, I have been entrusted by the South China Sea Navy Commander and the Guangdong Provincial Administration to accompany the two Portuguese envoys to the north."

Qu Jinxian bowed and said, "Colonel He, you have worked hard. The rooms for you have been arranged. The two envoys and Colonel He will each have a room, and the rest of the entourage will have two people per room.

Now, Manager Zhang from the Guest House will take you to your rooms to settle down. I will be waiting in the lobby. After you wash up, please come down as soon as possible and go to the Huzhou Government Office together.

According to the rules, Li Zhizhou will meet with the two envoys."

Marcelo quickly asked, "Excuse me, where are the envoys from the Ottoman Empire and Persia now?"

"I am also staying at the Guest House. You can meet me at the welcoming banquet tonight."

Marcelo was relieved and left with Manager Zhang.

The group turned a corridor and came to a relatively small hall with three barred doors side by side, one of which was opened and waiting.

Manager Zhang asked Marcelo, Leon and José to go in first, while Condorcet waited for the other door to open.

Marcelo followed him in and felt that it was an upright box with paintings of flowers and plants on three sides. Standing at the door was a young man, about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a blue shirt and a small hat, looking very energetic.

After everyone came in, he closed the gate with a bang. There were actually two gates, one inside and one outside.

"The tenth floor." Manager Zhang said softly.

"Yes." The young man in blue shirt held the door handle and turned it to the right. The pointer pointed to two numbers, ten and 10.

Marcelo asked curiously: "Is this Ming Dynasty's number? There are actually two types."

Jose replied: "Yes, the ones on top are traditional numbers and the ones on the bottom are simplified numbers."

Manager Zhang understood Portuguese and added, "It is said that simplified numbers originated in India and were learned by the Arabs a long time ago. It is said that they were spread to Europe by the Arabs a long time ago. Don't you know this simplified number?"

Marcelo shook his head in confusion.

Leon, who was more knowledgeable, replied: "This kind of number is only used by some mathematicians and astronomers in calculations. Most of the daily counting and calculation in Europe still uses Roman numerals, so not many people know it.

As far as I know, the first person to publicly introduce this kind of numbers was the Italian Fibonacci three hundred years ago. He learned this kind of numbers and the corresponding decimal system from the Arabs in the eastern Mediterranean.

He thought that this kind of numbers were invented by Arabs, so he called it Arabic numerals. "

As Leon was speaking, the whole box suddenly shook violently and slowly rose up.

Marcelo and Leon were startled and quickly grabbed the handrails on the wall of the box beside them.

what happened!

How can this box move upwards?

Jose quickly explained, "This is an elevator. It is powered by a steam engine and can go up and down. The only building in Hong Kong that has one is the Nanhai Navy Headquarters Building. The newly built Pearl Pavilion Building will also have one, but the building has not yet been fully completed."

Marcelo and Leon's faces changed, "It's the steam engine again!"

The elevator rose slowly, and I could see a gate on each floor, but it did not stop in between until it reached the tenth floor, where it stopped steadily with a bang.

The young man opened the two gates, and Manager Zhang came out first and said politely, "Three of you, please."

The corridor was covered with thick cotton carpet, which made walking on it soundless.

The corridor is very long, running from north to south, with doors on both sides, and each door is a room.

"Mr. Ma is in Room 1002, Mr. Lai is in Room 1006, and Colonel He is in Room 1008." Manager Zhang opened the doors one by one and asked the three to enter their rooms.

Marcelo walked into the room, and there was a living room with a sofa and coffee table. Opposite the sofa was a floor-to-ceiling window, through which one could see half of Shanghai and the Wusong River in the distance.

There is a door on the left side of the living room. When you open it, you can see the bedroom inside. The floor is covered with thick wool carpet and there is a very comfortable and clean bed. The inner wall is a wardrobe and the outer wall is a floor-to-ceiling window with thick curtains.

Marcelo reached out and touched it, and it turned out to be precious velvet.

The right side is divided into two rooms, the toilet and the bathroom. As soon as you enter, there is a washbasin with a white ceramic washbasin and a faucet in the middle.

Tap water!
There were both in the guesthouse at Longkou Port and in the quarantine station on Bintan Island, which shocked Marcelo greatly at the time, so he was no longer shocked now.

He was just curious as to why there were two faucets.

He turned on the left one, and it was cold water. He turned it off and turned on the right one, and after a few seconds, it was hot water!
Marcelo was shocked again.

The Guest House in Shanghai not only has running water, but also hot water!

On the left was the bathroom, which had a rectangular bathtub made of white ceramic and as smooth as jade, and next to it was the shower room. Marcelo saw two faucets beside the bathtub and in the shower room.

I turned on the faucet on the right, and within a few seconds, the cold water turned into hot water.

What a luxury!

Marcelo shook his head, turned off the faucet, and turned to the bathroom on the right, which was a white porcelain toilet.

It is crystal white, with beautiful lines, and so exquisite that one cannot bear to sit on it.

Marcelo had seen flush toilets in Longkou Port and Xiangjiang Port, but he had never expected that the toilets in Shanghai Guest House would be like works of art.

These Ming people really know how to enjoy themselves.

Marcelo walked around the living room, bedroom and bathroom twice more, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Compared with the Ming people, we Europeans, even the honorable pope, king and nobles, all sleep in pigsties.

There was a knock on the door and Manager Zhang was urging the three people.

Marcelo and the other two went down to the lobby of the guesthouse again. Qu Jinxian took them on a carriage and went straight to the Huzhou Government Office which was not far away.

Marcelo and the other two were led to a small living room, where they sat quietly and waited for a few minutes. Then an official in a scarlet robe walked in.

When Leon saw him, he said in surprise: “It’s you!”

(End of this chapter)