According to the custom of Protestantism in Germany, Protestants need to go to church to watch the play before Christmas Eve dinner.

Christmas is not only a holiday for ordinary people, but also the biggest festival of the year for the church, and how to prepare a meaningful and eye-catching Christmas program is also an important part of spreading the gospel to the faithful.

There are many Christmas styles performed in churches, and the more traditional ones can be a sacred play, such as "The Coming of Jesus", which tells the story of the Bible, or if it is fashionable, it can also be a recitation or a poem.

In conclusion, all the themes of the Christmas purpose are to praise the Lord.

Today in the church near Charlottenburg Palace, William I and his family are watching the Christmas play "The Coming of Jesus" being staged in the church, along with other faithful living near the palace.

If according to the habit of watching holy dramas in the past, Joey should be with his two younger sisters, and he would try his best to squeeze around his parents, but today, according to the traditional rules, all the boys sit on the left hand side of their parents, and Joey sits next to Heinrich honestly, and does not dare to join in the fun in front of his mother like the two younger sisters.

The reason why he didn't dare to approach was that Joey had been in a big trouble lately.

It is still the reason of HK Company, Joy let the Victorian Crown Princess Foundation not leave a single Finney on the book of funds, which directly led to the Crown Princess's inability to carry out charity work smoothly during the Christmas period, resulting in many charitable activities being affected.

This made the crown princess, who was keen on charity, very annoyed, but fortunately, she finally used the emergency funds of the crown princess and through some temporary fundraising activities, and barely let the crown princess survive the charity crisis, which happened to be during the Christmas period, so the crown princess endured the greatest temperament and endured not to attack Joey on the spot.

But today, Sophie and Margaret, the two little princesses, are running up and down in the Charlottenburg Palace, and people all over the world are betting with Joey on whether the crocodiles in the pond outside can survive the winter, and they are very busy.

When the two little people ran to their mother and asked their mother to participate in the gambling contract, the crown princess finally couldn't help it, and immediately put down the work at hand, carried her skirt and searched for it in the Charlottenburg Palace, and finally took away Joey, who was hiding in a corner of the palace somewhere and was chatting with Prince Louis.

After saying hello to his aunt, Louis looked at Joey, who straightened his neck and stood on tiptoe, and gradually moved away, and he could feel that his ears were also hot, presumably at this moment, Joey would definitely not feel good there.

Joey was directly carried to a remote corner of the palace, and the crown princess was immediately reprimanded like a torrential rain.

"Joachim, not only do you dare to cheat your sisters' money now, but you also don't let go of other people's money, do you?! Do you think that Sophie and Meg, they don't know that crocodiles can survive the winter, so they can use them as tools for you to cheat and collect money? Pamper your sisters everywhere to pull bets for you?! ”

"Do you think that no one can see through your tricks? Are you going to be a fool of everybody! ”

"Mom, I...."Joey looked at her mother, who was roaring angrily, a little overwhelmed, and tried to stiffen her neck to explain.

"Why, what else do you want to say, that you don't know if your crocodile will survive the winter?" Victoria stared into her youngest son's eyes, angrily watching as if Joey dared to lie to herself.

"No, Mom....." Joey immediately shut up wisely, how many years of life experience told herself, don't provoke people who have gone berserk, especially this one who is about to go berserk, or a super mother raising 7 children.

After glaring at her youngest son for a while, watching Joey's submissiveness slightly subside the anger in Victoria's heart.

"Asked you to take care of your two younger sisters, but you wanted to cheat them out of their pocket money and let you participate in the work of the Foundation, but you spent all the Foundation's money, Joachim, what the hell do you want to do!"

"I—" Joey swallowed.

"Perhaps others will have to accumulate wealth by doing business, and turn themselves from commoners to nobles, but you, Joachim, are now a nobleman, your father is from the House of Hohenzollern, your mother is from the House of Welf, and behind you are the noblest families of Germany and England!"

"Once, how I wished you could use your wisdom and knowledge to uphold your honor as a nobleman, but what have you done now?"

"Use your knowledge to cheat your sisters' pocket money! Use the power in your hands to withdraw and embezzle Foundation funds at will! ”

"Do you know what you were trying to do with the money you embezzled?! In dynastic wars, how many Prussians, Germans fell on the battlefield, and their widows waited for the money, hoping that the whole family would have a happy Christmas; How many soldiers who were wounded for the Hohenzollern family are waiting for this money and want to buy a Christmas present for a child of your age in their family. ”

"And you, Joachim, what are you doing?!"

"Joachim, have you forgotten how you promised me when you were in charge of the Foundation?"

"If my foundation is just to make money, why should I look for you, I would hire a Jewish banker to do better than you!"

Under the stormy reprimand, Joey could only bow his head, ask his own heart, examine everything he had done in the past, and want to build an arms empire with ambition, so he unscrupulously embezzled the Foundation's funds to support the operation of HK Company, and his behavior did not have any aristocratic character.

Judging from the results of the matter, instead of keeping the original promise with his mother and providing more financial help for his mother's charity, he also put his mother in an embarrassing situation where she had no money to use.

When betting with my sister, I didn't have a careful idea of coveting my sister's gambling money at first, and connived at my sisters to go around pulling people to gamble, and as the scale of the amount became larger and larger, it was the greed in my heart that was at work.

When greed and ambition are combined, he is like a gambler who thinks he can win the world, and as the stakes get bigger and bigger, he becomes more and more lucky.

Although the feeling of being scolded is really terrible, but fortunately, if it is not for such a harsh reprimand from my mother, I am afraid that my style of acting will become more and more radical in the future, and the more rash and hasty, the slower the speed of progress (More haste, less speed is not enough).

Give time to change, and give yourself time, nothing can happen overnight.

Thinking of this, Joey bravely raised his head, sincere and serious, and said to Princess Victoria, who was obviously much less angry.

"Mom, you're right, now I know I'm wrong. I swear, I'll cancel and compensate Sophie and Meg when I'm done, and I'll return the Foundation's money as soon as possible, and I'll get your consent for every Foundation expense from today. ”

"Mom, I was wrong, I solemnly promise you, I will never make the same mistake next time!" Joey bowed his head and apologized.

A mistake is a mistake, and admitting mistakes like a man is not terrible.

Horrifying, but corporal punishment followed.

That's right, it's not grounding or punishing stations, it's corporal punishment.

Crown Princess Victoria made it clear to Joey, "Joey, it's very good that you admit your mistakes, but you still have to bear the consequences of your mistakes, admit your mistakes and bear the consequences, this is called fairness." ”

Punishment is because you didn't do things well, and corporal punishment is because you have touched the bottom line, and today's Joey has touched the bottom line of her mother.

At no time should anyone evade the punishment he deserves with a flirtatious "I was wrong", and if verbal apologies are allowed to be used in lieu of bearing the consequences, then no one will seriously respect authority, and the more such people will be, the more the society will despise the dignity of the law.

The solution to the problem is not the rule of law, but the rule of man, and Germany has only the king under the law.

The end result of corporal punishment is that an adult palm-wide plank will be beaten ten times on Joey's ass by Princess Victoria's own hands after the New Year.

Before the Hohenzollern family went out to church to watch the play, Joey accompanied her sisters to return all the money for the crocodile winter, and promised to compensate each of them according to the bet agreement, and everyone also knew from the mouths of Sophie and Margaret, the tragic fate that their brother, Joey was going to face.

Who can say anything about the mother's corporal punishment of the son who has made a mistake.....

Even in Germany, where Joey lived in his life, corporal punishment of children was not allowed by legislation, 50% of parents still admitted that they had ever physically punished their children.

"Jojo, didn't anyone tell you?" Heinrich glanced at Joey, who was sitting sullenly beside him, turned his gaze to look at the holy drama, pursed his lips and whispered.

"Tell me what?" Joey was a little curious and looked up at his second brother.

"No one told you that my mother had crocodiles, too?"

His eyes were fixed on Heinrich's serious face watching the drama, and Joey seemed to be in a trance, as if he couldn't hear what his second brother was saying.

"Stupid Jojo, don't stare at my face like that, have you forgotten how I used to teach you to whisper?" It wasn't until he heard this sentence that Joey was convinced that what he said just now was said by his second brother.

Joey also faced forward and clumsily learned Heinrich's way of speaking, "Henry, you said that your mother also raised crocodiles?!" ”

"Of course, this is a rumor, it is said that when my mother was the eldest princess, she raised crocodiles in Osborne Manor."

"Really?!"

"I said, this is a rumor, if you don't believe it, you can go and ask Mom..."

"Forget it, I believe it." Joey said dejectedly.

If it weren't for the crocodile, how could my mother directly believe that she was cheating on her sisters as soon as she heard that she was gambling with her sisters.

"Hey, Qiaoqiao, the age at which you were subjected to corporal punishment has actually broken our family's record." Heinrich pretended to touch his nose and whispered, "Willy was subjected to corporal punishment at the age of 5, and I was 9 years old. ”

"Henry, you bastard." Listening to his second brother's unconscionable chuckle, Joey couldn't help but roll his eyes, what kind of honor is this.

The movement of the boys on his left was a little loud, and Crown Princess Victoria couldn't help but glance here, only to see the three guys who were watching the drama seriously, glaring at these unconscious sons, Princess Victoria straightened up and continued to enjoy the drama.

After catching a glimpse of his mother withdrawing his gaze, Heinrich raised an eyebrow at Joey triumphantly.

Crown Prince Frederick patted his wife's hand lightly, tilted his head and whispered in Victoria's ear, "My dear, I'll talk to Joey about it, don't worry." ”

On the way back to Charlottenburg Palace, Crown Prince Frederick called Joey to his side.

Looking at the snowflakes flying in front of him, Crown Prince Frederick took off his gloves, reached out to catch a large snowflake, and then asked Joey with a smile, "Do you think your mother punished you too harshly?" ”

Joey shook his head.

Crown Prince Frederick nodded, "Well, in fact, even if you feel unconvinced, I will not support you." ”

After that, he smiled and touched Joey's head, "If you are wrong, you will be punished, and if you are right, you will be praised, this time it is true that you have crossed your mother's bottom line, but I am also responsible for your misappropriation of funds from your mother's foundation." ”

"Dad really wants to know, Joey, where is your ceiling, so when HK Company was still a seedling, he was in favor of putting a big order on you, and I just stood aside and wanted to see how you solved this thorny problem, completely forgetting that you were still a child."

"At first, I wondered if my Jojo would come to his father for an answer." Frederick easily pulled out the snow from among the pine and cypress branches on the side of the road, and while pressing it into a snowball, he said with regret, "Actually, I have prepared a stomach of experience and want to teach you. ”

"I just didn't expect that Qiaoqiao you can handle pressure more than I imagined." Crown Prince Frederick squatted down, looked into Joey's eyes and said, "Son, it's not that a person is bad at taking pressure, but please remember that you have a father and family behind you, and it is not a shame to ask them about their life and work experience." ”

"Perhaps, listening to other people's opinions is more rational than making judgments under pressure alone, at least two brains think more comprehensively than one brain."

"Listening calms people and doesn't act rashly."

Gently flicking the snowball in his hand, Crown Prince Frederick threw the snowball hard, "Jojo, your original intentions are good, and the results you hope for are also good, but the process and method of handling things are wrong, and the reason for the mistake is not only your conceit, but also because I, as your father, did not teach you in time." ”

"So, Jojo, I owe you an apology too, I'm sorry!"

No matter how heavy the wind and snow were on Christmas Eve, this moment could not cool Joey's eyes.

Crown Prince Frederick gently straightened Joey's hat, wiped the tears from his face, took his son's hand and stood up, and led his son forward in the wind and snow.

After a long time, a voice sounded.

"Dad, I'd like to hear about your experience."

"Ugh." A smile welled up on Crown Prince Frederick's face, "Good! ”

"Joey, in the Empire, apart from state-funded munitions enterprises such as the Ludwig Royal Arsenal, like your Uncle Hermann's arsenal, Mr. Lowy's Roy Company, Mr. Hernell's Roy Company, Mr. Hernell's Weapons Company, and Mr. Krupp's Artillery Factory, what do you think they all have in common?"

"Oh?"

Looking at Joy, who was still unremarkable, Crown Prince Frederick couldn't help but remind, "Your Uncle Herman has not only an arsenal, but also mines, machine factories, construction companies, food companies, and chemical companies, and Mr. Lowy, in addition to the Lowy Company, which produces small arms, also has textile mills, banks, and shipyards, and Mr. Hernell also has a breeding farm, a boiler factory, a sugar company, and a shoe factory. ”

"Even Mr. Krupp of Steel, everyone thinks that his artillery is famous, but in fact, the most profitable part of his family's business is a large amount of civilian steel, such as construction steel, railroad tracks, train wheels and mechanical steel, and even the fork and spoon business in the homes of ordinary Germans."

"Dad, what do you mean?" Vaguely, Joey seemed to feel like he had caught something.

"Military products are indeed lucrative, but this kind of lucrative business depends to a large extent on the state's military procurement, but as a firearms company, it is impossible to meet the state's purchase orders for firearms every year."

"And the more profitable, the more fierce the competition, Dad knows that you went to various countries to apply for a patent, this may be a kind of protection, but this protection can't stop others from borrowing your ideas and producing products that are cheaper than your design to compete with you."

"They will even copy your work and say that it is their own original design!"

For what his father said, Joey, who has experience in his previous life, of course understands that even if you have a patent for a certain technology, you can't resist the national will of some countries to copy you.

"Running a factory is similar to setting up a country, always thinking that it can last as long as possible, and a country, it must not only have soldiers, but also civilians."

"Dad, you mean, I should think more about the production of civilian goods than only on the production of weapons?!" Joey finally understood what his father was trying to say.

"Whether it is the empire or the world, after all, there are more civilians than soldiers, and the business of clothing, food, housing and transportation is always bigger and more stable than the business of arms." Crown Prince Frederick smiled and said, "I hope this experience in Dad's heart will be useful to you." ”

In fact, in Joey's previous life, in those Western countries, the long-lived arms companies never simply relied on military procurement, but had a larger business of civilian products, such as Boeing, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and even Microsoft.

Even like the world's arms industry giant Lo-Ma, 45% of its business is in the field of civilian goods, using the process of producing tanks to produce civilian train carriages, which is a pioneering initiative of General Dynamics.

Joey naturally understands that these ways of survival of the arms giants in his previous life are even the real HK company that he imitated, in its specialty store, in addition to selling all kinds of firearms, you can also buy HK brand knives, T-shirts, hats, various backpacks, USB flash drives, and even water glasses.

"Useful, absolutely useful, Dad!" Joey, who understood his father's thoughts, was swept away by the worry and melancholy in his heart at this moment.