Saturday, September 13, 1642.

Around noon, a merchant ship from the Caribbean arrived at the civilian dock in the southern part of Manchester City. Before the plank ladder was lowered, a European naval officer ran down briskly with his luggage, just waved his officer ID to the police at the departure checkpoint, and rushed to a horse-drawn carriage.

"Sir, 17 Garden Street, please hurry!" Elson threw the box into the luggage rack at the back of the carriage and beckoned eagerly to the coachman. Without waiting for the coachman to reply, the handsome lieutenant jumped into the carriage and took out his pocket watch to check the time.

Garden Street, the most exclusive neighborhood in the south of Manchester, is the most exclusive neighborhood in the south of Manchester, and anyone who lives there is a big name in the country. Seeing that the naval officer looked in a hurry, the coachman did not dare to slack off, and quickly turned his horse's head and headed towards the city.

At this moment, outside the special ward of the National Hospital in Manchester City, a group of men and women are standing in the corridor worriedly, all looking gloomy.

Hu Huan and Tang Hanna, Zhong Kai and Ren Xingai, and Lu Mei, the five juniors all gathered around Huang Nian's wheelchair without saying a word. And the old man Huang Nian, who started an hour ago, was silently crying.

The door to the ward opened, and a middle-aged European doctor walked out with a number of nurses.

"Gentlemen and ladies. Mr. Chung's condition has stabilized for the time being, but he needs to rest, so please try to be as quiet as possible during your visit. As a senior disciple of former President Chen Yuanyuan, the European doctor was quite cautious to temporarily cover up the condition of the old man Zhong Jinshan.

Walking into the ward, the highest judge on the bed was closing his eyes at this time, and on his gray forehead, an age spot was clearly visible, and he was much thinner than before.

As if sensing the existence of his relatives, the old man Zhong Jinshan opened his eyes, looked sideways at the old man Huang Nian who was pushed by everyone, and squeezed out a smile on his face: "Wife." You're not in good health, so you need to rest. ”

"Old man, you are hospitalized, how can I rest assured that I can ......"

The old man Huang Nian, who had probably known that one minute was less than one minute, gently reached out and held the hand of her husband who had been foaming for a nail at this time, although he also greeted him with a smile, but the tears in his eyes were shaky.

"Grandpa......" Lu Meida has been guarding outside the ward since the night before, and at this time she hurriedly walked a few steps and squatted in front of her grandfather's bed.

"Xiaomei. Yesterday I dreamed of your parents and asked me how you are now, and I said that you are fine now......" The old man Zhong Jinshan caressed his granddaughter's face, his loving expression was as always, "When I am discharged from the hospital, we will go to your parents together to put incense on the pillars." ”

"Okay, grandpa......" Lu Mei lowered her head and hid her tears, but her voice became more and more choked.

Uremia caused by renal failure in old age. is the current situation of the old man Zhong Jinshan, even if it is placed in the future generations, it is just a day to drag it out, in this 17th century beauty. It is also a dying illness that is powerless. Since the founding of the United States, the second high-ranking old man has also come to the end of his life.

There was a mourning at the bedside, and the atmosphere was so oppressive that some people couldn't stand it, so Tang Hannah and Hu Huan quietly retreated to the corridor.

"Today is the ninth day of hospitalization. The hospital said it had two or three days left at most. If Major Elson doesn't come again, I'm afraid he will ......" Hu Huan glanced at the gap in the door and sat down on the bench a little anxiously.

"If Senior Elson receives the telegram, he will leave immediately. It should have been there last night. I heard that it was also an urgent telegram from the command of the Navy. Don Hannah also looked at the end of the corridor with a little uneasiness, as if it had reached the stage of racing against time.

"Well, I can't make my grandparents regret it! You're right here, I'll go to the Maritime Bureau and ask! As soon as Hu Huan gritted his teeth, he grabbed his military hat and planned to go to the Maritime Safety Bureau in person to confirm the situation of a certain merchant ship.

Even in Huamei, the means of ocean-going communication and ship traffic control are still extremely backward compared with later generations. In order to ensure the safety of ship navigation and information management, the Maritime Safety Administration, which is under the Ministry of Transport and Construction, stipulates that every civilian merchant ship that sails must send a telegram every eight hours to the nearest Huamei port.

The telegraph information, including speed, direction, coordinates of the current position and possible difficulties, was then collected at the Ship Traffic Management Centre of the Manchester Maritime Authority, where it was marked on a huge chart and manned 24 hours a day to update the situation.

In the event of an accident, the MSA can try to make some evidence-based judgments, and this management system can track the safety status of each merchant ship to the greatest extent.

But obviously, Hu Huan's eagerness this time is still a bit redundant. Half an hour later, Major Elson's carriage headed from Garden Street to the National Hospital in the capital, this time accompanied by his father, Commodore Andrew, the Navy's Director of Logistics and Armament.

Leather shoes resounded with a series of crisp footsteps in the quiet hospital corridor, and the father and son of the naval officer walked all the way, looking solemn, and the medical staff in the corridor gave way one after another.

Seeing that the person who was waiting for someone finally appeared, Tang Hanna quickly got up from the bench and saluted to the commodore by the way: "I'm really sorry, let you come forward in person, General...... It's finally time for you, Major Elson, Lu Mei and her grandfather and grandmother are all in the ward. ”

"Please greet Mr. Zhong on my behalf." Brigadier General Andrew, who is over 60 years old and also shows gray hair, brought his son to the ward in person, and arranged his military uniform for his son before entering the door, "Use your courage and sincerity to gain everyone's approval." ”

"Yes, father." Elson gave his father a military salute as well, then pushed the door open.

……

Nothing could be more vigorous than the current Zhong family, and when more people who received the news and came to visit crowded the hospital hallways, the Elson family had already completed the pre-wedding confession ceremony in the hospital room with a priest. Because Lu Mei is not a Christian, this is one of the marriage procedures that Ielson, a Christian, must fulfill.

The formal marriage vows ceremony began, Lu Mei changed into a wedding dress, and stood in front of her grandfather's sickbed with Elson.

“…… The couple, under the witness of God and in the presence of two loving and forgiving elders, will swear for their marriage union that they will always cherish each other and their loved ones, and continue to make persistent efforts for the honor of the country and the two families......"

The Christian marriage ceremony, which has undergone countless versions of improvement, came to an abrupt end. Immediately afterwards, according to the habit of crossing the crowd, Huo Qian, the Minister of Civil Affairs, as the elder witness, personally handed over the marriage certificate of Da Hong to the newlyweds.

After kissing her grandfather with tears in her eyes, Lu Mei buried her head in Elson's chest.

Old man Huang Nian's hands trembled, and he handed over his daughter's only relic after the catastrophe, a silver bracelet, to his granddaughter. This is the tradition of the Zhong family, and after the children get married, they will receive the family token from the elders.

At the same time, Eielson also accepted the conditions of the Zhong family, and announced that he would join the family according to the Eastern tradition, and the children of the two would inherit the surnames of the Zhong family and the Lu family respectively. It was the Elson family, who were born as civilians. It is only understood that this is the traditional rule of the gorgeous and upper-class aristocracy that determines the priority of the surname based on family status.

……

Su Zining stood at the back of the crowd in the ward, looking at his friends who were also silent around him, his expression was very calm.

"This morning, I heard that a special emergency session of the Senate has been convened...... President Bao Zitu has nominated Song Prefecture Magistrate Robert as the interim acting supreme justice, and Lu Mei as the presiding judge of the Supreme Court. Although Robert is a good person, he is also 74 years old this year, his health is very bad, his asthma is very strict, and he is estimated to not live for a few years. It can be regarded as paving the way for Lu Mei to ascend to the top. But everyone is also worried about whether Lu Mei will be too young, and there is a suspicion of family hereditary inheritance......"

Beside him, Yan Xiaosong lowered his voice, worried about the president and the Senate going around the bend to let the young Lu Mei take the throne.

Bun diagram. has already stepped down from the position of real power and become the current president of China, and the next president has basically been determined to be Qi Jianjun. At a time when the supreme power of the country is still in the hands of conservatives, Lu Mei was elected as the future supreme judge of the country. There is also the desire to continue to cultivate the second generation of conservatives, and there is even the idea of maintaining close ties with the navy.

"The Zhong family's legal cultivation is the highest, and they must also bear the heavy responsibility of ballast the country in the coming decades. If someone else sits in this position, it is estimated that the sense of identity will be much lower. Su Zining's neck didn't move at all, just her lips squirmed slightly.

"Then today is a record of two records......" Yan Xiaosong glanced at Elson, who was putting a ring on Lu Mei, and the smile on his face was a little reluctant, "I don't know how many rumors there will be in private." ”

"As long as it doesn't conflict with vital interests, it doesn't play a role. Unless there are other directions to this kind of rumor...... "Su Zining is very open, especially for the Zhong family, a big family that was reorganized after the catastrophe, but his last half sentence seemed meaningful.

There was no lively applause, and there was no splendid wedding banquet set, the whole wedding was carried out in an orderly manner in the snow-white ward, and at this time, the object of accepting the newlyweds' tea was only the old man Huang Nian in a wheelchair, and the old man Zhong Jinshan fell into a coma long before the wedding.

……

Three days later, Zhong Jinshan, the supreme judge of Huamei country, passed away, and although the old man never opened his eyes at his granddaughter's wedding, he left with a smile on his lips.

On this day, it happened to be the anniversary of the catastrophe that traveled through the inside, and 22 years ago today, 498 descendants, including the old man Zhong Jinshan, came to this new world.

Holding a state funeral is naturally a matter of course, and the announcement of the successor of the supreme justice that followed made many people a little stunned, but the citizens of West Point District in Songzhou Union City were secretly excited in grief. Because Robert Sr., the first magistrate of West Point, added one of the highest honors to date to West Point.

From ignorance of the law to becoming a magistrate in West Point and then to a magistrate in Songzhou, Robert has become a late-bloomer. Old man Robert was also hired as a law professor at an Ivy League university a few years ago, and he had a very good relationship with Zhong Jinshan during his lifetime.

Robert has a kind personality and integrity, and more importantly, his only youngest son, Robert Jr., was killed in the Susquehanna War more than ten years ago. From this point of view, it is basically difficult for Robert to succeed as the interim supreme judge of Huamei, not to mention that more than 20 years have passed, Robert has long been old, and in the eyes of some people, there is no hidden danger.

This arrangement could not be more obvious, and the next appointing judge will be Lu Mei, the new president of the Supreme Court of the Nation. Basically, most of the powerful families who crossed the country did not have much objection to this internal arrangement, and only some people complained about the position of the Zhong family, which had never participated in factional activities, but now moved closer to the liberals and the military.

Elson, Tang Hannah and Hu Huan are all from the navy, Zhong Kai's wife Ren Xingai is the daughter of liberal leader Ren Changle, and Ren Changle's third son, Ren Xingde, is also engaged to the daughter of Brigadier General Xu Hongyun, an army general. Many second-generation children of liberal families either join the military or marry into military families.

If this trend continues, the liberals, with the OUCC as the foreground link, will inevitably influence the most powerful forces in the country in the next two decades, and thus occupy a strong position on the political scale. After all, the country's most advantageous overseas resources are still monopolized by the Oriental Union Group, and the Guoxing Group, as a rising star, is still a little tender in this regard.

In view of this obvious development trend, even the neutrals, who have always been closely aligned with the interests of the liberals, have begun to pay close attention to it, and must find a proper way to suppress the excessively ostentatious factional political influence of the liberals behind the Oriental Union Group. In this process, it is not impossible for the neutrals and progressives to engage in a certain amount of cooperation and exchange of interests.

Just over a week after the state funeral of the old man Zhong Jinshan, on the eve of the National Day, the headquarters of Guoxing Group announced an evocative news: Guoxing Fund, the largest controlling shareholder of Guoxing Group, will sell 10% of Guoxing Group's shares to the Atlantic Fund controlled by the neutrals next year, and is currently applying for relevant review.

As soon as this thunderous news was released, Ren Changle and others were dumbfounded.

Although the liberal nouveau riche also have some painless shares in the Atlantic Fund under the mutual binding of interests, the Guoxing Fund's "concession of profits" to the neutrals still caught the liberals a little off guard, and they didn't know how to express their position for a while. And the neutral Lin Youde and others, who had gained a great increase in benefits, smiled and were modest for a while. (To be continued......)