Elder clutched the newspaper in his hand and leaned against the window to scratch his head.

"What the hell are these French people up to? One moment a kingdom, a moment an empire, and a later republic, did they have what kind of country they wanted to build?

When I wasn't born, these French people were making a revolution. After they were born, they were still making revolutions. Now that I'm in the Royal Navy, why hasn't the revolution ended? Arthur, what year is it? In 1789? Storming the Bastille? ”

Arthur put a piece of candy in the teacup: "Elder, I thought you were only bad at physics, but I didn't expect that now you even have memory problems, let me give you a brush."

First of all, the one you mentioned in 1789 was the French Revolution, marked by the storming of the Bastille.

At that time, France's participation in the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War led to a high level of domestic debt, with a total domestic debt of 2 billion francs. Coupled with the fact that there was a natural disaster at that time, a large number of crops were reduced, and the price of food in France soared.

At this time, King Louis XVI of France decided to convene a council of the clergy, nobles, and burghers at the Palace of Versailles, and geniusly proposed that he was going to raise taxes on the burghers.

The proposal was of course rejected during the vote, but Louis XVI did not keep his promise, insisting on raising taxes and mobilizing troops to prepare for the forcible dissolution of Parliament.

As you may recall, the citizens of Paris rushed into the streets, chanting 'To the Bastille', and after Paris, revolutions broke out all over France, and Louis XVI had to submit to the Constituent Assembly and establish a constitutional monarchy. ”

Elder frowned and said, "Didn't Louis XVI get his head struck?" Is he alive after that? ”

"His head was slammed later, but it was also his own fault. Eld, you know, it's not easy for a king to get him to be a part. As long as he is not in power, then he will always wonder how to return to power.

After all, as an Englishman, you should know how much effort Britain put into a constitutional monarchy.

From 1642 to 1646 we fought the first civil war, which Charles I lost, but he was not convinced. Parliament paid to buy him back from Scotland and put him under house arrest, only to secretly contact the royalists, starting a second civil war.

By 1649, when the Second Civil War ended, Cromwell had his head cut off and established a parliamentary aristocratic republic.

But a dozen years later, his son Charles II was successfully restored with the support of the royalists, and his successor, James II, began a series of retaliatory measures.

After a parliamentary weigh, the Whigs and the Tories and progressives of the former royalist party finally agreed.

Together, they ousted James II from Britain and replaced him with his daughter, Mary II, and the Bill of Rights, which established a constitutional monarchy, was officially enacted.

The reason why Louis XVI was beheaded was also because he was also unconvinced, in fact, if he was honestly his constitutional king, there should not be so many things to do in the future.

But he was restless, pondering how he could bribe mercenaries to overthrow France's Constituent Assembly, and preparing to flee France in disguise after the plot was revealed.

The most fucked up thing is that his queen Marie Antoinette also revealed French military secrets to his brother Austrian Emperor Franz I, which directly led to the defeat of France by the combined forces of Austria and Prussia. When the news spread, the French people were extremely angry.

This series of events also directly led to the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, which supported the constitutional monarchy, and gave birth to radical groups such as the Jacobins and the Trousers Party.

Therefore, Louis XVI's beheading was purely self-inflicted, and the moderates had done their best to save his life, but he did not cherish it. ”

Elder touched his chin and read: "So, France in 1789 was first a constitutional monarchy, then Louis XVI was executed, and it was changed to a republic, then the Thermidorian coup, the Jacobins were overthrown, Robespierre was executed, and finally the Foggy Moon coup d'état and Napoleon became emperor?" ”

Arthur took a sip of tea and nodded slightly: "Elder don't you know that very well?" You've been thinking about fighting the French and dragging a few French warships back to make a fortune, isn't that what you want? ”

Elder pondered, "You think we're going to go to war with the French?" ”

Arthur shook his head and said, "I can't say, it depends on what the French plan to do this time." If they had made such a fuss as the French Revolution, perhaps the cabinet officials would have to start preparing for the Eighth Anti-French Alliance.

But if they were just making a small fuss, then it was possible that Britain would not interfere. After all, the Duke of Wellington is now burning his ass, and he should not be happy to meddle with the affairs of the French unless necessary.

After all, after the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington had already expressed his attitude towards France at the Congress of Vienna.

He always believed that France had a need to exist in Europe, and the Tories diplomatic line had always been committed to maintaining the continental balance of power, and Britain needed a stable and powerful France to contain the Austrian Empire and the Russian Empire, which had continued to advance eastward in recent years. ”

Elder nodded as if he didn't understand, "That sounds complicated. Well, the French Revolution was good, at least they were able to change the flag of that stupid country.

The Louis XVIII who went up after the fall of Napoleon didn't know if his brain was in water, and he actually used a white flag as the national flag.

When I first got on the boat, I saw a boat with a white flag coming from the opposite side, and I wondered, why did the other side surrender even though we hadn't fired a gun yet? Later, when I inquired, I learned that there was a French ship coming from the opposite side.

Fortunately, this is not a time of war, otherwise I would have almost fallen for the evil of these French, who are so cunning that they actually surrendered! ”

Hearing this, Darwin, who was teaching knowledge on the side, also leaned over worriedly.

He asked: "Do you say that this French revolution will affect our navigation?" The mission of the global scientific expedition should not be postponed because of this incident, right? ”

"Postponement?" Elder picked up the apple on the table and took a hard bite: "If it can really be postponed, then the French are really doing a rare good thing." ”

When Arthur heard this, he turned around and asked, "Don't mention this yet." Elder have you figured out the merchant ships from London that I asked you to inquire about for me? ”

Elder pouted, "Arthur, I didn't say you, do you know how broad the scope you gave me is?" At present, the tonnage of merchant ships registered in the UK is about 4 million tons, and our merchant shipping capacity can account for 40% of the world's total. ”

Arthur waved his hand and said, "I didn't ask you to check all the merchant ships leaving the port, I only need to check the merchant ships that depart from London and go to the Americas." Elder haven't you always considered yourself a Royal Navy expert? I'll have to get this done. ”

Elder slapped the table and scolded, "Arthur, I'm an expert in the Royal Navy, not an expert in shipping. Even if you ask me to steal the Royal Navy's navigational information, it is more reliable than checking the merchant ships leaving London for the Americas.

Although the barbarians in North America said that they would keep their distance from their English father, they were very honest in business.

After all, the Embargo Act that they made to Britain back then not only did not affect us much, but collapsed their own economy.

So, since then, the trade between the two sides has been growing steadily, and seventy or eighty percent of the cotton from the United States has to be sold to Britain, and we export consumer goods such as textiles, tea, ceramics, spices, and so on. ”

When Arthur heard this, he suddenly raised his eyebrows, as if he had discovered something.

"Wait a minute, tea and spices are generally transshipment trade, right? None of these things are cultivated in China, so they all come from overseas colonies, right? ”

Elder chewed the apple and nodded, "That's right, tea and spices are mainly transshipment. Domestically produced exports are mainly textiles and ceramics, which are shipped domestically. It's mostly high-end clothing, fabrics, teapots, teacups and the like. ”

When Arthur heard this, he nodded slightly and said, "Okay! Elder then you will focus on keeping an eye on the textile and ceramic merchant ships. ”

When Elder heard this, he was still a little dissatisfied: "Arthur, that's quite a lot." ”

Arthur didn't speak, just took out a ticket from his pocket and shook it in front of his eyes: "Don't worry, my brother can't lose you." There's a big case involved, and as long as you can get things straight, there's still a few hundred pounds left over for Greenwich Police District's investigation this year. ”

Elder took a deep breath as he pulled the bill from Arthur's fingers and put it in his jacket pocket.

Elder smiled: "It seems that I don't accept this investigation application, but I can't say it." Arthur, don't worry, in the next few months, as long as I don't go to sea, then I will squat in the shipping company at the dock every day to investigate for you. ”

Arthur smiled, leaned back, and said, "That's hard work. ”

Elder looked upright, and he patted Arthur on the shoulder: "What's polite?" It's all brothers. ”

Speaking of this, Arthur suddenly changed his words: "However, you just said that Britain actually sells tea sets to North America, which really surprised me a little." I thought they didn't need it. ”

"What's so surprising about that?" Elder picked up the bread and took a bite: "If you don't use a tea set, then how do they drink tea?" ”

Arthur smiled, he pointed to the River Thames next to the café, and said, "I've heard that Americans don't like to use tea utensils when drinking tea, and if they want to drink tea, they usually choose to pour tea into Boston Bay." ”

(End of chapter)