I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1313 World Cup Opening Ceremony

Paris.

The steamship "Pearl Earring" slowly came to a stop at the port of Saint-Bernard on the Seine. As soon as the gangplank was set up, Madame Broad eagerly stepped out, lifting her skirt.

She first took a deep, excited breath of the fishy-smelling air, then looked at the clean streets and the endless stream of vehicles in the distance, and exclaimed in her not-so-fluent French:
"The newspapers were right, this place is practically second only to heaven!"

Her husband followed reluctantly, frowning and muttering, "Don't be fooled by appearances, France is full of warmongers..."

The woman immediately glared at him: "I suggest you put aside your unnecessary hostility and prejudice. The French army even helped us."

"Hmph, everyone knows that the Flemish are backed by France. These invaders have occupied large tracts of land in southern Holland!"

Mrs. Broad retorted, "Without French mediation, the Flemish might have already occupied Amsterdam."

"Moreover, France recently ceded western Emden to us, so we should thank the French."

"Hmph, just a small favor." Broad curled his lip. "If that guy hadn't insisted on sending me the ship tickets and admission tickets, I would never have wanted to set foot on French soil in my entire life."

Yes, he was a radical Dutch nationalist whose political views included reclaiming the lands occupied by Flemish and rebuilding the once-powerful navy that dominated Europe.

Mrs. Broad gave him another glare: "You should show respect to your cousin. Don't forget, your business depends on his help."

Upon hearing the word "business," Broad's momentum immediately weakened.

Back then, he was much wealthier than Walsh, the wool merchant, who would even ask him for loans through distant relatives.

Later, that guy suddenly said he was going to settle in France, which he ridiculed. Unexpectedly, he had incredible luck, and his net worth reportedly increased five or six times over the years.

However, due to the "Dutch East India Company stock incident," he lost nearly 70% of his investment, which also caused his port warehousing business to suffer from insufficient working capital.

After struggling for several years, his warehousing company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Just then, he suddenly received a letter from Walsh, inviting him to Paris to watch the World Cup.

The letter also included round-trip boat tickets, as well as VIP passes for all matches.

Although Broad had a poor impression of France, he was a big fan of football—he still doesn't admit that the French crown prince invented the great sport—and his wife mentioned that he could borrow money from his wealthy distant cousin to help with his business, so this trip to Paris came about.

As the Broads and their servants reached the open space on the dock, they heard someone announce loudly in perfect Versailles dialect: "Ah, dear Michel and Sylvia, you've finally arrived! How was the journey?"

Mrs. Broad nudged her husband and curtsied with a smile: “This ship is very luxurious. We’ve wanted to come to Paris for a long time, and it’s truly a blessing from God that we received your invitation.”

She suddenly felt a little awkward because her accent was too heavy, making her seem out of place in this bustling city.

Walsh and his wife returned the greeting, smiling and saying, "I know Michel loves football, and this is a big tournament he can't miss."

He stepped forward and put his arm around Broad: "If it weren't for the money you lent me, I wouldn't have the life I have today. You'd better have a good time in Paris this time, I'll be your guide."

Broad followed him out of the port and saw World Cup promotional banners everywhere, and vendors loudly hawking things like footballs and megaphones.

He looked around, then hesitated before asking, "You...you live near the port?"

“How could that be? The environment here isn’t great,” Walsh said smugly. “I live in the ‘Royal Gardens,’ near the Tuileries Palace.” Broad recalled the map of Paris he had seen on the ship; the Tuileries Palace was at least ten miles away!

He looked around again: "So, where is your carriage?"

Walsh smiled and pointed to the station not far away: "The carriages are too slow. Let's take that one."

After walking another hundred meters or so, Broad saw the railway tracks and a huge metal car belching black smoke as it approached.

"This is... a train?"

Walsh nodded and then shook his head: "It's a steam railcar, much smaller than a train. But it can still carry more than 30 people at a time."

As he spoke, he glanced back at the servants his cousin had brought, took out a banknote, and handed it to the boy standing by the pillar: "Four first-class seats and four ordinary seats."

"Okay, sir, please wait a moment." The boy bowed and turned to run towards the ticket window.

Brod asked doubtfully, "He doesn't seem to be one of your servants, does he?"

“They’re ‘queue-jumpers,’” Walsh laughed. “They’re everywhere in Paris, they can do all your troubles.”

"Aren't you afraid... he'll take the money and run?"

Walsh waved his hand: "Don't worry, they have people in charge. If he really runs away, someone will come to compensate me for my losses soon."

A moment later, the boy returned with the ticket and change, respectfully handing them to Walsh. The latter generously took out a franc as a tip and immediately received a string of thanks.

Broad got into the car and sat down on the large, cushioned seat in the back, immediately catching a whiff of fresh incense.

The servants sat in the first carriage, separated by wooden planks—those were the ordinary seats. Further ahead were the standing-room-only carriages. The steam railcar carried only two carriages.

As the horn sounded, the vehicle shook for a moment, then began to move slowly.

Broad initially didn't think much of it, but the carriage kept going faster and faster, soon approaching the speed of a horse galloping at full speed.

Mrs. Broad exclaimed excitedly to Mrs. Walsh, "No wonder we didn't take a carriage; this is much faster than any carriage I've ever seen!"

The latter smiled and nodded: "It only takes half an hour to get from the dock to our accommodation by steam railcar."

As the car rounded a cluster of tall buildings, Broad suddenly saw hundreds of people gathered by the roadside, dragging a string of thick pipes large enough for an adult to bend over and crawl into, hanging it on something that looked like a crane. There was also a deep pit dug next to it.

He asked instinctively, "What are you doing?"

Walsh followed his gaze and explained with a smile, "Those are ceramic pipes, used to build Paris's new sewage system."

"Look, that's a steam crane. It lifts the sewage pipe and buries it underground."

“These pipes will be spread throughout the underground of Paris, passing by every building. People can dump their sewage into these pipes from their homes.”

(End of this chapter)