On the banks of the Elbe River, the river beach where the special mixed camp conducts training is still in a mess. Numerous training trenches have not been filled in time. After several rains, the trenches are filled with rainwater.
Xiao Letian's wife Huniu always likes to come here recently to see the scenery. The exotic houses, buildings, statues and even factories on both sides of the Elbe River are completely different from those of the Qing Dynasty.
Not to mention the sailboats and steamships racing back and forth on the river, and the sailors on the deck waving their hats at both sides of the river. The rich Nordic style deeply attracted these Eastern guests.
"Madam, you have been shopping for more than an hour in the morning. Go back and have a rest. I will ask the cook to buy some meat and vegetables in the morning. Let's make dumplings to eat later. I have eaten German food for so many days and I am hungry for dumplings. Everyone is drooling..."
"Dumplings? Oh my, my mouth is watering now that you remind me. I haven't tasted hometown food for a long time... I'm not afraid of your jokes. I was so homesick last night that I cried..."
Ping'er walked with Huniu, and the two of them chatted and laughed, bursts of laughter sounded like silver bells. Sometimes when the topic of homesickness came up, the two of them even wiped each other's tears.
Within ten meters around the two of them, more than thirty Hamburg plainclothes men formed a security net, and further away there was a company of troops standing ready. Prussia's security treatment for Xiao Letian's family had reached the level of a duke.
"Hey, I don't know if the master's war is going well or not. I just don't understand. The Germans are fighting a civil war. Why should we get involved?" Ping'er is a woman who is good at internal affairs but neglects external affairs. She is more than adequate as a housekeeper of a big house, but if you ask her questions about the world, she will be blind.
On the contrary, Hu Niu was very willing to learn new knowledge. She smiled and shook her head, "Look at the cheers on the other side of the river... This has been going on for how many days. The Hamburg people's celebration of the war has not ended yet. It can be seen that the entire Prussian country Everyone from top to bottom is already fanatical, they really support the army to go to war!"
"How could this happen? This was something that the Qing Dynasty did not even dare to think about. In our hometown, there has been a saying from ancient times that soldiers are like bandits. The prosperity of the people is suffering, and the destruction of the people is suffering. The prosperity and destruction are the common people. …”
"When we common people in the Qing Dynasty hear that there is a war somewhere, I am afraid that every one of us has to pray to gods and Buddhas to protect us from the war coming to our doorsteps. We have always hid as far as we can, even leaving our hometown..."
Huniu stopped and looked at the cheering crowds on the streets on the north bank of the Elbe River, and said quietly, "Why did the Prussian people cheer more lively than the New Year when they heard about the war? I don't understand the meaning of this, but at least I You know, with such popular morale, can they still be defeated?"
At this point, Hu Niu suddenly raised Ping'er's nose mischievously and said teasingly, "So, don't worry about me. Since Prussia is bound to win, I will also win... Look at Fangguan's family. I think more openly than you do, I study with the opera teacher every day, and I never worry about you..."
Ping'er's face turned red and she spat secretly, "She has no conscience... The master gave her a free life, and she forgot about it... The night before yesterday, she... she wasn't ashamed to have a tryst with that big nose?"
"Ah? Did you spy on someone else's tryst?" Huniu's eyes narrowed when she smiled. "Did you see anything? Is there a needle eye?"
"Oh, madam, please stop teasing me... That French guy with the big nose is quite honest. He was gesticulating and chatting with Fangguan quite lively. Why do I think Fangguan is a little tempted?" Ping'er was a little angry. Unfair.
Huniu was not angry at all but started to enlighten her: "You are just an idiot. I have told you a long time ago that since the master has given Fangguan his freedom, he really gives it to her and is not just pretending! Fangguan, including you, is now You are a free man. What does freedom mean? It means that you can choose your own life!"
"You can find your own husband. Even if you marry a foreigner, as long as he treats you well, it's not impossible! Also, you can do any job you want, such as Fang Guan. Her singing ability makes Europeans stunned. Well, she might just eat this bowl of rice in the future..."
"This is the ability to truly settle down and live a life! Do you have any plans of your own? The master gives you this opportunity, but it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so why don't you think about how to control your own destiny?"
Hu Niu's words made Ping'er fall into deep thought. Make the decision by yourself? Control your own destiny? This, this, this...how is this possible? Aren't women just slaves of men?
Do you still want to settle down and live in peace? Women also need to learn some skills to settle down and live in peace? Isn’t a man the place where a woman can settle down and live her life? Men are like big trees and women are like vines. Isn’t this how they have been for thousands of years? Ping'er was stunned for a moment, her brain couldn't keep up with her thinking.
Huniu just looked at her quietly without saying a word. She gave Ping'er enough time to think. It took quite a while for Ping'er to speak.
"Madam...I, I think you have changed...you have changed so much!"
"Oh? Why have I changed?" Huniu said meaningfully.
Ping'er looked up at the blue sky and thought carefully, "When we were in Tanggu, in the burned-down mansion, the impression you gave me at that time... was that you were a very knowledgeable person. At that time, Jiao Si bullied you so much. , you and A Chou didn’t complain, you moved into the wing and started the fire by yourself, at that time we looked at you pitifully..."
"Later, the master came back. We thought you would take advantage of the master's power to take revenge, but we didn't expect that you didn't say anything, let alone bully us women. From that day on, I admired you even more. I know you are a kind-hearted person." people……"
"But...but after a while, I realized that we were wrong. You are a good person, you are a female general! When so many thugs besieged the gate of the mansion, you calmly commanded the servants and guards to fight back, and even came from the tunnel The bandits who got out of here, you go up..."
Ping'er recalled that scene and subconsciously covered her eyes. She had not forgotten the horrific scene at all. "You are so courageous. Why did you dare to kill someone with your gun? You killed that bandit with two shots." ... From that day on, we girls were afraid of you to the core of our being..."
"From that day on, I sincerely admire you. In the past, you didn't argue or make trouble. It's not that you didn't have the ability. You just didn't want to cause trouble for me or the family! This is what you call general knowledge... "
"Flatterer! You've learned too much. Is that what I call general knowledge? To tell you the truth, I'm just forced to do that. People are afraid of being pushed. Don't I always say that you can only be motivated when you are under pressure... ..." Huniu smiled and shook her head.
"That's not right!" Ping'er frowned and retorted, "That's not the case. Just during this trip to Europe, I discovered once again that madam, you are the heroine, and you are the perfect match for me!"
"We have seen so many strange scenery and characters along the way. Fangguan and I were sometimes so frightened that we almost cried, but you never changed your color once. And in that battle on the sea, we and I Fang Guan and A Chou were so frightened that they hugged each other and cried, but you didn’t even blink..."
"You are not afraid of fighting such a cruel battle in France... And just now, you can say such reasonable words. You must know that even the scholars in the Qing Dynasty may not be able to understand that truth!"
"What's more, you've been reading, reading, and learning foreign languages all the way. I've seen all this... You can't lie to me, you have really changed, the light in your eyes is different! "
Huniu was stunned by Ping'er's words. She thought about it carefully and found that what Ping'er said was true. She had really changed a lot without knowing it. She recalled that she was in Shanxi to treat her mother's illness. And the scene of begging the uncle seemed to be so far away a century ago.
Ouch, what was I thinking? Why did I involuntarily use foreign words? There is still a century. Who in the Qing Dynasty knows what a century is.
Changed, really changed, my mentality is completely different. I am a daughter of a concubine who came from a Shanxi merchant family, and now I can actually study the situation of the European powers. Why have I changed so much in the past few years? big?
But why is this change so reassuring? Huniu felt a strong sense of happiness from the bottom of her heart.
But just when they were looking back on the past and looking forward to the future, a figure suddenly ran from the direction of the villa. It started shouting desperately from a distance away. Before they could rush to Huniu's side, they were knocked down by the lurking soldiers. .
"Who is this person? If you dare to break in, arrest him, arrest him quickly..." A group of Prussian soldiers and policemen dragged the intruder back.
"Wait! Isn't this Pierre? Let him go..." Huniu recognized the person at a glance. This was the intelligence officer Xiao Letian left behind in Hamburg, Pierre.
Originally, according to Pierre's intention, he wanted to participate in the Pu-Austrian War with Xiao Letian. With Pierre's intelligence analysis ability, he could help. But Pierre suffered a lot in a French prison and was very weak. In order to take care of him and recuperate, Xiao Letian did not take him with him.
But Pierre couldn't be idle. Prussia collected a large amount of overseas intelligence during this period and gave it to Pierre for him to analyze. In particular, intelligence on the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean must be sent there.
Anyway, idleness is idle, and Pierre's brain cannot let him be lazy. But no one thought that Pierre actually found a clue among the complicated information.
"Madam, I have made an important discovery... I must inform the Prime Minister in time, please give me some time..." After receiving Huniu's nod, Pierre strode up to Huniu, and then said: The translator also followed.
"Madam, this is the business report sent by the Dutch East India Company last month. It contains a table of price changes in various ports in India... Take a closer look at the price of rifles and gunpowder in the market of French India during this period. Prices unexpectedly increased by 40% abnormally, and the prices of grain and cloth also increased by 10%..."
"What does this mean? This shows that French India is training a large number of indigenous troops. Otherwise, there is no war. How could the prices of these materials rise? And the only explanation for the training of indigenous troops is the bizarre weakness of other military forces..."
"Look here again. The cargo throughput of various ports in French India has increased significantly during this period. Why is this? This can only mean that these ports have suddenly vacated a lot of trestles and warehouses, and these trestle warehouses used to be The owner can only be the French Navy!"
"Madam! There are various signs that the French Asiatic Fleet has already assembled. If we follow the intelligence time calculation, the French fleet should have crossed the Taiwan Strait by now... No, no, no, it should be faster. It is very likely now. We may have already approached the main island of Ryukyu!”
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