Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Your Highness the Duke
"Today, you will become our most trusted and beloved partner. I hope you will always remember your mission, be loyal to the royal family, and regard the glory of Britain as your life..."At this time, Barron Cavendish was wearing a crimson velvet coat, a hat trimmed with four strips of ermine, and a crown with a gold ring decorated with eight gold leaves...
Wearing this ducal costume, he half-knelt in front of the Queen.
The queen held the knight's sword and patted him on the shoulder twice...
At this moment, the ceremony was completed, and Barron officially became the 13th Duke of Devonshire!
In England, the heirs of ordinary noble families usually hold a ceremony in their family to inherit the title after being reviewed and confirmed by a special noble management agency.
Barron's succession to the title was honored by the Queen, who personally performed the ceremony when he met her before.
The reason why the Queen made such a decision is probably that, apart from the fact that the title of Duke is the highest rank among non-royal nobles, and according to the order of granting of British dukes, the Duke of Devonshire ranks eighth among the 24 non-royal dukes still in existence, which is a prominent reason, there is also the background that the British government intends to weaken the royal family and the nobility at this time, so in a sense, it supports the Devonshire family.
…
"Your Highness, the Queen is personally performing the title succession ceremony for you. How do you feel now?"
"Duke Devonshire, we know that your family is in financial crisis. I wonder how you will deal with it next?"
As the youngest living duke in England at this time, the 22-year-old Barron Cavendish's duke succession ceremony naturally attracted many media and reporters. After walking out of Buckingham Palace, cameras appeared in front of him, and many reporters asked questions.
It can be said that many hereditary nobles have lost their inheritance in England, especially the duke family. Now there are only 24 non-royal families left. The appearance of Barron Cavendish, a duke who is only 22 years old, can also attract the attention of many people - among the dukes other than him, the youngest is ten years older than Barron.
"I am very honored to be personally canonized by Her Majesty the Queen. This will be my supreme honor. As for the situation of our family, it is not as exaggerated as the rumors say. We have just experienced some minor setbacks. I will do my best to revive the family. Thank you."
After giving this reply, Barron signaled to the officer of the Queen's Guard who was in charge of the palace protection and order. The other party ordered the guards to stop the reporters who still wanted to ask questions. Then, under the other party's gaze, Barron turned and left and got into his Rolls-Royce.
…
"Your Highness, I have conveyed your intention to Viscount Bute, saying that we will not consider selling the land of the King's Cross Victoria Gas Tank. However, we are still willing to jointly invest with them for development, but we need to renegotiate the cooperation method."
When they returned to the apartment, Yulia addressed him differently than before.
After a field visit to King's Cross Station, Barron decided to reject Viscount Bute's proposal to purchase the land.
Because at that moment, Barron suddenly discovered a problem, that is, the buildings and layout around King's Cross Station at this time were very different from the scenes in his memory when he came to London to play more than ten years later in his previous life!
Perhaps some people are puzzled by this. After more than ten years, it is normal for a place in a city to have earth-shaking changes.
Well, this impression is often an illusion caused by being in China, which has been developing rapidly. In fact, in most parts of Europe, the city scenery has been almost unchanged for more than ten years, which is the norm there.
Even many stations and subways that are hundreds of years old and located at transportation hubs are almost the same as they were a hundred years ago, which is not surprising.
But it is precisely here at King's Cross Station that the changes are very obvious, which is what Barron suddenly discovered after his in-person visit.
More than a decade later, although the general appearance of King's Cross Station was still maintained, it was obvious that it had been renovated and expanded. What he remembered very clearly was that St. Pancras Station, which was adjacent to King's Cross Station in the previous life, was the terminus in England for the "Eurostar" express train connecting the European continent to England at that time, but it was now just a functional station.
And the inspiration about those gas tanks was also activated at that time, because in the previous life, the location of the gas tank was also three huge barrel-shaped buildings, but there were high-end apartment buildings named "King's Mansion" - obviously, it was built after the gas tank was modified.
Although the shape was the same, the appearance was completely different. The glass curtain walls and bright lights of those high-end apartment houses gave Barron an impression that was completely different from the huge and ugly gas tanks he saw now.
Coupled with the huge differences between many buildings around the station in the previous life and now, Baron realized that during this period, King's Cross Station must have undergone a major renovation project, which turned the "slums" in this area into the beautiful and unique emerging cultural and commercial district in the previous life.
If there really is such a major regional transformation project, then it would be very reasonable for the three conspicuous gas tanks standing in this area to become high-end apartment buildings in the future. The construction of these residential buildings in the future also means that the approval for the conversion of industrial land into residential land has been completed. In the context of the major regional transformation project that he speculated, it would not be too difficult to obtain approval.
If this is the case, then Barron can think of the reason why Viscount Bute is so interested in this plot of land. It is very likely that he has known the plans for the King's Cross Station and the surrounding renovation projects in advance through some channels!
Now Barron's next step is to find a way to confirm this. If Viscount Bute really wants to take action on his gas tank land because he has learned some information in advance, then based on the timeline of his actions, this renovation plan may not be too far away from the time of announcement and implementation.
Based on his memories of the area around King's Cross Station in his previous life, Barron was certain that there was such a renovation plan, but he still needed to speculate on the specific time when the plan would be launched. This was also the reason why he decided to reject Viscount Bute's proposal to purchase the land, but would still discuss the cooperative development between the two parties.
After all, he didn't want to waste money here too early, but the temptation of being able to develop a real estate project in such a central area of London was too great for him to give up.
Perhaps, transforming these gas tanks into "King's Mansion" can be accomplished by his own hands.
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