Christmas Eve is a joyous Christmas Eve, and unlike the British and American Christmas dinners, Germans don't eat turkey.

Because of the presence of Empress Augusta, tonight's Christmas dinner at Charlottenburg Palace is a little more sumptuous than that of the average German family, with a plate of Neunerlei (Neunerlei) in front of everyone, in addition to the must-have potato salad with sausage (Wiener und Kartoffelsalat) and a spoonful of Burgundy mustard.

Nine is a Christmas delicacy in southern Saxony, the hometown of Empress Augusta, and refers to nine different flavors on a plate, including roast goose, rabbit, roast beef, roast pig, boiled venison, stewed wild boar, sauerkraut, mushrooms and sausages.

The nine foods also have their own meanings, roast sausage represents sincerity and strength, sauerkraut represents life will not go bad, roast goose represents luck, pork represents abundance, mushrooms represent happiness, rabbit meat represents reproduction, venison represents health, and each dish means that everyone will have a good fortune in the coming year.

After eating nine kinds, a plate of freshly baked gingerbread is put on the table, and the gingerbread is served to mean that tonight's Christmas dinner is over.

In fact, it doesn't matter what you eat on Christmas Eve, the key is the gift, in Germany, children do not open gifts on Christmas morning, but on Christmas Eve on the evening of the 24th.

In addition to the exclusive Christmas gifts for whom the gifts are specified, adults usually pile some mysterious packages under the Christmas tree, so that the children at home can compete to open the gifts, and the children will be surprised by whatever they want.

Tonight, in the golden hall of the new wing of Charlottenburg Palace, tall Nordic fir trees are adorned with glass balls of different colors (Weihnachtskugeln), Christmas stars (Weihnachtssterne), gold and silver ribbons (Lametta), etc., and gift boxes of various colors are piled up under the trees.

Even Joey, who has passed by the Christmas tree many times, can't help but speculate more about the tightly wrapped gifts, not to mention the desire for gifts in the hearts of other children.

After a simple Christmas dinner, Kaiser Wilhelm I and his family went straight to the Golden Hall, decorated with Christmas trees and other Christmas objects, to spend Christmas Eve 1979 with the whole family.

Before waiting for the Christmas bell at midnight in the church, in addition to the important matter of distributing gifts, the adults are basically lazy or sitting on the sofa, or leaning on chairs, holding wine glasses in their hands, holding all kinds of Christmas snacks, gathering together in twos and threes, watching the children's games, chatting with each other, chatting about the trivial matters of the past year, even if they are small.

Perhaps this matter is so inconsequential in the eyes of others, but it can always be echoed and approved by one's own family, and this feeling is that the Christmas Eve family gathering brings people relaxation and comfort.

For children, the simplest joy is to receive gifts.

Before opening the gifts under the Christmas tree, Joey, like his siblings, was given a lot of gifts for himself, which could be divided into three parts, one large part from his grandparents and parents, the other large part was gifts from German scientists and industrialists that Joey knew, and the last large part was from Joey's close friends.

Unlike the Americans who get rich overnight across the ocean, the Germans give away nothing more than beautiful villas or expensive jewelry, but simple greeting cards, chocolates and books.

Some sophisticated people, who send greeting cards to distant relatives, often include a family album filled with recent photos of their family life, the most fashionable Christmas gift of the 19th century since the advent of the camera.

Even in the 21st century, some old-fashioned Europeans still use similar methods to send Christmas wishes to friends and family.

In addition to photo albums, music scores, recipes, and even paintings drawn by yourself can also be used as Christmas gifts.

Among the three major gifts, the most is the greeting card, in addition to the Merry Christmas greetings, everyone will also attach their recent life or work status in the greeting card, some people have only a few strokes, and some people are more detailed.

More or less, it is all the heart, but also the blessing.

As the longest, the first Christmas gift given by Kaiser Wilhelm is very special, a portrait oil painting in each hand, among the many bust portraits, only the oil painting of Empress Augusta and Joy is a full-body portrait, according to the old emperor's self-satisfied words, these are his own personal works in the past six months.

Joey is very satisfied with the image of himself wearing a Prussian blue military uniform in the oil painting, and I have to say that from his grandfather's painting techniques, it is not at all obvious that he is an amateur painter's handiwork, perhaps, it should be the level of a professional painter?

At least in her grandmother's heart, the full-body portrait given to her by the old emperor is a masterpiece, otherwise how could she smile so happily.

The Christmas gifts given by Crown Prince Frederick and his wife are novels by famous European authors, including the novel for their youngest son Joey, which was just published in France in November this year, with illustrations drawn by Master Jean-Bennet himself, and the latest work of science fiction master Jules Verne, "The Five Million Francs of Began", which is a Christmas gift specially brought by the Crown Prince and his wife from France.

As a science fiction writer who loves France deeply, in 1879, an era that makes France feel very tormented, of course, Master Verne can't forget to torture the Germans in France in his latest work, so the villain in the novel must be a German, but also a German chemist, a madman who vainly tries to make poison gas (air-conditioning bombs) to destroy the world.

Jules Verne was also a prolific writer, and the novel "The Five Million Francs of Began" is only one of his many works.

But in the eyes of Joey, who likes Verne, he has to admit that Master Verne is most likely also a traverser, otherwise he could have advanced nearly 40 years and accurately predicted that it was the Germans who were the first to use poison gas in the war, and it was the German chemist who took the lead.

Joey scratched his chin vigorously, as if he had received a greeting card from Professor Beyer, who mentioned that his students were not only doing research on inorganic pesticides, but also trying to do research on organophosphorus compounds in the fields of papermaking and printing and dyeing.

"Organophosphorus compounds ....., is it possible to really point out tabun, sarin, soman and viex?" Joey smacked his lips hard, feeling that his mouth was full of bitter almonds.

The attentive crown princess noticed Joey's somewhat bitter expression, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Jojo, don't you like this novel?" ”

"No!" Joey quickly shook his head and said with a regretful expression, "Mom, I'm just wondering, why can't a great writer like Mr. Verne be produced in Germany?" ”

"After all, there were scientists and thinkers in Germany who were ahead of their time, such as Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer....." Joey quietly glanced at the old emperor in the distance, and whispered a name, "and Nietzsche." ”

Hearing the name Nietzsche, the crown princess glanced at her husband beside her and couldn't help but frown.

Although this madman has not yet shouted that God is dead, his published writings and newspaper articles are all fierce attacks on the Christian spirit embraced by the Prussian emperors and nobles, and as for the traditional virtues believed in by the traditional Western society, he has been scolded by him for being incomplete.

In the eyes of the Hohenzollerns, who were Protestant and regarded traditional virtues as their norms, there was nothing more unacceptable.

"Jojo, for him...."Princess Victoria pondered her thoughts for a moment, "Your father and I are of course tolerant of criticism from others, even if this criticism is ridiculous and disgusting in your eyes, you must listen to it, because you are a nobleman, and listening to the opinions of everyone in the fief is a tradition that nobles should abide by." ”

"No matter how noisy the chickens and ducks outside are, you can't cut their necks and seal their mouths in order to have a sweet dream, not to mention that this is a living person." Crown Prince Frederick said, "In addition to eating and drinking, it is natural for a man's mouth to speak. ”

"In the same way, our ears should listen to criticism, in addition to praise."

"But listening to criticism does not mean that you have to accept all criticism unconditionally, the people of the empire accept the basis of our family's rule, which stems from the religion we believe in and the virtues we observe, and the kind of speech that requires us to distinguish between good and evil for the people, not to be constrained by morality, not to believe in the law, but only to believe in the strong and weak." Crown Prince Frederick waved his hand with contempt.

"We are aristocrats, not just fist-sized robbers and criminals."

"I am a nationalist and German-First person, the klinenpolitik (petty politician) whom Nietzsche has always criticized, but I am willing to shelter this man who has abandoned his German nationality, because as long as he lives in this land, we have an obligation to protect him, including defending his right to criticize us."

"But there's one thing, Jojo, you must remember! The Hohenzollerns respect the critics, but do not accept the conspirators, and your mother and I can accept the criticism of the socialists, but never the conspirator who, by preaching utopia, actually inciting the German people to infighting. ”

"Father, do you mean that the man who in England wants to enjoy the pleasures of the middle class and destroy the middle class, the capitalists, the aristocracy, and the monarch?" Joey asked with a wink and a smile.

"That's the scum of the German Jews." Crown Prince Frederick nodded with some disgust, "You have to remember that every German, whether he is a worker, a peasant, a banker, a landowner or an entrepreneur, whether he is of noble birth or ordinary, whether his property is rich or poor, no matter what religion he believes, they are Germans protected by the law." ”

"The only thing that needs to be done in this country is to eradicate poverty, ignorance and injustice, and not to exterminate a certain class of people, a certain class of people, which no even the most mediocre monarch can do, simply draw a line, because your income is less than 50 marks, I will drive you away and cut off your head if you don't leave."

"For poverty has never been the fault of the poor in Germany themselves, but the fault of our Hohenzollerns, of our rulers."

"In the same way, you cannot be said to be a sinner just because your legal income is higher than 50,000 marks."

"Because it is never the original sin of the rich in Germany to be good at creating wealth, it is only the fault of our Hohenzollerns and our rulers to allow the existence of illegal wealth gainers."

"In the German Empire, those who deliberately exacerbate the contradictions between different opposites, incite hatred between rich and poor among the people, and create a division of the country by murdering others, are the real enemies of the Hohenzollerns."

After a slight pause, Prince Frederick continued, "Some of my friends at Scotland Yard told me that he had said with a sad face that the working class in England under a constitutional monarchy was degenerate and narrow-minded, because the British workers could not accept their own poverty, but had been accepting wage increases....."

"Ahem! Honey, it's Christmas. The Crown Princess interrupted Crown Prince Frederick with a smile in a speech that seemed out of place on the festive occasion, "However, I do not agree with you when it comes to the fact that there are no fantasy writers in Germany, Jojo! ”

Pointing to an unopened gift from Joey's friends, the crown princess smiled, "I think the author of one of the gifts in there is a pure German, and I have seen the fantasy stories he tells very well." ”

"Germans? It's still exciting?! "Joey couldn't have imagined that in the history of 19th-century Germany, there was ever such a brilliant science fiction writer.

"Your friend has sent us the same Christmas gift as you, an unpublished novel in English." The crown princess smiled and glanced at her husband, "The writer is a German writer we are familiar with, and his pen name is interesting. ”

"It's just that we never knew the lady named Joanna Catherine Rowling, when did you hear such an interesting story from her, Jojo?" Crown Prince Frederick asked curiously.

"Ahh

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

"Oh my God, I really did what I said, and I really turned my letter into a novel....."

Don't think about digging deeper, holding her breath, Joey continued to look down, and there was a line of small words in the lower part of the cover that were also gilded: Story Creator: Joanna Catherine Rowling, Author: JO

Seeing this, Joey took a long breath, let go of his hanging heart and said, "Fortunately, she finally read those letters from her past, in which she has always emphasized that the author should be Ms. Rowling, and I myself am only the narrator, and now it seems that although this book is somewhat inconsistent with her previous life, it is signed with the name of the real owner after all." ”

For the past eight months, Joey has insisted on including a section about Harry Potter in his letters to Mary, and it was around the middle of September of this year that the novel Philosopher's Stone was finally finished through Joey's daily correspondence.

Like a lot of past life knowledge written in Joey's private secret notes, Joey found that he had a special skill, and the things he had seen or read in his previous life always came to mind clearly, and when he wrote these things, it was as if a sophisticated copy machine was copying materials.

Writing a letter to Mary with a story attached, for Joey, it is not a creation at all but a light copy, so every time he racks his brains to write some long or short life bits and pieces with Mary, he happily rewrites a large paragraph of great novels, which is the most comfortable moment for Joey.

Joey felt lighthearted, and Mary was equally happy, and a group of best friends of the same age began to read the manuscript novel frantically.

Until one day, Mr. Thomas Longman, the owner of Longman's publishing company, personally visited Camden Palace in Chislehurst and bluntly told Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice, the heir to the family of the esteemed Duke of Alba, that is, Mary, with whom Joey had kept corresponding.

Longman Publishing was more than willing to publish Mary's manuscript novel and wanted to contact the author of the novel to sign a long-term publishing contract.

Mary, who has been familiar with business negotiation skills since childhood, seems to be Joey's agent, and while skillfully maneuvering with the world's oldest publishing house, Longman, to get the greatest commercial benefits, while mobilizing Joey's sisters to persuade Joey who is unwilling to publish the book.

After a month of hard work, Joey was the first to give in and hand over the novel's carte blanche to Mary, and then Mr. Thomas Longman was also defeated, promising Mary a record 35% royalty payment to the author.

In the end, the trio of Mary, Sophie and Margaret, the most famous sisters in the history of future world publishing, became famous and successfully delivered the image of Harry Potter, a teenager, to the world 118 years ahead of schedule.

Although Joey was defeated, he still insisted on a bottom line after all, and did not brazenly erase the name of the real story owner, and it is also fortunate that Ms. Rowling's nickname is JO, which is the same as the pronunciation of Joey's name, and Joey also acquiesced to Mary's request to add the author's request and gave Ms. Rowling's nickname.

That's why this book has the title of eccentric creator and author.

Probably no one in this world knows except Joey that this JO is not Joey.

Turning the cover, there was a greeting card sandwiched on the title page, and in Mary Juanxiu's flowery characters, she told Joey that before the book was officially published, she specially gave a sample of the book as a Christmas gift to Joey and some of her loved ones, Yunyun, and finally wished Joey a Merry Christmas at the same time, and invited Joey to come to Camden Palace as a guest in the air.

"Jojo, you are German after all, so I think the original novel should be in German, so I suggest that the English version should include the name of Mary as the translator." Glancing at the greeting card in his son's hand, Crown Prince Frederick blinked and decided to help Joey come up with a good idea.

Looking at the beautiful book in his hand, which was handled by Mary, Joey nodded vigorously and raised his thumbs up at his father.