Chapter 959: Teaching Etiquette

Baoxi bathed in Huaxia City, washing himself clean, even catching every last louse in his hair. After changing into Huaxia clothing, donning a Silk coat, and pinning on a pure gold hairpin, combined with the temperament he had cultivated as the Tribal Chief of a large tribe and his sufficiently fine physique, he truly looked like a great Noble of Huaxia.

He was not as dark-skinned as other savages; after all, if even the Tribal Chief of a large tribe had to go out under the scorching sun to hunt and forage, then that tribe's life would be far too miserable.

With the grime that had accumulated for who knows how long scrubbed away, Baoxi's skin quality was surprisingly good. Dressed and appearing in such a way, even if Baoxi walked alone through Huaxia City, the ordinary Residents of Huaxia City would have to bow and salute him, because at a glance, he looked like a great Noble with Nobility, even though they did not recognize him.

At the same time, Baoxi intended to stay in Huaxia to learn some of Huaxia's basic etiquette and lifestyle before returning. This way, when he returned again, he would be able to integrate directly into Huaxia. He still had to live in the Suiren Clan for a long time, because he had to wait for all his tribespeople to be sent to Huaxia before he could leave.

Naturally, he was reluctant to leave Huaxia and would miss the Huaxia lifestyle, so he wanted to learn everything here and continue to apply it exactly the same way in the Suiren Clan.

When Baifeng heard Baoxi say this, he was quite moved, so he simply selected a few servants, prepared to let them return with Baoxi to attend to Baoxi's daily life, and even sent a cook.

But considering that the conditions in the Suiren Clan were too crude and there were no good houses, Baifeng had no choice but to select a few Artisans of average skill to go and build a small house for Baoxi in the Suiren Clan to make do for now. The main reason was that there were not many excellent Artisans left in Huaxia City; the technical Artisans above the Advanced level simply could not be spared.

Besides, Baoxi would not live in the Suiren Clan forever. Baifeng thought that within five years, he would move the entire Suiren Clan over. In five years, the war with the Shennong Clan might be over.

Baoxi was very happy with Baifeng's arrangements. He had already prepared himself to go back and live in his dirt hut; at most, he had planned to ask Baifeng for some Glass, go back, and have people build him a taller and larger dirt house, then install the Glass.

He could also have his roof repaired with pottery Tile, but Baifeng decided to provide Baoxi with everything he needed at once by building a Cement house. A courtyard might be a bit difficult, but if Baoxi wanted one, he could have his own tribespeople build one for him using mud.

As for the few Slaves sent out by Baifeng, they were still very uneasy in their hearts, after all, they were leaving "home." But now, Baoxi's thinking had also changed. He certainly would not treat these precious Slaves the same way he treated the Slaves of his own tribe. He even wanted to give those Slaves the status of Free Person, but now he and his tribespeople were all under Baifeng's management, and the liberation of Slave status had to be agreed upon by Baifeng, so Baoxi did not intend to trouble Baifeng with this matter.

However, it would be enough if he just treated them better when he went back. Now Baoxi was already cultivating a relationship with them; the main thing was to get familiar with each other first, so that it would be more convenient to attend to Baoxi in the future.

After continuous practice, Baoxi could barely use chopsticks. Although it was still very difficult, once he learned how to use them, he completely abandoned the Knife, fork, and spoon, insisting on using chopsticks.

Regarding etiquette, he wanted the servants to teach him, but the few servants appeared extremely terrified and refused repeatedly. Fortunately, they also explained the reason.

"We are Slaves; we can only teach etiquette to lower-level Slaves, but we cannot teach etiquette to a Noble."

Baoxi did not understand: "Why? You can teach me other things, why is it not allowed when it comes to etiquette?"

The Slave explained very humbly: "This is the requirement of etiquette."

"Then if I want to learn etiquette, what should I do? There are so many people in Huaxia, how should etiquette be learned?"

The Slave hurriedly replied: "For all ordinary people without Nobility, etiquette is taught by their own heads of household, passed down from generation to generation. As for officials and Nobles, it is taught by people from the Ministry of Rites, so your etiquette should also be taught by someone from the Ministry of Rites."

Huaxia's promise regarding Baoxi's Nobility was currently only verbal and had not been clearly conferred. However, since the Suiren Clan had already been merged into Huaxia, Baoxi's title of Tribal Chief could no longer be used, and since Baoxi had no official position, it was wrong and inappropriate to address Baoxi in any way now. The best way was to omit the title.

But Huaxia, or rather this era, did not yet have honorifics like "you" (nin). This only arises in situations where the hierarchy and status are sufficiently strict, but Huaxia had jumped directly to this stage, leading to a lack of various honorifics, with only titles like King, Prince, Queen, and consort existing.

And in the era Baifeng came from, the term "you" (nin) was rarely used in daily life. It was rarely used when greeting acquaintances or elders, and was only used for strangers, saying things like: "Please move aside." Sometimes, when the word "you" (nin) was added, it meant that an argument or even a shouting match was about to begin.

Perhaps this was an effect of the new era eliminating class, where some things that should not have been lost were lost. But it was better than some other former vassal states; one did not have to bow and bend at the waist every day, greet strangers a few years older than oneself, be so humble with honorifics, and there was even less of the outrageous culture of seniority.

Of course, Baifeng would certainly need to supplement these honorifics in the future; it could be considered a necessary requirement. At the very least, like now, Baoxi was a predetermined Advanced Noble, yet he had not received any status, so having a "you" (nin) when others addressed him would also appear more respectful.

Since it was the Ministry of Rites that taught etiquette, Baoxi had no choice but to send someone to invite Zhigui to teach him. Only by learning etiquette could he better integrate into Huaxia.

The Ministry of Rites had naturally received notice in advance. Even if it had not been finalized that Baoxi was the Suiren Emperor, the highest-ranking Noble of Huaxia, the Ministry of Rites had to know, so that it would be easier to formulate a set of etiquette belonging to Baoxi.

Of course, the other Ministers, Vice Ministers, and Bureau Chiefs of Huaxia certainly knew as well. They had no objections to giving Baoxi the highest Nobility, and they dared not object.

It was true that these people had made great contributions to Huaxia, but Baoxi had directly brought Huaxia hundreds of thousands of people and a territory larger than Huaxia itself. Although Huaxia was not prepared to take the territory, this contribution was worthy of Baoxi's Nobility, not to mention that the man had a powerful ancestor.