Today is the day of the ball held at Mr. Bernard's house, and Lin Zihan does not dare to slack off, after all, there will be many high-class people in London at the ball, and it is very rude to dress inappropriately. Regarding the dance party held by Bernard's family this time, Lin Zihan didn't say that he was curious, it was fake. London's social season is in winter, and it is relatively rare to hold a ball in the middle of summer, as most of London's dignitaries spend their summer holidays in the countryside. And there must be some reason why the Berna family put the ball at this time.

When Lin Zihan walked outside the hotel, William Edward was already waiting at the door of the hotel. Because he often had to use a car, he simply hired William Edward as his personal coachman for a pound a week's salary. The price of one pound is already a very high salary, you must know that the annual salary of a governess is about fifteen pounds, and after William bought his own car and became a coachman, it was at most ten pounds a year. William was quite satisfied with the job, and there was no gentleman in his mind who was more generous and understanding than Wickham.

When I arrived at 34 Fleet Street, there were already all kinds of ornate carriages with family crests parked outside, and it could be seen that the Berner family had considerable influence in London's high society. Compared with those luxuriously decorated carriages, Lin Zihan was a little shabby when he rode one. Robert, who greeted the guests at the door, had a very good eye, and at a glance he saw Wickham getting off the carriage, so he came over enthusiastically: "George, welcome to the ball held at our house." Then he lowered his voice and said, "Although it's not London's social season, there are still a lot of beautiful young ladies, so have fun tonight."

Lin Zihan showed a smile that all men understand: "Robert still needs to rely on you to introduce some beautiful girls tonight." It's not that Lin Zihan is interested in those so-called aristocratic ladies, but when he thinks of the gorgeous ball in the eighteenth century, he feels a little excited in his heart.

The hall of Robert's house was brightly lit, the band was playing court dances from Vivi, Jenna and Paris, and the waiters were carrying a variety of drinks, and the air was filled with a sense of luxury. Gentlemen in various dresses with wine glasses chatted on the dance floor, while ladies in full costume gathered to discuss the latest fashion from Paris, women's fashion and lace. On the dance floor, there are four or five pairs of young men and women, dancing to the cheerful waltz, showing ambiguous expressions from time to time.

Mr. and Mrs. Bernard were surrounded by a group of men in naval uniforms, not knowing what they were talking about, but judging by the solemn looks of the men, it should not be a good thing. Lin Zihan wanted to go to Mr. Bernard and Mrs. Bernard to say hello, but when he saw which naval officers around them had serious and gloomy looks, he gave up decisively. Some young and unmarried ladies had long noticed the fair-skinned and handsome Wickham, and they asked their best friends which young master this was. However, Lin Zihan was very born, and no one could tell where he came from.

Several bold girls came over and invited Lin Zihan to dance together, but unfortunately Lin Zihan was not interested in this kind of restrained court dance at all, and those young ladies sprayed too much perfume on their bodies, he really couldn't bear it, so he politely refused. However, in this way, those aristocratic ladies were not happy, and Lin Zihan even heard someone whisper that he was arrogant and arrogant. Lin Zihan only smiled bitterly at this, but he didn't expect his buddy to enjoy the treatment of Daxi in advance.

At this time, a middle-aged man wearing a somewhat worn-out navy uniform walked up to Lin Zihan with a wine glass, and said with a smile: "These women are very shallow, aren't they?" Lin Zihan frowned, although he was not very interested in those noble ladies who were richly dressed and elegant in posture but had eyes above the top, it did not mean that he would express his opinion to a stranger. The middle-aged man didn't seem to care about Lin Zihan's reaction, and the corners of his mouth curved a strange arc: "In their hearts, there will always be only beautiful clothes, dazzling jewelry, and charming young men at the ball." When the French set foot on the British Isles, I wonder if they still have this leisure!"

Lin Zihan put away his contempt for this middle-aged man, now France is in chaos, almost all the British are rejoicing in the sinking of this country, but who would have thought that it was this country of internal and external troubles that shook the whole of Europe under the leadership of the Corsican dwarf. But this middle-aged man is an exception, if he is not drunk and talking nonsense, then his strategic vision is terrible.

"Under George? Wickham, I don't know who Mr. is?" Lin Zihan decided to probe the bottom of this guy first.

The middle-aged man casually raised the wine glass in his hand: "Horatio? Nelson, currently serving in the Navy. But I don't think many people will think of me now, right?" Immediately, he smiled self-deprecatingly, sipped the whiskey in his glass, and said no more.

What the? Nelson? Nelson, the god of war of the British Royal Navy! In Lin Zihan's heart, there were 10,000 grass and mud horses galloping past. How many people in the world who know something about military affairs don't know Nelson? No! In this guy's coquettish maritime career, he has never been defeated once, and he is simply a god-level figure who is more powerful than the god of war.

In 1798, he led the main force of the Royal Navy to inflict heavy damage on the French navy at the mouth of the Nile, forcing Napoleon, who had invaded Egypt, to return to France. In 1801, Nelson again defeated the Danish Navy at the Battle of Copenhagen, leaving the North Sea region without a Royal Navy. In 1805, he led the Royal Navy to attack Cadiz, defeating the combined Franco-Spanish fleet with fewer victories. Although he himself was a hero in this battle, his final battle once again thwarted Napoleon's attempt to invade Britain from the sea, leaving France no longer able to compete with the British Empire for maritime supremacy.

It can be said that Nelson was Napoleon's nemesis, because with Nelson, even if Napoleon could conquer the entire European continent, he could not conquer Britain, a staunch anti-French bastion. But it's only 1792, and the cowhide guy hasn't yet appeared, and Nelson is just a hapless guy who got into a lawsuit in the Caribbean and was left idle by the Admiralty for nearly five years.

Nelson took some unnatural sips of wine to hide his embarrassment, how could he always feel that the guy opposite looked at him a little strangely, which made him feel the urge to leave. Lin Zihan smiled a lot more eagerly than just now: "Mr. Nelson, General Berner told me the story of your battle in the West Indies, and what I envy the most is you warriors galloping on the sea." The glory of the British Empire will eventually be associated with the sea, and you are the children of the sea. For Lin Zihan, who has worked in sales, he doesn't know where to lose this thing for a long time, and this meeting is even more Hu Tianhai.

Nelson heard Lin Zihan mention his experience in the western Indian Ocean, and his face first showed a look of nostalgia, and then a deep loneliness. When he first became the captain of the ship, he was ordered to go to the Caribbean to intercept the revolutionaries in the thirteen North American states. He was ready to go big and prove to his superiors that he would be a good naval officer. When he arrived, he soon discovered that the British colonies in the Caribbean were secretly trading with the United States, which was simply digging into the corners of the British Empire! Wasn't the blood of the soldiers who fought bloodily with the hillbillies of the Continental Army at the front in vain?

However, Nelson, who is completely politically white, did not know that there were domestic bigwigs behind this smuggling case. Nelson, who had strictly enforced the law of navigation, was unlucky, and the smugglers went to court to sue him for trespassing on private property, and if it had not been for the mediation of his uncle, who was a naval prosecutor, he might have been expelled from the navy. Even so, he was also refrigerated by the Admiralty, and until now he has never set foot on a warship again.

Nelson's eyes were a little complicated: "yes, that was a long time ago. Is it really hard to be a pure soldier?" He said these words not so much to Lin Zihan as to himself, he would think in the dead of night many nights, is this country worth fighting for? Why can the greedy merchants and aristocrats in the country easily influence the country?

Lin Zihan once read Nelson's confused and unused history in a book, so he only patted the shoulder of the future British god of war: "If a person keeps giving up on himself, then he will not have a future and tomorrow." Mr. Nelson, believe in yourself and you will succeed! Now that the situation in France is in turmoil, the tricolor hats in Paris are not going to stop, and maybe your chance will come soon. Lin Zihan's tone was very positive, because no one here knew that France would soon declare war on Britain except him, and Nelson would also be reappointed by the Admiralty next year as the captain of a third-class battleship.

Nelson looked at Lin Zihan gratefully and said, "Thank you for your encouragement, Mr. Wickham. You're right, people who always sigh will always have tomorrow, for our tomorrow, cheers!" He was so fed up with the white eyes of others that after not even being activated by the Admiralty for five years, his wife, the widow who had been widowed in the Caribbean, began to sneer at him! Only this stranger, although he had known him for a short time, gave him a wonderful feeling of knowing me.

Lin Zihan saw that this guy had regained his confidence, and he also smiled and raised his glass: "Respect for our tomorrow!" The two big men looked at each other like this and let out a hearty laugh. Sometimes, men's friendships are so delicate.

Lin Zihan and Nelson simply found a seat in the rest area, chatted about the current situation in France, and tasted the red wine and whiskey of the Berner family, which was very comfortable for a while. After chatting for a while, Nelson turned the topic to Lin Zihan: "Wickham, you kid should be doing well in the navy, otherwise how could General Berner invite you?" The people attending the ball today were either nobles with great influence in the House of Lords, or mid- and high-ranking officers in the navy, and the reason why Nelson came to this ball was also to try his luck and see if he could get a good job.

Lin Zihan smiled bitterly: "Nelson, you guessed wrong, I don't serve in the navy now, I am a free man now, and I don't have any serious career." Looking at Nelson's obviously disbelieving expression, Lin Zihan briefly told him about saving Mrs. Bernard in the alley that day.

Nelson looked at Lin Zihan with bright eyes: "I have to say that your luck is really good, with such a friendship with the Berner family, if you join the navy in the future, you will definitely rise to prominence!" Lin Zihan is a little strange, could it be that this Berner family has such a great influence in the navy? It's just that he never thought about getting anything from the Berner family, so he never inquired about the background and scenery of the Berner family, but only knew that Berner was an old gentleman who retired from the navy. "Nelson, apart from one visit, I don't really know much about the Bernard family. Well, don't look at me like that, I used to spend most of my time in the Devon countryside. ”

Through Nelson's explanation, Lin Zihan knew how awesome the Berner family was. It turned out that the Bernard family was not pure English, but an officer who landed in England with the Dutch consul William. William of Orange, after becoming King of England, continued to balance the political balance of power in England in order to consolidate his rule in England, so he canonized a new group of nobles among his cronies to change the balance of power in the House of Lords. Among the new nobles was the Bernard family. Although the Berner family only received the title of viscount, most of its descendants developed in the army, and after two hundred years of development, the Berner family had a strong influence in the British army and navy. After knowing the history of the Berner family, the corners of Lin Zihan's eyes were about to twitch, this family is really hidden, Mrs. Berner has never used the word lord when she calls her husband. However, Lin Zihan quickly thought of the crux of the matter, and it seemed that Mrs. Bernard had always used "dear" to address her husband...... Cover your face......

Nelson concluded, "So, I said you kid was lucky. Do you know what General Bernard is doing this ball?"

Lin Zihan replied: "Why?"

Nelson moved his body a little stinkyly: "His Majesty the King and the parliament have approved the proposal to send an envoy to the Qing Kingdom, and Lord Magalny is about to lead the mission to the Qing Kingdom. Admiral Bernard held this ball in order to get Lord Margarny to know the naval officers of the fleet. ”

What? Magalny? Lin Zihan only felt that his heart couldn't bear so much stimulation, and today's ball was simply a meeting of historical celebrities!