Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 95 Two Cities
On May [-]th, Ning Zheng and his party arrived at the port of Brindisi.

After they got off the boat, they had some sequelae of people who had been adrift at sea for a long time. They walked unsteadily, and their bodies even swayed slightly involuntarily.

Fortunately, after walking on land for a while, everyone returned to normal.

They received a warm welcome at the port. Count Ciano and his wife Edda took the lead in welcoming them. Feng Jiu met them for the first time at the Liuguo Hotel five years ago, and they have been in touch with each other since then.

Ning Zheng expressed his gratitude to his old friend: The reason why he arrived in Italy as the first stop in Europe was to inspect the famous Italian army. Unexpectedly, Ning Zheng occasionally looked up during the conversation, and suddenly saw the ship that had just been blocked by other ships. Several light cruisers moored on the other side of the port, with guns with an upper limit of [-] inches displayed on the not-so-tidy deck, but what are the things hanging on the barrels?
After carefully distinguishing them, I was right, they are indeed a pair of coquettish and colorful men's underwear... As expected of an Italian man known for being flirtatious and frivolous, Ning Zheng was a little dumbfounded; Feng Jiu smiled helplessly: This situation is a bit like back then The much-maligned Beiyang navy is drying clothes on the rusty gun barrels. Does such an army really have a strong combat effectiveness?

Mr. Toner intends to go to Milan to meet friends whom he has not seen for a long time, so he bids farewell to them here.

That night, Ning Zheng and his entourage arrived in Rome by train together with Ciano and his wife, declined Ciano's kind invitation, and stayed at the Gurante Hotel that had been booked in advance; the next day they will go to meet the Italian Prime Minister - Eda father, Ciano's father-in-law, Mussolini.

Since [-], the ruler of Italy has moved into the Palazzo Venezia in Piazza Venezia, turning the second floor into a government office.

When Ning Zheng was in China, he had always wanted to meet the number one figure in Italy, because all along, his thoughts were at a loss—he had faith in how to save China, but he had no guiding ideology, nor a good strategy for governing the country.

And Mussolini was at a high-spirited time. As the founder of fascism, he didn't even pay attention to Hitler, the commander-in-chief of Germany, but Hitler still respected him and called him "teacher".

The next day, under Ciano's recommendation, Mussolini warmly received Ning Zheng's family. The short and energetic man admired Ning Zheng, a young Chinese political heavyweight, but at the same time he was frank. Tell Ning Zheng: "The decadent old Europe has been too busy to take care of itself and can't count on it; China's affairs have to be relied on by the Chinese themselves."

Fengjiu found that Mussolini loved his only son-in-law very much. The two were as close as father and son. Although he knew that Ciano was looking for flowers outside and was not good to his daughter-but at the end of World War II, the two had different political ideas. And parting ways, that's all for later.

Feng Jiu did not see Mussolini's wife. It is said that the first lady of Italy, Rachel, who is like a country aunt, never accompanied her husband to participate in political affairs. Respectful, and take good care of relatives - no wonder Italy is the country most similar to China, and the family concept is also very strong.

During his stay in Europe, Ning Zheng met him five times successively, but with a deeper understanding of fascism, Ning Zheng felt more and more wrong: fascism has its inspiring side, or else Together with communism at that time, it would not become the two major ideological systems sweeping the world; however, its core idea—to seize power city by city by force—disappointed Ning Zheng, who had always hated the Chinese beating the Chinese the most.

I thought it would be deafening and shocking, but when I peeled off the inside, it was still Mr. Jiang's old routine of "to fight against the outside world, we must first settle the inside". His bright eyes dimmed again, but Feng Jiu heaved a sigh of relief.

Feng Jiu had already discovered the clues when she was doing translation on the side, but she still faithfully translated Mussolini's original words without any deletions or intentional distortions, because she believed in her husband's ability to judge.

After the meeting, they and the Mussolini family sat on both sides of the long table in the magnificent banquet hall on the second floor of the Venice Palace. Mussolini said with a smile: "Thanks to your country for teaching Marco Polo to make pizza, we Italians have pizza." this delicacy."

——Indeed, there have always been rumors in Europe that Marco Polo learned the skill of baking pies from China, but only learned it whole, so the Italian pizza lacked a layer of skin on the top.

After a hearty and lengthy lunch, the two families said goodbye cordially; then, Feng Jiu told the accompanying three couples with a smile that they could go to places they were interested in freely without being accompanied; the couple planned to bring their children, There are also Aquarius and a few guards, and by the way, go to the Vatican, the country next to Rome that claims to have the smallest land area in the world.

Zhi Changsheng's wife doesn't read much, but she has always "expressed her appearance and words", and immediately showed her joy, unlike the other two wives who were too embarrassed to show too happy, she cheerfully and The two reserved ladies thanked each other, and then the three women who had established a good partnership during the trip went shopping together arm in arm, hoping to buy some rare things in Rome; the three gentlemen looked at each other, Shaking his head—it can be predicted that once a woman's shopping addiction starts, even a man can't stand it.

The Vatican, a small country, is located on the high ground in the northwest corner of Rome. Today is Sunday, and it is Pope Pius XI who will pay homage to the St. The day when believers preached on Peter Square: The 50th and seventh pope in Catholic history signed an agreement with Mussolini four years ago, officially making the Vatican an independent sovereign state.Due to its geographical location, this emerging country has a natural inextricable connection with Italy.

The huge square is guarded by more than 200 Dorian columns, and in the center stands a beautiful obelisk, which is said to be Caligula, the Roman tyrant more than 1000 years ago, the useless emperor nicknamed "Little Army Boots" —It was transported from Egypt at a cost of labor and expense.

Ning Zheng bumped Feng Jiu with his shoulder, "It's very similar to the one in Washington."

Feng Jiu nodded, "Well, after all, the United States and Europe can be regarded as the same origin, so the taste is similar."

There is a microphone in front of the Pope, surrounded by Swiss mercenary guards wearing Morian helmets, silver armor, or traditional costumes with orange, blue, and red vertical stripes; there are many believers from all over the world, Gathered into a vast expanse of white ocean, according to Fengjiu's visual inspection, there are at least tens of thousands of people, most of whom are wearing white dresses or shirts like the Pope, all of them look agitated, with tears in their eyes, and some even crawl on the ground involuntarily , put his hands together, and raised his head to the Pope on the balcony to show his piety.

There were also some non-religious tourists—the Pope never forbids non-religious people to listen to his sermons, on the contrary, they are quite welcome—the Ning Zheng family was even allowed to sit in a very front seat.Fengjiu has no religious beliefs, but seeing the fanaticism of the believers in front of her, she once again feels that China has never been able to become a religious country since ancient times, that is to say, it is very lucky that there is no unity of politics and religion.

Long Sheng and Ya Ya felt that it was a novelty. The two children had excellent tutors and never yelled for no reason. When they saw such a situation, they just opened their curious eyes and quietly observed it.

The pope's voice is full-bodied and has a metallic texture, and the Gospel is spread in a relaxed and casual manner. Various fragments of the Old and New Testaments are readily available. Combined with today's hotly debated social events, it is both close to the people and full of appeal.

Feng Jiu listened carefully, and suddenly realized that there were a few malicious eyes watching her; she was terrified, she pretended to be casual, and quickly glanced back, behind her was a black and golden When Feng Jiu turned around, the bored gazes of some congregants and tourists who were not listening to the sermon could be regarded as having a place to rest, so they stared at her face in unison. superior.

Well, Feng Jiu turned her head back in vain, but she knew something was wrong.

After more than half an hour, the Pope dutifully ended his sermon, and then all the congregation stood up and sang hymns.

Just now, both Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng had a hymn booklet stuffed into their hands by a kind priest in black. On it, at least five languages ​​were thoughtfully written on it, but there was no Chinese, but he seemed very happy. Definitely: Anyone who can come to Italy from the far east must know at least one European language.

The phonograph placed in the center of the square played magnificent organ music, and the grand movement flowed out. Tens of thousands of people sang religious songs together. Feng Jiu and the others couldn't sing, but they just stood up and listened solemnly.

She recalled a time when Ning Zheng and Ning Zheng went to the home of Pastor Pride of the Fengtian YMCA to have a potluck dinner, and at the end they sang "Youth is the Light of the World" together. various.

After a while, the Pope, who was wearing a white cassock and a scarlet velvet scapular that reached to his elbows, seemed to look at them, and then whispered something to the cardinal next to him. Immediately pushed aside the congregation gathered in front of him, and walked towards them.

"Excuse me, is this General Ning from China? The Pope has invited you." He spoke English, although it was not up to standard, but both Ning Zheng and Feng Jiu understood it.

The couple looked at each other: about their arrival, mainstream Italian newspapers also reported on it. After all, what happened in the ancient oriental country is also one of the world's concerns.

The Pope made good friends with Italian President Mussolini, and the Catholic Church also has many believers in the Chinese diocese. It is not difficult to understand that the Pope has a friendship with Ning Zheng, the former No. [-] man in China.

The two had no choice but to go forward with their two children. The 74-year-old Pius XI was wearing a white cap, which was fastened on the back of his head like a small white plate. Long Sheng and Ya Ya stared at the cap Small hats, wondering why they couldn't fall off, and couldn't see the fixed hairpins that their mother used occasionally for them.

Affable, humorous and charismatic, the pope bent over to tease the two children before they went to his apostolic residence and spent nearly an hour in the living room.

Long Sheng and Yaya looked around unrestrainedly, and were taken to the library with the famous spiral staircase. During the period, they also used some desserts, such as almond biscotti and lemon curd flavors. tiramisu and caramel panna cotta.

The two children replenished their energy and ran up and down the spiral staircase with more energy. The staircase was huge and tall, and it took a lot of effort; They were careful; although they knew that the two Chinese children could not understand Italian at all, none of them thought that they might understand it in another language.Aquarius girl and several other guards following behind couldn't help pursing their lips and smiling.

Here, the Pope sincerely praised Ning Zheng for his generosity in providing a free event venue for the YMCA, which was in trouble due to losing contact with the US headquarters, as well as his great assistance to their daily work over the years. , and so on.

After the routine greetings and mutual flattery were over, the adults finally talked about the development status and trends of Catholicism in China—all religious leaders are very concerned about the spread of their religion in the world, and the more church members naturally The better; Ning Zheng is not disgusted with Christianity. After all, most of the Christian clergy he met in the north have done their duty and done a lot of good deeds; Feng Jiu has almost the same attitude.

However, as the conversation deepened, Feng Jiu felt more and more that the pope was more like a mature, elegant, and scheming politician; look at how he invited Ning Zheng, who is going to step down temporarily, but who can say it in the future? Talks with potential powerful figures who are sure to come back to power again show that he will not let go of any opportunity to let his religion continue to flourish in China.

After the two came out of the Apostolic Palace with their children, and once again rejected the Pope's invitation to have dinner together, and shook hands with him to say goodbye, Fengjiu's hairs suddenly stood on end. It was certain that someone was watching them.

Fortunately, going back to take a nap soon, Fengjiu returned to the hotel without realizing it, the two children were already sleepy, and slept for a long time, when they woke up, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon, and they went out again to find a family With a dark green pergola and a thriving roadside cafe, I plan to have a leisurely afternoon tea under the bright sun of Rome.

Ning Zheng raised his eyelids, and suddenly saw Feng Jiu beckoning him with his eyes. A short oriental man with a low top hat, Ning Zheng sighed inwardly——his wife is really too perceptive.

"You found it too?"

"Japanese?" Feng Jiu gestured with his mouth - Long Sheng already understood a lot of things, Feng Jiu didn't want to scare him.

Ning Zheng nodded slightly.

You don't need to think about it to know that it must be a Japanese special high school: this group of lingering young people, their chief leader Doihara Kenji is always afraid that Ning Zheng will have unnecessary contact with Westerners during his stay in Europe, and then hinder him. Seeing their plan to continue invading China, even Ning Zheng, the former commander who had been resigned, would not let go of it, so he followed Europe again.

Ning Zheng asked Feng Jiu to relax, and when he was really bored, he played a little trick and asked Zhi Changsheng to lead them to other places. In fact, their family had already boarded the train and came to the first place of the European Renaissance. The second center - Fei Leng Cui.

Before coming to Fei Leng Cui, Ning Zheng's main itinerary was to visit the Italian munitions factory, Fiat car factory, primary and secondary schools, and military academies. The whole schedule was full.

Except for the munitions factory Fengjiu is really not interested in, Fengjiu will basically take his children to visit other places.

This kind of schedule actually consumes physical strength and energy, so after visiting these places concentrated in the Greater Rome area, they left Rome and lived in a private villa next to the Arno River in Emerald—this is He is still in the private villa of Viscount Ciano in Rome. When friends from China come, he will naturally lend it to them.

Ning Zheng and Feng Jiu declined Ciano's proposal to take them on a tour, and planned to wander around by themselves.

Since Rome, they and their party have set a rule: Except for formal meetings with people from all walks of life, on other occasions, the three couples can arrange their own activities, which is cheap for both parties.

After their family woke up the next day, they leisurely took the children to wander around this beautiful city full of literary and artistic atmosphere.Ning Zheng was carrying a gray keystone portable video camera in his hand, which was not light in weight, and recorded short movies for his wife, two children, and guards.

Emerald emerald green can be seen, the crimson roofs, the narrow streets surrounded by houses with colored walls, and the church roof covered with turquoise marble. It is probably the special color of the latter that inspired Xu Zhimo to write English The name of the city whose name is closer to "Florence" should be translated into this extremely beautiful "Jade Lengcui".

This Italian cultural center is full of traces of the powerful family of the Medici, who initiated and sponsored the European Renaissance movement and protected many great artists; Entering an Alinari shop, the shelves inside are filled with colored photos full of strong religious stories, panoramic photos of Emerald City, and miniature replicas of famous statuettes, all of which can be called delicate and exquisite.

Feng Jiu couldn't put it down for one of them. This is a marble statue by Canova, the Italian neoclassical sculptor, and the name is "Psyche Awakened by the Kiss of Cupid"——

A handsome curly-haired boy with a slender figure, long wings, and a quiver on his back is bending over to hug a stunned and stunning girl lying on the ground, bowing his head to kiss.

Of course, Cupid refers to the well-known Cupid who shoots arrows indiscriminately in China, the Italian Yuelao who blindly matches with Hu, and the blind matchmaker who messes up the mandarin ducks.

In Greek mythology, Cupid was called Eros.

Fengjiu knew this fairy tale: Cupid met his destiny—the most beautiful Psyche in the world. Fortunately, they became a couple; but the little girl was too curious, and finally, under the instigation of her bad sister, she didn't Xu Xu peeped at him secretly with a candle, and finally broke the rules and had to leave. After passing many tests, the husband and wife were reunited.

What this sculpture shows is that she once again released the dead ghost in the underworld out of curiosity, and fell asleep stiffly all over. Cupid eagerly found his wife, forgave her in his heart, and just woke her up with a kiss.

Feng Jiu looked at Cupid's face and gave a "huh", feeling that it looked familiar, she picked up the small sculpture, put it next to Ning Zheng's face for comparison, and pursed her lips happily.

Ning Zheng took it over and looked at it, Feng Jiu whispered in his ear, "It looks like you."

Ning Zheng smiled, paid the money, packed it in a box, and took his wife out of the shop. Outside, Long Sheng and Yaya were playing a game of "Whoever smiles face-to-face wins", with their arms crossed. She stared at each other with a stern face, with her two small noses on top; the Aquarius girl on the side looked at them with a smile, making funny faces from time to time to tease them;

Fengjiu took a look, went to the "Gelato" store on the side and bought two Italian ice creams covered with nuts, and put them in front of the two children: four black and bright eyes immediately rolled over. The eye sockets were blocked, so they couldn't fall on the ground evenly; after holding back for a while, the two of them suddenly smiled tacitly, and shouted "No more!", took the ice cream from Feng Jiu's hand, and shouted " Thank you, Mom!" While sitting on two iron chairs placed on the sidewalk in the store, he started to eat.

After arriving in Europe, Longsheng and Yaya gradually stopped calling them "father and mother", but "father and mother" which are more commonly used all over the world.

After the children had eaten the ice cream, they continued to roam. Suddenly Ning Zheng reached out and grabbed a dark-skinned boy with curly hair who seemed to have bumped into Feng Jiu's shoulder by accident, and said in a deep voice, "Hand it over."

Feng Jiu didn't say anything - Ning Zheng certainly wouldn't embarrass a child for no reason.

The boy still wanted to quibble, but Ning Zheng's subordinates exerted a little force, and he started to cry like a cat.The other tourists and small vendors on the side all looked at this side, took a peek at the child's appearance, and guessed the reason pretty well.

Sure enough, this boy belonging to the Bohemian nation with a famous name that has stolen all over the world reluctantly took out a small hairpin from the pocket of his ragged old shirt. The open-carved double-blessing pomegranate jadeite hairpin on the head, because the long coiled hair was fixed with thin rice clips, even if the hairpin was pulled out, the hair did not fall apart at all.In addition, the child's technique was light and fast, Feng Jiu didn't notice it either.

However, Ning Zheng's eyes are extremely sharp. There are many people here, so he always pays attention to his wife and children, so he immediately caught the child's breeze-like movements. In addition, he was often stolen when he was traveling in Europe, so he also It is considered to be experienced.

The child reluctantly handed back the hairpin, and ran away without a trace with a "bah", not even a blushing face, so it can be considered a habitual offender.

Feng Jiu recalled the suffering history of the Roma, a pitiful and somewhat hateful nation, and couldn't help sighing, then hugged the two children tightly.

Ning Zheng knew what she was thinking, so he simply put his arms around her and the children, and shook them softly. The whole family just hugged each other quietly in the emerald blue color that is very Tuscan. under a clear sky. [Dou Yingtai; Zhang Xueliang's trip to Europe in 1933[J];CNKI:SUN:WSJF.0.1998-02-007]
(End of this chapter)