Great time travel

Chapter 194, Report of the Admiral of the Netherlands

In the evening, Huameng Capital State Guesthouse, Neuschwanstein Castle

Unlike the original Neuschwanstein Castle, which is located in the Bavarian mountains in southern Germany, among the mountains and lakes shrouded in mist all year round, this cottage version of Neuschwanstein Castle in Australia is located on a cliff at the mouth of the Swan River.

This place is blown by the fresh sea breeze all the year round, and can overlook the urban area of ​​the capital opposite the harbor. The geographical location just fits the name of the castle, and the architectural style is also very grand, full of fairy tale-like romantic artistic atmosphere, so it was chosen It is used as a state guesthouse.

Especially for the Dutch from Batavia, from the window of their room, they can also overlook the huge windmill spinning by the seawall in the distance, as well as the beautiful lavender field, which reminds them of their distant hometown in the lowlands.

Now, after another day of seeing and touring, and a delicious paella meal, Admiral Anthony van Diemen, the emissary of the Dutch East India Company, returned to his room, stretching his hand Pulling the rope, he turned on the lamp on the desk. While taking out the ink pen, ink bottle and letterhead, he began to prepare to continue writing, describing what he saw and heard in this "Australian capital".

——After living in the luxurious suite of the Neuschwanstein State Hotel for a few days, he finally figured out the purpose of most of the facilities in this room, but it also made Admiral Anthony Van Diemen even more frustrated I really feel that I am really a country bumpkin.

First of all, like the castle's artistic and dreamy exterior, at least his room was decorated quite gorgeously, with exquisite murals and oil paintings everywhere.Not only the tableware and wine utensils provided are Chinese porcelains that are as crystal and delicate as white snow, with beautiful patterns painted on them. What makes him even more unbelievable is that even the toilets and bathrooms attached to the suites are all covered with high-quality Chinese tiles. Even the bathtub and toilet are porcelain!In addition, there are glass windows and glass mirrors that can be seen everywhere... Even if the glass mirrors and plate glass have depreciated a lot, so many fully transparent glass products are also worth a lot of money, which can be said to be more valuable than many kings and sultans. More splendid than the palaces of cardinals!

Next, there are incredible running water and electrical appliances - the faucet in the bathroom is easy to understand for the admiral. It is nothing more than a pool on a high place, which is introduced into his room through a metal pipe. Open the gate and water will flow out.But the electric lamps placed in the glass case on the ceiling and the desk, as well as the electric fan in the bedroom that looked like a clover, were completely beyond his comprehension.Although the interpreter at the State Guest House patiently tried to explain to him what electricity is, Admiral Anthony Van Diemen was still completely unable to understand why the power of lightning, besides igniting trees and chopping people to death, could Used to light lamps and drive fans?
Although I don't understand the principle of electricity, this does not prevent the admiral from using electrical appliances, especially writing reports under the bright electric light-after getting used to its bright daylight, the admiral feels that he may not be able to do it again. I can't bear the dim oil lamps and candles in the past.

Withdrawing his gaze from the dazzling electric lights, Admiral Anthony Van Diemen returned his attention to the letter to the Governor of Batavia of the Dutch East India Company.Carpentier's report.In the previously written content, he described the journey of the Australian voyage in as much detail as possible, as well as his impressions of the land of Australia. The focus is naturally on the various experiences in the Australian capital. Next, the Navy The admiral was about to write something more in-depth... He dipped the nib into the ink bottle, thought for a while, and began to quickly write a row of words:

"...Dear Your Excellency, as described above, with the blessing of God, we have successfully arrived at this magical land. We have seen all kinds of unimaginable technologies in the Australian capital, as well as countless things beyond the limit of imagination. Magnificent buildings. Although many of us claim to have traveled across most of Europe and seen many famous cities. There are also people who have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and visited Manchester City in the Huamei Republic. Compared with the capital of the Australians, they are as filthy as a sparrow standing in front of an eagle.

In general, such a city of miracles of extreme magnificence, beauty and luxury seems to belong to an extremely noble and great empire.

However, it is hard to imagine that it is just a new city that has just been completed, and quite a few blocks are still vacant and uninhabited.And the country it represents is just the remains of an ancient empire—although from the map, the territory of this country seems to be quite vast.

About the origin of these mysterious 'Australians', company staff and European scholars have had many vague speculations and collected many conflicting rumors.Here, I finally unveiled the mystery of the Australians: when I tentatively asked the reception staff of the State Guesthouse about this, they gave me a French version of "The History of the Rise and Fall of the Song Empire in Australia" !
Fortunately, my French is not bad.Although the French of the Australians is a bit weird, they can still understand it anyway.

According to the description in this history book, the origin of the Australians began in the late No.13 century after the birth of Jesus, that is, about three and a half centuries ago.At that time, when the terrible Mongolian cavalry invaded Poland and Hungary, slaughtered Baghdad, and when the great Marco Polo embarked on his journey to the east, the Mongols in the east also destroyed the Chinese Song Dynasty.Marco Polo also described it.But what he didn't know was that there was a group of surviving survivors of the Song Dynasty fleeing across the sea in a fleet. They finally found a new piece of land with the distant relatives of the Song Dynasty royal family, outstanding scholars who fled, and the most outstanding craftsmen of the old empire. , which is where I am in Western Australia at this time.

In other words, these Australians are actually a branch of the Chinese, although modern Chinese may not be willing to recognize these relatives.

Then, these ex-dynasty refugees reclaimed wasteland and farmed land in the wild Australia at that time, overcame all kinds of hardships and hardships, and finally re-established their own country, named it "Ausong", and supported a distant royal relative of the Song Dynasty Ascend to the throne and proclaim yourself emperor, and rule this newly opened land.

Around the middle of the fourteenth century, a member of the Knights Hospitaller named Livi—although his name sounded more Italian, he claimed to be a Frenchman. The isolated Australia-Song Empire.He successfully spread the glory of God to this land and converted some of the subjects of the Australian Song Empire to Christianity. This is the origin of the Australian Church.

Then, this lonely empire continued to prosper and develop for more than a century, raising its civilization to an astonishing height.However, from about the end of the last century, a terrible drought suddenly came to Australia. The entire Australia-Song Empire did not see a drop of rain for many years. The rivers dried up and the crops died of drought. In the end, countless once-prosperous towns and countryside, quickly swallowed by the expanding desert.

At the same time as the tragic natural disaster broke out, turmoil broke out among the rulers of the empire. Regardless of the fact that the country was gradually turning into a desert, they were caught in frequent palace coups and bloody all-out civil wars, which further weakened the country's ability to deal with natural disasters. ability.

Due to devastating civil wars and natural disasters, the once-prosperous Ausong Empire quickly collapsed, and it was suddenly destroyed like the legendary Atlantis civilization.Many desperate Australians had to bid farewell to their hometown again, and set sail to find a new home like their ancestors... They soon blossomed in every corner of the world, establishing the Huamei Republic, the East Coast Republic, and Hainan Island. A series of colonies such as Lingao City.

As for those who stayed in the mainland of the Ausong Empire, they barely struggled for a while.But not long after, a tragic super sandstorm suddenly descended, turning the elite area centered on the old capital of the empire 'Song City' into a barren land where human beings could not survive.These last survivors of the Australian Song Empire had no choice but to embark on a migration journey, relocating to the remaining undeveloped and desolate places on the Australian mainland, trying to rebuild their homes.

This is the end of the "History of the Rise and Fall of the Australian Song Empire".In other words, Honorable Governor, when we first contacted the Australians, their Australian-Song Empire had actually come to an end.But the story of Australians going to the world has only just begun..."

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At this point, Admiral Anthony Van Diemen temporarily put down his pen, shook his slightly sore right hand, and rubbed his dry eyes.Looking back, I saw a group of bright lights outside the window, making people feel like falling into the galaxy.With the admiral's senses, he felt that the huge city on the opposite side of the harbor looked like it was on fire. Even through a large piece of water, he could clearly see that the lights over there had turned the night sky red.

This is the beauty of the so-called "city that never sleeps"!It's so bustling and intoxicating!

Anthony Van Diemen shook his head and sighed. When he first arrived here, he was still carefully observing the port and waterways, calculating the possibility of sending a fleet to attack and occupy the city.However, when he learned more and more about the terrifying strength of the Australians, he no longer dared to have such delusions. He just concentrated on admiring the various magnificent wonders in this city and enjoying the various aspects of Australians' daily life. Good stuff.

So, after admiring the brilliant night view of the Australian capital with bright lights, he picked up the pen again and continued to write:
"...at the end of the fall of the Australian Song Empire, a large number of Australians left overseas and established a series of colonial strongholds in America, Africa and East Asia that impressed us. However, although they left the Australian homeland and spread to this planet They still call themselves Australians or 'Song people', and maintain a considerable degree of unity on the psychological and cultural levels, thus laying the foundation for future reunification.

In fact, the last time the fleets of the various Australian colonies gathered in Batavia, it seemed that it was to discuss the issue of peaceful reunification.And in the second phase of the meeting where they moved to Hainan Island to continue, they finally reached the final resolution of uniting and rebuilding a unified country.

It is said that the last emperor of the Australian Song Empire, a respectable old man, played a very important role in the restoration and unification of Australians all over the world.Under his pressure and influence, the already divided Australians were once again kneaded together.

After many rounds of negotiations, the countries established by the Australians put aside their previous suspicions. First, they established military alliances to avoid internal struggles. Then, on the basis of basically retaining the autonomy of each country, they reached the terms of political unification and prepared to establish a loose unification again. nation.

However, this newly established Australian country is not the restoration of the former Australian Song Empire.Because His Majesty, the last emperor of the old empire, was still alive, but had lost all his heirs in the catastrophe of the collapse of the empire, and did not have any close relatives by blood, so he was already disheartened about his position.And after His Majesty the Emperor announced his official abdication on the grounds of old age and frailty, among the upper classes of various countries, there was no one who had enough prestige to overwhelm all Australians.Therefore, according to the suggestion of the last emperor when he abdicated, this new, unified Australian country was changed to a republic. The complete country name is quite lengthy and cumbersome, and Australians generally call it "Huameng" for short.

It is therefore very implausible that Australians currently adopt a republic which is rare in the world and bears a striking resemblance to our mother country, the United Republic of the Seven Provinces of the Netherlands.Just as our country is formed by an alliance of seven highly autonomous provinces, each province has its own army and fleet.Australians are also currently made up of five major republics and several smaller dominions scattered around the globe.

Moreover, the seven provinces of our United Republic of Seven Provinces are, at least geographically, adjacent to each other and economically closely linked.However, the republics of the Australians are scattered on different continents, separated from each other by vast oceans, mountains and forests. Travelers who want to go all over the land of the Australians have to go around the earth.Moreover, the strengths of the various republics seem to be basically the same, not the relationship between the mother country and the colonies that is common in Europe, and even in terms of religious beliefs, there are already big differences between Australians around the world... In this way, you can It seems that the only thing that keeps them connected is culture and language, and such power is obviously very weak.I simply can't imagine how such a scattered country could be established and born?Then how should we maintain its unity and existence?
But no matter how unreasonable it is, the Australian Republic, which has a territory all over the world, was born suddenly at an astonishing speed.And when they had just established a unified country, they launched an unprecedented reconquest war against the Ming Empire from which their nation originated, occupied many coastal provinces of the Ming Empire, and conquered the equivalent of two to three French kingdoms. The vast territory almost completely disintegrated the empire.

In addition, this new Australian republic spent huge sums of money to build an incredible new capital on the southern coast of the capital of the old Australian Song Empire that was swallowed by the desert. It took only a few years before and after, fully A clear display of their unity and formidable strength.

Therefore, Mr. Governor, even if it is just to admit the reality, the company should maintain a cautious and respectful attitude towards Australians.

All in all, if I could only use one word to describe this country, it would be 'incredible'.This republic that originated on the mysterious southern continent may have the most unreasonable political system in our eyes, but it also has the most powerful and richest city in the world.Not even great Rome and Constantinople have as many grand palaces and mansions as there are Australian capitals.

More importantly, the affluence of the Australian society is not like that of the Indian states or the German princes, where all the wealth of the entire country is squeezed out for the squandering of a very small group of nobles.And let the vast majority of the inferior civilians and serfs struggle on the death line, living a life of extreme poverty.On the contrary, every traveler who has been to the Huamei Republic in North America claims with envy that every citizen of Manchester City has several sets of clothes, and almost every family can eat white bread.Many German poor ghosts who were driven to nowhere by war and exorbitant taxes in Europe, after immigrating across the ocean to the Hua-American Republic, soon found a decent residence and lived a pretty good life.Even an ordinary mason can earn thirty silver coins a month in the Huamei Republic, which is richer than a considerable number of Amsterdam citizens.

Almost the same situation also appeared in another east coast republic established by Australians.In addition, according to the information sent by the company's Lingao business office, the Chinese on Hainan Island, after only two or three years of being ruled by the Australians, are generally better off than those under the rule of the Ming Empire.It can be seen that no matter where the Australians are, they seem to have magic tricks to create prosperity and wealth, and they are very happy to let their subjects share the benefits.

And as far as I have seen with my own eyes in the past two days, the wealth of native Australian residents seems to be higher than the two Australian republics in America.Although I have not penetrated into the ordinary residential areas of the Australian capital, as far as I have seen from around me, even the maids in this state guesthouse who are responsible for entertaining us, the clothes they wear and the food they usually eat, at least They are also comparable to any baroness in Germany.

In addition to the amazingly rich and comfortable life, Australians do not lack the armed forces to protect property.Gentlemen in Batavia must still remember the three hundred Australian ocean-going galleons that came to our port three years ago.At present, after unifying the various republics all over the world, this unified Australian country is said to have a standing army of more than 20 people, and nearly a thousand armed ships that can sail across oceans.Although these armed forces are scattered throughout the world, they are also daunting enough.

Their weapons have always been known for their excellence, and the guns and artillery sold by the Huamei Republic have long enjoyed a good reputation in the European market.Their soldiers never lacked courage. The two wars between the East Coast Republic and the Spaniards in South America ended in the disastrous defeat of the Kingdom of Spain.The company tried to compete with them for the southernmost land in Africa, but it also ended in failure.In fact, so far, no faction has really defeated any group of Australians on the battlefield, and being able to maintain a tie is already a great success.

What is even more impressive is the spiritual outlook of their entire nation.Contrary to the rumored arrogant and conservative Chinese natives, the energy and enterprising spirit of these Australians is simply frightening.In less than 20 years, Australians of various groups have taken root all over the world, opened up so many colonies, and established vast and powerful countries one after another.

The Australian aristocrats hold the governments of these colonial countries and occupy the highest control.Immigrants from China and Europe, as well as local converted aboriginals, exist as dependents of Australians, reveling in the affluent life and security protection provided by Australians.The language and clothing from the East quickly became a status pursuit in these countries... and all these earth-shaking changes took only one generation!
This is really a frightening speed of expansion, perhaps only the Spanish conquest of America's brilliant victory, barely comparable. "