Time is just like the ancient poem said, the morning wind blows the horse's mane, the evening wind blows the horse's tail, blowing away the days day by day.
After Zhao Xin sent Zhang Jingxuan away, he returned to Beihai Town. Pity Chen Jishan and the guards, they can't keep up with Zhao Xin's pace no matter what, so they can only stay in Irkutsk this winter.
After mid-October, the weather in the outer Northeast became increasingly colder. The howling north wind accompanied by heavy snow continued to fall for several days before stopping.
The day had just darkened, and hundreds of people came out of their houses and stood on the cold streets, waiting eagerly, as if there was some important event. Among the crowd were both new residents of Beihai Town and some who came from Whale Town to watch the excitement. The French who came after hearing the news, the envoys from the Li Dynasty, and the envoys from Changzhou Domain who wanted to see Zhao Xin but could not, were also mixed in the crowd.
"Have you heard? Today the Seris people want to turn on electric lights throughout the city!"
"What's an electric light? I know about whale oil lamps."
"I can't say for sure. I heard Captain Deng explain it two days ago, but it's hard to understand. In fact, the many things the Seris people do here are really dazzling."
Of course the French couldn't understand it. The great British physicist Faraday would not be born until three years later. At the moment, Europeans' understanding of electricity is only the lightning and thunder in natural phenomena.
The businessman from Li Dynasty pointed to the tall lamppost not far away, bowed to Cai Jigong and said: "Sir, I heard that those lamps can be lit without fire!
Cai Jigong said with disdain: "Absurd! If you don't use fire, are you just waiting to be struck by lightning?"
This person has been in Beihai Town for more than a month. He feels that everything in this huge town dazzles him. The only two normal people who can communicate with each other are the vice-principal Wang Zhong and the island native Lin Ziping.
A few island warriors with Tsukiyo hair and furs were not conspicuous in the crowd. One of them, a leader-looking guy, asked the people around him: "Matajiro, have you counted them? They have erected such tall poles together." How many?"
The attendant next to the leader quickly replied: "234. Murata-kun and I counted them one by one. I originally heard that we were going to order them two days ago, but we changed it to today because it kept snowing."
At 7 o'clock in the evening, when the power port's crossing officers and a group of apprentices from the technical school checked the transmission lines one by one, and after confirming that everything was correct, as Wu Ping An issued the "start" order on the phone, a person in charge The power plant operators operating the low-voltage substation immediately pressed the switch.
In an instant, from the Xila River to the westernmost tip of Beihai, all 234 street lamps in Beihai Town were lit up, making the whole town look like daylight, dazzling the eyes. Foreigners and newly arrived refugees were attracted by the light from the street lamps above their heads, and couldn't help but whisper to each other:
"Come on, motherfucker! It's so bright!"
"Oh God! It's just like the moon, no, brighter than the moon!"
"Wow! Si Guoyi!"
In fact, Beihai Town has been using electricity since its establishment. Whether it is schools, hospitals, military camps or even workshops on the east bank of the Xila River, electricity has long been an indispensable energy source for the development of Beihai Town. But today, electric lighting has finally entered residential communities.
Cai Jigong and other members of the Li Dynasty mission looked around in astonishment as if it were daytime, feeling dizzy and dazzled. After a while, Mr. Cai asked his men to help him back to the hotel.
Count Laperouse looked up at the street lamps emitting bright white light in the night sky, feeling both admiration and excitement in his heart, thinking that this trip to Beihai Town was really worth it!
Presumably, as the records of his expeditions are transmitted back to the European continent, people will be fascinated by China not only in silk fabrics, porcelain, decorations and tea, but also in the words of Jesuit priests, dramas and rituals, and the things shining in the night sky. "Chinese Moon" is probably the one that people talk about the most, right?
Gu can only speak from what he has heard and seen this month. If anyone says that science is still in the foundation stage in China, the Count of La Perouse will definitely use the big iron ship on the wharf of Whale Bay and the people on the east bank of the Sira River. The factory with its chimneys refutes.
Perhaps ancient China, which was still ruled by the Tatars in the south, was indeed in an ignorant era ruled by an autocratic dynasty, but the northern regime, composed of Han Chinese and other ethnic groups, was an extremely wealthy and advanced region.
The food here is unimaginably rich, and every newcomer can be fed and clothed; perhaps this is why the rulers here prohibit people from abandoning babies. The state apparatus here is powerful, but no one will be arrested for disrespecting the "king". However, according to Count Laperouse's observation, few people would be disrespectful to Zhao Xin with their words. Those who complained would almost be despised and reprimanded by their neighbors, and would soon be isolated.
What many old residents talk about the most is how Zhao Xin brought them across the sea to come here from nothing to the vast hectares of fertile land and criss-crossing roads they have today.
What has surprised Count Laperouse the most so far is that there is no agricultural tax or poll tax in Beihai Town. This is simply unbelievable to him! How did a regime that never taxed farmers maintain its massive military and police system and an efficient bureaucracy? Count Laperouse really wanted to ask Zhao Xin for advice.
Two days later, under the leadership of Deng Fei, a group of French expedition team finally met the ruler who "only heard his name but never saw his person". However, the other party's office space of only more than 100 square meters did not allow La Perrou Zi and several scientists were shocked.
"Your Highness, I am Commodore Conte de La Pérouse of the Kingdom of France. It is an honor to meet you! On behalf of the entire expedition team and myself, I would like to express my gratitude to you for your brilliant achievements in the war with the Russians. Congratulations on the victory.”
The feathered three-cornered hat turned like a flower with Count Laperouse's wrist, and finally raised to the right. At the same time, Laperouse's right foot took half a step back and bent down to pay tribute.
"(⊙o⊙)..." Zhao Xinxin said that the other party's posture was too fancy, and he would definitely not be able to do it if he changed it. After he listened to Deng Fei's translation, he smiled and said: "Nice to meet you, Brigadier General. Gentlemen, there is no need to be polite, please take a seat."
In fact, Zhao Xin knows a lot of foreign languages, including English, Japanese, Russian, and a little bit of German, but he doesn't know French. You must know that in Europe today, French is the social language. The little English he knew could not be understood by people in the 18th century, so Zhao Xin decided to only use Chinese.
During the conversation, when Zhao Xin learned that this group of French people had also been to Hawaii, he accidentally said "Hello, haha", which made more than a dozen French people look surprised and said to themselves that we didn't do it when we were in Maui. I heard that some Chinese people have been here!
The two parties chatted for a while and exchanged gifts. Laperouse and others prepared a gold-plated clock from the captain's cabin of the Astrolabe, and some sea otter skins they bought in Okhotsk; Zhao Xin gave each of them a pack of matches on behalf of Beihai Town. , electronic calculator, a pair of binoculars, a navigation sextant made of brass, and a Han Dynasty-style sword produced by the Beihai Town Arsenal.
The navigation sextant and matches were just that. The French were full of praise for the calculator, high-power binoculars and the imitation Han sword.
How clear! With more than 32,000 layers of hand-folded and forged, steel-clad composite, and earth-covered and burnt-edged Han eight-sided sword shapes, everyone said they liked it. Only Beihai Town can produce this thing in this time and space.
"Your Excellency Brigadier General, I wonder what you think of the third estate in your country?"
"Eh? Your Highness, you actually know the third level?"
"Oh, I learned a little about it while chatting with Admiral Suvorov."
In front of several civilians in the expedition team or scientists of bourgeois origin, Laperouse, who was born in a hereditary noble family, could not use harsh words. He considered it before saying: "Your Highness, I personally think that appropriate changes should be made." Yes. You know, I personally agree that royal power must be limited and cannot be unbridled. However, in my personal opinion, privileges can never be eliminated. Regardless of the nobility or the third estate, what everyone pursues is permanent wealth. "
Zhao Xin nodded, thinking that your brother is both unfortunate and lucky. Without this expedition, he might have been beheaded by the Girondins.
After all, this was a courtesy meeting between the two parties, and many topics were difficult to discuss in depth. At the end of the conversation, Count Laperouse sincerely invited the large iron ship from Beihai Town to visit Paris, and he himself was willing to serve as the ship's guide. Zhao Xin said he would consider it and invite the other party to his wedding next month.
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