Zhu Jingyuan held a meeting with the military attachés at the Wuying Hall to discuss the organization of the military parade.
After the general direction was basically determined, some details in various aspects were discussed.
When the meeting was almost in progress, Zhu Jingyuan's aide Zheng Xingyang walked in quickly from outside.
Zheng Xingyang explained the situation to the guard at the door, and then walked to Zhu Jingyuan with Lin Zexu who came to inquire.
Zheng Xingyang handed a telegraph newspaper to Zhu Jingyuan, and at the same time lowered his voice and reported:
"Your Majesty, King George III of England has passed away."
The telegram in Zhu Jingyuan's hand also contained the same content.
The famous mad king in British history, George III, died at the beginning of 1820 in the original history.
However, he lived to be eighty-two years old, which was regarded as a longevity in later generations, and even more so in this era.
And he reigned for a total of sixty years, second only to Victoria and Elizabeth II in original history.
Now that the latter two queens have not appeared, the current George III is the longest-reigning king in British history.
The level of medical care in this world is higher, but it cannot stand up to his ongoing madness, which is always draining his energy.
Eighty-two years old is already an advanced age, and in the end he lived half a year longer than in history.
When Zhu Jingyuan saw the news, his expression did not change much, but he felt a little emotional in his heart.
Mad King George III is finally dead, and the old man actually had a very uncomfortable life.
He may have driven a group of unfilial children crazy.
After going crazy, the state of the unfilial children will remain the same as when they were crazy.
Others may be happy when they are crazy, but they must be living in pain.
Now that he has finally passed away, it can be considered a relief.
Originally, Zhu Jingyuan could not remember exactly when George III died in history.
But I still have a general impression that he won't live long.
Now there is finally definite news.
Charlotte's father, Britain's current Prince of Wales and the future George IV, will also succeed.
But at this juncture, it's a little troublesome.
The British king's succession is actually very similar to the Ming Dynasty's emperor's succession model.
The old emperor is dead, and the Prince of Wales will soon succeed him.
Then prepare for the formal coronation ceremony.
Therefore, the coronation ceremony of George IV will be very close to his own coronation ceremony.
Moreover, George III was Charlotte's grandfather. When he died, Charlotte had to go back to attend the funeral.
Charlotte and her children, Zhu Zhu Yu and Zhu Yuewei, also had to go back with them.
He couldn't wait until he ascended the throne before going back.
Zhu Jingyuan was not in a good mood.
Considering that everything that should be discussed in this meeting was basically determined, Zhu Jingyuan directly asked Niu Jian to announce that the meeting was adjourned.
Zhu Jingyuan returned directly to the harem and went to Charlotte's residence.
Zhu Jingyuan didn't have anything serious to discuss. When he arrived at a concubine's residence, he would not let anyone know in advance.
I have also told them on weekdays that unless there is something ceremonial, there is no need to go to the palace gate to greet them.
However, when Zhu Jingyuan arrived at the palace gate, the maid at the door had to go in and report immediately.
When Charlotte entered the door, Charlotte greeted her very warmly:
"My dear Majesty, you finally think of me again...
"Let me tell you, Di Yu learned two more poems today!"
Zhu Jingyuan smiled and nodded gently, then picked up Zhu Di Yu who was following Charlotte.
At the same time, he handed the telegram he received to Charlotte.
Charlotte didn't know what it was at first, so she opened it curiously and took a look. However, after taking one look, she was immediately stunned:
"Grandpa, he..."
Zhu Jingyuan teased his son and said in a rather melancholy tone:
"He is already eighty-three years old, which can be regarded as a funeral in our Ming Dynasty..."
When Zhu Jingyuan said this, Charlotte couldn't help it anymore, and tears flowed out:
"grandfather……"
George III's favorite son was his second son, and his favorite daughter was his youngest daughter.
My favorite granddaughter... I have no choice but Charlotte herself.
Charlotte has been particularly cared for by her grandfather since she was a child, so her relationship with her grandfather is also very good.
Now that her grandfather has passed away, it is natural for her to feel sad.
Zhu Jingyuan handed his son to the servant and let Charlotte hold him in his arms for comfort for a while.
After she stopped crying, he slowly told her the real thing:
"You can't miss your grandfather's funeral or your father's coronation ceremony.
"So you just pack up in the next few days and take Di Yu and Yue Wei back to London."
Charlotte was depressed, speechless, and nodded silently.
Zhu Jingyuan stayed in Charlotte's room that day.
The next morning, Zhu Jingyuan went to the morning court again and asked the Ministry of Rites to announce the death of the British King.
Generally speaking, the Ming Dynasty didn't really care about the death of the king of Taixi.
George III was mainly Charlotte's grandfather, so the officials in the Ming court were more serious.
Zhu Jingyuan arranged for the Ministry of Rites to write a condolence article and send it to him.
Prepare a congratulatory article on the coronation of George IV in advance. After all, this is Charlotte's biological father, so we should pay more attention to it.
At the same time, let the Ministry of Rites arrange personnel to prepare envoys of condolences and congratulations.
Then he told Niu Jian to prepare, and as his personal representative, he set off together with the envoys from the Ministry of Rites.
Accompany Charlotte to London.
Except for the death of the old British king and the new king's succession, everything else is routine.
Today's morning session ended quickly.
Zhu Jingyuan returned to the harem again, and took the women and children in the harem to Charlotte's residence to say goodbye to her.
It was also the last time to spend some time with her.
After dinner that afternoon, Charlotte took her two children, escorted by a group of servants, to the royal station in the palace area of Yingtianfu New City.
Charlotte will take a special train through the entire continent of China, arrive in France, and then take a boat back to London.
Charlotte is the de facto heir of Britain, and her child is the next generation's heir. The key is Zhu Jingyuan's child.
Therefore, it is impossible for them to take a risky flight, and it is too slow to go to the UK by boat.
Fortunately, the Shenou Continental Bridge has been opened for several years now.
The special trains used by the Ming Dynasty royal family were also upgraded from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives.
With a large diesel engine and electric transmission, the maximum speed has exceeded 120 kilometers per hour.
It is safer to keep the speed below 80 to 100 kilometers.
In this way, the total distance of more than 13,000 kilometers of railway from the south of the Ming Dynasty to northwest France can be reached in six to seven days.
Able to catch the farewell ceremony and funeral of George III.
After Charlotte's royal car left the professional station.
Niu Jianjiu and the envoy headed by the Minister of Rites also arrived at the royal station at the same time and rode in the royal car to go together.
But instead of living with Charlotte, they had several official carriages added behind the royal carriage.
This is also an arrangement that has become a habit.
When the royal family travels, they often have to be accompanied by their courtiers. It is really troublesome to ask the courtiers to take a separate car.
So they are all arranged in different compartments on the same car.
After the train starts, the diesel engine outputs electricity and the electric motor drives the front of the train, slowly driving the train out of the station.
While driving outward, keep accelerating.
When we left the city, we had already mentioned one hundred kilometers per hour.
Then maintain this speed and head northwest.
Slowly leave the most prosperous southeastern region of the Ming Dynasty and enter the vast and flat land of the Central Plains.
After arriving inland, the sight of one built-up area connected to another in small cities common in the southeast gradually disappeared.
The large farms grew larger and larger, eventually turning into endless wilderness.
Charlotte spent her first night on the train.
The next morning, we arrived again in Xi'an, where Charlotte had followed Zhu Jingyuan.
Charlotte has lived here for two years and has some feelings and impressions.
But Charlotte soon discovered that Xi'an has changed even more than it did five years ago.
The size of the city is larger.
Five years ago, the railway was supposed to pass by the edge of the city, but now there are stretches of built-up areas outside the railway.
The population in the urban area has also increased visibly.
Charlotte soon realized that this change was not completely spontaneous and that Zhu Jingyuan's original policy promotion was important.
Zhu Jingyuan built large cities within the Ming Dynasty.
Concentrate the population of remote areas into cities near key railway and road transportation lines.
Reduce administrative and financial resources wasted on communicating with remote areas.
Provide higher overall level of living infrastructure and services at lower unit cost in large cities.
Instead of building hundreds of small clinics for villages and towns with a population of only a few hundred to a few thousand people, it is better to gather them together and build a formal large government-run hospital.
The same logic applies to schools.
This can first reduce the management costs of the court, and also reduce the operation and construction costs of the government-run consortium.
On the other hand, it also increases administrative income and company profits.
While the population is concentrated, local clan groups are broken up and local evil forces in remote areas are objectively reduced.
After passing Xi'an, this population concentration trend becomes more obvious.
The Hexi Corridor, the Western Region Grasslands, and the Principality of Kazakhstan. Where there are no cities, there are endless wilderness and grasslands. Where there are cities, construction is in full swing.
The streets were full of cars, as well as hordes of mopeds, Zhu Jingyuan's motorcycles in his previous life.
Of course there are a lot of bicycles, but the number is already less than motorcycles, and many of them are played by half-grown children.
There are no idle homeless people in or around the city.
But there are children running and playing everywhere.
From three or four-year-old children who have just learned to run to half-grown children of thirteen or fourteen years old, they often appear in groups.
There are also half-grown children riding bicycles together.
Apparently, there are too many children.
At this time, ordinary people basically had no concept of contraception, and the concept of eugenics and eugenics (involution) had not yet appeared.
After adult men and women get married, they will continue to have children.
It is rare for a couple to have three or four children, but it is normal to have five, six or more children.
The amount of labor in Ming Dynasty is still huge. Unless you are a very wealthy family, it is impossible to hire nannies specifically.
So most of the children are not accompanied by adults.
It is children over seven or eight years old who are already sensible, playing with their younger brothers and sisters who are three or four years old.
There were no mobile phones or TVs at this time, and there were a lot of children, and they all liked to get together, so it was often a big mess.
The Ming Dynasty participated in the World War more than ten years ago, and at that time, the Ming Dynasty was also pushed to the brink of collapse.
But the war did not break out in the mainland after all, so the Ming Dynasty was not destroyed.
As soon as the war ended and the reforms promoted by Zhu Jingyuan began, the local area quickly regained its vitality.
The fertility rate, which had been suppressed during the war, also skyrocketed, creating a wave of births.
And this wave of childbirth has not stopped since it began, creating the terrifying figure of an increase of 300 million in the population in the fifteen years of the Ming Dynasty.
Fifteen years have passed, and the oldest of these children is only thirteen or fourteen years old, and the youngest is of course just born.
Today, the total population of Ming Dynasty is less than one billion, but there are 300 million children under the age of 15, accounting for one-third of the total population.
So now cities all over the Ming Dynasty must be full of children.
The Ming Dynasty banned child labor and promoted compulsory education. The income of ordinary workers was also very good.
Even if there are many parents who are willing to send their children to school, after all, many of them just let them go...
Zhu Di Yu, who was next to Charlotte, had a longing expression on her face every time she saw children playing in the distance outside the window.
It was obvious that she just wanted to run out and play with them, and the child loved playing as much as her mother did.
Charlotte looked at the busy workers and groups of children, as well as her son's yearning eyes, and muttered to herself in a trance more than once:
"The people of Ming Dynasty are always so energetic, and the children of Ming Dynasty are always so carefree...
"The Ming Dynasty now has a population of nearly one billion, but it will definitely continue to grow...
"I hope the same can be said for Britain and the United States..."
Charlotte continued to look at the scenery with anticipation, watching the train pass through the borders of the Principality of Kazakhstan, the Principality of Xianbei, and Lucia, and officially entered Europe in the current sense.
The junction between Daming and Lucia is an oil field jointly developed by the two countries.
There is also a lively scene here, and this oil field is still in the stage of ramping up its production capacity.
After passing the oil fields, we entered the interior of Lucia, which is also a large area of farmland.
After entering the city, Charlotte also saw busy crowds.
However, the number of cars is obviously less than in the cities of Daming, and most people who go to work ride bicycles.
At least it is an engine-assisted car, which is much smaller than cars and bicycles.
After passing a few cities, Charlotte discovered new differences.
There are no hordes of children in and around these cities.
"We can't all go to school or... work in factories as child labor, right?"
Charlotte knows that currently only Ming Dynasty has explicitly banned child labor, and no other countries have explicitly banned it.
A few years ago, it was very common in Thailand and Western countries for children as young as thirteen or fourteen to enter factories.
Charlotte does not think that the countries of Europe and the West will undergo subversive changes in the past few years.
This comparison and speculation made Charlotte feel a little uncomfortable.
In the city of Ming Dynasty, especially looking at the children, Charlotte could feel a vigorous vitality.
But in Lucia's city, Charlotte felt inexplicably depressed.
Although child labor was used all over the world in the past...
Judy also had no interest in this place and started to feel sleepy after watching it for a while.
Charlotte was going home for the funeral, so she didn't stop in Lucia and didn't go to say hello to the Lucia royal family.
So I didn't explore the logic.
The train went all the way through Lucia, Prussia, and finally entered France.
However, we did not go deep into the French interior. After entering France, we transferred to the pier and took the British royal family's cruise ship back to London.
Charlotte came back for the funeral, and technically there shouldn't be any celebrations, so there was no welcome ceremony.
Charlotte changed from the dock to a private car and walked through the city to the palace.
Charlotte had the experience of Ming Dynasty, Lucia, and Prussia. After entering the city of London, she paid attention to it and observed it.
And now that I am in a car, it is more direct to look at the scene outside the window.
The streets of London are equally lively, and the key is that you can see running children from time to time.
But there are far fewer children than there are in Ming cities.
There are also some boys shouting and selling newspapers on the street, and there are girls selling flowers with baskets.
Charlotte felt in her heart that the United Kingdom was certainly not as good as the Ming Dynasty, but it should be better than Lucia.
(End of chapter)
