British 1986

"Okay. Then I'll go back first and make arrangements in advance for your entourage this time."

Hu Te stood up, held the desk with his right hand, moved his waist slightly, and then slowly walked out of the study.

On the afternoon of April 20, 1993.

France, Strasbourg.

When you hear these place names with the suffix of XXXX, you often think of Germany.

This place did belong to Germany in the past, but it is not absolute. Anyway, it is located in Strasbourg on the left side of the Rhine River, next to Germany on the right.

Historically, the two countries have fought over this area, but now it belongs to France.

Here is the headquarters of the European Parliament, the headquarters of many EU organizations, and the only area in France where the EU's administrative agencies are gathered.

As for why you sometimes see the European Parliament meeting in Brussels on TV, there is a certain special reason.

First of all, the predecessor of the European Union, the European Coal and Steel Community, had six founding countries at that time.

Not to mention France, Germany and Italy, the other three are the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Not to mention France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, these four countries were large in size and their international status was not low at that time.

But Belgium and Luxembourg are a little bit special.

Belgium is a kingdom with a slightly different political system, and Luxembourg is even weirder.

Luxembourg is actually a Grand Duchy.

There are certain differences between the Grand Duchy and the Principality.

For example, Wales is a principality, it is the territory of the prince, that is, the prince of Boss Cha.

But the Grand Duchy is different. It is the territory of a duke. Luxembourg is the only existing Grand Duchy in the world, which was the so-called vassal state in the past.

As for the three countries of Monaco, Andorra, and Liechtenstein, they are principalities. The highest nobles in their countries are princes, not dukes, and they are also called certain royal families.

As one of the earliest member states of the EU, France, Luxembourg and Belgium have set up EU offices in three cities in three countries in order to compete for their respective countries' presence in the EU.

They are Strasbourg, France, which is the headquarters of many EU departments, and meetings are held here every month.

The city of Luxembourg is of course called Luxembourg, and the European Union usually holds meetings here.

Brussels, which is best known to the outside world, is a city in Belgium.

The three cities are distributed in a diagonal line. Many departments of the European Union. In order to take care of the interests of these three parties in the EU, all members of the European Parliament and the following civil servants have to meet in these three places in turn every month.

"Oh? So troublesome? In other words, I will not only come to Strasbourg, but also to two other places in the future? Your Highness told me that I only need to go to Brussels for meetings occasionally?"

Allen looked surprised while listening to the secretary beside him giving him popular science knowledge while visiting the hotel prepared for him in advance.

"Well, Your Excellency, to be precise, these three places hold meetings for a few days every month, but your permanent office is in Strasbourg."

"."

Allen finally sensed Boss Cha's sinister intentions. What he said at the time was that he only had to hold meetings a few days a month, which was very easy.

But Allen didn't expect that the so-called meetings every month meant that meetings were held in three different places every month.

Just count each place and four days per month, plus the time he spent traveling back and forth. In this month, he spent nearly half of the month traveling and attending meetings.

Damn, plus there are other things he usually has to do, doesn't this mean he should take administrative classes?

How many days off do you have every month?

I, a great British Earl, live in the interior of Europe and go to work every day?

With such hard work, wouldn't it drive him to death?

How will he go out to play after this?

ah? !

Allen was breathing heavily. It didn’t matter that he didn’t want to see this shitty hotel. He was ready to leave. Whoever wants to come to this shitty European Parliament can come. I’m done with it.

Seeing that Allen didn't say a word and turned away with a livid face, the secretary next to him who came to introduce him to the job was so frightened that he quickly pulled Allen's sleeves and said: "Your Excellency! Your Excellency, listen to me! Your Excellency, please don't leave. Once you leave, Your Excellency, I will be finished."

Allen shook his hand hard and got rid of the damn bald man.

"explain!"

"Your Excellency, these are theoretical working hours. If you are busy, you don't have to come. These meetings are not mandatory for every member of Parliament to attend, just like our domestic parliament. Except for the opening and closing ceremonies, the rest of the time is very free, really! Your Excellency, you have to believe me!"

The secretary felt a little lack of confidence as he spoke. This was the first time he taught people the experience of "fishing" so openly. Unspoken rules like this are usually not stated openly. If anyone dares to say this, then the European Parliament How will it work in the future?

Therefore, these things are the privileges of experienced people. If you stay here for a while, you will gradually understand them.

But the gentleman in front of me has a bad temper. When he saw that the conditions here are simple and the working hours are long, he turned around and wanted to leave!

Now that he has to leave, what should he say when he goes back?

All we can do is explain all the hidden rules to Allen quickly and stabilize him first.

The ministers of the British House of Lords were very happy to hear that Alan was coming to the European Parliament!

If they knew that Allen had only been here for a day, but because he, the secretary, had not explained clearly, he gave up his job and went back to continue making noise in the House of Lords, then one can imagine the fate of this secretary who failed to stabilize Allen. .

"real?"

Allen was dubious and confused.

"Your Majesty, it's absolutely true!"

"Then let's go on. This room in the hotel will be my permanent place from now on?"

"Well, if you are not used to living here, I still recommend that you buy a property here, but the council will give you some subsidies for staying in the hotel. You know, because you need to travel to and from the meeting places of the three countries, every time you go out for a meeting, you will be given a subsidy. The cost, currently used by the European Parliament to subsidize the commuting and accommodation costs of all personnel, is as high as 40 million pounds per year."

"."

Allen, who has more money and less money, doesn't care, but he hates this kind of office style where people go around to commit crimes. If he wants to stay comfortably here according to his lazy personality, he has to buy it in three cities in these three countries. A property, so that he doesn't have to stay in a hotel every time he goes.

But in this way, the cost of three properties.

Damn it, when I go to work, not only do I have to fly here, but I also have to buy three houses first?

What class is this? How many millions of pounds have to be spent before a penny is earned?

Just buy a very ordinary house. If you want to live more comfortably, you have to spend more money!

The more Allen thought about it, the more he felt that Boss Cha had tricked him this time.

Not every member of the European Parliament is a person of high status, but most members have basically a high social status.

For these MPs, necessary offices and conference rooms need to be allocated.

The current headquarters of the European Parliament is not in the fried-egg-like parliament building that the outside world later became familiar with, but in a very ordinary building complex.

The main thing here is that it covers a large area and has many rooms.

Although the European Parliament currently has only more than 500 members in total, plus hundreds of civil servants, the office space required for these thousands of people is not small.

And now there are more than a thousand small rooms in the European Parliament headquarters, in addition to nearly a hundred conference rooms of various sizes.

Each member of Parliament will be assigned at least a separate office, as well as shared conference rooms and other rooms.

Allen was also assigned two rooms. One was an office with a suite, where the suite could be used for temporary rest. The other was a small conference room for ten people. It was not big, but if he formed a small team, here It can be temporarily converted into a public office.

The purpose of coming here today is to follow this secretary to see his future office space here and get familiar with it, and then come to officially have a meeting tomorrow to feel the atmosphere of the European Parliament.

The decoration and furnishings in the office can only be said to be very average. It is full of the atmosphere of the times. Allen curled his lips looking at this shabby place. The office environment here is not as well decorated as the servant's room at home. This European Not even the parliament. They get so much budget every year and they don’t know how to build buildings? Improve the office environment?

It's such a shabby place. At first glance, it looks like a street office. It's too shabby.

Seeing the disgusted expression on Allen's face, the frightened secretary who followed Allen quickly said: "Your Excellency, the conditions are limited, but the year before last, France had commissioned the best design firm in Europe to design the latest European Parliament headquarters. , it seems that the design drawings came out some time ago, and it is said that after the budget is prepared, construction can start at the end of this year or early next year at the earliest.”

"Oh? Did you demolish this place and build a new one?"

"No, no, I won't change to a place with better office conditions. It's close to the Rhine River. The scenery is very good. The parliament headquarters will then occupy a larger area. You are not the only one who thinks that the conditions here are poor. Many members have already We have objections here, but as you know, we want to build a new parliamentary headquarters, and we still need to apply for it and go through the process."

The secretary shrugged and talked about the efficiency of the European Parliament. A new parliamentary headquarters can be completed from project establishment to approval to final construction within ten years. It is already considered "lightning speed". The current progress is Three years have passed and victory is just around the corner.

"Okay, there's nothing to see here, let's go."

Allen didn't even want to visit the suite inside. He would come here often in the future and had plenty of time to look around.

Just after walking out of the office, a group of people passed by the room next to Allen's office.

This is also an office, and it seems to belong to a certain congressman. Hearing the movement at the door, before Allen can go far, the office door opens, and a man with a chicken coop head, like a Frankenstein, walks out of it. old man.

When the old guy saw Allen and his entourage, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he greeted Allen very enthusiastically: "I heard that there is a replacement congressman, is it you? What do you call me, I am Your "neighbor" Wright, you can call me Professor Wright."

"."

Looking at this enthusiastic and generous old man, Allen frowned, and the old guy naturally grabbed his right hand and shook it.

"Alan Hill."

"Oh oh oh, I know you, aren't you the nobleman who likes to make movies? So it's you who's here this time?"

The old man seemed to have discovered a new world. After hearing Allen's name, he became more enthusiastic.

but

His expression looked fake in Allen's eyes.

He likes to play movies. Although Allen is not a professional in acting, he has watched it a lot. He can definitely tell whether the other party is acting and whether the acting is good or bad. But for poor acting skills, he can tell at a glance. You can tell that the old guy in front of you has such poor acting skills.

He glanced at the secretary next to him with a slightly questioning look. The other person still shrugged at Allen, with a helpless expression.

This probably means that the other party is not hostile to him, but what is the purpose of being so enthusiastic?

"If you have anything to say, just tell me!"

Allen was not the kind of person who would make ink marks. With a slight squeeze of his right hand, Professor Wright, who was shaking hands with him with a smile on his face, his eyes instantly bulged.

"It hurts, Sir Allen, I have something to ask you. Listen to me, I have a research result that I want you to see, and by the way, I want to tell you about the core philosophy of our organization."

"?"

It's all flashy and gaudy. It could have been like this earlier.

Allen flicked his right hand slightly and shook off the old man's right hand. He raised his chin slightly and said, "What do you want me to see?"

"Your Excellency, please come here. I came out in a hurry. The things are in my office."

Professor Wright awkwardly opened the door to the office behind him and wanted to invite Allen in.

Although this is the headquarters of the European Parliament, security issues should be guaranteed, but Allen is not stupid enough to have the habit of entering whenever anyone invites him into the room. The apartment here has a rest room, just in case he ambushes inside. More than a dozen swordsmen and axe-wielders are plotting to kill him. If he goes in now, won't he be doomed?

He slightly gestured to the secretary next to him. The secretary took a look into the office very politely. After he came out, he nodded to Allen. Allen then entered the office with confidence.

The blue circular logo has an oval-shaped earth plane at the bottom of the circle, three stars of different sizes in the upper left corner, and a small sun pattern in the upper right corner.

That’s the logo.

Allen took the document with this pattern printed on it and looked at it for a long time. He always felt that the pattern looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it.

Until I finished reading the contents of the document, it talked about it in general terms from the origin of the earth to modern times, and also talked about many very detailed examples in a decent manner.

The main idea is that the earth is not round, but flat, which is the famous "Flat Earth Theory".

"???"

Looking at this document, Allen's head was filled with questions. Did this old man approach him specifically just to let him read this document?

The earth is an elliptical celestial body. Isn’t this something that even children know?

There are still people these days who believe that the earth is actually flat?