CHAPTER 1110: CHAPTER 102: GOTTINGEN

From Paris to Gottingen is about 400 miles, perhaps in the 21st century, taking a train would only take a day to arrive, but in the 19th century, a 400-mile land journey meant a kind of exhausting torment for both body and mind.

Although under the urging of the King, Arthur and his party were already going all out towards the Kingdom of Hanover, even the fastest horses in all of Paris paired with the most skillful coachman could only travel 40 miles a day, so it meant that Arthur and the others took a full ten days to enter the Kingdom of Hanover.

And to make time, the coachman took quite a few shortcuts along the way, and these roads were far less good than the main roads, so after several days of bumps, Arthur finally understood why Napoleon got hemorrhoids.

In fact, he even privately suspected that the Duke of Wellington, who had been marching for years, might also have this problem.

Sitting in the carriage was already so unbearable, heaven knows how they managed to ride on horseback for over ten hours.

At first, leaving Paris wasn’t so bad, away from the city’s hustle and bustle, occasionally seeing the beautiful countryside scenery, looking at those neatly planned vineyards, the golden waves of wheat fields, these vibrant scenes always cheered people up.

But even the most beautiful scenery looks tiresome after seeing it for three days in a row, let alone when Arthur’s backside was already aching from the bumps.

However, what Arthur did not expect was that from the middle of the journey, even the good scenery disappeared.

After passing through the Rhenish region of the German West, the scenery along the way seemed to have changed completely, the vibrant and harmonious pastoral landscapes vanished completely, even farmers leading cattle and sheep, carrying farming tools on the country roads were barely seen.

The narrow roads lacked conspicuous landmarks, although rivers could occasionally be seen, these rivers flowed languidly, unlike the rushing and magnificent Rhein or Danube. As far as Arthur’s eyes could see, the small rivers meander lazily, much like the state of Scotland Yard policemen on their first day back to work after just getting their salaries.

Though the land was flat, most of the ground was covered with trees, and the tree species were tediously few, the terms "birch" and "fir" could sum them all up.

Seeing this, Arthur finally understood why German poets often mentioned ’sandy lands’ and ’swamps’, such undeveloped territories.

If a British poet frequently mentioned these places, he would most likely be a Lake Poets member, opposing industrialization and urbanization, longing for a Middle Ages pastoral song lifestyle.

But German poets mentioning these were not because they had inclinations or liked these natural sceneries, they were likely just speaking the truth, saying what they saw, nothing more.

This journey was quite dull, but Schneider’s little jokes did quite a bit to spice things up.

Although Schneider himself did not think he was telling any jokes, Arthur always felt each sentence this fellow occasionally uttered had a comedic effect.

He remembered a few days ago, the smoothly traveling carriage suddenly jolted quite a bit.

Arthur was about to bend down to pick up his hat that had fallen to the ground when he heard Mr. Schneider spookily mutter, "Oh, it seems we’ve entered Germany."

Originally, Arthur thought this was just one of Schneider’s usual jabs at Germany, but just as he put his hat on, a road sign flashed past the window, boldly stating—Welcome to Prussia!

At this point, Mr. Schneider, now confirmed as a Prophet, disdainfully straightened his cravat, then turned to Arthur showing off his historian’s credentials.

"You should be thankful it’s peacetime now, otherwise, with the Prussian temperament, a tall foreign lad like you would’ve been dragged off the carriage to be conscripted. You know about Frederick William I? He wasn’t interested in women, but could hardly resist young lads like you, seeing one means capturing one for the army."

Although Arthur was not as familiar with Germany as Schneider was, he had studied history at university for a few years.

Perhaps because of shared roots and both flowing with German blood, the Prussian and British Governments were keen on conscripting, and neither cared about nationality.

The Royal Navy’s recruiting officers not only dragged drunks from taverns onto ships domestically, detained exiled criminals for ’personal gain’, led recruiting parties to raid newlywed scenes, kidnapping grooms for their misdeeds.

Even during the Napoleonic Wars, they forcibly conscripted American sailors.

Although those Americans repeatedly claimed they had already gained independence, couldn’t possibly serve the evil King, the Royal Navy’s recruiting officers paid no mind.

For the more compliant American sailors, they would deceive and coax.

And for the less compliant ones, they took out the Royal Navy’s secret weapon ’Nine-tailed Whip’, forcibly injecting ’Nelson’s spirit’, teaching them through personal experience what ’fight every enemy, England’ means.

If the Royal Navy only conducted such activities domestically, it would be one thing, but the truly laughable fact is, they also forcibly conscripted American sailors in the Atlantic Ocean and Guangzhou, China.

The American Government and their representatives in China strongly protested such actions, crying infringement on American sovereignty and citizen rights.