novelsite Chapter 607: Story of Poor Sisters
Chapter 607: Story of Poor Sisters
Chapter 7. Story of Poor Sisters
In the novel "Pride and Prejudice", the author Jane.Austin mentioned the main character, the Bennet family, with only five daughters and no son, and their biggest worry about future life: "Mr. An income of a thousand pounds. What a misfortune to his daughters, as far as the estate is concerned. As he has no sons, the estate must be passed on to a distant relation."
For modern Chinese readers, there is obviously no way to figure out this inexplicable inheritance law from the simple narratives of the novel.The plot in the novel lets us know that in that era in England, daughters actually had the right to inherit property. For example, Mrs. Bennet’s father once worked as a lawyer and gave her an inheritance of several thousand pounds.Mrs. De Bourgh inherited a large piece of land and aristocratic status after her husband died, and planned to pass it on to her daughter.So, why are the five Bennet sisters so unlucky that they cannot inherit their father's estate and house?
The answer is simple. In Britain at the end of the eighteenth century, women did have inheritance rights.But if that legacy is land, it's in trouble.Because in Britain in this era, land is not pure property, but is still a fief granted by the king in theory, which must be linked to feudal obligations.
Since William I crossed the sea to conquer England and established the Norman dynasty, the kings of all dynasties have legally become the ultimate owners of the land in the country.About one-seventh to one-fifth of the country's land is royal territory, which is directly managed by the king, and the rest of the land is used by the king to reward his officials.In the era of William I, there were about 40 noble vassals who were directly entrusted with land by the king. 12 earls should provide 40 to 60 knights, and 140 barons should provide 10 to 40 knights.There are also soldiers, horses, weapons, labor, etc. during the war; After death, if the heir wants to inherit the fiefdom, he has to pay an inheritance tax to the king, which is later fixed as the income of the fiefdom for two years.
Then, the King of England also allowed each of his aristocratic vassals to entrust their fiefs to the lower nobles and knights. When entrusting, the obligations to the king should be transferred with the land, and then Add the obligation to the noble lord-the so-called "vassals of vassals are not my vassals".In this way, the land in England was divided into layers of land, and most of the lands were divided into four or five levels. Each manor had several levels of lords, and the land attached to it The complexity of the obligation is even more conceivable.
In the following long historical evolution, these fiefdoms and fiefdoms will inevitably be transferred and inherited, and the law also allows it, but the various obligations undertaken will also be transferred accordingly.When each piece of land is divided and transferred, the burden of the obligation after decomposition must be carefully explained.For example, after a certain knight divided and sold his manor to many people, the feudal obligations he had originally undertaken to provide horses, saddles, weapons, armor, and send troops to fight and serve labor to the superior lord or king were also eliminated. After the land was decomposed, it was distributed to the new landlords.Some landlords need to pay horses, some landlords need to pay armor, and some landlords need to pay for military service. When encountering a war, they need to send men to serve as soldiers... Therefore, the British land law has become the most complicated land law in the world. , full of countless unimaginable and embarrassing clauses: For example, a certain landowner must pay a certain number of flowers to the royal family every year, because the original recipient of this land was the royal gardener...
Once you have a general understanding of the complex land system in Britain, you can understand the inexplicable inheritance law in "Pride and Prejudice".
——Because many lands are attached to feudal obligations, even at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century when the novel was written, this is still the case.Other feudal obligations can gradually be converted into money to replace, but the real estate that has been stipulated for military service cannot be replaced by money.However, the piece of land belonging to the Bennet family was limited to bear the obligations of a serving man, so it could only be inherited by men.This kind of estate that can only be inherited by men is called limited inheritance estate, or "restricted inheritance estate", which was a very common phenomenon in Britain at that time.This ancient and complex land law was not completely reformed until 1925, more than a century later...
Obviously, when Mr. Bennet inherited the land, he also signed an inheritance agreement like his father and grandfather. This agreement stipulated that his land could only be passed on to his son. If he had no son, Then the land must be inherited by the older male relatives who are closest to him. Only in this way can the new heir take on the military service and labor service that can only be performed by men-despite the changes of the times. More than 700 years have passed. In fact, this kind of military service has long existed in name only. At this time, Britain has already replaced the feudal army with the conscription system. Buying and selling are allowed.
And Mr. Bennet obviously did not have the good fortune of his grandfather and father, he has no son! (Similar to the shogunate era in ancient Japan, if a samurai had no son, he could not pass the fief to his daughter, let alone sell the land. He could only adopt a son or pass it on to his nephew.) Therefore, Mr. Bennet After his death, his cousin William.Collins will inherit his land and house, while his five daughters will be thrown out...
No matter how bad the relationship between Mr. Bennet and his cousin Collins is, and how much he loves his daughters at the same time...
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In short, when they learned that Cousin Collins was about to visit, and realized that he was probably coming to collect the house, the five sisters looked at each other for almost a quarter of an hour. During this quarter of an hour, almost none of the five any action.
After a quarter of an hour, Jane was the first to react, "...Wait! Didn't it mean that the death sentence can only be pronounced after seven years of disappearance? Even we can't get the Bennets who have frozen in the bank How can he inherit the land of the Bennet family in Longbourne Village?"
"...The person concerned can only be declared dead after seven years of disappearance. In the current UK, it is just a practice, not an iron law. As long as you think about it, you can still circumvent it, especially in our special situation-the Bennets can He didn't go on a long voyage, or go to a foreign country to get lost on the battlefield, but disappeared in London. According to the common sense in today's society, it is definitely a bad luck to not show up for several months..."
Elizabeth rubbed her forehead, as Jane.A fan of Austen's novels, she read a lot of materials on this topic before time travelling, and also managed to discuss some of these issues with Uncle Philip, a lawyer, after time travelling. Convince the court and the jury that our Collins cousin can have the court certify the Bennets are dead in advance, even in the name of our own sake - if the Bennets are not declared dead, we cannot inherit With the dowry left by my mother, it's hard to find a good family..."
——The law of the United Kingdom and the United States is the law of the sea, which pays more attention to the old precedents and is more flexible.China, on the other hand, is a continental law system, which pays more attention to the legal provisions themselves and is relatively rigid.Therefore, in the British courts, the role of a good lawyer is particularly significant.
"... But it also means that we will be kicked out of this house by him! Can't we fight?" Mary also frowned.
"...Actually, if we look carefully at the legal provisions, we actually don't take advantage of this matter. Because legally, this piece of land is still a fief that the king bestows on knights in exchange for their service. Now the men who can serve The master disappeared, but the land was occupied by a group of women who could not serve, while the male heirs who could serve did not get income from the land, which in itself was an illegal act similar to the deduction of military pay and the theft of state-owned assets..."
Elizabeth spread her hands, "...if Mr. Collins is willing to sign a statement declaring that he is not only willing to undertake the bound military service and hard labor on this estate, but also that if Mr. Bennet returns safely, he will immediately return Longbourne unconditionally. If he owns the real estate in the village, then no matter how fair the judge is, he will award the real estate to him...and we all know that Mr. Bennet will never come back..."
"...Are you thinking too pessimistically? In the novel "Pride and Prejudice", although Pastor Collins is described as stupid and ridiculous, and very self-righteous, at least he is still a kind and good person...should You won't do too much, will you?" Jane said uncertainly.
"...At that time, Mr. Collins was already a pastor, with a decent status and a stable income, and he had just become a pastor. No matter what, he had to maintain a good image of kindness, gentleness, and generosity, otherwise he would not succeed. A few months of priesthood is likely to be unstable.
Besides, according to the plot of "Pride and Prejudice", Mr. Bennet was still there at the time, at least he was a gentleman of status, and no one could say for sure how long Mr. Bennet could live—the average life expectancy in Britain in this era is certainly Short, but there are quite a few old birthday stars who can really live to be 80 or [-] years old, such as the "Iron Duke" Wellington who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo... As long as Mr. Bennet is still alive and kicking, he wants to inherit this estate There is no hope.Therefore, Pastor Collins in the novel has to be very tolerant, because it is useless to make a fuss. "
Elizabeth sighed, "...but now Mr. Collins seems to be nothing. His title is only the heir of the estate in Longbourn Village. He is not encumbered by a priesthood. It doesn't matter how ugly he looks. For To get an inheritance, even if the means are more outrageous, it is understandable in this society: these days, there are many relatives who are fighting for inheritance, and their heads are broken, and talking about money really hurts feelings!"
Such a pessimistic prospect made the girls very frustrated, but they were helpless—under the constraints of the current law, no matter what they did, it would be useless.Even if they were determined to kill Mr. Collins, the inheritance of the land would only go to another distant relative who was even stranger... If there is no male relative to inherit , then this land will also be turned over to the king...
Therefore, they can only try their best to comfort themselves and think about the best of things—even if the house and the estate in Longbourne Village are about to be taken away by that cousin Collins.Even every piece of furniture is no longer his own according to the law.But on the other hand, with the start of the inheritance process, Mrs. Bennet's dowry of 2000 pounds frozen in the bank, and the coffin book of more than [-] pounds frozen in the bank by Mr. Bennet, they can also Take it out.With so much money by his side, he shouldn't be living too badly.
But even so, the tragic prospect of being kicked out of the house still makes each of them not optimistic...
First, I bid farewell to the familiar modern world, and now I am about to lose my home in this world. What will happen in the future, I am really infinitely confused.
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After another dull afternoon, Elizabeth.Bennet is going to go for a walk to change his mood a little.
It was dusk now, the west-slanting sunset dyed the layers of clouds red, the forests and lakes in the distance shone with golden-red brilliance in the sun, the spring breeze was blowing, and the tired birds returned to their nests, in a crisp and cheerful atmosphere. Amidst the chirping of birds, horses are running, cattle and sheep are strolling, ducks are splashing on the water, the mountains are verdant and the scenery is beautiful. It can be said that the lakes and mountains are so beautiful that they are like a realistic and artistic oil painting collection, fully filled with the classic British countryside. amorous feelings.
Looking at the beautiful scenery in front of her, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel better. She held a novel book and walked out of the door. She passed through the white clothes drying in the backyard. She was about to walk out of her own courtyard when she suddenly stopped. stunned.
Because, in front of her eyes, three uninvited guests who should not exist in this era appeared.
A young man wearing a modern camouflage uniform, with an automatic rifle on his back, and two devil female soldiers who are also wearing camouflage uniforms... Well, the figure is very devilish, the bust is very foul, and the appearance can make men enchanted , standing at the gate of the courtyard of Bennet's house.
The leading man held a book and a strange instrument, looked at her for a while, then coughed dryly, smiled and approached her, "...cough cough, hello, miss, may I ask if it is you The traversers here? We are here to rescue you..."
Listening to this well-spoken Mandarin Chinese, the time-travel version of Elizabeth.Bennet was dumbfounded at first, and then burst into tears.
"...you... why are you here now?! Do you know what kind of life we have been living these days?!!"
——To be honest, compared with those unlucky people who are struggling in the zombie apocalypse, the smoke of war and the prison of massacres, Bennet, who just lived in the quiet and comfortable British countryside a few months ago, lived in the rural life of the industrial civilization era The five sisters are already in the midst of blessings and do not know their blessings...