Bringing the Railway to Daming

Bordeaux, though now it's called "Xiping".

"Xiping".

Chloe stood in front of a glass mirror, more than a foot long and wide, with a copper frame, and subconsciously uttered the words "Xiping." She still found it difficult to pronounce and was unsure if she had imitated it well enough, which made her somewhat annoyed.

Porto changed its rulers six months ago; they are people supposedly from the Ming Dynasty in the far east. They all speak Chinese, so learning Chinese has become a popular activity in Porto.

Her father was working hard to learn Chinese, so she also learned some from him.

The woman in the mirror had long, slightly wavy blonde hair, eyes as bright as the ocean, and skin as white as snow. Although only fifteen, she was already quite well-nourished and had a large bust.

Chloe looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help but frown, revealing a sorrowful and even self-conscious expression.

Although her features were delicate, her blonde hair and ample bosom were actually unpopular features in France and even throughout Europe at that time.

At this time, Europe had not been freed from the rule of the former Roman Empire for very long, and with the Eastern Roman Empire still existing, it was still heavily influenced by Rome in terms of culture and customs.

In Roman times, blond hair and blue eyes were symbols of the Norse barbarians; most ancient nobles had black or brown hair. (Blonde hair only began to be admired in the 17th and 18th centuries.)
Therefore, anyone with blond hair must have Norse barbarian blood in their ancestors, and might even be ridiculed as a barbarian or a Norse bandit.

As for the unpopularity of a large bust, it is because a large bust often implies older age, while nobles mostly prefer young women—those with slender waists, preferably narrow hips as well, and a relatively round and wide abdomen.

For these reasons, Chloe, despite being the daughter of a famous wine merchant in Bordeaux, was still unmarried or engaged by the age of fifteen.

Often, those her family approved of were not considered by others; and those who did approve of her, she disliked. Coupled with her father's doting affection, her marriage was delayed year after year.

Now that Bordór has a new ruler and even the former nobility is gone, the merchants are somewhat uneasy, including wealthy merchants like her father. Under these circumstances, her marriage naturally has to be postponed again.

At that time in Europe, ordinary women outside the nobility married relatively early. Thirteen or fourteen was normal, and fifteen or sixteen was not too late. But if they delayed any longer, they might be considered old women.

Thinking of this, Chloe sighed again.

Just then, heavy footsteps sounded; it was her father, Fred, coming up.

Fred was tall and fat with a round face, looking nothing like Chloe except for their ocean-blue eyes.

Chloe turned around to greet her father, only to see his round face filled with excitement and ecstasy.

"Oh, my darling daughter, I have some wonderful news to tell you: you are going to be queen!"

I want to be queen?
Chloe thought she had misheard and couldn't help but ask, "Father, what are you saying?"

"I told you you're going to be queen!" Fred waved his fat hands, his eyes shining. "If the city lord and the head of the maintenance committee hadn't come to tell me this, I wouldn't have believed it."

“Even when I was facing them, I thought they were joking. Luckily, there was a eunuch with them.”

"Eunuch, do you know... my dear daughter, perhaps I shouldn't tell you this, but maybe you understand."

"In short, the new king wants to choose a French woman as his queen, and as my daughter, you are incredibly lucky to have been chosen!"

Chloe finally understood, but still found it unbelievable. After a moment of stunned silence, she said, "Oh, Father, am I dreaming? Or are you lying to make me happy?"

"I wasn't lying, darling, our Maupassant family is about to prosper! Because of you!"

Perhaps because the matter was so unbelievable, Chloe calmed down more quickly. She thought for a moment and asked, "Doesn't the new king have a queen? Even if he doesn't, why choose me as queen? Shouldn't he choose the daughter of a high-ranking nobleman?"

Chloe inherited her father's intelligence and was quite clever. She had also heard about some things in aristocratic circles, which is why she asked that question.

Fred calmed down a bit and said, "Honey, I had the same question as you before, but haven't you heard that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the far east had many empresses?"

"No, it shouldn't be said that way. It would be better to use Chinese—although the emperor still has an 'empress,' he will have many 'imperial concubines,' possibly as many as dozens or even hundreds."

"Similarly, kings from the Ming Dynasty would have a 'queen' and multiple 'consorts'."

"The current King of Dai does indeed have a Queen, who is said to be the daughter of a Grand Duke, one of the most prestigious noble families in the Ming Empire. This time, the King wants to choose a French woman as his 'Queen,' and you have been chosen to become the King's new Queen!"

Neither Fred nor Chloe objected to a man having many women.

Because of Fred's wealth, he was able to access the aristocratic circle and knew that although nobles only had one wife as the church claimed, they had countless lovers—otherwise, how could there be so many illegitimate children of nobles?
In fact, not to mention nobles, even ordinary people with a little money may have illegitimate children, and wealthy merchants have even more illegitimate children.

Her father had three illegitimate children—from three different lovers.

On the contrary, she was his only daughter, and her mother's family were also wealthy merchants. Her father loved her very much, so even though her mother had passed away, she was still very much loved by her father.

Seeing Chloe remain silent, Fred couldn't help but make a wild guess: "What's wrong, darling? Don't you want to be a 'princess'?" "No," Chloe shook her head, "Of course I'd like to be a 'princess,' but I just can't understand why I was chosen. Father knows I'm not pretty, and I'm not a noblewoman's daughter."

Fred said, “Chloe, you may not understand, but the Kingdom of Dai no longer has the nobles it used to have. Besides, that eunuch explained that the king wants to marry the daughter of a wealthy merchant.”

“Your father is not only one of the top five businessmen in Bordeaux, but also has a very good reputation. And since I happen to have a daughter like you who is ready to be married, it was natural that I was chosen.”

After a pause, Fred said solemnly, "Listen, Chloe, since the king has chosen you, you must marry him."

"And for our Maupassant family, this is also a great opportunity to change our status—as long as you become a 'princess,' no matter what the future holds, we will all be considered nobles, or at least half nobles!"

"This is a leap in social status, you understand?"

Hearing these words, Chloe felt a little sad.

She suddenly realized that her father's elaborate scheme to marry her off to that baron was actually aimed at elevating the family's social standing.

Fred, oblivious to Chloe's change in mood, continued, "The King and his ministers all speak Chinese, so from today onward, you must study Chinese even harder."

"The wedding date is set for a little over a month from now. I hope that by then, you can at least manage to have a basic conversation in Chinese. Chloe, promise me you'll work hard for the rise of our family, okay?"

Although Chloe was saddened, she nodded and said to her father, who looked pleading, "Father, don't worry, I will try my best to learn Chinese well."

Fred smiled and said, "By the way, that eunuch also brought a lot of 'betrothal gifts,' yes, that's what they call 'betrothal gifts,' and there were many good things in them, such as various jewels and ornaments."

"My darling daughter, come down with me and take a look. There are sure to be many things you like inside."

“Okay.” Chloe nodded and followed Fred downstairs.

Upon seeing the chests of "dowry" the king had given her, Chloe's sadness lessened considerably, and she happily began to examine them carefully...
···
A few days later, Fred realized that his worries about his daughter not knowing much Chinese were unnecessary.

The king sent a eunuch, a female official, and several palace maids to teach Chloe the etiquette of the Ming court and the procedures for taking a concubine.

The female officials and eunuchs were all Han Chinese, and although the palace maids were not Han Chinese, they could speak fluent Chinese. Therefore, they could teach Chloe Chinese as well, which was much better than the so-called Arabic translators who Fred had hired at a high price.

A month later, in the second year, Chloe became the fourth concubine of Prince Zhu Gui through a concubine-taking ceremony. Zhu Gui's first two concubines were taken shortly after his marriage to Xu Miaoqing. Both came from wealthy merchant families in the Ming Dynasty and provided Zhu Gui with a large sum of start-up capital for establishing his fiefdom.

As for the third concubine, she was a noblewoman from a prominent local family in Xihai Dusina.

Chloe finally met the legendary Zhu Gui, her husband.

Then she was delighted to discover that the king was not old, nor did he have the face of an oriental devil as rumored, but was young, tall, and handsome.

The problem was that they weren't very enthusiastic towards her—she felt this was probably because she wasn't pretty enough.

Queen (actually a princess) Xu Miaoqing, on the other hand, took good care of her. After she entered the palace, she gave her a lot of guidance and care, and did not bully her because of her status.

Chloe's heart settled down, and she slowly adapted to life as a princess...

After taking a beautiful blonde French girl as his concubine, Zhu Gui did not dote on his new love and forgot about his empress, Xu Miaoqing.

On the contrary, the series of events he experienced after establishing his fiefdom made him realize even more how fortunate he was to have a knowledgeable, reasonable, and intelligent empress like Xu Miaoqing.

So, to show his trust in Xu Miaoqing, he brought up a very important matter that day.

"Miaoqing, the Dai Kingdom is currently lacking in capable rulers, and we need your help."

Xu Miaoqing was surprised to hear this, and then said, "What does Your Majesty mean? The harem is not allowed to interfere in politics. This is a rule set by the Emperor Emeritus."

Zhu Gui laughed and said, "That was a rule set by my father for my elder brother, and it doesn't apply to us overseas vassal kings. Besides, when my father was away fighting, it was always my mother who was in charge of handling domestic affairs and managed everything in an orderly manner."

"Now the Dai Kingdom needs your talents. You should follow the example of your mother and help me with some of the domestic affairs. In addition, you may have heard that women in later generations can also engage in politics and business."

Xu Miaoqing carefully examined Zhu Gui for a few moments to make sure he was serious before asking, "What does Your Majesty need me to do?"

"The matters of education, naturalization, etiquette, and even propaganda." Zhu Gui had already thought it through, so he spoke without hesitation, "You should be more familiar with these matters, and it won't cause too much opposition from the ministers if you are in charge."

Xu Miaoqing asked, "Is it roughly equivalent to the affairs of the Ministry of Rites?"

"That's right," Zhu Gui said with a smile. "We were hoping you would also hold the title of Minister of Rites."

Xu Miaoqing also laughed, "Official positions in vassal states are one rank lower than those in the Ming Dynasty. Even if I concurrently serve in the Ministry of Rites, I will only be a Vice Minister of Rites." (End of this chapter)