Black Book

Chapter 42: Being alive is already amazing
Looking at the overgrown wasteland around him, Liu Heng's eyes were filled with heartache. If these lands were slightly tidied up, they would become excellent paddy fields!
Hearing this, Zhu Haomiao nodded thoughtfully, recalling some statistics in the present world.

During the Taiping Rebellion, the population of the Qing Dynasty dropped sharply from 4 million to 2.4 million, a loss of nearly 40% of the country's population, a full 1.6 million people!

However, this number is controversial, as many refugees and migrants are included in the death toll.

But even with a conservative estimate, the population loss during this period was around 5000 to 1 million, and the bloody and cruel level was appalling.

You have to know that the total number of deaths worldwide during World War I and World War II was less than 100 million!

Dai Qing single-handedly inflicted the combined losses of the Allied Powers and the Central Powers!

Of course, only a small number of people died directly in the war during the Taiping Rebellion, and the vast majority died from secondary disasters.

Because that period was the peak period for natural disasters, natural disasters occurred continuously in various places, including blizzards, droughts, floods, locusts, plague, earthquakes, etc. one after another.

In addition, the blood-thirsty Taiping Army and the Qing Army, in order to win, not only did not provide disaster relief, but they also exploited the people under their rule by any means necessary, forcing countless people to death...

In this magical world, in addition to natural disasters and man-made disasters, there are also supernatural disasters. No wonder it has become like this now, with bones exposed in the wild and no roosters crowing for thousands of miles.

By the way, during this period, Britain and France took the opportunity to organize two major events, giving the Qing Dynasty a little imperialist shock.

What’s even more magical is that, amidst such internal and external troubles, I and Qing actually managed to survive?!
Of course, he didn't survive completely. He would still die in ten or twenty years!
With a sigh, Zhu Haomiao observed calmly along the way and found that as he got closer to the Huai River, the population along the way finally became denser.

As we walked until the sun was setting, a small town along the river appeared at the end of our sight, causing the group to cheer excitedly.

"Sir, we can change boats in Wuming Town and take the water route. If it's fast, we can reach the Magic City in a day or two."

"Ah."

Zhu Haomiao nodded without comment, watching the group of men skillfully come to the dock and hire a few porters to help move the goods onto the ship.

After getting on board and settling down, the huge merchant ship slowly started moving downstream, soon leaving the dock behind.

When Zhu Haomiao woke up the next day, he found that the boat was sailing on a wide river.

"Master Zhu, we have entered the Yangtze River. If everything goes well, we can reach the Magic City this afternoon."

Seeing Zhu Haomiao coming to the deck, Liu Heng hurried over to report.

At this moment, Zhu Haomiao clearly felt that the boat was turning and deviating from the channel near the center of the river.

"Is this about to dock?"

Hearing the boy's question, Liu Heng shook his head in confusion, stretched his neck to observe carefully on the river surface, and found the problem.

"It's not about getting to the shore, it's about making way. Sir, look over there."

Looking in the direction Liu Heng pointed, they saw a huge ship spewing black smoke and sailing upstream, with a conspicuous Union Jack fluttering in the wind on the mast. All the ships on the river retreated and gave way when they saw it.

"That's a foreign ironclad ship. They are used to being rampant on the Yangtze River. They will ram and sink anyone who dares to stop them. If you see them, you must stay away from them."

"Just ram and sink it? So domineering? Is there no one to care?"

Hearing this, Liu Heng smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Who dares to manage? Who can manage?"

"If someone is killed in a collision, they will ask you for compensation, saying that you have damaged their ship..."

"Last year, a shipping company had its ship sunk by a ramming accident and dozens of people died. However, the government ordered them to pay compensation of three thousand taels of silver. Where can they seek justice?"

Listening to Liu Heng's angry and helpless whispers, Zhu Haomiao looked at the ironclad ship that was passing by in a hurry not far away, and looked at the Union Jack fluttering on its mast. He felt inexplicably moved and couldn't help but sneer. Who would have thought that two wars a few decades later would bring down this arrogant empire on which the sun never sets...

History is really interesting... Maybe in this magical world, I can help her speed up and achieve the shame of the Five Constant Virgins together with her love-hate relationship with the Gallic rooster as soon as possible...

At this moment, Zhu Haomiao suddenly met the sight of a figure on the deck of the ironclad ship. The two men's eyes met across a long distance, and they could both see the flashing metallic luster on each other's chest.

The only difference is that one is the noble and gorgeous purple-gold color, and the other is the dull black iron color.

"Brother, did you find anything?"

On the ironclad ship, a beautiful blonde girl noticed her brother's eye fluctuations, and curiously looked in the direction of his gaze, but found nothing.

"I saw a dragon child."

"This is China. Isn't it normal for a dragon to be born here?"

"He wears the Black Iron Dragon emblem."

Hearing this, the blonde girl's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Black Iron? Amateur level? Has China already built a permanent gate? Has it begun to open up to ordinary people? Aren't all countries expected to develop their own planes on a large scale only after the Ascension Competition is over?"

Hearing his sister's curious questioning like a baby, the young man looked at her deeply and shook his head.

“He should be a contestant this year.”

"what?"

The blonde girl looked down at the golden badge on her chest and frowned.

Aren’t they saying that all contestants from China are talented?
How come there are amateurs mixed in here?
Is it a backdoor to gild the deal?

Is this kind of person worthy enough to compete with us?

Sensing his sister's resentment, the young man pressed her head, hesitated for a long time, and gave her earnest advice.

"Tia, this ascension competition is completely different from the previous ones. You..."

There was another silence, and the young man looked at his sister with distress as he thought of the monster she might have to face.

“Be strong.”

However, Tia was confused by her brother's consolation. What the hell does it mean to be strong?

"Brother, do you think so little of me? I am a Master after all! A 17-year-old Master! I am also in the top tier in the whole of Europe!"

Tia patted the golden badge on her chest with an indignant look on her face.

The young man ruffled his sister's blonde hair, wanting to say something but stopping himself. However, due to the confidentiality regulations, he could only give a veiled warning.

"Be careful of all those who enter the Fantasy Realm with the Black Iron Body. Some monsters have come in this time...very scary monsters..."

Listening to her brother's soft murmurs, Tia felt a chill on her back, but her brother's next words made her furious again.

"In short, relax, don't put too much pressure on yourself, and don't doubt yourself. Being alive is already amazing. Your goal this time is to live one day at a time..."

A new month, please vote, please read, (ω) 挂Q


(End of this chapter)