London, United Kingdom of Great Britain.

"Your Majesty!" The major, dressed in the traditional red uniform of the British Royal Guard, reported in German: "Here are your personal letters!" ”

"English! English! The middle-aged man behind the desk knocked on the table very dissatisfied.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The Major had no choice but to use a slightly awkward-sounding English, "Here's a personal letter from Berlin, please take a look!" ”

"Alright, let's put it down!" The middle-aged man motioned for him to put the letter on the table, and then waved his hand impatiently, "Major, you can go out!" ”

"Yes!" The Major put his legs together, gave a standard German military salute, and then turned and walked out the door.

The middle-aged man shook his head, and then picked up the letter on the table with a very delicate appearance, and it could be seen that although his identity was very noble, he was not in a very good mood recently.

"Dear Your Majesty Robert I, how are you doing?" The middle-aged man read the first sentence of the letter lightly, and then said to himself helplessly: "What a mess, it's a mess!" ”

The language problem is one of the recent headaches for His Majesty Robert I, and in fact, since he became King of Britain, the British Isles have not been at peace for a single day, first violently revolting against the German garrison, and then rising against him, the "puppet king" appointed by the Germans, and openly resisting the tax activities of the "puppet government". For this reason, Ruprecht had to use his "Royal Guard" again and again, and sometimes even the German garrison, to reluctantly suppress the British resistance. In the first three months of 1916, the British seemed discouraged and obedient, but recently a civil society called the "British" jumped out to accuse the United Kingdom of being ruled by a group of people who could not even speak English.

There are many precedents for the English monarch not to speak English, such as the famous George I, the former King Charles I of England, and the earlier "Plantagenets", when the monarchs either spoke German as their mother tongue or only French, so that the people around them did not speak English very well, and in this sense, to this extent. It was understandable that Ruprecht and his close ministers did not speak English, but the group called the "Englishmen" used this as an excuse to agitate the inhabitants of England, Scotland, and Wales, and threatened that Robert I's government would introduce Germanized and Germanized rule in the British Isles. The people were already strongly resistant to the government of Robert I under the auspices of Germany, and they joined the ranks of the opponents, and the non-armed "protests" intensified, eventually setting off a powerful tsunami of public opinion in the British Isles.

In May 1916, after consulting with the German government, Ruprecht announced to the whole of Britain that German rule would not be introduced in Britain in the future. And he will lead by example in using English in his work and life. After that, the noisy British version of the "non-violent non-cooperation movement" finally came to an end.

Now that the words had been spoken, Ruprecht, as King of Britain, could not easily break his word, and he and his close ministers and attendants reluctantly spoke English. Of course, this was only a ploy to minimize the contradictions between the new government and the people at the beginning of his reign in Britain, and Ruprecht decided to settle accounts with the "people" after his rule had been consolidated.

I have successfully completed my trip to Southeast Asia and returned to Berlin on July 9th! I thought that I hadn't contacted you for a long time, so I hurriedly picked up my pen and wrote this letter!

After reading the second sentence, the middle-aged man shook his head again, "This guy is chic." Feel free to wander around. Almost forgot about my old friend! ”

First, this trip to Southeast Asia has been very fruitful, and I am very happy to witness the rout of the British and Indian colonial army in Haigdi! Haig himself was seized by his Indian officers and sent to our army. He has been sent to Berlin and is expected to spend at least five or six years in a prisoner of war camp. At this point, the Empire's eastward expansion plan has been successfully completed, and the strategic focus of the future will return to the Atlantic!

However, this trip also made me realize the fact that the Imperial Navy is seriously short of escort ships on ocean-going routes, and there is not a single seaplane carrier and aircraft carrier that can be used for escort! Therefore, I decided to urge the Admiralty and the naval shipyards to solve this problem as soon as possible! Also, I mentioned to you last time about setting up a Scottish mercenary company, and it's time to set it up now. To this end, I have earmarked 200 million marks from the Gigi Group and have sent a dedicated director to take care of this. You're familiar with this guy, and he's waiting outside your door, so you'll be very happy!

Here, I sincerely wish His Majesty Robert I good health and happiness! We ask for your assistance in our project, as well as the recruitment of skilled shipwrights, arsenal workers and mercenaries in England and Scotland! I will be meeting you in person in London shortly to greet and thank you in person!

Your closest friend, Gianlugi, William III!

"Good guys!" After putting down the letter, the middle-aged man couldn't help but sigh. "200 million marks of funds are taken out casually, this guy must be richer than the boss of Krupp! Well, munitions, shipbuilding, metallurgy, petroleum, aviation, this guy's industry is indeed all over the entire industrial system! No, next time he comes, I must ask him to contribute some funds to build one or two palaces for me, plus one or two shipyards! ”

Yes, the one who seems to have a little jealousy of our great Kaiser is Robert I, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the former Bavarian prince Ruprecht familiar to Germans. Since serving as chief of the general staff of the German War Office for a while, Ruprecht, who is of similar age and interests, has a much closer personal relationship with Chentian than before. In addition, Ruprecht and the entire Bavarian royal family were very grateful to Chentian for giving them a position in the crown of Great Britain, and Chentian was also very grateful to Bavaria and Ruprecht for their help in suppressing the Friedrich coup, so the relationship between the two sides became more and more intimate.

After re-reading the Kaiser's handwritten letter, Ruprecht rang the summoning bell on the table and asked the attendants who came in later:

"What about the person who sent this letter?"

"Back to Your Majesty, he's still waiting outside! He said that you would summon him when you read the letter! The attendant replied truthfully.

"Call him in!" Ruprecht was a little anxious to meet the "director's friend" that the Kaiser had described in his letter.

Half a minute later, a middle-aged man in a black gown, holding a gentleman's cane and a top hat walked into Ruprecht's study with a smile on his face.

"Your Majesty, hello!"

"Hey! Hubert! It's you! Ruprecht stood up in surprise and delight.

"Who else could it be?" The comer opened his arms.

"Ahem, I'm the king of the Kingdom of Great Britain now, and hugging me is a treat that only members of the royal family can enjoy!" As he spoke, Ruprecht smiled and greeted him with a big bear hug.

"Flattered!" But the one who came was not at all restrained. However, when walking, his right leg with a prosthetic leg appeared to be a little difficult.

"Come, please take a seat!" Ruprecht led him to the couch in the study, and then summoned the chamberlain, "Twice as black coffee, no sugar and no milk!" ”

The visitor smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you are still the same!" ”

After they both sat down, the two of them, who hadn't met for a long time, didn't know what to say for a while.

This Hubert general was both a Bavarian nobleman. He was also a longtime colleague and friend, and he was wounded on the battlefield in France in 1914, and it was at that time that his right leg was amputated. After recovering from his injuries, he worked for a time in the Army General Staff, but soon after he retired from the Army and worked as a senior weapons adviser at the Gigi Group's arms company.

After the chamberlain served him a fragrant black coffee, Ruprecht opened the conversation:

"I really didn't expect His Majesty to send you! How have you been in the last year? Isn't it unaccustomed to taking off your military uniform! Why don't you write to me too? ”

"Oh, that's a long story!" Hubert set his cane aside and picked up the coffee cup on the table. When he and Ruprecht were working together in the General Staff, they liked to drink this black coffee in a small café in Berlin, and the Kaiser would sometimes change into a lieutenant's uniform and sneak out with them. And this three-person party is jokingly called the Black Coffee Alliance. It's a pity that the time for the gathering place is always short-lived. Soon after, the three of them went their separate ways, and there were very few opportunities to see each other for more than a year.

"Let's start at the beginning! We can talk from morning to evening, even until tomorrow morning! "Since becoming King of Britain. Ruprecht rarely returned to Bavaria, had few opportunities to meet with his former colleagues and friends, and sometimes felt that a narrow English Channel had blocked him from another world. Now that an old friend has arrived, the depression in his heart has suddenly been swept away.

So for the whole morning, the two of them talked about the things they had encountered in the more than a year they had not seen each other, sometimes laughing together, sometimes sighing together, until the attendant came in and reminded them that it was time for lunch, and they remembered today's topic.

"Scottish Mercenary Company...... How could His Majesty have come up with such a strange name? Ruprecht was a little curious.

"A name is just a codename!" Hubert expressed his opinion. "The point is that Your Majesty doesn't want it to attract the attention of other countries!"

Ruprecht nodded, and quickly shook his head again, "Shipyards, arsenals, and mercenaries, it's almost impossible for them to go undetected!" ”

Hubert was amazed, "Not to mention such a large scale!" ”

200 million marks, which is converted into more than 1.1 billion pounds! Ruprecht added: "Now that the pound has depreciated so badly, the merchants prefer to use the mark, and only the traditional British still stick to their own currency!" ”

"As it stands. I think it won't be long before the mark becomes a European currency! Hubert whispered to Ruprecht: "It is said that the government is planning to issue a new European mark to replace the previous Reichsmark, British pound, franc, and Austro-Hungarian krona, and gold coins will be completely withdrawn from circulation!" ”

Ruprecht was not surprised by the news, "Actually, I have heard about it for a long time, and it sounds good, at least it can stabilize the currency market of the occupied country!" ”

Hubert continued to limp with Ruprecht towards the dining room.

Ruprecht also deliberately slowed down, "After the war, Britain's economy and industry were in a depression, and there were basically no people here to invest except for some British. Take a look at the government's almshouses, where there are long lines to receive relief food every day! It's hard to find a job that fills your stomach! It's even harder to find a job that can support your family! Although the pound has depreciated sharply, the hourly wage of an average worker in the UK is still maintained at the level of 20p, which is really cheap labor! I dare say that if you pay 25 pence an hour, hundreds or thousands of people will flock to your job office! ”

Hubert replied without hesitation: "I had already planned before I came, only experienced and physically qualified workers and mercenaries would be recruited, 40 pence per hour for shipbuilders and 50p for arsenal workers, and if it was a shipbuilding technician and an arsenal technician, then the pay would be increased accordingly!" Ordinary mercenaries are £500 per month, and officers are promoted according to their positions and ranks! ”

"Well, that's very attractive in Britain! It's just that I'm always worried that the workers will be passive and even sabotage when they know who they are building ships and weapons for! Ruprecht stopped and looked at Hubert very seriously, "It's even more difficult for mercenaries to be reassured, maybe there will be resistance groups mixed in, and if they turn against each other on the battlefield......

Hubert also stopped, "Your Majesty, don't worry!" The mercenaries are just a cover for the company, in fact we only plan to recruit 500 mercenaries, and the arsenal is only small-scale, and the purchase and expansion of the shipyard and the recruitment of skilled shipwrights in England and Scotland are our main goals! His Majesty's intention was to use Britain's surviving post-war shipbuilding industry as a strategic reserve, so that these shipyards would provide Germany with an additional source of shipbuilding in case of wartime, and that they would be able to build warships outside the Entente as little as possible in peacetime! ”

"Warships outside the Entente—" Ruprecht said thoughtfully.

"That's right! We intend to build ships in Britain that go beyond the limits of the number and tonnage of the Washington Naval Entente! Hubert added: "It's not a shameful thing, who can guarantee that the Americans and the Japanese won't secretly build warships outside the treaty?" ”