Chapter 1: Crossing
February 24, 1862, Germany.
Late at night, the intoxicated stars emit a faint light in the black and cold sky.
The view turns to southern Germany. The cold wind of early winter blows the branches and leaves of the trees on the roadside of the ancient city of Hechingen, and the leaves rustle.
The rotten wood-colored street lamps formed patches of light and shadow, illuminating the street paved with dark green stone slabs. The streets were deserted, and hollow, ghostly sounds came from the dark alleys.
Through the windows of the houses on both sides of the street, you can almost hear people whispering.
The citizens of Hechingen were enjoying dinner time. The light and shadow of the candles swayed left and right in the dark rotten wood window frames, dancing freely like natural born dancers.
Walking along the road and slowly leaving the block, a road leading out of the city suddenly opened up. Along the low slope, a luxuriously decorated carriage slowly drove out of the city and moved along the road towards the distant hills, on which stood a solemn and majestic castle.
Soon, the carriage arrived in front of the castle gate. The armed guards saw who was coming and opened the gate. 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 Hohenzollern Province of Prussia.
The decision maker who pushed Hechingen to join the Kingdom of Prussia was Prince Constantine, whose full name was Constantine von Hohenzollern.
After a tiring day of running around, Prince Constantine finally returned home and was about to go back to his room to rest.
Suddenly, a burst of hurried footsteps came from the corridor. The visitor was the old butler Kaino.
"Master, it's bad, something big has happened!" Kayno reported to Constantine in panic.
"What's going on, Keno? Don't be anxious, tell me slowly?" Constantine said calmly.
"Today, His Royal Highness the Prince suddenly fainted while riding a horse. The doctor is diagnosing him now. Master, please go and see him!" Kainuo explained hurriedly.
When Constantine heard that his son was in trouble, his dignity as a superior could no longer be suppressed. He ignored his fatigue and followed the butler to the door of his son's bedroom.
The servants were waiting at the door, not daring to breathe, cautiously awaiting the arrival of their old master.
Constantine didn't know what to say, so he pushed open the bedroom door, walked in and saw his son Ernst lying on the bed.
Seeing Ernst, who had "awoke" in front of him, safe and sound, Constantine felt relieved. Looking at the doctor waiting beside him, Constantine asked, "Doctor, how is the situation?"
The doctor did not dare to neglect the matter and replied respectfully: "Your Excellency, the prince is currently fine, but the cause of his fainting is still unknown. It is very likely caused by excessive fatigue. We should ask His Royal Highness the Prince later."
Constantine carefully came to the bedside, held his son's tender little hand and asked: "Ernst, how do you feel?"
…
Ernst felt confused and a little depressed. When he heard someone asking him a question, he didn't dare to show it too deliberately. He said softly, "Well, I feel a little confused and I'm still a little unclear."
"Then do you remember who I am?" Prince Constantine asked anxiously.
"Of course, father, it may be the sequelae of my fainting. It shouldn't be a big problem."
Constantine turned his head to look at the doctor, who 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 observe. If there is any problem, I will follow up and treat him in time."
Looking at the dark sky outside the window, Prince Constantine thought for a moment and said, "Well, all of you go down! Let the prince have a good rest."
Everyone quietly left the room. The old butler closed the door when he left. Prince Constantine, who was relieved, found himself sweating. He put his hand on his chest and said devoutly, "Thank God for your protection!"
Prince Ernst, the only descendant of the Hessian branch of the Hohenzollern family, has been Constantine's favorite since childhood.
Constantine had this child when he was fifty years old. Not long after Ernst was born, his wife Eugenie de Beauharnais died of a cold, so Prince Constantine was particularly fond of Prince Ernst.
Of course, in history Constantine had no offspring. 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 breathe, lying on the bed like an ostrich, because only he knew that he was actually a time traveler. Today, he suddenly awakened the memory of his past life, so he fainted. In his past life, he was a "father's countryman". He was not a slave, but he was dead. Occasionally, he read some novels to relieve his boredom and vent his emotions in the group.
Of course, Ernst has been here for twelve years, and it was only today that he realized that he was a time traveler. Is this considered a rebirth? It feels like Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly.
Fortunately, the knowledge and common sense learned in the previous life could not deceive me, and there were also historical events to prove it, such as the dead Napoleon the Great, who dominated the continent, the loose German Confederation, the still developing Prussia, the still powerful Austrian Empire, and my identity as a member of the Hohenzollern family...
Speaking of the Hohenzollern family, it is very famous. However, there are some differences between the Ernst family and the famous Hohenzollern in Brandenburg, Prussia. His own family is a young branch of the Hohenzollern family, located in the southwest of Germany in the previous life. There is another young branch of the Hohenzollern family next to it - Sigmaringen, which belongs to the same Swabian branch as Hechingen. Ernst happened to know something about this Sigmaringen in his shallow knowledge.
In history, they had coveted the Spanish throne and in the future they would become the Romanian emperor. It seems that, except for their own family, all others were prominent families whose names were recorded in history books.
If you ask why there is nothing about Hechingen and Hohenzollern, well... because the Hechingen lineage has died out in history, but Ernst's arrival changed history.
While Ernst was still sorting out his thoughts and memories, Constantine had come to his senses and began to ask, "Do you feel better, Ernst?"
"Yes, father, I think I will be full of energy again after a good sleep." Ernst responded in a relaxed manner.
"It's good that nothing happened. You will inherit the title in the future, so don't have too much pressure. It doesn't matter if you live a muddle-headed life. I don't ask you to make progress, but you must grow up healthily. You should pay more attention to rest and eat more healthy food. Don't learn from those prodigals and dandies to overindulge..."
Barbara said a lot before Constantine stopped, tucked in Ernst's quilt, told him to have a good rest and call the servants if anything happened, then he got up and left the room.
The candlelight flickered faintly, illuminating the dark walls, and the room fell into silence.
Ernst curled up in the quilt to keep his body warmer and began to sort out his thoughts.
Speaking of which, Ernst had a promising job in his previous life. He was sent to Africa by the company to work as an engineering consultant. Life in Africa was boring and he often moved with the construction sites.
In my previous life, the place where I worked was basically isolated in the wilderness, with frequent power outages and internet outages, and sometimes supply shortages. Fortunately, the salary was still acceptable.
The days in Africa greatly changed Ernst's cognition. In his previous life, Ernst worked in Tanzania, a remote African country.
Working in Tanzania gave Ernst a new understanding of Africa. Before he went to Africa in person, influenced by the media and news, Ernst had the impression that Africa was synonymous with backwardness, poverty, harsh natural conditions and turmoil.
But after actually working and living there, Ernst overturned his previous ideas and realized that most of the information on the Internet was biased.
From an environmental perspective alone, the temperature and precipitation conditions in Tanzania as a whole are better than those in my hometown, the North China Plain.
Originally, Ernst was familiar with the extreme heat of Africa, with its vast tropical rainforests, endless savannas, and vast deserts like the Sahara. However, when he arrived in Tanzania, he found that the temperature here was between 10 and 30 degrees, neither too hot nor too cold. The rainy season also provided abundant rainfall, with excellent rain and heat conditions.
Tanzania is an unknown small country. Ernst started to get familiar with it because of his work. By searching for information on the Internet and comparing it with the actual situation, he found that this country was unexpected.
Although this place is located in the tropics, its plateau terrain makes it a livable place, similar to the Brazilian Plateau.
The land is flat, the vegetation is dense, and savannahs are the majority. This has also changed my perception, because the grasslands in Africa conflict with the grasslands in my traditional perception.
Before seeing the savanna with his own eyes, Ernst naturally imagined the grasslands of 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, and the water and heat conditions are far better than those of the Mongolian grasslands. Throughout history, Mongolia has been described as a bitter and cold place in the north of the country, while the savanna in Africa is a veritable natural paradise.
The farmers here can generally get a good harvest, and it is based on rough planting methods. The biggest worry of local farmers may be the difficulty in getting water for irrigation, and the 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 allows poor Africans to live in peace and contentment.
Because it is located in the tropical savannah, fruits and meat can be supplemented to a certain extent. Coupled with the rough small peasant economy, the living standards of farmers are slightly higher than those of farmers in the late ancient East Asian dynasties.
Of course, attitude towards life is also an important factor. In the nearly 100 years of colonial history, Westerners forced people to move from a primitive hunting lifestyle to modern society.
Africans' concepts have not changed in time, and the complex, sophisticated and natural survival mode of East Asians is difficult to reflect in Africa.
Industrial conditions in Africa also have a major characteristic. The mineral resources here are not as superior as said on the Internet. Take Tanzania as an example.
This is a country that mines and exports minerals, but many of its main mineral resources are not as rich as imagined. It has coal, iron, copper and oil, but not as much as those truly resource-rich countries.
Many resources are not ranked high in the world, but the extremely low level of industrialization has led to the abundance of mining resources.
In my impression, East Asia is a country poor in minerals. In fact, this is related to the high degree of industrialization in East Asia. However, if we compare the actual mineral resource reserves of East Asia with Tanzania, it is the weakest among the weak.
As for coal, iron and oil, East Asia has world-class mines, and even for the lowest-grade oil, there are several well-known large oil fields.
Tanzania was also an oil-poor country before the discovery of oil on its eastern coast. However, Tanzania is not a small country as people traditionally think.
In terms of land area, 940,000 square kilometers is almost one-tenth of East Asia. However, the desert in the northwest of East Asia alone occupies nearly a quarter of the area. There are also high and cold plateaus that are too high to be developed, and countless mountains. Only the eastern part has considerable conditions for agricultural development.
Tanzania is mainly 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, which has made it a well-known agricultural country in Africa. Tanzania's comprehensive natural agricultural conditions are estimated to be second only to Nigeria in Africa.
In terms of population, Tanzania is also a populous country by international standards, having already surpassed the 50 million mark and still growing rapidly. However, Tanzania still has a lot of uncultivated land and its fishery resources are not fully developed, so the population limit is not limited to this.
As for industrial conditions, although the mineral resources are not very rich, it depends on who you compare them with. At least a group of small and medium-sized countries in Europe are far behind. If it meets the needs of primary industrialization, it is completely sufficient. 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 in Africa.
Tanzania is also quite good in terms of transportation. It is located on the traditional commercial route of the Indian Ocean. Dar es Salaam is one of the few well-known ports in Africa. Before the opening of the Suez Canal, it was an important world-class commercial node and the pearl of the Indian Ocean. The Oman Empire, which rose to prominence in history, established a branch here - the Kingdom of Zanzibar.
From this we can see that Tanzania’s conditions in all aspects are not bad, so why is its development level 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 arriving in Africa, Ernst realized the one-sidedness of this idea, which was just a superficial one.
A variety of factors are the source of poverty in Africa. Before the arrival of the colonists, the overall level of civilization on the African continent was very low. The isolation of the Sahara Desert caused most of southern Africa to be a civilized desert. Only Ethiopia in West Africa and East Africa developed independent civilizations, which were greatly influenced by the Arabs.
The Bantu people in West Africa were the first to expand southwards, but they only developed the civilizational characteristics of an early state, with a very low level of technology. To migrate south, they had to cross the Congo rainforest and the Central African savannah, which were full of wild animals. The expansion of the Omani Empire in the Middle East was limited to Zanzibar Island and the East African coast, and the civilization did not expand into the interior of Africa.
In Central and Southern Africa, there are widespread tribal societies based on hunting. The tribes on the Mongolian grasslands were influenced by the Central Plains culture and developed political power. However, Africa is a desert of political power. The natives live a life of fighting against wild beasts.
The arrival of Westerners forcibly pulled this region, which was mainly composed of primitive tribes, into the system of modern society.
According to Ernst's own experience, this destructive approach makes it difficult for local indigenous people to integrate into modern society. For example, in the western mountainous areas of East Asia, there was still slavery when the Republic was founded, and after nearly a hundred years of integration and support, it is still difficult to change some of the habits of the local people.
What's more, the Westerners and their social form, who are not here to alleviate poverty, are even worse than the primitive tribal society of slavery in Africa.
In fact, the tribal system was already a very advanced system for Africans at that time.
At that time, the most basic forms of families and villages still existed in many areas of Africa. How to say it, even the lions on the African grasslands also existed in this form of family!
Therefore, the starting point of African civilization is very low, almost non-existent, and is at the same level as prehistoric civilization.
Africa was forced onto the path of civilization under the guns of Westerners, which was also the cause of the constant wars after Africa's independence.
Tanzania is certainly not affected by large-scale wars, and in modern times, Tanzania's overall stability ranks among the best in Africa.
However, Tanzanians lack experience in governing the country, have no history to learn from, have a low starting point, and a rigid society has resulted in little overall progress. Although there has been some development, it is insignificant compared to the world as a whole, just as East Asia and the Middle East in later generations far surpassed Africa.
But compared with other African countries, Tanzania can be said to be one of the most successful countries in Africa.
Ernst couldn't help but sigh when he recalled his life experiences in his previous life. Going from an area with complete infrastructure to work 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 my past life. I have traveled through history and returned to modern Europe. A new life is beckoning me again, and I am about to find my own place in the torrent of history.
(End of this chapter)
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