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On September 15, 1916, Sevastopol on the Black Sea coast ushered in the first cold snap.

Sixty years ago, the Crimean War turned the city upside down, and when the Tsar ordered the construction of the first fortress here, the development of the city was inseparable from the words fortress, cannon, base, and warship. The humiliating "Peace of Paris" not only caused Russia to lose its reputation as the "gendarme of Europe", but also caused terrible damage here. But how could the ambitious tsar be willing to fail? In just a few years, it has been armed again. But when Sorochin raided the area two years earlier with his battlecruiser Goben, which had been sold to the Ottomans, the favorite resort of the pre-war Russian aristocracy fell into decay again, the sea washed garbage and debris onto the beach, and the story of Sevastopol (Part I) in Chapter 403 was devastated.

Two cars flying the flag of the Republic of China drove slowly towards the city hall, and outside the windows of the cars were a circle of jagged trenches and sandbag fortifications everywhere. Even though it was the weekend, the soldiers were still numb and crouched in the trenches with their guns in their hands, staring at the lone reconnaissance plane flying in the sky. Guns replaced farm tools, explosions drowned out the songs, and the Russian sky was gray and gloomy! In such dreary and depressed conditions, several soldiers sneakily walked from one end of the trench to the other, their faces flushed and waved their arms vigorously, as if to say something to their comrades, but when the gendarmerie's whistle sounded, they quickly disappeared into the dense sea of soldiers like ghosts.

Lu Zhengxiang knew what those Russian soldiers were preaching, in fact, judging from the news from all sides, with the continuous defeat of the Russian army, there were many more kinds of thoughts, and people's minds became undercurrents, which made him trance-like back to the years before the Xinhai Revolution in China, and he also began to worry about whether the domestic army would be involved in complex internal conflicts in Russia after its arrival. Two whistles interrupted his thoughts, and not far away, a locomotive towing 12 cars slowly headed north with black smoke in its mouth. The huge winches and machines visible to the naked eye on the carriage made him forget his troubles for a while, and these are the stories of Sevastopol in Chapter 403 (Part I) in the steady stream of Russian first-class machinery and equipment that were transported back to China. Celstopol is being emptied! And he came to check the progress and meet with an important person.

"Sir, this is the list of experts sent back to China last month, 37 people, together with their families, friends and partners, a total of 612 people, let me tell you that all of them have been settled." In the carriage, Chen Shijie, the young secretary to the ambassador to Russia, handed him the list. Next to her, a blonde woman in her sixties with extraordinary temperament was reading the newspaper and turned a deaf ear to the conversation between the two. She is Lu Zhengxiang's wife, Pede Bofe, a Belgian-born woman. The union of the two also sparked political and family wars, but love eventually crossed borders. Not only did the two come together, but Mrs. Peide also became his best diplomatic assistant with her talent. It is even well-known in the diplomatic circles of China and Europe.

Newspapers carried detailed reports of Mr. Yang's visit to the United States and his speech on Capitol Hill, as well as interviews about his arrival in San Francisco to visit expatriates for the first time as a national leader. Pei De looked at the photo with a shallow smile on the corner of his mouth, although a month has passed, but the "China" craze has obviously not subsided. With the first batch of 20,000 Chinese Wehrmacht soldiers coming ashore from Marseille yesterday. This craze seems to be getting hotter and hotter, and this also gives her hope of defeating Germany and recovering her homeland, although she has become a Chinese citizen.

"V. G. Federov, Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, Radimir Yukovic." Lu Zhengxiang took out a long list from his inner pocket. Then take the small list sent back to China and check them one by one, and tick off all the names on them. Mrs. Peide next to her seemed to have seen the strangeness for a long time, and asked in fluent Chinese without raising her head: "Shijie, is it safe along the way?" Is life okay for the workers on the Urals side? When will the first troops arrive? ”

Chen Shijie was a Chinese orphan rescued by Lu Zhengxiang in 1898 when he was an interpreter at the Russian Legation, and later Mrs. Peide regarded him as her own because she could not have children, and after returning to China with Lu Zhengxiang, she also entrusted him to the care of his grandfather in Belgium and asked him to continue his studies in France until three years ago. Because Chen Shijie has been overseas for a long time, he is not familiar with his own national culture. Therefore, Lu Zhengxiang recommended him to study Chinese studies under the name of Zhang Taiyan. It was also because of this recommendation that Chen Shijie heard about Yang Qiu for the first time and learned about his determination to change the country from the side. Finally, he joined the National Youth Association at the recommendation of his teacher. Because Lu Zhengxiang supported Yuan Shikai at that time, the two also had a quarrel, but fortunately, Mrs. Peide stood up and persuaded the two to reconcile.

Chen Shijie also respected Mrs. Peide very much, because he arrived here directly from Ufa by train, so he did not have time to report to the two, and took the opportunity to reply: "The railway is still very chaotic, a large number of goods from the United States have been piled up in Yekaterinburg and the bureaucrats in Ufa have taken the opportunity to fill their pockets, and many guns have been smuggled away and their whereabouts are unknown. The workers we sent to the Urals were generally peaceful, with sufficient reserves of food and winter clothing, but we also encountered many black-hearted mine owners and capitalists, and there were several clashes and some people died, which were finally relieved by the intervention of Major Li Liejun's troops. As for the army, I was in Changchun for final training when I arrived, and it is said that the first batch will arrive in Yekaterinburg by the beginning of next month at the latest. ”

Chen Shijie replied in detail, and it could be seen that he respected Mrs. Peide very much, but the latter saw Lu Zhengxiang sketching the list with the list, poked his head over and asked, "Zixin, how many people have you recruited?" ”

Whenever the couple talked about this list of recruiting senior Russian experts, Lu Zhengxiang always smiled, these are all talents urgently needed by the country! A year ago, these people would not have left Russia, and their solicitation might have attracted hatred. But now it is different, with the depression of Russian society, even food problems have appeared, and hundreds of people and their families have been sent back by promising conditions, giving money, bribing and even deliberately seeking Russian officials to suppress them.

This time is no exception, Lu Zhengxiang pointed to the list and smiled: "Look, this Federov designed a rifle that can automatically fire continuously in Hanyang, China, but unfortunately it was kicked out when it was sent to the army, and I couldn't pass it many times when I asked officials for help, I heard that I was going to buy his patent and asked him to go back to continue researching, so I took my family and more than a dozen design friends to Hanyang." And then there's this Mr. Sikorsky, who designed the plane that bombed Germany that was described in the newspapers early last year. I heard that he has designed 15 types of aircraft, but such a good aviation designer was robbed of the bomber patent because he offended people. After I opened him an independent laboratory and secured sufficient funding, he went to Chongqing. And this Yukovic. Hehe! The Izmail battle cruiser that was suspended at the Black Sea shipyard was designed by him, and even the British said that he was the most talented designer, but because his son was arrested for opposing the war, I rescued the father and son from prison and guaranteed a salary of $1,000 a month, and he had signed a ten-year contract with the Jiangnan plant. ”

Seeing that her husband was getting more and more excited, Mrs. Peide couldn't help but burst out laughing, glared at her, and said, "It's so fun to dig the corners of Russia, I really don't know how you came up with it and kept saying that you were allies!" ”

Lu Zhengxiang knows very well that he is a foreign lady, don't look at his mouth to blame and dig into the corners of his allies. But in fact, as long as you can help domestic affairs, you are a hundred times more positive than yourself. What's more, this time it was also because she went to the Russian Palace to participate in the ball held by the empress, so she finally persuaded the tsar to package and transport the Odessa and Sevastopol arsenals that had spent a lot of money to import all the equipment from France and Germany before the war to China in exchange for direct military support. So he took her hand and smiled: "Dear madam, China is too poor. We missed the industrial revolution. Lack of industrial talent, so hey! I can only dig into the corner. ”

Chen Shijie next to him saw the two of them laughing, stuffed the big box pressed on his legs into the back, and said with a smile: "Sir, madam." This is what the Vice President's wife asked me to bring to you before I left. ”

"Oh?" The two had never seen Miao Luo, and they couldn't imagine that she would bring something to herself, and even Mrs. Peide was curious and secretly wondered what was in the box. When the box was opened, it was found that it was two thick fur coats, and the woman's one was slightly larger than the man's, so it was obvious that the size of the two couples had been investigated. Chen Shijie continued: "I heard that Mr. is afraid of the cold. Therefore, the vice president's wife specially asked Zhang Zongchang to buy fox skins from North Korea and make them herself, and said that if you don't fit, let people take them back. She helps you change. ”

These words made Lu Zhengxiang's heart warm! During the Manchu Dynasty, these diplomats had to rent out of their own pockets to build embassies, not to mention the cost of food and drink, and many people even had to rely on part-time jobs to subsidize expenses, but now! Diplomatic and embassy expenses are remitted every month, and if there is a special use, you can apply for an additional one, and you will also ask domestic visitors to bring some souvenirs every month. Although this time it must have been Yang Qiu's special care when he heard that he was afraid of the cold, what kind of identity is Miao Luo now? I heard that they still have big bellies, and they actually worked hard to help them make coats. Even Mrs. Pedder was grateful, blinking her eyes for some reason but suddenly saying angrily: "Mrs. Vice President is really good, but Your Excellency Vice President is so annoying!" ”

"Huh?" Lu Zhengxiang scratched his head, he didn't understand what kind of evil anger his wife made, and thought that it was about Yang Qiu's failure to achieve continued cooperation between China and the United States in the United States, and asked, "What's wrong with Madame?" Did the speech not mention the Chinese Exclusion Act? Didn't I say that the United States is not the kind of country that is willing to listen to other people's advice, and if it comes forward, it will leave them with the feeling of pointing fingers, and this matter requires a long period of people-to-people exchanges. As for the Sino-US cooperation, I think it is that the United States is afraid of standing on the wrong side when it sees us sending troops, so. ”

"Where did I say he didn't give a good speech? He won, because he grasped the most traditional cultural values in Europe, using contracts to explain the country ~~- renewing the first ~ and government credit, I bet there will definitely be a lot of Americans to invest in the East afterwards! Mrs. Peide interrupted and glanced at her husband, and said in a coquettish voice: "He is younger than Yuan Shikai, and he is also the most world-minded person I have ever met!" A wise leader, he might have been the best monarch in eighteenth-century Europe! Therefore, it is an honor for Zixin to lead the country, and it is also a blessing from God. I'm not happy yes! He has the most beautiful wife in the world, but he also commits the biggest fault of a man! ”

After Mrs. Peide finished speaking, she held up the newspaper she had just read, and on the newspaper was a photo of Lu Bicheng accompanying Yang Qiu and playing with the children in Chinatown, with a bright smile that never left.

Lu Zhengxiang was stunned for a moment, and then burst out laughing.

Amid laughter, the convoy stopped at the entrance of the Sevastopol City Hall, from which the mayor and the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, General Kolchak, walked out...... (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. )！！！