Chapter 72 Banquet 1
After four months of hard work, with the help of Parsons Steam Turbine of the UK and Siemens of Germany, a small AC power plant was finally built between Greece and the Port of Piraeus.
In order to set an example for promoting the application of electricity, the Tatoi Palace of the Greek royal family directly became the first user of AC in Greece.
After everything was ready, Constantine hurried back to the Tatoi Palace.
I saw Crown Princess Sophie standing in the courtyard, instructing the servants to clean the garden.
Constantine stood in a corner of the courtyard and waved to Sophie.
Seeing Constantine's gesture, Sophie walked forward quickly: "What's the matter? Constantine"
"Sophie, tomorrow night, as the Crown Princess of Greece, I hope you can organize a grand banquet, first to announce your identity as the hostess of the Tatoi Palace to all walks of life in Greece, and secondly, I need this banquet to contact the business elites in Greece," Constantine said.
Since the two got married and returned to Athens, King George and his wife moved to the royal palace opposite the Constitution Square in Athens and lived there for a long time.
Now, only two people live in the Tatoi Palace, which is unusually deserted.
"Banquet, then we have to prepare carefully, but Constantine, this is my first time to host a banquet, what if there is a mistake?" Sophie looked at Constantine pitifully and asked for help.
"I will let Butler Capet to assist you, don't worry, Butler Capet is an old man in the family, familiar with the entire process of the banquet, if you don't understand anything, you can ask him," Constantine instructed.
"But a few days ago, those engineers who came to my house, arranged wires and installed crystal lamps, what exactly did they do? Can you tell me about it, so that I can also be prepared, so that I don't make mistakes at the banquet," Sophie's worried tone did not diminish.
"That is the real protagonist of the banquet. If I tell you in advance, the banquet will be boring."
Crown Princess Sophie had no choice but to prepare for the banquet with the help of Butler Capet.
First of all, there is an exquisite invitation letter. In order to express sincere sincerity, Crown Princess Sophie needs to write it herself.
The second is the preparation of ingredients for various banquets. To prepare a Greek-style banquet, many ingredients that are abundant in Greece, such as olives, are needed.
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At six o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, the lights in Tatoi Palace were brilliant, and luxurious carriages kept entering the manor.
The hostess Sophie took the arm of the host Constantine and stood in front of the reception room, welcoming the guests cordially.
After getting off the carriage, Costerbru and his wife came to the reception room under the guidance of the servants and greeted the two enthusiastically.
After kissing the hand, he said respectfully: "It's nice to meet you, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Sophie"
As the general manager of the Greek Congo General Company, Costerbru went to Congo for a business trip for nearly two years in order to expand the business of the Greek Congo General Company, and finally returned to Europe.
"Costerbru, you are different from before," Constantine greeted.
Indeed, after a year of training as the general manager, Costerbrough has become much smarter and more capable. Of course, his skin has also been tanned by the scorching sun in Africa.
Seeing that the last guest has entered, Constantine waved to Tesla in the distance.
"How is it? There won't be any accidents, right? If there is a malfunction in the live demonstration later, it will be embarrassing in public," Constantine asked Tesla without avoiding Sophie's presence.
"It has been demonstrated normally three times, and each time it is normal. From a probability point of view, it is unlikely to have a problem, don't worry," Tesla comforted.
"Okay, you also bring your female assistant in," Constantine urged.
Strangely enough, as the number of times he dealt with Tesla increased, the two became more and more familiar with each other. This scientist from a priest family (Tesla's father was a priest) was very eccentric.
He obviously had a handsome face and a tall stature, but he was not interested in girls.
But this time he couldn't avoid Constantine's invitation. Tesla had no choice but to find a lady in the team to accompany her to the banquet tonight.
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Seeing that the guests were in place, Constantine and his wife also entered the reception room.
Everyone followed the crown prince and his wife from the reception room to the dining room.
In the middle of the spacious and bright dining room, there was a rectangular dining table.
The table was covered with white cloth, with bright silver candlesticks, crystal clear high-footed glasses, and porcelain plates as white as the bright moon, which were placed in a clear and orderly manner.
Everyone sat on the high-backed chairs covered with red silk and goose down. After tidying up the napkins, Sophie, as the hostess, signaled the servants around her with her eyes: the banquet is about to begin.
Several male waiters in tuxedos who received the order poured wine for the guests.
The blood-red wine swayed in the transparent high-footed glasses.
Alexandros picked up the goblet, took a sip of the red wine and said, "It tastes strange, it doesn't seem to be French wine."
France has long been the economic and cultural center of Europe. Influenced by this, French wine is also famous in Europe.
Alexandros, who was born in a large Greek family, is very wealthy. Perhaps he is used to French red wine and has never tasted Greek wine.
In fact, the wealthy Greeks at that time looked down on the wine produced in their own country, and generally bought red wine directly from famous French wineries.
Greece had been under the control of the Ottoman Empire for a long time. Because Islam opposed believers drinking, it was forbidden to make wine by the authorities, so the entire wine production fell into underestimation.
The wealthy merchants in Greece looked down on their own wine and generally felt that it was not up to standard.
Hearing someone asking about wine, Sophie, the hostess, said: "Mr. Alexandros, you have an excellent taste. This is Nemea wine."
"Nimea? It seems to be wine from the Peloponnese, right?" Among the guests present, Kontoriotis had drunk wine produced in Greece.
"Yes, wine from the Peloponnese in southern Greece. I occasionally tasted it and thought it tasted good, so I purchased a batch and stored it in the wine cellar to share with everyone at this banquet," Constantine said, indicating that everyone did not take the wrong wine.
Among all the people present, only Costebru had the most interactions with Constantine and understood the Greek prince's intentions.
So he took over the conversation: "In fact, Greece also has some good wines, which are not inferior to those produced by famous French wineries."
"Like Astyco wine, which is very popular. Astyco white wine has a concentrated flavor, fresh and refreshing, with a mineral flavor and a sea salt aftertaste."
"And Moschofilero wine has a rich and fragrant aroma, with the aroma of roses and violets, rich fruit flavor, crisp and refreshing, balanced acidity, and low alcohol content," Constantine added.
In fact, since learning that Greece exports a large number of raisins, Trikoupis once asked the royal family to use the royal family's special status in public occasions such as banquets to try to promote Greek wine in order to improve the status of Greek wine in the minds of Greeks.
At the same time, it can also reduce the risk of Greece using raisin exports as an economic pillar.