The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 779 The Heroic Spirit of Nelson, Reverting to His Original Surname: Great Hun

“Mother!” When Mogongze returned to Sibiu, the capital of Transylvania, Grand Duchess Maria Elizabeth was already on her deathbed.

This woman, whose life was unfortunate in the first half but quite happy in the second half, finally saw her son come back to see her one last time, and her life was complete.

"Your son is unfilial. I haven't let you see me settle down and start a family. I've been thinking too much." Mo Gongze knelt in front of the bed, holding his mother's hand and wailing.

Given Mo Gongze's circumstances, he should have been married long ago, and he would have had many potential partners to choose from.

Whether it was Augusta Christine Frederick, the fourth daughter of Frederick William II, King of Prussia.

Alexandra Pavlovna, the eldest daughter of Tsar Paul I of the Rus' Empire, would have been a very suitable marriage partner.

In particular, the latter, Tsar Rus' may have sensed the threat that the Mo family would pose to their southward expansion into the Balkans. After the marriage between his eldest daughter Alexandra Pavlovna and King Gustav IV of Sweden fell through, Paul I personally sent someone to Transylvania to subtly mention the matter.

Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna, known as the most beautiful princess of Tsarist Rus', also sent someone to express her feelings after her engagement was called off.

Although the Prince of Belgium is indeed noble, he is still several levels below the Tsar, a monarch of a major European power. It can be said that as long as Mo Gongze agrees, the marriage can be arranged immediately.

But as Mo Gongze himself said, his ambitions were too great.

If France hadn't met with this misfortune, he actually intended to marry his cousin, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte, who is now the wife of the Dauphin, Louis XVI's only surviving daughter.

After the French Bourbon dynasty fell into chaos, with his uncle Louis XVI and aunt Queen Antoinette killed, and the Prince of Belgium unable to hold on, the only woman Maurice was willing to marry was the daughter of King George III of England.

It doesn't matter who it is, as long as she is an English princess and the daughter of George III.

This is truly a pure political animal.

Perhaps it was a final burst of energy before death, but Grand Duchess Maria Elizabeth's complexion improved considerably, and she even seemed to have a bit of an appetite. She looked at Mo Gongze with a loving expression on her face.

“My child, you have done very well!” Archduchess Maria Elizabeth suddenly said.

Mo Gongze was a little confused as to why his mother said that, but before he could ask, Grand Duchess Elizabeth continued talking to herself.

"Although we Europeans also believe that children should respect their parents, we do not regard filial piety as the most important virtue as Seris did."

My child, you were born and raised in Europe, but now your thinking is the Seres model, which is excellent!
Remember, the longer you stay in Europe, the more you need to show your Seresian side.

Conversely, in Seris, we must present our European side, because this duality is precisely the guarantee for the future prosperity of our family.

Mo Gongze suddenly realized that his earlier statement about not letting his parents see him get married and start a family was unfilial, which made his mother realize that his heart, or rather his soul, was still Chinese.

It was only at this moment that Mo Gongze suddenly realized that his soul had indeed changed.

Especially after returning to his father's country, where he received his grandfather's care, his fifth uncle's high regard, and witnessed the power of the Chinese Empire, his soul leaned even more towards China.

"Karl, my child, you must remember that you are the representative of the Seris Empire in Europe. Whatever you do, you must use the Seris Empire's name to make European countries feel that the Seris Empire is a deep participant in European affairs."

With this power, even if the Emperor's tenth son marries your niece, no one will be able to shake your position in Europe.

This truly encapsulates Grand Duchess Elizabeth's life experience; she fully understood Mozibu's demands on their family.

Hearing his mother's words, which sounded like a last will and testament—no, a last will and testament—Mo Gongze grew increasingly panicked, a strong sense of foreboding washing over him.

He quickly said to his mother, Grand Duchess Elizabeth, "I was afraid that my mother would be unhappy, so I didn't tell her. When I returned to my father's country, my fifth uncle, the Emperor, gave me a palace maid named Hong. When I left, she had already given birth to a son for me, who is now over four years old."

As he spoke, Mo Gongze took out a purse containing his eldest son's first hair and handed it to his mother, Grand Duchess Elizabeth.

Grand Duchess Elizabeth was a very devout Catholic who followed the Bible in everything she did. She had also served as the abbess of a monastery, so she disliked premarital sex, infidelity, and premarital pregnancy.

Furthermore, for Mo Gongze, it would be best to keep his marriage to the princess of a major European power a secret from others, as he already had a wife and children in Seris.

From Seris's perspective, the woman from the Hong family in Huaxian County who was given to him, even if she wasn't his principal wife, was still a gift from the emperor. Unlike ordinary concubines, she held a position of considerable status.

This conflicts with the monogamous system of European Christianity. In Europe, you can have many lovers, but you cannot have real concubines, let alone someone like Hong, who is much higher than a concubine.

So after returning to Europe for four years, apart from his father Mo Zirong and his close military officers, no one knew that Mo Gongze already had a four-year-old son.

Upon hearing her son's words, Grand Duchess Elizabeth's face radiated with boundless joy, and her eyes filled with immense delight.

With trembling hands, she opened her purse, took out a soft lock of baby hair, and after carefully smelling the long-dissipated milky scent, she rubbed it against her cheek, as if she were holding her grandson from afar.

In her final moments, the Grand Duchess relinquished all worldly beliefs and morals, looking at Mo Gongze with boundless joy in her eyes.

The Grand Duchess's biggest fear was that Mo Gongze might have fertility problems, because European royal families had been practicing inbreeding for centuries, and many were infertile.

The Habsburg family was relatively better off by her generation, with virtually no birth defects, but the Grand Duchess was still very worried.

She only has one son, Mo Gongze. If Mo Gongze has fertility problems, then her bloodline and lineage will be broken.

Moreover, Mo Gongze is twenty-four years old this year. He has been with women before, but he has no illegitimate children, which has aggravated the Grand Duchess's worries.

"Good, good, good!" Grand Duchess Elizabeth said three times. "I'm relieved now. I can go to heaven to visit my poor sister."

Tears blurred Mo Gongze's vision, and he collapsed weakly to the ground, holding his mother's hands tightly for a long time, unwilling to let go.

"Your Highness!" Behind him, Mo Gongze's brothers, Mo Gongdan and Mo Gongbo, who were born out of wedlock and were considered illegitimate children in Europe, all cried out and knelt down.

Mo Zirong, on the other hand, was much calmer. His wife had been seriously ill for two or three years, and he had long been mentally prepared. But at this moment, his desire to return home had never been so strong. After paving the way for his son, he would go back to his motherland.

Ten days later, the funeral of Grand Duchess Maria Elizabeth was basically completed. Representatives from all the monarchs and governments of Europe came to pay their respects, including the Directory of France and even the Ottoman Turks.

The special envoy of the Chinese Empire, who had been preparing for more than two months in Europe, arrived in Sibiu, Transylvania, at the first opportunity.

Besides offering condolences, the special envoy's main purpose was to bestow a posthumous title upon the deceased Princess Lu. Mo Zibu personally bestowed the title "Xiaoyi" upon his third sister-in-law, Grand Duchess Elizabeth.

According to the interpretation of the posthumous titles of noblewomen, mainly empresses, those who are kind and loving to their parents are called Xiao, and those who are gentle and virtuous are called Yi. Therefore, she was called Xiaoyi Lu Wangfei.

This is quite unusual, as the etiquette and laws of the Great Yu Dynasty were basically aligned with those of the Great Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the wives of princes were not given posthumous titles; instead, the titles of the princes were usually borrowed.

For example, if Mo Zirong were to be given the posthumous title of Huan or Xiang after his death, then within the Dayu Kingdom, Grand Duchess Elizabeth would be called Princess Huan of Lu or Princess Xiang of Lu.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, only Xu Miaoyun, the wife of Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di), received a posthumous title because of Zhu Di's successful rebellion. None of the other wives of princes received a posthumous title.

"Your subject, Prince Lu, Mo Zirong, kowtows in gratitude for the Emperor's grace. Long live the Emperor!"

In front of a group of European princes and ministers, Mo Zirong, dressed in the four-clawed dragon robe of the Prince of Dayu, knelt on the ground and kowtowed towards the east, as if to declare the identity of this branch of the Mo family in Europe.

Of all those present, only Emperor Franz II of the Holy Roman Empire, who was there in person, looked extremely displeased. This was a slap in the face to him, and also a slap in the face to the Holy Roman Empire, which was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

But no one thought that Mo Zirong's actions were inappropriate, because it was Franz II who first undermined Mo Zirong, and later, without even letting Mo Zirong sit on the table, he handed over the legal status of the Austrian Netherlands, i.e., Belgium.

After burying his mother, Mo Gongze received a report from Cao Zhenyong, the Imperial Ambassador to Europe.

Cao Zhenyong was also unlucky. When he took office in Europe, he encountered such a troublesome and complicated situation, which meant that he, who was supposed to be replaced every four years, had no one to replace him.

Mo Zibu feared that after Cao Zhenyong left, the newly appointed plenipotentiary ambassador would not be aware of the situation and would be unable to help Mo Zirong and his son make the most favorable judgment for Seris during this rapidly changing period.

Therefore, Cao Zhenyong worked for eight years without returning home even once. If he hadn't remembered the emperor's kindness in selecting him and understood the heavy responsibility he bore for the nation, he would have given up long ago.

Of course, Cao Zhenyong also knew that the court had already reserved the position of assistant minister for him. After completing his mission and returning to China to gain experience for a few years, he could enter the highest level.

"The whereabouts of the French Directory's forces assembled in Toulon have been determined; they have taken advantage of the armistice with Austria to head to Egypt."

Just a month ago, French commander-in-chief Napoleon Bonaparte captured Cairo, and the one-armed English Rear Admiral Horatio Nelson led a large fleet in pursuit. I think the English navy should be able to find the French expeditionary force soon.”

"It seems the French were so reckless in thinking that cutting off the Red Sea would stop England from bringing back large amounts of gold and silver from India."

This put them in a very bad situation. If Nelson found the French expeditionary fleet, those 30,000 French soldiers would be trapped and die in Egypt.

Maurice accurately predicted the future of the French expeditionary force in Egypt. Strategically speaking, this Crown Prince of Lu was far more astute and far-sighted than Napoleon.

The only problem was that when Mo Gongze led the troops, he was not down-to-earth enough and could not connect with the soldiers below him to gain their heartfelt support. His command and combat abilities were not enough to completely make up for this deficiency.

He has the flaws of a champion, but is far from possessing the abilities of one. He may be similar to the historical Fu Kang'an, but slightly inferior to the Fu Kang'an of this time and space.

Although the Suez Canal did not exist at that time, the isthmus between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea was still very important, because traveling purely by sea would mean going around almost the entire African continent, and one would have to rely on the wind direction and worry about storms causing shipwrecks, etc.

However, if the transport is done between the two ends of the isthmus, it only requires a journey of 170 or 180 kilometers.

This meant that even though the Suez Canal did not exist at that time, the isthmus where the Suez Canal was located was already very busy, and many of the large quantities of gold, silver and other valuables that the Kingdom of England brought from India were transshipped through here.

"I share this suspicion, but if Horatio Nelson, the one-armed general, is defeated, the situation will be extremely dangerous."

Cao Zhenyong almost completely agreed with Mo Gongze's assessment, but he was not entirely convinced that the English Navy could defeat the French Navy with absolute certainty.

"That's impossible!" Mo Gongze waved his hand and said decisively.

"I am very familiar with Horatio Nelson. Although he is only one-armed and has one eye, he is strict in managing his troops, has effective training methods, and is full of strategies. More importantly, he has a heroic spirit and can inspire his soldiers to fight to the death. He is a naval commander who is rare in a century."

As for France, François Brouillé is an inflexible and conservative general, Villeneuve is a cowardly and mediocre talent, and the rest, such as Guntom, are all unfit for important tasks.

More importantly, the French navy's junior officers and sailors were poorly trained and inexperienced, far inferior to their English counterparts. Unless divine intervention intervened, the French navy was absolutely no match for the English navy.

Upon hearing this, Cao Zhenyong neither agreed nor disagreed. After thinking for a moment, he said to Mo Gongze:
"So, as the Crown Prince said, after the English navy defeats the French navy, it will inevitably have to go ashore and wipe out the French army in Egypt."

At this time, the English army was too small and short-handed; they would certainly come to request the prince to send troops.

Mo Gongze understood Cao Zhenyong's meaning immediately from the song: Mo Gongze's Lu army was not incapable of serving the Kingdom of England, but rather could not serve them so easily for nothing.

The titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are certainly prestigious, but they are from the Hanoverian House of the English Royal Family, and the government of England has not made any representation of them.

Moreover, Mo Gongze knows very well how shameless the English are. If you let them use you smoothly every time, they might really dare to use you to death without any shame.

The Lu Fan army numbered only 25,000, and it wasn't even the private property of Mo Zirong and his son Mo Gongze.

In reality, it was only half sponsored by his fifth uncle, the Great Emperor, and 20% sponsored by his grandfather, Emperor Huizu Yuan. He and his father only contributed 30% of the manpower and resources.

If we were to let the English use it so casually, and something went wrong and it was all used up, would the Fifth Uncle Emperor forgive him?

Cao Zhenyong was also very worried. He was afraid that Mo Gongze would lose his mind over an English princess. The Great Yu Dynasty had invested a great deal of money over the past twenty years, especially in the last five years, in order to help the Prince of Lu and his son gain a foothold in Europe.

Cao Zhenyong privately calculated that the imperial court had invested at least 30 million silver dollars in everything from soldiers and weapons to warships and licensed trade.

This lighting is unacceptable, let alone for lighting purposes; it wouldn't even be allowed for the English to use freely.

Mo Gongze naturally knew Cao Zhenyong's concerns, and after thinking for a moment, he said, "I will write to King George III of England now, and tell him that according to our Chinese customs, when one's mother dies, one must observe a three-year mourning period, during which time weddings and funerals are not permitted."

However, given the special circumstances, if I can obtain His Majesty the Emperor's permission, I can observe the mourning period for only three months, so the wedding date must be postponed.

Moreover, from this day forward, I will build a hut to guard my mother's grave for three months, and will not concern myself with anything else, nor will I leave Transylvania.

"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" Cao Zhenyong couldn't help but exclaim. It was the end of September, and the New Year was just around the corner after three months of waiting. Even if Mo Gongze could leave the mountain soon, he couldn't go to Egypt because of the weather. If it was delayed any longer, it would be at least April or May of next year.

Such a long period of time was enough to drive the Kingdom of England to desperation, forcing them to offer even more generous terms to win them over.

This could also make them realize that the Lu army was not the vassal army or subordinate of the Kingdom of England, and not something they could use at will.

However, after praising him, Cao Zhenyong suddenly felt that such praise was inappropriate, so he immediately changed his expression.

"Your Highness's filial piety is commendable, a virtue of the ancients, which I greatly admire. After I leave Sibiu, I will certainly spread the word of Your Highness's filial piety throughout Europe as soon as possible."

This is intended to stir up public opinion, making it even more difficult for the Kingdom of England to force Mo Gongze to take up a post.

After seeing Cao Zhenyong off, before the news of Cao Zhenyong building a hut to guard his tomb spread, Mo Gongze immediately suggested that his father, Mo Zirong, convene a general assembly of the upper and lower houses of Transylvania.

This conference had only one theme: changing the surnames of Hungarians, specifically those in Transylvania.

The Mo family father and son found the major surnames of the ancient Xiongnu Empire in ancient books, such as Huyan, Lan, (Xu)bu, Qiulin, as well as the Helian surname created by Helian Bobo, and the Liu surname, which was the most common among the Xiongnu people.

“Father, I think that even if these Hungarians migrated westward after the Huns, then either the main group of them who migrated westward were the White Huns and Hephthalites, or they intermarried with a large number of Europeans during their westward migration.”

It seems we must take advantage of this surname change to reconstruct the origins of the Hungarians and explain why they look so different from us.

At the same time, by changing the surnames of the Hungarians in Transylvania, we can distinguish them from other Hungarians. All Hungarians who follow in the footsteps of my father and son must revert to their ancestral surnames.”

Mo Zirong nodded. "If Romanians, or even Saxons, are willing to change their surnames, we will do the same for them. After we take over the Principality of Modavia or other places, we can also allow the local nobles to change their surnames."

Goodness, these two have some pretty wild ideas, and they're actually quite useful.

However, neither of them yet understands that this change of surname and the nationwide aristocracy of the military is actually a process of reshaping a nation.

In the future, as long as someone can fill the religious gap for them, this nation will be considered established.

(End of this chapter)