The news of the arrival of the Northern Navy fleet caused a sensation in the local government throughout the city. The twenty-one 24-pound cannons located on the Saint Louis Castle could not help but make a deafening roar to welcome the distinguished guests from afar.
Due to the depth of the port and the size of the berth, the Thor was unable to berth at the shore, so it could only anchor one mile away from the port. The Beihai No. 1 and No. 2 slowly anchored under the guidance of a frigate sent by the French. Slowly approached the trestle.
Since Peter had already come ashore in a small boat to make contact beforehand, there were no other civilians at the port except soldiers with live ammunition and a welcoming band composed of more than thirty people.
When Deng Fei and his guards boarded the speedboat and headed towards the port quickly, Leclerc, the governor of French India, led his civilian officials and military generals to the dock. In addition, there were many French businessmen and local Tamils. People's top figures were also summoned to build momentum.
Deng Fei, who was sitting in the speedboat, raised his binoculars and looked at the strange yet familiar city in front of him for a moment. What caught his eye the most was the five-pointed starfish-like St. Louis Castle, which is the core of local governance. At this time, the movie called "The Life of Pi" occasionally flashed through his mind, and Pi's family's beautiful zoo is here; but in this time and space, this is French East Indies. The company's headquarters.
In most history textbooks, the French East India Company ends in 1769. Due to the heavy defeat by the British in the Seven Years' War, the company went bankrupt and liquidated. After that, the French East India Company was taken over by the French government and announced to be dissolved, and all its lands were merged into the royal lands; in exchange, Louis XVI also took over all the company's debts on behalf of the royal family.
However, according to the calculation method of later French people, the East India Company is currently in the 3.0 era.
Let’s put it this way, the period before the “Mississippi Bubble” caused by the “South Sea Bubble” was the 1.0 era of the French East India Company; the decades after it gained independence from the “French East India Permanent Company” belong to the 2.0 era ; The 3.0 era began in 1785, but the company's name has been changed to "France Oriental and India China Company".
It is said that in 1778, the French, who had been holding their breath since the Seven Years War, finally caught the opportunity to disgust the British. They officially ended their war and joined forces with the Thirteen States to defeat the British. By September 1783, the Treaty of Paris signed by Britain, France, and the United States was settled. The victorious French poached five cities in East India from the British, and French India rose again.
The French East India Company in the 3.0 era had a registered capital of 20 million pounds and had an exclusive monopoly on all trade east of the Cape of Good Hope. The annual fleet of ships traveling between India and France expanded to 20 ships, which even exceeded the peak period of the 2.0 era. . By 1789, the new company, which had only been established for four years, even planned to pay 16% dividends to shareholders, a high return and a bright future.
Sadly, the French Revolution broke out.
In 1790, a bolt from the blue came: the National Assembly decreed that all trade east of the Cape of Good Hope was open to all French people, that is, anyone who wanted to do it could do it. Damn it! Version 3.0 fell from the sky to the ground at once. This move almost deprived the East India Company of its trade monopoly privileges.
But that's not all the bad news. If nothing else happens, next year, the first counter-revolutionary crime in human history will be committed in France.
Yes, because it supported the royal family and most of its shareholders were nobles, the French East India Company would be accused by Robespierre's "Committee of Public Safety" of being a counterrevolutionary group. Nearly thirty million livres of assets, warehouses, and fleets were confiscated, equivalent to almost 400,000 ounces of gold. Company directors were either guillotined or in mental hospitals. Then version 3.0 went into liquidation again and eventually closed down completely.
So you understand why Leclerc is so anxious to contact Beihai Town, right? As a nobleman, he hated the "free trade" promoted by the National Assembly; and as the governor-general of French East Indies, he was worried about the British's continuous expansion.
In short, for him, everything is in chaos if the king does not belong to his family!
When the black speedboat docked, Deng Fei just stepped onto the trestle. Following an order from a French officer, the band immediately began to play the cheerful and baroque-style "March of the Royal Two Bridges". Of course, it was impossible for the "La Marseillaise", which was just born a few days ago, to be spread to the East; and even if it was spread, the Governor would never let anyone play it.
When Deng Fei landed, the accompanying members who had been waiting on Beihai No. 1 and No. 2 also stepped off the gangplank one after another. These people include Li Rui, the deputy chief of staff of the Beihai Naval Staff, and his attaché, two officers from the Intelligence Bureau, the commander of the special operations battalion, Erlu, two battalion commanders from the Marine Battalion, several officials from the Trade Department of Beihai Town, Representatives of the Education Ministry, Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji, as well as several attendants who returned with Peter.
Because the sea conditions in the Indian Ocean were so bad, and long-term sailing at sea was not good for his health, Deng Fei did not take his "princess" with him, but left him in Beihai Town, letting Shen Xuan and Director Liu Da help take care of her. .
Wang Yuanfang didn't come with him either. He was going to get married to Miss Wu, and then he would take her and his father-in-law to Bacheng to stay for a year. As for Zhao Xinmo, he went to the Gan'ao base in early March and left a batch of fuel and supplies before returning. The two agreed to meet in Madagascar at the end of June.
At this time, Peter hurriedly stepped forward and introduced Leclerc and Deng Fei to each other.
"Your Excellency the Governor, this is Vice Admiral Deng Fei of the Northern Navy."
"General Deng, please let me introduce to you, this is the head of the French Oriental and India China Company in India, the Governor-General of French India, the Chevalier Camille Charles Leclerc de Fresne. This is His wife, Ms. Emily Thomas de Solmignac."
When Deng Fei heard this, he realized that the governor was just the lowest "chevalier" among the nobility. It was estimated that his title was awarded because he served as governor and was not hereditary. On the contrary, his wife is a proper old noble, and the Castle of Solminiac is very famous. You must know that before the French Revolution, if a French person's name had the preposition "De", his family or ancestors must be noble.
Let's talk about something interesting. For example, the name Charles de Gaulle is "De Gaulle" in French, which means the knight family whose family fiefdom is in France. As for the famous president, he should actually be called "Charles of the De Gaulle family."
Deng Fei smiled and stretched out his hand, and said at the same time: "Your Majesty the Governor, I am Deng Fei, the current Vice Admiral of the Northern Navy and the captain of the Thor. Thank you very much for your invitation. I believe that my colleagues and I will be here Have a great time.”
Well, in order to give Deng Fei a sufficient status for this visit, the "Northern Navy Command" - of course Zhao Xin himself, decided to promote Deng Fei to the rank of lieutenant general. In addition, due to last year's Nanyang Campaign and Outer Mongolia Campaign, Liu Sheng and Wang Yuanfang were also promoted to lieutenant general, and Fan Tong was promoted from colonel to major general.
Although they had heard that the Serisian vice-admiral could speak fluent French, the French people present were still shocked by Deng Fei's standard pronunciation.
Governor Leclerc was stunned for a moment, then stretched out his hand to shake Deng Fei's hand, and complimented: "The Thor that Lieutenant General mentioned is that big white ship, right? God, it's so beautiful! Listen to Father Peter It is said that it is completely made of steel. It is hard for me to imagine that iron can actually float in the water. This is really a miracle. I hope I will be lucky enough to go on the ship to visit it someday."
Deng Fei smiled and said: "This is not a problem. My crew and I are very welcome."
"I heard from Father Peter that you also have a larger iron ship with a blue appearance. Why didn't that ship come?"
The speaker was the governor's wife, who was only 22 years old this year. She wore a towering silver wig and a gorgeous tutu with a huge bustle. Her face was thickly smeared with rouge and gouache, and she also had strong thorns all over her body. Nose of perfume. Behind her, there was a local Tamil maid holding a large parasol to provide her with shade.
Looking at the beautiful woman in front of him, it was hard for Deng Fei to imagine that she was actually a second-married widow as Peter said. But it’s no wonder that in these days, women in Europe and East Asia were getting married early; Catherine II became the crown princess at the age of 16, and Marie Antoinette married Louis XVI at the age of 14.
Deng Fei finished his slander and said with a smile: "Madam, that ship is called Thunder. We are currently at war with the Qing Empire in East Asia. The Thunder has a mission and cannot leave."
"Your French is really good!" The governor's wife actually didn't care about Deng Fei's explanation. She just wanted to interrupt to highlight her presence. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant General." After saying that, she smiled and raised her right hand to Deng Fei.
After spending these days with Prime Minister Peter in Beihai Town and on the ship, Deng Fei became more and more proficient in French, and now he was asked to count from one to a hundred in French without any fuss.
Deng Fei carefully stretched out his hand to hold the other person's finger, and despite the strong smell of perfume, he bent down and kissed the back of the other person's hand gently.
Afterwards, Deng Fei shook hands with the local garrison lieutenant colonel, tax bureau, customs, members of parliament, and businessmen and said hello. These people, including officers, all wore wigs and rouge and gouache on their faces, just like a large group of zombies.
When Peter introduced several upper-level figures from the local kingdom, those people simply turned a blind eye to Deng Fei's outstretched right hand. They all saluted with their hands together and looked at this big shot with an Asian face with great interest.
Behind him, other officers of the Northern Navy either shook hands or performed military salutes, and people from the Ministry of Trade also bowed their hands. But for Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji, who were scholars, when they saw the plump and lustful breasts of the governor's wife and other female relatives, their faces turned red. They were so embarrassed, thinking that these ghost women really don't know. Shame, what a shame in broad daylight!
The group was delayed on the dock for a long time before boarding the carriage and heading to the Governor's Palace in the west of Fort St. Louis.
After entering the gate of the castle, the buildings you pass from time to time outside the car window are all in French style. The streets are lined with trees and there are not many pedestrians. Except for the weird smell in the air that made Deng Fei feel a little uncomfortable, everything else looked pretty good.
Peter, who was traveling with him, told him that the city of Pondicherry is currently divided into four districts. The north and south ends of the St. Louis Fort are the French residential areas, which are separated by city walls and are considered the inner city; while the outer city to the west is the French residential area. The area inhabited by natives, that is, Tamils. There used to be a city wall on the outside, but after it was destroyed by the British, they never had the energy to repair it. Currently, they only built an earthen fort with simple fortifications.
When Deng Fei went back to repair the ship after the Spring Festival, he took the time to look up relevant information about this place. Until the British completely destroyed it in 1761, it was the best-built colonial city in India. In fact, in another time and space until modern times, local governance was cleaner than in Mumbai, let alone Delhi...
At this time, in another carriage, the young governor's wife asked Governor Leclerc: "Are these Seris people very powerful? I think their clothing style, hair and behavior are really...how to say?" Weird. Yeah, that’s what I’m saying!”
Governor Leclerc looked out the window and said with a serious face: "Madam, don't judge the Seris people with our eyes. Although they don't believe in God, you have to know that they even defeated the Tsarist Empire's army twice! "
"Russians? Humph, those are a bunch of barbarians!"
"Even if they are barbarians, they are a force that cannot be underestimated on the European continent. We currently need them to help us deal with the British and return to the homeland to rescue the king! Do you know? That big white ship is incredibly fast! Peter I was told before that they set out at the end of March, and in less than a month, they sailed more than 9,000 nautical miles. Have you ever heard of such a ship?"
"Oh my God!" The governor's wife's eyes widened after hearing this, with an expression of disbelief on her face. If there was a chance, she would also like to go back to France with the ship.
Deng Fei and his party were placed in a large mansion very close to the Governor's Palace. This place was originally built for a major shareholder of the French East India Company, but since it was built, the shareholder has never come. They packed it up just in time and arranged for twenty Indian servants to serve them.
As for the 1,500 Northern Navy soldiers who came with the ship, the French were terrified and arranged for them to camp on the beach south of the Saint Louis Castle.
In fact, the French were also afraid. The Northern Navy captured the heavily defended Batavia in one day, and captured Binh Thuan in Annan in half a month. No matter who heard this record, they were shocked. Therefore, it is better for the Northern Navy, who are all very tough and shameless, to put them under the surveillance of dozens of cannons on the castle, so that everyone can rest assured.
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