Greece’s Roman Road

As the carriage drove into the bustling area of ​​the port, there were more and more two-story Greek-style buildings on both sides of the road, and there were more and more carriages on the flagstone road, silently keeping a distance from the flamboyant royal motorcade.

The convoy stopped in front of a hotel with a garden turntable surrounded by bricks and stones. The doorman in a red suit hurriedly trotted from the front of the hotel to the door of the car, opened the door, leaned forward, and said with a bowed body: " Welcome, Your Excellency, what can I do for you?"

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

"Are you waiting here to bring guests?" the doorman said with a smile.

"Yes"

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

"OK"

After speaking, the doorman pulled the door of the car with both hands and stood aside. When Constantine and Nina got out of the carriage, they trotted to the front and stretched out their right hand in an inviting gesture.

Nina wrapped her arms around Constantine's arms and looked at the scene in the hotel curiously.

When he came to the front desk, a middle-aged man in a black uniform trotted over with sweat on his forehead, and took over the position of the doorman. The doorman stuck his head and whispered a few words in front of the middle-aged man's ear.

Afterwards, the middle-aged man bowed and said, "Welcome to our hotel. I am the front desk manager of the hotel. You can ask me if you have any requirements. Do you need us to send a carriage to the pier to welcome your distinguished guests here?"

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

During the conversation, the manager led Constantine and his party to a box, opened the doors of the two boxes and said, "Your Excellency, this is the best box in our hotel. Sitting in this box, you can enjoy the sun. The beautiful scenery of the coast and the busy scene of the pier", he opened the black silk curtains in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the box with a "clatter", and then opened the window.

In the distance on the sea, sea gulls flying and ships coming and going with long whistle "woo woo", the sea breeze with a fishy smell blew in, wrapped in curtains and squeaked.

Curious baby Nina ran to the window, leaned out from the window, waved her hands excitedly towards the distant shore, and shouted loudly.

After the manager said, he carefully looked at Constantine's expression and saw that there was no impatient expression on his face, so he let out a sigh of relief.

Constantine looked around for a while. The furnishings in the box were not very gorgeous, but they were better than clumsy. In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, there were two brown sofas surrounding a reception table. He was satisfied and nodded to the manager.

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

Then the manager turned around and left.

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

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

In 1868, Stanley accepted the commission of the Paris newspaper to find Mr. David Livingston, who had lost contact with 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 (the coast of the Indian Ocean).

The expedition set off from the coast of what is now Tanzania, and after a long journey of 8 months, finally found Livingstone in Ujiji on the shore of Lake Tanganyika.

Stanley and Livingstone's encounter began with a brief question well-known 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, "You're Dr. Livingstone, I suppose?"

After finding Livingston, Stanley kept secret and wrote a book "How I Found Livingston" in the UK, taking the opportunity to hype himself.

This book was a hit.

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

In 1877, Stanley successfully reached the estuary of the Atlantic Ocean and became the first European to complete the whole line from the source of the Congo River (the coast of the Indian Ocean in Africa) to the mouth of the sea (the coast of the Atlantic Ocean). Later, he wrote a book "Through the African Continent", which recorded the expedition in detail.

Undoubtedly, this book detailing southern Africa caused a stir.

From Stanley's past deeds, it is not difficult to find that this is a person who can keenly seize opportunities and is quite scheming and wise.

No wonder it stands out from the crowd 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 for implementing the African plan. .

At the insistence of Constantine, King George I ordered the Greek ambassador to the UK to contact the renowned African adventure expert, and bought Stanley 5 for 10,000 francs before the Belgian king who also had ambitions for Africa. time of year.

At that time, a worker who worked hard for a year received 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 worked for George and Constantine in Congo for 5 years, without the prior consent of the two, not to announce any news, and not to hold any report meeting.

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

With the large sum of money given by Constantine, Stanley recruited a group of outlaws from Europe, promised generous rewards, and went to Africa in a mighty way.

After almost four years, Constantine needed a result.

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

With a creak, the door was opened. One was wearing a beige suit and a yellow bowler hat. Bronze skin leaked from his face and the collar of his shirt. His eyes were piercing, and he had two fluffy mustaches on his mouth. A man in his forties who was in his prime, with a red suitcase in his left hand and a cane in his right hand, walked in.

A fierce breath came oncoming.

Speaking of which, this is the first time the two have met. Before that, the two had only communicated through letters and telegrams.

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

"Welcome to Greece, Mr. Stanley," Constantine greeted, respecting this key figure in the realization of the African plan.

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

Constantine's title was the Duke of Sparta. Yes, he was the Spartan warrior who advocated force and agile folk customs, the earliest city-state of Athens, Greece, and was full of tendons.

This habit has been passed down from the United Kingdom, similar to the fact that the Crown Prince of the United Kingdom generally holds the title of Prince of Wales.

To be honest, for a ruthless man like Stanley, who was born in the bottom of the United Kingdom and put his life on his belt in order to succeed in his career, he really doesn’t think much of a man like Constantine who was born with a golden spoon in his mouth. people suffering from civil misery.

As long as I think about how much suffering I have suffered, how many crimes I have suffered, how many times my life has been endangered in Africa, which is savage, ignorant and uncivilized, I need to give my life to the cause of struggle, and the guy in front of me is born with everything. I got it, and I can't reach it in my life.

Thinking of this, Stanley felt indignant.

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