Maria Alexandrovna eats sweet white toffee and admires the bustling Shanghai dock outside the car window.

It's been nearly eight years since she last traveled to Shanghai to compete in the Olympics.

At that time, Maria, as the sixth princess of the Russian Empire, took the luxury cruise ship "Vladimir" from St. Petersburg to Xinqin, an important port in the Gulf of Mexico.

But now, it's clear that the route is no longer working.

Although the British and Ming Empires, which were engaged in a war at sea, had good relations with Russia, both sides were engaged in unrestricted naval warfare, and any ships that passed through the Atlantic could be attacked.

What's more, the "Mingroboutapest Treaty" is still a secret treaty, and neither side has any plans to make it public.

Of course, it is impossible to keep such a big thing hidden, and it can be hidden for as long as it takes.

Therefore, Princess Maria and the [Eastern Roman Empire Mission] led by her could only choose to go to Fengdu from the Far East.

After crossing the Simberian Plain with great difficulty, Maria and her entourage first arrived at Hailan Pao and laid wreaths to the Chinese who died in the "Hailan Pao Massacre".

Princess Mary personally burned the paper money in the shape of a hole and read a confessional prayer in jerky Chinese.

In the end, the photo of her suddenly kneeling in front of the tombstone in the wind and snow was forever frozen by the camera of the reporter of the Blackwater Metropolitan Protectorate.

Later, this kneeling was called the first kneeling of the century when the Romans regained their conscience, but there were also some Imperial Russians who called it the humble knee that a weak woman offered to the barbarians of the East.

But in any case, Mary's kneeling on her own initiative did make some of the officials in the mission at a loss.

But Maria is an imperial princess and queen of Greece, and no one can disobey her will.

After offering flowers in Hailan, the Ming delegation took a special train of grain and oil from Heishui to Jinzhouwei, where they took a boat to Shanghai and then transferred to Fengdu.

When crossing the Northeast Plain, the fast, efficient, and stable grain and oil train left a deep impression on the people of the Ming Mission.

Many of them have taken the Moscow-St. Petersburg intercity train.

But compared to the Ming railway, the only low-cost transport corridor between Moscow and St. Petersburg is called gray livestock.

Only the world's greatest lighthouse could have built such a miraculous railway in such a cold land.

Although the original intention of this railway is only to realize the transportation of grain from the north to the south, it is just to operate in reverse with the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

In short, after seeing the terrifying infrastructure level of the Ming Empire, they are more confident in the future of the Mingluo Xianbeilian Railway.

……

"Maozi?"

"It's really hairy!"

"Do hairy women also have a lot of hair?"

"No, I didn't see it in Seattle...... Eh, daughter-in-law, don't tease, don't tease, I've been curious once before, and I'll take a look when I go with Zhang San, I'll take a look, I'll take a look......"

The people of Daming are still as hospitable as ever!

Maria held her cheek with one hand, looking at the street scene curiously, and the elegant words in her ear made her feel very high-end.

She thinks that Shanghai's prosperity is no less than that of Xinhu, which is really beautiful, and she can't see it enough.

Of course, she compares it to Xinhu eight years ago.

But how much can the city change in eight years?

In Maria's eyes, nothing has changed in Moscow for eight years.

Constantinople, on the other hand, must have changed a lot.

For example, the Aya Sophia Mosque was renovated again and converted into Hagia Sophia.

However, it has changed back and forth, and the essence has not changed much.

There is still no clean running water, no clean and fragrant air, no high-end cars and no endless bicycle bells.

And Shanghai has all of these.

Shanghai is like this, what will Fengdu look like?

Mary's imagination was interrupted.

Maria remembered the shy boy in front of her.

His name was Ivan Petrovich Pavlov.

The reason why Princess Maria has an impression of him is because when he was in Hailan, he was able to communicate with the military dogs of the local garrison, and was ridiculed by everyone as a "dog whisperer".

Pavlov exudes poverty.

He came from Ryazan, a small city not far from the Tatarstan Khanate, and his mother worked as a maid in a wealthy family.

If it weren't for Alexander II, who studied the Germans after the Franco-Prussian War and allowed children from poor families but with very good grades to go to school for free, he would not have been able to enter St. Petersburg University at all.

Even so, Pavlov was still subjected to all kinds of discrimination and ridicule at St. Petersburg University, where the children of the powerful were everywhere.

And the lawyer major he applied for is a hard-hit area where the children of powerful people gather.

It is for this reason that he resolutely changed his major last year and went to the lesser-known and immature Department of Physiology.

This time, he was selected by the Ministry of Education as an envoy, and the mission issued Pavlov clothes, otherwise he would not have even had a new set of decent clothes.

However, the new clothes could not hide the smell of poverty on his body, and Pavlov was still disgusted and alienated by the rest of the mission, so he was often sent to do some errands.

For example, queuing.

Mary had no dislike for him.

She doesn't care if the other party has money when she makes friends, and she doesn't have money anyway.

also doesn't care if the other party is noble or not, anyway, as long as it is a Russian family, there is no such thing as her being the most expensive.

So she was the only one along the way who smiled kindly at Pavlov.

This made the young Pavlov feel extremely warm.

It also aroused irrepressible ripples and restlessness in the young boy's heart.

But he knew very well that his humble and even humble birth could not match the daughter of noble Augustus in any way.

The pain of his heart tormented him every night, causing him to toss and turn, unable to sleep, but with no hope in sight.

"Your Royal Highness Princess, our registration procedures have not been completed yet, do you want me to ask?"

Pavlov asked cautiously.

"Ivan, I don't think so."

Maria shook her head and handed him a large white by the way, "Taste it, I promise you will never forget it, it is as sweet as Chakchak." ”

Chakchak, a dessert made with flour and honey, is a Tatar delicacy that is very popular among the upper classes of Russia.

This thing is similar to the Manchu Shaqima, only slightly harder.

To be honest, of course, the big white is not as delicious as the chakchak, but where is the big white free in the chakchak so easy to carry around?

Stuff a handful of white in her pocket, and Mary can eat it for an afternoon.