In the summer of 1859-1861, while the distant winds were blowing, the continents of Europa and Rice were not at peace.

The successful diffusion of the first industrial revolution brought great progress to society, but also brought about great changes, with the aristocracy facing a painful transformation, while the wealthy factory owners and merchants demanded more rights, and the lives of the common people may have improved overall, but the increasing number of newspapers, greater social mobility, and group collaboration led to a stronger voice.

As the first country to complete industrialization, England's problems in this regard were particularly prominent, and later scholars referred to this social phenomenon of transformation from a noble society to a modern mass society as the "Great Transformation" - "The Progress of the Parish Boys" (the title of the first edition of "The Orphan of the Fog", which began to be serialized in magazines in 1837), vividly describes the social shadow of this time.

The first world economic crisis of 1857 exacerbated the contradictions during this transition, so "Little Anglia" was enshrined as the norm, and "not blindly expanding colonies, but focusing on the development of free trade" became the golden rule - and the Thames began to focus more on internal problems.

The victory in the Crimean War (1853-1856) left the empire like a well-fed lion, and England did not have the heart to find its next opponent for the time being.

The Crimean War broke through the blockade of France, which began to become more and more active, but Napoleon III was very aware that this was a dividend obtained by cooperating with England, so he moved closer to it - not only actively participated in the Yarrow War, but also signed a free trade agreement with England in January 1860, and the Flannish market finally opened its doors to the British.

With the acquiescence of England, Napoleon III began to actively interfere in external affairs:

In April 1859, France launched the Suez Canal project to connect Asia and Europe, showing its ambition to develop eastward.

On November 24, 1859, the world's first modern ironclad ship, the Glory, was launched.

In March 1860, France signed the Turin Pact with the Sardinian dynasty, which was seeking the unification of the Apennines, and at the expense of the annexation of Savoy and Nice to France, it tacitly no longer strongly obstructed the actions of the Sardinian dynasty - funnily enough, in 1859, Francis was still fighting side by side with Sardinia, defeating Osmaga at the battles of Magenta and Sufalino, which were hindering the unification of Sardinia.

Of course, Napoleon III did not foresee that "the unification of the Apennine Peninsula would be very quick and smooth", he thought it was a successful robbery, but he did not expect that it would be the first domino - its collapse would eventually lead to the reunification of the Holy Roman Empire ten years later, and he would be the sacrifice of this event. And that's just the appetizer for a century-old feud between Francis and Sardinia.

As for the reluctant Sardinian Dynasty, a year later, in March 1861, the initial unification of the Apennine Peninsula was achieved, and three prominent figures, Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Cavour, were revered by later generations as the Three Masters of Unification.

Osmaga, on the other hand, had to swallow the bitter pill in silence, losing most of his interests in the region except for retaining Venice, and the Europa powers gloated as punishment for both ends of the Crimean War.

As for the future protagonist, the Kingdom of Prussia, at this time it was in the midst of internal strife:

In 1857, King Frederick William IV went insane, but it was not until October 1858 that Prince William became regent, for the reason that William's nickname was "Prince of Shotgun", and his brutal treatment of the people was opposed by the majority of the people in the parliament.

In February 1860, a draft reform of the Prussian military situation was introduced, which marked the beginning of the unification of the Holy Roman Empire – but the bill was blocked in the House of Representatives because of the lack of tangible progress on budgetary issues.

No one could have imagined that this would lead to the appearance of the future great man Bismarck, who would be his first assistant on September 23, 1862, and on the third day after that, he would give his famous speech, "The great problems of our time are not to be solved by speeches and majority resolutions, but by iron and blood." ”

In this way, Prussia officially embarked on the path of Europa subversives and profoundly influenced the history of the world for nearly a hundred years to come.

As for the polar bear Rusya, as the old gendarme of Europa, after the crushing defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856), he silently licked his wounds, in addition to increasing the conquest of the Caucasus, that is, actively détente relations with the powers, and for a time it seemed harmless to humans and animals.

But is it really harmless?

On March 3, 1861, Alexander II announced the abolition of serfdom, a drastic move that undoubtedly proved that the polar bear had not given up on its ambitions!

While the Old World is surging in the dark currents, the New World is no better:

In 1860, Mexica's "War of Reform" was successful, and by 1861 rumors appeared that "the new government would suspend the payment of foreign debts because of financial difficulties" – which would undoubtedly provoke the intervention of creditors.

Originally, the neighbor Mexika had a mess and the country of the United States would inevitably speak out - the Monroe Doctrine, and in 1823, the Mi people preached everywhere that "the affairs of Mizhou are the affairs of the Mizhou people themselves". But now the rice people are very honest, not because they have changed their temper, but because they really can't take care of it, they have already fought within their own family!

When Mr. Abraham was elected consul in November 1860, dissatisfied with his abolitionist ideas and his long-standing disappointment with the North, South Carolina first announced its withdrawal from the Union on December 20, followed by the Southern states.

In February 1861, a new alliance was formed in the South; In April of that year, the Civil War broke out, and the two sides fought fiercely.

And the outbreak of this war is not abrupt to the Mi people themselves, because there was a foreword before!

The Kansas Civil War, which lasted from 1854 to 1859, was clearly visible to the public – a "civil war" but not a large-scale war.

In 1854, the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act gave Kansas two governments at the same time—one for abolition and one for slavery.

In early 1856, abolitionist John Brown launched an armed attack, and the fighting escalated into a large-scale conflict.

Although the conflict was suppressed in September of that year, the confrontation spread beyond Kansas, and sporadic armed confrontations and verbal attacks escalated in various places.

In July 1859, John Brown, with his son and supporters, captured the town of Harpers Ferry in West Virginia, but was defeated that month and executed on December 2.

The Kansas Civil War was in fact a civil conflict between the abolitionists and the slave-pro-slave factions, representing an increasingly incompatible struggle between the two sides.

By the end of 1860, "Uncle Tom's Cabin", which had been serialized in the press since 1852, had formed a huge pressure of public opinion, and abolition or not had become the primary conflict in the rice society.

Therefore, the outbreak of the Civil War was only the ultimate solution to the conflict.

Saigo, who studied in the United States, greedily absorbed this information, hoping to understand the mystery of the world situation. But unfortunately, due to the outbreak of the war, in order to avoid the ripples, Toranosuke asked these students to complete their studies early and return home.

Saigo had no choice but to summarily end his more than two-year study abroad career, and later in later generations, a good man turned out his final essay "Poverty, Sickness and Evil Behind Prosperity" to explain Saigo's actions during the Fall and the Restoration, and believed that this was the source of his governing ideas.

But how to go home after graduation has become a difficult problem.

Originally, the last group of international students crossed the New World, from New York on the East Coast to San Francisco on the West Coast, and then returned to Fuso by boat. Although the construction of the Trans-New World Pacific Railway had not yet begun at this time, the journey through the canal, railroad and horse-drawn carriage provided a better understanding of the life of the Mi people, so although it was hard work, everyone was very willing.

But now that the war has broken out, this route has become more risky, so going directly to sea from New York has become the first choice - most international students choose this.

But what kind of person is Saigo, he just doesn't take the usual path!

In fact, he thought about it very clearly, and it was probably difficult to return to the United States this time, so he refused to give up this rare opportunity to observe the United States in depth.

After some arguments, Tokajiro Saigo had to give in in the face of the stubbornness, and he asked the Vanderbilt family to help, and gave Saigo and a few students a certificate of the overseer of the ordnance factory, and also brought a few capable bodyguards, so Saigo began his big adventure.

Along the way, they encounter unruly sheriffs, black-hearted innkeepers and coachmen, and are attacked by Indians who don't know whether they are true or not—sleeping in the wilderness is nothing compared to them.

It took more than two months to walk until the end of July 1861, when Saigo and the others arrived in San Francisco.

Fortunately, the bodyguards during the journey were powerful enough, and Saigo and others were also clever enough, although these people were not unscathed, but after all, they all survived.

In this adventure, Saigo felt the most about the safety and convenience of the train.

Of course, he should think so, although the western part of the country at that time had not yet developed into a rapid-fire national fight, it was almost there. These small towns connected by dirt roads are like islands, and if you drink too much and gamble in the bar, there is a possibility of a shootout - at that time, every town had a coffin shop, and it was not for nothing.

But Saigo really doesn't feel this way.

Unlike the Southern Union, the North noticed the importance of the railroad from the beginning, so as soon as the war began, the railroad began to gather troops and transport supplies, and this is where Saigo felt the point.

Fuso has nearly 300 daimyos, and Saigo has always considered how to tie them together. When he saw the railway, he suddenly realized, "If there is a railway, then it is enough to occupy a few important strongholds—because other places are just around the corner, and I believe that there will be nothing that goes against the law." ”

And in addition to the railroad, Saigo also discovered another sharp weapon, that is, the cable telegraph.

After more than two months of travel, I thought I would have to stay for a while when I arrived in San Francisco - because I had to find a boat.

But as soon as they got in touch with the people at the local warehouse, they learned that the ship had already been arranged—it turned out that as soon as they departed, Torajiro had informed San Francisco by cable.

Saigo had known about the existence of this thing for a long time, but after this personal experience, of course his feelings were different, "It's convenient, it's so convenient!" ”

Wouldn't it be much more convenient if Fuso had a cable telegraph, and this information would be unimpeded, and I believe that all localities would naturally be able to form a whole.

But the good is good, can Fuso build a railway and a cable telegraph? Saigo was skeptical of this.

First of all, where does the money come from

In the past two years, Xixiang has checked a lot of information, but he has not found that he can have several rich countries after being forced to trade with foreign countries - of course, the large size of China is an exception, but Fuso can't compare.

Saigo left Fuso in 1858, but in July 1859 he heard the news of the opening of the three ports to the United States.

But since visiting the textile factory, Saigo is not optimistic about the results of trade in his homeland; After visiting the steel mill and the ordnance factory, even if he was tough by nature, he almost collapsed.

But it's not just a matter of money, you can't use it if you have money to buy a lot of things.

In short, Saigo boarded the merchant ship returning home with a melancholy stomach, "Where is the road?" ”