One day in spring, in the urban area of Madrid, the capital of Spain, thousands of people looked up, and in their common sight, a light gray-green giant hard airship seemed to be stepping on the auspicious clouds, and landed on the towering airship mooring tower with an admirable majestic momentum. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

In today's commercial aviation, airships and airplanes are on a par with airplanes, and from Helsinki, Finland, in the far north, to Sicily, in the south, from St. Petersburg in the east to Lisbon in the west, cobwebbed air routes have been established throughout Europe. In terms of comfort and safety, airships are still slightly superior, making them the first choice of the upper class, while air cargo and business flights are dominated by airplanes.

A large part of the military aircraft that were retired from active service after the end of the war were able to continue their originally short life in the civilian field.

The King of Ireland led a delegation to visit, and King Alfonso XIII of Spain, who had not appeared in the public eye for a long time, came to greet him.

Spain has relatively rich mineral resources, there is a wealthy class that supports the consumption of luxury, and there are young and middle-aged laborers who urgently need a job to support their families, these are resources of considerable economic value, but based on historical origins and power structure, the European powers would rather compete in the Anatolian Peninsula than spend energy on the Iberian Peninsula, not to mention the colonial interests of Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands waiting for the great powers to explore, since the Spanish-American War, The Kingdom of Spain has become the most lifeless and vibrant place in Europe.

Alfonso XIII was the master of this forgotten land, the successor of the Bourbon dynasty and the widow of the previous Spanish king, Alfonso XII, who wore this ancient and heavy crown at birth. His mother, Archduchess Maria-Cristina of Austria, served as regent until he came of age, during which time Spain was defeated in that disastrous war by the emerging power of the United States, losing the Philippines and all of its American territories. When Alfonso XIII officially took power in 1902, he was left with an untidy mess......

After a few years, Natsuki once again stood in front of Alfonso XIII. The former vigorous naval cadets have become the lord of a country, respected and supported by all the people, and are like the most dazzling figures of this era. Alfonso XIII's status has not changed since that meeting, but the authority of the Spanish crown is weakening, and he has made many efforts to change the country's predicament, but except for one or two reforms that have had some success, the rest has been in vain.

"Your Majesty Joachim, after many years of not seeing you, you have grown from a small green tree to a strong tree, and the royal temperament hidden in your heart has been completely unleashed, and you have become a hero admired by all, and all this has happened in just a few years, life is amazing, isn't it?"

Xia Shu calmly listened to Alfonso XIII's polite words, but said with a hint of embarrassment: "I haven't seen you for many years, Your Majesty seems to be thinner than before. ”

Alfonso XIII smiled bitterly: "What can be done? I was destined to be a person who didn't grow fat. ”

After greetings, the two walked side by side across the red carpet and drove away from the tethered tower in the same car.

In the seat, Alfonso XIII lost his reserve in front of men, and he sighed and complained of his suffering, and made it clear how difficult it was for him to be a king.

Natsuki said with empathy: "After becoming a king, I really understood why monarchs have endless worries. It is much harder to govern a country than it is to run an army. ”

Alfonso XIII said: "The larger the area, the larger the population, and the more mixed the races of a country, the more troublesome it will be to govern, and these Your Majesty may not be able to understand it for the time being." ”

The troubles mentioned by the other party, Xia Shu not only can't feel it now, but I'm afraid it is unlikely that he will have a chance in the future, because Ireland basically belongs to a single ethnic state, the Irish occupy the vast majority, and with Ireland's national strength and strategic geography, it is only possible to expand in the future by plundering colonial territories and forcibly renting ports, and the probability of directly annexing the territory of other countries is very small.

Natsuki should indeed be glad for a direct comparison of the current situation of the two kingdoms, Spain and Ireland, but Spain has an incomparably glorious history, they have stood on top of the world and have the conditions to return to the ranks of great powers, and Ireland's ultimate dream is only to be a formidable European power, with world-class achievements in some fields, to somehow recreate the glory of the Netherlands and Denmark, nothing more.

Delving too much into the topic would only add to the distress of Alfonso XIII, who turned to the upcoming friendly football match – as part of an official effort to boost relations between the two countries, the Irish national team will visit Madrid to challenge the Spanish national team in the near future. Of course, Spain in 1916 was not the cosmos team of the early 21st century, and although the Irish national team was only a young player, it benefited from a semi-professional domestic league system supported by the government, which can be described as strong and morale. Not long ago, the Irish team travelled to Germany for the Emperor's Cup, beating invited Italy, only to lose to hosts Germany in the final.

Although the game has not yet started, the Spanish king is pessimistic about his team's performance, and said: "The level of football is a reflection of a country's military strength, and with the current situation in Spain, even against Ottoman Turkey, I am afraid that the end will be ravaged." ”

At first hearing this, Natsuki was a little confused, and he didn't know why Alfonso XIII had come to this point, but after hearing this, he felt very reasonable.

"There are a few key elements that determine the outcome of a football game: physical, mental, skillful, intellectual. If the country's economic situation is very poor, the people can't eat all day long, and nine out of ten people have yellow muscles and thin muscles, even if special care is given in the later stage, the nature of physical poverty is difficult to change; Whether the spirit is tenacious or not, it is related to the social atmosphere of this country, everyone is brave and warlike, whether it is in the last game or in the army to kill the enemy, will bring this kind of brave will and tenacity; The quality of skills is based on the body and spirit, and only with a good physical and mental state can we have the mind to practice ball skills and cultivate good team skills; The level of wisdom lies in the judgment and decision-making of the commander, in whether each executor can comprehend it, and in the quality cultivated through study and training. These are the things that Spain lack, and Ireland seem to have no such worries at all, so the outcome is decided before the game. ”

"Your Majesty's football philosophy has opened my eyes, and there is some truth to what you say, but it is not always true. There is an old saying that things are man-made, if you are blindly pessimistic and give up on yourself when you encounter some difficulties, the goddess of victory will definitely not favor, but if you have the will to not be afraid of difficulties, even if you are at a disadvantage physically, mentally, and skillfully, it is still possible to achieve victory. A very real example is ......"

At this time, Alfonso XIII interjected somewhat unexpectedly: "Your Majesty wants to use the example of the Battle of Jutland as evidence? ”

Natsuki was surprised and embarrassed by this, he suddenly realized that he was no longer the mysterious person who could hide behind the emperor, the crown prince, and the commander of the fleet, and that the king's identity made it possible for him to become the public focus of his words and deeds, and that the words and examples he gave could become the object of discussion and research.

The Battle of Jutland is Natsuki's favorite illustration to quote because it is subversive and inspirational enough, and it is certainly Natsuki's proudest and proudest work. It would have been fine if Alfonso XIII had been a good friend, but it was clear that the King of Spain had not intended to ask for help from the Irish in the form of a plea, but to cooperate on the basis of mutual respect and equality.

"It's a classic that can't be replicated, and luck plays a role that can't be ignored. If you do it all over again with the same objective conditions, the result may be completely different, I wonder if Your Highness agrees with my shallow views? ”

Any diplomatic activity can be seen as a confrontation, and the Spanish king's counterattack came so suddenly that Natsuki was caught off guard. Natsuki took a deep breath and replied steadily, "I didn't expect that under Your Majesty's calm and simple appearance, there is such amazing wisdom hidden, which really surprised me. Since the end of the war, military historians of various countries have done a lot of analysis of the Battle of Jutland, and people have paid more and more attention to the quality of ships, the quality of officers and men, the commander's decision-making, and even the timing of the battle accurate to the minute and second, but have ignored the most crucial point, that is, luck. A reconnaissance plane went out of position, a torpedo deviated from the set direction, a sudden problem with the boiler of a battleship, these uncertain factors could well change the course and final outcome of the naval battle. The victory of the German Navy was a fluke, and the most fortunate thing was that we bravely tried and won the opportunity to compete with our opponents before we were favored by the goddess of victory. ”

The first half of this statement is a step for himself, and the second half is an allusion to the situation of Spain, which is precisely because Alfonso XIII has never been able to show a real determination to break through the problems that have plagued the country, and to make the reforms a mere formality, which will lead Spain to sink deeper and deeper into the existing predicament. If this continues, it will only be a matter of time before the monarchy collapses, and the country will only slowly get back on track after a long period of chaos, civil war, and low tides, and the misery of life will plague generations of Spaniards.

(End of chapter)