Hidden Dragon in Qing Dynasty

Since ancient times, human beings have lived in cities and towns based on water, water is not only a necessity for human survival, but also a huge artery in commercial trade.

Until railways appeared, river transport and maritime transport were the most economical and efficient ways to circulate goods.

The Thames River was one of the most famous rivers in Britain. The industrial products of the City of London could be sent through this river to the North Sea, and then be transported to all of Europe.

The entire City of London was divided into the north and the south by the Thames River. In comparison, the north shore of the Thames River was the first development in history and also the largest region in terms of population.

Southern London, on the other hand, is more of a late-stage immigrant, with a level of development that is incomparable to that of northern London.

The northern part of London was divided into two areas by the citizens' habit. The western part of London was a traditional aristocratic culture area, where there were many imperial palaces and opera houses as well as cathedrals.

Just like the Beijing s of the Great Qing, whoever's home got closer to the Imperial City would have the highest status. London was also close to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Palace, Capitol Building and other regions with the highest land value.

Until the 21st century, the West End of London was no longer a geographical term, but a symbol of fashion. When it came to this word, people thought more about top quality costumes, high-quality theater performances, five-star hotels and gourmet restaurants, and, of course, the Royal Castle and Cathedral, the tourists' favorite castles and cathedrals.

This was the gathering area of London's heavy industry. Since it was located in the lower reaches of the Thames River, the polluted water could be discharged directly into the ocean along with the river water. This way, the nobles of the western region would not be affected at all.

From here, one could see that there were smoke pipes everywhere. The pitch black smoke was so thick that it dyed the entire City of London gray. When there was no wind, one could see that ashes were falling from the sky like snow.

Only the noble ladies would wear white petticoats at an indoor ball. When you walked onto the street and looked around, all you could see were dark colors. This was very fitting the identity of the British Industrial Revolution as a pioneer.

The textile machines in the spinning mill roared non-stop throughout the night. The female workers of the two shifts walked out of the factory with bloodshot eyes. Twelve hours of intense work had nearly deafened his ears.

The Steel plant and the blue-collar workers of the machinery factory were covered in dirty oil. As soon as they got off work, they went into the pitch-black pub and bought a few cups of the cheapest whisky to relieve the pressure on their work.

The residential area around the factory was dirty and run-down. There was sewage flowing in small alleys, and children with runny noses were chasing each other back and forth. Who knew how many years the sewage had accumulated in the sewers.

Day after day of suffering, the faces of the people at the bottom are hopeless, you can only see numbness.

Zai Chun rode on the royal carriage and travelled along the streets of the Eastern District as he looked at the scene on both sides of him and frowned. "No wonder Gladstone was able to attract so many supporters in the Eastern District, it's not without reason!"

Gordon, who was sitting next to Zai Chun, said from the bottom of his heart that the police station knew of your schedule yesterday and hired someone to clean the place beforehand.

A total of fifty Imperial Guard cavalry, as well as twenty-four Imperial City Knife guard s on horseback and more than ten eunuchs serving them, majestically surrounded the royal family's black-painted carriage.

At both ends of the street, police officers holding truncheons began to maintain order. The citizens who rushed out from their homes to watch the show all stared at the many faces of the East.

"Emperor of China! Look at those emperor's guards! They really have braids! "

"Are they wearing silk? "The color is so beautiful, and there are all kinds of patterns on it …"

"Welcome... His Majesty the Emperor! "Welcome to London …"

As the applause rang out, the simple and honest citizens naturally had a reverent attitude towards the imperial power. In their eyes, all emperors were worthy of respect. This was the most basic of courtesies.

China emphasized the divine right of a sovereign, which meant that all emperors were the sons of the gods. In fact, Europe was similar. Both emperors and kings needed the coronation of the Holy See, which meant that God had recognized your rights as being orthodox.

Since the Tongzhi Emperor was someone who was on equal footing as the Queen, this also proved that the identity of the emperor was also recognized by God.

Regardless of whether it was true or not, this was what the honest citizens thought. Thus, when they saw the emperor's caravan, they naturally paid their respects to him from the bottom of their hearts.

Zai Chun had already been taught by Xiao Letian to be a close relative of the citizens.

He opened the window, smiled, and stretched out his hand to wave to the cheering citizens. The friendly gesture was replaced by a fierce response from the citizens. Soon, more and more people gathered on Kung Fu Street.

The police officer on duty swung his baton as he ran back and forth. Anyone who was too far in front of him was scolded and pushed back … "Hurry up and push back, who let you squeeze in here?"

The waving batons in the air intimidated the citizens who were watching the show. However, they knew that they couldn't go overboard in front of the Chinese, so they didn't dare to beat them up as they usually did.

Zai Chun frowned and asked Gordon: What's going on, why are you using violence against the people? They just wanted to see me. What does it matter? "

Gordon's forehead was covered in sweat as he quickly smiled, "Alright, your Majesty, don't worry, I will settle this right away …"

With that, Gordon opened the car door and jumped down. He quickly found the Guard Commander and whispered something to him.

The fifty guards were originally split into two groups, the front and back, forming two small, dense formations to clear the way for Tongzhi. After the order was given, the two formations started to change directions.

The front and back lines became two lines, the left and the right, with twenty-five cavalrymen forming a single line. The distance between the warhorses and the front was about three meters.

This created two long lines of security controls. They did not need the police to swing their truncheons to draw a line of demarcation for the citizens. No one was allowed to cross the inside of the war horse and could only stand on the outside.

As the chaos was gradually brought under control, the policemen wiped the sweat off their foreheads and wondered what they had done so long ago.

Gordon smiled and ran back to the horse carriage, "Your Majesty, everything has been completed, the order is under control again …"

"Well, that's good. Can you open the awning? So many people want to see me, I can't possibly let them down, right? "

The carriage Zai Chun was riding on this trip was not a fixed carriage, but an open one. Due to the heavy air pollution in the east region, there was a large amount of black ash in the air.

But when they saw how enthusiastic the citizens were, Zai Chun went crazy and forced Gordon and the others to open the folded awning.

The little emperor's request wasn't too excessive, and people wouldn't force him to do such a thing. The carriage slowed down, and two attendants ran over quickly from the left and right, carefully folding the awning behind them.

This time, the people on both sides of the road could see the Great Qing's emperor, the cheers and applause became even louder, while Zai Chun smiled and waved his hands, the atmosphere immediately became extremely warm.