Chapter 65

New book uploaded, seeking recommendations and collections.

The Hôtel des Invalides, also known as the "Paris Veterans' Home," is a building from the "Sun King" Louis XIV era of France. Located on the south bank of the shimmering Seine River, it has a tall, domed roof and an extremely luxurious exterior. As the name suggests, it is used to accommodate and settle wounded and disabled French soldiers, and it is also the site of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's tomb.

Three days after attending an extremely luxurious but very boring banquet at the Louvre, Zhu Jishi brought Isabel and Bai Siwen to visit the Hôtel des Invalides early in the morning—this was not an official French arrangement. In fact, the French government's attitude towards Zhu Jishi's visit was rather inconsistent. The banquet on September 19th was of very high规格, with French King Louis Philippe and Prime Minister Marshal Soult both making appearances, although for a short time, they gave Zhu Jishi plenty of face. However, the French then left Zhu Jishi alone in the guest room at the Louvre, and the originally scheduled meeting with French Foreign Minister Guizot was postponed.

Thus, Zhu Jishi decided to tour Paris with Bai Siwen and Isabel, while Will Heming went to the French War Ministry to sell bombs. As for Maria Clementina, she went home to meet her father.

However, the cityscape of Paris at this time was, to be honest, not much different from the smelly London. In a nutshell, it was "dirty, chaotic, and poor," far worse than when Zhu Jishi visited Paris in the future. The straight, tree-lined boulevards, numerous neoclassical squares, parks, residential areas, hospitals, libraries, schools, and public fountains and street sculptures that were common in Paris a hundred years later were nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were more winding ancient streets, narrow and difficult for carriages to pass through, and the air was filled with the stench of garbage, sewage, and feces, indicating that Paris, like London, lacked a city drainage system at the time.

However, in terms of urban environment, Paris was slightly better than London, at least it wasn't a fog city. Paris had few factories, and France's industry was not as developed as Britain's, with the textile industry center in Lyon rather than Paris. Essentially, Paris was now a financial center and a consumer city, with banks, pawnshops, and commercial firms lined up, as well as many taverns, cafes, and brothels.

Incidentally, while Zhu Jishi was strolling on the streets of Paris, he encountered an extremely awkward situation—apparently, all the prostitutes in Paris knew him! They even affectionately called him "Mr. Condom." It turned out that after a period of promotion, the "Jason-style condoms" produced by the Jason-Kosper Rubber Products Company had become a must-have for prostitutes and flirtatious noblewomen! Especially after the "Jason-style condoms" were found by medical professionals in various European countries to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, they quickly became the favorite of European prostitutes.

And the unscrupulous Kosper William not only named the condoms after Zhu Jishi's English name but also printed his portrait on the outer packaging as a trademark (using the boss's portrait as a trademark was actually very common in European business at the time). Later, Bai Siwen added more details to this story in his "Interesting Stories of European Travel," making all the intellectuals in the Qing Dynasty know that the great doctor Zhu was a womanizer...

Faced with such an awkward situation, Zhu Jishi naturally had no mood to continue strolling on the streets. On Will Heming's suggestion, he went to visit Napoleon's tomb at the Hôtel des Invalides. This Napoleon was probably the Frenchman Zhu Jishi knew best. Since he was in Paris, he naturally had to pay his respects at the great man's tomb.

As soon as Zhu Jishi arrived, the director of the Hôtel des Invalides—a dignified elderly French general—came forward, accompanied by many wounded soldiers with missing limbs or bandages. France was currently invading Algeria in North Africa, and the war was not going well. The Algerian national hero Abd el-Kader was a tough opponent, and his army rarely engaged the French army in direct combat, instead using guerrilla tactics, ambushes, and raids. The brutal war had been going on for many years, and victory seemed far off. However, since 1843, the number of wounded soldiers returning from Africa had increased, and the Hôtel des Invalides was almost full.

This was not because the French army's commander-in-chief, Marshal Bugeaud, was incompetent, but rather due to Zhu Jishi's contribution—previously, French army doctors were also "killer doctors" who did not know how to disinfect during surgery, could not perform blood transfusions, and had no antibiotics or painkillers. Most of the wounded soldiers on the front lines were killed by them! However, since the second quarter of 1843, due to the adoption of the surgical disinfection methods proposed by Zhu Jishi by the French army doctors, the survival rate of the wounded greatly increased, and the Hôtel des Invalides naturally became overcrowded.

"Doctor Jason, thank you."

"Thank you, or I wouldn't have survived."

"May God bless you..."

"Thank you so much..."

Before the French general could speak, the wounded soldiers bowed to Zhu Jishi one after another, expressing their gratitude. Although they spoke French, Zhu Jishi could tell from their expressions what they were saying.

"This is what I should do, gentlemen..." Zhu Jishi smiled and nodded to these imperialist aggressors who deserved their fate. Suddenly, he heard someone speaking in Chinese, though he couldn't make out what was said, it was definitely Chinese.

He looked around and saw a dark-skinned, stocky man with a scruffy beard staring at him with wide eyes, his mouth half-open, unable to speak. However, he was wearing a faded French army uniform, and Zhu Jishi couldn't figure out what was going on.

The French general, speaking in broken English, said, "Sir Zhu, this is Hans, an Indian who served in the Foreign Legion. He was once an excellent light infantryman, but he got his leg injured in North Africa."

He gestured to "Hans," "Hans, come and meet Sir Zhu. Without his invention of surgical disinfection, you would have lost your calf."

The man limped over to Zhu Jishi, bowed deeply, and spoke in a heavily accented Cantonese dialect, almost shouting, "I am Han Si from Guilin, greeting Sir."

This man was clearly not an Indian "Hans" (the name didn't sound Indian, more like a German), but a Chinese citizen!

The French general smiled bitterly, "Sir, this Indian is speaking Indian again, I don't know what he's saying."

Zhu Jishi became interested in this Chinese man named "Han Si." He looked honest and loyal, at least better than Bai Siwen and his group. He had fought in the French Foreign Legion, showing some bravery, and could be a good bodyguard if he joined his service.

Zhu Jishi pulled the French general aside and whispered, "Is this Hans still serving in the French Foreign Legion?"

The general shook his head, "With a broken leg, how can he still be a soldier? He is recuperating here, and after he recovers, we will give him some severance pay and send him back to India."

"How did he join the Foreign Legion?" Zhu Jishi asked with interest.

The general replied, "I don't know. Perhaps some French officer who returned from the Indian colony sent him to the Foreign Legion. The Foreign Legion has been fighting in Algeria for years, with heavy casualties, so it's easy to join."

Zhu Jishi nodded and smiled, "Can he be my bodyguard? He seems quite reliable."

"Bodyguard?" The general turned to look at Han Si, asked him a few questions in French, and then said to Zhu Jishi, "Sir, this Indian says it would be a great honor to serve you."

Zhu Jishi nodded and said to Isabel, "Isabel, take Han Si to our carriage and wait there."

"Sure," Isabel had no objections.

After settling Han Si, Zhu Jishi smiled at the general and said, "General, can you now take me to pay my respects to Emperor Napoleon? I have long admired this great military man."

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