For European nobles, hunting was once a stage where they showed their privileges, especially large prey such as wild boar and elk. For a period of time, this was the prey that only nobles had the right to hunt.
Many great aristocrats love hunting, such as Constantine's grandfather, the current King Christian IX of Denmark, who likes hunting very much, and hunts every spring and autumn.
Constantine's grandfather and father were both the current king.
In 1862, the Danish prince and Constantine's father, 18-year-old George, was elected as the king of Greece, while Christian himself was also the crown prince of Denmark.
This creates a strange scene where the son is the king ahead of the father.
Later Christian was crowned as the King of Denmark, and he had the wonder of father and son being king at the same time.
Constantine held in his hand an exquisite shotgun given by his grandfather Christian IX when he was hunting with his grandfather Christian IX last year. The butt was made of lacquered reddish-brown walnut. It felt very smooth to the touch, and it was black like ink. The barrel is decorated with intricate patterns on the back of the gun with bright silver patterns.
This is a precious hand-made double-barreled shotgun.
Wearing long boots, tight red safari suit and black felt hat, he came to the yard.
Only heard the barking of dogs one after another in the yard, 30 hounds of various colors gathered in patterns, and the reins were pulled by a male servant in a hunting suit.
Probably seeing the arrival of Constantine, the dogs wagged their tails vigorously, shouted loudly, struggling in the direction of Constantine.
The 30 sturdy hounds worked hard together, and the servant gritted his teeth trying to control the emotional hounds, and pulled on the reins, his faces flushed.
Constantine came to the hounds and stroked their heads in turn. The petted hounds stretched out their heads, squinted, and enjoyed themselves.
At the same time, I said something in my mouth; "good boy, how are you guys".
These hounds are usually kept in the kennel of the manor, and Constantine will feed the hounds when he is free.
Therefore, these hounds have a close relationship with Constantine, and occasionally Constantine will train these hounds how to chase their prey.
Tatoy Palace covers an area of 4,500 hectares. It is located on the mountainside in the north of Athens, surrounded by forests and grasslands. It is a good hunting ground.
Constantine squatted down to greet the dogs one by one, and asked the butler Cape next to him:
"Butler Cappet, is the guest I invited here?"
Butler Cappet glanced at the watch on his wrist and replied: "Your Excellency, they will be here soon."
Hearing that Constantine was about to invite several guests to the manor for a spring hunting event last night, the butler of Cape hurriedly sent someone to send the invitation letter to the mansion of the invited guests.
"Constantine, early"
Suddenly, Nina's voice came. Constantine turned to see Nina wearing a black hunting suit and a black felt hat, riding on the back of a white horse.
But she was dressed as a heroic huntress who didn't let her beard.
Constantine said: "Nina, do you want to go hunting too?"
I saw Nina on horseback excitedly: "How can you miss such a good outing season?"
Nina has a special status. Although she is nominally Constantine's maid, she is backed by Miss Aphrola behind her, and she is also loved by Queen Olga.
To be more like a noble guest in the palace.
At this moment, there was a loud noise, and it seemed that the guests had arrived.
I saw a few young men riding horses, with shotguns, and some carriages behind them, and servants trailed behind them.
Constantine greeted him, and several young men got off their horses and bowed in salute.
"Welcome you, come to Tatoy Palace as a guest," Constantine stepped forward and hugged the leading young man.
This person's name is Ji'an Gao Bairui. The Gao Bairui family is one of the founders of the National Bank of Greece and has been holding shares in this bank ever since.
The National Bank of Greece is now the largest bank in Greece. At the same time, it is also the currency of Greece. The issuing bank of Delamark controls Greece's currency issuance rights.
"Hello, George Steve, long time no see." Constantine hugged a young man with a tall nose and blue eyes.
"Thank you for your invitation, Your Highness, I am honored to be a guest at Tatoy Palace," Steve complimented.
"Thank you," George replied.
In 1841, Swiss bankers Gian Gaobriel Inanna and George Steve co-founded the National Bank of Greece.
Although this bank sounds like a government's central bank, it is an authentic private bank that has always controlled the currency issuance rights in Greece.
Gian Gaobriel Inanna and George Steve are the grandfathers of these two young men. These two families control the largest bank in Greece.
"Hello, Costebro", Constantine greeted the third young man in a hug.
"Hello, Your Highness, it is an honor to receive your invitation," Costerbrook replied.
The Costebro family is the owner of the Greek Alpha Bank. Since the establishment of this bank in 1879, The Costebro family has always controlled it.
There are children from other wealthy families, but Constantine pays more attention to these three.
In the carriage behind, a few rich girls dressed in gorgeous long skirts came to Constantine, holding the sides of the skirt with both hands, and stooping to perform court etiquette.
"Welcome you to visit the Tatoy Palace, beautiful ladies, I hope you have a good time," Constantine responded with peace.
If you are in other European countries, most of Constantine's guests should be children of nobles.
But the situation in Greece is special.
Greece, which had just gained independence from Ottoman Turkey in 1830, had a short period of independence, only a few decades.
Also, King Otto before George I was deposed by the Greeks.
This leads to a special situation in Greece: apart from the royal family and a few nobles from the royal family, there are no other nobles at all.
So there is today's scene, the guests are all from merchant families.
"Well, all the guests are here, we can go," Constantine raised his voice, feeling loudly.
The young boys turned on their horses, and the rich ladies couldn't ride horses because they were wearing long skirts, so they could only enter the carriage.
The high society of Europe in the 19th century saw hunting as a rare opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and get close to nature.
Therefore, it was all the rage in the upper class, and Constantine was still looking forward to it.
The servant let go of the reins that bound the hound.
The hounds ran quickly to Constantine's bay red horse, huddled around, squatting on the ground, raising their heads, observing Constantine, and barking at him non-stop.
The burgundy horse carries a package on its back, which contains tools that may be used in the hunting process.
Tools include: binoculars, dog whistle, a large and small dagger, medical bandages, matches, poncho, compass, plenty of food and water.
Constantine, riding on the bay red horse, took the lead, led the horse team, and walked out of the gate. The hounds behind him followed the horse.
Upon seeing this, Nina hurriedly followed.
The crowd drove to the hunting ground in a mighty force.