British 1986

September 15, 1993, around ten o'clock in the morning.

A motorcade drove through the streets of Stockholm, heading straight to the Royal Palace.

The palace we are going to this time is not the one Allen went to a few days ago. It was the private palace of the Swedish royal family. The one we went to today is the official one, which is larger and has a better location, next to the central square. , a semi-open, semi-private administrative palace.

There are small flags hanging on the lampposts on both sides of the road.

Allen looked at it curiously. The flag was white, with the emblem of the Swedish royal family printed on the main body.

King Gustav is wearing military uniform on the left, his wife Queen Silvia is standing on the right, and their three children are standing in front of them.

There is also a shadow of Sweden's territory behind it.

At first glance, this little flag looks pretty good.

It feels a bit festive, but when I think about Gustave saying that he would make the celebration lively and lively, and looking at the decorations on both sides of the road today, I can only say that it is a bit petty.

If it were the place where Allen lived in his previous life, any third- or fourth-tier city, if the leaders came to inspect it, the welcome scale would be much more exaggerated than today's one. At least flower pots, slogans, etc. would be standard equipment. .

How could it be like now, so plain, without even a slogan.

When we arrived at the gate of the palace, the team of the British royal family arrived relatively late. This was specially explained by the etiquette master in the team. The British royal family is very famous. Not to mention the finale appearance, at least they can't arrive early. That would look insignificant. card face.

Just like now, Allen got out of the car first, and Prince Edward's car was behind him. The two of them were dressed very differently.

Today's dress code is based on modern etiquette.

If it were Daying's side, for such a grand occasion, the queen would have to wear royal robes and a crown to show off her face.

But Gustav doesn't pay attention to this, mainly because he has no rights. What is his biggest card now?

He is the nominal commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

So today Gustav wears military uniform and military rank, while the queen wears ordinary dress.

Nobles like Allen who were born as military generals had to follow King Gustav and also wear military uniforms, but Prince Edward did not need to wear them. He only wore ordinary tuxedos.

As soon as the two got off the car, there was no media, only the reception staff arranged in advance to receive them.

According to the procedure, Allen registered the number, gave the congratulatory gift, and then followed the waiter into the palace.

This is a formal waiter visit process, and everything must be carried out according to the process.

"It's really full of decay, and it's stiff and not dead."

Suddenly, I heard Prince Edward's complaints again.

Allen turned his head and looked at this guy. Compared with Sweden and Great Britain, who is more decadent?

Can't you tell the difference between big and small kings?

Clatter, clatter, as Allen walked around, he put on all the formal and informal medals he had received, plus a sword, which was bumping and bumping, and with every step he took, there were It makes a sound of metal colliding.

Regardless of the gold content of these medals, they are quite intimidating at first glance.

He and Prince Edward walked together. Prince Edward was more like a follower, while Allen was like a prince.

"Hello. Nice to meet you. Are you the Earl of Carmarthen in Wales?"

"You are?"

As soon as he entered the palace, the entire hall was extremely lively. Allen glanced at it and saw that there were at least three to four hundred people standing in the hall!

A voice saying hello came from the side. Allen turned his head. This person was relatively unfamiliar and he didn't recognize him.

"Haha, it seems that I guessed it right. I heard that the Earl of Carmarthen in Great Britain was outstanding in appearance and martial arts. I have seen you on TV before, but your hairstyle was different at that time. This time I saw you. You didn’t realize it, but I am Count Custer.”

"Oh hello, hello, nice to meet you."

Allen held his hat in his left hand, straightened his back and stretched out his right hand to shake hands with this man enthusiastically.

As soon as he mentioned Earl Custer, he knew that this was a local nobleman in Sweden. His reputation was just that. He was engaged in the timber business. When he went hunting with Gustav last time, Allen and the others were in the area. , was contracted by this earl.

The Swedish family has a king, and of course there are corresponding nobles.

But their nobles are rather strange.

There are two types, one is compilation, that is, the nobility of Sweden, which is personally conferred by the king. The canonization here specifically refers to the canonization before Gustav.

Since Gustavus ascended the throne, he has lost all his rights, so why should he be granted a title?

He could only make each of his three children a nominal duke, but not the others.

The highest-ranking nobles in Sweden end at the count.

Their formal aristocratic system has a king at the top and a prince at the bottom, the duke.

Unlike the duke, who evolved into a marquis like in Great Britain, Sweden does not have a marquis, it goes directly to an earl, and there is no viscount under the earl, only a baron.

Under the baron, there are no knights or anything like that, only knights.

A system that favors ancient etiquette and military merit.

For the Swedes, the nobility class reaches the top with counts.

There are still more than a hundred count families in their country.

But compared to the days of the nobles in Great Britain, the nobles in Sweden no longer look like nobles.

Among the more than one hundred count families, no more than ten are well-off and famous, and the rest are just rotten fish and shrimps.

After all, their king was in such a miserable state, and the nobles below were not much better.

In addition to these registered and compiled nobles, there are also many remaining nobles who have taken refuge abroad in Sweden.

For example, former German nobles, former Italian nobles, former Tsarist Russian nobles, former French nobles, etc. Anyway, all kinds of nobles followed the noble fair. Nobles from all over Europe can be found here, and some The aristocratic family has a very prominent history, but it is now in decline.

Allen had heard Gustav's introduction before. There were dozens of noble families with the Feng surname alone living in Sweden, as well as those with the surname of De and Tang.

The Earl of Custer in front of him was one of the well-off families among the Swedish aristocracy.

This person mixes well. The comparison object is their other Swedish nobles.

If the comparison object were someone like Allen.

It is no exaggeration to say that in terms of Allen's current net worth and power, the dozen or so Earls put together are probably not as good as Allen. The gap is so big!

So. Now it seems that both of them are earls, but the difference in rank between them is extremely clear. When the two parties shook hands, Allen only extended his right hand, and the other party directly held Allen's extended hand with both hands. Not only did he not feel that Allen It's rude, but I think it's very honorable to get to know Allen.

"Shall I take you around the palace?"

Letting go of his hand, Earl Custer was extremely enthusiastic about taking Allen to visit.

"Then there is Lord Loucastle."

After Allen finished speaking, he turned around to speak to Prince Edward, but the prince was nowhere to be found.

"."

Okay, anyway, the congratulatory gifts have been given and the reporting process has been completed. Now everyone is separated, which is exactly what Allen wants.

In the normal communication in the hall, the distinction between men and women is very clear. On the left are the nobles participating in the celebration, and on the right are the family members brought by these nobles.

Earl Custer walked in front, starting from the door, and introduced to Allen one by one the portraits hanging around the palace hall.

This is a matching portrait of the kings and queens of Sweden. It starts from the left and extends to the far right. Look at the space and Gustav's position.

"Earl Allen, I went on a business trip to South America some time ago. When I came back, I heard from my servants that you visited IKEA?"

While visiting, Count Custer pretended to chat about family matters and started talking.

"Well, I went there to study and visit, and it was very rewarding."

Allen looked at the military uniforms of various countries in the hall, which was very novel. This scene gave him a weird cosplay feeling.

The main reason is that it is too messy. For example, his clothes are navy blue, and someone else's dress is gray. You can tell it is Dezi at a glance.

There is also a shit-yellow one, which looks like it is probably a French aristocrat.

When the islanders were new to learning, the first thing they stole was the French military uniform, which was still very tough.

Especially the French African Army. Their interests in Africa were too great at that time. There was the African Legion, and there was strong wind and sand there, so they added two butt curtains on both sides of the hat. They were used to block the wind and sand and protect the ears. of the neck.

But the islanders didn't understand back then, so they followed suit and made their own new uniforms yellow like the French Afrika Korps, with butt curtains on their hats.

Because of this, the islanders were often laughed at by European gentlemen.

Therefore, as soon as he saw a military uniform of this color in Europe, Allen knew that the other party was most likely a French noble.

As for the British Army's uniform, which is also the same color, why can't it be a British aristocrat?

There are only a few nobles in the British army, and they can't appear here. They all know it!

"Aha, it seems that Earl Allen is going to enter the furniture industry? Will there be a chance for us to cooperate?"

Earl Custer had something to say.

"oh?"

Speaking of this, Allen looked at Earl Custer strangely. Who said he was going to enter the furniture industry?

The industry at hand has not been regulated yet, so how can he have time to get involved in new industries?

"I have no such plan. How could I get involved in the furniture industry? The economy has been bad in the past two years and I have no energy."

As Allen spoke, he returned a salute to a nobleman in the distance who was nodding at him.

"Haha, Earl Allen, you are so noble and forgetful. You obviously have a furniture industry. Last year, I remember that you sent someone over to purchase a batch of high-quality ancient wood."

"???"

And this thing?

I do not know how?

Allen was stunned by Earl Custer's words.

Just as he was about to deny it, Allen suddenly seemed to remember it and asked with some uncertainty: "You are talking about the people from Bentley coming over, right?"

"Yes, yes, that's them. They have occasionally come here to purchase wood before. I have been in contact with them before."

Seeing that Allen finally remembered, Earl Custer nodded with a smile and looked at Allen expectantly.

"."

When it came to Bentley, Allen was a little speechless. There were some things that he didn't care about before, and he didn't know anything about it, but later someone reported it to him. He was done listening to it, so that Earl Custer asked just now, He didn't even think about it.

Speaking of furniture and Bentley, Allen just remembered.

More than 80% of the wooden furniture in his new manor was handmade for him by his family's industry.

As for where this was built, it’s Bentley!

As the most skilled furniture makers in the entire luxury car industry, Bentley's carpenters are among the best in the industry.

If the materials in other luxury models are this kind of leather, that kind of leather, diamonds or gold, then Bentley uses a lot of precious wood in many old models.

For example, the armrests, instrument panel, various handguards, etc., even if some places only need wood boards less than one millimeter thick to decorate, they are all handmade by Bentley's master carpenters!

It is because the carpenters are good at craftsmanship and the products are not tacky, so Bentley has always had a unique style among ultra-high-end luxury cars. The method of inlaying a small watch on the dashboard was invented by Bentley first, and it stands out. One is distinguished and distinguished, with high style.

With such a good carpenter on hand, Butler Hu Te must make use of him. In the end, he gave Bentley the work of making most of the furniture in the new manor.

Bentley, which had been acquired by Allen for so long and had not achieved any results, felt a little guilty. Now that they could build furniture for the new owner, what else could they want?

Go ahead.

It can be said that Bentley's carpentry department worked hard to get a large amount of precious wood and used the best materials and craftsmanship to build furniture for Allen's new manor.

In the process, it is inevitable that he will come into contact with Earl Custer, who is also engaged in the lumber business.

This person probably wants to use this opportunity to talk to Alan about cooperation with Bentley. Even though Bentley doesn’t use much wood in a year under normal circumstances, they use high-end wood. If you have such a partner, let’s talk about it. It can put gold on your face!

When I go out to do household chores for others, I casually say that my partner is Bentley, who makes luxury cars. All the high-end wood they need is obtained from me. Does this mean that he is a Castor? The count's strength?

With this identity, he can use this identity to negotiate cooperation with car companies or furniture companies under the false pretence, which will increase his success rate exponentially!

"I usually don't pay much attention to things in this area. I'll ask when I go back this time."

Allen didn't agree immediately. How could he agree immediately?

Socialize, talk more, go back and forth. Besides, he has to go back and understand it clearly before talking. How can we talk if he doesn't know the inside story?

PS: There have been a lot of "colds" recently, and it is said that this time it is very serious. If it is convenient and possible, you can go to a community hospital near you to get a flu shot in the near future.

I went to get a shot today, it cost more than 100 yuan. After the shot, I bought peace of mind and saved myself the trouble of being seriously injured.