The news of the arrival of the Northern Navy fleet caused a stir in the local government throughout the city. The twenty-one 24-pound guns located on the Saint Louis Castle could not help but make a deafening roar to welcome the distinguished guests from afar.
Due to the depth of the port and the size of the berth, the Thor could not berth at the shore, so it could only anchor one mile away from the port. The Beihai No. 1 and No. 2 slowly anchored under the guidance of a frigate sent by the French.
Slowly approached the trestle.
Since Peter had already come ashore in a small boat to make contact beforehand, there were no other civilians at the port except soldiers with live ammunition and a welcoming band composed of more than thirty people.
When Deng Fei and his guards boarded the speedboat and headed towards the port quickly, Leclerc, the governor of French India, led his civilian officials and military generals to the dock. In addition, there were many French businessmen and local Tamils.
People's top figures were also summoned to build momentum.
Deng Fei, who was sitting in the speedboat, raised his telescope and looked at the strange but familiar city in front of him for a moment. What caught his eye the most was the five-pointed starfish-like St. Louis Castle, which was the core of local governance. At this time, his mind
The movie "The Life of Pi" occasionally flashes across the screen, and Pi's family's beautiful zoo is here; but in this time and space, this is the headquarters of the French East India Company.
In most historical textbooks, the French East India Company stopped in 1769. Due to the massive defeat at the hands of the British in the Seven Years' War, the company went bankrupt and liquidated. After that, the French East India Company was taken over by the French government and declared
After the dissolution, all its lands were merged into the crown lands; in exchange, Louis XVI also took over all the company's debts on behalf of the crown.
However, according to the calculation method of later French people, the East India Company is currently in era 3.0.
Let’s put it this way, the period before the “Mississippi Bubble” caused by the “South Sea Bubble” was the 1.0 era of the French East India Company; the decades after it gained independence from the “French East India Permanent Company” belong to the 2.0 era
; The 3.0 era began in 1785, but the company's name has been changed to "France Oriental and India China Company".
It is said that in 1778, the French, who had been holding their breath since the Seven Years' War, finally caught the opportunity to disgust the British. They officially ended the war and fully supported the Thirteen States to defeat the British. By September 1783
, the "Treaty of Paris" signed by Britain, France and the United States was settled. The victorious French poached five cities in East India from the British, and French India rose again.
The French East India Company in the 3.0 era had a registered capital of 20 million pounds and had an exclusive monopoly on all trade east of the Cape of Good Hope. The annual fleet of ships traveling between India and France expanded to 20 ships, which even exceeded the peak period of the 2.0 era.
By 1789, the new company, which had only been established for four years, even planned to pay 16% dividends to shareholders, a high return and a bright future.
Sadly, the French Revolution broke out.
In 1790, a bolt from the blue came. The National Assembly decreed that all trade east of the Cape of Good Hope was open to all French people, that is, anyone who wanted to do it could do it. Damn it! Version 3.0 fell from the sky to the ground at once. This move was close to deprivation.
gained the East India Company's trading monopoly.
However, this is not all the bad news. If nothing unexpected happens, next year, the first counter-revolutionary crime in human history will be born in France.
Yes, because it supports the royal family and most of its shareholders are nobles, the French East India Company will be accused by Robespierre's "Committee of Public Safety" as a counterrevolutionary group. It has nearly 30 million livres of assets, warehouses, and ships.
The entire team was confiscated, which was almost equal to 400,000 ounces of gold. The directors of the company were either guillotined or sent to a mental hospital. Then version 3.0 entered the liquidation stage again, and eventually closed down completely.
So you understand why Leclerc is so anxious to contact Beihai Town? As a nobleman, he hated the "free trade" promoted by the National Assembly; and as the governor of French East Indies, he was dissatisfied with the British's continuous expansion.
Worried.
In short, for him, everything is in chaos if the king does not belong to his family!
When the black speedboat docked, Deng Fei just stepped onto the trestle. Following an order from a French officer, the band immediately began to play the cheerful and baroque-style "March of the Royal Double Bridge Regiment". Of course, just now
It is impossible for "La Marseillaise", which was only a few days old, to be spread to the East; and even if it was spread, the Governor would never let anyone play it.
When Deng Fei landed, the members of his entourage who were already waiting on Beihai No. 1 and No. 2 also stepped off the gangplank one after another. These people included Li Rui, the deputy chief of staff of the Beihai Navy Staff, his attaché, and two officers from the Intelligence Bureau.
, the commander of the special warfare battalion Elu and the two battalion commanders of the Marine Battalion, several officials from the Beihai Town Trade Department, representatives of the Education Department Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji, in addition to several attachés who returned with Peter.
Because the sea conditions in the Indian Ocean were so bad and long-term sailing at sea was not good for his health, Deng Fei did not take his "princess" with him, but left him in Beihai Town and asked Shen Xuan and Director Liu Da to help take care of her.
.
Wang Yuanfang didn't follow him either. He was going to get married to Miss Wu, and then he would take her and his father-in-law to Bacheng to stay for a year. As for Zhao Xinmo, he went to Gan'ao base in early March and left a
After batching the oil and supplies, they went back. The meeting place they agreed on was the Reunion Islands, and the time was set at the end of August.
At this time, Peter hurriedly stepped forward and introduced Leclerc and Deng Fei to each other.
"Your Excellency the Governor, this is Vice Admiral Deng Fei of the Northern Navy."
"General Deng, please let me introduce to you that this is the head of the French Oriental and India China Company in India, the Governor-General of French India, the Chevalier Camille Charles Leclerc de Fresne. This is
His wife, Ms. Emily Thomas de Salmignac.”
When Deng Fei heard this, he realized that the governor was just the lowest "chevalier" among the nobility. It was estimated that his title was awarded because he served as governor, and was not hereditary. But his wife was a proper old noble, so she simply
The Castle of Erminiac is very famous. You must know that before the French Revolution, if a French person's name had the preposition "De", his family or ancestors must be noble.
Let me talk about something interesting. For example, the name De Gaulle is "De Gaulle" in French, which means the knight family whose family fiefdom is in the French fortress, so De Gaulle's real name is actually "Charles of the De Gaulle family".
Deng Fei smiled and stretched out his hand, and said at the same time: "Your Majesty the Governor, I am Deng Fei, the current Vice Admiral of the Northern Navy and the captain of the Thor. Thank you very much for your invitation. I believe that my colleagues and I will be here
Have a wonderful time.”
Well, in order to give Deng Fei a sufficient status for this visit, the "Northern Navy Command" - of course Zhao Xin himself, decided to promote Deng Fei to the rank of lieutenant general. In addition, due to last year's Nanyang Campaign and
During the Battle of Outer Mongolia, Liu Sheng and Wang Yuanfang were also promoted to lieutenant general, and Fan Tong was promoted from colonel to major general.
Although they had heard before that the Serisian vice-admiral could speak fluent French, the French people present were still shocked by Deng Fei's standard pronunciation.
Governor Leclerc was stunned for a moment, then stretched out his hand to shake Deng Fei's hand, and complimented: "The Thor that Lieutenant General mentioned is that big white ship, right? God, it is so beautiful! Listen to Father Peter
It is said that it is completely made of steel. It is hard for me to imagine that iron can actually float in the water. This is really a miracle. I hope I will be lucky enough to go on the ship to visit it someday."
Deng Fei smiled and said: "This is not a problem. My crew and I are very welcome."
"I heard from Father Peter that you also have a larger iron ship with a blue appearance. Why didn't that ship come?"
The speaker was the Governor's wife, who was only 22 years old this year. She wore a towering silver wig and a gorgeous tutu with a huge bustle. Her face was thickly smeared with rouge and gouache, and she had strong thorns all over her body.
The smell of perfume filled her nose. Behind her, there was a local Tamil maid holding a large parasol to provide her with shade.
Looking at the beautiful woman in front of him, it was hard for Deng Fei to imagine that she was actually a second-married widow as Peter said. But it’s no wonder, in these days, women in Europe and East Asia got married early; Ekaterina
II became the crown princess at the age of 16, and Marie Antoinette married Louis XVI at the age of 14.
Deng Fei finished his slander and said with a smile: "Madam, that ship is called Thunder. We are currently at war with the Qing Empire in East Asia. The Thunder has a mission and cannot leave."
"Your French is really good!" The governor's wife actually didn't care about Deng Fei's explanation. She just wanted to interrupt to highlight her presence. "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant General," she said.
, she smiled and raised her right hand to Deng Fei.
After spending these days with Prime Minister Peter in Beihai Town and on the ship, Deng Fei became more and more proficient in French, and now he was asked to count from one to a hundred in French without any fuss.
Deng Fei carefully stretched out his hand to hold the other person's finger, and despite the strong smell of perfume, he bent down and kissed the back of the other person's hand gently.
After that, Deng Fei shook hands and said hello to the local garrison lieutenant colonel, tax bureau, customs, members of parliament, and businessmen. These people, including military officers, all wore wigs and rouge and gouache on their faces, just like a large group of zombies.
.
When Peter introduced several high-ranking figures from the local kingdom, those people simply turned a blind eye to Deng Fei's outstretched right hand. They all saluted with their hands folded and looked at this big shot with an Asian face with great interest.
Behind him, other officers of the Northern Navy either shook hands or gave a military salute, and people from the Ministry of Trade also bowed their hands. However, as scholars, Jiao Xun and Huang Chengji, when they saw the governor's wife and other female family members,
Those plump and half-naked breasts made her face turn red. She was so embarrassed. She thought to herself that these ghost women really have no shame. How do they behave in broad daylight?
The group of people stayed on the pier for a long time before boarding the carriage and heading to the Governor's Palace in the west of Fort St. Louis.
After entering the gate of the castle, the buildings you passed from time to time outside the car window were all in French style. The streets were lined with trees and there were not many pedestrians. Except for the weird smell in the air that made Deng Fei feel a little uncomfortable, everything else looked pretty good.
Peter, who was traveling with him, told him that the city of Pondicherry is currently divided into four districts. The north and south ends of the St. Louis Fort are the French residential areas, which are separated by city walls and are considered the inner city; while the outer city to the west is the French residential area.
The area where the locals live, that is, the Tamils. There used to be a city wall on the outside, but after it was destroyed by the British, they never had the energy to repair it. At present, they only built an earthen fort with simple fortifications.
When Deng Fei went back to repair the ship after the Spring Festival, he took the time to look up relevant information about this place. Before the British completely destroyed this place in 1761, local governance had always been the best-built colonial city in India. In fact, in another time and space until modern times,
Local governance is cleaner than that of Mumbai, let alone Delhi...
At this time, in another carriage, the young governor's wife asked Governor Leclerc: "Are these Seris people very powerful? I think their clothing style, hair and behavior are really...how to say?"
Weird. Yes, that’s what I’m saying!”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Governor Leclerc looked out the window and said seriously: "Madam, don't use our eyes to evaluate the Seris people. Although they do not believe in God,
But you have to know that they even defeated the Russian Empire’s army twice!”
"Russians? Huh, those are a bunch of savages!"
"Even if they are barbarians, they are a force that cannot be underestimated on the European continent. We currently need them to help us deal with the British and return to the homeland to rescue the king! Do you know? That big white ship is incredibly fast! Peter
I was told before that they set out at the end of March. In less than a month, they sailed more than 9,000 nautical miles. Have you ever heard of such a ship?"
"Oh my God!" The governor's wife's eyes widened after hearing this, with an expression of disbelief on her face. If she had the chance, she wished she could go back to France with the ship.
Deng Fei and his party were placed in a large mansion very close to the Governor's Palace. This place was originally built for a major shareholder of the French East India Company, but since it was built, the shareholder has never come.
They were immediately sorted out and twenty Indian servants were arranged to serve them.
As for the 1,500 Northern Navy soldiers who came with the ship, the French were terrified and arranged for them to camp on the beach south of the Saint Louis Castle.
In fact, the French were also afraid. The Northern Navy captured the heavily defended Batavia in one day, and took Binh Thuan in Annan in half a month. Anyone who heard such a record would be shocked. So for
The Northern Navy, who are all incredibly tough, would be better off under the surveillance of dozens of cannons on the castle, so that everyone can rest assured.