Chapter 234 Gurkha
Backed by the powerful empire on which the sun never sets, the British are scurrying around the world, doing everything from immigrants, tourists, inspections, missionaries, etc.
Just a few British people disappeared in Amur, which actually attracted the attention of the British government. Those who didn't know it thought it was the British Crown Prince who was missing.
Siberia is not used to the British people's bad habits. They disappear when they say they are missing. The power of nature is extremely powerful and must be respected.
George ignored the housekeepers' life in the guest house, and Catherine had spoken. George could only reduce the number of outings, and spent most of his time studying music and books with Anne at Guangmingding.
George also likes reading books.
When George left the Winter Palace, his only request was to move the study room in the Winter Palace.
Although this wish did not come true, over the years, George basically copied the books in the Hermitage study and moved them to the Yekaterin Palace.
These collections are now in the Vladivostok Library, and staff are sorting them out and revising the valuable parts before publishing them.
To be honest, not many are valuable.
The Russian language was not even standardized before Pushkin, so how many books can there be in Russia?
The situation in Germany is similar.
Martin Luther promoted the unification of the German language by translating the Bible and became the basis for standard German.
In other words, before Martin Luther translated the Bible, the German language was also confusing, and there was no such thing as standard German.
The first German dictionary was published in 1781, and its content has been tinkered with and is still being revised into the 21st century.
Therefore, there are not many ancient books handed down from Germany.
The most common are various versions of the Bible.
This can explain why Anne reads "I Ching".
Because the history of European culture is really lackluster.
“Do you also like Eastern culture?”
Anne noticed that there were many thread-bound ancient books in George's study, and her eyes when she looked at George were full of surprise.
The Qing Empire before the Opium War was one of the most powerful countries in the world.
After the Opium War, the Qing Empire became synonymous with backwardness and ignorance in Europe.
So if you like Eastern traditional culture, you will be laughed at in Europe.
“I don’t want to like it either, but in St. Petersburg, there is nothing to read except the Bible.”
George did not deny that the study in the Yuriev Palace was larger than the study in the Yekaterin Palace and had a richer collection of books.
“No, Pushkin’s poetry is still very good.”
Anne’s trembling flowers and crooked smile made George have to admit that Ekaterina’s vision was indeed It is unique.
“I have many works here from the era of various scholars. It is hard to imagine that most of these works were written before 2000. Let me think about what Germany was like 2000 years ago——”
George teased Anne deliberately.
Germany 2000 years ago——
Let’s put it this way, Germany gradually formed tribes in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.
After the disintegration of the Holy Roman Empire, independent voices emerged in Germany.
So before 2000, there was no concept of Germany at all.
“Yuck! What was Russia like before 2000?”
Anne was very dissatisfied. Our ancestors were all savages, and no one should laugh at anyone.
Two thousand years ago, Russia was still a clan society. It was not until 862 AD that the first Rus’ Kingdom was established.
“Have you ever played oriental instruments?”
George liked him.
“I have come into contact with it, but have not studied it. Many ancient musical scores have been lost.”
Anne was very sorry. She had begun to study the "Book of Changes" and naturally heard the story of high mountains and flowing water.
“I know a little bit.”
Although George did not major in music in his previous life and read the weather forecast frequently, he still remembers "The Fishing Boat Sings Late" and some of the melody of "Butterfly Lovers" .
Although "Fishing Boats Sing Evening" and "Butterfly Lovers" were both created later, they both drew on the melody of traditional repertoire to a certain extent. They can be regarded as re-creations on the basis of ancient songs, so ancient songs are not That's too much.
For George, of course, George will do whatever he says.
So George played the melody of the "Butterfly Lovers" violin concerto on the piano.
""Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", I know their story."
Anne really knows the traditional Eastern culture very well, the plot of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and "Butterfly Lovers" "almost.
George's piano skills are far inferior to his guitar skills.
So Anne took over the piano and George provided the music score.
"Wow, very warm-"
Katherine probably lost money and was not in a happy mood.
In order to create opportunities for George and Anne, Ekaterina took Catherine, Mary, and Alexandra to play mahjong every day. The winning or losing was not big, and the main thing was to kill time.
"Annie, you missed 100 million."
Mary won money today and was in a good mood.
"I want to get a pair of mahjong and bring it back!"
Alexandra has become a senior mahjong player and vowed to bring mahjong back to Europe and promote it.
"You guys are playing with you, why are you disturbing us."
Annie was unhappy, she enjoyed her time with George.
In Germany, Anne, who likes traditional Eastern culture, is an outlier and is often laughed at by her peers.
This actually has little to do with Annie's preferences.
Ekaterina was right, George thought Anne was too young, but some people didn’t.
Anne's own conditions are also excellent. Think about it, Wei Ka is 1.7 meters tall.
Besides not meeting the definition of petite and exquisite, is there anything else to fault?
Therefore, in the German aristocratic circle, at least in the male aristocratic circle, Anne is very popular. There are countless German aristocratic young people who want to marry Anne home.
Anne is not only beautiful in appearance and figure, her character, knowledge, and even family background are all top choices. Other aristocratic ladies cannot compare with her, so we can only start with Anne's hobbies to make Anne a different kind.
It is rumored in St. Petersburg that George is a money addict, a prodigal, a naughty child, and a lover of men. The reasons are all the same.
George never defended himself against outside rumors.
The same goes for Anne.
"My little Annie, because we are going to have dinner."
Ekaterina was wearing a traditional Chinese winter dress, which dazzled Annie.
Many people refer to traditional clothing as cheongsam.
Sorry, the cheongsam is not a traditional dress at all.
A real lady will be beaten to death by her elders if she wears a cheongsam.
Ekaterina is wearing an improved square-collared short jacket with a stand-up collar and a double-breasted shirt. The skirt is a horse-face skirt. When wearing this outfit on Ekaterina, she really feels like a fairy. .
So Annie looked straight at it in an instant.
“Do you like it?”
Ekaterina turned around in a circle. The ballerina’s movement was so beautiful.
Annie’s head nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.
"I knew you would like it."
Ekaterina waved to Anne.
Anne ran over and hugged Ekaterina's arm. Looking from behind, the two looked like sisters.
“It’s finished, my sister is finished——”
Katherine’s tone could not be said to be one of regret or envy.
Catherine also wore a double-breasted short coat, with the cuffs and collar decorated with sable fur. Of course, it is possible that the entire short coat was made of sable fur.
Relatively speaking, Mary and Alexandra’s minks are relatively cheap.
When George saw Anne again, Anne had put on an improved winter coat that was exactly the same as Catherine's.
The difference is that Catherine's clothes are red, while Anne's clothes are light blue.
“Does it look good?”
Anne's eyes were filled with anticipation.
“Good-looking!”
George couldn’t hide the appreciation in his tone, and he didn’t want to hide it.
"As long as you like it, I'll have someone make a few more sets for you, so you can have a replacement."
Ekaterina was generous, and the little that George gave her The mink fur was probably used to make clothes for Annie.
Artificial breeding of sables has not yet begun, so the price is extremely expensive.
It is generally believed that the center of origin of sable is in Siberia.
George is not sure whether this is true or false. Anyway, there are indeed many wild sables in Amur, and these furs are purchased from Cossack hunters.
"Thank you Aunt Katya——"
George didn't know what Anne and Ekaterina were talking about. Anyway, Ekaterina is Anne's aunt now.
This is normal. European royal families are all members of the same family.
Lunch was as sumptuous as ever. Today we had Huaiyang cuisine, and the chef was hired with a high salary from the Qing Empire.
Mary, the little gourmet, was very happy after eating.
Alexandra also gained something. Ekaterina asked someone to prepare a pair of agate mahjong for Alexandra. Although the price is not expensive, it is beautiful and practical.
Katherine could not find any reason to object.
Catherine also had a share of the clothes Catherine prepared for Anne.
The difference is that one is a sable and the other is a mink.
George was not responsible for bribing several little princesses. After the icebreaker broke down, although Vladivostok's external traffic was cut off, communication was still smooth.
Among the Dutch prisoners released by the Lansha Sultanate, some were instigated by the Lansha Sultanate to rebel. After returning to Batavia, they continued to provide intelligence to Aceh.
The Dutch are indeed unwilling to fail and are working hard to prepare for a new attack on Aceh after the year.
The latest situation is that the Dutch hired a group of Gurkha mercenaries from India to prepare for use in the war against Aceh.
As one of the world-famous foreign mercenary groups, the Gurkhas are famous for their strict discipline and bravery, and are very loyal to their employers.
Coincidentally, Cossacks are also world-famous mercenaries.
Gorkha mercenaries were mostly used by the British to deal with Indian kings.
The Cossacks participated in the war against France. Napoleon's defeat in Moscow must be attributed to the Cossacks' contribution.
So George didn't take this situation to heart.
Gorkha’s prestigious reputation has some elements of British bragging in it.
The Cossacks really played a key role in the previous Russian-Turkish wars and Napoleon's invasion of the Russian Empire.
Aceh is home for the Cossacks.
Gorkha is an away game.
So George really doesn't worry about the Cossacks' combat effectiveness.
(End of this chapter)