On a luxurious seat covered in black velvet, a woman with an elegant and slender face wore a platinum crown studded with diamonds. She held her powdered cheeks in her delicate hands and was frowning in deep thought.
She suddenly stood up and let out a soft sigh from her slightly larger lips.
She is the supreme ruler of England, Queen Victoria.
At this time, Queen Victoria was in deep distress. She had just finished her afternoon tea when Van Gogh, the Minister of Parliament, came to her to discuss fighting the Dutch.
What made her embarrassed was that the old guys in the parliament actually unanimously proposed to negotiate peace with the Dutch, because most of them had maritime trade business, and this situation caused them to lose benefits.
The power of the British Parliament is very powerful, and it restricts the imperial power very severely. Sometimes, if the Queen nods for something, as long as more than half of the Parliament does not pass it, it will be a piece of paper.
Although Queen Victoria is much smarter and more powerful than the previous emperors, she has quietly sown a lot of her own seeds in the two sessions over the years. Many of the members of the two sessions are her people, but profit comes first.
When the time comes, even brothers will turn against each other!
Victoria knew in her heart that the Dutch were becoming more arrogant day by day. If she did not take advantage of this conflict to extinguish their arrogance, future expansion plans would be even more difficult.
But what she didn't expect was that these Dutch people had been prepared for a long time. Dutch merchant ships gave up their gun mounts for profit, but these Dutch warships were more ruthless and more powerful than each other.
Powerful! One of Victoria's three major fleets has been damaged and is incomplete. For some reason, there is no news about the remaining one going to the Bay Area to perform missions. The following fleet is the Third Fleet responsible for protection in the coastal waters of England.
, in terms of scale and equipment, they cannot keep up with the first and second fleets, but at this time, Victoria only has this card in her hand.
Faced with the pressure of the ministers of Parliament, Queen Victoria acted cunningly. She secretly ordered some of her cronies to dress up as people and march in the streets to protest against the "traitors"'s peace talks. Although the effect was not great, it was also effective in stopping them.
He checked the pace of those ministers. After all, the British, who are known for their love of face, can't stand being called a traitor.
But those ministers did not surrender to such a little trick. Although they did not say it openly, they began to use various reasons to reduce military expenditures and make things difficult for them.
You must know that military expenditure is the lifeline of an army. If there is a problem in this aspect, then either the cannons will be fired today and there will be no money to buy them, or the soldiers will be hungry after running out of rations.
Although the soldiers are very patriotic and passionate, they can't win without food and guns. For this reason, Victoria gritted her teeth and used part of her family property to support military expenditures, but she knew very well in her heart: her
No amount of wealth can support this war machine for long.
As soon as the meeting ministers left, Royal Navy Admiral David hurried over and told Victoria with a stern face that if the military expenditure and rations were not in place, the entire fleet would be in danger of collapse!
Victoria knew he was not being alarmist. Those soldiers who were loyal to their country every day only had two meals a day and had not received military pay for half a year. If this continued, even if the soldiers were willing to serve in vain, after all, many of them had family needs.
In the face of internal and external troubles, it is difficult to imagine that they would concentrate on fighting.
"I know, don't worry, General, I will definitely solve it as soon as possible!" Victoria frowned, her slender pretty face looking down again.
When she was combing her hair in the past few days, she suddenly discovered that her skin, which was originally as smooth as jade, actually had many thin wrinkles on her forehead. This was caused by working day and night on national affairs. The tense war made this thirty-year-old
The woman suffered from insomnia all night long. Although she showed strength in front of others, only she knew the pain in her heart.
After seeing off the worried and anxious admiral, the guard officer said softly: "Your Majesty, Major Taiding from the Canal Garrison has asked to see you, saying he has an urgent military report."
Emergency military affairs! Emergency military affairs again! Victoria's hair has been falling out in recent days. Whenever she hears the word "military situation", she will feel crazy.
But she still adjusted her emotions and reluctantly showed a trademark smile: "Let him in."
But after saying these words, she immediately took this moment to wipe the goo from the corners of her eyes - she had been too angry recently.
At this time, Tyding had come in, and he saw the elegant Queen Victoria doing an incredible thing - removing eye mucus with her fingertips!
Seeing someone coming in, Victoria immediately retracted her hand: "Haha, it's my young man from the Royal Navy! It's not easy for you on the canal. Your loyalty to the country is praised by the royal family and the people across the country..."
After Queen Victoria finished speaking a cliche, she felt a little boring and suddenly changed the topic: "Okay, let's get down to business, what's going on over there on the canal?"
"Her Majesty the Queen..." Taiding swallowed his words halfway and kept looking at Du Fei behind him.
Queen Victoria had noticed the yellow-skinned young man behind Taiding, and she took the initiative to ask: "It seems that I should ask him directly?"
Seeing that the queen spoke so directly, Du Fei had no choice but to talk to him directly: "Her Royal Highness, I bring you bad news. The main force of your royal fleet has been trapped in the Bay Area. From the time we received the mission in the canal to the time we arrived here,
They have been trapped here for more than a month. Please send reinforcements immediately to rescue them and break out, otherwise they may not be able to hold on for long."
Victoria couldn't help but cover her forehead with one hand. She was about to cry: The enemy here has been forced to the doorstep. The second fleet among the three fleets has been completely destroyed by the enemy, and as the main force,
The First Fleet is trapped in the bay area, and now the only remaining Third Fleet relies on the turrets and defensive positions on the shore to barely confront the massive enemy warships. At this time, she is really helpless.
Seeing that Victoria was stunned for a long time without saying a word, the experienced Du Fei had already noticed the subtle changes in her expression, so he made an insinuation: "Is the war here tighter?"
"Mr. Dufy, although you are not our Englishman, on behalf of the British royal family, I would like to express my deep gratitude for your heroic performance and the risks you have taken for us. What reward do you want?" Victoria looked at him and tried her best.
She avoided this topic. After all, in her eyes, Du Fei was just an outsider and not trustworthy enough. She felt that Du Fei was a risky businessman who took risks for money. He might betray himself for more money at any time, so his expression remained unchanged.
Dropped the topic.
"Whatever, I've brought the news, and the mission has been completed." Du Fei didn't have any emotions towards Victoria's distrustful attitude. After all, this is not his own country. There is no need for him to worry too much. It doesn't matter whether others trust him or not. He
Then he said: "I don't ask for any financial reward, I just hope to use your influence and familiarity with the Atlantic Ocean to find a place..."
"Looking for a place?" Victoria smiled bitterly: "This is the weirdest request I have ever heard! But now our ship is surrounded by enemies, and I can't get out even if I want to help you... Where are you looking for?"
?”
"Spring water in the sea." Du Fei said word by word: "I think Britain, as the hegemon of the Western world, must have the most detailed understanding of the Atlantic Ocean. I think only you can help me."
"The spring water in the sea..." Queen Victoria lowered her head and thought for a moment, then said to the attendant beside her: "Call Dr. Booker."
Each empire has its own think tank, and each think tank has its own top figures. In other countries, there may be disagreements, but in the British Peninsula, when it comes to top figures, there is no doubt that
Dr. Booker.
Dr. Booker is not only knowledgeable and talented, but also has a very high reputation. He is known as a leading figure in the academic world.
When Dr. Booker, who had silver hair and small round eyes, came in front of everyone, Du Fei immediately noticed a hint of wisdom and alertness in this man's eyes and behavior.
"My dear Queen, I haven't seen you for several years, but you are still so elegant, sexy and charming." Old Booker is obviously also a playful guy. While saying this, he also gave Queen Victoria a flirtatious look.
It's a pity that Queen Victoria didn't agree with him at all. Then she asked with a bit of ridicule: "Who are you? Oh... I remember, your name seems to be Buck, right? I also
I remember that you seemed to be a doctor, but how could you speak like a drunkard at the dock?"
"From your tone, it seems that you often go out to drink and chat with drunkards -" Old Booker's mouth was worse than hers. Victoria was accidentally led into the ditch by him, and she didn't know how to answer for a moment.
At this time, Taiding immediately changed the subject: "Dr. Booker! I admire you very much! I have always regarded you as my goal since I was a child! I didn't expect to see you here today!"
"Hey, it's not difficult to meet me. I walk on the street every day. You will meet me at Linton Wine every noon. Of course, I can't guarantee that I will be sober every time, haha!"
As soon as Dr. Booker entered the room, he swept away the awkward and depressing atmosphere. Everyone had a smile on their face. Even Queen Victoria, who was being harassed by him, turned rosy and no longer had a long, bitter face.
.
"Dr. Booker, do you know about the 'Fountain in the Sea'?" Queen Victoria straightened her posture and her tone became kind, dignified and friendly again.
Du Fei on the side listened to her speaking in a high voice and couldn't help but feel tired for her: Being the queen of this country is really tiring. Like our emperor from Middle-earth who picked at the seams of his feet when he met with the minister in private.
While pointing out the scoldings of eight generations of your ancestors with one hand, you are not allowed to talk back. If you talk back, you are committing a crime and your whole family will die. Compared to her, she is really much superior.
"Fountain in the Sea!" Dr. Booker's original cynical energy suddenly became tense: "Why are you interested in this? This is exactly the topic I am currently researching. I spent nearly a year writing thirty
A 10,000-word paper was written to explain and demonstrate that it really exists.”
"With all due respect, Doctor." Du Fei suddenly interrupted: "As for its existence, I don't think there is any need to prove it, because we have found several springs in other sea areas and witnessed their strange effects with our own eyes!
Now we just want to know where the spring is located in the Atlantic Ocean."
"Oh, who is this young man?" Dr. Booker stroked his moustache and said with a smile: "That's really to the point! I like the way you talk, young man! But I still have to ask you, why are you looking for these legendary people?
Holy spring?”
"It's to save the people of Middle-earth!" Du Fei said without thinking.
But Dr. Booker shook his head and said, "Isn't it for your own safety?"
"Well, I just want to restore my original abilities. Isn't this an excessive request?" Du Fei also felt that what he said before was a bit too fake and general.
"Okay, I can barely accept this reason." Dr. Booker looked at Queen Victoria who was staring at him and asked: "Your Highness, it is undeniable that my charm is irresistible, but you have to be tactful.
"Looking at me like this really makes me feel a little rude..."
"Get out! You wild boar!" The Queen finally lost her temper and got angry. She turned her head and said to Du Fei: "I assigned this guy to help you! As a reward for you, now take him away quickly!"