Great time travel

Chapter 64、History has fallen into the fog
"...the black death in history wiped out about 8000 million of the 500 million Europeans at the time, and completely extinguished the flames of war across Europe-because there were not enough able-bodied men to supplement the army. Bring Europe A rare peace has come: though it is more terrible than war."

Standing on the corridor terrace of the Ravenclaw Tower, looking at the heavy snowfall outside the window, Wang Qiu looked at the data stored in the smartphone, and talked to Li Wei so eloquently, "...Besides, The catastrophe of the Black Death also had a severe impact on the economy, politics, culture, religion, and technology of medieval European society, and had a huge impact. Many scholars regard the Black Death as the transformation and development of European society It is like a caterpillar's chrysalis, although it is painful, but when it breaks out of the chrysalis, it can transform into a gorgeous butterfly!

In medieval Europe before the Black Death, the lords' lands were cultivated by their serfs.Serfs and their families lived in small villages made up of thatched huts made of reeds, turf and mud.The ground in the house is covered with leaves and dry grass, and a platform for a bonfire is built with stones in the middle of the house.Because there were no windows or chimneys, the smoke from the fire was released through holes in the roof or through open doors.The furniture in the house is only a simple table, a few stools, a storage box, and a few beds made of large wooden boards, or simply sleep on the haystack.Next to each hut was a small private plot, possibly with chicken and pig pens, and ducks and geese in the nearby stream.Large farm animals such as horses and cattle were shared among households in the village—this was basically the usual look of most medieval European villages.

Most of these medieval villages were built around a large piece of land, which was owned by the lord and cultivated by serfs.Lords lived in large manors or castles with defensive functions.The serfs worked hard for the lord, their own food and clothing were uncertain, and the amount of annual tax was sometimes only determined by the lord's whim.The lords also ruled over the jurisdiction of these poor illiterate peasants.The church and the lord monopolize most of the economy and force, and any resistance by the peasants is meaningless. The lucky ones among them may be able to change their situation, such as gathering a gang of thugs to take down a certain manor, and then suddenly become the master, but Nothing really changed for the social order as a whole.

Although some urban residents have got rid of the shackles of the feudal system, in view of the deplorable urbanization level of this era, at least more than 80.00% of Europeans are still living under the pervasive and complete control of the lords, repeating the same hard life from generation to generation , can't see any hope of change, and can only anesthetize themselves with religion-in fact, this is almost the same situation in rural India in the 21st century.

This is a dreary and dead society, like a dark quagmire. Except for a few exploiters who enjoy what they get, most people can only struggle in despair from birth to death, just hoping to have a bite to eat and live. As humble as a dog, as muddle-headed as a pig.The development of society has reached a bottleneck, and the pressure of population expansion has devoured the capital that can be used for technological progress, but those in power are instinctively hostile to any change.If you want to push this stagnant society forward and break the shackles and shackles of the old age, you need an overwhelming red revolution.

However, in this ignorant age, there is no decent revolutionary theory, not even a concept of revolutionary thinking.

However, the Black Death unintentionally replaced the role of revolution and changed everything that was mired and stagnant.

With a considerable number of farmers wiped out by the Black Death, if the lords did not want their land to be abandoned, they had only two options: hire labor at high prices, or lease the land to the surviving freemen.Of course, European governments sometimes hooked up with the lords and used laws to force farmers to work for free.Just like ancient Chinese dynasties forced peasants to serve corvée, but not only did they not pay wages, they even had to bring their own rations.

But over time, as the number of peasants continued to decline during the plague, this policy could only lead to riots. The result was either the collapse of the country and the fall of the dynasty, or the lords made concessions because they realized that if there was no labor force, they would Not even a little bit of income.

When labor has become an extremely scarce commodity and is still shrinking rapidly, no coercive means can restrain the rise in wages.

As a result, the serf system began to disintegrate, and the feudal lords had to relax their personal control over the peasants, only asking them to pay taxes, turning the serfs into tenant farmers.As disease and death further depleted the labor pool, sharecroppers had to recruit help from the landless migrants and survivors of the towns.In this way, the labor force began to flow freely, and the feudal manor gradually came to an end.

With labor costs skyrocketing as the death spread, farmers were simply unwilling to accept leases unless they were willing to provide additional benefits such as cattle, implements, and seeds.In the towns, too many craftsmen died, forcing the remaining bosses to think hard about how to use tools and machines to replace manpower, and thus there was a need for a technological revolution.As the plague continued to reduce the number of guild members in all walks of life, guilds had to expand the scope of member recruitment, which meant that the traditional rules of only entering the guild through blood, relatives and friends were abolished.At the same time, the apprenticeship period for workers after joining the union was also shortened, and handicraft workshops began to transform into capitalist factories.

At the same time, the absolute authority of the Holy See has also been subversively challenged.Dissatisfaction began to boil in the hearts of the common people, and their desperate situation led to questioning of Christ and God.The hatred aroused by the general inaction of the clergy sowed the seeds of a series of Reformation movements that followed.

In this way, under the impact of the wave of death, all the shackles that originally hindered the progress of society have become crumbling.On the eve of the Age of Discovery, although the Europeans were still very poor, they had already completed their essential transformation. They were just waiting to rush to every corner of the earth and search for the wealth of the whole world to fill their hungry stomachs and dry money. bag, you can get further take-off and sublimation!
On the contrary, China at that time was like a fat man full of burdens. Although he had more wealth, the feudal dross that blocked his eyes and ears could not be separated from blood and fire, shame and destruction until after the troubled times of the Republic of China. Among them, they were completely wiped out in the most violent way.

In a word, because tens of millions of deaths constituted sufficient lubricant, the wheels of European civilization were able to break free from the quagmire of stagnation and move towards a new life.After experiencing the Black Death, European civilization embarked on a brighter path. The problem of social transformation, which seemed very difficult, suddenly became smoother because of the Black Death.It not only promoted the development of science and technology, but also contributed to the breaking of the absolute status of the Catholic Church, which had an important impact on the Renaissance, Reformation and even the Enlightenment, thereby changing the direction of the development of European civilization. "

"...However, our arrival has distorted all these trajectories, right?" Li Wei interjected with a wry smile.

"...Yes, first of all, we must be clear. Although we have been trying our best to save people since we crossed into this world, in fact, the number of people we save is far less than the number of people we kill. — Doraemon The cans of plague concentrate that Meng threw in Jerusalem were too lethal! And the Venetian merchants used our [random door] to scatter around the world, spreading the plague faster than wildfire!"

Wang Qiu nodded, and replied with the same wry smile, "...Even the cities that we have saved have fires in their backyards, the epidemic has resurged, and they are still in a state of devastation. And those rural places that we have not had time to visit, Before the Hogwarts students who mastered the 'healing spell' arrived, they could only ask for more blessings-plague, dysentery, smallpox, diphtheria, measles, chicken pox, meningitis, cholera, typhoid, malaria, Influenza... Hehe, so many types of severe plagues broke out at the same time, it would really bring the rhythm of the end of the world!
According to the latest estimates made by satellite reconnaissance photos, the plague has spread northward to Norway and eastward to Moscow. Even Poland and Milan, which were able to survive the Black Death, have now suffered.More than half of the current population of 8000 million people in Europe has died, and they are still dying rapidly——【Encyclopedia of Magic】The scope of action is limited. If we put the props in London, then the effective range of the spell You can reach Poland at most in the east, and you can barely reach North Africa in the south. As for places further east, there is no way at all.Now Egypt has completely turned into a kingdom of the dead, the holy city of Jerusalem has also become a city of the dead, and it is estimated that there are not many living people left in the Byzantine Empire...

If we say that the original Black Death, which reduced the population of Europe by 500 million, destroyed countless families and caused countless tragedies and tears of life and death, it was also beneficial to European countries to reduce population pressure and jump out of the Malthusian population. On the curse of stagnation of civilization.But if the population is reduced from 8000 million to 1000 million, or even several million... then it is not reducing the population pressure, but the entire civilized society is about to collapse, and if it is not done well, it will degenerate all the way to the state of barbaric tribes !Just like those described in those end-time novels!
In the history of human civilization, whether it was the collapse of the Roman Empire, the chaos in China, or the War of Resistance Against Japan, there seems to be no such high proportion of population decline.If you must find a similar example, then it seems that only the collapse of the Mayan civilization-the 400 million Mayans who lived on the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America at that time, died in less than a century. 200 million, thus leading to the decline and oblivion of an entire civilization!
Alas, even the original Black Death, which killed 500 million people, took two centuries in European history to reproduce before the population returned to pre-plague levels.Now this compound plague will kill at least 6000 to [-] million people. I really don't know what will happen in the future! "

Speaking of this, Wang Qiu couldn't help but shook his head and sighed, "... So, what if we keep those European cities? Without enough rural population and surplus food to support them, no matter how developed urban civilization is, it will only collapse. This is a dead end.

In this great plague, due to the rapid and widespread death, the original administrative institutions of European countries at all levels have completely collapsed, and no king or lord can maintain order, and the social conflicts accumulated in the past will naturally erupt all at once. come out.There were riots and bandits everywhere, only temporarily concealed by the mass death brought on by the plague.After the so-called "magic art" suppresses the plague, I don't know what kind of chaos it will be!The British and French countries that have initially taken shape may be split into countless tribes and states again.

Speaking of which, the Venetians have used our power to coerce a large number of kingdoms and city-states around the Mediterranean to sign various unequal treaties, as if they are going to become the hegemony of the West.But the problem is, when these city-states and kingdoms lose the support of the countryside, they are all forced to abandon like the Mayan cities, and after the citizens are scattered in the wilderness, who should fulfill their unequal treaties?And the Venetian merchant fleet may not be able to find anyone to do business with.In the end, I can only return to those deserted farms in the suburbs, grow grain and grind flour for cooking..."

"...In fact, even the cities that were directly destroyed, there are already several cities, such as the burning of London before, and the Constantine that was destroyed by us with [Dragon Break] and [Meteor Fire Shower] Fort... I heard that a few days ago, a group of Hogwarts first graduates in France were unable to control the epidemic in the capital, and the patients who had just been cured fell ill again within a few days, and they still followed suit. set fire to Paris..."

Li Wei touched his chin and added, "...but don't imagine the Venetians to be so short-sighted. They just didn't predict the horror of this plague at the beginning, which would lead to the collapse of civilization. Now, the Venetians I no longer do those unnecessary things, but desperately trying to find a way to collect labor from all over the world through the [random door], and restore agricultural production in the area controlled by Northern Italy..."

——In order to cope with the labor crisis caused by the Great Plague, the Venetians today are creating a large-scale "Great National Migration" movement even in the entire human history. Desperately stuff Indians, blacks, Southeast Asians, American Indians, and all aliens who have entered agricultural civilization into deserted farms all over Western Europe to fill the posts left by the serfs who died of the plague. With a population of more than 30, it is almost as good as the Stalin of later generations.

"...Yes, I also know that the reason why the Venetians have not continued to send Indian and African immigrants to the UK recently is that they have intercepted the river and farmed it in northern Italy." Wang Qiu shrugged, "...but that's fine too. , can let them experience the immigration problem in the 21st century in advance. And England is the same. If our Queen Joan solves it well, there may be no problem. If it is messed up, then let alone the future of Britain. Will become the overlord of the Seven Seas, and even whether there will be a unified Britain, I am afraid it is hard to say!"

——One thing that many people have not noticed is that England, as a remote and small country, was able to defeat many opponents in the European continent in fierce competition, and finally ruled the seven seas and the world. Its internal simplicity and stability are also extremely important capitals.The famous scholar Mackinder once commented: "From the time of the Norman Conquest (the establishment of the Plantagenet Dynasty) to the time when modern industry was developed based on coal fields, the structure of the English nation was almost incomparably simple. In Scotland and Ireland That is why the history of England was epic before it became mingled with the history of England... There was only one King, one Parliament, one great river (the Thames) that rose and fell with the tides, one great city as a center of trade and port (London )—England was built on these factors."

On the contrary, other countries in the European continent did not have such stability. It was not until the era of the Sun King Louis XIV that France eliminated various hidden worries of internal divisions and completed the unity of nation and culture.Germany and Italy are even more turbulent. The former lost Austria and a considerable part of the German-speaking area forever. The latter has been repeatedly invaded by countless foreigners since the fall of the Roman Empire. The national identity in the territory is unimaginably poor. , Until the 21st century, there are still countless separatist forces active in various parts of Italy.

Although the future British Empire failed to integrate Scotland and Ireland for a long time, the latter separated and established a country, and the former repeatedly made troubles, which was criticized and laughed at internationally.But if only the land of England is concerned, its internal simplicity and unity are almost unshakable, and England has been united in the long history since the founding of the Plantagenet Dynasty.Even if there is a civil war, the goal of both sides is for the national power, not to divide the regime... However, when serfs of different colors from India, Africa and America appeared on the land of England, it became a mini version of the future America At that time, can this island country still maintain the original cohesion in history?
Of course, in the situation of complete disregard for human rights in the Middle Ages, the immigration problem that plagued EU countries in the 21st century is not completely unsolvable. Specifically, it is genocide... After these alien immigrants become useless and cause trouble, As long as you find an excuse to kill them all, the world will be restored to its original state, and all problems will be solved-but, will they still kneel down and let you kill them?
At the end of the Roman Empire, which practiced slavery, countless barbarians were taken in. As a result, the Gothic cavalry flattened Rome.The Cao Wei and Jin dynasties also resettled the Hu people who served in the border counties and counties, which was regarded as a good strategy to stabilize the frontier, but the result was chaos...

——But at this point in time, few people are aware of this hidden worry.Those lords and nobles were just happy to see that relying on the boundless divine power of the "angel", their manors and pastures that were about to be abandoned finally had new farmers to work, and someone would be able to pay rent for themselves next year.As for the serf's skin color being different from his own... what does it matter?As long as you can obey and work!Anyway, these upper-class people with noble blood have never thought that those serfs who are as humble as livestock are the same kind of people as themselves...

"...In short, the future of this world has been plunged into fog, and no one knows what will happen in the future. Europe will definitely not become a world of swords and magic. Although we will leave the [Magic Encyclopedia] Magic props, but the era of false magic will not last long - the [Encyclopedia of Magic] will be used for no more than 20 years, after which the cruel reality will come back to Europeans."

Wang Qiu rubbed his hands in the cold wind, and finally concluded, "...perhaps, European civilization, which is still very immature at present, will soon collapse again due to various chaos. But various cultures in Europe The collision ahead of time, as well as the temporary and complete disappearance of population pressure, may also allow social progress and civilization evolution to be realized in advance, thus ushering in a more beautiful and harmonious new world... Who can guess such a thing? "

"...Is that so... Then, will the new era that originally belonged to the Reformation, Renaissance and Great Geographical Discovery come?"

After pondering for a moment, Li Wei asked Wang Qiu, "...after we turned everything upside down?"