Chapter 64: History has fallen into fog
"...The Black Death in history wiped out about 25 million of the 80 million Europeans at that time, and completely extinguished the flames of war across Europe - the reason was that there were not enough able-bodied men to supplement the army. Give Europe has brought a rare peace: although this peace is more terrible than war."
Standing on the corridor terrace of Ravenclaw Tower, looking out the window at the falling snow, Wang Qiu talked eloquently to Levi while looking at the information stored in his smartphone, "...Besides, The catastrophe of the Black Death also brought changes to the economy, politics, and culture of medieval European society. , religion, and technology all caused a severe impact and had a huge impact. Many scholars regard the Black Death as an opportunity for the transformation and development of European society. When the pupa emerges, it will transform into a gorgeous butterfly!
In medieval Europe before the Black Death, lords' lands were farmed by their serfs. Serfs lived with their families in small villages made of huts made of reeds, turf and mud. The ground inside the house is covered with leaves and hay, and a platform for bonfires is built with stones in the middle of the house. Because there were no windows or chimneys, smoke from the fires was released through holes in the roof or open doors. The furniture in the house only has a simple table, a few stools, a storage box, and beds made of several large wooden boards, or you can simply sleep on the haystack. There is a small plot of land next to each hut, and there may be a chicken pen and a pig pen. Ducks and geese are also raised in the nearby river. Large farm animals such as horses and oxen were shared among the entire village - this was basically how most medieval European villages were.
Most of these medieval villages were built around a large area 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 their lords, and their food and clothing were uncertain. The amount of annual taxes was sometimes determined only by the lord's whim. The lords also dominated the jurisdiction of these poor illiterate peasants. The church and lords monopolized most of the economy and force, and any resistance by the peasants was meaningless. The lucky ones among them might be able to change their situation, such as gathering a group of thugs to knock down a certain manor, and then become the masters, but Nothing really changes for the social order as a whole.
Although some urban residents have gotten rid of the shackles of the feudal system, given the deplorable level of urbanization in this era, at least more than 80% of Europeans still live under the pervasive and complete control of the lords, repeating the same routine from generation to generation. Living a hard life without any hope of change, they can only use religion to anesthetize themselves. In fact, this is almost the same situation in rural India in the 21st century.
This is a dull and lifeless society, like a dark quagmire. Except for a few exploiters who enjoy the benefits, most people can only struggle in despair from birth to death, just to have a bite of food and survive. You have to be as mean as a dog and as ignorant as a pig. Social development has reached a bottleneck. The pressure of population expansion has swallowed up the capital that can be used for technological progress, but those in power are instinctively hostile to any change. If we want to push this stagnant society forward and break the shackles and shackles of the old era, we need an overwhelming red revolution.
However, in this ignorant era, there is no decent revolutionary theory, not even a revolutionary thinking concept.
However, the Black Death unintentionally replaced the role of revolution and changed everything that was mired in quagmire and stagnation.
With a considerable number of peasants wiped out by the Black Death, the lords had only two options if they did not want their land to be abandoned: hire labor at high prices, or rent the land to the surviving freemen. Of course, European governments sometimes worked side by side with their lords and used laws to force farmers to work for free. Just like the ancient Chinese dynasty that forced peasants to perform corvées, but not only did they not pay wages, they even had to provide their own food rations.
However, over time, as the number of farmers continued to decline during the plague, this policy could only eventually lead to riots. The result would be either the collapse of the country and the destruction of the dynasty, or the lords making concessions because they realized that without the labor force, they would Even the slightest income is gone.
When labor has become an extremely scarce commodity and is still shrinking rapidly, no coercive means can restrain wage increases.
As a result, the serfdom system began to disintegrate, and the feudal lords had to relax their personal control over the peasants and only asked them to pay taxes, turning the serfs into tenant farmers. As disease and death further depleted the labor pool, sharecroppers were forced to recruit people to help with the work, drawn from landless refugees and survivors from the towns. In this way, labor began to flow freely, and the feudal manor gradually came to an end.
With labor costs rising rapidly as the die-off spread, farmers were reluctant to accept leases unless the owners were willing to provide additional benefits such as cattle, farm implements, and seeds. In towns, too many craftsmen died, forcing the remaining bosses to think hard about how to replace manpower with tools and machines, thus creating the need for a technological revolution. As the plague continues to reduce the number of guild members in all walks of life, guilds have to expand the scope of member recruitment, which means that the traditional rule of only entering the guild through blood, relatives and friends has been abolished. At the same time, the apprenticeship period after workers joined 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. Discontent began to boil in the hearts of the people, and their desperate situation led to questions about Christ and God. The resentment caused by the widespread inaction of the clergy sown the seeds of a series of subsequent religious reform movements.
In this way, under the impact of the wave of death, all the shackles that originally hindered the progress of society have become shaky. On the eve of the Age of Discovery, although 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 plunder the world's wealth to fill their hungry stomachs and withered money. Bag, you can get further take-off and sublimation!
On the contrary, China at that time was like a fat man full of encumbrances. Although it had more wealth, the feudal dross that blocked its eyes and ears had to wait until the troubled times of the Republic of China before it could be replaced by blood and fire, shame and destruction. Among them, they were completely swept away in the most violent way.
In short, because tens of millions of deaths formed enough lubricant, the wheels of European civilization were able to break free from the stagnation and move towards a new life. After experiencing the Black Death, European civilization embarked on a brighter path. The social transformation issue that had seemed very difficult suddenly became smoother because of the Black Death. It not only promoted the development of science and technology, but also caused the Catholic Church's dominant position to be broken. It had an important impact on the Renaissance, the Reformation and even the Enlightenment, thus changing the direction of the development of European civilization. ”
"...But our arrival has distorted all these trajectories, right?" Levi interjected with a wry smile.
"...Yes, first of all, we must make it clear that although we have been trying our best to save people since we traveled to this world, in fact, the people we saved are actually far less than the people we killed - Doraemon Those jars of plague concentrate that Meng dropped in Jerusalem are so lethal! But the Venetian merchants are using our [Random Door] to spread the plague around the world faster than wildfire!"
Wang Qiu nodded and replied with the same wry smile, "...Even the cities that we have saved have suffered fires in their backyards, and the epidemic has resurged, and they are still in a state of distress. And those rural places that we have not had time to go to, The Hogwarts students who have mastered the 'Healing Spell' Before they arrived, they could only ask for more blessings - plague, dysentery, smallpox, diphtheria, measles, chickenpox, meningitis, cholera, typhoid, malaria, influenza... Haha, so many types of severe plagues broke out together. , That’s really going to bring about the destruction of the world!
The latest estimates based on satellite reconnaissance photos indicate that the plague has spread north to Norway and east to Moscow. Even Poland and Milan, which were originally able to survive the Black Death, are now affected. More than half of the current 80 million people in Europe have died, and they are continuing to die rapidly. The scope of the [Magic Encyclopedia Dictionary] is limited. If we put the props in London, then the spell will be effective. The range can reach Poland at most to the east, and barely reaches North Africa to the south. As for places further east, there is absolutely no way. Now Egypt has completely turned into a country of the undead, and the holy city of Jerusalem has also become a dead city. It is estimated that there will not be a few living people left in the Byzantine Empire...
If we say that the original Black Death, which reduced the population of Europe by 25 million, destroyed countless families and caused countless tragedies and tears, it was also beneficial to European countries in reducing population pressure and jumping out of Malthus. The curse of civilizational stagnation in population theory. But if the population is reduced from 80 million to 10 million, or even several million... that is not about reducing population pressure, but that the entire civilized society is about to collapse. If it is not done well, it will degenerate into a barbaric tribe. Status! Just like what is described in those apocalyptic novels!
In the history of human civilization, whether it was the collapse of the Roman Empire, the Five Husbands' Rebellion in China, or the Anti-Japanese War, there seemed to be no such high proportion of population decline. If we must find a similar example, then it seems that only the collapse of the Mayan civilization - one of the 14 million Mayans living on the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America died in less than a century. Twelve million, thus leading to the decline and oblivion of the entire civilization!
Alas, even for the original Black Death, which killed 25 million people, it took Europeans two centuries of reproduction in history to restore the population to the pre-plague level. Now this complex plague will kill at least 50 to 60 million people. I really don’t know what will happen in the future! ”
Having said this, Wang Qiu couldn't help but shake his head and sighed, "...So, what if we retain those European cities? Without enough rural population and surplus food to support it, no matter how developed the urban civilization is, it will only collapse and disintegrate. This is a dead end.
In this great plague, due to the rapid and widespread death, the original administrative structures at all levels in European countries have completely collapsed. No king or lord can maintain order. The social conflicts that have accumulated in the past have naturally exploded. come out. There were riots and banditry everywhere, and it was only because of the large number of deaths caused by the plague that all this was temporarily covered up. After the so-called 'divine magic' suppresses the plague, I don't know what kind of chaos it will become! The countries of Britain and France, which have now taken initial shape, may be divided again into countless tribes and kingdoms.
Speaking of which, the Venetians have recently used our power to coerce a lot of kingdoms and city-states around the Mediterranean to sign various unequal treaties, as if they want to become the hegemon of the West. But the problem is, when these city-states and kingdoms lose the support of the countryside and are all forced to be abandoned like the Mayan cities, and the citizens disperse into the wilderness, who should they turn to to fulfill these unequal treaties? And the Venetian merchant fleet may not be able to find anyone to do business with. In the end, we can only go back to those abandoned farms in the suburbs, grow our own food, grind flour and cook for ourselves..."
"...In fact, there are already several cities that have been directly destroyed, such as London, which was burned before, and Constantine, which was destroyed by us using [Dragon Break] and [Meteor Fire Rain] Fort... I heard that a few days ago, a group of French first-class Hogwarts graduates were unable to control the epidemic in the capital. The newly cured patients fell ill again within a few days, and they continued to behave in the same way. Set fire to Paris..."
Li Wei touched his chin and added, "...but don't think that the Venetians are so short-sighted. They just didn't predict the horror of this plague at the beginning, and it would actually lead to the collapse of civilization. Now, the Venetians They no longer do those meaningless things, but are desperately trying to find ways to collect labor from all over the world through the [Random Gate] to restore agricultural production in the controlled areas of Northern Italy..."
——In order to cope with the labor crisis caused by the great plague, the Venetian people today are creating a "Great Migration" movement that is considered to be the largest in the entire history of mankind. With the help of the magical power of time-travelers like Doraemon, they are fighting for Kill Indians and black people , Southeast Asians, American Indians, and all foreigners who have entered agricultural civilization, have moved into abandoned farms all over Western Europe to fill the positions left by the serfs who died of the plague. So far, more than 300,000 people have been imported, which is almost the same as Later generations of Stalin were quite capable.
"...Yes, I also know that the Venetians have not continued to send Indian and African immigrants to the UK recently. The reason is that they intercepted them themselves and settled in northern Italy." Wang Qiu shrugged, "...but this is okay. , allowing them to experience immigration issues in the 21st century in advance . The same is true for England. If our Queen Joan solves it well, there may be no problem. If it goes wrong, let alone whether Britain will become the overlord of the Seven Seas in the future, or even whether there will be one. A unified Britain is hard to come by!”
——One thing that many people have not noticed is that England, as a small and remote country, was able to defeat many opponents on the European continent in fierce competition and eventually dominate the seven seas and the world. In addition to the right time and place and the wise decision-making of its ruler, Its internal simplicity and stability are also extremely important capital. 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 the coal fields, the structure of the English nation was almost extremely simple. In Scotland and Ireland Before the history of England was mixed with the history of England, This is what makes the history of England so epic...one king, one parliament, a great river that rises and falls with the tides (Thames), and a great city as a trading hub and port (London) - England was built on these elements Get up.”
On the contrary, other countries on 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 domestic divisions and completed national and cultural unification. Germany and Italy are even more troubled. The former has lost Austria and a considerable part of the German-speaking area forever, while the latter has been repeatedly invaded by countless foreigners since the fall of the Roman Empire. The national identity within 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 was unable to integrate Scotland and Ireland for a long time, which led to the latter's separation and establishment of a country, the former frequently caused troubles and was criticized and laughed at internationally. However, if we only look at the land of England, its internal simplicity and unity are so solid that it is almost unshakable. Since the establishment of the Plantagenet dynasty, England has been unified throughout its long history. Even if there is a civil war, the goal of both sides is to achieve national power, not separatism... 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 United States. At this time, can this island country still maintain its original cohesion in history?
Of course, with the complete disregard for human rights in the Middle Ages, the immigration problem plaguing EU countries in the 21st century is not completely unsolvable. Specifically, it is genocide... Wait until these alien immigrants become useless and cause trouble. After that, 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 slaughter them?
At the end of the Roman Empire, which practiced slavery, it admitted countless barbarians into the country. As a result, the Gothic cavalry flattened Rome. The Cao Wei and Jin dynasties also settled barbarians in border counties and counties as a good strategy to stabilize the border, but the result was that the five barbarians devastated China...
——But at this point in time, few people are aware of this hidden worry. The lords and nobles were just happy to see that, relying on the boundless power of the "angels", their soon-to-be-abandoned manors and pastures finally had new farmers to work on them, and someone would be able to pay rent to them next year. As for the serf's skin color being different from mine...what does it matter? As long as you can obey and work! Anyway, they, the upper-class people with noble blood, have never thought that those serfs, who are as humble as animals, are the same kind of people as themselves...
"...In short, the future of this world has fallen 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 behind the [Magic Encyclopedia Dictionary] Magic props, but the false magical era will not last long - the [Magic Encyclopedia Dictionary] can be used for no more than twenty years, after which the cruel reality will come to Europeans again."
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Wang Qiu rubbed his hands in the cold wind, and finally concluded, "...perhaps, the European civilization, which is still very immature at present, will soon collapse again due to various chaos. But various cultures in Europe The early collision and the temporary disappearance of population pressure may also allow social progress and civilization evolution to be realized in advance, thereby ushering in a more beautiful and harmonious new world... Who can guess this kind of thing? ”
"...Is that so...Then, will the new era that originally belonged to the Reformation, the Renaissance and the Great Geographical Discovery still come?" After Li Wei pondered for a moment, he asked Wang Qiu, "...after we people put everything aside, will it come again?" After turning everything upside down? ”