1836: I Became a Literary Giant in Great Britain

Michelle: ? ? ?

Have you forgotten that my clothes have a big hole in them?

Without "Londoner" Dickens, Michelle unsurprisingly got lost.

After all, in his view, all the alleys in the East District were the same.

And so, it wasn't until late at night that Michelle, her chest bulging and utterly exhausted, returned to the familiar attic of her apartment on Cohen Street.

"Dickens, you owe me ten meals!"

Great, I won't feel guilty about going to Dickens' house for a meal anymore.

Michelle felt like she had never traveled so many roads in her life.

As soon as he entered the room, he collapsed onto his creaky, broken bed.

Although his body was extremely exhausted, his mind was unusually clear.

The horrific scenes he witnessed tonight are still haunting him.

A drug addict by the roadside, a boy pushing a coal cart up a steep slope, and a woman holding a child at the entrance of the workhouse...

What caused all of this? He couldn't help but think of the infamous "New Poor Law".

Why does a law intended to provide "relief" become a purgatory for punishing the poor?

As a humanities graduate student from a later era, he almost immediately thought of the theoretical roots behind this law.

Thomas Robert Malthus, and his book "An Essay on the Principle of Population".

"Population grows exponentially, while the means of subsistence grow only arithmetically. The surplus population will inevitably be eliminated by nature in some way, such as through war, plague, and famine."

"Providing relief to the poor only encourages them to have more children, thus exacerbating poverty, which is a sin."

Listen to this! Is this something a human would say?

It is worth mentioning that Malthus was a rural pastor at the time.

When this book was first published, he didn't even dare to use his real name.

This book was an instant hit with factory owners and high society as soon as it was published.

Previously, they had been heavily criticized in the public eye for their excessive exploitation of workers.

And now, they have finally found a theory to justify their actions.

It wasn't until this book became famous that Reverend Malthus was able to proudly republish his masterpiece under his real name.

"What Malthus? It's clearly Arthas!"

Michelle cursed inwardly.

This theory provides a perfect excuse for those who have already benefited from the system.

The reason why the poor are poor and starve to death is not because of social inequality or because they are exploited, but because they are "immoral" and have too many children. They are "surplus population" and deserve to be eliminated by nature.

That's why the workhouse ended up looking like that.

Its purpose is not relief at all, but to use the harshest and most inhumane methods to "scare away" the poor who try to seek help, letting them be naturally eliminated. This saves a large amount of money on poverty relief.

As a graduate student living in the new century and raised under the red flag, Michelle felt nauseous upon seeing such text.

He suddenly remembered that Michael had been complaining to him that the sales of the London Express had dropped significantly recently without his novels.

Write a novel to denounce this injustice?

No, the novel is too subtle.

This time, he's going to use the most direct and passionate approach to expose this colossal lie disguised as "science"!

He was going to write an article, an article that directly refuted Malthus's "An Essay on the Principle of Population".

For the sake of the manuscript fee, to make the sales of the London Express reach new heights, and also for... that little bit of conscience from the 21st century that he could not ignore.

A few days ago, Michael explained the current situation in the UK to him, saying that as long as certain topics aren't touched upon, there's almost no danger.

So prepare to die, Malthus! Come forth!

On this day, Michelle once again entered the terrestrial paradise.

What? He died of a heart attack a few years ago? That's probably karma.

Then let's desecrate the corpse!

In short, Michelle could no longer suppress her desire to verify it.

Once the thought appeared, it could no longer be suppressed.

But his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier; tonight's experience was just too exhausting.

"Never mind, I'm too sleepy... I'll talk about it tomorrow."

Michelle mumbled something, turned over, and fell into a deep sleep.

.......

The next day, Michelle went to Dickens' house for a free meal without any qualms and showed off her amazing skills in making scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

However, the British seem to be unlucky; they simply don't appreciate the deliciousness of scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

As for what it was, he seemed to have forgotten.

It's okay, we'll talk about it tomorrow.

And so, it took Michelle four days to finish the manuscript and head straight to the editorial office of the London Express.

Michelle is now enjoying VIP treatment at the London Express.

From the doorman onwards, everything went smoothly with facial recognition. After all, Michelle brought in sales for the newspaper.

As soon as he stepped into the office, Michael immediately jumped up from his seat and flashed a warm smile.

"Oh! My dear Michel! You've finally arrived! Readers all over London are waiting for your new book!"

"I was just wondering what to use for the front page of the next issue, and you're simply an angel sent by God!"

As he spoke, Michael rushed forward to give Michelle a big hug.

Michelle felt a little uncomfortable with his enthusiasm, so she quickly handed him the manuscript.

"Michael, this is my new draft. Take a look at it."

"Great! Let me see what you wrote."

Michael excitedly took the manuscript and eagerly opened it.

But when his gaze fell on the title, the smile on his face froze.

The manuscript paper did not contain the novel title he was familiar with; instead, it contained a line of calm and serious text.

A Disagreement with the Population Principle

Michael paused for a moment, a hint of undisguised surprise showing on his face.

"Michelle...you've...switched to writing academic papers?"

He looked up, his tone somewhat puzzled.

He wanted stories that would drive all of London's working class, housewives, and clerks wild, not these dry, academic articles that only university professors would be interested in.

"You can think of it that way," Michelle nodded.

Michael frowned, but he patiently turned to the first page.

As a seasoned editor, he would not easily dismiss any work by his star authors.

However, after reading only a few lines, his breathing became heavy.

The disappointment on his face vanished quickly, and his eyes widened as if they were about to bulge out of their sockets.

When Michael finally finished reading the last page, he looked up and stared at Michelle with the look of someone who was crazy.

As an editor, he had naturally read Malthus's "An Essay on the Principle of Population".

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, as if trying to calm his wildly beating heart.

Then, he spoke in a different tone.

"My God...Michelle..."

He swallowed hard and continued:

"Do you realize that if this article of yours is published...?"

"You're going to turn the entire London economics community upside down!"

Thank you to "Seling" for the 1 monthly ticket, and to "Blood Moon Wind Flower", "Little Jiang Runs Fast" and "Book Friend 20220206204302669" for the recommendation tickets.

Many thanks.