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 62: Duel (Part 2)
Subtitle of this chapter: Duel! The duel is coming!
"Honor duels began in Italy in the 16th century. For several centuries, duels existed in these countries and regions in a form of legal tolerance or even encouragement, sometimes reaching a peak and a level of madness beyond people's imagination."
"Dueling soon spread to other European countries. In France, approximately 10,000 nobles died in duels in the last decade of the 16th century and the first decade of the 17th century."
"The British are not bad either. During the reign of George III from 1760 to 1820, a total of 172 duels were recorded, with 62 deaths. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. According to statistics, the number of private duels that have not been recorded is a hundred times these two figures!"
"With the expansion of European colonization, dueling was also introduced to America. Dueling became a very serious social problem in this new continent. For example, from 1798 to the outbreak of the Civil War, two-thirds of active naval officers died in duels."
"Alexander Hamilton, who is featured on the ten-dollar bill, is probably the most famous American to have died in a duel. The first U.S. Treasury Secretary had always been at odds with his longtime political rival, Aaron Burr, who served as Thomas Jefferson's vice president . Finally, in 1804, Hamilton accused Burr in a newspaper of being unqualified for the position of vice president, and Burr, in a rage, demanded a duel to settle the matter with Hamilton."
"Although Aaron Burr was not one of the founding fathers, he is known as the 'Father of American Politics'. The American democratic system that has been used to this day was designed by him. The reason why Burr did not become a founding father was because he was too studious. Before independence, he was the most highly educated person in the United States. When there were still few college students, he graduated from Princeton and studied law. How could such a person who had reached the level of a doctoral supervisor right after graduation have the time to hold a year-long meeting to discuss independence?"
"The feud between these two great men was not simple. Burr was elected as a federal senator, and he took the position of Hamilton's father-in-law. Four years later, Hamilton manipulated him to be voted out and let his father-in-law make a comeback. This is the first feud. When Hamilton's extramarital affair was discovered, the two generals of the Democratic and Republican parties who confronted him were Monroe, who later became president, and Burr. Later, the love letter leaked, causing Hamilton to fall completely politically. Hamilton challenged Monroe to a duel, and Burr tried hard to prove that Monroe did not do it. This is the second feud. In the 1800 election, Burr and Jefferson received the same number of votes, and the outcome was to be decided by Congress. At the critical moment, Hamilton supported Jefferson, and Burr was still the vice president. This is the third feud. Four years later, Burr ran for governor of New York, but Hamilton ruined his campaign again. This is the fourth feud."
"In the duel, Hamilton was shot by Burr and died the next day . Burr was accused of murder, but he was never tried. In 1805, Burr ended his term as vice president and never recovered. His reputation has never been restored. After retiring from politics, this top student rented a piece of land in Texas from the relevant departments of the Kingdom of Spain and became an honest farmer..."
"How is this possible?! He later became the highest-ranking traitor in American history. He wanted to collude with the British and Spanish to swallow up Louisiana, Florida and Texas to establish an independent kingdom. Unfortunately, Jefferson saw through his plan and sent him to Europe as an ambassador."
"Let's take out another $20 bill. On it is Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, the first governor of Florida, a war hero of the Battle of New Orleans, one of the founders of the Democratic Party, and a pistol duel enthusiast. He participated in thirteen duels in his life. But he only killed one person in all those duels."
"That man's name was Charles Dixon. At the age of 26, he was already the most famous duelist in the United States. He had fought so many duels that he had lost count, and had killed 26 opponents in total."
"The reason for the duel was that Dixon attacked Jackson in public for having an affair. When the Jacksons got married, they didn't know that the woman's divorce was not completed, and they remarried. This became a pretext for others to attack Jackson. Every time someone attacked him, Jackson asked for a duel. Dixon stood up because his father-in-law had a quarrel with Jackson over horse racing."
"The duel was held in Nashville, Tennessee. According to local rules, the party accepting the challenge had the right to request to shoot first, and Jackson agreed. Facing the best gunman in the United States, he let the other party shoot first? Onlookers thought Jackson was doomed."
"Dixon shot Jackson in the chest. Jackson fired after being shot, but he was a bad guy. If he was more magnanimous in this situation, the duel could have ended, but Jackson refused. He insisted on firing. After reloading, he fired another shot, killing Dixon on the spot. However, this bullet accompanied Jackson for the rest of his life and was the culprit for his early death."
"In addition to these two, Washington on the one dollar bill and Lincoln on the five dollar bill, the two greatest American presidents, were once involved in duels. Fortunately, they both escaped unscathed, otherwise history would have been different."
"Americans, especially Southerners, love dueling so much that a group of judges in South Carolina created eight chapters of dueling rules."
"With the end of the American Civil War, the last land in the world that advocated dueling disappeared, and perhaps the traditional spirit of chivalry also disappeared. If we, the younger generation, have the opportunity to ask our predecessors why they loved dueling so much, they may say, I never figured out why we dueled. But you know, in that era, all gentlemen fought."
"But after that, some gentlemen still did not give up fighting, even into the 20th century. The most famous duel of that era took place between Harold Alexander, the British military attaché to the United States at the time, and Yuan Yanshu, who would become famous in the future..."
——Excerpt from "A History of American Duels"
"Neo Yuan, I challenge you to a duel!"
Why are you so fierce? A duel is not a sleep. You said you want to duel with the Lun family, so does that mean the Lun family will duel with you? !
Our Master Yuan has always believed that a son of a wealthy family should not sit in seclusion. He has finally traveled through time, and there are so many things to do, so many books to copy, so many girls to pick up, and so many celebrities to fool... Is it appropriate to just die like that?
Of course, it is impossible to apologize. Yuan Yanshu will never apologize in his life. He will not use knives or guns. He relies on talking nonsense to maintain his status as a master...
"Pika Pika."
"Master Ball, even this paragraph is suspected of plagiarism? Your standards are really strict!"
"Host, you don't want to be manipulated by others, so you'd better be cautious."
"Master Ball, what is a color palette?"
"Host, the color palette is..."
Just when Yuan Yan was distracted, a kind-hearted person finally came to his rescue.
"Gentlemen, I appreciate your patriotism, but I must remind you that dueling is illegal in Washington, D.C.."
When everyone heard the voice, they saw that the person who spoke was an old man with a solemn appearance, a high nose, deep eyes, white hair and beard, and a very stylish goatee.
Someone in the crowd asked, "Who is this old gentleman?"
His companion replied: "You don't even know him? This is Mr. Charles Evans Hughes."
It turned out that this man was one of the most famous lawyers in the United States at the time, and was also the next Secretary of State who summoned Master Yuan to Washington.
This old guy is good, really good.
Yuan Yan suddenly realized that this was a favor for him, so he bowed earnestly to Mr. Hughes, turned around and said happily: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, you heard it too. Dueling is prohibited in Washington, DC, so I refuse..."
"Excuse me, gentlemen. But as far as I remember, dueling is not prohibited in the neighboring state of Virginia!"
Who is it, who is it that ruins my good deeds? !
When our Master Yuan heard this familiar voice, he became furious. He turned around and saw that it was indeed a lawyer he knew... John Edgar Hoover.
Yuan Yanshu now had no place to regret and could only sigh in her heart. This guy was really a vengeful person. He was indeed a poisonous snake.
At this dance, the person that "Mr. Hermit" was most concerned about was naturally "Mr. Fool", so he noticed this dispute very early and tricked Yuan Yanshu at this critical moment.
In fact, Virginia did not explicitly prohibit dueling, but duels resulting in casualties were still punishable.
This time it was Mr. Harold Alexander's turn to have the upper hand. He laughed and said arrogantly: "Did you hear that, Mr. Yuan? Washington can't duel, so let's go to Virginia to duel."
Well, Virginia and Washington DC are separated by the Potomac River, which is equivalent to Pudong to Puxi, otherwise Major Patton would not be stationed in Fort Myer, Virginia.
"Humph, either you apologize now, or accept my duel!"
Sir Hall suddenly spoke up and "advised" him, "Harold, why do you have to argue with the Chinese? Are we British gentlemen still afraid of being slandered by villains from uncivilized countries? Why not just forget it..."
When he said this, someone in the crowd echoed: "Sir, you are right. What do the Chinese know about honor and chivalry?"
"That's it. This squinty-eyed guy probably can't even shoot a gun, right?"
"I heard he's a writer. Maybe he became nearsighted from writing novels?"
At this time, Cao Linsheng beside him also whispered to persuade him: "Brother Hongjian, just apologize."
Major Cao also found an excuse for Master Yuan: "We Chinese people believe that our bodies and hair are given by our parents, so we dare not damage the beginning of filial piety..."
Yuan Yan, whose heart was beating fast, heard this and couldn't help but said, "Wait, Brother Qingzhi. What did you just say?"
"Just say sorry..."
"No, the latter sentence!"
"Body and hair..."
Yeah, why didn’t I think of that?
"PEOPLE, SILENCE!"
Our Master Yuan suddenly raised his hand and shouted. He looked around for a long time before he asked, "Ladies and gentlemen, as a Chinese, I am not very familiar with your Western duel rules. But I remember that the challenged party has the right to choose the duel method, right?"
Everyone around said in unison: "YES!"
"Well then..." Yuan Yan nodded, looked directly at the lieutenant colonel and said seriously: "Mr. Harold Alexander, I will not apologize to you, but I demand your apology."
"So I accept your challenge, let's..."
"Let's duel!"
