Chapter 66 Monaco, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Andorra

one The entire area of ​​a sovereign state is less than two square kilometers, and Monaco is simply too small.However, this pocket-sized country is condensed with four hidden powers: a big gambling country, a big stamp country, a big racing country, and a big tourism country. These four invisible powers all have the status of overlooking the world.Let’s just talk about the big gambling country. The old-fashioned aristocratic style of the Monte Carlo casino with thick carpets, soft lights, and old furniture. Even the magnificent Las Vegas in the United States has to bow to it, not to mention Melbourne, Those luxury casinos in Kuala Lumpur and Macau.Casinos all over the world choose the boss, and it seems that Monte Carlo is none other than Monte Carlo.

Even more amazing is the racing.It is impossible for such a small country to choose another racing venue. These real streets winding on the hillside are the racing tracks.At that time, the streets will be crowded with spectators from all over the world, while various colorful racing cars will be running on the track.We didn't catch up with the racing season, and just circled the route twice. The strange thing is that the drivers of each car seem to know the route. When I asked, it turned out that they were familiar with it from the TV broadcast of each racing car. , It can be seen that the influence is great and the impression is deep.

In fact, in Monaco, what can most impact the senses of tourists are the rows of mansions on the seaside cliffs.This is the place of death chosen by a large number of ultra-rich around the world.According to the information I have read, many kidnappers, thieves, and drug lords crazily amass money in order to achieve a goal of living comfortably in Monaco.For this reason, every time I come to Monaco, I will look at these houses in a daze, thinking how many people have finally not got the keys and can only stay in prison forever. Going out, or being reluctant to greet neighbors.The wooden doors with granite frames are locked tightly, and the white private yachts seldom leave the mooring amidst the blue waves.Occasionally set off on a moonlit night without wind and waves, like a white gull flying on the water, pour out all the secrets to the Mediterranean Sea.

However, Monaco's own secrets have not been exhausted by casinos, racing cars, and luxury houses.It can even be said that even if the four invisible powers are superimposed, the biggest gap cannot be filled. It is not difficult to find this gap, which is hidden in the Oceanographic Museum, the most magnificent public building. If you have time to take a closer look at this museum, you will find that all kinds of rare and beautiful exhibits come from a long-term sea investigation.So you will become interested in those exhibitions about sea expeditions, observing the ships, utensils, guns and yellowed photos one by one, until you just learned to shoot silent film documentaries at that time.After watching and watching, I made a new discovery. It turns out that the commander of all this is Albert I, the head of state of Monaco.

The head of state did not allocate funds to subsidize experts to investigate, but personally led a team to go to sea as an expert, a total of 28 times, with outstanding scientific research results, and became the founder of modern oceanography in the world. On the third floor of the Oceanographic Museum, you can watch short documentaries of silent films shot that year. I was very moved after watching two episodes, and I was reluctant to leave.Albert I didn't look like a head of state at all on the bumpy sea ship, but a hard-working scientist.When night came, they could only live on a deserted island. When the strong wind hit, he hurriedly picked up the blown hood.

That was a hundred years ago, the land of Europe was in turmoil, and the small country he ruled had no power to deal with it, so he simply turned around, facing Zhanchen with his back to Weilan.At the moment when he was picking up the hood, many European monarchs were also rushing to pick up the crown.Only this kind of hood is comfortable for him, and it is softly buttoned on the top of his head. His strength and honor are no longer in the hat. As the king of a small country, he is insignificant, but in the field of human exploration of nature, he has been a real king. two A small country a little bigger than Monaco is San Marino.The so-called larger one is more than 30 times larger, a total of 60 square kilometers, about 1% of Shanghai.

San Marino is embedded in the middle of Italy, and we have to pass through Rimini, a small Italian seaside town, so we just stayed in Rimini.In fact, many tourists stopped in Rimini, just like us, for the purpose of going to San Marino. The tourists played at the gate before reaching their destination.The beach in Rimini is really great, the most prominent among the blue sea and blue sky are the tanned slender women and the muscular bald men.The strange thing is that the slender woman always has a boyfriend by her side, but the bald man has no women behind him, only a few boys. On the streets near the beach, there is a very lively business, which is to paint the skin patterns of young tourists who have just emerged from the sea.Just a drawing, not a tattoo.The skin has been tanned, painted with gold and silver threads, the flowers and plants are swaying, and the fish and insects are dancing. If you paint too much, it looks like a tight-fitting floral shirt has been stretched.At least I can't take a shower tonight, so I can hide from my sweat quietly, and I will go to San Marino tomorrow with a brightly colored suit.

San Marino is a mountain city with winding and overlapping roads.It is said that in the third century AD, a stonemason named Marino came here from the other side of the Adriatic Sea to hide and preach to escape religious persecution, hence the place name.Looking around, this is really a good place to hide. Judging from various legends, the stonemason left some simple political wills, and this small country did become the earliest republic in Europe.Because it is too small to have any international influence, but it will not be easily influenced by other countries in some country-building policies, so the political ecology it preserves seems to exist in an isolated cabin, which is particularly pure.

When Napoleon roamed across Europe, he didn't pay attention to anyone. One day, he suddenly discovered that there was such a small mustard country within the territory of Italy.He told his subordinates with great interest to find the leader of this small country to talk about history.Unexpectedly, after the conversation, he gradually became serious, his eyes sparkled, and he immediately announced that San Marino was allowed to continue to exist independently, and that he could allocate some more territory to it to make it a little more decent. However, the San Marino people told Napoleon that their founding father said: We don't want an inch of land from others, and we don't give an inch of land to others.The father of the nation was Marino, who was born as a mason.

I believe this answer must have silenced Napoleon for a long time.He has plundered cities and lands year after year, with arrogance, but he did not expect to collide with another value system in this most inconspicuous place.He did not lose his temper, but nodded respectfully in agreement with San Marino's refusal to grant additional territory. The person who talked to Napoleon was the chief executive of San Marino, also known as the governor.His way of appointment is not only different from Napoleon, but also different from the chief executives of countries all over the world. It is a particularly primitive and thorough democratic election method.

In simple terms, sixty members of parliament are elected by universal suffrage throughout the country, and the illiterate voters are voted by young schoolgirls, who are immaculate; and these sixty members choose among the ordinary citizens twenty candidates for the supreme chief executive , and then vote to select six of them, and finally pick a blind child from the people, and ask him to draw a list of two from the six to be the chief executive. The international status of the chief executive is equivalent to that of the presidents of various countries, but the term of office is only half a year and cannot be re-elected. The monthly salary is only five dollars, so it is difficult to be re-elected.If the elected person refuses to take office or leaves halfway, he has to bear huge fines.The ceremony was grand when he took office. The officer in office wore a round cap, wore a medal, and marched through the city surrounded by a drum band. These strange regulations embody a simple democratic political concept, and keeping them in a small country is like keeping a specimen, which is worth cherishing. I am most interested in the role of girls and blind children in the election of the supreme leader of the country.They learned early on that the more complex matters they deal with, the more childlike innocence is required. Now the international political operation is still becoming more and more complicated, and some places are even more shady, but in any case, those exhausted and sweating operators have no face to face the girls and blind children in San Marino. But why must blind children?If a child is asked to draw lots, there are many ways, so why be really blind?Maybe there is a legend?In this regard, I still have to inquire and think about it. three The next largest small country is Liechtenstein, sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria, with an area of ​​160 square kilometers, which is about one percent of Beijing. The capital of Liechtenstein is called Vaduz. The most obvious sign is a prince's castle on the cliff on the top of the mountain. Today's royal residence, Vaduz is at the foot of the cliff.In fact, this capital city is just a clean street with two neat rows of buildings and dozens of shops open in lively places. As soon as you enter the store, you know that this place is rich, and the price is enough to explain everything. Most small countries are big countries with stamps, and Liechtenstein is no exception, and many stores sell them.I fell in love with it at the first glance, and the printing is really beautiful.Even I, who was not very interested in philately, did not hesitate to buy a set of Rubens paintings for the wedding of the royal family members and the royal family’s collection, together with several sets of miscellaneous tickets. I really wanted to walk through the entire capital quickly, so I stepped forward desperately.The old and new buildings on the road are mixed, both new and old are full of charm.In contrast, the stamp building has the most panache, which is related to financial gain.I saw some mailboxes on the side of the corridor of the building, and it reminded me that Liechtenstein has formulated extremely convenient company registration rules in order to attract foreign investment. It doesn't even require a house address, just apply for a post office box.This matter was a bit tempting to me, and I thought why not easily start a cultural communication company registered in Liechtenstein, and then find a company in China to engage in Sino-foreign joint ventures.Liu Lu, Wen Diya, and Wang Duoduo were all eager to try, but they couldn't take it seriously when they thought about the high mountains and the high waters. I finally found the building that used to be the prime minister's residence, which is now an old fashioned hotel.During the years when I was the prime minister's office, the court was also inside, and I also know that the basement is a prison. This knowledge all comes from an unverified legend. That night, the deputy prime minister got off work late because of an important matter. When he got to the gate, he found that the door was locked and he couldn't go out.He beat and beat, helpless.A man came up from the basement, took out the key and opened the door for him.The deputy prime minister thought that the person who opened the door lived in the basement, but when he asked, who knew that it was a prisoner locked down below. Why did the prisoner hold the gate key?Was it stolen, or was it stolen and reforged and then put back in the original?This is not important, the deputy prime minister thinks the most important question is: Why didn't the prisoner escape when he got the key?So he asked the question face to face. The prisoner said: Our country is so small, everyone knows each other, where should I escape? So why not flee to a foreign country? The prisoner said: You man, which country in the world is better than us? So he had nowhere to escape, locked the door behind him, and walked back to the basement. This thing sounds very comfortable. Four The largest of these small pocket countries is Andorra, with an area of ​​more than 400 square kilometers, which is less than one-thirtieth of that of Beijing. Daudet once said: Have you never been to Andorra?What kind of traveler is that?We all know that we should listen in reverse.On the surface, it seems to be saying that Andorra is a country that must be visited, but in fact, it is a way of boasting to put forward the highest standard for becoming a traveler.So instead it proved that Andorra was difficult to reach in his time. Of course it is difficult.From France to Andorra, one must cross the Pyrenees.In the middle, you have to go through the canyon, climb the top of the mountain, and cross the Jixi River. Even the place called the mountain pass has to turn up and down.It was snowing when we went. Between France and Spain, Andorra has always been contested by them, and began to pay tribute to them in the thirteenth century.I am intrigued by the tribute figures that remain unchanged for seven hundred years. Andorra pays 960 francs to France in odd-numbered years, equivalent to more than one hundred U.S. dollars; in even-numbered years, it pays 430 pesetas to Spain, equivalent to more than two U.S. dollars.At the same time, there are twenty sticks of ham, twelve pickled chickens, and twelve pieces of cheese.It is still this number today, just like a mountain man visiting relatives.I don't know what ceremony France and Spain, as developed countries, will use to welcome these tributes? I think it should be grand.Because although modern society is rich, it lacks the simple flavor of primitive politics.Only simplicity can last forever. After entering the territory of Andorra, there is still a long way to the capital Andorra La Vella.There are occasional houses on the side of the road, with gray stones as walls and black stone tiles as tiles, simple and beautiful.The buildings in the city are not so beautiful, but there is the roar of water in the center of the downtown area. When you get closer, you can see the confluence of mountains and streams, like waterfalls and tides. In the store in Andorra I looked at the price tags of each item and laughed. Andorra is too small to have its own currency, the French franc and the Spanish peseta are commonly used.Tourism is its first financial income, and tourists come from all over the world, so it is necessary to mark various prices converted in national currencies on each commodity.But which text to use to mark it?After much deliberation, a method was adopted, which is to use the national flags of various countries to represent the currencies of various countries, which is clear at a glance. This is where things get really interesting.Even if you go to buy a pair of socks, if you pick up the price tag, it looks like you are at the gate of the United Nations headquarters, with hundreds of flags juxtaposed, colorful and lively.Every country, especially the developed ones in the lead, all solemnly raised their flags and loudly bid for a pair of socks from Andorra, and with so many countries crammed together, there seemed to be a lot of competition. This is really a great fortune for a small commodity, and a big ostentation for a small country. Overnight in Andorra, the windows are blocked by the mountains, and the night wind is very cool.I read until midnight, thinking that outside the window is a small space surrounded by many mountains. This small space is hidden deep in Europe. I also hid with it tonight, and suddenly felt a little strange.We have tried hard all our lives, but we have never had the experience of hiding in the depths of mountains thousands of miles away. The tops of the nearby mountains were covered with snow.It's only autumn. I don't know if people here will travel in the severe winter season, and how will they travel?Even, will there be news that a country has disappeared due to an avalanche?