Chapter 2 The Old World

  After turning over the last page, Huo Shan gently placed the German edition of Clausewitz's "On War" on the sandalwood desk.

  In his previous life, when he was studying mechanical engineering, he learned German and English because all imported mechanical products, except for those from Japan, were the best from Germany and the United States. So, with the beautiful dream of finding a good job after graduation and marrying a pretty wife, during his three years in technical school, while others were having fun, he spent his time studying, although due to various reasons, his oral skills in both foreign languages weren't very good, but he could still understand general foreign language books without any problem.

  He pinched the slightly swollen spot between his eyebrows, got up and put the book that he had already read three times back in its original place. He didn't want to be discovered by this new teacher of his, after all, he had only been studying with him for less than a week and had already learned to read and write, which was already quite freaky. If he were to be found out that he also understood German, that would be the end of it.

  Mei stretched out a lazy waist, exercised all over her body, and Huo Shan couldn't help but let out a comfortable sigh.

  Through the carved window, looking at the bright sunshine outside, elegant and delicate. Huo Shan couldn't help but push open the door and walk out, instantly a gentle breeze carrying the lake's moisture swept across his body, taking away all his fatigue.

  At this moment, Huo Shan felt a sudden shock in his spirit. He strolled into the pavilion by the lake and sat down on a stone bench, staring blankly at the nearby lake water that was rippling with tiny waves. The events of the past few days seemed to flow slowly through his mind like a gentle stream.

  In the fifth year of Guangxu, November 3rd, 1879 AD, in the Taipei Prefecture of Fujian Province, Qing Empire. Thinking of this, Huo Shan couldn't help but let out a bitter smile. Although he had some guesses when he paid respects to his master a few days ago, after truly knowing which era he was in, he still found it hard to believe that he had actually crossed over to the Qing Dynasty more than 120 years ago, just like Zhuangzi's dream of becoming a butterfly.

  This is a magnificent and tumultuous era, the world today, where the Qing government's Westernization Movement is in full swing. Empress Dowager Cixi sits serenely behind her screen, watching with amusement as Zhang Zhidong, Li Hongzhang, Liu Kunyi, and Aixinjueluo Yikuang vie for power and profit.

  Meanwhile, Japan's Meiji Restoration has been underway for over twenty years, but the disparity in national strength means that these little dwarves can only drool and gnash their teeth in secret as they gaze at China's vast territory.

  The greedy polar bear Russia, having swallowed up more than a million square kilometers of Chinese land in Northeast and Northwest China, returns to Europe with a full belly, pretending to be the gendarme of Europe while salivating over the Ottoman Empire, crazily coveting the Mediterranean outlet. In repeated Russo-Turkish wars, it is beaten black and blue by Turkey, supported by Britain and France, yet still refuses to learn its lesson.

  Prussia became the German Empire, devouring the 5 billion gold francs of war indemnity from France, while crazily developing its own industry and yearning for colonies all over the world like Britain. But when it picked up its knife and fork, it found that there was no more meat on the table.

  Although defeated in the Franco-Prussian War, with indemnities and territorial losses that almost made Gaul a laughing stock, it managed to prop itself up again through massive colonial plunder. Now, armed with rifles, it is secretly taking aim at China, eager to occupy the entire Indochinese peninsula and expand its colonies in the Far East.

  After the First Industrial Revolution, John Bull, with his sharp steam engine and warship, made Britain an empire on which the sun never sets, occupying the most colonies in the world, owning the most wealth, and using its warships to take what it wants from the world. The great British Empire felt no sense of crisis as it quietly approached, still indulging in the irretrievable Victorian era.

  At that time, the American eagle was not yet the world policeman after World War II, now they were struggling under the oppression of the British Empire, frantically lending to Europe, extending their railway lines, and focusing on economic development. They could only pick up some colonial leftovers behind their cousin Britain, suppressing their desire to expand their influence beyond the Americas.

  On the whole, the world is still in the era of free economy, and the second technological revolution has just begun. The world is full of the sound of guns and cannons of war and European colonizers' expansion.

  As he thought of all this, Huo Shan suddenly realized that he was now full of opportunities, transcending the world's hundred-year-old experience and familiarity with history, allowing him to discover that he actually had the opportunity to bring a shaky China towards prosperity.

  Recalling the warlords' strife and Japanese invasion in later generations, China has suffered too much in this century. Almost every Chinese with a conscience dreams of changing China's status quo, overthrowing the Qing government, and restoring the glory of the Han and Tang dynasties. Huo Shan, who knows the history of later generations, is no exception.

  "I will let China rise again!" Huo Shan looked at the lake in front of him and made a heavy oath in his heart.

  A scorching sense of historical mission and responsibility made him unable to sit still any longer, and the idea of being a rich man that he had just entertained a few days ago was ruthlessly thrown into the vast Pacific Ocean.

  She quickly got up, in the surprised eyes of the maids and servants, flew back to her bedroom, turned around and closed the door tightly, then took out her most important thing from a secret position under the bed.

  Looking at the black notebook computer in front of him, Huo Shan was both perplexed and extremely fortunate. Although he didn't know how this computer had traveled through time, having it meant that he now possessed a grasp on the world ahead of time. This was the latest IBM model, which he had spent an entire year's salary saving up for - 4G of memory, Intel quad-core processor, a full 1T hard drive, and most importantly, aside from being charged via electricity, it could also be charged using solar power, which was also why Huo Shan had abandoned Apple to buy this instead.

  Open up the computer and turn it on! Looking at the familiar Windows operating system, I feel a sense of intimacy while also feeling a little sad. That familiar world will never come back again.

  Thinking of this, Huo Shan shook his head fiercely and squeezed out all the distracting thoughts in his mind. Now he still had a more important task to complete!

  The active fingers clicked open the familiar F disk, and suddenly a series of folders with different names appeared on the screen.

  Seeing these familiar contents, Huo Shan let out a long sigh of relief, and his face showed deep nostalgia.

  To know that this 1T hard drive is full of countless design drawings of chemical, steel, mining, shipbuilding machinery and guns, tanks, aircraft, warships, even medical formulas, mineral resource distribution maps of most countries in the world, lists of all famous scientists from the First Industrial Revolution to the 21st century and their deeds, as well as a world history book. All of these were what he had searched for online when he was reading novels, and spent time organizing them for his own convenience, who would have thought that they would come in handy now.

  "Hurray! China's rise begins today!" Huo Shan exclaimed confidently in front of his computer screen.

  For the next month, apart from eating, sleeping and studying, Huo Shan was cooped up in his bedroom, working hard to make a detailed strategic plan for his future career.

  He rubbed his slightly sore wrists, looking at the fruits of his labor for a month, and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction. Due to being too young, typing was really inconvenient, and such a large, long-term development plan spanning decades, it was indeed a bit difficult for him to do alone.

  "For now, let's just leave it at that. We can supplement the rest according to the actual situation later!" Huo Shan thought to himself.

  He casually turned off the computer, put it away, and stood up to stretch his waist, but after keeping the same posture for a long time, he felt a bit dizzy and almost fell over as a wave of dizziness washed over him.

  "Alas, I'm still too young!" After rubbing his temples with his hands, Huo Shan couldn't help but smile wryly to himself.

  "Bang bang......!"

  "Master, the mistress is calling you. The new clothes she made for you have arrived!" Along with a knock on the door, a slightly resentful yet crisp and clear voice came from outside the door.

  "Alas, it's that girl again!" Huo Shan turned around with a bitter face and walked towards the door. He still remembered how he had instructed this little girl not to enter his bedroom for a month, and her tearful expression at the time. However, he had put in a lot of effort and made many unequal promises to coax her into calming down.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, no sooner had he opened the door than Ping'er appeared before his eyes, her cheeks puffed out and a small, angry expression on her face.

  Looking at her adorable appearance with two cheeks blushing red, Huo Shan couldn't help but smile.

  "Oh my, don't laugh, if you keep this up, I won't talk to you anymore!" As her personal maid, Xiaotou also understood that she would marry the young master in the future. Plus, they were of similar age, so when they were alone together, their playful bickering had become a usual occurrence.

  "Alright, alright, stop laughing! Let's go quickly, or Mother will get anxious!" After saying that, he didn't wait for Xiaoyu to respond and stretched out his own wolf-like claws, grabbing the tender white small hand of Xiangxiang, who had a red face and wasn't speaking, and pulled her towards the central courtyard.