America 1881: They Call Me Legend

prince edward

Full name: Albert Eduard von Saxe Coburg-Gotha
Age: 44 years old
Education: Graduated from Oxford University and Cambridge University

Hobbies: horse racing, yachting, playing with women.

Because of his absurdities and indiscretions in life, the great Queen Victoria forbade him to get involved in the specific affairs of court and state affairs.

I'm afraid that he will inadvertently do something out of the ordinary to hurt the royal family and the country.

Fortunately, Prince Edward did not care about this.

He is a man who yearns for freedom.

After getting rid of his mother's control, Prince Edward's life is very regular and his purpose is clear.

Generally speaking, it is a horse farm, a dance party, and a woman's bed.

At this point, the close minister Churchill is very much in line with his taste.

Although there is a difference of ten years between the two young people, Churchill is very good at matching his favor.

Both had served in the military, one with the Irish Forces and one overseas as a Military Observer.

Churchill not only found a woman for him, but also made some novel things from time to time to arouse the interest of the prince.

This made Edward very satisfied.

He will never be bored again.

In the eyes of outsiders, the finance minister's younger brother was nothing more than a jester at the prince's side.

But Churchill was obsessed with this path.

Whether it's a jester or a clown, unless Edward dies early, isn't Queen Victoria the one who will take the throne of England a hundred years later?

Led by Ma Keqin, Chen Jianqiu came to Churchill's residence in London with a small suitcase.

The one-sided meeting in Chile made the communication between the two go smoothly.

Chen Jianqiu handed the small suitcase to Churchill and opened it.

Churchill's eyes were attracted by the pure gold statue decoration inside.

"I hope to arrange for Prince Edward to take a look at our products, preferably with other members of the royal family." Chen Jianqiu said.

"Then how can I describe your machine gun?" Churchill's gaze was still on the pure gold statue.

"A wonderful product that allows Great Britain to maintain its oppression of overseas colonies while standing on top of the empire." Chen Jianqiu described it in this way.

A week later came the shocking news from Churchill.

Three days later, members of the royal family will come to see a demonstration of the Maxim machine gun.

Not only Prince Edward, but also Queen Victoria.

The influence of the jester's bragging ability on the royal family was even beyond Chen Jianqiu's imagination.

In front of Prince Edward, he boasted about this weapon, and told the prince his experience in Chile with embellishments.

This incident soon reached the ears of Queen Victoria.

She actually had a strong interest in it.

Maxim was shaking with excitement.

Chen Jianqiu didn't have any big waves on his face.

But in the next two days, he and Ma Keqin spent every day in the workshop, holding a wrench and working together day and night to improve the machine gun used for demonstration.

"Hey, Chen, I added an automatic horizontal rotation device to it, so that it can shoot without the need for the shooter to control it." Ma Keqin said triumphantly.

An empty hillside shooting range outside Kent three days later.

The improved Ma Keqin machine gun used as a demonstration was quietly placed at one end of the shooting range.

It was a very finely crafted machine gun, made of blued steel and brass.

Whether it's the wheeled frame, or the polished brass material water jacket, the ammo box tray, and the mahogany rollers from the grip to the side of the feed port.

All embody the best engineering technology of this era.

Queen Victoria, Prince Edward and other members of the royal family stood back away from the machine guns.

This was the first time Chen Jianqiu saw the queen.

She is very handsome, with a pointed nose, but there is a kingly temperament in her eyes.

But Chen Jianqiu's attention stopped on another young man beside her.

The young man looked in their direction with deep eyes.

What surprised Chen Jianqiu was that his left hand was gloved, but his right hand was not.

In addition to members of the royal family, the Army Staff finally agreed to send someone.

Her Majesty the Queen came in person, and it would be unreasonable for them not to send someone, including Sir Andrew Clark, Inspector of Fortifications of the British Government.

He waved his hand in Chen Jianqiu's direction.

Ma Keqin sat in front of the machine gun, and Chen Jianqiu loaded the bullet belt into the machine gun for him.

Long belts of bullets stretched into ammunition boxes on the ground.

"Let's get started." Chen Jianqiu patted Ma Keqin on the shoulder, and then walked aside.

Ma Keqin calmed down.

He made a rough estimate of the trajectory, then pulled the trigger and started shooting at a target several hundred meters away.

The results are obvious.

The target was quickly torn apart by Ma Keqin's bullets like a storm.

Chen Jianqiu was satisfied with the effect of the demonstration.

He glanced back at the audience.

Most were silent, including the queen.

Because they knew that if the people standing there were not targets but living people and horses, the place would have already been covered in blood.

What the ambassador and Churchill said about what happened in Chile is true.

"There has never been a gun in the world that can kill so many men and horses in such a short period of time!" an officer of the general staff exclaimed softly.

There are only two exceptions.

One is Prince Edward, and the other is the young man next to Queen Victoria wearing only one glove.

Edward came over.

"Can you let me try?" He thought Ma Keqin was the boss and said to him directly.

Ma Keqin looked at Chen Jianqiu, and Chen Jianqiu nodded.

"Why not? Your Royal Highness." Maxim gave a very British salute.

After getting the consent, Prince Edward immediately sat next to the machine gun, grasping the handle that controls the direction of the machine gun with both hands.

He asked Chen Jianqiu to quickly load the bullet for him.

Chen Jianqiu walked unhurriedly to the back and brought out a small ammunition box.

At this time, the audience just now also came to the vicinity of the machine gun.

The people in the staff department stood on both sides of the machine gun, and while they were preparing to observe the prince's test firing, they covered their mouths and whispered in discussions.

Prince Edward was a soldier, so Maxim didn't need much introduction.

After Chen Jianqiu installed the bullet belt, the prince couldn't wait to pull the trigger.

He fired the bullet into the remaining target on the other side.

A belt of ammunition was quickly exhausted, and the ejected casings fell in small piles on the side of the machine gun.

"Change another one, I'll try again." The prince didn't seem to be enjoying himself, and urged Chen Jianqiu to change the bullet.

Excitement glistened in his eyes.

The machine gun roared again.

Chen Jianqiu looked bored watching the prince ravaging the air and the torn targets?

Is this guy decompressing?

But looking at it, suddenly, he realized that something was wrong.

The muzzle was slowly spinning clockwise uncontrollably.

Maxim's automatic horizontal rotation device started inexplicably.

In the direction of sweeping, there are two staff officers standing on the side.

And more officers stood behind them.

The Prince didn't notice this, he just felt the handle leading him.

If this continues, the British Army's staff may be overwhelmed by this machine gun.

It's too late, it's too soon.

Chen Jianqiu rushed up with a stride, put his hand on the handle, and at the same time quickly shut down the automatic horizontal rotation device.

Prince Edward is still a little unclear.

He and several unidentified officers around the machine gun glared at Chen Jianqiu, wanting to question why the Chinese wanted to stop him from having fun.

It can hinder the face and self-cultivation of the royal family.

The prince still did not speak.He reluctantly stood up from the machine gun and moved away from his body.

Queen Victoria, who saw everything clearly behind her, snorted, turned and left with her attendants.

His son's performance was as disappointing as ever.

Chen Jianqiu was bending over to pick up the bullet casings on the ground.

However, a young voice came to his ears: "You have a machine gun, I want to buy it!"

Chen Jianqiu straightened up, turned around and found the owner of the voice.

It was the young man who wore only one glove.

When the young man was talking, he didn't look at Chen Jianqiu or Ma Keqin.

He has been watching the heavy machine gun.

At this time, Churchill also came over.

In Chen Jianqiu's ear, he told him the identity of this young man.

He is the grandson of Queen Victoria and the grandson of the current Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany.

Of course, Chen Jianqiu knew the more widely known title of the future emperor:

Wilhelm II!