Chapter 35
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Chapter 35: Anna Goes Traveling
"The lady doesn’t seem to be a local. What are you doing here?"
A lieutenant of the French Royal Guard approached cautiously and asked alertly.
Today is the day of the Arc de Triomphe’s completion ceremony. A grand military parade is about to take place, and even the great French Emperor Napoleon III will be attending.
In the crowd, Anna’s behavior stood out. While others cheered and celebrated, she stood expressionless, staring at the Arc de Triomphe, occasionally jotting down notes with a pencil in her notebook.
The palace guards naturally wanted to investigate the situation.
"I like it here, I really like the Arc de Triomphe. Is it not okay for me to write down some features of the Arc de Triomphe?" Anna replied fluently in French.
The lieutenant of the palace guards frowned slightly. He noticed that the lady’s French had a slight Prussian accent.
"If you are a staff member from the Prussian embassy, please go to the designated viewing area. If you are not, please leave. Our Emperor will be here soon to greet the people," the lieutenant of the palace guards said.
Anna tilted her head, "What? Afraid I might suddenly give him a big hug?"
In the end, Anna was escorted out of the specific viewing area by the lieutenant of the palace guards. She found another spot to continue observing the Arc de Triomphe and recording information in her notebook.
The Arc de Triomphe was built during the time of Napoleon I and was completed in 1836 after several years of construction.
In 1815, the Battle of Waterloo marked the end of Napoleon I’s era and the beginning of the Bourbon dynasty.
In 1830, the July Revolution in France toppled the Bourbon dynasty, allowing Napoleon III to seize power and establish the Second French Empire.
This is very different from Earth’s history, where Napoleon III only reached the throne many years later, while Napoleon III of Blue Star became emperor in 1830.
Napoleon III was a very capable emperor. During his six-year reign, he managed to ease internal chaos in France, strengthen the country, boost modernization and industrialization rapidly. Many people considered him as outstanding as his uncle.
The French people loved and admired Napoleon III, much like they did with Napoleon I.
On the other hand, the Prussian people disliked Napoleon III the most, and Anna showed her distaste clearly on her face.
"Having power and money doesn’t make you great," Anna looked at Napoleon III reviewing the troops from afar.
Napoleon III was seen as troubling as the rulers of England by the Prussians, starting conflicts and bullying Prussia in various ways. Prussia was unable to resist and had to endure the losses of many deserved benefits in the international sphere.
Anna’s gaze was sharp as she stared intensely at the French emperor in the distance. Power and strength…
If you are strong, you can do whatever you want. You can spend a lot of money to hold a big parade, you can tell others what to do in international affairs, and you can make Prussia bow down to you.
The common people watching the parade carefully avoided Anna. There was a strange feeling coming from Anna, but soon the feeling of danger and resentment disappeared.
In this world, the weak have to listen to the strong. If you are not capable, don’t get angry. Being angry when you have no power will only make you look weaker.
Today, Napoleon III is the glorious Emperor of France, receiving cheers from the crowd.
Anna von Bismarck is just a small landowner from a rural area in Prussia.
In the battle between France and Prussia in 1836, it was like a strong boxer fighting a weak one. Prussia had four times fewer troops, eleven times less government income, and had huge gaps in population, territory, industrialization, and resource efficiency. France didn’t even need to try hard, and weak Prussia would fall.
For Prussia to survive, they had to please others. Today they look at France’s face, tomorrow England’s face, and the day after tomorrow Austria’s face.
Anna calmed down, put away her notebook filled with information, and left the lively parade area.
She spent two months touring the major cities of France, watching the parade near the Arc de Triomphe, admiring the beauty of Versailles Palace, visiting the place where Napoleon I landed to see world-famous paintings, and escaping the cold on the beautiful beaches near Spain.
In the cold winter, Anna began her journey to England by ferry.
Since she was young, Anna enjoyed listening to her father’s history stories. As she grew up, she became fascinated with various history books. After studying the history of Prussia and the Holy Roman Empire, her first foreign history was England.
Anna thought she knew a lot about England from reading books, but she realized there were many mistakes when she traveled there in person.
Walking along the banks of the Thames River, she felt disappointed. The history books said that the Thames River would freeze in winter, and the residents of London would hold grand gatherings on the ice.
However, in the winter of 1836, the Thames River flowed steadily without freezing… That was from the Little Ice Age, which was already past the time mentioned in the history books.
Anna was particularly interested in studying how the institutions in England operated. It was really fascinating. Compared to the roughness of Prussia, the operation of the upper class in England could better represent the benchmark of the feudal and reform era. It was said that the Cabinet system in England was also influenced by the Great Ming Empire, but she was not sure if it was true.
She saw the dilapidated HMS VICTORY, a sail battleship of the Royal Navy, a legendary ship from the Battle of Trafalgar where Nelson’s flagship once stood.
Over the years, HMS VICTORY had not been repaired and was left in a shabby state, moored in a corner berth at Portsmouth Harbor.
Once a glorious ship that bravely fought on the high seas and achieved great honors, it was now abandoned like waste. It seemed that the local people in England didn’t care much. Only Anna was exploring nearby, as others didn’t get close to HMS VICTORY.
Anna looked up and gazed at the majestic HMS VICTORY ship.
Somehow, she suddenly felt a strange connection.
The HMS VICTORY sail battleship was a powerful vessel in the past, now left behind due to outdated performance, but at least she had once been mighty, even becoming a symbol of the era of sail battleships. There were countless warships during the same period as HMS VICTORY, but few left a name behind.
"I would rather be like HMS VICTORY, shining brightly for a moment and then being abandoned, than be one of those unknowns."
This world is big, with many people, and the vast majority are unknowns; they leave no trace in history. Though their lives have meaning, their existence feels too small.
To be forever remembered in history books, to become a symbol of an era, or even a representative of a nation or a country, that is what Anna wants to pursue.
Anna plans to travel to Spain and Portugal, then through Italy and Austria to the Poland region, and finally back to Prussia.
She has decided to enter politics after her travels, starting from the lowest rank of civil servants.
Leader One? He used to be Anna’s main focus, but now he has become a side quest. Anna feels like Leader One is easily within her grasp – just a thousand pounds, just a civil servant; that should be an easy catch.