The journey back to Paris was more peaceful than expected.
The only test came from An Ning's butt: riding for a long time was a terrible ordeal for An Ning's butt.
The next day, An Ning noticed blood when he pooped. Apparently, the close contact and wear and tear with the saddle caused him to develop hemorrhoids early on.
Fortunately, the situation was not too serious and it was not to the point where Ma Yinglong was needed, so An Ning endured it.
In order to distract herself, An Ning began to observe Young Master Crotz more carefully.
He soon discovered that the young master's chin was suspiciously smooth. In addition, he always covered his Adam's apple with clothes, and An Ning became more and more suspicious that Crotz was actually a woman.
Why did the daughter of the Duke of Orleans dress up as a man and go to war?
Confused, while chatting with others, he asked many indirect questions about women going to the battlefield.
The result surprised him.
He discovered that France in this time and space actually had a tradition of women going to war due to the influence of Joan of Arc.
Moreover, some poor nobles, because they did not want to pay a dowry, would send their daughters to military schools and serve in the army like men.
In the original time and space, in order to avoid paying a dowry, the poor nobles of France would send their daughters to a monastery so that they could live in purity and serve God for the rest of their lives. In this time and space, the time and space were changed to allow their daughters to be loyal to the country like Joan of Arc and win glory and rewards.
But the Duke of Orleans is not a poor aristocrat. An Ning remembers the Duke of Orleans in the original time and space. He is an enlightened aristocrat. His assets have been liquefied a long time ago and he is very rich.
Obviously, the daughter of the Duke of Orleans did not need to join the army to avoid the cost of dowry. This can only be explained by the fact that Crotz - who knows what her daughter's real name is - did not want to get married too early, so she disguised herself as a man and joined the army in an attempt to obtain meritorious service to prove it.
Own.
In any case, once you get to Paris and meet the Duke of Orleans, you should be able to know whether An Ning's speculation is correct.
Ten days after leaving the front line, An Ning finally saw the outline of the city of Paris.
An Ning originally thought that the city of Paris in this era would be like a larger county town at best, but she never expected that the city of Paris in this era would already be of such a scale.
He stood on the high ground downstream of the Seine River, overlooking the entire city, and could not even see the edge of the city at a glance.
Moreover, there are a large number of buildings in the whole city, which look like a gray area.
The disorganized bungalows on the edge of the city look very much like the slums of Rio de Janeiro in later generations.
The road into the city was lined with merchants' carriages, loaded with goods.
Crotz seemed to be very satisfied with An Ning's surprise. He asked in a slightly proud tone: "First time in Paris?"
An Ning nodded: "Yes, the first time."
"People who come here for the first time will be shocked. After all, this is the largest city in France, with millions of people living here."
An Ning curled her lips and thought, what's the point? I've seen super cities where tens of millions of people live together.
But there was no need to worry about this with Crotz at this time, so he pretended to be convinced and said: "It's amazing!"
Crotz: "You probably can't imagine that after we enter the city, we have to walk for more than an hour to get to my father's property, the Palais Royal! When we enter the city, don't be frightened by the crowds."
An Ning: "Okay, I'll... try my best."
He didn't have anything else to say except that I tried my best.
I can't tell Crotz: I have been on the Yangcheng Metro Line 3 for a long time, and I have seen all kinds of crowds.
The city of Paris originally had city walls, but the city's development gradually expanded beyond the city walls, so the "Sun King" of the Louis XIV era ordered the demolition of the old city walls, and then built a circle of roads for soldiers to patrol according to the outline of the existing city.
, as a city wall.
But then the city soon expanded beyond the roads, and Paris became a city without walls.
Of course, there are still some remaining walls and fortresses in the original city center of Paris and on the Île-de-France, but those have long lost their protective capabilities.
Now in the entire city of Paris, there are only a few fortress-style buildings such as the Bastille.
Today's Paris is completely a city without city gates, and the distinction between urban areas and suburbs has become very blurred.
People like An Ning, who came to the city for the first time, didn't even know when they were already within the 48th arrondissement of Paris.
However, this is not a new experience for An Ning. After all, the edges of large cities in later generations are also very blurred, and it is difficult to distinguish between cities and suburbs.
Anning rode on horseback, following the dragoons through the streets of Paris.
What surprised An Ning was that the sanitary condition of the streets was much better than expected.
Before An Ning traveled through time, I read a joke, saying that the reason why European aristocrats like to wear stockings and high heels is mainly because the streets are too dirty and there are rice fields everywhere.
Now it seems that this is obviously a misunderstanding.
If you think about it carefully, Paris in 1780 should have established a relatively complete sewer system, and it is unlikely that the ground would be covered with rice fields.
It’s not like India, where everyone is used to urinating anywhere.
But the streets in Paris are still quite dirty. When horses move on the cobblestones, the mud splashes are not much less than when they are in the wild.
And there was a strange smell in the street. It smelled like a top that had not been washed for a long time.
While An Ning was looking at everything in the city of Paris, Crotz suddenly turned to him and said: "In front of you is the Seine River. You can see Notre Dame on the other side across the river. You will definitely be shocked."
An Ning thought, no, I won't, because I have already seen it in the game "Assassin's Creed Unity".
——I even climbed it——in the game.
As they spoke, the cavalry turned a corner and began to move along the bank of the Seine.
An Ning couldn't help but frown.
Because the Seine River is a bit dirty beyond imagination, the entire river is filled with the smell of domestic garbage.
When An Ning was a child, she smelled the same smell by the Pearl River where no sewage treatment had been carried out.
Think about it, the garbage and feces of millions of people in the entire city have been poured into the Seine, so the smell is normal.
It's a pity that An Ning originally had some beautiful illusions about the Seine River, but now she was completely disillusioned.
Crotz glanced at An Ning and showed an apologetic expression: "Uh, um, I know the smell is a bit unpleasant. After a while, I will take you for an outing upstream of the river. Wherever the river doesn't stink, the scenery on both sides is also very good.
good."
An Ning nodded: "Please."
At this time, the cavalry turned another corner, and Crotz pointed to the building in front and said: "That is the Palais Royal, which is my home. My father recently decided to open the garden of the Palais Royal to the public, so you
You will see many cafes and galleries, and many gentlemen and ladies will come here to attend salons in the afternoon."
An Ning said "Oh". He knew that the Palais Royal was an important public space for Paris citizens in this era, but he didn't know that it was opened to the public by the Duke of Orleans.
As they spoke, the cavalry drove into the Royal Palace and stopped in front of a stately building. An old butler and a group of servants were already waiting here.
Crotz got off his horse, turned around and said to An Ning: "Come on, I will take you to see my father."