The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 272 Prince Friedrich’s Travels
Prince Friedrich from the Kingdom of Prussia did exactly what he said. Not only did he spend all the money he brought, he also owed Emperor Yonglong of Qi hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Of course, it is not very accurate to say that he owed Emperor Yonglong money in his own name.

A large part of the money was borrowed by Prince Friedrich from the Imperial Bank in the name of the Kingdom of Prussia and guaranteed by Emperor Yonglong. Not all of it was used for his personal squandering and his crazy collection of Eastern things. Pay for the art.

Yes, Prince Friedrich is, in a sense, an out-and-out middle-school literary young man and a top art collector. During his stay in Qi for more than a year, he purchased a large number of oriental works of art, as well as various treasures and cultural relics collected by Qi merchants from Japan, Annan, Siam, India, Persia, Arabia and other countries and regions.

When he was young, he was deeply influenced by his mother, who was fond of literature, art and music, and was obsessed with French culture.

Although he was not the eldest son of King Frederick William I, but the third, he was the only son who survived an early death and grew up safely, and he was naturally ranked first in the order of royal succession.

However, as the future successor, Prince Friedrich did not receive any more respect or affection from his father, Frederick William I.

Before the age of six, he was brought up under the care of an old Huguenot and her daughter, and he spent a carefree and happy time.

When he was seven years old, his wonderful childhood came to an abrupt end. Frederick William I arranged for him two senior officers as tutors. The Prussian king hoped that they would train his heir to be "a frugal administrator, a devout Christian and a passionate soldier."

He gets up earlier than a chicken every day, and before it gets dark at half past five in the morning, he has to struggle out of his warm bed. The first thing after getting up is to pray, sing hymns and read the Bible, and then study many courses such as history, religion and political geography, and receive the orthodox moral education of the nobility.

In addition to the strong sense of responsibility and mission of the Hohenzollern family hidden in his heart, he could not shirk his duties as a subject, abandoned his identity as a representative of the royal family, and walked away regardless, leaving the entire Kingdom of Prussia in trouble. The embarrassing diplomatic incident brought shame to the king and all his subjects.

He hoped that his son would become a devout Christian, but Prince Friedrich coldly rejected his faith and considered Christianity a "metaphysical fiction."

After thinking for a long time, Frederick William I agreed to his request.

After seeing that the persuasion was ineffective, Hans, as a close friend of Prince Friedrich, immediately suggested that he take the initiative to ask His Majesty the King to lead a delegation to Qi State to participate in the celebration as the Crown Prince of Prussia.

Just when Frederick William I thought that his son had "returned from evil" and returned to the traditional heir model of the Hohenzollern family, in August 1730, the 8-year-old Prince Friedrich was planning to escape from Prussia , traveled to England to completely escape his father's control.

Another important reason is that he was suddenly full of strong curiosity about the Qi State in the East, and wanted to go to their Hanzhou homeland to see for themselves why this country was able to rise rapidly in just a few decades and sweep across the country. The entire East Indies has turned the vast Indian Ocean into their inland sea. Countless merchant ships and warships swim in the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and they have also become a powerful force that can influence the development and changes of the European situation.

As the relationship between father and son became increasingly tense, Frederick William I also began a long process of reforming and roughly taming Prince Friedrich.

Just when Prince Friedrich insisted on his own opinion and was about to risk leaving Prussia alone and absconding to England by boat, the Minister of Qi in Berlin sent a diplomatic invitation letter, hoping that the Kingdom of Prussia would send important royal family members or heads of government to Han Dynasty. He traveled to mainland China to attend the enthronement ceremony of the Emperor of Qi.

The king completely tore off his son's dignity, smashed it into pieces and threw it into the dirt. After repeated intimidation, threats and punishments, Prince Friedrich finally wisely chose to temporarily bow to his father's authority, and then gave himself a He put on a thick mask and began to do things that his father liked to see on the surface, which finally eased the relationship between father and son.

However, this move was dissuaded by his close friend Hans Hermann von Carter, who believed that the Third Great Northern Crisis (also known as the Third Great Northern War) triggered by the Russo-Swedish War caused the entire German region to plunge into an unprecedented situation. Due to the tense situation, the Kingdom of Prussia carried out limited military mobilization after the Polish-Saxon coalition joined the battle group. All border crossings were tightly controlled, making it impossible to escape Prussia safely.

However, the traditional stick education of the Hohenzollern family did not seem to be effective on Prince Friedrich. Instead, he became increasingly resistant and exclusive. Gradually, Frederick William I had to realize with disappointment that his education had been completely It failed, even backfired.

At the age of fourteen, Prince Friedrich was taken to Potsdam and began his formal military education - although he had already begun military studies when he was seven years old, his father gave him a military education of one hundred and thirty A company of ten military cadets is at his command, and the company is fully equipped and even has a miniature cannon that can fire artillery shells.

When the mission's ship stopped briefly in Amsterdam, Prince Friedrich did not leave the mission as planned, and then took the opportunity to sneak across the channel to England to escape his father's rough control.

He hoped that his son would become a frugal administrator, but the rebellious teenager had a soft spot for literature, art and music, which he considered to be extravagant pleasures.

After hearing this, Prince Friedrich was overjoyed. He immediately found his father and said that he was willing to lead a delegation to Qi State on his behalf to attend the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Qi.

He hoped that his son would become a passionate and qualified soldier, but he had no interest in the army and even called his grenadier uniform a "shroud."

The Qi merchant ship they were on was a "super giant ship" with a displacement of up to 4,500 tons, and the entire ship was made of steel. It was a miracle on earth and everyone was amazed.

After the ship leaves the port, His Highness the Prince will be able to live a free and wonderful life away from his father's high-pressure control to a certain extent, whether he transfers to England midway according to the planned plan, or follows the delegation to Hanzhou.

At eleven o'clock in the morning and five o'clock in the afternoon he would be taken to his father for his harsh scrutiny and petulant rants.

After all, Qi is a big country in the East, controlling almost the entire Indian Ocean, and also has considerable influence in the Atlantic and Europe. Let the heirs of the Kingdom of Prussia travel to Qi to understand the rise and development process of this country, and take a look at this country. The actual local situation can be regarded as seeing the world, which is of great benefit to his vision and future growth.

What kind of country is Qi State?
Prince Friedrich's mother was the sister of King George II of England. Because of his father's strictness and brutality, he had been closer to his mother since he was a child and had a great influence on him. In the Leipzig castle where his mother lived, he would happily chat with his mother about philosophy and art, play the beautiful flute, and be free to do things that dissatisfied his father.

The Sino-British War broke out a few years ago. Unlike his father, Frederick William I, who wanted England to be severely damaged in order to weaken England's influence in Germany and the Baltic region, Prince Friedrich did not want England to suffer due to his mother's influence. A major defeat, and out of considerations of similar religion and civilization, I hope that Qi will eventually lose to England.

As a result, due to the huge gap in strength and technology, the English navy suffered consecutive defeats and suffered extremely heavy losses in personnel and equipment. With the English mainland being tightly blockaded and overseas trade almost cut off, it had to settle under relatively humiliating conditions. , was forced to beg for peace from Qi. You must know that since the War of Spanish Succession, France, which has been severely weakened, has focused its main energy on army construction, making the Royal Navy of England the most powerful maritime force in Europe.

However, they never thought that the Qi Navy's expedition would actually defeat the Royal Navy of England, which was at its peak, and once force England into a desperate situation.

The war, while upsetting his mother, also deeply shocked the young Prince Friedrich.

There is no doubt that the Kingdom of England is stronger than Prussia in terms of population size and comprehensive economic strength, and its geographical environment is much better than Prussia.

When the European continent is plunged into disputes and wars, the Kingdom of England can sit back and watch, choosing the most appropriate time to intervene in the European situation.

Therefore, when the Kingdom of England maintains a strong navy, it will be free from any external interference and threats, so that it can develop its economy with peace of mind and consolidate its domestic foundation.

They even did not need to establish and maintain a large army force like Prussia, thus greatly reducing the financial burden on the country.

In front of Qi State, such a powerful country did not even survive three years before being beaten to cede territory and seek peace. It also watched helplessly as Ireland, which had been colonized for nearly two hundred years, established an independent country. The heart of the heart.

Therefore, Prince Friedrich wanted to take a look at Qi and see with his own eyes how powerful this Eastern Empire was.

He was shocked when he passed through the territory of South Africa.

The Port of Cape Town - oh, people in Qi call it Huining Port - turned out to be a scene of hundreds of boats vying for water and thousands of sails competing. There were many sails in the harbor, countless merchant ships were moored here, and massive supplies were gathered in the harbor. The port is lined with shops on the shore and the market is noisy. It is an extremely prosperous trading port, even comparable to Amsterdam, the European commercial center.

This city was designated as a free port by the Qi people. It has more than 60,000 permanent residents. It is the second largest city after Changning, the capital of the colonial territory (today's Durban, South Africa). People come from different races and religions from all over the world. People from different civilizations gather here, bringing different cultures and customs to the city.

The population of the entire South African territory is about half a million - for such an overseas colonial territory that is extremely far away from the mainland, this is a very astonishing number. It is distributed along the coast and in the vast inland hinterland. The strategic location connecting the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean is firmly occupied.

In addition, in the inland Xingshan area (now Johannesburg, South Africa), there is a gold mine that is coveted by everyone in the world. It can provide Qi with millions of gold income every year, and its reserves are so abundant that it makes people Unimaginable. It has been more than 20 years since the gold mine was established. Although the output has dropped from its peak, huge amounts of gold can still be excavated through various large-scale professional mining equipment.

Oh, the people of Qi are really lucky to have such a golden territory. Even if they do nothing, they can still become the richest people in the world.

After leaving South Africa, the merchant ships did not follow the traditional route all the way north along the east coast of Africa, and then pass through the Arabian Sea from India to the mainland of Hanzhou. Instead, they went straight across the rough Indian Ocean and arrived at Guangxi, an important port on the southwest coast of Hanzhou. State (now Perth).

It can be seen that the people of Qi are already familiar with this newly opened route. Although it is very close to the terrifying roaring west wind zone of 40 degrees south latitude, the ships are like leaves falling in the wind, being constantly lifted up by the huge waves. , and then fell heavily, but the Qi people's merchant ship construction technology and the crew's operational level still withstood the severe test, and finally sailed to the Hanzhou continent without any danger.

If Prince Friedrich was amazed by the prosperous entrepot trade and thousands of merchant ships in South Africa, then when he came to Hanzhou, he was visually and spiritually affected by the many things he saw along the way. A huge shock.

How can a city be so clean and tidy!

A building can be so tall and spectacular, creating a stunning skyline for a city!

There are so many factories in the city. The towering chimneys are constantly spitting out black smoke, and various industrial products are continuously flowing out from the workshops.

In the Han continent, even an ordinary Qi person can dress very decently, without rags or shabby clothes.

The faces of the Qi people I met were all filled with the pride and confidence that only the people of a big country can have.

They have well-proportioned bodies and plump faces, and their average height should generally be higher than that of Europeans.

The city roads are extremely smooth, with countless carriages and pedestrians traveling through them.

Residential residences and public facilities have complete water supply and sewage systems, so that the entire city does not have the sewage flowing horizontally and feces and urine everywhere like European cities.

The streets in the central area of ​​the city are spacious and grand, with beautiful and neat stone paved roads. This should be a commercial and shopping district for citizens. Here, people can see markets full of vitality and prosperity, filled with all kinds of commodities, daily necessities, clothing and hats, hardware tools, various foods, as well as unique products from all over the world. It’s dizzying.

In the shops along the street, there are many high-end restaurants, teahouses, and entertainment clubs, providing a variety of food, delicious drinks, and many entertainment activities, allowing people to enjoy noble taste and life.

I have to admit that the city of Qi is fascinating. Its magnificence and prosperity bring endless shock and amazement to all visitors.

And Guizhou is just a microcosm of Qi State, but it makes people involuntarily have infinite expectations in their hearts - an ideal country, a land of dreams!
(End of this chapter)