Greece to roman road

As the carriage drove into the prosperous area of ​​the port, there were more and more two-story Greek-style buildings on both sides of the road. There were more and more carriages on the stone road, silently keeping their distance from the magnificent Royal family's motorcade.

The convoy stopped in front of a hotel with a masonry-enclosed garden carousel in front. The doorman in a red suit hurriedly ran from the hotel door to the car door, opened the car door, leaned forward, and said with a hunched body: " Welcome, sir, how can I help you?"

"I am going to receive a distinguished guest at your hotel today. Prepare a good seat for me," Constantine said.

"Are you going to wait here for the guests to arrive?" the doorman said with a smile.

"Yes"

"Then let me show you the way, Your Excellency."

"OK"

After saying that, the doorman held the door with both hands and stood aside until Constantine and Nina got off the carriage, trotted to the front and stretched out his right hand as an invitation.

Nina held Constantine's arms with both hands and looked at the scene in the hotel curiously.

When they arrived at the front desk, a middle-aged man in black uniform trotted over with sweat on his forehead and took over the doorman's position. The doorman leaned his head and whispered a few words in the middle-aged man's ear.

Then the middle-aged man bowed and said: "Welcome to our hotel. I am the front desk manager of the hotel. If you have any requests, you can ask me. Do you need us to send a carriage to the pier to welcome your distinguished guest here?"

"Yes, it's a gentleman named Stanley. He is scheduled to take the cruise ship from London to Piraeus this morning," Constantine ordered.

While talking, the manager led Constantine and his party to a private room, opened two private room doors and said: "Sir, this is the best private room in our hotel. Sitting in this private room, you can enjoy the full view of the sun. The beautiful scenery of the coast and the busy scene of the dock." As he spoke, he opened the black silk curtain in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the box with a "swish", and then opened the window.

On the distant sea, seagulls were flying and ships were coming and going with long whistles. The fishy sea breeze blew in, wrapping around the curtains and making a roar.

The curious baby Nina ran to the window, leaned out of the window, waved her hands excitedly toward the distant coast, and shouted loudly.

After the manager said this, he carefully looked at Constantine's expression and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was no sign of impatience.

Constantine looked around and saw that the furnishings in the private room were not very gorgeous, but more primitive. In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, there were two brown sofas surrounding a reception table. He felt quite satisfied and nodded to the manager.

The manager turned and left, and the four knights divided into two columns to guard the door of the box.

Then the manager turned and left.

Constantine sat on the sofa, quietly waiting for Stanley's arrival, thinking about Stanley in his mind.

Stanley became famous for his search for the British explorer and missionary David Livingstone.

In 1868, Stanley accepted a commission from a Paris newspaper to search for Mr. David Livingston, who was lost to the British in central Africa. At that time, the latter had been missing for two years. Is David Livingston still alive? At that time, public opinion in European and American countries was very concerned.

In 1871, Stanley's expedition came to Zanzibar on the east coast of Africa (on the Indian Ocean coast). This man was very scheming and hid his whereabouts from the society in order to get exclusive news.

The expedition set out from the coast of present-day Tanzania and traveled for eight months before finally finding Livingstone at Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

The encounter between Stanley and Livingstone began with a short question that is famous in the history of exploration. Stanley stepped forward into a clearing in the jungle where Livingstone was sitting. Stanley held out his hand and said, "I presume you are Dr. Livingstone?"

After finding Livingston, Stanley kept it secret and wrote a book "How I Found Livingston" in England to hype himself up.

The book was a sensation.

After Livingston died in 1873, Stanley regarded himself as Livingston's successor.

In 1877, Stanley successfully reached the mouth of the Atlantic Ocean and became the first European to complete the entire route from the source of the Congo River (Africa's Indian Ocean coast) to its outlet (Atlantic coast). Later, he wrote a book "Across the African Continent", which recorded the expedition in detail. The book described a large amount of information on the geography, politics, economy, customs and other aspects of the Congo River Basin.

There is no doubt that this book detailing southern Africa caused a stir.

It is not difficult to find from Stanley's past deeds that he is a man who can keenly seize opportunities and is quite scheming and intelligent.

No wonder it stands out from the sea of ​​adventurers.

This series of events also attracted the attention of George I and Constantine. Constantine believed that Mr. Stanley, a veteran who has been engaged in African exploration for a long time, must be very familiar with the geography and humanities of Africa and is the best choice to implement the African plan. .

At Constantine's insistence, King George I ordered the Greek ambassador to Britain to contact this renowned African adventure expert and buy Stanley for 10,000 francs before the King of Belgium, who also had ambitions for Africa. 5 years time.

At that time, a worker who worked hard for a year would receive a salary of about 30-50 francs. There is no doubt that 10,000 francs is a generous reward for an individual.

They reached an agreement. According to the "contract", Stanley would work in the Congo for George and Constantine for 5 years without their prior consent. He would not announce any information or hold any report meetings.

From 1879 to the present, in 1882, Stanley was implementing this plan.

Stanley took a large amount of money given by Constantine, recruited a group of desperadoes from Europe, promised generous rewards, and set off for Africa in a mighty way.

After almost four years, Constantine needed results.

Constantine, who was deep in thought, suddenly heard footsteps in front of the door. It seemed that a guest was coming.

With a creak, the door opened, revealing a man wearing a beige suit and a yellow bowler hat, with bronze skin leaking from his face and shirt collar, bright eyes, two fluffy mustaches on his mouth, and a fleshy face. A man in his prime, about forty years old, walked in, carrying a red leather suitcase in his left hand and a cane in his right hand.

A fierce aura came oncoming.

Speaking of which, this was the first time the two met. Before that, the two had only communicated through letters, telegrams, etc.

Constantine stood up and extended his right hand to Stanley. Stanley put down the suitcase in his hand on the ground and shook hands with each other.

"Welcome to Greece, Mr. Stanley," greeted Constantine, who respected this key figure in realizing the African plan.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Your Excellency," Stanley returned.

Constantine's title was Duke of Sparta. Yes, he was the Spartan warrior who was known for his advocating force and fierce folk customs. He was the first to invade the Greek city-state of Athens and was rich in tendon meat.

This custom came from the United Kingdom, similar to how the British crown prince generally holds the title of Prince of Wales.

To be honest, for a ruthless man like Stanley, who came from a lower-class background in England and fought bravely with his life hanging on his belt in order to achieve career success, he really doesn’t think much of Constantine, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. I don’t know. People who are suffering among the people.

Just think about how much hardship you suffered, how many crimes you suffered, and how many times your life was in danger in the barbaric, ignorant and uncivilized Africa. You need to risk your life to fight for a career, but the guy in front of you has everything as soon as he is born. I have obtained it, and I will never be able to achieve it in my life.

Thinking of this, Stanley felt aggrieved.