Flowers, Swords and France

"This is really a wonder!"

When she stood in the venue of the World Expo, Fran couldn't help but open her eyes wide and exclaimed excitedly.

It was May 1, 1851, the opening day of the London World Expo.

And the venue she was in now was a super-large building made of steel and glass. Right in front of her, the towering steel formed a huge frame, and countless pieces of glass were inlaid in the long corridor. The top of the originally very tall building was built with a dome made of curved materials. Under the dome was a wide corridor. Countless people passed through it and witnessed this magnificent building in amazement.

Because of its structure, all the British people named it the Crystal Palace. In her opinion, this is a very appropriate name.

She didn't look at anyone again, but devoted herself to the beauty of that art. She could feel the artistic atmosphere of classicism from the dome, but the grand building made of steel and glass gave her a surging passion and incomparable impact.

Is this modern? Almost everyone will have such an idea when they walk here.

It turns out that buildings can be built like this!

She opened her eyes wide and looked around, wanting to deeply imprint everything in her mind.

In the exhibition areas on both sides, there are many exhibits from all over the world, and people stop to watch everywhere, but she thinks that this World Expo has been very successful just by this building itself, and the British Empire has shown off its current superior position as she wished.

Under her gaze, the sun passed through hundreds of thousands of pieces of glass throughout the dome and walls, and the beams of light projected through the glass became a symbol in itself, symbolizing the rising sun of the British Empire standing on the top of the world, and also symbolizing the glory of the British Empire after defeating all enemies.

It's amazing.

There were people dressed in all kinds of clothes in the crowd, as if all nations in the world had come to the British Empire to pay homage. To congratulate her superior status.

In addition to the excitement of attending a grand event and being honored, what lingered in her heart at this time was a kind of French unwillingness to accept the island country across the strait.

How could France lag behind her sisters? We should have the same!

…………………………

"Charles, we should also have this thing in France! It's so beautiful!"

In the bustling crowd. Charlotte, who had been holding her husband's hand, lowered her voice and whispered to Charles. Although she didn't seem to be shocked on the surface, her tone was envious and jealous, revealing the mentality of not being willing to fall behind.

Then, she turned her sight. Looking at those people who were either proud or envious, "France can't let the British be so arrogant!"

However, her husband did not answer, but just looked around, feeling the most glorious glory of the British Empire in 1851.

He was not dazzled by this building, nor was he fascinated by this grand event. In the 21st century, there are more magnificent and exquisite buildings than this one, and there are also grand events bigger than this expo. What really made him unable to move was the kind of passionate optimism that humans opened their eyes in the thick fog and embraced science and technology to stagger forward. This is a microcosm of industrial civilization changing the whole world with its productivity that almost destroyed everything.

Relying on this high momentum, Britain became a country that opened the door to industrialization at this time, and also became an empire that ruled the world, and also exported the new concept of industrialization to the whole world.

Maybe it has done countless bad things, maybe its crimes are too numerous to list, and maybe it has left indelible painful memories for the people of colonies and semi-colonies, but just for this contribution itself, the British Empire deserves to be remembered by all the people of the world.

Yes, at this moment. It seems that the eyes of the whole world are focused on this grand building in Hyde Park.

"Charles!" Just as he was still sighing in deep thought, Charlotte suddenly pulled his hand hard and pulled him back from reality.

"Hmm...?" Charles looked at her in confusion.

"Hey. Didn't you hear what I said to you?" Charlotte looked at her with a bit of annoyance.

"Oh, sorry, I was looking at something just now!" Charles smiled apologetically, "What did you say just now?"

"I said, we should also build a building of similar style in France! Then we will also hold such a grand event to let people all over Europe and the world know that our France is also a great country!" Charlotte said angrily, not knowing whether she was angry at Britain or her husband. "What do you think of this idea? We can't just watch the British show off and do nothing, right?"

"Okay, Charlotte, didn't I say sorry?" Seeing his wife's look, Charles couldn't help laughing, "The British are now qualified to show off, and there is no need for us to deny this. Moreover, under the current circumstances, even if we want to compete with the British, it will only be in vain to make people laugh, whether in military or here."

"Look what you said!" Charlotte couldn't help but feel even more unhappy when she heard her husband say this. "I'm not asking you to fight the British. I'm just saying let's find a way to hold a similar event in France. Don't Just letting the British family show off..."

"Such a grandeur is great." Charles shook his head and did not agree with his wife's opinion, "But the greater place is not here."

"What do you mean?" Charlotte became increasingly confused.

"The building in front of us, according to the information I have, uses a total of 900,000 square feet of glass. It was provided by a glass supplier in Birmingham. In order to meet the construction deadline, they also specially hired laborers and engineers from France. Assist. The other main building material is iron, including 3,300 iron pillars and 2,300 iron beams, covering an area of ​​74,000 square meters..." Charles shrugged and looked at himself with a smile. Wife, "My dear, guess how much the British spent on it?"

Charlotte looked around slightly confused and kept blinking.

"It should cost a lot of money. I think it uses a lot of materials." After a moment, she answered Ciel's question uncertainly. "Maybe ten or twenty million francs?"

"It's less than the number you estimated, about 150,000 pounds." Charles answered Charlotte directly without giving in.

In this day and age, £150,000 was an extraordinary sum of money. But in the eyes of different people, it will provoke different reactions.

"One hundred and fifty thousand pounds? That's not much, right? It's only over three million francs after conversion... Even if it's more expensive in France, it's only six to seven million at most, right? It's not like we're asking for this. Can the government provide a budget? "Charlotte was still very curious, "I think this exhibition is so grand, so we won't lose money if we hold it in France, right? They can actually produce so many things with so little money..."

"My dear, you finally figured out the essence of the problem!" Charles patted his wife's cheek affectionately with his hand as if no one else was there. "That's the problem! They only used 150,000 pounds!"

This childish behavior in public made Charlotte's cheeks turn red immediately and she glared at him fiercely. "You...what are you doing! You'd better explain to me quickly. I hate it when you pretend to be academic and put on such a pretentious attitude!"

"Ah, okay... I'm sorry. One hundred and fifty thousand pounds is just a pile of paper and gold sitting there. It doesn't mean anything. Just talk about other countries. Maybe they can pile up a mountain of silver with silver, but But there is no way to move so much glass and steel together to build such a building. Think about it. "What did our ancestors think of those pieces of glass hundreds of years ago?" Charles gently raised his hand and pointed to a piece of glass on the dome that was shining in the sun. "They wanted to get a piece of glass." Such glass costs God knows what! Charlotte, my dear, do you know what it means?"

"What does it mean?" Charlotte looked at her husband confused.

Read the original text in Liu#9@书/吧!

"Those who regard glass as a treasure. How can they not be horrified and shuddered when they see this kind of building? It actually treats such a rare treasure as a building material like sand and soil, and puts hundreds of thousands of them into it without hesitation. Block! Not to mention this steel, no other nation is qualified to use steel like the British now, this is a terrible luxury." Charles stretched out his hand and scratched hard. "My dear, this building may be great, but what is even greater is everything it represents - a new civilization, a power that can completely change the world. Only such a power can transform the world into a new one. Things that were considered luxury a hundred years ago can benefit everyone's life at a price that everyone can afford. This kind of power can change the world, but now, we do not have this power... So if we force ourselves to compete now, I’m afraid we’re just humiliating ourselves.”

"So, what you're saying is that we have to spend a lot more money to make the same thing?" Ciel's explanation still made Charlotte a little confused. "The greatness of the British was that they could make vast quantities of glass and steel cheaply? More than they had been able to make in hundreds of years?"

"...You are right, Charlotte." Charles patted Charlotte on the shoulder.

Although this understanding is very superficial and unclear, Charlotte's understanding ability is very good if it reaches this point. Charles has no intention of explaining more, so as not to waste the precious time of the two of them.

"I always think what you said is too vulgar." Charlotte frowned, wanting to refute Ciel but she didn't know how to say it. "So you mean we can just stand by and watch the British do whatever they want?"

"Now we can only watch, but this of course does not mean that we have never done anything. It is shameful not to see the gap, but it is even more shameful to do nothing after seeing the gap." Charles shook his head, and then raised his head again Stand up and look at the dome above your head, "Mr. President will build a high and then develop industry within our country. As long as we work hard, we will make much more steel, glass, and everything else than the British in a few years. By that time, no need for us to say anything, glory! He will come to us on his own, right?"

"Will it be soon?" Charlotte was so affected by her husband's tone that she began to daydream unconsciously.

"Yes, in a few years, the next World Expo will be held in Paris, and then the envy of the whole world will be focused there." Charles nodded, then looked down at his wife again, "In just a few years, we will change everything, and then it will be your turn to receive Her Majesty the Queen with kindness!"

"Oh! Charles!" Seeing her husband say this, Charlotte couldn't help blinking.

At this time, her husband was in high spirits, no longer the usual humor and calmness, only a kind of arrogant attitude that didn't take anything seriously.

This aura and will of "we are doing a big business" is exactly what she is most intoxicated with her husband.

In the declining and sluggish social world, she rarely sees such a high spirit. Did the ancestors of the Treville family also travel across the continent like this?

She did not doubt whether her husband could do everything he claimed, because she had already witnessed his experience and knew that he would keep his word.

"I will help you, no matter what you do, I will help you." Suddenly, she whispered.

In this crowded meeting place, the couple looked at each other affectionately. The noise and strange eyes beside them could not move them. This couple of noble status never needed to care about other people's eyes.

"Ahem!" It was not until the deliberate cough sounded beside them that the two of them woke up from their dreams and retracted their sight at the same time.

Charles looked to the side and found that his sister, who was dressed in a gorgeous dress, was standing there quietly watching the couple. Next to her stood her close friend Mary, with a somewhat apologetic smile on her face, as if she was apologizing for not looking favorably on Fran.

For some reason, he suddenly looked a little embarrassed, and his arrogant attitude that looked down on the world disappeared without a trace.

"Ah, Miss Treville, you finally came, we were still looking for you."

"Actually, I came a long time ago, but I just couldn't bear to disturb you." Fran replied in a low voice, with no expression on her face, "I just admire you very much, you can be so carefree in a place like this."

"We are a couple, we can be intimate anywhere until someone disturbs us." Before Charles could answer, Charlotte held Charles' hand tightly, and then looked at her sister-in-law with a sneer, "If you are really envious, why don't you find someone to marry?"

"Well, let's continue to stroll around, Her Majesty the Queen will see us later!" Charles hurriedly stopped them. (~^~)