.

The pink moon hangs high in the sky, dark clouds gather on the sea, and huge waves rage in the lighthouse, but they are strangely moving away from the mainland.

The waves are rolling, but the Ceylon region is still calm and tranquil.

The night watchman had long been accustomed to the tsunami disaster that was close at hand but far away, and although the phenomenon of the depths of the sea had long been discovered, it had been enveloped in terror for some time.

But the most recent disaster was close to the shore, swallowing up fishermen fishing offshore, never reaching the land.

And there is an old and true story that has been told in the Ceylon region.

It was only about 500 years ago that the shipbuilding technology was developed, and the Bishop of the Ode-Curia sent people deep into the sea to inspect it.

The Holy See suffered heavy losses, but the rest also brought back the so-called oracle.

"This is a cursed sea, and one day disaster will come from the other side of the sea. ”

Standing on a huge rock that was constantly being pounded by the sea, the Bishop at that time announced the very sad news with grief, and the people who had lost their loved ones and began to plan to migrate further inland wept.

But soon the Bishop changed his mind and spoke in the loudest and most impassioned voice.

He clenched his right hand into a fist and raised his arms in shouting.

"But don't you, it's not worth being afraid of a disaster!"

"The Holy See will build the strongest church and set up a great circle underneath to protect the land, so that the calamity will never set foot in the region of Ceylon!"

The words of the Bishop encouraged the people, so in this case, the Holy See of Oude was supported by most of the original inhabitants of Ceylon, those who did not believe in the Holy See, chose to leave, and the remaining people helped the Holy See of Oude to jointly establish the Cathedral of Orpheus not far from the coast.

On the basis of the church, the original fishing village was transformed into a famous leather town for the export of leather products, and the Holy See, which was originally only a religion, became a faith.

Over the years, the country to which Ceylon belongs has undergone several changes, and even this story has been forgotten in the days of peace and prosperity, and only the influence of the Holy See on Ceylon has never changed......

If Bill had traveled with the tour group, he might have had a chance to hear this interesting story, but he was now only obsessed with the preparation of the Celestial Eye Cult's blasting of the cathedral.

The Shadow Eyeballs were scrutinizing the foundations, and little by little eroding the most important columns of Orpheus Church, no one noticed what Bill was doing, and the advanced perceptuals were not equipped in all churches.

And Bill is just a shadow powerhouse now.

The sound of the shadow eroding was like a rat stealing rice, and the shadow eyeball was not idle, it sneaked into the interior of Orpheus Cathedral to observe the congregation's every move.

At midnight, when there were no more ordinary people in the church who had come to pray, and the door of the church was locked with a large wooden plaque, the congregants suddenly changed their appearance after the door was closed, returned to their rooms, took off their tattered linen robes, and began to smoke, drink, and play cards.

They smoked the same brand of cigars as Savoy, drank wine that had been in the cellar for more than three years, played cards with handfuls of gold pounds in front of them, and women sneaked into the church through the back door and into the rooms in need.

Even the bishop's room was occupied by two women, and it seemed that this was the life of a member of the church, and like any other job, he was a good believer during the day and free at night.

"Hey, do you hear the creak?"

The church members who were playing cards suddenly stood up their ears, and the dimly lit and smoky room was cluttered, and the women were by their side, half of their bodies leaning on the congregants.

"What's the sound, didn't you hallucinate when you lost tonight?"

"No, it's true, listen carefully!"

"Shhhh

Convinced that there was nothing wrong with his ears, the cultist made a quick silence motion, and the others shut up suspiciously, and the subtle sound became more pronounced......

"This sound is another rat in the church, right?"

"Didn't we clean it up last month, and there were several ...... in the rat nests."

The cultists showed expressions of encounter, and ears secretly grew on the right side of the shadow eyeball, although it seemed a little skeptical, but the practicality of doing so was undoubtedly very high.

"Damn brute, I remember what it was like to eat rat droppings, especially inside the toast, for which I lay in the hospital for three days and three nights!"

"We'll have to find some other way to catch rats, and I've heard that there's been a special rat poison on the street lately, so maybe we can try putting some in the kitchen. ”

The cultists resumed playing cards, and they didn't think much of it, after all, rats were everywhere, and there was almost no way to solve them.

"Maybe you can ask the bakery owner across the street for two kittens, and her big cat has only given birth to six kittens, and she's worried that she won't have a place to give them. ”

The brown-haired lady who flirts with the cultists is a regular visitor, and she enters the topic very easily, and constantly plays with the long hair in her hands, and no one has any intention of going out to see it.

"Oh, my dear young lady, you don't know how big the rat we killed in the rat hole last time, it's the size of a cat that can bite the cat, and the devil knows what they ate to become like this. ”

"We need cats as big as dogs to solve the problem of big rats once and for all. ”

"Ah, I see, I thought I could help you solve the rat ......"

Bill has no interest in cats and mice, and it seems that there are no secrets worth exploring here, and Shadow Eyeballs and Ears exit the cathedral and quickly return to Bill's feet.

When everything was ready, he walked out of the old Cathedral of Orpheus, found a nice inn, and waited for the next morning to leave for Monte......

On the same night, on the military steam train from Brittus to Ceylon, Shaweh, who had not been seen before, was standing at the junction of the carriages in a fine military uniform and smoking.

The train sped along the tracks, slowing down and shaking as it turned, and he stared through the glass into the darkness as far as the eye could see, his cigar between his fingers, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Hey, Lieutenant Shawey, your cigars are all burned, what are you doing here?"

“...... No, nothing, I'm in a daze. ”

Throwing the cigar on the ground and twisting it vigorously with his feet, Sha Wei straightened his neckline against the glass, and in addition to the reflection of himself in front of him, there were endless mountains that quickly swept back, forming an irregular vein with the deep blue sky.

The train was still rumbling, and behind Shawey a young man in a dark green uniform with the rank of second lieutenant shrugged and smiled.

He thinks that he understands Sha Wei's feelings, because he was also arranged by his family to go to the Southwest Military Region, and he will have some indescribable feelings in his heart.

"Lieutenant Shawey, do you want to go home?"

"I don't want to leave Britts either, because that's where I grew up for over twenty years, and my friends are there. ”

"Hopefully three years will pass in the blink of an eye, and I don't want to marry a country woman on the farm, and I heard from my friends that women in Ceylon smell of cow. ”

"And ......"

The young lieutenant chattered, but Shawei had no idea of chatting with him, nodded slightly to the lieutenant and pushed open the door of the carriage and returned to his seat.

The second lieutenant, somewhat embarrassed, followed him back as well.

The people sitting in this carriage are all non-commissioned officers, and all of these non-commissioned officers have come in by connections, and without exception, they are also chatting with each other at this moment.

After all, the long journey is too boring, and these second-generation soldiers, who have never been on the battlefield as soldiers, are all in order to go to the Southwest Military Region to gild, and when they return to Brittus three years later, they will directly enter other departments of the military.

There were also hundreds of recruits in the rear carriages, all of whom went to the Southwest Military Region to replace veterans, and most of their family backgrounds were wealthy, and the children of poor families who joined the army would only be assigned to places where there was a possibility of war, or were sent to the colonies to maintain order.

In addition to the Central Corps and the Southwestern Military Region, there were several military garrisons in the Norman military districts, the most important of which were of course the border guards and colonial expansion troops on the northern border, as well as the Norman Royal Navy.

The Air Force is still in its infancy in this world, and the problem of fuel carrying by steam planes is still bothering scientists all over the world, of course, many scientists have put forward the idea of giant steam airships, but so far, no country has publicly stated that they have successfully built a giant manned airship that can fly stably for a long time and can be controlled.

The steam train suddenly burrowed into the tunnel, and the flickering headlights suddenly became the only source of light in the carriage, and Shawei took out a book from his trunk and flipped through the golden bookmark to mark the page.

This is a book about the promotion of social progress by capital, written by some of the world's most successful businessmen, who have teamed up with economists to publish the book "The Theory of the Wealth of the People".

Of course, there are also economists who have published a number of books called "Social Economics", and they are determined to add economics, a discipline they created, to the college as an elective subject for students.

Shawei continued his last reading and whispered it, the shaking of the carriage making him feel more obscure words and the faint light making him squint.

But he still struggled to make sense of the text, though it took more effort than reading the detective.

"The government should not interfere in commerce and commercial affairs, it should reduce tariffs and introduce free trade ......"

"The free market is in fact a self-regulating mechanism, automatically inclined to produce the quantities of goods and kinds that society most desperately needs. ”

"If there is a shortage of a needed product, its price will naturally rise, and the price increase will make the producer get a higher profit, and because of the high profit, other producers will want to produce the product as well......"

"Every man wants only his own benefit, but as if he is being led by an invisible hand to achieve a purpose that he has no intention of achieving at all, they promote the good of society with better effect than they really want to achieve...... (1)

Shawei took a charcoal pen from his breast pocket and began to make notes on both sides of the book, writing down his thoughts on the reading, because when he tried to enter the path of business, he suddenly realized that he knew nothing about it.

He had the idea of doing business after Shawe learned that Bill had set up a machine shop in a decent way, but when he took the wealth that Old Stafford had given him, he had no idea which project to invest in.

Even though the old Marquis de Stafford's advice had given him, Shawe compared the profits of light industry with heavy industry, and he did not think that investing in light industry was the best option.

Then he can only learn and learn more before starting.

As for the man who deceived himself......

"Hey, Lieutenant Shawey, you're actually reading!"

“...... Is it 18X, can you borrow it from me after reading it?"

The young lieutenant suddenly shouted excitedly, attracting the attention of the whole car, and several young non-commissioned officers who could not bear it could not bear to gather in front of Shawei's seat, their faces full of excitement.

It's not that they haven't seen women before, it's just that they are uncomfortable during the long journey, and a little fun can make them happy for a long time.

"Lieutenant Shawei, I remember that you were the eldest young master of the Stafford family, so are you okay?"

"Actually, I also wanted to bring some contraband, but before leaving, my father took them all away, saying that I must not be corrupted by wine, which is really an old-fashioned thought. ”

"Lieutenant Shawei, what type of book are yours, and are there any illustrations in it?"

They leaned on the train seats, not at all as serious as the soldiers, but the military uniforms with these young men with fine skin and tender flesh were also a little handsome.

Sitting in the chair, Sha Wei frowned slightly, clipped the custom-made bookmark made of gold leaf back into the book, and closed the "Theory of the Wealth of the People" to show the young people.

"Unfortunately, not what you expected. ”

"It's a book about the mode of operation of the capitalist society, and it's a headache to read. ”

The young non-commissioned officers looked at each other, and the expressions on their faces changed from confusion to disbelief, to sneer, and even to laughter.

"Hahahahahaha

"I said Lieutenant Shawey, don't pretend, there are no outsiders in the carriage, I also changed the cover of the history book to 18X when I was in public school, and the book is still hidden in my cupboard. ”

"Tell me what this is, tell the old-fashioned love story of a poor boy and a rich girl, and is there a plot that will be seized by the Holy See in the middle?"

Looking up at the extension of the banter, Sha Wei suddenly took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it, with only calm in his eyes, and no waves in his emotions.

"Then I'll show you. ”

"How about you read it to them?"

He handed the "Theory of the Wealth of the People" with one hand to the young non-commissioned officer who was smiling the most, and the non-commissioned officer looked at Sha Wei, and his heart trembled suddenly, as if he had been beaten by something.

His smile froze instantly, and he took the heavy object handed by Sha Wei with both hands, and gently opened "The Wealth of Nations", and the Adam's apple was also sliding up and down.

"In uncivilized areas, those who are able to work in order to support themselves or those who are unable to work in their families engage in more or less useful labor in order to obtain as much of the necessities of life as possible......"

"On the contrary, in prosperous and civilized countries, many people tend to consume ......more of the product of their labor than the majority of laborers, even if they do not work at all" (2)

“......”

The young non-commissioned officer's voice grew quieter and quieter, and at last he could only freeze there, waiting for Sha Wei to give a big order.

The night sky was full of stars, the steam train suddenly whined, the dark and narrow tunnel had passed, and the steam train reappeared on the winding mountain road.

The dark blue sky came into view, and Sha Wei finally retrieved the book from the young non-commissioned officer's hand, sorted it and put it back in the suitcase.

"Young man, don't put me in the same category as you. ”

"Go back and sit down, I'm your superior, and I'll take care of the order of this carriage. ”

PS: (1) and (2) The views presented here are from Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, originally titled An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.