Flowers, Swords and France

"Hiss..."

Accompanied by the sound of the whistle, and with the sharp friction between the wheels and the rails, the long train slowly passed in front of the platform, and then slowly stopped.

The white mist that was originally drifting backwards with the wind quickly enveloped the entire front of the train after the train stopped, like a monster that had just crawled out of the ground.

This is a wonder that can only be seen after humans enter the civilized era, and it is also one of the miracles built by humans with their own wisdom.

Although this scene is enough to cause fear and commotion among those who have never seen it, no one around felt anything unusual about it. Obviously, the residents in this metropolis have long been accustomed to this miracle of civilization, and they can't even find the greatness in it.

"Sir, the train has arrived." In the first-class carriage, the attendant respectfully greeted Charles, who had been sleeping for a long time. "Welcome back to Paris."

"Oh, thank you." Charles barely recovered his spirit, then nodded to him, then stood up and left the carriage.

(万-书-吧).nsb. Then, he happened to meet Albert who was yawning and walking out of the carriage in the corridor, and then he gestured to say hello to his friend. After the scheduled exercise, Lucien and other officers and soldiers took the train directly back to the suburban station where they set out as planned, and then returned directly to the barracks. Charles and Albert took another train back to the city and returned to Paris in the first-class carriage.

The 200-kilometer journey was a difficult journey in the past, but with the help of the train - although it was not fast enough at this time - it has become a comfortable rural experience. Precisely because he is a traveler who traveled through time and space. Charles can feel the extraordinary significance of this epoch-making change even more.

And I am one of the people who promoted and even led this extraordinary change, and this thought flashed through his mind. Then he felt more comfortable.

At this moment, Charles and Albert got off the train, then looked up and looked at the magnificent building in front of them.

This gray stone building is very long, with a bit of Baroque style, and looks very solemn. The glass windows seem to be a bit gray due to the erosion of smoke and time. However, it does not damage its finely crafted corridors and domes.

And under these domes, countless people pass through them, stepping on this civilized dance. Rushing to every corner of this metropolis. This is the Gare d'Austerlitz in the 13th arrondissement in the south of Paris. It is still a busy railway hub until the 21st century and an indispensable part of the city's modern life.

As the country's first station, this station was built in 1840. At that time, it was used as the Paris-Orleans railway line, which was already partially in use at the time. In 1843. The railway was officially connected to Orleans, which became one of the earliest officially operating railway lines in France (the other was from the border city of Strasbourg to Basel, Switzerland), and this station became one of the busiest places in France at any time.

In order to adapt to the growing transportation needs, in 1846, the station was expanded and became what it is today. In the Second Empire era in the original history, from 1862 to 1867, the station was rebuilt. And a metal frame station hall with a width of 51.25 meters and a length of 280 meters was built. It became one of the most magnificent landmarks of the empire at that time.

At this time, Charles certainly could not see that kind of grand scene, but the Austerlitz station was already of considerable scale. The crowds were bustling around, and there were passengers getting on and off the train and cooks helping people carry luggage everywhere. It was very lively.

However, in this era, both men and women wrapped themselves tightly when they went out, even if the temperature was still high now, so Charles could not expect to find any eye-catching benefits here. What made people even more inexplicably depressed was that when Charles looked around, the men's clothes were basically uniformly black or gray, and they wore hats on their heads. Although there were occasionally some women in bright and beautiful clothes as embellishments, they still looked boring and monotonous. The bustling crowd was like a black ocean, everyone was in a hurry, not paying attention to the people around them. This scene without any aesthetic feeling, coupled with the noisy conversation, swallowed up Charles's good mood, which was not much left.

Well, in fact, I am also part of this black ocean. Charles lowered his eyes, looked at himself in a black coat, and sighed secretly.

"Charles, why are you so depressed all of a sudden?" Albert, who was next to him, certainly didn't know what Charles was thinking at the moment, and he whispered to his friend. "Why, because no one came to pick you up?"

"How could that be?" Charles shook his head, "I didn't ask anyone to pick you up."

In this era, telegraphs were not yet popular, and trains were not necessarily on time, so even if you asked others to wait, they might not be able to wait for you. Besides, in order not to delay other people's business, Charles did not ask for anyone to pick you up.

"Ah, what a coincidence, I didn't call anyone either." Albert shrugged.

"You don't have anyone to call." Charles pointed at the other person coldly.

"There's no need to delve into this kind of question..." Albert laughed, then looked at Charles again, "So what should we do now? Should we go home? Or should we go for a drink first?"

"Well... Anyway, it's okay for now. Let's go have a drink first. We haven't gotten together for a long time." Charles thought for a moment and made a decision immediately, "I asked the other officials to go back first, and we Let’s go find a place together later.”

"Okay, I'll listen to you!" Albert immediately agreed.

After discussing for a while, Charles and Albert told their colleagues and subordinates about their arrangements respectively, and then they walked out of the station together.

Although the station was not too big, they were forced to move very slowly because of the heavy flow of people. I had to carefully hesitantly move forward among the bustling crowd, trying not to bump into anyone.

"What a damn thing," Albert could not help but swore under his breath after squeezing for a while. "Why are there so many people here today?"

Although the temperature was not very high, after staying like this for a while, Albert felt hotter and hotter, and beads of sweat oozed from his forehead and the tip of his nose.

"Be patient, my friend, this is a common thing!" Charles was very calm and walked forward leisurely.

Albert's mood never improved. Most of the people in front of him were dressed in shabby clothes, and some even had dirty heads and faces. The smell of sweat mixed with various odors turned into a pungent rotten smell that hit his nose directly. But I couldn't escape, so I could only endure it secretly and move forward.

"Damn it, if I had known I would have just left with the army." Albert sighed helplessly.

"What's the use of talking about it now? Think about what we should drink later. It will make you feel better." Ciel replied.

"Shall we have some whiskey later? Let's refresh our minds." Albert was immediately attracted by this topic. For a moment, I forgot to worry about anything. "Oh. No, it's better to have some champagne, that one tastes better. If you don't object, we can also have some Bordeaux, but I think... Hey! What are you doing!"...

Suddenly his words turned into a high-pitched roar. Ciel quickly turned his head and found that his friend had collided with someone.

If you look carefully. He is a small child. He was wearing a wrinkled black woolen coat with several small holes in it. Thick and thick threads were exposed. There was no hat on his head, so his crumpled chestnut hair stuck to his ears like hay. There was a big ball of mud on his body and face. With such a dirty and downcast attire, he might be a beggar.

"Kid, what are you doing!" After seeing clearly what the person who bumped into him looked like, Albert became furious, grabbed the other person's collar, and roughly pushed him away.

Out of his love for cleanliness, or for the convenience of seducing women, Albert's clothes had always been purchased with great effort and kept neatly. Now, he had never thought that this outfit would be messed up by this child, and of course he would be furious.

The child was obviously frightened by Albert's appearance. He looked at Albert timidly and was trembling all over.

"Sorry...sorry sir...I didn't...didn't mean to..." He showed his yellowed teeth and apologized to Albert in a trembling voice, as if he was about to cry, "There are so many people here, I didn't On purpose..."

"What the hell, really..." Seeing the other person's frightened look, Albert also felt that it was too boring to vent his anger with a child, and scolding him would obviously be a waste of time. So, he let go of his hand angrily, put the other person aside, "Go away!"

Then, he continued walking with Ciel.

"Charle, should we go to a better place later, or just make do with it around here?" He continued the topic.

"Well..." Charles pondered for a moment, "Let's find a better restaurant here, so as not to waste time by running around. I'm a little hungry just talking about it."

"Okay, then I'll do as you say." Albert nodded, and then seemed to remember something, "I'll treat you to this meal. It seemed that you paid the bill when we had dinner together last time."

"What should we do if we are so clear about it? Whatever." Charles shrugged, "But since you have to pay the bill, I don't object."

"Okay, it's settled." Albert laughed, "Let's get out of this hellish place and have a good meal quickly!"

As he spoke, he subconsciously put his hand into his pocket.

Then, at this moment, his smile froze.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"What's the matter, Albert?" Charles was a little surprised.

Albert lowered his head, then sighed slightly...

"Char, I dropped my wallet. Damn...these bastards!"

"Dropped it?" Charles was a little confused at first, but then he immediately understood.

This was probably the masterpiece of the child just now. He was actually able to do this in the hands of two agile young people without anyone noticing. He seemed to be a professional.

In the noisy station, the two young men looked at each other. The expression on Albert's face was wonderful. Embarrassment, irritation and depression were mixed together into an indescribably weird look.

Then. Amid the astonished gazes of others, Ciel laughed without any scruples.

"Hahahaha! This is your retribution for laughing at me, friend? Who told you to dress so brightly!"

"This son of a bitch! I must make his brain explode!" Albert cursed loudly amidst Charles's ridicule.

Poor friends, there is no need to be so angry. In the 21st century, thieves in Paris rob things directly in broad daylight. Now it's just secretly stealing, shouldn't we feel lucky? ——Ciel comforted him in his heart with a hint of malice.

……………………

A moment later, in the station office. Albert's roars kept coming out of his mouth, and he ran towards a middle-aged man in uniform next to him.

"What are you doing for food? You actually let thieves run around here! The country pays you so much salary just to let you watch bandits run rampant here?"

"Sorry, sorry. Sir... don't be angry yet." The deputy station chief in uniform. He could only nod and bend down and listen to Albert's scolding. "We will find a way and will definitely help you solve it as soon as possible."

In a place with a huge flow of people like a station, it is difficult to maintain law and order. In addition, the management staff are often slack, so thefts and robberies have been happening frequently. Even people with a wealthy family background can be arrested as long as they come to the station. It's hard to escape, and generally speaking, you can only consider yourself unlucky... Of course he wouldn't dare to say such a thing.

These little thieves want to be lawless. I didn't expect that it would be stolen into the hands of a senior official in my ministry today, not to mention that among the people accompanying him was the former State Secretary of the Ministry of Railways - even a predecessor. It should be easy to deal with yourself...

"What's the point of saying this? I've lost thousands of francs here! Do I still have to wait here for you with good intentions?" Albert frowned, "I don't want your apology, I want you to solve the problem."

The reason why he was so angry was not because he was heartbroken after losing that little money, but because he felt that he couldn't live with his face after losing such a big face in front of Charles, so he was a little more harsh on the webmaster.

Albert's stern attitude frightened the other party so much that they didn't dare to say anything more. They just kept promising to find the thief as soon as possible.

"Sir, don't worry, we will solve it right away..."

"Don't play this trick with me." Albert sneered, "Don't I still know how you play? Didn't you raise these thieves?"

Even in this era, beggars and thieves in Paris had strictly divided territories, and they could not cross each other's boundaries, and they each had their own gangs to manage them. On the one hand, these gangs divide their territories privately, and on the other hand, they are connected with the station management personnel. That is why they are so easy to steal and rob, and that is why they are so unscrupulous.

Although others may not know much about it, Albert has been in all walks of life in Paris for so many years, and of course he knows these things very clearly.

Upon hearing Albert's words, the deputy stationmaster's face immediately turned pale. "Sir, I don't understand what you are saying..."

"Okay, okay, I don't want to talk to you anymore, and I have no intention of pursuing you. I just want to recover my losses and calm down." Albert waved his hand angrily, telling the other party to stop fooling him. "Listen, we're going to have dinner later. If I still don't see the money bag after the meal and can't pay my friend's bill, I guarantee you won't be able to keep your seat... As for what method you use, it's to find a gang. If you still find someone, then I can’t control it.”

Seeing that Albert didn't want to be unreasonable, the deputy station director first moved his mouth to say something, but in the end he sighed dejectedly. "Okay sir, we will try our best, for sure."

Then, he bowed to the two people, then turned to leave.

"Bring me that kid later, don't let anyone break his hand." Seeing that he was about to leave, Albert suddenly added, "This kid is very skilled. I think he can be my follower." , it would be a pity if he was beaten to death."

"Okay, sir." The deputy station director was a little confused by Albert's sudden kindness, but he still agreed.