Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1597 Yaru
"You guys even called me along when you were on a mission?" Gao Shiyu arrived at the scene. "I thought we weren't familiar with each other."

"Because it wasn't within your scope of business before, but it is now."

"So, did Han Xingzhi fall into a trap, and you need a little follower, so you called me over?"

"How could that be? There are plenty of people who want to be my little follower, I don't need you."

"I thought you were going to reject the idea of ​​having a sidekick. Okay, then let me make this clear from the start. I'm just a blind man, there's nothing I can do."

"I just need someone to speak for the dead. You're more skilled than me as a cultivator, right? So this job is perfect for you."

"Hmm," Gao Shiyu thought for a moment, "This is indeed within my scope of work. But why didn't you call me before?"

"Because it used to be too dangerous; just getting here was dangerous."

It's much safer now; they can come just by making a phone call.

In fact, if it weren't so easy to get Gao Shiyu to come, he wouldn't have asked Gao Shiyu, who usually needs extra help, to do the work.

"You're pitying me."

"No, that's not true."

"You're just pitying me—I'm not blind anymore, don't think I can't see it. You could at least invite me out for one more meal, that way I'll at least look like a glutton."

Are you having a bad time?

Gao Shiyu nodded: "They still don't respect me and treat me like someone who needs help. But I don't need anyone's help anymore. I can go to school by myself and do my own housework. But now everyone holds my hand when they go upstairs, as if they're afraid I'll fall."

"I'm guessing you were referring to your girlfriend when you said that."

"."

He was hit hard by you.

"Yes, he hit me hard."

[Can't you cultivators be a little more self-aware?! Can't you just ignore me?! I'm only talking to Shang Luo, I don't want you to hear me!]

"What can I do? I used to be blind, but my hearing is exceptionally good! You're blaming me for having ears just because you're speaking on a public channel?"

"Alright, alright, everyone, calm down." He looked at Gao Shiyu. "So, I'll respect your decision, okay?"

"Thanks then. Actually, I'm already very happy that you thought of asking me for help when you needed it. At least someone knows I'm useful—so, is this time going to hell?"

"Theoretically, it is hell, but not hell in the usual sense. The place we are going to is Aru, the lower level of Cybernia—the Egyptian heaven, a place where all those who are blessed go. There are endless fields to cultivate, and the weather is good all year round without disasters. As long as you work hard, you will reap an equal harvest."

"Do Egyptians love farming so much? Do they even farm after they die?"

"There are many people in this world who enjoy farming. However, Egyptians seem to especially hope for favorable weather."

For an agrarian civilization, Egypt was like a beginner's village. Farming in Egypt required almost no specialized water management skills, as the Nile River provided an enormous amount of water.

The Mediterranean Sea is frequently blocked by the Strait of Gibraltar. While this "frequent" period is unusual in human history, it is not uncommon in geological history. As the earth dries up and forms deep pits, the Nile River channel is continuously eroded along with the Mediterranean Sea level. Near Cairo, the channel at one point even eroded to a depth of 570 meters below the surface, effectively creating a large rift valley.

Subsequently, as the Mediterranean Sea level rose, more than 500 meters of the Nile River channel were refilled with silt. In other words, more than 500 meters of silt accumulated beneath the main channel of the Nile.

This makes the Nile Valley incredibly fertile. The natural abundance of nutrients each year is enough to sustain a human civilization, without the need for fallow or fertilization.

But all of this comes at a price. Egypt's agricultural environment is entirely dependent on the Nile River, because even the soil for farming is separated from 500 meters of mud every year, and the original location of Egypt was a desert.

Where there is the Nile River and silt, there is a place where people can live. Just a dozen kilometers away from the riverbed, a vast desert, completely uninhabitable, will appear before everyone's eyes.

The Nile River itself doesn't require large-scale management. This narrow and cramped living environment, like a locked-room mystery, confines everyone to a small space, making farming and establishing a state in Egypt much easier. Because no one can escape, even rebel groups struggle to form, and the monarchy can move freely along the river.

Although Egypt covers an extremely vast area, it is basically divided into Upper and Lower Egypt. In the context of the diverse cultures of ancient civilizations, which are as numerous as stars in the sky, the administrative division is as uniform as a beaten egg.

Besides external threats, the main challenge facing ancient Egypt was figuring out how much the Nile River would rise each year. This was the biggest and most important challenge for the Egyptians.

As long as the Nile floods on time, everything will proceed as usual—production can continue, and the nation can endure. But if the Nile does not flood as expected, then everything is over.

Without floods there is no production; without production there is no civilization.

The Egyptians' aspirations were so simple. They hoped the Nile would stabilize and that their farming would yield a harvest, because that was the best year of their lives.

This is why the "ideal land" that Aru provides is so simple. Aru is transformed into a simple farmland because the entire society, from top to bottom, serves agriculture.

The ancient Egyptians did not call themselves Egypt, but "Khmeit," which means "black soil." Black soil specifically refers to the 500-meter-thick layer of silt that was affected by the Nile River floods.

When farming itself is more important than anything else, the imagination of the afterlife is naturally inseparable from farming.

"The world here is so simple. So simple that it's enviable. Our history is far more complex than anything that has happened here."

"That makes sense."

The Arugh were the spiritual center of ancient Egyptian civilization, and the entire society's education revolved around the harvest.

As far as Aru is concerned, the contradiction here is very simple: it is the contradiction between man and nature.

Society as a whole can be divided into two situations: [people can survive] or [people cannot survive]. If people are still alive, they are virtuous, and the gods have not punished the Pharaoh. If people die, the gods are angry, and the Pharaoh will also die. Comparatively, given the same environment and agricultural issues, the situation in the east is much more complex. The most typical example is the well-known saying in Shangluo, though he didn't personally experience it, "A timely snow promises a bumper harvest."

Farming outside of Egypt is not so simple. In the ancient East, winter snow meant a good harvest, as the heavy snowfall killed parasites in the soil. The snow cover itself also protected many winter-growing plants from the cold.

In such circumstances, to make wild pronouncements about the relationship between the weather and the emperor is tantamount to courting death. Many people choose to preach about the emperor's moral failings on snowless winter days—it wouldn't be surprising if such people were beaten to death by the Embroidered Uniform Guard outside the Meridian Gate.

Of course, Zhu Xianxi wouldn't kill someone just because they insulted him. It's just that a certain Dao Lord, whom he and Shang Luo both knew, was very particular about this matter.

Looking back now, being able to weave such a simple story is actually a manifestation of happiness. Happy people mostly share similar happiness, while unhappy people—those who desire but cannot obtain—exhibit what they lack and then seek revengeful compensation in their imaginations.

If such a "Yaru" existed in the Ming Dynasty, then Yaru's existence would not be as simple as it is now.

"So, Shangluo, since the situation inside is so simple, how did you manage to get lost inside?"

“That’s another issue,” Shangluo replied. “It’s precisely because it’s simple and controllable that the Romans used ancient Egypt as a stepping stone to modern civilization.”

"I see. Now that you mention it, I feel more confident. You want me to lead the way in, right?"

"You can just ask the locals for us. You seem to be familiar with the language of the spirit world?"

"I should be able to communicate with them to some extent, so there shouldn't be any problem. I'll also be prepared for the issues you just mentioned—but from your description, it does seem to be a simple model there. Maybe it could be developed into a tourist attraction in the future."

"You think so too? Someone mentioned this to you before?"

"Not really. I just think the world there is simple and pure, like the fairy tales I read as a child. Yaru is like a fairy tale. Because the world of children is simple and pure, and the colors are bright and eye-catching. If children come to Yaru, they can probably understand the story. Similarly, I'm sure many people would want to come and see the scenery here. We can treat this as a scouting trip."

"Don't talk like we're here to commit a crime, okay?"

"Look, we're going to visit this place that even the Romans didn't intend to develop. We'll give the locals a little shock by showing up uninvited, won't we?"

“Hmm,” Shangluo pondered for a moment, “That’s what I’m worried about too. Our own world is too complicated; will it clash with Yaru’s simple world?”

“I think even if they really only have farmland and the sun, it wouldn’t be so simple that it couldn’t even accommodate us—but there is one thing that bothers me: are there still people there now?”

"Hmm?" Shang Luo pondered for a moment. "Your question makes a lot of sense."

That was Egypt's paradise, its ideal world, but Rome was not Egypt after all.

"Wait, let me go ask." This is an important question; it's worth confirming before leaving.

A few minutes later, Shangluo received the results: "There are indeed quite a few locals there—I mean, there are locals who consider Yaru their paradise."

"Have the Egyptians not yet gone extinct?"

"The Egyptians have never been exterminated. Most of the common people under the Egyptian provinces are genuine Egyptians. They just lack the necessary awareness of the Pharaoh, making it increasingly difficult for them to enter Aru—but they still exist. At present, Aru should be largely the same, only much smaller in scale than in its heyday."

A few minutes later, they arrived in Yaru.

They came out of a red telephone booth.

Amidst the golden waves of wheat, a small hill rises. Just as the legend says, the surrounding land stretches as far as the eye can see, arable. In this golden sea, the Pharaoh's sacred sun boat sails.

Before them stood a soldier with a jackal's head, holding a sickle-shaped sword: "Passport, please show it."

As requested by Shangluo, Gao Shiyu was in charge of speaking here. He took out two gold coins that he had prepared beforehand—the coins bore the image of the pharaoh himself. Unlike the pharaohs of previous dynasties, the pharaoh on these two coins looked remarkably like a Greek: these were coins issued by Ptolemaic Egypt, the last pharaoh.

The Pharaohs' coins circulated within Aru, and Ptolemaic Egypt was considered part of Egypt, possessing characteristics of both Egypt and Greece.

Therefore, it was quite reasonable for the Romans to bring in coins from Ptolemaic Egypt.

“You are not Greeks.” The jackal-headed soldiers noticed the two men’s identities. “But since you know the rules, I won’t say more—welcome to Aru, living beings. Complete your mission as soon as possible, and then leave. In the meantime, you can enjoy the scenery of Aru. If you ‘want,’ you can also taste Aru’s bread.”

"No need, no need," Gao Shiyu replied. "Have you guys seen a kid who's about my height? Not as handsome as me, but a bit thinner."

"You're here to see him? Well, you've come at the right time; he's having dinner right now."

"???"

Not far from the landing site, they found where Han Xingzhi was having a meal.

That was a bakery where locals also ate. He was sitting on a rock, enjoying the view, while eating freshly baked bread.

"Oh, you've arrived. I was wondering when you would come to pick me up. I felt like coming in a couple of days would be fine."

"What are you eating?" Shang Luo stared at him.

"Bread! The bread here is delicious."

"Didn't I tell you not to eat food from other places? You're in big trouble."

"Hehehe!" Han Xingzhi laughed a few times. "Do you think I'm stupid? Of course I remember—I can't eat food from other places. I've been to Lake Nemi, how could I not know that? You think I would eat anything? You've misjudged me."

He held up the bread: "I paid for the bread before I ate it! As long as I buy the bread, it doesn't count as me taking a stranger's gift without permission, right?"

“He’s right.” The jackal-headed soldier appeared behind them. “He bought the bread, and he deserves it. But there’s one more thing: please finish all the bread you bought before you leave. Don’t waste food.”

(End of this chapter)