Bert's hotel is located on Sandra Street in London's West End, with tall oak trees lining the road to shield pedestrians from the scorching September sun, and the contrast between the Greek-style classical buildings on both sides, which is quite quiet in the middle of the noise. The inn was a four-storey baroque white building with intricately carved statues from Greek mythology.

When Ye Shihan saw the statue of Achilles, who was naked and full of strength and beauty, his face turned red when he brushed it, and he whispered softly: "This Western barbarian is really shameless." After speaking, Ye Shihan, the little girl, glanced at Wickham meaningfully.

Wickham touched his nose a little embarrassed, and was about to open his mouth to explain to Ye Shihan what art is, when he caught a glimpse of Zhang Mingxia's face as red as a pig's liver. Wickham followed Zhang Mingxia's gaze, and it turned out to be a statue of Mary breastfeeding Jesus, and he almost couldn't help laughing out loud for a while.

Xiaolian, the little pepper, saw Wickham's funny look, and immediately took it out, crossed her waist and pouted: "I said that you look at Miss's appearance is always lustful, it turns out that you English people are all big thieves!" Wickham's eyes were suddenly full of tears, but he didn't expect that he was shot while lying down, saying that I was actually Chinese.

After Wickham and his party entered the hotel, the men and women of the hotel were boiling, rushing to the hall to watch the yellow-skinned and black-haired Chinese. In this era, Europe has not yet dominated the world, and in the eyes of Europeans, China is still an ancient, mysterious and rich country, so those male and female servants looked at each other with kindness and curiosity, as well as later contempt and contempt.

Although there is no malice on the part of the onlookers, who wants to be watched like a monkey? After seeing Ye Shihan's frowning brow, Wickham decisively took down the top floor of the hotel. This is not that he is pretending to show off his wealth by the rich second generation of later generations, but he doesn't want Zhang Mingxia and Ye Shihan to be disturbed when they are resting.

Ye Shihan naturally understood Wickham's intentions, and said gratefully: "Thank you, Lin Gongzi." ”

Wickham held back the blood in his heart, and waved his hand boldly on the surface: "Miss Ye is still polite to me, your brother is asking me to take good care of you." ”

Listening to Wickham's words, Ye Shihan's eyes were a little dim, and he wondered if the man opposite was just taking care of me so much because of his brother's request?

Thinking of Wickham's politeness and estrangement along the way, Ye Shihan's heart throbbed for a while, and his attitude towards Wickham also cooled: "Don't worry, Lin Gongzi, I will live well without your care!" ”

After speaking, Ye Shihan slammed the door and shut the stunned Wickham out. Wickham was a little puzzled, thinking to himself that the little girl Han was not doing well just now, why did she turn her face in the blink of an eye? The woman's heart is really nerve-wracking, Wickham sighed secretly, and let him not take it to heart, so he shook his head and went downstairs.

"Sir, now that your friends have settled down, it's time for me to take my leave. I haven't been home for two years, and I miss the old man at home. Bert saw Wickham coming downstairs and greeted him and took his leave.

Wickham nodded, he knew that Bert had sneaked out to join the army, maybe the family was still angry, so he explained: "It's okay, it's time to go home and see." By the way, you go back and ask Mr. Chelsea, are you interested in our shipment at the docks? ”

Bert quickly understood that the chief was giving benefits to their Chelsea family, and said with some emotion: "Sir, don't worry, there is also a share of mine in that shipment, and I will definitely let the old man make a good price." ”

Born into a family of merchants, Bert soon realised that this was a rare opportunity to move beyond the shipping industry and perhaps to the point of sale.

After sending Bert away, Wickham only felt physically and mentally exhausted, and the running life in the past two years was indeed tiring enough, even the iron-beaten man was a little unbearable. After a few croissants with a glass of milk, Wickham went back to his room and fell asleep.

When Wickham woke up again, it was already noon the next day, sniffing the quilt and sheets with the smell of sunshine, Wickham stretched out in satisfaction, and couldn't help but sigh, he didn't enjoy the beauty of sleeping until he woke up naturally two years ago, and now he finally got what he wanted, and it would be better if he could count the money and count the cramps in his hands.

After getting out of bed, Wickham changed into a gorgeous military uniform with the rank of captain and prepared to visit General Bernard's house.

Although General Bernard helped him two years ago with the element of reciprocation, Wickham is still very grateful to that kind old soldier, and if it weren't for the letter of recommendation he wrote to the Admiralty, he would not be where Wickham is today.

Over the past two years, Wickham has also learned some of the dark side of the British army, even the children of noble and squire families, after entering the army, half of them start as the most basic officer and second lieutenant, and most of them are second-line troops such as militia regiments. If you want a higher position, even a noble squire has to spend a certain amount of money to buy it, because this is the rule of the game that has been handed down since feudal times.

But Wickham, a young man who knows nothing about military affairs and has no strong background, can get a position like a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, Viscount Bernard definitely made a great effort, and perhaps Viscount Bernard has paid for it in private. Such a great kindness, Wickham will not forget. Moreover, now the Admiralty has not notified him to report on his work, so he simply went to visit Viscount Bernard first, firstly to express his gratitude, and secondly, to pull his feelings.

After tidying up, Wickham took out two white ivory sticks from a large box, and a fine Suzhou satin, wrapped them in cotton cloth, and went out of the room. Standing in the corridor, Wickham saw that Ye Shihan's door was still closed, and he seemed to be still angry with him.

"Did the lady from the East go to the restaurant at breakfast today?" There happened to be a valet cleaning in the hallway, and Wickham asked.

The manservant bowed respectfully to Wickham and said, "Mr. Captain, the young lady from the East and her valet have not left the door of the room all morning, perhaps because they are not feeling well. ”

Wickham knew what was going on, so he waved his hand and commanded the manservant, "Forget it, this young lady will have all three meals to her room in the future." With that, Wickham handed the manservant a shilling for consumption. For such a situation, Wickham didn't know what to do for a while, and he still hadn't figured out why Ye Shihan's girl was angry with him.

Thinking of the overly enthusiastic hotel waiters yesterday, Wickham had a headache, he didn't want Ye Shihan to be treated as a monkey again, so he simply asked the hotel people to send three meals to Ye Shihan's room, just to save these troubles.

"As you wish, Mr. Captain." The manservant took a generous tip, and happily agreed, and his attitude became a little warmer.

At this time, Zhang Mingxia came up from downstairs with his entourage Huzi, and when he saw that Wickham was dressed neatly, he said, "Brother Zihan, is this going out?" ”

Wickham nodded and replied, "I'm visiting an elder." By the way, Brother Mingxia, where did you go in the morning? Zhang Mingxia obviously went out for a walk, which made Wickham blush a little, after all, as the host, he actually left the guests to sleep in the room, which is really unreasonable.

Zhang Mingxia knew what Wickham was embarrassed about, and he didn't care at all: "Your customs in England are completely different from those in Middle-earth, and my brother is also curious to take a walk on the street." ”

After a year of study, Zhang Mingxia's English is already quite good, but probably because he often talks to the sailors on the ship, Zhang Mingxia's accent is stained with the "inferior" voice of the London accent, which is still different from the "RP" accent commonly used by the upper class like Wickham.

Wickham remembered why Zhang Mingxia came to Europe, and asked apologetically: "Brother Mingxia, there are many colleges in England, and there are professors in astronomy and geography, language and grammar, art and medicine. ”

Zhang Mingxia pinned on Wickham's desire to revive China, and he naturally hoped that Zhang Mingxia could study in a British university. At this time, European universities gathered the latest European ideas of this era, which helped Zhang Mingxia to broaden his horizons and not be as narrow-minded as the old-style literati of the Qing Dynasty.

As soon as Wickham said this, Zhang Mingxia also became interested: "It turns out that the style of education and literature in foreign places is also so popular, but it seems a little inappropriate for England to attach so much importance to miscellaneous studies and not to cultivate benevolence." ”

Zhang Mingxia still despises the "miscellaneous science" of natural science in his heart, and in his mind, the "way of the sage" is the foundation related to the rise and fall of the country and the stability of the people. Wickham did not refute this, after all, Zhang Mingxia is an old-style intellectual who has been a talented man, and it is impossible for him to change his thinking and concepts, so he can only hope that the next days in Britain can imperceptibly change some of Zhang Mingxia's prejudices.

"Brother Zihan, I heard that you have a military academy in England that specializes in training officers, I don't know if you have any way?" When Zhang Mingxia was approaching the port of London, he happened to see the British detachment returning from the cruise on the deck, and two of the first-class battleships with 100 guns gave Zhang Mingxia a great shock, and he realized that China had lagged behind the Western countries in terms of weapons and equipment and tactical command, so he germinated the idea of learning from Western military affairs. In this way, after returning to China, he was confident that he could form an armed force in Southeast Asia that could defeat the Spanish, Dutch, and even Qing armies.

Wickham glanced at Zhang Mingxia with some surprise, he didn't expect him to want to go to a military academy, but that's fine, Wickham didn't want a scene in China fifty years later when thousands of British troops defeated hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops.

"Okay, I'll go and inquire first, it shouldn't be a problem." Wickham, who had spent two years in the British Army, knew that the current British Army had a Royal Army Officer College in Woodridge, established in 1741 to train artillery and engineer officers. He could have inquired about this when he visited General Bert, and it was not a problem.

"Great, Brother Zihan, you have helped me a lot!" Seeing that Wickham agreed, Zhang Mingxia looked a little excited.

Wickham patted Zhang Mingxia on the shoulder and said, "Brother Mingxia, what are you polite to me, it's just a gesture." ”