At half past two in the afternoon of cosmic standard time, the spacecraft docked at a planet in the outermost galaxy of the Vansheitri Trimona star field. As soon as he came back at dawn, Gu Hanhan, who fell asleep without even eating, stretched his waist and sat up from the bed, casually picked up the fried rice brought by the personal manservant, jumped out of bed, cleaned up and pulled Anthony off the boat for sightseeing.

Anthony got up long earlier than Gu Hanhan, had already eaten lunch, and was sitting in the living room, reading the morning report of the planet that the housekeeper had just brought in—the planet where the spaceship docked happened to be early in the morning, a quarter past seven in the morning local time—and what Anthony was looking at was the entertainment version of the morning newspaper. Gu Hanhan ran over and dragged him, he threw the newspaper aside, got up and was dragged out by her, and said, "Don't run, there is enough time for you to play." ”

The spacecraft docked on the planet for six hours, at half past eight in standard time, and set sail after one p.m. local time, which means that enough visitors on board to land on the planet's surface for a sightseeing lap, buy some souvenirs, and have lunch before returning to the ship.

The gravity of this planet, called "Fog Veil", is only 90% of that of the Earth, but it is farther away from the stars than the Earth, the sun is gentle and gentle, and the air is always wet with some moisture. The excess water vapor floats in mid-air, like a thin veil. Perhaps it is precisely because of this reason that this planet, which is as gentle and moist as a small jasper, has such a beautiful name as "fog veil".

The morning of the Fog Veil Star was a little cold, and there were many tall trees on the planet, which shaded the gentle sunlight, so it was even more damp and cold. In September, the earth is still warm and comfortable, and the word cold can barely be used here. Before going down to the ground transfer cabin, one of the personal valets took a cloak-style short plush coat and put it on the outside of Gu Hanhan's skirt.

The first stop of the ground transfer pod is a large bazaar, where vendors often set up stalls between two large trees to sell all sorts of strange souvenirs. The people who come and go are bustling, very lively, and full of vivid human atmosphere. Gu Hanhan took a deep breath and felt very comfortable: "The air here is much better than on the spaceship. ”

Most of the people of the Fog Yarn Star are long and fair-skinned. Gu Hanhan was in a good mood to walk in the tall crowd, because of the low gravitational attraction of the planet, she felt light when she walked, and she didn't feel tired even if she wore a heavy coat outside. At Gu Hanhan's strong request, they bought a large box of roasted gray finches in the corner of the market, a kind of local bird, and roasted them with local spices. Gu Hanhan gave one to Dongguang and the personal manservant, and also handed one to Anthony's mouth. Waiting for him to take a bite and take it in his hand and start eating, he happily hugged the rest, and while eating, he squeezed to the stall to see all kinds of goods.

The main specialties sold here are all kinds of amazing plants and spices with unknown uses. Gu Hanhan bought a pot of fruits with many colors, and when he touched the trunk, he would throw a fruit to the cute little tree on the person opposite, and the vendor said that this kind of tree was called the Yoyo tree locally.

Later, I fell in love with a kind of skinny trousers sewn from local homespun cloth. The boss is a middle-aged aunt, very enthusiastically introduced that it is made of a precious tree heart, which is very comfortable after wearing, can soothe people's muscles and help sleep peacefully, and is most suitable for rest. It's a little expensive, a piece costs 100 yuan, almost catching up with the natural clothing native to the earth. However, Gu Hanhan was afraid that it would not be expensive, so he bought thirty in one go with great interest, and asked for all kinds of colors.

Dongguang was about to pay the bill, but was stopped by Gu Hanhan: "Don't, let me experience the joy of spending money and shopping as a god." Since I made a fortune, I haven't had a chance to pay my bills except for going into restaurants to pack takeout. She handed the roasted bird to Toko for the time being, wiped her hands on the handkerchief provided by one of the valets, and settled the bill with her ring.

After the bazaar, the next stop is the "Tomb of the Fog King", which is said to be the most famous attraction in the country of Lai and even the entire Vanhiitri Muna Star Field. Here is buried the Queen of the Mist who ended the republican system of the Van Sheitri Trimona Star Field, the first monarch of the kingdom of Rai.

The mausoleum is built quietly and far away, not like the mausoleum of the emperor, at least not like the mausoleum of those legendary dynasties on the earth in Gu Hanhan's impression. When they came, they saw many people laying flowers in front of the tombstone of the Queen of the Mist, and bowing down.

The tour guide said, "The queen put an end to the decaying democracy and brought happiness, peace and prosperity to the entire star field. All the people of the Van Sheitri Mona field are forever grateful to her. ”

Gu Hanhan looked at Anthony in surprise, the words decadence and democracy are used together, she has never seen them in her life.

Anthony didn't know much about the history of such a small star field, so he just explained to Gu Hanhan in general terms: "In the future, you will find that these two words are often used together. About 200 years after the disintegration of the Earth Republic, more than 100 years from 2850 to 3000, it was the era of the Great Restoration of the Galaxy. Two thousand light-years away from the Earth, two-thirds of the countries and star fields have abandoned democracy and turned to autocracy, all kinds of limited or unlimited autocracy. Half of the remaining one-third retains democracy in the form of independent trading planets and energy-producing regions, and they form a loose alliance that is now Liberty Interstellar. The other half, over the next 300 years, also abandoned democracy. ”

Gu Hanhan didn't understand: "Why?"

"It is nothing more than election fraud, collusion between officials and businessmen, selling state assets at a low price in exchange for personal wealth, declining welfare of the population, increasing social divisions, and increasingly unfair distribution of resources and information. For the people at that time, when the invisible injustices of democracy accumulated to a certain point above a certain threshold, they preferred to choose a more direct autocracy. Because at least the injustice of the latter is visible, and as long as it is visible, it is easier to break. Transparency is often more important than resources, and any kind of promising autocracy must be more self-disciplined and transparent than democracy, leaving a clear path for the population to rise up, institutionalize it and defend it as if it were a life. ”

"Any social system needs to be flattered by the people, and democracy itself is a flattery. The cornerstone of human society will always be the common people, even if they are as humble as dust. Whether it is a democratic leader or an authoritarian emperor, they are just dolls that the people choose to dance on the stone tip, and they can be overthrown at any time. I can destroy a planet and wipe out billions of lives in an instant, but if everyone is resolutely against me, the only thing that awaits me is death. ”

"It's like that on the inside, it's ...... on the outside Around 2,800 years, due to widespread genetic diseases and the cosmic moat that could not be crossed at the end of the galaxy, the great cause of mankind's active progress into the universe entered an unprecedented period of stagnation. The ideals and beliefs that have underpinned humanity's heroic and fearless march for thousands of years have become disillusioned and collapsed, and the entire human society has collectively fallen into confusion and helplessness, and has turned to stronger leaders, or redeemers and saviors. Humanity at the end of the galaxy was at a loss, turning the ship inward, and the civil war and the internal construction of the galaxy began almost simultaneously. The boundaries that belong to human territory seem to have been drawn, and it is up to who gets more living space. It was from that time that the precedent of wars between human nations and human nations to seize the planets of other countries and turn the people of the planets into slaves was set at that time. ”

"At that time, democracies that had lost morality often failed to defeat the efficient autocracy of the rising period. So, what is the use of democracy that the people want to bring neither living space nor any fairness and equality, but a democracy that risks losing a greater freedom and power......? ”

"Of course, that's all on the surface. The essence lies in the fact that the vast space and the long distance of interstellar navigation and the fragile bonds of interconnection between each other will have a powerful centrifugal effect on the entire human society. Under the action of centrifugal force, the peripheral star fields will be gradually thrown out, gradually dispersed, and finally completely shattered into a non-communal human society with a flat structure, scattered planets, and loose organization. ”

"There is no doubt that democracy will accelerate this dispersion, because democracy is always bottom-up, and electoral and self-governing units can be as small as the planet. Autocracy, on the other hand, slows down this dispersion, because autocracy is always top-down, empires can be infinitely large, and centralization provides a centripetal force to bring society closer to one point. The universe is not only human beings, in a universe where a large energy storm may block the information of the star field transportation network and the sky net, the power of human beings is pitifully small, and human society needs to strengthen the form of organization more powerful and efficient. In the agrarian era, there was the feudal system in the agrarian era, in the planetary era, there was the democratic government in the planetary era, and in the spaceship era, there was the powerful society in the spaceship era. ”

Gu Hanhan was silent for a while and said, "You seem to know democracy very well. ”

"Any autocracy must have a deeper understanding of democracy than a democrat," Anthony said, touching Gu Hanhan's head, "because democracy is inherently more deceptive than autocracy." ”

"Deception?" Gu Hanhan looked at Anthony suspiciously.

"Yes, deception," said Anthony, in a slightly mocking tone, "as long as democracy shouts the slogan of not bowing to anyone for the sake of liberty and equality, the people will be willing to cut back on food and clothing, work hard, and even bring their own dry food, and starve to death with laughter." Autocracy/system is not good, one less grain of rice may have someone to lift the table. Residents of remote towns burn a light bulb at home, and they will blame the emperor in their hearts. ”

"Democracy always comes first in retreat, and the universe is pragmatic. He concluded.

Gu Hanhan didn't think much of this, and spread his hands and said: "Pragmatic to rape/adultery and plunder, and open sexuality?"

"That's not a matter of system, it's a matter of cosmic morality. Anthony looked at Gu Hanhan tolerantly, "Autocracy will not give the world one more villain, and democracy will not give the world one more saint." The planetary age has the morality of the planetary age, and the cosmic age has the morality of the cosmic age. The ultimate law of the universe is survival, and the cosmic morality based on the law of survival is that there is no morality between races, the weak eat the strong, and the strong race destroys the weak race. ”

"Refracted to the interior of the race, the cosmic morality is that the strong should do their best to open up a larger living space for the entire race, and the weak must be exchanged for giving if they want to be allocated additional and better living conditions. Resources can never be evenly distributed, so why do some people have to throw their heads and spill their blood, while others can easily hide behind their backs and get something for nothing? If you are not accustomed to this kind of morality, you should give self-improvement to the weak and fairness in exchange, instead of forcing the strong to make selfless contributions and conniving at the weak to get something for nothing. ”

"Give the weak self-improvement, and give the exchange a fair ......" Gu Hanhan repeated this sentence softly, and the voice of the tour guide came from his ears-

"Her Majesty the Queen of Mist sacrificed her noble life to save the Van Sheitri Mona Star Domain at the age of thirty-seven, and the original body that turned into matter was taken away by the energy storm, and only a bundle of her hair was buried here. ”

"At least she still has her hair left, and most superpower dictators end up completely disappearing into the universe. Anthony put his hand on Gu Hanhan's arm, put his arm around her, and turned around, "Let's go." ”