Chapter 1 Time Travel

February 24, 1862, Germany.

Late at night, the drunken stars emitted a faint light in the black and cold sky.

The perspective turns to the south of Germany. The cold wind of early winter is blowing the branches and leaves of the street trees in the ancient city of Hesingen, making the leaves rustle.

The rotten wood-colored street lamps connected together to create light and shadow everywhere, illuminating the street made of dark blue stone slabs. The pedestrians on the street were lonely, and hollow ghostly sounds came from the black alleys.

Through the windows of the scattered houses on both sides of the street, you can seem to hear people whispering.

It was time for the citizens of Hechingen to enjoy dinner. The light and shadow of the candles swayed left and right in the dark rotten wood window frames, dancing freely like natural dancers.

Walking forward along the road, slowly leaving the block, a road leading to the outside of the city suddenly opened up. Along the low slope, a luxuriously decorated carriage slowly drove out of the city, heading into the distance along the road. Walking up the hill, there stands a solemn old castle on the hill.

Soon, the carriage drove to the gate of the castle. The guard with a gun opened the gate after seeing the visitor clearly, and the carriage slowly drove into the castle.

The person sitting in the carriage was none other than the ruler of the Hechingen region, Prince Constantine of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Hechingen was originally a small country in southeastern Germany and the birthplace of the Hohenzollern family. It is now part of the Prussian province of Hohenzollern.

The decision-maker who pushed Hechingen to join the Kingdom of Prussia was Prince Constantine, whose full name was Constantine von Hohenzollern.

Prince Constantine finally returned home after a tiring day of running around and was about to return to his room to rest.

Suddenly, a burst of rapid footsteps came from the corridor, and it was the old butler Keno.

"Master, no, something big happened!" Kainuo reported to Constantine in panic.

"What's going on, Kainuo, don't be impatient and speak slowly?" Constantine said calmly and naturally.

"His Royal Highness suddenly fainted while riding a horse today. The doctor is making a diagnosis now. Sir, go and have a look!" Kainuo explained quickly.

As soon as he heard that something happened to his son, Constantine's majesty as a superior could not be restrained. Ignoring his exhaustion, he followed the housekeeper to the door of his son's bedroom.

The servants were waiting in front of the door, not daring to take a breath, cautiously waiting for the arrival of their old master.

Constantine couldn't say anything, so he opened the bedroom door and walked in to see his son Ernst lying on the bed.

Seeing that Ernst, who had "awakened" in front of him, was safe and sound, Constantine felt relieved. Looking at the doctor waiting on the side, Constantine asked: "Doctor, how is the situation?"

The doctor did not dare to be negligent and replied respectfully: "Dear Your Excellency, the Prince is currently in no serious condition, but the cause of his fainting cannot be determined yet. It is most likely caused by excessive fatigue. We'd better ask His Highness the Prince later."

Constantine carefully came to the hospital bed, held his son's tender little hand and asked: "Ernst, how do you feel?"

…

Ernst felt that he was completely confused and felt a little depressed. He suddenly heard someone asking him a question, but he did not dare to act too deliberately. He whispered softly: "Well, I feel a little confused in my head, and I am still a little unclear now."

"Then do you still remember who I am?" Prince Constantine asked eagerly.

"Of course, father, it may be the sequelae of my fainting. It shouldn't be a big problem."

Constantine turned to look at the doctor. The doctor quickly replied: "Your Excellency, don't worry too much. The prince's physical condition has been checked before and he is very healthy. He can rest for a while and then observe. If there is any situation, I will Follow up with treatment promptly.”

Looking at the dark sky outside the window, Prince Constantine thought for a while and said: "Well, okay, you all go down! Let the prince have a good rest."

Everyone exited the room quietly. The old butler closed the door when he left. Prince Constantine breathed a sigh of relief and found that he was covered in cold sweat behind him. Prince Constantine put his hands on his chest and said piously, "Thank you Lord." of asylum!"

Prince Ernst, as the only heirloom of the Hohenzollern family, has been Constantine's heart since he was a child.

Constantine did not have this child until he was fifty years old. Shortly after Ernst was born, his wife Eugenie de Beauharnais died of a cold, so Prince Constantine loved Prince Ernst very much.

Of course, historically Constantine had no heirs. From the moment Ernst was born, the timeline of history changed and new branches sprouted from the main branch.

At this moment, Ernst did not dare to take a breath, lying on the bed and pretending to be an ostrich, because only he knew that he was actually a time traveler. Today, I suddenly awakened the memory of my past life, so I passed out. In my previous life, I was a "resident of the motherland". Not only did I work like a cow, but I was considered dead. I occasionally read novels to relieve my boredom, and vented my emotions in the group.

Of course, it has been twelve years since Ernst came here, and it was only today that he found out that he was a time traveler. Is this considered a new life? It feels quite like Zhuang Zhou Mengdie.

Fortunately, the knowledge and common sense learned in the previous life cannot deceive oneself, plus the evidence of historical events, such as the dead Napoleon the Great, the loose German Confederation, the still developing Prussia, and the still majestic Austrian Empire. , and his identity as a member of the Hohenzollern family...

Speaking of the Hohenzollern family, they are famous, but there are still some differences between the Ernst family and the famous Hohenzollern family of Prussia and Brandenburg. My family is the youngest branch of the Hohenzollern family. Located in the southwest of Germany in the previous life, there is also a young branch of the Hohenzollern family - Sigmaringen. It belongs to the same Swabian branch as Hechingen where he is. This Sigmaringen happened to be mentioned in Ernst's superficial knowledge. learn.

There have been attempts to seek the throne of Spain in history, and there will be emperors of Romania in the future. From this point of view, except for my own family, they are all prominent families whose names are recorded in history books.

If you want to ask why there is no Hechingen Hohenzollern, well... because the historical Hechingen line has become extinct, but the arrival of Ernst changed history.

While Ernst was still sorting out his brain circuits and memories, Constantine had come to his senses and began to ask: "Are you feeling better? Ernst."

"Yes, father, I think after a sleep I can be active again." Ernst responded pretending to be relaxed.

"It's fine if nothing happens. You will inherit the title in the future. Don't be under too much pressure. It doesn't matter even if you live in confusion for the rest of your life. I don't ask for progress, but I must grow up healthily and pay more attention to rest. , eat more healthy food, and don’t imitate those spendthrifts and playboys who overindulge..."

Barbara said a lot before Constantine gave up, tucked Ernst's quilt, told him to have a good rest and call the servants if anything happened, and then he got up and left the room.

The candlelight flickered weakly, illuminating the dark walls, and the room fell into silence.

Ernst curled up under the quilt to keep his body warmer and began to collect his thoughts.

Speaking of which, in his previous life, Ernst had a promising job and was sent to Africa as an engineering consultant by his company. His life in Africa was boring, and he often moved with the construction site.

In my previous life, I worked in an isolated wilderness, with frequent power and network outages, and sometimes supply shortages. Fortunately, my salary was decent.

The days in Africa greatly changed Ernst's perception. In his previous life, Ernst worked in Tanzania, a remote African country.

Working in Tanzania gave Ernst a new understanding of Africa. Before going to Africa in person, Ernst was influenced by the media and news. In his impression, Africa was synonymous with backwardness, poverty, harsh natural conditions and instability.

But when he actually worked and lived there, Ernst overturned his previous ideas. Most of the information on the Internet was generalized.

In terms of environment alone, the temperature and precipitation conditions in Tanzania are better than those in his hometown of the North China Plain.

Originally, Africa was known to have unbearable heat. The huge tropical rainforests, endless savannahs, and vast deserts like the Sahara were deeply reflected in Ernst's mind. However, when he arrived in Tanzania, Ernst found that the temperature here was ten Between a few degrees and 30 degrees, neither hot nor cold. There is abundant rainfall in the rainy season every year, and the rain and heat conditions are excellent.

Tanzania is a small and unknown country. Due to work reasons, Ernst became familiar with it. By searching for information on the Internet and comparing it with the actual situation, he found that this country was unexpected.

Although it is located in the tropics, it has become a livable place because of its plateau terrain, similar to the Brazilian plateau.

The land is flat, the vegetation is dense, and savannas account for the majority. This has also changed my perception, because the grasslands of Africa conflict with the grasslands that I have traditionally recognized.

Before seeing a savanna with his own eyes, Ernst naturally imagined the grasslands around the world to be like the Mongolian grasslands.

But when he arrived in Africa, Ernst saw a different scenery. The savanna can be said to be a unique landscape that combines trees and grasslands. It looks very pleasing to the eye. The water and heat conditions far exceed those of the Mongolian grassland. Mongolia has been mentioned in history from childhood to adulthood. That area is described as a bitter cold land in the north of the country, but the African savanna is a real natural paradise.

Farmers here can generally have a good harvest, and they are based on rough planting methods. The biggest worry of local farmers may be that it is difficult to obtain water for irrigation, and there is a lack of water conservancy projects and basic farmland irrigation systems.

The living standards of the local people are not too bad, and the relatively rough lifestyle can make poor Africans feel comfortable.

Because it is located in the savanna, fruits and meat can be supplemented to a certain extent. Coupled with the rough small-scale peasant economy, the living standard of farmers is higher than that of farmers at the end of the ancient East Asian dynasties.

Of course, life attitude is also an important factor. In the past hundred years of colonial history, Westerners have forcibly pulled us from primitive hunting lifestyles to modern society.

The concepts of Africans have not changed in time, and the complex, sophisticated and natural survival patterns of East Asians are difficult to embody in Africa.

Industrial conditions also have a major feature in Africa. The mineral resources here are not as superior as what is said on the Internet. Take Tanzania as an example.

This is a country that mines and exports minerals, but many major mineral resources are actually not as rich as imagined. There are coal, iron, copper, and oil, but there are not many compared to those countries with real resources.

Many resources are not ranked high in the world, but the extremely low level of industrialization has resulted in a wealth of mining resources.

My own impression is that East Asia is a mineral-poor country, which is actually related to the high degree of industrialization in East Asia. However, when comparing the actual mineral resource reserves of Tanzania, it is the younger brother.

In terms of Shancong coal, iron and oil, East Asia has world-class large mines, and for petroleum, there are several well-known large oil fields.

Tanzania was also considered an oil-poor country before oil was discovered on its eastern coast. But Tanzania is not a small country as people traditionally think of it.

In terms of land area, it is 940,000 square kilometers, which is almost one-tenth of East Asia. However, the deserts in the northwest of East Asia alone account for nearly a quarter of the area. There are also alpine plateaus that are too high to be easily developed. There are no clear mountain ranges, and only the eastern part has considerable conditions for agricultural development.

The main body of Tanzania is a plateau, but the altitude of the plateau is not too high, the terrain is relatively gentle, and the equator passes through it. The temperature is suitable and the precipitation is moderate. This has made it a well-known agricultural country in Africa. Tanzania's comprehensive natural agricultural conditions are estimated to be second only to Africa. Nigeria.

In terms of population, Tanzania is also a populous country by international standards. It has exceeded the 50 million population mark and is still growing rapidly. But Tanzania still has a lot of uncultivated land, fishery resources are not fully developed, and the population limit is not there.

As for industrial conditions, although mineral resources are not very rich, but depending on who you compare with, at least a group of small and medium-sized countries in Europe are far behind. It is completely sufficient if it meets primary industrialization. Africa's overall mineral resources are not rich among all continents. The resources are concentrated in South Africa and West Africa, as well as North Africa, which has unique oil resources. Tanzania's mineral resources are also medium-sized in Africa.

In terms of transportation, Tanzania is also pretty good. It is located on the traditional commercial waterway of the Indian Ocean. Dar es Salaam is one of the few well-known large ports in Africa. Before the opening of the Suez Canal, it was an important world-class commercial node. It is a pearl on the Indian Ocean. It was a spur of the moment in history. The Oman Empire established its semicolon here - the Kingdom of Zanzibar.

It can be seen from this that Tanzania’s conditions are not bad in all aspects, so why is the level of development so low?

Before Ernst went to work in Africa, he was influenced by traditional media and believed that there was only one reason for poverty in Africa. Africans were lazy and relied on the weather for their livelihood.

But after coming to Africa, Ernst discovered that this idea was one-sided and that it was just a symptom.

A variety of factors are the source of poverty in Africa. Before the arrival of colonists, the overall civilization level of the African continent was very low. The isolation of the Sahara Desert caused most places in southern Africa to be civilized deserts. Only Ethiopia in West Africa and East Africa developed independence. civilization, and was greatly influenced by the Arabs.

The Bantu people in West Africa were the first people to explore south. However, the Bantu people only developed the civilizational characteristics of early countries and had extremely low technological levels. To migrate south, they had to pass through the Congo rainforest and wild beasts such as the Central African savannah. Areas all over. The expansion of the Oman Empire in the Middle East was limited to Zanzibar Island and the coast of East Africa, and the civilization did not expand into the interior of Africa.

In Central and South Africa, there are widespread tribal social forms based on hunting. The tribes on the Mongolian grasslands were influenced by the culture of the Central Plains and developed political power. But in Africa it is a desert of political power. The natives live a life of struggle against wild beasts.

The arrival of Westerners brought this area, dominated by primitive tribes, into the system of modern society.

According to Ernst’s own experience, this destructive method makes it difficult for local indigenous people to integrate into modern society. For example, in the western mountainous areas of the Land of Abundance in East Asia, slavery was still in place when the Republic was founded. After nearly a hundred years of integration and support, it is still It is difficult to change some habits of local people.

What's more, Westerners and social forms that are not from poverty alleviation are worse than Africa's primitive tribal society of slavery.

In fact, tribalism was already a very advanced system for Africans at that time.

At that time, the most basic form of family and village still existed in many parts of Africa. How can I put it, even the lions on the African grasslands also had this kind of family as their form of existence!

Therefore, the starting point of African civilization is very low, almost non-existent, and it is at the same level as prehistoric civilization.

Africa was forced to embark on the path of civilization under the gunfire of Westerners, which was also the cause of constant wars in Africa after independence.

Of course, Tanzania has not been affected by large-scale wars. In modern times, Tanzania's overall stability ranks among the best among African countries.

However, Tanzanians lack experience in governing the country, have no history to draw from, and have a low starting point. The solidification of society has resulted in little overall progress. Although there has been some development, it is insignificant compared to the entire world. Just like East Asia and the Middle East in later generations far surpassed Africa. .

But compared to one-shot countries in Africa, Tanzania can already be said to be one of the most successful countries in Africa.

Ernst couldn't help but feel sad when he recalled his life experience in his previous life. Going from an area with complete infrastructure to working in an area with basically no infrastructure was a disaster. Later, Ernst gradually adapted to that kind of life.

Of course, now is not the time to recall the past life. I have traveled through history and returned to modern Europe. A new life is beckoning to me again, and I am about to seek my place in the torrent of history.