Cutting 1719

Chapter 678
"Woo-woo-woo--"

The ear-splitting whistle sounded in Shanghai Port, and a cruise ship covered in iron gray was slowly parting the waves, driving its huge body into the port little by little, and the dragon flag of the Great Chu Royal Regiment hung on the ship fluttered in the wind. The red flag almost pierced through the morning mist, making it extremely dazzling.

When the cruise ship was gradually approaching the pier, a young soldier was looking into the distance, his face showed a look of excitement and pride, and the handle of the flower in his hand was covered with sweat from holding it for a long time.

Standing next to the young soldier was a literati wearing a blue long gown. He was wearing a pair of glasses inlaid with a gold wire frame, and he was shaking a folding fan casually in his hand. He looked traditional and dignified, but at this moment he was Looking at the young soldier with a playful look, his mouth is also merciless.

"Brother Chunhui, you said that you ran to the pier early in the morning. I thought something serious happened. It turns out that you are here to meet your sweetheart. It seems that you are well prepared!"

The young soldier couldn't help but blush, and complained: "Brother Ji, you're making fun of me again, it's not like you don't know that Miss Minglan came back from Jinzhou today, if I don't come to greet you, I'm afraid I'll turn around It's going to suffer again."

Ji Yun suddenly laughed, and nodded with the folding fan in his hand, but he knew that the two had a close relationship. The young officer's surname was Dong, and his first name was Chunhui. Dai, and Miss Minglan's surname is Xu, the daughter of Xu Chengliang, the governor of Jinzhou.

Now that Xu Minglan returned to the mainland from Jinzhou, Dong Chunhui came to the pier early to wait. Naturally, Ji Yun couldn't hide the young boy's thoughts, and in Ji Yun's view, this was indeed a great good thing.

Just when the young soldier was about to continue to say something, he heard a clear whistle on the pier, which caused a commotion among the pier. Several pier police officers in black uniforms were running quickly, and they were blowing vigorously. Whistling and waving their hands, they lined up in a long line, separating the crowd and temporarily forming a passage.

At some point, there was a melodious sound of music on the pier, which made everyone feel different. They saw a military band in neat military uniforms standing under the boat, playing the Great Chu military song with a solemn expression.

Don't you see, the army of the end of the Han Dynasty, the weak crown is a prisoner, and the long Ying is invited,
Don't you see, Ban Dingyuan, Jueyu Qingqi urges Zhanyun.

It has been more than 30 years since the founding of the Great Chu State, and many of them were born after the establishment of the new dynasty. Naturally, they are familiar with this military anthem, which is comparable to the national anthem, especially for those young people who graduated from new-style schools. People can sing with their eyes closed, so when the band plays the military music, many people have already begun to sing along to the military music.

Dong Chunhui was also loudly singing this military music that was so familiar that he couldn't be more familiar with it, his expression became more and more dignified, the flowers in his hands were also tightly held, and his figure was as tall and straight as a spear.

After singing a military song, several captains and officers came down from the ship. They lined up in a line and walked in front with solemn expressions, followed by several people. They were dressed in neat military uniforms, holding porcelain altars in their hands. It was covered with the Tuanlong flag of Da Chu, but the bright red flag was as eye-catching as fresh blood at this moment.

At some point, Dong Chunhui's eye circles were already red, and tears were streaming down his face. He bit his lips tightly to prevent his crying from being heard, but Ji Yun beside him had already seen something was wrong, and he looked at him with concern. Looking at the young man, he said, "Little brother Chunhui, what's wrong with you?"

"Today, today is the day when the remains of the expeditionary force return home."

The tears on Dong Chunhui's face fell down uncontrollably, and there were low mournful voices from the pier at this time, but many family members of the expeditionary army also came here, with white cloths on their arms and heads A filial cloth is tied on the top, and tears are also in the eyes.

Ji Yun sighed deeply. In the hearts of the people of Dachu today, the Expeditionary Army is almost an eternal pain, and every time it is mentioned, it will move everyone to tears.

Da Chu’s colonial activities in the Americas originated from the Golden State in the 15th year of innovation. After 15 years of colonial activities, by the time of the 30th year of innovation, eight new states had been added, namely Huazhou, Mingzhou, and Lizhou. The population of Zhouzhou, Dezhou, Huzhou, Xuezhou, Yanzhou, and Heyuan Prefecture also increased from tens of thousands at the beginning to more than 500 million.

During the 15 years of colonization, Da Chu sent expeditionary troops to the Americas almost every year to resist the harassment from all sides, including local aborigines and other European colonists. Various conflicts made the Americas gradually become a chaotic war The land, and Da Chu also spent a lot of effort to make the colonial activities continue smoothly and orderly, and to create the current situation.

In order to achieve this result, Da Chu sent a total of more than 15 expeditionary troops in [-] years, most of whom have stayed in the Americas, and only a small number of them chose to retire and return to the mainland, but one thing is that all died in battle Without exception, their ashes will be sent back to the native Hall of Valor.

In the past 15 years, the number of expeditionary troops who died in battle has exceeded [-], and their ashes have been sent back to the mainland in batches. Therefore, many ships arriving in Shanghai from Jinzhou will carry some expeditionary troops. The ashes of the soldiers, and they will also receive the highest courtesy of all Chinese people.

"Martyrs go home, heroic spirits live forever!"

"Raise your gun, salute!"

With a burst of clear gunshots, Dong Chunhui stepped out of the crowd without hesitation. He put the flowers he was holding tightly in his hand on the carriage. At that time, those porcelain altars would also be placed on it and transported to the Hall of Valor. .

Ji Yun at the side watched this scene, a faint smile appeared on his face.

Xu Minglan sat on the carriage with red eyes, and there were still some tears on her face, only occasionally showing a smile when she looked at the cautious Dong Chunhui.

Dong Chunhui blushed and laughed, and said to Ji Yun who was sitting beside him without saying anything: "Brother Ji, do you know? This time, Miss Minglan's cruise ship Pearl is the latest one with eight sets of steam engines. The cruise ship can hold thousands of people at a time, and it only takes five months to get from Jinzhou to Shanghai, and only needs to stop once to add coal on the way.”

"Yeah yeah"

Ji Yun rested his forehead and sighed weakly. He never expected Dong Chunhui to be so dull. What kind of cruise ship is he talking about at this time? Shouldn't he ask Miss Minglan more?
However, Xu Minglan didn't seem to care, looked at Dong Chunhui with a smile on his face, and softly echoed: "Pearl is the latest success of Jinzhou Shipyard, and the technology used is no worse than the local one. Six more passenger cruise ships will be officially launched in half a year, and many new routes will be built by then."

Dong Chunhui chuckled, and said in a low voice: "There are more boats, and it will be more convenient for Minglan to return to Shanghai in the future."

Speaking of this, Dong Chunhui looked at Xu Minglan with a look of anticipation and asked: "How long will Minglan stay in the mainland this time? When will you return to Jinzhou?"

A blush suddenly appeared on Xu Minglan's face, and she said in a low voice: "This time, because my father was summoned by the imperial court, he will enter the Privy Council to take up a post at that time, so he may not return to Jinzhou, so I will naturally stay with my father in Nanjing .”

"That's really great, Minglan!"

The smile on Dong Chunhui's face couldn't bear it any longer, he rubbed his hands involuntarily, and looked at Xu Minglan affectionately, but he seemed to have completely ignored that Ji Yun was sitting next to him.

Ji Yun smiled wryly and shook his head, but suddenly remembered something, and after pondering for a moment, he said, "Miss Xu, I heard that the situation in Jinzhou is a bit tense right now?"

Xu Minglan sighed softly, with a bit of nostalgia in his expression, and said in a low voice: "That's right, the war in Europe is gradually subsiding, and the British colonies in America have not been hit too hard. They are starting to give more The British colonies provided various supports, so these British people began to frequently go to the west coast to test. More importantly, this time the attitude of the French is very ambiguous."

Dong Chunhui showed a bit of resentment, and said: "To me, those European devils are all the same, especially the French. They have completely forgotten the support of Dachu back then. If we hadn't used the navy, I am afraid that the British The French have been driven out of India long ago, and their hypocrisy is a great disappointment."

Ji Yun chuckled, shook his head, and said: "Your Majesty has a good saying. In international relations, there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. In fact, our relationship with the French is to use each other. Now Europe The war was suspended, but their conflicts have not been eliminated, and the French just don't understand the situation right now."

Xu Minglan nodded slightly, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect Brother Ji to have such insight into the international situation. It is indeed the truth, but fortunately, the empire has completely grasped the first move, so there is no need to worry about what those Europeans will do."

Indeed, as far as Da Chu is concerned, he has passed his weakest stage. Even if Europe can really unite as one, there is nothing he can do in front of the current Da Chu. Therefore, with the current strength of Da Chu and the entire Chinese Empire The amount is no longer something that Europe can resist.

Ji Yun nodded, and said softly: "For the current Great Chu, external troubles are no longer a concern, only internal troubles can really make people worry. All the actions of His Royal Highness today are to heal people's hearts, but I can't help you. Too much, and it’s really embarrassing.”

"So Brother Ji belongs to the Crown Prince?"

Xu Minglan couldn't help showing a bit of curiosity on his face. You must know that His Highness the Crown Prince is not an easy-going person, and it is not easy to do things by his side.

Dong Chunhui on the side quickly explained: "Brother Ji is now Zuo Zhongyun in the Prince's Mansion. In addition to fulfilling his duties on weekdays, he will also draw praises for the Prince."

"Where there is, Ji is not an important person in the uterus. People like Jiang Pu, Liu Lun, Qiu Yuexiu, and Yu Minzhong are all very talented, and they will not be in Dongge in the future. It's not surprising, it's just that Ji is not willing to receive a salary for nothing, so he has to do something."

A hint of arrogance flashed between Ji Yun's brows. Although he said he admired these people very much, in fact he didn't think he was so bad. After all, his background is not bad. .

Ji Yun, who was born in the second year of reform, was originally the son of Ji Rongshu, the prefect of Yunnan Yao'an in the Qing Dynasty. His father, Ji Rongshu, was an enkeju in the 52nd year of Kangxi. The magistrate of Yao'an, Yunnan Province, has a sage voice in politics and is very good at textual research. He once wrote "Tang Yun Kao", "Du Lv Shu", "Yutai Xinyong Kao Yi" and other books, and became famous for a while.

Ji Yun, who grew up in this kind of environment, is more or less arrogant in his heart. Although he admires these people very much, in fact, he doesn't think that he is so bad, but now He felt that he lacked some opportunities, a big gift enough to give to the crown prince.

Dong Chunhui is a soldier, so he is naturally not that sensitive to politics, but Xu Minglan grew up in the Jinzhou Governor's Mansion after all, and she has a lot of beauty in her chest. Of course, she can hear the gloomy spirit in Ji Yun's heart, but she didn't say much What, after all, she has not really set foot in Nanjing yet, and she is just looking at many things in the fog.

In fact, since the current political ecology of Great Chu is completely different from the previous one, there is no such thing as a struggle for imperial power. His Royal Highness is also different from the princes of the previous dynasty. He can really go out and do some practical things without worrying about the emperor at all. Whether there will be suspicion.

As far as the ministers are concerned, they will not rush to follow the prince under the current situation. The reason is that the emperor is still young enough. The 46-year-old emperor is very healthy and strong. It is not surprising that he lives another 30 years. Therefore, For all the nobles in the two capitals, they will never go to curry favor with the prince so early.

The carriage fell silent for a while, and the three of them were thinking about their own concerns, but no one spoke again.

However, after an unknown amount of time, the carriage suddenly jolted and stopped, and the driver in front began to yell.

"Masters, the train station has arrived, you can get off now."

Ji Yun was like waking up from a dream. Regardless of the surprised eyes of the coachman beside him, he smiled at Xu Minglan and Dong Chunhui and said, "I have already understood that what is really lacking for His Royal Highness right now is definitely not achievements made in the past, but It's in the city of Nanjing, in the middle of these two courts, in His Majesty's heart!"

(End of this chapter)