Chapter 7, The Story of Poor Sisters (Part 2)
In the novel "Pride and Prejudice", the author Jane. Austen mentioned the Bennet family, the protagonist, a family with only five daughters and no sons. The biggest worry about their future life: "Almost all of Mr. Bennet's property is in one industry, from which he can earn two dollars a year." Thousand pounds of income. Speaking of this property, it is really unfortunate for his daughters. Because he has no sons, the property has to be inherited by a distant relative."
For modern Chinese readers, there is obviously no way to figure out this inexplicable inheritance method from the simple narratives in the novel. The plot in the novel lets us know that in that era in Britain, 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. DeBauer inherited a large area of land and aristocratic status after her husband's death, 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 real estate and house?
The answer is simple. In England at the end of the eighteenth century, women did have the right to inherit inheritance. But if this inheritance is land, there will be trouble. Because in Britain in this era, land was not simply property, but was still theoretically a fiefdom granted by the king and must be linked to feudal obligations.
Since William I crossed the sea to conquer England and established the Normandy Dynasty, successive British kings have legally become the final owners of the country's land. About one-seventh to one-fifth of the country's land is royal territory and is directly managed by the king. The remaining land is used by the king to reward his ministers. In the era of William I, there were about 1,400 noble vassals who were directly entrusted with land by the king. The equivalent condition for them to retain the land was to serve the king: each knight's fief must provide at least one fully armed man every year. Knights, serving the king in battle for 40 days, 12 earls should provide 40 to 60 knights, and 140 barons should provide 10 to 40 knights. There were also provision of soldiers, war horses, weapons, labor, etc. during wartime; and contributions to the king's weddings and funerals, called "help money". Later, this money was transformed into a fixed amount of coins paid by the lords every year; vassals After death, if the heir wants to inherit the fief, he must pay an inheritance tax to the king, which is later fixed as the income of the fief for two years.
Then, the King of England also allowed each of his noble vassals to enfeoff their fiefs downwards to the lower level of minor nobles and knights. When enfeoffment was made, the obligations owed to the king would be transferred with the land, and then Add to this the obligation to the noble lord - the so-called "vassal of a vassal is not my vassal". In this way, the land all over England was divided up layer by layer by stacked bed frames and houses. Most of the fiefdoms were divided into four or five levels of enfeoffment. Each manor had several levels of lords, and the lords attached to these lands The complexity of the obligations is even more conceivable.
In the long historical evolution that follows, these fiefs and fiefs will inevitably be transferred and inherited, and the law allows this, but the various obligations they bear will also be transferred accordingly. When each piece of land is divided and transferred, the burden of the obligations after the division must be carefully explained. For example, after a knight divided and sold his manor to many people, his original feudal obligations of providing horses, saddles, weapons, armor, and sending troops to fight and perform labor services to the superior lord or king were also eliminated. As the land was decomposed, it was passed on to the new landowners. Some landowners need to pay for horses, some landowners need to pay for armor, and some landowners have to pay for military service. In case of war, they need to send men to serve as soldiers... Therefore, British land law has become the most complex land law in the world. , full of countless bizarre and embarrassing clauses: for example, a certain landowner must pay tribute to the royal family a number of flowers every year, because the original recipient of this land was the royal gardener...
Once you have a general understanding of Britain's complex land system, you can understand the inexplicable inheritance law in "Pride and Prejudice".
——Because a lot of land comes with feudal obligations, this was still the case even at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century when the novel was written. Other feudal obligations could gradually be replaced by money, but real estate that was stipulated for military service could not be replaced by money. However, the Bennet family's piece of real estate was land that was restricted to the obligation of a man to serve, so it could only be inherited by men. This kind of real estate that can only be inherited by men is called limited inheritance real estate, or "restricted inheritance real estate". It 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 did not have a son, Then the land must be inherited by the older male relative who is closest to him. Only in this way can the new heir bear the responsibility of inheriting the land. What is linked to the military service and labor that can only be performed by men - despite the changes of the times and more than 700 years have passed, in fact this kind of military service has long existed in name only. At this time, the British had already replaced the feudal army with a recruitment system, but the law is According to the law, limited inheritance land with this kind of service obligation cannot be passed down to daughters, and buying and selling is absolutely not allowed.
And Mr. Bennet obviously did not have the good fortune of his grandfather and father, he had no son! (Compared to the shogunate era in ancient Japan, if a samurai had no sons, he could not pass the fiefdom to his daughter, let alone sell the land. He could only adopt a son or pass it to his nephew.) Therefore, in Mr. Bennet’s case, Posthumously, his cousin William. Collins will inherit his land and house, while his five daughters will be swept away...
No matter how bad the relationship between Mr. Bennet and Collins' cousin is, at the same time, he still loves his daughters...
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In short, when they learned that cousin Collins was about to visit, and realized that he was probably coming to take possession of 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 sisters looked at each other. Any action.
After a quarter of an hour, Jane was the first to react, "...wait! Didn't it say that death can only be pronounced after seven years of disappearance? Even we can't get the money that the Bennets have frozen in the bank. How can he inherit the Bennet family's land in Longbourn Village without depositing money?"
"...the person involved must be missing for seven years before he can be declared dead. In the current UK, it is just a practice, not an iron law. It can be circumvented as long as you come up with an idea, especially in our special situation-can the Bennets It was not a long voyage to the sea, or a foreign expedition and being separated on the battlefield, but a disappearance in London. According to the common sense of today's society, not showing up for several months in a row is definitely a bad thing..."
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Elizabeth rubbed her forehead as Jane. A lover of Austen's novels, she had read a lot of information in this area before time traveling. After time traveling, she also managed to discuss some issues in this area with her uncle Philip, who was a lawyer. "...If there is a lawsuit, as long as his lawyer can Convince the court and the jury that our Colin Cousin Si can ask the court to certify the death of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in advance, even in the name of thinking about us - if Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are not declared dead, we will not be able to inherit the dowry left by our mother. We want to find a It’s hard to be a good person..."
——The laws of the United Kingdom and the United States are maritime law systems, which pay more attention to old precedents and are relatively flexible. China, on the other hand, has a civil law system that pays more attention to the legal provisions themselves and is relatively rigid. Therefore, in British courts, the role of a good lawyer is particularly significant.
"...But this also means that we will be kicked out of this house by him! Can't we argue?" Mary also frowned.
"...In fact, if you carefully study the legal provisions, we are actually not responsible for this matter. Because this property is still legally a fief awarded by the king to knights in exchange for their service. Nowadays, men who can serve The owner disappeared, but the real estate was occupied by a group of women who could not serve, while the male heirs who could serve did not receive the income from the real estate. This in itself is an illegal act similar to the deduction of military pay and theft of state-owned assets..."
Elizabeth spread her hands, "...if Mr. Collins is willing to sign a statement declaring that not only is he willing to bear the military service and labor tied to this property, but also that if Mr. Bennet returns safely, he will immediately return it to Longbourn unconditionally." The real estate in the village, then even the most impartial judge 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, ridiculous, and very self-righteous, he is at least a kind and good person... It should be You won't go too far," 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. He had to maintain a good image of kindness, gentleness, and generosity, otherwise he would get A few months of pastoral service is likely to be unsettling.
Besides, according to the plot of "Pride and Prejudice", Mr. Bennet was still alive at that time, and he was a gentleman of status. And no one can say for sure how long Mr. Bennet can live - the average life expectancy in Britain in this era is certainly There are many short-lived but really old people who can live to be seventy or eighty 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 land. There is no hope for real estate. Therefore, Pastor Collins in the novel had to be very tolerant, because it was useless no matter how much trouble he made. ”
Elizabeth sighed, "...and now Mr. Collins seems to be nothing. His only title is the heir of the real estate in Longbourn Village. He does not have the burden of a priesthood. No matter how ugly his face is, it doesn't matter. For Even if the method of obtaining an inheritance is a bit outrageous, it is still understandable in this society: nowadays, there are many relatives fighting for inheritance, and talking about money really hurts feelings! ”
Such a pessimistic prospect made the girls very depressed, but they had nothing to do - under the constraints of the current law, no matter what they did, it was useless. Even if they were cruel enough to break the pot and manage to murder Mr. Collins, the inheritance rights of the land would only be transferred to another distant relative who was even stranger...if they couldn't find a related man to inherit the land. , then this land will also be handed over to the king...
Therefore, they could only try their best to comfort themselves and think about things for the better - even if this house and the real estate in Longbourn Village were about to be taken over by cousin Collins. Even every piece of furniture no longer belongs to you by law. But on the other hand, as the inheritance process started, Mrs. Bennet's dowry of five thousand pounds was frozen in the bank, and Mr. Bennet's coffin book of more than two thousand pounds was frozen in the bank, they also It's ready to be taken out. With so much money around me, life shouldn't be too bad.
But even so, the tragic prospect of being kicked out of their homes still makes each of them unable to be optimistic...
First I bid farewell to the familiar modern world, and now I have to lose my home in this world. I am really confused about what the future will be like.
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After another dreary afternoon, Elizabeth. Bennett was ready to go out for a walk to change his mood a bit.
It was already dusk, and the setting sun dyed the clouds red. The forests and lakes in the distance shone with golden-red brilliance in the sun. The spring breeze blew on the face, 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 in the water, the mountains are green, 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 permeating the classic British rural style.
Looking at the beautiful scenery in front of her, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel a little better. She held a novel book in her hand, walked out of the door, passed through the white clothes drying in the backyard, and was about to walk out of her courtyard, but suddenly stopped. Stunned.
Because, before her eyes, three uninvited guests appeared who should not exist in this era.
A young man wearing modern camouflage uniforms with an automatic rifle on his back, accompanied by two devil female soldiers also wearing camouflage uniforms... Well, the figure is very devilish, the bust is very foul, and the appearance can make men obsessed. , standing at the door of Bennet's courtyard.
The leading man held a book and a strange instrument, looked at her for a moment, then coughed dryly and came closer with a smile, "...Ahem, hello, this lady, is it you? Are you a time traveler here? We are here to rescue you..."
Listening to this well-spoken Mandarin sentence, I feel like a time-travel version of Elizabeth. Bennett was stunned at first, then burst into tears.
"...You...Why are you here just now?! Do you know what kind of life we have been living these days?!!" - Speaking realistically, speaking with those who are struggling in the zombie apocalypse, the smoke of war and the murderous cell Compared with the unlucky ones, the five Bennet sisters who lived in the quiet and comfortable British countryside just a few months ago in the era of industrial civilization are already so blessed that they don’t know how to be blessed...