"Thank you, kid. I'm very happy to see Downton being taken care of so well by you."
"Now that you're back, I can rest peacefully for a while." Gao Bin took the opportunity to return the management rights.
"Why? You can continue to take care of Downton."
"This is not an easy job. Rather than this, I hope to take the time to get married."
"You and the princess..."
"She is willing to marry me, but the obstacle now is my bloodline."
Robert sighed:
"This matter is indeed troublesome. Let's do it this way. I will go to London next month to confer honors. Then I can meet with His Majesty the King to see if there is a chance to talk about this issue."
"Awarded? Can the title be promoted?"
"No, people in the House of Lords are still discussing this issue, and I don't know, but after this time, I will serve in the military."
"What position?"
"General Haig is preparing to form a Royal Legion and intends to appoint me as its commander."
Later generations' evaluation of Haig was full of contradictions. On the one hand, they believed that he was an excellent general because he led Britain to win the largest battle in World War I. He was also a person who helped veterans fight for their rights.<
/p>
When he died, millions of citizens could be seen spontaneously lining up in long lines on the streets of London to mourn him.
But some people think that he is a butcher, and putting such a bad reputation on his head shows that some people have an extremely bad impression of Haig.
The reason is obvious. When he was leading the First World War, two million soldiers died because of the war. In addition, wars in which he participated often ended in "tragic victories".
Therefore, many people put adjectives such as "stupid", "cold" and "disregarding the lives of soldiers" on Haig.
In fact, in the early stages of the war, Haig fought very bravely. He successively launched the Battle of Ensmarne, the First Battle of Ypres, and the Spring Offensive, and won victory in these battles.<
/p>
Because of Haig's outstanding performance, he was promoted to general in 1915 and also served as commander of the First Army. His immediate boss at the time was French, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force.
After French was dismissed by Churchill and returned to the British mainland, he was succeeded by Haig.
The Battle of Verdun broke out in 1916. Both Germany and France sent heavy troops to Verdun. The final outcome of the battle was that more than 500,000 French troops died and more than 400,000 German troops died. p>
Because of this tragic battle, the main force of the French army was almost exhausted, and the German army also suffered heavy losses.
Then there was the Battle of the Somme, which ended with a "tragic victory".
In the Battle of the Somme, Haig preferred to use cavalry charges to launch attacks.
In the early stage, no attention was paid to the powerful artillery and tanks, so it is obvious that the British army was severely damaged by the opponent on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, losing almost 50,000 soldiers.
Not only that, in this battle, both sides suffered heavy losses. The British army lost 450,000 people, the French army lost 340,000 people, and their opponent, the German army, lost 538,000 people. This is also the main reason why Haig was criticized by later generations.
Now, Robert is favored by Haig and serves as the commander of the Royal Legion, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.
However, as long as the opportunity is grasped well, Gao Bin feels that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
"You will be based in London from now on?"
"Yes, so the manor has to be handed over to you."
"Do you know about Matthew's situation?"
"I heard that, I'm sorry, he is such a poor kid." Robert was a little depressed. The successors he chose had problems one after another. If he knew Chinese culture, he might have doubts about Feng Shui.
"I think you should talk about it, there are some things you have to face."
He was referring to the issue of heirs.
"I will, kid, maybe you should think about it."
"Me? What are you considering?"
"Do you want to be my heir?"
Gao Bin laughed twice:
"You don't think about bloodline issues anymore?"
"What's important is the name Crowley, isn't it?"
Robert didn't know why he suddenly thought about it and let go.
"I will obey your arrangements."
Patted Gao Bin on the shoulder:
"I'm going to see Matthew."
"Father, why didn't William come back with you?"
"Oh~ He didn't come back."
"This is really regrettable news. Have you told his family?"
"Not yet, I want to tell him the news in person."
"Well, his father must be very sad."
"Arrange a job for his father in the manor." Robert felt compassionate.
"Okay."
William used to be Gao Bin's personal servant, but he died on the battlefield in France. It seems that he has to find someone to replace William.
...
While Robert went to visit Matthew, Gao Bin went to the kitchen where the servants were dining.
As soon as he arrived, everyone stood up to greet him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you were having dinner."
"It's okay, Master, what are your orders?"
"I have some sad news for you all. William will stay in France forever."
Mrs. Hughes covered her mouth with her hands:
"Oh my god, how could this happen?"
"This is really bad news, poor William, what should his father do?"
"A cruel war, William is a hero."
The servants were talking to each other, and Gao Bin said:
"Carson, I need a new valet, can you help me arrange one?"
"Of course my young master, I will post a recruitment notice."
"Well, if you have any familiar friends, you can also ask to see whose valet wants to come over and get favorable treatment."
"Yes, Master."
"Okay, you continue to have lunch, excuse me for disturbing you."
Gao Bin bowed out politely. As a gentleman, you have to worry about these things.
The dinner in the evening was of a very high standard, and Mrs. Patmore cooked a specialty dish, which is also a reserved menu of Downton Abbey.
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At the dinner, Robert said with emotion:
"After so many years abroad, what I miss most is the food at home."
Cora smiled and said:
"Then you have to eat more. When you go to London, you won't be able to eat anymore."
"What? You are going to London?" Mary asked in surprise.
"Yes, I may live in London permanently in the future and only come back once every few months." Robert announced the news to everyone.
"Then we all have to move there?" Sybil asked.
"No, my child, you are still living in Downton, but if you are willing to accompany us, you can also go to London." Cora said.
"I'd better stay in Downton. I prefer country life to London." Sybil said decisively.
"You can't let go of Tom Branson, can you?" Edith said suddenly.
"No, I didn't!" Sybil denied decisively.
Gao Bin spoke:
"Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on them. They have no chance of contact."
That kid is a dangerous person, and Gao Bin will not let his sister come into contact with him.
Sybil helplessly spread her hands:
"Yes, our brother does not allow me to see Tom more often, not even to take a car."
Robert laughed:
"I support Gao in this matter. He did the right thing. I would do the same thing in other situations."
"Actually, I didn't treat Tom badly. When you went to the battlefield, I called him to drive in the factory. He is now the leader of the driver class, and his income has doubled than before."
"It's indeed a good thing, beautifully done." Robert praised.
After the dinner, Gao Bin and Robert sat down to drink and talked about his marriage.
"When I go to London this time, I will seriously communicate this issue with His Majesty the King. If it were two years ago, they might not let go. But it is different now."
Gao Bin understood what he meant. A very cruel fact was that in this war, the nobles of Great Britain were killed and injured, and most of the rest were crooked melons and cracked jujubes.
Compared with these people, Gao Bin's blood, which is not very pure, seems inconsequential.
Are you kidding?
Should the princess marry a paraplegic?
It is obviously unrealistic, so Gao Bin has already occupied an innate advantage in this struggle, and that is why Robert said this.
As an aside, these young British aristocrats simply brought this disaster upon themselves.
Before going to the battlefield, what filled their heads was not military regulations, but third-rate medieval chivalric novels.
Everyone was full of enthusiasm and thought that this was a victory parade. As long as they walked around, they would be filled with flowers, applause, honors, and trophies, so everyone enthusiastically and even tried their best to get into the army.<
/p>
Before starting, these young people quickly packed their bags and were anxious, thinking that they could not miss this war.
They even have a very ridiculous worry - that the war will be over before we reach the front line.
These nobles thought that this battle was the same as the Boer War, and generally believed that it would be almost over by Christmas.
Boer War?
So what the hell are they fighting guerrillas! Can they be the same as the Germans who copied Maxim machine guns?
Therefore, the most intuitive analogy for the British nobles' impression of large-scale war is the Crimean War.
But that was a war almost sixty years ago. At that time, not to mention machine guns, barbed wire, super cannons, rapid-fire cannons, even front-loading rifled guns were not widely popularized.
Most of the troops were armed with muskets, and the fighting style was similar to that of Napoleon. They lined up to be shot, and the casualties were not as many as those who died of illness.
Moreover, the war at that time still had the aftertaste of classical war, which emphasized the spirit of chivalry. Generally, no one would focus on attacking officers. Even noble officers were respected by both sides, and even if they were captured, they would eat well.
Therefore, it is basically a model in which aristocratic officers serve as commanders, and the scumbag soldiers below serve as cannon fodder and die. The aristocratic officers happily reap military exploits and honors.
But who would have thought that in just sixty years, weapon technology has been upgraded by more than one level. Machine guns, barbed wire, trenches, and super cannons. This killing rate far exceeds the fragile nerves of the British nobles.
What's even more hateful is that the Germans used snipers without moral ethics, setting a precedent of desperately killing officers. This group of noble officers became the focus of attention on the battlefield, and the casualty rate did not rise linearly. So after the British nobles came back, they all became droopy. They became more pragmatic and began to cherish their lives.
There are only a very small number of nobles like Robert who have received serious military exploits and are aware of the differences in modern warfare.
The most direct impact of this war on the British aristocracy was the annihilation of generations.
It’s really timeless!
Many of the young nobles who filled the trenches were the only children of their families. Either their fathers were almost dead, or they were old and unable to have children.
The current level of science and technology is not yet up to the level where you can still have a son in your 70s or 80s, so these nobles have become extinct.
Even those who are lucky enough to survive are either missing arms or legs, or are blind in one eye. Some even have four intact bodies. If they take off their clothes and are covered with scars, they can be used as washboards. Not to mention princesses, they are a little bit
Even the wealthy lady in the background can’t stand it.
After such a comparison, Gao Bin is simply the best choice.
He's young, handsome, can make money, and knows how to make desserts. As for his bloodline? Is his surname Crowley? If so, that's it. What's the bloodline?
Regardless of the fact, he is the eldest son of the earl.
No, he will soon be the eldest son of a marquis, or the eldest son of a wealthy marquis.
Family members, who knows?
Is this inappropriate for a peacock man?
Gao Bin: You are a peacock, your whole family is a peacock!
Such changes in the Crowley family must be attributed to Gao Bin.
This is not bragging. Before he came, Robert was almost worried about money. More than half of the family's assets came from his wife's dowry, and there were countless nobles like him in the UK.
In fact, in the early part of the last century, the life of the nobles was still very prosperous. The development and application of a large number of new agricultural technologies increased the land income of the nobles.
In particular, the birth of the Corn Laws stipulated that only when domestic grain prices exceeded a certain limit could grain be imported from abroad. This gave the landed aristocrats who occupied large amounts of land a very stable financial source.
Moreover, the landed aristocrats would also invest in industry and commerce. For example, the aristocrats invested more than 40% in the railway from Liverpool to Manchester. Another example is the Earl of Durham who invested 400,000 pounds in coal mines.
Riding on the east wind of the first industrial revolution, the income of the gentlemen was very good.
But in the UK at that time, if you wanted to obtain a title or be promoted to a knighthood, you must have enough stable income. Different titles correspond to different incomes. This stable income actually refers to land rent.
Therefore, after the nobles made money by investing in industry and commerce, just like the wealthy landlords in China, they especially liked to buy land.
For example, there was a Duke who spent more than 370,000 pounds to buy land at the beginning of the last century.
The entire aristocratic class is trapped in an endless cycle of making money-buying land-making money-buying land. Some brothers even want to buy land without taking out loans, and most of their property is condensed into land.
However, with the repeal of the Corn Laws and the development of fresh-keeping technology and transoceanic transportation technology, a large amount of grain from the New World and foreign countries poured into the British Isles.
The direct consequence is that the wheat produced in Britain is worthless, the price of land has depreciated crazily, and the wealth of the nobles has naturally begun to shrink.
The most important thing is that the land rent cannot be collected, and the cash flow that the nobles most rely on has almost stopped, so what the heck is it?
The old aristocrats have no money, so the new upstarts are trying to find ways to criticize the old aristocrats while spending money to buy titles. This has resulted in the proliferation of titles, reduced gold content, and even deprived them of legislative power.
From now on, those big men in the House of Lords can only play the game of bullying their own people.
In addition, in order to maintain their dignity, the nobles could not reduce their expenses, which led to debts and bankruptcies.
The luxury of aristocrats is unimaginable to ordinary people, even the ordinary middle class.
To play a fox hunting game once, the cost is not the amount of money that is obviously taken out at once.
The price of an ordinary foxhound is only 500 pounds, which is equivalent to the annual income of a wealthy middle-class family.
You must know that during the past two years, Gao Bin increased the wages of the servants several times. As a result, the maids' annual income is only about 30 pounds.
The price of a foxhound is enough to buy a maid’s freedom for 15 years.
Of course, the purpose of keeping a maid is to maintain the huge manor on the one hand, and to pretend to be 13 on the other hand.
These days, any family that doesn’t have twenty or thirty servants would be embarrassed to go out and pretend to be a noble!
In addition to servant expenses, there are also various social expenses.
Every year during the London social season, for nearly half a year, various social dinners, cocktail parties, speeches, plays, etc. are held non-stop every day, which is a huge expense.
I’ll come to your house today and mine tomorrow. Want to save money? Don’t say you know me from now on. The nobles can’t afford to lose this person!
If you want to pass on the family business, you will have to face a huge inheritance tax. It is no joke to pay a layer of inheritance tax at once.
The nobleman who could still maintain his dignity handed over the family property to his son and was soon on the verge of bankruptcy.
In order to supplement their family income, many nobles have chosen to find careers in the government and the military, relying on their salaries to maintain their dignity.
Today's nobles, except for the big nobles who are related to the royal family and claim to be the overlord, most of the small nobles are in a state where grandma does not love their uncle.
When it comes to money, they are all a bunch of poor people. The nouveau riche are starting to buy Rolls-Royces, and they are still rubbing their butts in the carriage.
When it comes to power, they are completely out of control. The House of Commons and civilian members have all the power.
As for social status, it is not respected at all. The whole society likes to ridicule those down-and-out nobles, thinking that they are parasites of society and useless.
Not to mention that ordinary people dislike them, nobles also dislike each other. Nonsense, who cares about having a poor relative?
It’s okay for poor relatives not to cause trouble, but they are still poor relatives who love to show off their vanity.
It was in this atmosphere that the nobles went to the battlefield with the idea of not steaming steamed buns to fight for reputation, and then they were deceived.
The biggest feature of this war is that the weapons have stepped into the modern era, but the tactics still remain classical.
Why are nobles brave?
Going back to the cold weapon era, the old men were fat and strong, armed with long spears and swords, and were dressed like iron bastards. They cut melons and vegetables to deal with most of the miscellaneous soldiers. They were invulnerable when beaten, and they were more likely to escape when defeated.
Big.
Taking the lead in a charge to boost morale is a business where you make more money than you lose. Even if you kneel down, it is more cost-effective for the enemy to catch a master, steal his equipment, and then extort ransom for it than to kill him. Not only do you make more money than you lose, but you also have a guarantee.
Whoever has the courage to go up and give it a try, give it a try, BMW will become a Lambo!