"Kunyu is here again, hehe. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info" Hearing Lin Yizhe complain about his daughter's arrest of Zhou, Chen Wan laughed, "Even if you catch a knife, it doesn't have to be a dancing knife and a gun, the knife is not only a weapon, but also a tool for construction, maybe Xi'er will be able to be as good at design as Mr. Dashbo in the future." ”

Chen Wan's statement is actually reasonable, the child grabs food and toys first, and cannot be dismissed as "delicious" and "playful" on the spot, and there is also a saying that "when the child grows up, he must have a good mouth and be good at 'having fun in time'".

In fact, grasping the week is that the elders have high hopes for the future of the child, and on the occasion of the first birthday, they just wish the child a good wish.

"Yes, that makes sense." Lin Yizhe laughed, of course he would not have thought that another explanation for his daughter to catch a knife would be fulfilled in this child named Chen Wei after many years.

Time back to November 2, 1868, on the first birthday of Chen Wei, the young master of the Chen family, relatives and friends came to celebrate in an endless stream.

The celebratory banquet took place in the gardens of the castle and the whole festivities would last all day, making it a grand event.

On this morning, Chen Tingxuan's friends flocked from all over London to congratulate him. They all wore red pockets with the word "Fu" printed on them, which were filled with gift money for the young master of the Chen family, and they were all cash, not checks or something. Each pocket contains a sticker that indicates the identity of the giver and a piece of affection for the child.

Now, on this big day, his grandson's first birthday, Chen Tingxuan stands at the gate of the castle to greet the guests personally. All the people who came were familiar with each other, and the garden was lit up everywhere to show a festive atmosphere.

In order to take care of the locals and foreign friends among the visitors, this banquet of the Chen family can be said to be a combination of Chinese and Western.

There are hundreds of guests in the huge garden, who sit at long dining tables stacked high with fragrant meals and blue and white wine jugs with red wine. Chen Wei's mother, Sarah, was dressed brightly and looked radiant, smiling as she entertained her family and friends.

A four-wheeled carriage came to the door and stopped, and the golden lion and horse hugging shield family emblem on the body clearly indicated the family background of the owner of the carriage, seeing this carriage, Chen Tingxuan immediately walked up quickly.

Lionel Nathan Mayer Rothchild (also known as Nathan Jr., was the son of Nathan Sr., one of the "Five Tigers of Roche" in history, and Nathan Sr. died in 1836. - Author's note) got out of the carriage with a cane, and when he saw Chen Tingxuan personally greeting him, he was stunned for a moment, and then immediately handed over the cane to his entourage, and stretched out his hand with a smile as he walked quickly towards Chen Tingxuan.

Chen Tingxuan smiled and stretched out his hand, shook hands with Nathan, and then personally accompanied Nathan to the garden.

Sara was the first to see Nathan walk into the garden. In ecstasy, she forgot her dignity as a mistress and screamed: "Daddy! ――”

She dragged out the last note for a long time. Then she ran over and threw herself into his arms, embracing her father. He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead. When a large crowd recognized him and gathered around to greet him, his arm never let go of her.

"Daddy! You're here, great! - Sara looked at her father, whose hair was slightly gray, and tears glistened in the corners of her eyes.

"My dear daughter, shouldn't I come to see my own grandson?" Nathan looked at Sara and asked with a smile.

Hearing Nathan's words, the guests all cheered and applauded in unison. Nathan let go of Sarah, took his daughter's arm, and smiled and waved at everyone.

"You just got off the boat?" Sara took her father's arm and led him to the feast, and she asked immediately when she smelled what seemed to be a sea breeze on his body.

"I just came back, and when I got off the boat, I came straight by carriage." Nathan smiled and nodded, "I'm afraid of missing the time, hehe, you know I'm a punctual person and don't like people waiting for me." ”

"You went to Berlin?" Sara asked.

"Yes, and a few days in Frankfurt," Nathan replied, "in an informal meeting." ”

"Oh?" Sara was keenly aware of the unusual message contained in her father's words, "What kind of meeting is this?" ”

"About Amslow's youngest son." Nathan smiled, "Amslow's heir intends to help him build a unified new empire. ”

Hearing the words "Amslow's youngest son", Sara immediately understood what her father was talking about.

Since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Germany has merged from more than 300 small loose feudal states into more than 30 larger states and formed the German Confederation. Amslow Rothschild, the number one of the Rothschild family in Frankfurt, was appointed the first finance minister of the German Confederation and was made a baron by the Austrian emperor in 1822. The Rothchild Bank in Frankfurt became the center of Deutsche Finance. Since Amslow has no children, he likes to support excellent young people to be his successor. Among the young men who rose to prominence under his auspices, the best were his current stepson, Meyerkar, and now Prussian Chancellor Bismarck.

Because of Bismarck's close relationship with the German Rothschild family, he had the nickname "Armslow's youngest son", of course, this nickname was limited to the insiders themselves in private.

Nathan just wanted to tell his daughter what he had seen this time, but when he saw Chen Hong walking quickly towards him, he didn't say anything more, but smiled at Chen Hong.

"Hello, Father!" Chen Hong stepped forward and hugged Nathan.

"Hello, my child." Nathan looked at the handsome and elegant Chen Hong, and had to admit in his heart what a big mistake he made against his daughter's choice back then.

Fortunately, he corrected his mistake in time, and his relatives in Germany did not realize how serious their mistake was.

Chen Hong invited Nathan to sit at the table, and after taking his seat, Nathan found that not only did all the leaders of the "Thirteen Elements" family, which were famous in China and even the world, arrive, but also several famous families in Britain also had brains.

At this time, Nathan couldn't help but secretly rejoice that he had decided to come to his grandson's birthday party despite the opposition of other family members, how correct it was.

At the other end of the long table, a young Chinese woman was casting an attentive eye on Nathan and Sarah.

"What's wrong? Ruihan? Her husband, Wu Xiande, a distant family member of the Wu family, one of the "Thirteen Elements", asked.

"That person just now, is it her father?" The Chinese woman, Xie Ruihan, the eldest daughter of the Xie family, who is also one of the "Thirteen Elements", asked.

"Yes." "He was one of the leaders of the Rothschild family in England, and the Roche family was very famous in Europe. ”

"No wonder so many people came in to greet him, and he was about to go up the mountain to shout long live." Xie Ruihan's voice revealed a hint of jealousy that was difficult to hide, "The Chen family has climbed such a high-ranking family, and it will be better not to take our thirteen lines in their eyes in the future." ”

"The current status of the Luo family in European countries is just like when our Thirteen Lines were in the Qing Dynasty." Wu Xiande sighed, "It's a pity that our thirteen lines have left our homeland, and there is no longer the scenery of the past." ”

Xie Ruihan glanced at her husband beside her, and didn't say anything, but fell on Chen Hong and Sarah.

Wu Xiande did not notice the deep jealousy in his wife's eyes, but recalled the glorious and tragic history of his own family, and sighed.

The Thirteen Elements can be said to be the leader of China's development of capitalism at that time, but it fell in the fatal blow of the two Opium Wars.

At the beginning of the war, Wu Bingjian, the leader of the Thirteen Banks, the richest man in the world, and the patriarch of the Wu family at the time, clearly knew that the root cause of the British war was the desire to trade directly with China. The war was a British challenge to the Chinese government's tributary trade system and a subversion of the interests of the Thirteen Elements. Once Britain wins, there is no doubt that the unique position of the Thirteen Elements will be forced to be lost.

The Wu family, as well as other merchants, contributed huge amounts of wealth to the war. The Xiangheng Yu defense project was built by the Wu family and other businessmen who voluntarily donated 100,000 taels of silver. For a long time, as the thirteen elements of the Qing court's "Son of Heaven Nanku", it was natural to provide a steady stream of blood for the country in the Opium War.

Even so, the Qing government was defeated on all fronts. From the very beginning of the war, businessmen who did business with foreigners were cast the shadow of "traitors" by the Chinese. No matter how many taels of silver they donate, they can't erase this shadow. The act of ransom the city without a fight was certainly not in line with the wishes of the ardent patriots, and this shame was rightfully recorded on the heads of the Wu family and other merchants who were later forced to participate in the peace talks.

In 1842, the First Opium War ended with the defeat of China. The consequences of the defeat had to be borne by Wu Bingjian and his merchants. The Treaty of Nanking stipulated that China compensated Britain with 21 million silver dollars, equivalent to 14.7 million taels of silver, while the Qing government's treasury was less than 7 million taels of silver at this time. Most of the compensation was apportioned and shared by the merchants.

After the country was opened, the Qing Dynasty opened the five ports to foreign trade, and the foreign trade privileges of the Thirteen Lines no longer existed. The Thirteen Elements were undoubtedly the main victims of the Opium War, and the Wu family, as the head of the Thirteen Elements, suffered huge losses.

Thirteen years later, another Opium War turned the Thirteen Lines in Guangzhou into a battlefield for China's foreign front. In the middle of the night on December 15 of the same year, the nearly 200-year-old merchant house was reduced to ashes in the artillery fire, and the Thirteen Elements as a whole disappeared from the stage of Chinese history.

――――Dividing Line――――

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