Literary Master 1983

Chapter 405 Inspecting the Fiefdom
Outside Buckingham Palace, a 100-meter-long red carpet was laid out, with reporters and celebrities standing on both sides.

Yu Qie walked the red carpet with several representatives of Zhoushan fishermen. These representatives, selected by the government, appeared less nervous and were taller than the average person from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Two days earlier, they had flown from Shanghai to Germany and then transferred to London, receiving etiquette training along the way, but they were still quite nervous.

It should be said that these are some of the best-looking people we could find.

After all, many fishermen are over seventy years old and have spent their whole lives fishing. How could they possibly be handsome?
There was an old fisherman named Lin Agen who wore what he thought was the most fashionable Dacron military green shirt, but it looked very old-fashioned here, and because the shirt didn't fit, it looked empty underneath.

Yu Qie deliberately pulled him to his side to walk together, saying, "Uncle Lin, don't be nervous. These people are actually not as good as you."

Halfway down the red carpet, for some reason, Charles didn't stand at the end of the carpet, but instead stood to one side and said:

"—Yu! Why didn't you find a better suit? This is Buckingham Palace!"

Yu Qie ignored him.

Charles then said, "How about using your wealth to sponsor your fellow countrymen to buy suits? Or can I donate to you?"

Many people heard this, and Yu Qie walked straight towards Charles, causing Charles's expression to change drastically. "What are you going to do?"

“Charles,” Yu Qie said simply but with great weight, “I swear if you say another word, I’ll leave right here and tell the whole world how I left.”

Charles was startled and instinctively took a step back: he certainly couldn't ruin the investiture ceremony! This involved royal legal principles!
But after realizing what had happened, he was immediately enraged again. This small group of reporters had all seen Yu Qiefang's harsh words and Charles's cowardly actions.

Moreover, Yu Qie left right after he finished speaking, just like the kind of person who blocks you and leaves after a verbal confrontation.

Charles felt utterly ashamed and could only look around, trying to justify himself: "This man doesn't deserve a title; he has no manners at all!"

"Don't you think he's too arrogant? He has no respect for this place at all."

Charles noticed that everyone was looking at him with a pitiful expression, so he lowered his voice and quietly left the red carpet.

Both reporters from The Guardian and The Times witnessed this scene.

One of them wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground: "I don't know what's going on, but I'm not feeling any smug satisfaction about discovering big news right now. I feel sad that I'll have to pay taxes to such a king in the future."

Another said, "Don't be silly, you can't send it at all. Charles may not be much, but the Queen is a formidable queen."

"What will happen to us British people after the Queen dies?"

"Oh, brother, only God knows."

Walking this hundred meters felt like a long time. The Queen waited at the end of the red carpet, and her butler, Paul, called out loudly:

"The Royal Victoria Medal of 1988 will be awarded to the fishermen of Zhoushan for saving nearly two thousand Royal Regiment soldiers and for never boasting about it for half a century! God tells us, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,' and God also says, 'The generous will prosper.' He tells us that selfless help brings us true well-being... Remembering the heroic deeds of the fishermen of Zhoushan is essential for our loyalty to our faith and to the Royal Family!"

The fishermen stepped forward to receive their medals.

The medal itself is not valuable, far less valuable than the Thai King's Medal that Yu Che received, which had rubies on it.

The highest-ranking British medal, the Victoria Cross, was made from steel melted down from captured Russian artillery pieces during the war (some were from the Qing Dynasty). Other medals were made from much cheaper materials, as the royal family awarded so many medals each year that they all used painted steel and couldn't even afford to use copper.

In a few years, plastic became more widespread, and even royal medals were made of plastic.

For this reason, Queen Elizabeth II herself awarded herself a large number of medals; she received 40 medals and honorary titles in her lifetime.

Who is the real Henjong?
According to government statistics, there are approximately seventy fishermen who have been confirmed to have participated in rescue efforts; the actual number should be much higher, as some have unfortunately passed away, and some involved entire families, so only one is counted.

Those who didn't receive a medal need not worry. Zhoushan, a small coastal county, has become a sister city with Birmingham, England. Many veterans of the Royal Regiment are from Birmingham, and some local industrial investments will gradually enter Zhoushan over the next decade, making the descendants of fishermen the first to prosper.

Yu Qie is now famous for two things: one is his tireless investigation into his family background; the other is his constant efforts to attract investment.

Zhoushan is a great place; it's poised to become the city with the highest GDP per capita in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

In his past life, Yu Qie was a football fan. Back then, European football leagues were all trying to make money by hosting overseas matches. Forty years later, it wouldn't be surprising if a Premier League charity match were held in Jiangsu or Zhejiang, since Zhoushan is already a very familiar place name to the British in this timeline.

In this incident, there were quite a few people impersonating Zhoushan fishermen. After the broadcast of "The Lisbon Maru," local governments received reports from citizens claiming that they had rescued foreigners in various places.

I don't know if this is a good thing or not?
During the medal-awarding ceremony, Yu Qie's mind kept wandering.

Finally, a single sentence brought him back to reality: it was the Queen of England. Elizabeth said to Yuche:
“I’m not tall, so they designed a higher step for me, but I’m still much shorter than you.”

“Your Majesty, human achievements are not judged by height.”

Yu Qie bent down and let the Queen place the medal around her neck.

Then Yuqie shook hands with the Queen, and the people around them began to cheer, even more excited than Yuqie himself.

“Charles just said something rash, and I apologize on his behalf.”

“No need to apologize, I didn’t take him seriously,” Yu Qie said with a smile.

He spoke very softly, and only Paul, the butler standing nearby, heard it. He was clearly quite shocked, so much so that he stammered the first few words when delivering his award speech.

"He... He is the most famous writer in ancient China today, a pioneer of the contemporary future; time always seems to be under his control, from the past to the future, from words to reality, he can stop at any point in it and transform it; the greatest war correspondent of this era, his gaze spans half a century, which is clearly revealed in his masterpiece 'The Lisbon Maru'!"

“Therefore,” Paul said with a deep breath, “he was awarded the Order of the British Empire and the title of Baron of the British Empire, with his honorary fief in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, at the foot of the Lambeau Mountains—only forty kilometers from the Queen’s residence.”

The audience erupted in applause. Yu glanced at Paul. He wondered if, after Paul resigned from Buckingham Palace, his memoirs, besides revealing the bizarre behavior of the British royal family, would also include this part about him: Yu personally expressing his contempt for Charles during the awarding of his medal.

When Charles becomes king, will he have to come out and deny the rumors?

Yu Qie first thanked the Iron Lady: "I feel extremely honored to be nominated and awarded a medal by the Prime Minister of the British Empire..."

He then recounted the Lisbon Maru incident from his own perspective, in which Chinese fishermen, unaware that these people were "British soldiers," rowed out to rescue them solely out of humanitarian considerations.

"I believe that the problem we humans face today is the distortion of history, rather than the forgetting of history! This is an even more heinous act than forgetting. We always think that some people are born rich and some are born lowly, which is a baseless speculation; this may be related to your faith, because God cares about some people and makes them bear a destiny, but God also says that all people are equal and that we should love our fellow human beings."

“In China, Mencius said something similar: ‘Everyone is equal before becoming a saint.’ We have all sought a transcendent existence because no one is greater than God, nor is anyone greater than Mencius (who is alive). Therefore, we are all equal.”

Charles suddenly smiled at this moment, it's unclear whether he thought the words were hypocritical.

Some people saw it and their expressions varied; Yu Qie also saw it, and he directly stated: "Some people find this ridiculous because they live in a world where there is a clear distinction between the noble and the lowly, and they do not know that the founder of the Windsor dynasty was once an ordinary nobleman; but I am not saying these words to you, but to those friends who consider themselves inferior."

"Although reality is often disappointing, everyone has their own height in life; today, the most honored people here are the fishermen and the soldiers who fought against fascism, but the honor has been bestowed upon a fool like me. If titles truly represent nobility, then you are the real barons, and I humbly receive the protection of your heroic spirits."

After he finished speaking, there was a few seconds of silence in the audience, followed by tremendous applause.

Some people are asking, "Who did Dongfang Yu just curse?"

Some people couldn't help but shed tears, considering it one of the best acceptance speeches in recent years.

As the nominator for Yuqie, the Iron Lady had very mixed feelings. She was thinking about two things at the same time.

One reason was that during the negotiations, because the entire process was conducted with courtesy, unlike many Western negotiations where they would manipulate the reception; she initially thought things were promising, believing that the Chinese must have been frightened by the Falklands War.

To her surprise, beyond all formalities, the other party made a demand that was "enough to shake the prestige of the current government," and there was no room for compromise. The other party was so determined that there seemed to be only two outcomes: destruction or acceptance.

The key point of this matter is that there was no room for maneuver; it was all in from the start, unlike the Falklands War, where there was a lot of back-and-forth between the two sides. The Iron Lady was so overwhelmed by the enormous determination that she went out feeling dizzy and disoriented.

Another thing is her son, Mark Thatcher, who grew up spoiled and became known as a "business pickpocket" in Britain because of his mother's status.

Then look at the remaining pieces of food in front of me...

Why are there such big differences between people?

The Iron Lady believed that Yuche's contempt for Charles was genuine, and that he probably didn't harbor any negative emotions; he simply and frankly thought that Charles was inferior to him.

This, of course, thoroughly enraged Charles, since the greatest humiliation is being ignored, isn't it?
Following this, the sailors of the British Royal Navy received their medals collectively. Since this was a British occasion, this was naturally the main event. After a long ceremony, the Iron Lady stepped onto the stage, accompanied by the then-British representative. Together, they announced decisions such as "sister cities" and "including the Lisbon Maru incident in textbooks."
-
Following the awarding ceremony, media outlets, led by China and the UK, affirmed the significance of the "Lisbon Maru".

In a somewhat awkward situation, Japan reported the news in a small article, and some politicians dared not comment, only offering vague and ambiguous statements. The country has begun to shift, and overall, it no longer seems to be reflecting on its national history as it once did.

During the Iron Lady's term, relations with the United States were relatively good, which allowed books related to the Lisbon Maru to be published in the US as well. Harper Group again undertook this task, and the Royal Publishers in the UK also handled the publication of the novel.

Yuche's agent, Carmen, noticed that Harper was dragging his feet and seemed somewhat careless during the publication process. It acquired the rights later than the Royal Press, but the publication dates were almost identical.

“I think Harper is up to no good,” Carmen tattled.

Yu Qie showed her a news article: "World media mogul Rupert Murdoch is acquiring Harper's Press and merging it with another international giant, Collins Group!"

Murdoch has acquired a 40% stake in Harper this year.

Yu said, "Our good times with Harper won't last long, which is why I can't put all my eggs in one basket."

Carmen was puzzled: "Although Murdoch is Jewish, he's mainly in it for the money. He's a good man! He's praised your literary achievements many times, has no personal grudges against you, and has no reason to hinder your development."

That is indeed the case at present.

Yu Qie couldn't explain to Carmen that this Jewish businessman had planned to establish a foreign-owned television station in China, but ultimately failed, so he had all his media outlets launch news campaigns to slander the mainland!
This kind of media mogul will inevitably become the adversary of Yu Qie in the end, but now is not the time.

Many British media outlets criticized Prince Charles for "laughing," saying that in the centuries-old history of royal investiture ceremonies, only Charles has acted so undignifiedly.

After Yuche made his historic remarks, the prince was laughing, which really made people think that the British Empire was doomed.

Yuche spent two days traveling to Scotland to see his "honorary fief"—a small pasture for raising horses and cattle. He did not have property rights there; as a foreigner, Yuche only possessed a fief in name only.

When asked by a reporter about his thoughts on Charles's recent laughter, Yu Qie said, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. If Charles had inherited the crown earlier, perhaps he would have gained experience sooner."

Charles was flattered when he saw the news: Dongfang Yu actually considered my needs?

Yes, if I were king, I would naturally be much more magnanimous in my dealings with others!

It's because he's been the crown prince for too long that his mentality has become distorted, leading him to pathologically demand respect from others.

Charles suddenly showed some respect for Yuche, but then his wife, Princess Diana, pulled a fast one: she placed a sculpture in front of the royal veterans' fund.

The group consisted of Diana herself, her three children—William, Henry, and one other child—holding hands intimately.

How could Diana have three children? Who was the third child?
As Yuche left Britain, the media speculated that Diana wanted to have a child with Yuche, and Charles thought so too.

(End of this chapter)