Harry Potter Morning Light

Around 1670, a young man from Devonshire in western England joined the Royal Navy. According to the regulations, he would spend the rest of his adult life at sea, so he should be "voluntarily" joining the army.

Those who volunteered to join the army could enjoy some economic benefits: the navy would pay him two months' salary in advance, but according to custom, the new soldiers had to use part of this salary to buy equipment, including hammocks for sleeping on the ship. In addition, if the new recruits who volunteered to join the army had a debt of less than 20 pounds, then the debt could be forgiven.

"Load the powder!" The officer ordered, and the young man and other gunpowder workers poured gunpowder from the barrel and transported it to the ignition chamber.

These gunpowders were usually wrapped in regular paper materials. Then the shells were loaded and stuck on the gunpowder bag. There was a small tube above the ignition chamber, which led all the way to the top of the gun, and the terminal was connected to a small opening, the ignition hole. A fuse was led from the ignition hole to the ignition chamber. In daily operation, the gunner first lit the fuse, and then the gunpowder was ignited, causing huge energy to gather in the firing chamber. The firing chamber was originally made of a solid iron-carbon alloy cast iron reinforcement material, with an outlet at only one end. Almost all the energy generated by the explosion was released from the barrel, pushing the cannonball out.

The cannon device was simple and effective, so its basic design and operation were used for hundreds of years.

Although the crystal structure of cast iron is extremely strong, it can sometimes drop sharply due to impurities that are invisible to the naked eye, especially when the iron-carbon mixture is not adjusted properly, which may cause serious accidents. For example, a blast furnace produced a defect in the cast iron "reinforcement" material, which was the cast iron used in the firing chamber. For years, no one noticed the defect. Gradually, the defect became more serious every time the cannon was fired, until one day it broke down.

But the young man didn't know it, just as he didn't know why the people on the ship came all the way here.

Aiming a cannon at a 17th-century ship is not a technology, let alone a science. Even on land, it is extremely difficult to accurately calculate the trajectory of a cannonball traveling at hundreds of miles per hour in the air.

On a clear day, the lookout on the main mast, which is about 12 meters high, can see nearly 10 miles. But it was late summer, and in the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the humid air covered the telescope lens like a thick curtain. When the Indian treasure ship was discovered, she was 5 miles away from the British warship.

The cause of the accident was some very minor mistakes. Maybe the gunner was inexperienced and stuffed an ounce or two more gunpowder into the barrel. It may also be because the gunner failed to thoroughly clean the gun a few days or weeks ago, and some gunpowder remained in the barrel and was not discovered. Or the cause of this series of accidents can be traced back to earlier.

Anyway, the lookout reported the position of the "target" to the officer on the deck. After "aiming", the officer gave the last inspiring order before firing: "Fire!"

Instantly, the reinforcement material of the gun was blown into hundreds of fragments, and the four gunners standing next to the gun died before they heard the explosion. They were lucky. After the gunpowder was ignited, the gas pressure in the ignition chamber increased sharply. Usually, the gas exerts 15 pounds per square inch of pressure on the ignition chamber every millisecond, but at this time the gas pressure increased to more than 1,000 pounds per square inch. The shock wave spread in all directions at once, with a speed of more than 6096 meters per second, which is more than 10 times the speed of sound. In an instant, the shock wave blew off the arms and legs of the nearby gunners and shattered their internal organs; under the combined effect of heat and pressure, their eyeballs melted.

When the second shock wave hit, the cast iron fragments of the gun were rolled up at supersonic speed, and the gunners were no longer there. The shock wave and artillery fragments were as lethal as shotgun shells, piercing the flesh and bones of the gunners standing a little further away. For a moment, body parts flew everywhere, and important organs were pierced one after another. In just a few seconds, the gun turret on the ship was a bloody mess. Then, the heat wave immediately filled the vacuum created by the explosion, and the wooden boards on the ship caught fire.

Whether on land or at sea, artillerymen must learn to "jump dan". If they are at sea, it is like skipping stones. The tension of the water surface will make the solid bullets jump up and hit farther than the range of the artillery.

The jumping dan tactic on land is to land on dry and solid ground. The solid bullets will also jump up like at sea, while the shotgun shells will form a "curtain wall", which can be said to be a killer weapon for infantry.

It is different from grenades. Grenade is actually a hollow iron ball filled with gunpowder. If the barrel is too long or the chamber pressure is too high, it will easily cause the grenade to rupture prematurely, not only failing to kill the target, but also like the crew on the warship.

In short, in 1797, Nelson did not attack the Nice line of communication for various known or unknown reasons. He went to Cape St. Vincent, although Nelson and the Victory were not in the starting lineup of the Mediterranean Fleet Commander.

The Victory had many cannons, but Nelson and his crew did not choose to shoot with cannonballs. Instead, they boarded the Spanish ship, captured the second one after crossing the deck, and drove it into other Spanish warships in the chaos and smoke of the battle.

This was an exciting victory, but what was even more exciting was the fall of the Jacobins and the end of the Reign of Terror. Many French conservatives in exile in Britain took this opportunity to return to France, and also brought back the habits they had developed during their exile in Britain.

For example, drinking punch, and ladies no longer wearing French court dresses, but wearing long white dresses.

Bertin had not been back in Paris with Georgiana for long, and she had not had time to find her former supplier like Falron and open the old shop.

However, according to her observation, every night after eight o'clock, the whole city was full of women wearing white dresses to attend the ball, whether she was a former duchess or the wife of a notary from the province, or a washerwoman or an actress.

The white dress with smooth and simple lines was not overly decorated, so that "Cinderella" could also buy herself a dress made of muslin.

The ball in Paris was not like the carnival in Venice, where people wore masks. If it was in a small city in the province, people could not know each other, and no matter what kind of clothes they wore, they could not disguise themselves.

On the contrary, in Paris, everyone was mixed together, social hierarchy disappeared, and people could only see costumes and shawls.

Bertin's previous clothing store was named "The Great Sultan", and she was very familiar with oriental fabrics.

There are many Armenian merchants in Marseille, who run businesses importing cotton from India and weaving and painting Indian-style textiles.

White skirts look good with any color. In the portrait of her and her husband, Madame Lavoisier wore a white skirt with a blue ribbon, which looked simple and natural.

However, Madame Tarian and others who really led this fashion used the best Indian high-count cotton shawls in India. The cheapest yard was 150 francs, and the most expensive shawl was sold at a private auction for 10,000 francs.

So the "indienne" produced in Marseille became popular again, but they used to sell it to Turkey, but now they send it to Paris, and the buyers are those who can't afford the real Indian high-count cotton cloth, but want Indian fabrics to keep up with fashion.

Bertin said that fashion is like a deposed queen who has not yet decided which neighborhood in Paris to spend her exile.

In the past, the queen led the fashion, but now the world of fashion is dominated by fabric merchants, tailors and customers. Any elegant woman can create unique clothes, but they are short-lived.

Everyone wants to be the most special in the crowd. If it were the old times, someone would laugh at someone wearing clothes during the day to a dinner party at night.

But now they are all white skirts, and they are all loose and "naturally beautiful". How can you show your specialness?

The French flag is red, white and blue. At the reception organized by Georgiana, British ladies wore red and French ladies wore white. A banker's wife then wore blue at a banquet, which suddenly became very eye-catching among all the white skirts.

Trends sometimes change so quickly. Blue skirts are often French women's wedding dresses. Wedding dresses are generally worn once in a lifetime and then left idle.

Then someone asked the tailor to alter their wedding dress, so that they also had a conspicuous blue skirt.

Overnight, all the white skirts in the city turned into blue skirts.

France straddles the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Since Louis XIV appointed Colbert as Minister of Finance, Marseille has been promoted to a free port. He hopes that Marseille can provide better conditions for the import of the French East India Company.

Marseille travels between Turkey, Thrace, the Aegean Islands, the Albanian coast, Cyprus, Crete, etc. every year. Since Venice often goes to war with the Ottoman Sultan, Venice cannot gain a foothold in this area. The offshore shipping is controlled by the Marseilles, and the French even establish an exchange business between Constantinople and other commercial ports.

For a while, Britain tried to persuade Selim III to fight against France together, but Selim III did not follow up.

The Ottoman Empire had to face the dual pressure of Russia and Austria at this time, while France was at war with Austria and Russia. After Napoleon landed in Egypt, Selim III allied with Britain and Russia and declared war on France.

Some time ago, Georgiana was still thinking about how to decorate a reception room in the Palace of St. Cloud suitable for receiving Middle Eastern people.

There are many French people on the Ionian Islands. They used to exchange money. They fled to the islands because of the war and went to the opera house on the islands to listen to operas every day.

With their internal and external cooperation, the French Navy took Corcyra without bloodshed.

Business can be negotiated. It may be for this reason that a diplomat engaged in finance is allowed to approach Georgiana.

The emergence of the "Salt Road" is still related to war. The asceticism of the Middle Ages led to slow circulation of goods and personnel, but salt is indispensable.

Every conquest and every tax increase made people miserable. As a result, people would rather take the "Salt Road" full of cliffs and bandits when there is a smooth and flat Roman road to take, and the original Roman road was abandoned or even deserted.

Those "bandits" may be mountain people or the second sons of the lords.

In this era, clothing is no longer a combination of some fabrics and patterns, and the returning nobles no longer compete with the "new nobles" in this regard.

Posture, behavior, putting on a skirt, adjusting the hem of a skirt, taking out a handkerchief, or even smelling a bouquet of flowers, whether it is "appropriate" replaces the material of the clothes and reflects the distinction of social status.

The secret of "showing identity" is to let people in the circle guess.

It is unknown when Dakavier became a baron, and it is unknown where this baron's identity came from.

According to the current exchange rate, a large cashmere shawl would cost more than 20 pounds.

Among the exiles, there would be a kind of "Bals a la Victime" party, where participants would tie a red ribbon around their necks to represent their relatives who were executed by the guillotine. Ciconiara once participated in Venice.

Robespierre died because of his incorruptibility.

In the old days, in the Holy Week before Easter, in addition to lighting candles on Saturday, there were some rituals in Paris, especially Longchamp, where ladies dressed up to compete with each other.

Although Georgiana asked Bertin to look at cotton and linen blended fabrics and design "civilian fashion", she seemed unwilling to go that way.

No painter would hang a blank canvas in a gallery for exhibition. Last time in Compiègne, Georgiana changed the pattern of the fabric designed by Bertin, and she was heartbroken. Georgiana herself was very sad, but she still had to comfort her.

She had been in Milan for so long, and she didn't know what Bertin was doing.

It happened that she had to wear new clothes on Easter Day, so she put down her wine glass and book and left the castle of Chiconyala.