Chapter 526 Göttingen

The distance from Paris to Göttingen is about 400 miles. Perhaps in the 21st century, it only takes one day to reach by train, but in the 19th century, a 400-mile land trip represented a physically and mentally exhausting torture.

Although Arthur and his party had already made every effort to advance to the Kingdom of Hanover under the urging of the king, the fastest horse in Paris with the most skilled horseman could only travel 40 miles a day, so this meant that Arthur and his party took a full ten days to enter the Kingdom of Hanover.

In addition, in order to save time, the horseman took a lot of shortcuts along the way. The road conditions of these roads were far worse than those of the main roads. Therefore, after several days of bumpy rides, Arthur finally understood why Napoleon had hemorrhoids.

He even privately speculated that the Duke of Wellington, who marched all year round, might also have this problem.

Riding in a carriage was already so difficult, and God knew how they could ride on horseback for more than ten hours.

The situation was not bad when I just left Paris. Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, I occasionally looked at the beautiful countryside, the neatly planned vineyards, and the golden wheat waves in the fields. These vibrant scenes always make people feel better.

But no matter how beautiful the scenery is, it will eventually make people tired after three days of continuous viewing, not to mention that Arthur's butt was still aching from the bumping.

But what Arthur didn't expect was that from the middle of the journey, even the good scenery disappeared.

After passing through the Rhineland region in western Germany, the scenery along the way was completely changed. The thriving and harmonious rural scenery completely disappeared, and even the farmers leading cattle and sheep and carrying farm tools on the country roads were almost invisible.

There were no conspicuous landmarks on both sides of the narrow road. Although rivers could be seen occasionally, these rivers were far from being as wantonly and magnificent as the Rhine and Danube. Wherever Arthur looked, the streams were flowing lazily, just like the first day of work for the police in Scotland Yard after their salaries were paid.

Although the land was flat, most of the ground was covered with trees, and the varieties of trees were boring. The two words birch and fir could summarize them all.

Seeing this situation, Arthur finally understood why the works of German poets often mentioned uncultivated areas such as "sand" and "swamp".

If a British poet often mentioned these places, he would probably be a lake poet who opposed industrialization and urbanization and yearned for the pastoral life of the Middle Ages.

But the German poet mentioned these not because he had any inclinations, nor because he liked these natural scenery. He probably just told the truth and said what he saw.

The journey along the way was quite boring, but Schneider's little jokes still played a significant role in adjusting the situation.

Although Schneider himself did not think he was telling any jokes, Arthur always felt that every word this guy said by chance was very comedic.

I still remember that a few days ago, the carriage that was driving smoothly suddenly shook violently for a while.

Arthur was about to bend down to pick up the hat that fell on the ground, but he heard Mr. Schneider say sinisterly: "Oh, it seems that we have entered Germany."

Arthur originally thought that this sentence was just a small joke that Schneider used to criticize Germany. Who knew that just when he put on the hat, a road sign suddenly flashed outside the car window, and it was written on it-Welcome to Prussia!

At this time, Mr. Schneider, who had already established his identity as a prophet, straightened his scarf disdainfully, and then turned his head to show off his identity as a historian to Arthur.

"You should be thankful that it is a peaceful time now, otherwise, according to the personality of the Prussians, a tall foreign guy like you would have been dragged off the car and conscripted. Do you know Frederick William I? He is not interested in women, but he is obsessed with guys like you. He will capture any guy he sees to serve as a soldier."

Although Arthur does not know Germany as well as Schneider, he has studied history for a few years in college.

Perhaps because of the same roots and Germanic blood, the Prussian and British governments are very keen on conscripting men, and both sides do not care about nationality.

The Royal Navy's recruiting officers have not only done things like dragging drunkards from pubs onto ships, detaining exiles to "line their pockets", and leading the conscription team to raid weddings at night and kidnap grooms.

Even during the Napoleonic Wars, they also forced American sailors to join the army.

Although those Americans have repeatedly stated that they are independent and it is impossible for them to serve the evil king. But the Royal Navy's recruiting officers didn't care.

For those American sailors who were honest, they even deceived them.

For those who were not honest, they took out the Royal Navy's secret "nine-tailed whip", forcibly injected "Nelson's spirit", and taught them what it meant to "fight every enemy, England".

If the Royal Navy only did this in domestic ports, it would be fine, but what is ridiculous is that they also forced American sailors to the Atlantic and Guangzhou, China.

The US government and its representatives in China strongly protested against this behavior, shouting that it was an infringement of American sovereignty and civil rights.

But of course the Royal Navy would not pay attention to any diplomatic protests, and when the Americans found that the British Foreign Office had read the protest and did not respond, they ran to the government office to complain, hoping that the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi could come forward to do justice.

There are two Germans in one sentence. The recruitment methods of the Royal Navy are disgraceful, and the recruitment methods of the Prussian Army are also not on the table.

It's just that because the Prussians' sphere of influence is too small, in most cases they can only ambush at the border and kidnap young foreigners.

The Prussian King Frederick William I mentioned by Schneider also organized a Giant Guard. This Prussian most elite force was composed entirely of young soldiers over six feet tall.

At social banquets, other German princes and nobles showed off how much wealth, land and beautiful girls they owned, while Frederick William I would show off that he had 2,500 young men over 1.83 meters tall. As long as there are these young men, wealth and land will not be a problem, and beautiful girls will follow them to Prussia.

In order to get these young men, he did not use all kinds of coercion and inducement. If necessary, he would even put pressure on nearby countries through diplomatic channels and ask them to provide Prussia with the most outstanding young men in the country.

If necessary, Frederick William I would not even mind launching an 18th-century Trojan War in order to rob people.

The Trojan War of the Greeks was to recapture the most beautiful woman in the world, while the Trojan War of the Prussians was to recapture the tallest and strongest man in the world.

However, although Arthur already had some prior understanding of Prussia.

Schneider had also vaccinated him long ago: "Don't have any expectations for the German Junker landowners, let alone any gentlemanly qualities from them. They are simply not the same creature as the aristocrats from London and Paris. Arthur, I am not exaggerating. If you have met my father, my grandfather and my grandpa, then you know that I am not exaggerating at all. "

Arthur also learned from Schneider that in fact, the word 'Junkers' only represents the landed aristocrats of Prussia and other Uttar Pradesh countries. They should not even be called aristocrats, because many of them just have "Junkers" in their names. 'Feng', but he doesn't even have a formal noble title.

These people are different from the wealthy nobles in western and southern Germany. They live in a barren environment with common scenery along the way, and live a life that is neither very rich nor particularly poor. In Britain, this group of people would be called the gentry.

Their lifestyle and spiritual outlook were far removed from the aristocratic citizens of the wealthy cities in western and southern Germany. Compared to London and Paris, it seems like a different world.

Moreover, because of poor economic conditions, most of them have not received a good education, and they do not want to receive a good education, because whether they are educated or not does not affect them from becoming soldiers.

Therefore, if there is no war, the Junkers will have neither the opportunity nor the interest to see the vast and wonderful world outside.

Therefore, in Germany, Junker landowners are often associated with being uneducated and short-sighted.

According to Schneider, that is: "They are generally uneducated, can't write sentences, can't express their ideas, and even speak incoherently, as if they have a stutter. They can only connect nouns and nominalized words together. Say it and end it with an exclamation point.”

Arthur initially thought this was just Schneider's stereotype, but after eating several times at a roadside inn, he discovered that it was all true.

That kind of temperament that tells you that you haven't gone to school for a few years is not something that can be easily hidden.

Perhaps it was precisely because of the illiteracy of the Junkers that Prussia was so determined to vigorously promote education reform and force these people to study for several years no matter what.

Baron Stein, the Prussian minister responsible for presiding over education reform, once issued sharp criticism of this phenomenon.

"The Junker aristocracy is a burden to Prussia because they are too numerous and mostly poor. They are greedy for official positions, salaries, privileges and all kinds of preferential treatment. They are poor, so they cannot receive a good education and can only attend military schools of poor quality. Because there are no Once they become senior commanders, the damage to the army will be disastrous.

I can even say that the major defeat the Prussian army suffered during the Napoleonic Wars was because our commanders did not read enough! However, this large group of people with only poor education still shamelessly and showily ask for high-level positions. Being aristocrats and trying to be bureaucrats, they are simply a scourge to their compatriots! "

However, if you blindly criticize these Junker nobles, in Arthur's view, it is not a fair and just measure.

For from what he had observed in the inn, these Junkers were merely imitating their king.

Each one of them tried their best to play the role of the stern, disciplined but loving head of the family.

And the Junkers not only did this to their wives, children and direct descendants, they also wanted to act as fatherly figures to their servants and peasants, just like the King of Prussia did to them.

For a Junker, if you describe him as a majestic but friendly authority and manager who is busy all the time for the livelihood of his family, then he will definitely be very happy and enthusiastic to treat you to a drink. One cup.

Although this group of people are not good people, they can be considered a part of the normal people.

Although the German newspapers were full of criticism when mentioning the Junkers, and all the problems were pinned on the Junkers.

But if it is fair to say, this is just bullying the Junkers for their low culture. These people can't even say a complete and gorgeous sentence, let alone write an article to defend themselves.

If they think that the Junkers are blocking the way, then the first task should be to disarm, because as long as the number of troops is controlled, most of the Junkers' upward channels can be locked, and they will naturally not have such a great influence.

However, it is well known that Prussia is impossible to disarm.

Arthur was still thinking about Germany, and the two ladies sitting opposite him had not yet recovered from the twists and turns of life a few days ago.

Clara never thought that the college student who complained in the tavern that he owed a lot of foreign debts was actually a British diplomat.

Oh, maybe he is not now, but he has developed better and turned into a respected university professor.

She vaguely remembered the complaints she had made to Arthur in the tavern that day.

This young man did have the shadow of Thiers in him. He lied a lot, but he had a back-up plan every time he lied, so no one blamed him.

And not only did they not blame him, but they were all grateful to him.

The royalists thanked him profusely. Clara would be immediately refuted if she raised a doubt about Sir Arthur Hastings.

Because in the eyes of those country peasants who had never seen the dangers of Paris, a British knight was willing to risk his life to take them out of France, which already showed his noble character.

However, in Clara's opinion, things must not be that simple.

If this young man was really Thiers II, he did not betray the royalists today, not because he was moral, but because he felt that the current price was not high enough.

What exactly did he want to do?

Clara was full of doubts.

However, she did not doubt for too long. As the shaking of the carriage became less, she saw the full picture of a small town rising on the horizon from the window.

"Is that Göttingen?"