1632 Snippets

1636 The China Venture - Snippet 10 Chapter 7 Grantville November 1633 "I thought that when I graduated high school, I no longer needed to fear being called to the principal's office," said Jim Saluzzo. His father, the principal at the high school at which Jim now taught, smiled. "You have a visitor." "Important enough to call me out of class?" "I'll let you be the judge of that. He's in the conference room." Jim strode over and opened the door. "You know, I have office hours on--" He broke off when he realized exactly who was in the room....

1636 The China Venture - Snippet 09 Chapter 6 Magdeburg November 1633 Captain David Pieterszoon de Vries had never been in pre-Sack Magdeburg, but even now, with the construction boom occasioned by its selection as the capital of the United States of Europe, the scars were still visible. Almost the entire area west of the Elbe had been burnt and, as the barge from Halle rode the current downstream and thus northward, he could see on the left bank a hodgepodge of old and new construction, not to mention the occasional pile of rubble that now...

1636 The China Venture - Snippet 08 Chapter 5 Year of the Rooster, Tenth Month (November 2-30, 1633) Nanjing "Master Fang, we should go back home to Tongcheng," said Xudong. "Seeing your wife and child will cheer you up, won't it?" "It would, for a few days. But while my boy is too young to know better, my wife, my aunt, my father, and all my friends and relations would know that I failed my family. I need to wait until my failure is not as bright in my memory before I can bear to see them." They left the examination compound, but this time...

1636 The China Venture - Snippet 07 "However, it remained common for the recommendations to be limited to young men of certain families, and thus it was difficult to satisfy the needs of the empire by recommendation alone. "Hence, the system of examination was instituted, and is now dominant. However, the examination tests only the literary ability of the candidate, and not the candidate's morality or common sense, and thus those who are malevolent or doltish may be given preference. "In the marketplace, storytellers speak of divine...

1636 The China Venture - Snippet 06 Chapter 4 The second examination session began early the morning of the eleventh day. By now, the routine was a familiar one to Yizhi, This time, the questions related to the Five Classics. These were the Classic of Poetry, the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites, the I Ching, and the Spring and Autumn Annals. Candidates were expected to specialize in one of the Five Classics; Yizhi's choice was the I Ching, the Book of Changes. It was actually a family tradition; his great-grandfather Xuejian, his...

1636 The China Venture - Snippet 05 Chapter 3 Engineering "Excuse me. You're Mike Song, aren't you?" Mike Song stopped walking and turned to face the speaker, a young man in up-time dress. "Yes, I am. I guess it wasn't hard to figure out. Only a half dozen Chinese-Americans in Grantville." "So I've heard," said the young man. "Your aunt and uncle, your cousins, and your brother. You're too old to be confused with your cousin Jason, and Danny has duty with the reserves this week." Mike frowned. "You seem to know a lot about me." The young man...

1636 The China Venture - Snippet 04 Chapter 2 October 1633 Woods Near Town of Grantville, Within the Ring of Fire "Almost there," said Jason Cheng. His wife, Jennie Lee Cheng, nodded. This stretch of woods was owned by Marshall Kitt, Jason's partner in Kitt & Cheng Engineering. The Mennonite farmers he had leased some of his land to tended to stay out of the forest, save when they needed to cut firewood, and anyway they knew that the Chengs had permission to go there. Even though it was well into the morning, it was dark here under the...

1636 The China Venture - Snippet 03 Yizhi had barely shouldered the burden before he had to set it down again. Four soldiers surrounded Yizhi, searching him for contraband. After they searched his person, they examined his belongings with equal thoroughness, even slitting open dumplings in the hope of finding something. A soldier who found even a piece of paper with writing on it, however innocuous, would receive a reward of three ounces of silver. At last, they waved him on to an inspector, who grudgingly issued him an entry certificate. At...