Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 285 North and South
In August of the Han calendar year 2108, at 9:00 AM, the temperature was 9 degrees Celsius.

On the gravel road in Dongtu, Xuan Chong led a group of men carrying double-barreled shotguns, riding bicycles along the dirt road. On each of their many trips, the group consisted of roughly twenty people.

This attire, much like a beard, was part of Xuan Chong's group's on-site investigation of the livelihoods of people in all eighty-seven towns of Dongtu. The main purpose of carrying the hunting rifles was to ward off bears.

Although the number of bears has been decreasing over the past two decades due to continuous hunting by island residents, they still exist.

Xuan Chong visited one after another century-old reclamation sites (local villages) throughout Dongtu, personally tasting the snacks and meals served by the local farmers.

The local customs and traditions in Dongtu are similar to those in Northeast China in my previous life, with various stews and dumplings.

The street urchins in the village are louder than those in other places, always with their hands in their pockets, carefree, and daring to openly declare themselves "idiots".

Hmm, Xuan Chong paused, Liu Haoxing's memories surfaced, it seemed that the reason his predecessor was bullied in Yandu was because he was too "unrestrained" and "open-minded". Xuan Chong couldn't help but chuckle, but as he chuckled, he sighed, because it seemed that his own childhood in his previous life was also initially "open-minded", but later, he gradually closed himself off.

After returning home for a month, Xuan Chong finally realized that the local customs at the grassroots level in Dongtu were different from those in the South. The South had a family-based system, while Dongtu had too much emphasis on community culture.

In most coastal cities in southern China, the grassroots system has begun to shift towards a family-based system: young and middle-aged men are the economic pillars of their families, and in the south, they are called the "pillars of the family" because all families are supported by men.

Even if a widow with a child appears, it will only be temporary.

She will try her best to find a man to marry quickly within a year, otherwise, the child's spending will rapidly decline.

When the father was alive, the child had all sorts of stationery. But after the mother was gone, the schoolbag became a patchwork of strips woven from burlap sacks. And the latter had to work as a newspaper boy or a child laborer on the streets.

In modern China, child labor is not the same as in Europe. It mainly exists under the apprenticeship system, where the concept of "a teacher for a day is a father for life" largely ensures that the "emotional" and "financial" investment of adult men, who are the stronger party, in the youth, who are the weaker party, is rewarded.

So, if someone constantly refers to child laborers as "Old Deng," and then "goes dark and awakens" after completing their training, fleeing their original environment without looking back? Then, a powerful adult would naturally suppress the child laborer to the extreme when they are able to control them.

Of course, orphaned children in the south can still find a "master" to take them in; this is the redundancy in southern cities.

Within Dongtu, due to a more singular industrial economy, many jobs are either fishing at sea or manual labor in oil refineries—now steel mills—lacking light industry and requiring extremely high physical labor skills. There is no room for extraneous jobs for children, so the people here grow up in close-knit communities.

Some children lose their parents at a young age. If they are good-looking, they can be raised by everyone; if they are not handsome or clever, they are basically servants if no one can be found to care for them. Xuan Chong saw that some people on the farm lived in cowsheds and horse pens. It was just like the saying, "A child without a mother is like a blade of grass."

According to what we've learned, the "dirty and lowly" people in these farms have all lived there since childhood! They basically all die before the age of forty.

In the countryside of Dongtu, in places inaccessible to newspaper reporters, moral principles would yield.

Some women, after their husbands die, will take their children and go to live with their husbands' brothers.

The ethical norms within the present-day Han Dynasty are far more important than in the previous Xuanchong era. Regions within the Han Dynasty that cannot uphold these ethical norms are equivalent to the areas in the previous Xuanchong society where "plum blossoms" and "drizzle" were rampant. Investments and permanent residences will avoid these areas.

Of course, places like Europe, where things start going wrong at the top, are condemned as beasts.

…Analyze the structure, prepare for reshaping…

Under the kerosene lamp, Xuan Chong wrote his investigation report, the first page of which read "Preservation of Tradition"! (The antonym of "preservation" is "abandonment," and the word "abandonment" cannot be used carelessly, but the meaning can be conveyed by emphasizing "preservation.")
Yes, when Xuan Chong attempted to overthrow ancestral family rules, his first step was to "preserve tradition."

When demolishing a house, someone should be brought out with large and small bags first. This is to prevent the conservatives from making accusations about key items.

Xuan Chong affirmed the tradition of the Eastern Library: since the time of Emperor Yao, the most important thing has been to revere Heaven and follow the ancestral laws. This must be preserved, but its "essence" must be identified (once the essence is identified, the rest is not the essence).

The Heaven Worship Ceremony is held every year, while the Ancestor Worship Ceremony is held only once every ten years.

For example, in industrial production, "science" and "precision" must be emphasized in every aspect, both in terms of form and technique.

However, complex interpersonal relationships should be streamlined as much as possible. Randomly organizing and competing in rural areas will bind people's enthusiasm for work to clan relationships.

Starting with ancestral worship, the aim is twofold: first, to reduce the influence of clans, and second, to enhance the influence of future industrial communities.

Ancestor worship is held once every ten years, and no sacrifice is made except for those who have performed great deeds.

If you haven't done anything to bring honor to your ancestors, don't keep talking about them. It's the same principle as a man not returning to his hometown if he hasn't made a name for himself.

Within the commune, workers participate in collective morning exercises every week; and at the end of each month, a "workers' study session" is held.

After the simplification of the sacrificial rites, a series of interpersonal relationships were subsequently simplified. Xuan Chong began to compile the "reform plan" for the Eastern Library, and the industrialization process of the steelworkers' district began.

The purpose of industrialization was to separate the young and middle-aged men of Dongtu from the old clan relationships.

Uniforms must be worn, and any master-servant address is strictly prohibited. If discovered and confirmed, the relevant person in charge and the responsible team above and below must immediately write a self-criticism. In daily interactions, use "fellow worker" instead of "this gentleman" or similar terms, and use "hello" instead of clan honorifics such as "may you be blessed" or "the magpie flew over the branch."

In daily life within the industrial zone, workers are addressed by their surname followed by "worker". However, when it is necessary to clarify responsibilities between superiors and subordinates in production work, they are addressed by their surname followed by their job title, such as "Section Chief Wang" or "Director Liu". In the case of workers with the same surname within a craftsman's department, the job title of the craftsman's department is added before the surname, such as "Section Chief Liu of the Steel Rolling Workshop".

As for people with the same surname in the same workshop, they can be referred to as "Comrade Lao Zhang", "Comrade Da X (one character from the given name)" or "Comrade Xiao Zhang" based on their length of service.

No more than three people with the same surname are allowed in any workshop. Strict checks are conducted on people from the same clan within departments, not only to prevent the formation of clans in the workplace.

Also for safety reasons, to prevent an accident from wiping out the entire team and causing unbearable damage to their hometown.

People with the same surname in Dongtu were basically related by blood a hundred years ago. Even if they weren't related by blood, the clan culture in Dongtu made it easier for people with the same surname to become sworn brothers.

Xuan Chong submitted this "cultural" proposal, which actually had a strong military flavor, namely the standardization and formalization of the military rank system in modern armies. This was Prussia's modernization system. It is worth mentioning that before modernization, compared with Russia and Poland, Prussia was a central kingdom system; compared with East Asia, Prussia was still quite serf-based.

With the advent of modern armies, the old-fashioned army system, where knightly families followed their lords, was relegated to oblivion. (The village in the eastern map is actually a German knightly territory.)
Similarly, this "new culture" in factories is also a form of progress made in order to adapt to the times.

Liu Dangzhen saw Xuan Chong's report, smiled knowingly, and said to Xuan Chong, "Comrade Liu, you did a good job."

Xuan Chong was momentarily dazed, then said without any embarrassment, "Thank you for the praise, Director Liu. I will continue to work hard."

…From the perspective of international events…

Three months ago, on May 4th, representatives from the Han Dynasty and the Eastern Shu Kingdom gathered aboard the 40,000-ton Guangwu Emperor battleship, anchored at Dongzhu, to sign a treaty.

All of the current Han dynasty's battleships, with a displacement of 20,000 tons or more, are named after the emperors of unified dynasties.

Those super battleships exceeding 30,000 tons are named after famous emperors in history. The fact that the current Han Dynasty is towing out the Guangwu Emperor's ship carries a profound meaning.

There are also battleships with larger tonnages, such as the Han Wudi, which was a giant ship with a tonnage of 60,000 tons.

If it were a war against the Longzhou region, the final "victory settlement ceremony" would likely take place here. The title of Emperor Guangwu would likely be a declaration of legitimacy and restoration to all factions on the continent.

This is what the Han Dynasty thinks, and various newspapers have also begun to promote the topic of "unification of the world" in their reports.

It seems they hope the people of Eastern Shu will be more sensible and come to their aid.

However! Modern Chinese still overestimates its own cultural influence.

When the newspapers of the modern Han dynasty were flirting with the Eastern Shu from afar, claiming to be the "legitimate" dynasty.

After four hundred years of "nurturing scholars" in Eastern Shu, a new mentality has emerged: "We must be irreconcilable enemies with those bastards!"

…the anxieties of defeat at home…

Immediately after the treaty was signed, a rebellion broke out in the southeast of Eastern Shu. The rebels were a military faction from Eastern Shu stationed in Pengzhou. Gunfire erupted in the streets, while loudspeakers broadcast orders: "Everyone, return home and do not linger in the streets!"

In the new Bianliang, after the coup plotters seized control of the situation, the leader of the coup said to the emperor of Eastern Shu (pressuring him to abdicate): "Your Majesty, we must not abandon Eastern Shu. To rebel against the Han is to sever the dynasty's power. We must not agree to this!"

To clarify, Dongzhu was the only territory of Eastern Shu located in the Northern Hemisphere. Once beyond the Northern Hemisphere, the North Star, also known as the Purple Star, could no longer be seen. Without the ability to pay homage to the Purple Star, many important sacrificial rites could not be performed according to ancient traditions. It's also worth mentioning that while the term "Dianlu" was neutral several hundred years ago, it is now considered inappropriate for the people of Eastern Shu.

We can refer to the changes in the meaning of the word "Shina" to see the derogatory connotation of the word "Dianlu"; moreover, the word "Dianlao" still exists in the South China Sea cultural circle centered on Guangzhou.

Of course, another factor was the despair of the people of Eastern Sichuan towards the Southern Hemisphere.

Three hundred years ago, when the people of Dongshu, who had occupied the South Seas for hundreds of years, decided to develop the Southern Hemisphere, they displayed a spirit akin to the "Chu Kingdom's refusal to submit to Zhou." In particular, the ability to "foresee the future" was passed down for the first time among the Qin clan of Dongshu. This "ability" even summoned a large iron ship from the future, ushering in the era of Dongshu's industrial and commercial state. From then on, the Dongshu leaders, having landed in the Southern Hemisphere with its inverted climate, believed that with the resources of this other half of the world, they no longer needed to look north.

However, in reality, after the Age of Exploration began, the various powers on the planet considered not only the size of their homeland, but also the smoothness of their external communication. Only when maritime trade was unimpeded, industrial products could be sold smoothly, and raw materials could be imported smoothly, could first-class industrial zones be established.

In the Southern Hemisphere, it's either ocean or ice fields inhabited only by penguins. The continent is indeed vast, but it's a true end of the world, a desolate land prison. Surely capital can't be used by penguins for consumption?

Finally, after two hundred years of groping and struggling in the Southern Hemisphere, Eastern Shu invested a great deal of resources. Meanwhile, the Han Dynasty had already consolidated its power in the north, ventured into the South Seas, and organized a fleet to open a sea route to India, seizing the rich former Eastern Shu sphere of influence, Luzon.

As mentioned earlier, the modern Han dynasty is not only taking military action, but is also gradually catching up economically, and even beginning to suppress China culturally with its orthodoxy.

It was during this period that a division arose among the people of Eastern Shu, who had always been accustomed to being half a step ahead of the modern Han Dynasty by relying on "industry and commerce" and "technology," and who they considered "to whom."

…emerging from the grassroots…

On the western coast of Eastern Shu, a Shu army began to "overthrow its superiors." In a town that this Shu army convoy passed through, teenagers peered over the walls and watched as rows of armored war chariots were transported on the railway.

"Mom, that's the Brave Tiger Chariot!" exclaimed a fifteen-year-old boy named Zhong Hengfei. The adult behind him, cooking with a spatula, replied, "I know, I know!"

"In Mandarin class, our teacher told us that we should ride in a chariot to the islands of the South and become the masters of the South!" the boy said halfway through his sentence.

Mother said, "What do you mean by 'Southern Han'? I just want you to study hard, go abroad by ship to do business, and when you're out there, you have to say you're from the Southern Han."

Boy: "But we are clearly people from the South."

Grandma banged the iron pot with a spatula and said, “Those men want to be high-ranking officials in the South; you call yourself a man from the South, but they sent you to the island to feed the crocodiles. Our family is a wealthy family that can afford an iron pot, not some rotten soldier eating (military) food.”

…heartbreaking…

The people of Eastern Shu are unsure of which category they belong to. One group now considers themselves the "masters of the southern lands," while another group identifies as belonging to the "Zhou Rites faction."

About two hundred years ago, the identity of "master of the South" once held sway among the people. This was because the Eastern Shu controlled a large area of ​​islands in the South Seas, and its fleet also controlled the Rokkas Strait, cutting off maritime trade routes between the East and the West. The people of the Eastern Lands were incredibly powerful.

However, in the past two hundred years, the "Zhouli faction" has been averse to the slogan of "the ruler of the southern world".

Because if they were to truly abandon their status as members of the Chinese people in terms of sacrificial rites and rituals, they would truly be associating with barbarians.

"Representatives of the Zhou Rituals faction": The ruler of the South is only recognized by themselves; when their military power was strong, they could force the islands of Southeast Asia to recognize them. But now! With their military power gradually declining and their economy weakening, who in the Southeast Asian islands still worships them as "masters"? All the major clans in Southeast Asia want to be distant relatives of the "Zhu Xia" (Chinese civilization) that have been gone for thousands of years.

Just like Xuan Chong in his previous life, the sentence that could break through Jiaozhi's defenses was "You are Southeastern x people".

It is worth mentioning that the "Southern Kingdom" faction spent a lot of money studying anthropology, classifying the entire Southern Ocean into a "Southern Drifting Islands ethnic group", and attempted to use this as a theory to make people in this circle their underlings.

However, what many people don't realize is that all ethnic groups with a strong family background around the world are actually attached to their own "race," and the term "spineless" is an insult.

After the modern Han dynasty unearthed the Liangzhu site and established an ancestral hall there, identifying it as the ancestral home of the "Southern Migrant Islands people," those descendants who had drifted across the ocean a thousand years ago with their pigs and dogs from the mainland all eagerly returned to acknowledge their ancestry. (During the South Island migration, livestock such as pigs also drifted along with the people.)
Most people in Eastern Shu know that there is no problem with their "race".

This is the fear of the ruling class in Eastern Shu! The powerful figures from the north are tightening their grip step by step.

…chain reaction…

After June, the Pengzhou faction, which orchestrated the coup, failed to persuade the emperor of Eastern Shu. Meanwhile, Qin Shen returned with his army, which immediately took control of the situation upon entering the city.

Therefore, in the city of Shengdu, which had just experienced a coup, martial law was declared, and armored vehicles and soldiers began patrolling the white concrete roads.

Meanwhile, a ship sped across the ocean, carrying away the mastermind behind the coup, who had escaped back to the mainland of Pengzhou.

In a coastal city of Pengzhou, an old man in a long robe, observing Qin Shao's expression as he rushed back to deliver the news, knew the outcome. He sighed, "He (the Shu Emperor) is unwilling to submit?"

Qin Shao nodded. Then he said, "But we left our people with Prince Rui (the Shu Emperor's son, who is now four years old)."

The old man sighed, "Do you think that with the current strength of the Han Dynasty, when you reach my age, our country will still have a chance?"

Qin Shao raised his head, wanting to speak, but unable to offer any assurance.

The old man said, "The Southern Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom cannot be compared." As he said this, a wolfish glint flashed in his eyes: "Then let this world change."

…five days later…

The convoy of jeeps (using cutting-edge technology) traversed the Amazon rainforest, arriving at a place that had been previously submerged by the jungle. However, in the very center of this jungle, a vast expanse of land had been cleared, resembling a mysterious crop circle. All the trees had been removed, and in the center of this clearing stood a Mayan pyramid.

Unlike the numerous weathered stone pyramids in Pengzhou, this pyramid is brand new. Its surface shows no signs of rock breakage, not even a scratch; it's as new as a new phone screen. The pyramid is surrounded by wavy, melted, and cooled molten stone blocks.

Yes, this pyramid emerged from the ground just a year ago, before which the entire area was flat rainforest.

After emerging, the ground seemed to melt, turning into stone waves that receded to one side. After a hundred years, weathering will likely leave these stone waves like the rubble surrounding other pyramids.

After Qin Shao got out of the car, he opened the door for the old man. Then he looked at the brand-new pyramid and the lines on it that resembled "Taotie patterns".

Qin Shao: "What is this?"

On the other side, the scientist who greeted the elderly man said, "This is an interstellar transmitter, capable of sending information into outer space."

Qin Shao jokingly asked, "Oh, this thing can summon aliens?"

To everyone's surprise, the scientist nodded and said, "Yes, it can summon mysterious forces from beyond the stars."

Qin Shao's expression stiffened, then he tentatively asked, "So, have we made contact? Can we ask the aliens for some technology?"

An elderly man standing nearby said, "We have already acquired quite a bit of related technology. Don't be surprised what happens next."

…The exam questions are coming soon…

The slideshow recounted the events of the past three hundred years. It turns out that for over two hundred years, Eastern Shu had been searching for and opening what appeared to be pyramids on the Pengzhou Plateau, and sixteen have already been opened. Among these openings were some intelligent beings. These beings initially appeared as plants, but after consuming flesh and blood, they quickly produced fruit and then mimicked the form of Homo erectus.

The ancient Nanyin (South American indigenous people) obtained these "war monsters" by sacrificing various creatures.

Meanwhile, Dongshu discovered that these alien green-skinned, toothy monsters, though warlike and savage, possessed a remarkable ability to assemble tools. This ability wasn't limited to making stone tools; it was limitless. Give them wrenches and ordinary iron tools, and they could assemble machetes. Give them steel pipes and files, and they could use the methane gas expelled from their anus as fuel to create firearms.

Later, the Eastern Shu provided this alien species with more advanced damage technology, discovering that it could always predict the future and find a way to successfully repair it.

Qin Zhao looked at the monster with fangs on the slide and found it hard to imagine that this thing could produce advanced machines.

Qin Shao: "What are we going to do with this?"—His tone was hesitant.

The old man said, "These are the 'Taowu' tribe. According to the records inscribed on the rock structures by the Buluen tribe (Inca), in ancient times, when the world was still in the age of various giant dragons (more than 60 million years ago during the Cretaceous period), they descended once, devoured all the large creatures on Earth at that time, buried these sacrificial altars underground, and then disappeared."

Now that the Han dynasty in the north is invincible, let the heavens send an enemy to fight.

The pyramid, with its base a full seventy meters high made of rock, began to levitate and slowly rotate, its rotation accelerating.

(End of this chapter)