afterglow

Chapter 190 Your selfishness is not worth mentioning

Although Zhou Changfeng always felt that the domestic situation in Ming Dynasty was relatively unstable and full of contradictions, what surprised him was that the current situation in France was also not good.

In his inherent impression, although the current France is not stable, it should not be called bad, but what he saw along the way surprised him greatly.

For France, the past ten years under the economic crisis have undoubtedly been eventful. The world situation has become increasingly turbulent, and the conflict between France and its neighbors has become more acute.

Although after the European War, France took back the Alsace-Lorraine region rich in coal and iron resources, and unilaterally made peace with Germany after the failure of the subsequent intervention war, it was able to escape from the remaining shadow of the European War more calmly.

Tsarist Russia obviously had no reason to rely on huge loans, and the continuous repayment allowed France to resume work, although the speed was greatly slowed down due to the serious shortage of young labor.

However, the impact of the Great Recession that broke out in 7930 in Qiyuan lasted for a long time. It was not until last year that French industry finally recovered to a certain extent.

In recent years, more than 100 textile factories have closed down one after another.

Last year, that is, in 7936, there were more than 100 million completely unemployed people in France, and the currency franc depreciated by as much as half, and inflation was not uncommon.

But what is interesting is that during this period, the speed of capital concentration has accelerated significantly, and the capital of the Banque de France has almost doubled in five years.

Under such increasingly serious contradictions, the bourgeoisie even tried to turn black like Italy, and factions such as "French Solidarity" and "French Action" made public appearances and were very rampant.

As a result, "public tide" people organized citizens to fight tit-for-tat and resolutely defend the French republic. Parades and fights were common, and even turned into gun battles.

After Zhou Changfeng arrived in Paris by train, he immediately went to the Daming Embassy in France.It was sunny and windless, so the yellow sun and moon flag on the flagpole was drooping.

The history of the Ming Dynasty’s embassy in Paris can be traced back to the Wenzong Dynasty. At that time, the envoys sent by the emperor bought an independent courtyard here, and it has continued to this day. This is also the connection between the Ming Dynasty and the Westphalian system subsequent direct expression.

Of course, the old must be removed and the new replaced.

Surrounded by European-style buildings, only here are a few Chinese-style buildings on the top of the mountain and the top of the mountain. It is a lie to say that it is not unique.

"You... come for treatment?"

"Yes."

The officials of the legation did not dare to be negligent, and repeatedly called him to go in and rest, and served tea and water.

"Is there anything else you can help with?"

"You call Barcelona and say I'm here."

A lieutenant colonel military officer in his 30s came over, looked him up and down, and asked, "Do you need someone to take care of you?"

Many people still have the tradition of tabooing disease and avoiding treatment, so everyone didn't ask him directly what the disease was.

Zhou Changfeng shook his head, "Don't bother, I can do it myself, it's not serious tuberculosis, the doctor said it should be cured within half a year."

The military officer frowned slightly, and subconsciously wanted to lean back, but his subjective reaction was quick and he stopped immediately.

He comforted: "Fortunately, this is no longer a terminal illness. Let's recuperate with peace of mind. If there is a need, we will do our best to help. Don't be embarrassed to speak up. Guochao can't do without you."

"Thank you for your concern." Zhou Changfeng laughed dumbly, stood up and cupped his hands, "I'm going now."

After leaving the Daming Legation, although he knew that the possibility was very slim, he still carefully checked to see if anyone was secretly following him.

Afterwards, he changed out of the conspicuous and abrupt Daming Navy uniform, and put the saber into the fishing rod bag.

At noon, he came to the office of the Faguo public tide party in his daily wear. After all, it is completely legal, and there is nothing taboo in the eyes of the locals.

What is a yellow-skinned, black-haired, brown-eyed Chinese doing here?
While not uncommon, it's definitely not common either.

"Sir, what are you here for?" asked the curious receptionist.

"I heard that you need an intermediate commander. I think I can handle this task." Zhou Changfeng said seriously.

The receptionist froze for a moment, then hesitated and said, "You mean...the international brigade?"

"of course."

"Okay, come this way, please."

In fact, the idea of ​​an international brigade was first proposed by French officials.

Afterwards, the Berlin Executive Committee approved a draft based on this concept, and the International Brigade began to be formally formed.

Its recruitment center is located in Paris, and public parties around the world are responsible for organizing people who are willing to go to Iberia to participate in the war to sign up.

Theoretically, the International Brigade was non-partisan and anyone willing to fight for the Spanish Republican Army could volunteer, but in reality it required certain tests.

After waiting for about half an hour, Zhou Changfeng was led to a room on the inside, and soon, a middle-aged man and an elderly man also came in.

After a concise self-introduction, the middle-aged man wearing round-frame glasses asked with some confusion: "Lieutenant Colonel, you are a neutral person without party affiliation. Why do you have the idea of ​​volunteering to participate in the war?"

Although it was expected, Zhou Changfeng still felt a little guilty when he answered, because in a sense, it might be considered a lie.

"I am indeed neutral, but as a military observer, I witnessed and experienced the massacre of local civilians by the National Army and the Italian Intervention Army in Spain, as well as indiscriminate air strikes... It is hard not to be outraged by such behavior."

The old man wearing a French beret kept looking at him with a smile, and after he finished speaking, the old man slowly said: "Lieutenant Colonel, you have found the justice buried in your heart, thank you for being willing to take the risk for this honorable cause.”

After Zhou Changfeng heard the words, he was silent for five seconds, "Maybe you praised me too noblely, I made this decision due to many factors, such as the Italian officer's taunt, hatred for the cruelty of civilians, and... I actually wanted to exercise myself there too. Is that really selfish?"

"It is almost impossible for a person to have no selfishness, Lieutenant Colonel. At least in this choice, your selfishness is not worth mentioning, because your enemy is an executioner against humanity."

Zhou Changfeng nodded silently, and then made a request, "I lied about having tuberculosis as an excuse, so I have to try to prove that I am recuperating in the hospital, and at the same time, I have to hide it from the Daming Legation."

"Don't worry." The middle-aged man smiled and said lightly: "Pulmonary tuberculosis needs to be recuperated in a place with fresh air. We will ask the Seine General Hospital to issue a diagnosis recommendation, and then lie that you have temporarily gone to a remote place. Rural rest."

"It's not that easy," Zhou Changfeng thought for a while, "I'll stay a few more days to deal with it."

(End of this chapter)