Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1747 Exile
"Speaking of which, I've had a question since the beginning," Shangluo asked Ao Zang after the visitor from the lower realm left, "Why did he call himself the Phoenix King? Are there phoenixes in this world?"

“No,” Ao Zang replied, “They found this in the ‘Heavenly Book.’ They’ve collected quite a lot of things.”

This kind of thing is actually quite common. For example, let's not even talk about dragons; there's no country in the world where living dragons roam freely.

Even Ao Zang wouldn't wander around the streets in his dragon form.

But tigers are different. Tigers actually live in many parts of the world, and their artistic representation exists in many cultures, holding a prominent place—Japanese culture also features many prominent tiger images. However, there are no wild tigers in Japan.

Although Japan has many wild bears, it does not have a single wild tiger. Even so, the image of the tiger has been preserved through cultural exchange.

This kind of "cultural image" is detached from the original soil of civilization and is usually more concentrated in the aristocratic class, because the aesthetic preferences of the aristocracy often follow popular culture.

To understand the true cultural inclinations of the local people, folklore provides an excellent window. In indigenous folklore, wolves, wild boars, and bears play a more significant role in many local rituals. Wolves are typically mysterious, wild boars are fierce, and bears are some kind of irresistible and powerful deity. This is because in Japan, locals can actually see wolves in the mountains, be gored by wild boars, and even have their skulls smashed by a bear's paw.

Especially the bears. Even if modern weapons are deployed to encircle and suppress them, the bears' fighting power is enough to suddenly ambush and kill several of them.

Running at speeds of 40-50 kilometers per hour, standing two to three meters tall, and capable of killing a person with a single slap—this would require superhuman abilities for either the King Kong Continent or for humans. However, bears don't need modification; they are born able to run that fast and are born that tall. Killing a person with a single slap is just commonplace for a bear.

All those methods of transforming oneself into a superhuman are ultimately just ways to make someone reach the level of a bear in certain data.

In other words, bears are often seen as real-life "superheroes" to humans. Their strength far surpasses that of humans, and their large heads can hold enough intelligence to outmaneuver humans with the aid of combat experience, achieving localized combat advantages and defeating those who try to hunt them down one by one.

Therefore, the fear of bears is more realistic for them than the fear of tigers—after all, if you can't see tigers at all, then there's no difference between tigers and dragons, since they are both cultural imports.

"Speaking of which, what are the ferocious beasts in their native land?" Shangluo asked.

"It is a dragon, or rather, a subspecies of dragon. More than half of the natural creatures in this world are dragons in various forms."

"Is it a dragon of the four elements?"

"No, they're all Earth Dragons. Those that fly in the sky, swim in the water, and run on the ground are all subspecies of Earth Dragons—some kind of dinosaur-like creatures. The apex predator is a giant bipedal dinosaur that mainly lives in cold regions. These carnivorous dinosaurs are covered in feathers and are round like sparrows, but they feed on other giant dinosaurs."

"I have a feeling this could be turned into a park. But let's forget about a park; let's not cause them any trouble. The prison is enough." [It's not like a prison and a park can't be combined.]

"What do you mean?"

Look, Jurassic Park is great, but Jurassic Prison isn't so bad either. Since they're going to be exiled anyway, why not do something more beneficial for the world? For example, exile them to a place with lots of dinosaurs. They'll be tormenting each other, making things much easier for the locals.

"That's a good idea!"

It sounds a bit outrageous, but this choice is actually very reasonable.

Shangluo knew that although "exile to Ningguta" was used as a euphemism for "exile to a bitter and cold place," Ningguta was not a truly bitter and cold place.

That was Liaodong, a wonderful place. Because it was sparsely populated, its abundant natural resources were readily available for anyone to exploit; one could hunt roe deer with sticks and scoop fish with ladles. As long as one didn't have to perform hard labor, life there was very pleasant, even something to miss—many prisoners exiled to Ningguta, after returning to the interior, would still reminisce about their life there, even uttering such lamentations before their deaths:

"I wish to hunt pheasants with you at the foot of Baishan Mountain, fish for carp in the Songhua River, and bring them back for your mother to make soup to accompany our dinner. Is that not possible?"

Life in Ningguta abruptly severed the complexities of interpersonal relationships. In his spare time, he would go hunting pheasants in the mountains with his son, fish on the Songhua River, bring the catch home for his wife to cook, and in the evening, the whole family would sit warmly on the heated kang (a traditional brick bed) and enjoy a meal together—something many people cherish until their death. Because this truly is one of the most beautiful lives possible for humankind.

This was made possible primarily by the sheer number of people in Ningguta. It wasn't just exiled officials, but also other exiled individuals. Where there are people, there is business, leading many merchants to follow, forming a huge commercial district in Ningguta. Those exiled here could enjoy the bounty of nature while remaining connected to mainstream culture.

If Shangluo simply dumped those Romans here, these "amnesiac, faded souls" would likely form a community and start "beating roe deer and scooping fish" on the ground. This wouldn't be a place to punish prisoners of war, but rather a vacation spot. Shangluo plans to later place some people in need of treatment in specific "themed resorts" here, allowing them to heal their souls in idyllic rural life.

As a place for punishing prisoners of war, while they shouldn't be deliberately tortured, they should at least be made to work. After all, the imperial court wouldn't support them for nothing.

"So, it's good to put them in a place where dinosaurs roam. Give them some external pressure, let them experience what it's like to survive in the jungle, and at the same time, ensure that they are not tortured after they have worked hard to live, so that they do not degenerate to the stage of fighting against primitive giants."

Considering the average lifespan of primitive humans, this form of punishment was sufficiently deterrent.

“Then let’s make the arrangements,” Shangluo said to Aozang. “We can let Jin Gang Zhou choose some places that need guards, and then we’ll exile the people there. Jin Gang Zhou can keep an eye on them from time to time, but they shouldn’t be tortured either, so they can’t live too well.”

(End of this chapter)