Shadow of great britain

The distance from Paris to Göttingen is about 400 miles. Perhaps in the 21st century, it only takes a day to get there by train, but in the 19th century, a 400-mile overland journey represented a physically and mentally exhausting ordeal.

Although at the urging of the king, Arthur and his party had already made every effort to advance towards the Kingdom of Hanover, the fastest horse in Paris and the most skilled groom could only travel 40 miles a day, so this meant that Asia It took them ten days to enter the Kingdom of Hanover.

And in order to rush for time, the groom took many shortcuts along the way. The conditions of these roads were far from as good as the main roads. Therefore, after bumping along the way for several days, Arthur finally understood why Napoleon had hemorrhoids.

He even secretly speculated that the Duke of Wellington, who was always on the march, might also have this problem.

Riding in a carriage was already so difficult, God knows how they rode on horseback for more than ten hours.

When I first left Paris, the situation was pretty good. I was far away from the bustle and hustle and bustle of the city. I occasionally took a look at the beautiful rural scenery, the neatly planned vineyards, and the golden waves of wheat in the fields. These vibrant scenes were always It will make people feel better.

But no matter how beautiful the scenery is for three days in a row, people will eventually get tired of it, not to mention that Arthur's butt is still aching from being bumped.

But what Arthur didn't expect was that from the middle of the journey, even the good scenery was gone.

After passing through the Rhineland region in western Germany, the scenery along the way simply changed. The prosperous and harmonious pastoral scenery completely disappeared. Even the farmers leading cattle and sheep and carrying farm tools on the country roads were almost invisible. arrive.

There are no conspicuous landmarks on both sides of the narrow road. Although you can occasionally see rivers, these rivers are far from as wild and magnificent as the Rhine and Danube. Wherever Arthur looked, the river meandered lazily, just like a Scotland Yard policeman on his first day of work after his paycheck.

Although the land is spread out evenly, most of the ground is covered by forest trees, and the types of trees are few and far between. The two words birch and fir can sum up them all.

Seeing this, Arthur finally understood why the works of German poets often mentioned uncultivated areas such as 'sand' and 'swamp'.

If a British poet often mentions these places, he is probably a lakeside poet who opposes industrialization and urbanization and longs for the pastoral life of the Middle Ages.

But the German poet mentioned these not because he had any inclinations or because he liked these natural scenery. He mostly just told the truth and said what he saw.

The journey along the way is quite boring, but Schneider's little jokes still play a big role in changing the mood.

Although Schneider himself didn't think he was telling a joke, Arthur always felt that every word this guy accidentally said had a comedic effect.

I still remember that a few days ago, the carriage that was driving smoothly suddenly jolted for a while.

Arthur was about to bend down to pick up the hat that fell on the ground when he heard Mr. Schneider say in a conspiratorial tone: "Oh, it seems we have entered Germany."

Arthur originally thought that this sentence was just a short joke from Schneider's daily black German, but he had just put on his hat when a road sign suddenly flashed outside the car window, and it read clearly - Welcome to Prussia!

At this time, Mr. Schneider, who had already confirmed his identity as a prophet, straightened his scarf disdainfully, and then turned his head to Arthur to show off his identity as a historian.

"You have to be lucky that this is peacetime, otherwise according to the Prussian personality, a tall foreign boy like you would have been dragged off the car and captured. Do you know Frederick William I? He was not interested in women, but But I can’t help but feel sorry for young men like you. If I see one, I will arrest him and make him a soldier.”

Although Arthur did not know as much about Germany as Schneider, he had at least studied history in college for a few years.

Perhaps because they share the same origin and have Germanic blood flowing through them, the Prussian and British governments are very keen on catching young men, and both sides do not care about their nationality.

Recruiting officers of the Royal Navy not only dragged drunkards from taverns onto ships at home, detained exiles to "line their own pockets", led recruitment teams to raid wedding venues at night, and kidnapped grooms.

They even forced American sailors to join the army during the Napoleonic Wars.

Although the Americans have repeatedly stated that they are independent and cannot serve the evil king. But the Royal Navy's recruiting officers didn't care that much.

For those American sailors who were more honest, they were even deceived.

As for those who were dishonest, they took out the Royal Navy's secret 'nine-tailed whip', forcibly injected it with 'Nelson's spirit', and taught them personally what it means to 'fight every enemy, England'.

It would be fine if the Royal Navy only did this in domestic ports, but what is ironic is that the locations where they forcibly recruited American sailors also included the Atlantic Ocean and Guangzhou, China.

The U.S. government and representatives in China strongly protested against this behavior, calling it a violation of U.S. sovereignty and civil rights.

But of course the Royal Navy would not pay heed to any diplomatic protest. When the Americans found out that the British Foreign Office could not respond to the protest, they went to the Yamen to file a complaint in anger, hoping that the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi could come forward to seek justice.

You can't write two Germans with one stroke. The Royal Navy's recruitment methods are not glorious, and the Prussian Army's recruitment methods are also not on the table.

However, because the Prussians' sphere of influence is too small, they can only ambush at the border and kidnap foreign young men in most cases.

The Prussian King Frederick William I mentioned by Schneider also had a Giant Guard. This most elite force in Prussia was composed of young soldiers over six feet tall.

At social banquets, other German princes and nobles were showing off how much wealth and land they had, and how many beautiful girls they had, while Frederick William I would show off that he had 2,500 young men over 1.83 meters tall. As long as there were these young men, wealth and land were not a problem at all, and beautiful girls would follow to Prussia.

In order to get these young men, he used all kinds of coercion and inducement. If necessary, he would even put pressure on nearby states through diplomatic channels to ask them to provide Prussia with the most outstanding young men in the country.

If necessary, Frederick William I would not even mind launching an 18th-century Trojan War to snatch people.

The Greeks' Trojan War was to snatch back the most beautiful women in the world, while the Prussians' Trojan War was to snatch back the tallest and strongest men in the world.

However, although Arthur had some knowledge of Prussia in advance.

Schneider had also given him a shot of prevention: "Don't have any expectations of the German Junker landlords, let alone expect them to have any gentlemanly cultivation. They are simply not the same creatures as the nobles from London and Paris. Arthur, I am not exaggerating. If you have seen my father, my grandfather and my grandfather, you will know that what I said is not an exaggeration at all."

Arthur also learned from Schneider that the word "Junker" actually only represents the land nobles of northern states such as Prussia, and even they should not be called nobles, because many of them only have "von" in their names, but they don't even have a formal noble title.

These people are different from the wealthy nobles in western and southern Germany. They live in a barren environment with ordinary scenery along the way, and live a life that is neither very rich nor particularly poor. If they were in Britain, this group of people would be called the gentry.

Their lifestyle and mental outlook are far from the noble citizens in the wealthy cities in western and southern Germany. Compared with London and Paris, it is simply not the same world.

Moreover, due to poor economic conditions, most of them have not received a good education, and they do not want to receive a good education, because whether they have culture or not does not affect their military service.

Therefore, if there is no war, the Junkers have neither the opportunity nor the interest to see the vast and wonderful world outside.

Therefore, in Germany, Junker landlords are often associated with being uneducated and short-sighted.

According to Schneider, "They are generally uneducated, their writing is incoherent, their words are not expressive, and their speech is not even coherent, as if they have a stutter. They only speak nouns and noun-like words together, and then add an exclamation mark at the end."

Arthur initially thought that this was just Schneider's stereotype, but after eating a few meals in a roadside inn, he found that it was all true.

The temperament that you can tell from the moment you open your mouth that you have not been to school for a few years is really not easy to hide.

Perhaps it is precisely because of the Junkers' lack of culture that Prussia has made up its mind to vigorously promote educational reforms and force these people to go to school for a few years anyway.

Baron Stein, the Prussian minister in charge of educational reform, once made sharp criticisms of this phenomenon.

"The Junker nobles are a burden to Prussia because they are too numerous, mostly poor, and greedy for official positions, salaries, privileges, and all kinds of preferential treatment. They are poor, so they cannot receive a good education and can only attend military schools of very poor quality. Because they are uneducated, they are not qualified for senior positions. Once they become senior commanders, the damage to the army is simply catastrophic.

I can even say that the major setbacks suffered by the Prussian army during the Napoleonic Wars were because our commanders did not read enough! However, this large group of people who have only received a poor education are shamelessly and arrogantly asking for senior positions. They are both nobles and want to be bureaucrats. They are simply a disaster for their compatriots!"

However, if you blindly criticize these Junker nobles, in Arthur's view, it is not a fair move.

Because as far as he observed in the inn, these Junkers were just imitating their king.

Each of them tried their best to play the role of a head of the family with a stern character, strict discipline, but kind.

Moreover, the Junkers not only did this to their wives, children and direct descendants, but also wanted to act as father figures to their servants and peasants, just as the King of Prussia did to them.

For a Junker, if you describe him as a majestic but friendly authority and manager who is busy all the time for the livelihood of a large family, he will definitely be very happy and enthusiastic to invite you for a drink.

Although this group of people are not good people, they are also part of the normal people.

Although the German newspapers were full of criticism when mentioning the Junkers, and all the problems were pinned on the Junkers.

But if it is fair to say, this is just bullying the Junkers for their low culture. These people can't even say a complete and gorgeous sentence, let alone write an article to defend themselves.

If they think that the Junkers are blocking the way, then the first task should be to disarm, because as long as the number of troops is controlled, most of the Junkers' upward channels can be locked, and they will naturally not have such a great influence.

However, it is well known that Prussia is impossible to disarm.

Arthur was still thinking about Germany, and the two ladies sitting opposite him had not yet recovered from the twists and turns of life a few days ago.

Clara never thought that the college student who complained in the tavern that he owed a lot of foreign debts was actually a British diplomat.

Oh, maybe he is not now, but he has developed better and turned into a respected university professor.

She vaguely remembered the complaints she had made to Arthur in the tavern that day.

This young man did have the shadow of Thiers in him. He lied a lot, but he had a back-up plan every time he lied, so no one blamed him.

And not only did they not blame him, but they were all grateful to him.

The royalists thanked him profusely. Clara would be immediately refuted if she raised a doubt about Sir Arthur Hastings.

Because in the eyes of those country peasants who had never seen the dangers of Paris, a British knight was willing to risk his life to take them out of France, which already showed his noble character.

However, in Clara's opinion, things must not be that simple.

If this young man was really Thiers II, he did not betray the royalists today, not because he was moral, but because he felt that the current price was not high enough.

What exactly did he want to do?

Clara was full of doubts.

However, she did not doubt for too long. As the shaking of the carriage became less, she saw the full picture of a small town rising on the horizon from the window.

"Is that Göttingen?"