Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 584 The Hometown of "Youth School"
The news of the arrival of the Northern Navy fleet caused a sensation in the local government and the whole city. The 21 24-pounder guns located on the Castle of St. Louis could not stop making deafening roars to welcome the distinguished guests from afar.

Due to the depth of the port and the size of the berth, the Thor could not berth at the shore, so it could only anchor at a position one mile away from the port, while Beihai No. [-] and No. [-] were guided by a frigate sent by the French side. Slowly leaned on the trestle.

Since Peter had already gone ashore in a small boat to contact him, there were no other civilians in the port except soldiers with live ammunition and a welcome band composed of more than 30 people.

When Deng Fei and his guards boarded the speedboat and drove towards the port quickly, Leclerc, the governor of French India, led his civilian officials and military generals to the pier. In addition, there were many French businessmen and local Tamils. The top figures of the people were also called to build momentum.

Deng Fei, who was sitting in the speedboat, raised his binoculars and looked at the strange but familiar city in front of him for a moment. What caught his attention most was the St. Louis Castle, which looked like a five-pointed starfish, which was the core of local governance.At this time, the movie called "The Fantasy Drifting of Boy Pi" would occasionally flash in his mind, and the beautiful zoo in Pai's family is here; but in this time and space, this is the French East Indies The company's headquarters.

In most history textbooks, the French East India Company was stopped in 1769.Due to the defeat by the British in the Seven Years War, the company went bankrupt and liquidated.Afterwards, the French East India Company was taken over by the French government and announced to be dissolved, and all its land was merged into the royal land; 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 the French of later generations, the East India Company is currently in the 3.0 era.

Let's put it this way, the period before the "Mississippi Bubble" triggered 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" belonged to the 2.0 era ; and the 3.0 era began in 1785, but the company's name has been changed to "French Orient 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 of the disgusting British. They officially ended and joined forces with thirteen states to defeat the British.In 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 registered capital of the French East India Company in the 3.0 era was 2000 million pounds, and it exclusively monopolized all trade east of the Cape of Good Hope. The annual fleet between India and France expanded to 20 ships, even surpassing the heyday of the 2.0 era.By 1789, the new company, which had been established for only four years, even planned to pay a dividend of 16% to shareholders, a properly high return and a bright future.

Sadly, however, the French Revolution broke out.

In 1790, a thunderbolt came, and the National Assembly decreed that all trade east of the Cape of Good Hope was open to all French, that is, whoever wanted to do it.Nima! Version 3.0 fell from the sky to the ground, a move that almost deprived the East India Company of its trade monopoly privilege.

However, this is not all the bad news.If nothing else, by next year, the first counter-revolutionary charge in human history will be born in France.

That's right, because they support the royal family and the vast majority of shareholders are nobles, the French East India Company will be accused by Robespierre's "Committee of Public Safety" as a counter-revolutionary group.Nearly 3000 million livres of assets, warehouses, and fleets were confiscated, which is almost equivalent to 40 ounces of gold.The directors of the company either went to the guillotine or went to a mental hospital.Then version 3.0 entered the liquidation process again, and finally closed down completely.

So you understand why Leclerc was so anxious to get angry that he wanted to contact Beihai Town, right?As an aristocrat, he hated the "free trade" of the National Assembly; and as the governor of the French East Indies, he was worried about the pace of British expansion.

In short, as far as he is concerned, the king is not in charge, and everything is out of order!
When the black speedboat docked, Deng Fei had just lifted his feet onto the trestle. Following the order of a certain French officer, the band immediately began to play the cheerful and baroque "March of the Royal Twin Bridges".Of course, it is impossible for the "La Marseillaise", which was just born a few days ago, to spread to the east; and even if it did, the governor would never let anyone play it.

When Deng Fei landed, the members of the accompanying mission who had been waiting on Beihai No. [-] and No. [-] also stepped off the springboard one after another.These people included Li Rui, the deputy chief of staff of the North Navy's staff department, and his entourage, two officers from the Intelligence Bureau, Erlu, the commander of the Special War Battalion, and the two battalion commanders of the Marine Battalion, several officials from the Beihai Town Trade Department, Representatives of Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji, as well as several entourages who returned with Peter.

Due to the bad sea conditions in the Indian Ocean, and long-term sailing at sea is not good for health, Deng Fei did not take his "Princess" with him, but left him in Beihai Town, and let Shen Xuan and Director Liu take care of him. .

Wang Yuanfang didn't follow either. He was going to marry Miss Wu, and after that he would take her and his father-in-law to Bacheng to sit in town for a year.As for Zhao Xin, he left a batch of fuel and supplies at the Gan'ao base in early March and then went back. The two agreed to meet in Madagascar at the end of June.

At this time, Peter hurried forward to introduce Leclerc and Deng Fei to each other.

"Your Excellency, 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 Orient and India China Company in India, the Governor of French India, Knight Camille Charles Leclerc de Fresner, this is His wife, Madame Emily Thomas de Solminiac."

When Deng Fei heard it, he felt that the governor was only the lowest "chevaliers" among the nobles. It is estimated that his title was conferred because he was the governor, and it was not hereditary.On the contrary, his wife is a well-established nobleman, and Solminiac Castle is very famous.You must know that before the French Revolution, as long as a Frenchman'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 a family of knights whose family fiefdom is in the French Gaulle.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 Excellency, I am Deng Fei, the current Vice Admiral of the Northern Navy, and the captain of the Thunder God. Thank you very much for your invitation. I believe that my colleagues and I will be here Have a nice day."

Well, in order for Deng Fei to have 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 generals, and Fan Tong was promoted from colonel to major general.

Although the vice admiral who had heard of the Seresian could speak fluent French, the French present were still surprised by Deng Fei's standard pronunciation.

Governor Leclerc was stunned for a moment, then reached out to shake Deng Fei's hand, and complimented: "The Thunder God mentioned by the Lieutenant General is the big white ship, right? God, it is so beautiful! Listen to Father Peter It is said that it is completely made of steel, but it is hard for me to imagine that iron can actually float in the water.

Deng Fei smiled and said: "This is not a problem. My crew and I are very welcome."

"I heard from Father Peter that you have a bigger iron boat with a blue appearance. Why didn't that boat come?"

It was the governor's wife who was only 22 years old this year, wearing a tall silver wig, a gorgeous tutu skirt with a huge bustle, thick rouge and gouache on her face, and strong thorn Nose of perfume.Behind her, a local Tamil maid is holding a large parasol to give her shade.

Looking at the gorgeous 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 women get married early, regardless of Europe or East Asia; Catherine II became a princess at the age of 16, and Marie Antoinette married Louis XVI at the age of 14.

Deng Fei said with a smile, "Ma'am, that ship is called Jinglei. We are currently engaged in a war with the Qing Empire in East Asia. Jinglei has a mission and cannot leave."

"You speak French really well!" The governor's wife didn't really care about Deng Fei's explanation, she just wanted to interject to highlight her presence. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant General." After 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's French level has become more and more proficient, and now he is asked to count from one to one hundred in French without any hiccups.

Deng Fei cautiously stretched out his hand to hold the other's fingers, and under the strong smell of perfume, he bowed and kissed lightly on the back of the other's hand.

After that, Deng Fei shook hands with the local garrison lieutenant colonel, tax bureau, customs, members of parliament, and businessmen in turn.These people, including officers, all wore wigs and rouge and gouache on their faces, just like a large group of zombies.

When Peter introduced a few upper-class people from the local land-state, those people turned a blind eye to Deng Fei's outstretched right hand. They all saluted with palms together, and looked at this big man with an Asian face with great interest.

Behind him, other officers of the Northern Navy either shook hands or gave a military salute, and the people from the Ministry of Trade also bowed their hands.But for Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji, who are scholars, when they saw the plump breasts of the governor's wife and other female relatives, their faces turned red, and they were really embarrassed, thinking that these ghost women really don't know Shame, how decent is it in broad daylight!

The group was delayed on the pier for a long time before boarding the carriage and heading to the Governor's Mansion in the west of Fort St. Louis.

After entering the gate of the castle, the buildings skipped from time to time outside the car window are all French style, the streets are tree-lined, 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 in the same car, told him that the city of Pondicherry is currently divided into four districts. The north and south ends of the Fort St. Louis are the French residential areas, which are separated by a city wall, which is regarded as the inner city; while the outer city in the west is the The area where the natives live, that is, the Tamils.There used to be a city wall on the periphery, but after being destroyed by the British, they have not been able to restore it. At present, only an earth barrier has been built with simple fortifications.

When Deng Fei went back to repair the ship after the Spring Festival, he took the time to check the relevant information here.Indigenous governance was the best built colonial city in India until it was completely destroyed by the British in 1761.In fact, in another time and space until modern times, local governance is cleaner than Mumbai, not to mention Delhi
At this time, in another carriage, the young Governor's wife asked Governor Leclerc: "Are these Siris very powerful? What do I really think of their clothes, hair and manners? Weird. Yes, I This is what I want to say!"

Governor Leclerc looked out of 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 must know that they even defeated the army of the Tsarist Russian Empire twice! "

"Russians? Well, that's a bunch of savages!"

"Even the barbarians are a force that cannot be underestimated on the European continent. We need them to help us deal with the British and return to the land to rescue the king! Do you know? That big white ship is amazingly fast! Peter You told me before that they set off at the end of March, and they sailed more than 9000 nautical miles in less than a month, have you heard of such a ship?"

"My God!" The governor's wife's eyes widened after hearing this, with an expression of disbelief on her face.If there is a chance, she would also like to go back to France with the ship.

Deng Fei and his group were placed in a large mansion very close to the Governor's Mansion. This place was originally built for a major shareholder of the French East India Company, but since it was built, that shareholder has not come. It happened to be packed out, and twenty Indian servants were arranged to serve them.

As for the [-] North Marines who came with the ship, the French arranged for them to camp on the beach south of St. Louis Castle in a panic.

In fact, the French were also afraid. The Northern Navy took down the heavily defended Batavia in one day, and took Annan's Binh Thuan Mansion in half a month. No matter who heard such a record, they were shocked.Therefore, it is better to put the fierce and outrageous Beihai Navy under the monitoring of dozens of cannons on the castle, so that everyone can rest assured.

(End of this chapter)