Volume 2: The crown and the hat are all over the capital, and the spirit is full of energy and enter the foggy city Chapter 66 Carnival
Chapter subtitle: Duel
"Brother Qingzhi, you're back. How's the situation?"
"Brother Hongjian, I'm glad you fulfilled your mission. The British have agreed."
"Hahaha, I told you they would agree."
Our Master Yuan put his arm around Major Cao's shoulders and walked into the living room, shouting to the group of people inside: "My friends, the British have agreed to a duel!"
"Hail! Hail! Hail!"
"Hahaha!"
“Pah, pah, pah!”
In the small living room, cheers, laughter, and applause suddenly filled the air.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Some people even opened bottles of champagne to celebrate.
Since that "pressure-ridden" person accepted the duel under pressure from public opinion, Yuan Yan suddenly began to arrange his funeral affairs...well, that's what happened next.
"David, Lillian, is your film crew ready?"
The two film workers looked at each other, and the big star smiled and said, "I just talked to Victor on the phone. He is now on the train with his crew and equipment. He will probably arrive in the evening."
How could we not make a documentary about such important news to record Master Yuan’s majestic and heroic figure, noble spirit, and exhilarating victory?
These will all be historical data, important historical data that will be passed down to the end of human civilization . So the first thing he wanted to ask was this matter.
"Very good." He turned to Miss Pulitzer and asked, "Is the press conference after the duel arranged?"
Emma smiled and said, "Neo, don't worry. My father and I will make sure everything is properly arranged."
After the duel was done, Yuan Yanshu would naturally disclose the ins and outs of the duel to the media, so that the American people would know that he was not fighting for himself, but for justice and for his motherland. How could he miss such an opportunity to improve his reputation by fighting for the Irish people? In addition, he could also trample on Britain hard.
"Emma, thank your father for me." Then he asked, "Louis, John, are you ready for the $10,000 check?"
The two also laughed and said, "Neo, your Chinese friend Mr. Meng has found a painter for us, and he is working on it now."
The "checks" they were talking about were not real checks, but the big cardboard "checks" that were used in lottery ceremonies in later generations. There was no laser printing in those days, so they could only be hand-drawn .
At the press conference, our Master Yuan will donate 10,000 US dollars to the producers ... Well, it's just from the right hand to the left hand.
"Xiangzi, is the New York market open yet?"
Luo Puxiang nodded immediately and said, "Okay, okay, we made preparations yesterday. Xiao Lu and Xiao Yang are quite reliable now."
No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still a piece of meat. No matter whether it is thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, small amounts of money will not bite your hand.
Yuan Yan suddenly smiled and looked around at everyone, then proudly raised the glass in her hand and said, "Friends, CHEERS!"
"CHEERS!"
"On the morning of May 30, 1832, a young man was lying unconscious near Lake Grassel in Paris. A passing farmer judged from the gunshot wound that he was seriously injured after a duel, so he carried the unknown young man to the hospital. At ten o'clock the next morning, the poor young man passed away. It can be said that the youngest and most creative mind in the history of mathematics stopped thinking. Some famous mathematicians later said that his death delayed the development of mathematics by several decades. He was Evariste Galois, who died at the age of 20."
"Many outstanding figures in history, like Galois, died in extremely stupid duels, but some duels have added a lot of fun to history."
"In 1808, a high-altitude duel took place in France. The Frenchmen Grandup and Pique had a dispute over a dancer. To put it bluntly, it was another story of playing two sides. Hot air balloons were probably just becoming popular at the time, and the two men finally decided to have a duel in the sky in hot air balloons. On May 3, in full view of the public, the two gentlemen took two hot air balloons to 2,000 feet in the air. The two sides started shooting at each other within a range of 80 yards. Mr. Pique, who was unlucky, fired the first bullet and missed the target. Grandup's counterattack effectively hit the opponent's balloon, which lost control and the basket overturned. Pique and his assistant fell from the sky and died on a house in Paris."
"In 1843, a "billiard duel" took place in France. Two French gentlemen, Levant and Melvant, had an argument while playing billiards. The two sides finally decided to duel by throwing billiard balls at each other at a distance of 12 steps. Mr. Melvant was lucky to get the first move, and he also made a fierce statement: he would kill Levant with one blow. As a result, he came true. The first billiard ball thrown by Melvant, who had amazing arm strength, hit Levant's forehead directly, and the latter died on the spot. However, Mr. Melvant, as the winner, was not happy for long. He was immediately arrested by the police who arrived, and was brought to court on charges of murder. He was eventually imprisoned for the crime of manslaughter."
"In August 1892 in Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, Princess Pauline Metternich and Countess Kielmannsegg had a dispute over the way vases were to be placed for an upcoming concert and decided to settle the matter with a duel. The duel was arranged, conducted and treated by Baroness Lubinska, who had a high reputation in the medical community at the time (women were very rare at the time) and who was responsible for the damage caused by the duel."
"Before the duel began, the Baroness believed that many insignificant minor wounds caused by duels often caused rot because the tip of the sword brought strips of cloth into the wound. So she made a "fashionable" suggestion: in order to prevent this danger, all clothes above the waist should be taken off during the duel. It is said that this duel was the only one in history where the chest was exposed, and it was also the first duel without male constraints, because all the people involved on both sides, including the two victims and assistants, were women."
"On the fateful day, at the duel, all etiquette was observed, including attempts to mediate. When mediation failed, the two ladies began to duel, and after several feints and stabs, the princess's savage slash caused the Countess's nose to bleed a little. Seeing the bleeding, the terrified princess covered her cheeks with her hands in the usual female posture. At this moment, the Countess suddenly pounced on the princess and stabbed her right forearm with a sword. Seeing the blood flowing again, the assistants on both sides fainted with fear. The footman and coachman, who had been ordered to stand at a distance with their backs to the duel scene, heard the shouting and rushed to help. However, Baroness Lubinska concluded that they were more motivated by lust, so she hit them with her umbrella and shouted: 'Look away, look away - you lustful people!'..."
"The most famous and interesting duel in history did not take place in Europe but in America. However, neither of the two duelists was American. The challenger was British Army Lieutenant Colonel Harold Alexander, and the challenged was a Chinese, Yuan Yanshu. They had a conflict at President Warren Harding's inaugural ball, and then agreed to a duel to resolve their conflict."
"This duel caused a sensation in Washington, D.C. and even the entire United States. Not only did newspapers at the time compete to report it as the 'Battle of the Century', 'East-West War', or 'Sino-British War', but residents near Washington, especially New Yorkers, drove or took trains to Washington. So some people jokingly called it the 'Duel Carnival'."
"March 6, 1921, was a Sunday in March. The weather was also quite good, with a sunny day and a perfect day for a trip."
"At 11 o'clock in the morning, Mr. Yuan Yanshu, surrounded by his friends, left the Rosewood Hotel where he was staying, got on the car that had been prepared long ago, and drove to the duel venue, Fort Myer Racecourse in Virginia. At the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Harold Alexander also set out on this duel road accompanied by his colleagues and expatriates from the British Embassy in the United States."
"Behind them were more than a hundred vehicles of various colors, most of which were reporters from major newspapers and a small number of curious people. But as the motorcade moved forward, more and more vehicles joined in. In the end, the length of the motorcade was more than ten miles. At the same time, several motorcades drove from Washington to their destination. According to incomplete statistics, there were more than 20,000 spectators on the day of the duel, including President Harding and his wife and several cabinet members. In addition, there were many celebrities and dignitaries. It was really a huge crowd."
"At about 2:30 p.m., Yuan Yanshu and Lieutenant Colonel Harold Alexander arrived at their destination one after another. This was originally the training ground for the 4th Cavalry Battalion stationed at Fort Myer. Because Mr. Yuan had a good relationship with Major Patton, the then commander of the 4th Battalion, the latter generously lent them the ground as a duel field."
"Because of the traffic jam, some people were late, so they had to wait there for a while. At three o'clock, the host of this duel, the first-class military attaché of the Empire of Japan to the United States, the Navy Colonel Nomura Yoshisaburo, and the special lawyer for this duel, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, finally arrived at the scene."
"Both parties signed various legal documents in the presence of several lawyers and nearly 30,000 spectators. Then Nomura Yoshisaburo, as the host, began to read out the rules of the duel. These rules were invented by Mr. Yuan Yanshu himself."
"Since many people later borrowed this set of rules to duel, it was called the 'Yuan Rules'..."
——Excerpt from "Duel Stories"
