It was early spring, under the warm sun of spring, the ice and snow that had accumulated for a winter on the land of northern Jiangsu began to melt, and the melting of snow made some low-lying places flood. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 After all, there has been a winter of water in the ground.

This is indeed not a good year, for the Song Dynasty will start the Yellow River to seize the Huai, for the northern Jiangsu region, there have been constant droughts and floods, the people living here seem to have long been accustomed to all this. Although the weather was still cold, people still walked to the edge of the fields, braved the bitter cold wind, and began to dig ditches and drain water so that the water accumulated in the fields could be drained out and prepare for the agricultural work after the beginning of spring.

Jiangbei is not as good as Jiangnan, and it has always only grown one season of grain, at most, it is the red taro that can last half a year's grain after the autumn harvest. In the year, the most important thing is the grain of this season, after all, red taro cannot be sold, only millet and sorghum can be sold into silver on the market, and buy the salt and cloth groceries needed at home.

Although this year's year looks the same as in previous years, the people in the fields have smiles on their faces. After Emperor Kaihong of the Chinese Dynasty ascended the throne, he exempted Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi and other places from money and grain for this year and next year. It is even because of this that the adults let the children eat the red potatoes harvested in the early winter with their bellies open - this year's grain is guaranteed to be enough.

While the adults were busy with this year's harvest, the children who could not help the adults with their work were not idle, and they used broken nets to catch fish by the Grand Canal.

"Look, look, it's a big official ship!"

Suddenly, the children who were netting fish by the river pointed to the big boats in the canal and shouted happily. With long hair, this ancient Grand Canal is not as good as day by day, the soldiers are in chaos, and naturally there are not many people doing business, and there have been no big ships on this canal for a long time.

For these children, they are naturally curious. After all, most of them had only heard of the Great Official Ship from the mouths of their elders. I've never seen an official ship yet.

Now that he saw the big ship, he was naturally extremely excited. However, the ship did not seem to be the same as the one they had seen in the past.

"The ship is on fire!"

Suddenly, a child by the river shouted loudly.

The big guy is not on fire at first glance, the ship is emitting black smoke, and the billowing black smoke is really scary to look at.

"Hey, it's on fire, the boat is on fire......"

These chivalrous children shouted loudly at the big boat in the river, but the people on the burning boat did not seem to hear it, and did not react at all.

"What's going on?"

The children's shouts reached the riverbank, where the old farmer, who was grazing his sheep on the meadow by the embankment, was smoking dry tobacco. He also looked towards the river, and when he saw the black smoke coming from the boat, he was also full of surprise, but compared to the children who were shouting loudly in a hurry, the old man saw that the boat was coming from black smoke and no fire, and the black smoke was still coming out of the chimney.

"Could it be that the ship is cooking?"

The old man muttered, and at the same time looked curiously at the long list of boats dragged behind the ship, and there were no sails in sight on the boats, not even the boatmen who were holding the boat, but they were dragged by the big leading ship, heading north.

"What's going on with this boat?"

For these people, they either did not know what a steam engine was, and they were naturally unheard of for a steam engine ship.

When the people on the shore looked at the flotilla with amazement, the officers and men in the flotilla were also in large numbers of this northern land. For these soldiers from Hunan, Hubei and other places, they are also full of curiosity about the north.

However, for the soldiers, there are only two words on their minds now - Northern Expedition! Now that the canal has thawed, it means that the last obstacle to the Northern Expedition has been removed.

Among these soldiers, one was wearing the same uniform. But the blonde and blue-eyed officer, whose appearance was completely different from everyone's, was also looking at the scenery on the river bank with curiosity.

On the canal dam were rows of old willow trees, the huge canopy of which was endless, and the old farmer walked slowly on the dam with his hands on his back, holding a rope in his hand, dragging a scrawny old cow with a little doll sitting on the spine. And not far away, over the riverside town, there were already clouds of midday cooking smoke.

This scene unfolded in front of Barr's eyes like a beautiful oil painting, and he couldn't help but be fascinated by the canal scenery full of oriental colors.

"The end of the Sui River is this river, and it has been thousands of miles away so far."

At the time of the words, a young man in his twenties. He had a heroic face, and his smile looked equally sincere, and although he looked resolute, there was a little bit of youthful vigor and stability between his eyebrows, and his eyes, although cheerful and frank, were a little too dignified and aggressive. The tweed military uniform on his body looked very well-fitted. Obviously, there is a good chance that it will be custom-made. Although young, he was led by the rank of major, and the crossed cannon body showed that he was an artilleryman.

Artillery major!

In the entire army, there were only a dozen artillery majors.

"Captain Barr, the canal we are crossing right now is the Grand Canal in this poem!"

Walking to the side of the blue-eyed young officer, Zhang Lei's actions seemed very gentle, but at this time, the words in his mouth were changed to English, and even at the request of Youbar, the "nostalgia" of Pi Rixiu was translated into English, and the two of them stood on the bow of the boat and said, all of them were full of interest, only to hear the young man say in English to the blue-eyed man beside him:

"This Henan starts from Yuhang, which is now Hangzhou, north to Zhuo County, is now Jingshi, the canal was built in the first year of Emperor Yang of Sui, well...... About 600 years or so of the Yahli calendar in your mouth, the canal was dug with a total length of more than 5,400 miles, that is, about 1,700 miles, if you look at the geographical latitude and longitude, it is almost across more than 10 latitudes of the earth, running through China's richest southeast coast and the North China Plain......"

Although as a native of Shaanxi, Zhang Lei also saw the Grand Canal for the first time, but through the book, he already yearned for this river.

It's like he longs to see the Great Wall. Now, as the troops begin to move north, soon the troops will go north, and perhaps in a few months he will be able to be in Shanhaiguan and look at the eastern part of the country.

Maybe it's even possible to see my father.

I think of my father in Hokkaido. Zhang Lei couldn't help but look towards the north.

Five years!

In just five years, the fate of both him and his father changed. Both he and his father became soldiers under His Majesty's command.

Compared to his father, he joined the army for a living. His path to military service has undoubtedly taken a few turns. His father joined the army for him, and later he studied and entered the Hanyang Arsenal School, where he learned to operate artillery, who would have thought that he would later enter the army. Become an artillery officer.

When the Northern Expedition is over...... You can go to Tongguan to see your mother.

But obviously, Barr didn't know what Zhang Lei was thinking at this time. Zhang Lei's words made him surprised and said:

"Oh my God! In 600 A.D., when Europe was almost in the age of obscurantism, you built 1,700 miles of canals, my God! If it is true, then this canal should be the oldest and largest canal in the world. ”

The blue-eyed man's surprise made a trace of pride flash on the young man's face, and there was a bit of pride in his expression, which was obviously a very proud thing to make this British technician admire China.

"I can't deceive you, if not, how can I have the song "Nostalgia" in Pi Riti's "Nostalgia" that "the end of the Sui is the river"! ”

After that, the two of them stood in the bow of the boat and enjoyed the view of the canal, and at this time the river view came into the eyes of the two of them; Looking at the riverbank dam, the hundred-year-old giant willow stretches for hundreds of miles, and there is no end in sight.

The ancient canal flows horizontally and quietly, without waves, without hustle and bustle, as if in a paradise, can not help but make people's hearts soak in this quiet beauty, standing on the bow of the boat to look down, looking at the flowing water under the boat, only to make people produce the feeling that the river flows to the distance, I don't know where is the end, and the reflection in the water is like a picture.

The beautiful scenery in front of him only made Barr, a Frenchman who had become a Chinese citizen, raise his arms and shout excitedly. His cheer made the young man's face even more proud, and he asked:

"It's still our China!"

Zhang Lei's pride fell on Barr's eyes at all, but he listened to him.

"The canal is beautiful, but it has declined, and if it were in Europe, I don't know how many times it has been dredged and deepened so that large river steamships can travel in between, and you see......"

The blonde man held on to the railing with one hand, but pointed to a small sailboat by the river with the other, and said.

"This sail, this boat, is a symbol of the decline of this canal!"

Barr's answer first stunned Zhang Lei, but he said with a smile on his face.

"This is only temporary, and China's current backwardness is entirely due to the incompetence of the Manchus. Blind xenophobia, ignorant and conservative, and the implementation of foolish rule ......"

Zhang Lei's answer was a typical official standard answer, and it was also the answer given to the people of Nanjing, blaming the Manchus for all their problems, and on the Manchu colonial rule. It's the best choice.

In short, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was a dung tank, and anything could be filled into it.

However, this is also a common rule all over the world, after all, losers have no right to defend themselves.

"You see, now, in Hubei, in Hunan, there are not only factories, but also steam ships can be seen everywhere in the rivers, and there are new schools everywhere. Barr: I dare not say that in 20 years, China will surpass the rest of Europe. Our factories, our steel, our railways. will surpass those countries in Europe. ”

At this time, Zhang Lei seemed extremely confident, and the reason for his confidence was very simple, because China's progress is amazing. However, in just five years, a large number of new factories have been established in Hubei, Hunan, and Guangdong. Thousands of kilometers of railways were built.

China may have started late, but now it is rapidly catching up with the industrial powers of Europe, and in many ways it has its own unique characteristics. For example, electric lights. There is also cheap steel, which European countries do not have.

And those Europeans are also surprised by the changes in China in recent years. Under the leadership of His Majesty, it only took five years. So much has been achieved.

Now, after the reunification of the country, under the guidance of His Majesty, China is bound to develop at an even more astonishing speed. These backwardnesses in Barr's mouth will also quickly disappear in this land. In its place will be modern railroads and steamships.

"You see, soon China will undergo earth-shaking changes under the leadership of His Majesty!"

"His Majesty the Emperor is wise!"

Barr shrugged his shoulders,

"I believe under the leadership of His Majesty the Emperor. In the future, China will definitely become a country that can make Britain tremble. ”

"And what about France?"

The reason why Zhang Lei asked this is because he and Barr are friends, and another reason is that Barr is French.

"France France, since Napoleon and the Yellow Emperor, has already declined, completely destroyed by a group of careerists, politicians!"

Barr said indignantly that ten years ago, she had many friends. Died on the barricades of Paris. He was too young to fight with them.

"Isn't there already a Napoleonic emperor?"

Zhang Lei asked with some curiosity.

"Are you talking about Napoleon III? What else did he have besides the surname Bonaparte? What France needs now is Napoleon. The real Napoleon, and not a man with the surname Bonaparte. Believe me, sooner or later she will bring France to disaster, my friend, and I am really jealous of you, because, your emperor has come at the right time. ”

After this sigh, Barr held on to the railing. , His eyes looked into the distance, his gaze looked a little complicated, maybe she had become a Chinese nationality, and now he is a Chinese. But after all, he grew up in the French team and has a very deep relationship with France.

"My Majesty, isn't it also your Majesty? Barr, my friend, believe me, here you can achieve what you can't achieve in France! ”

Then Zhang Lei also set his eyes into the distance, he thought of those famous ministers and generals in the history books, and thought of those founding fathers, didn't their fates change when the country was founded? Just like myself, where would I have thought that there would be today.

"Now, we're achieving what we are! Zhang! You see......"

Bard pointed into the distance.

"With the Northern Expedition of the Great Army, soon the Tatar dynasty will be overthrown, and we will personally participate in the rise of this empire. Isn't that our greatest achievement? ”

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