Harry Potter’s Morning Light

   Chapter 2276 The Winter Banquet of the Sea God (18)

Mechelen originated in the wetlands, and the palace of Margaret of Austria was not far from the Dyele River, and the processing workshop related to the railway was located outside the city, near the edge of the Seine. According to Mr. Martin, the place where the Conditions are still relatively poor, with construction sites and mud everywhere.

Almost all the members of the inspection team went there without even entering the city. In the future, a large warehouse will be built there. At present, building materials and coal are stacked, and a bakery is also built. This is also one of Bonaparte's experiments. A large bakery factory replaces the bakery, and it does not have to be located in the city center to transport the prepared bread to various places in the city by truck.

   In addition, a veterinary hospital is to be built. The bad horses they bought from Hungary last time died of illness on the way.

  Georgianna glanced at Richard's muddy boots, which looked dirty even though he had washed them with water before entering.

   The delivery yard does not have to be located in a larger consumption area, it can be built in the suburbs that are conducive to lower production and transportation costs. Belgium has a characteristic, the difference between the city and the countryside is not big, unlike France, "except Paris is the countryside".

   This is due to the history of Belgium, it is not just a central city. Although the walls of Mechelen were torn down, a ring was left, like the three ring walls of Paris.

  The circle is often regarded as the standard distance. The post roads in France are distinguished according to how many days it takes to travel from Paris to the local area. One day is a circle, two days is a circle, and three days is a circle. The situation in Belgium is different. The time from Mechelen to Brussels and Antwerp is the same. Antwerp and Brussels are both big cities, which leads to an even distribution of villages and population along the route, and the difference between urban and rural areas is not big.

  Decentralization does not mean that there is no need for the center, but that each node freely chooses the center. In other words, centralization is that the center determines the node. The node must depend on the center, and the node cannot survive without the center. Mechelen has lost most of its capital functions. It is still an important transportation hub. Any city can become a center, and any center is not permanent. The administration of Brussels may also move to Mechelen at any time. Herron assumed the functions of a new capital, such as the third capital of France.

   This is not new in history either, Lyon already has the potential to be the second capital, as it is closer to the Alpine Republic than Paris.

  Relocation is a big deal, and some people have other concerns, so Parisians are not very friendly to Lyons, especially when the Ulm Canal, which is related to the safety of drinking water in Paris, is in the hands of Lyon merchants. Originally, the river could be nationalized with a wine tax, but now Parisian businessmen want to buy the right to operate the Urque Canal.

  The magic of France's railways is here. It is a company to build a section of railway, but it is "reasonable" because there is currently no joint-stock company in France.

Xialong Company, an industrial zone in Mechelen, also wanted to intervene. This is a "French characteristic". Both civil and military officials like to support local factions according to their own preferences. The military can levy taxes and increase taxes at will, while civil officials install themselves in the regime. Reliable people, when the founding ceremony of the Shannan Republic was held in Lyon, the representatives were talking about the intolerable situation in the country. These people were selected under the supervision of Mura.

Fortunately, Mr. Martin stopped before the topic became off-putting. Today's dinner was made by his cook. The starter looked like a plate of pearls in a shell. One of the pearls was very large, but it was Not really pearls, but French foie gras wrapped in a layer of creamy cheese.

  The other pearls aren't real pearls either, but silvery candies, a dish reminiscent of Cleopatra's bet with Anthony that she could spend 10 million sestals for one meal.

   It was a very unlucky dish, but Georgiana ate it anyway, and Edgeworth brought up Chiara again.

  She had been working at the Louvre before going to Antwerp, and when the newly opened museum was hiring, she set about making prints and reproductions of all the collections in the museum to share with the public who couldn’t see the treasures in person. She knew many French cultural celebrities and had close contacts with consuls and high officials. Napoleon's uncle, Cardinal Fish, saw her paintings in Lyon and got to know her.

   Napoleon rarely went to the Louvre. Now that this incident happened, should she continue to go back to the Louvre to work?

So after dinner, Georgiana went for a walk in the garden. She changed the ancient Greek dress into men's clothes, and then she mentioned that she wanted to promote her newly acquired pet, the merino sheep of Rambouillet, in Belgium. matter.

   There is a ready-made wool textile industry here, and Merino wool produces high-grade wool. Mr. Martin thinks he can discuss it with the mayor.

   They went back around 8 o'clock, and then Georgiana called Shabby and Figuere, and they rode together to the construction site by the Seine.

   She saw the brightly lit area from a long distance. There were no houses, all tents, and the "road" was mud.

  The wind blew the songs from the construction site. She couldn't understand what they were singing, but she remembered another poem:

   "Go ahead, raise your black flags, dip every quill in ink, we have universal suffrage on our side, it's a precious right, and on their side there is nothing but corruption and stench."

Seeing a black flag on the high seas definitely means bad luck. In fact, the earliest island flags did not have a skull pattern. Later, the pirates added a skull and two crossed bones on it, and called him "Happy Roger" (jolironge)”.

  Why are pirates associated with universal suffrage?

   It sounds like it was written by a drunk. In fact, there were bursts of laughter on the construction site. When she walked in, she found that no one was working, but an Oktoberfest.

   She was looking for him among the many tents. The situation at the construction site was worse than she thought. Maybe the pig sties were cleaner than here.

   She is very worried that the disease will spread here. It seems that it is not only a veterinary hospital, but also a hospital to treat people.

   Later, Figuere met a man in the guard. Under his leadership, Georgiana found Bonaparte. He did not live in the tent area, but parked the carriage by the river, looking a little lonely.

   After she dismounted, she opened the car door without saying hello.

   "Close the door!" he roared, sounding terrifying.

  Georgianna ignored him. She glanced in the carriage and found that there were no Tibetans talking to him.

   "This camp must be planned, be careful of plagues."

   He froze for a moment, then turned to look at her.

"How did you come?"

   "Make sure if there is a chick who got into your car while I'm away." She stepped into his carriage and pretended to check. After walking around, she found that there was no one, so she faced him "You have a bad record."

   He laughed. "You sound like a cop."

   She wanted to say it was the military police, but she still didn't say anything.

   He waited quietly.

   "Do you know why Mechelen has a furniture business?" she asked.

   "I don't know, can you tell me?" he pretended to say.

"Because it was burned and looted by the Spaniards during the Eighty Years' War, and during the rebuilding process, the furniture industry started, do you remember the town of San Nicolas? I don't want the people of that town to suffer the same fate, don't let the railroad from They were there."

   "But then nothing will change in their town."

   She didn't know what to say.

  He got her up, he got up with him, and then they got out of the carriage and took a walk along the Seine.

  Although it is the same river, the scenery here is completely different from Paris, because there are no street lights in the wilderness, the surrounding is dark, and there is still mist.

   She suddenly thought of the Louvre, and the night of the full moon in June, the Tuileries Palace that had disappeared, and the military camp shrouded in fog on the other side of the river.

   For a while, she couldn't tell which was the dream world, maybe she was drunk too.

   She staggered as she walked on the stone of the canal that day...

   He held her hand, like an older brother, if only he could keep it that way.

   (end of this chapter)