Chapter Seventy-Six: Are You Building a Tomb of the Living Dead?

On the edge of the western desert of Australia, outside the ruins of "Song City" under intense construction

On the desert coastline near the Indian Ocean, a rocky mountain that has turned reddish-brown due to the sun's fading is like the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan and the Leshan Buddha in Sichuan.

This is a landmark designed by the traveler for the ruins of the "Song City", just like the Statue of Liberty in New York and the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, so that Western navigators who arrived here could see the existence of this colossus from their boats by the sea.

However, unlike the giant Buddhas in the Buddhist grottoes of the Old World, the figure depicted in this giant statue in the "Australian Grottoes" is a military general wearing armor and standing with a sword, his eyes contemplatively staring at the sea, his expression solemn and tragic.

On the cliff above the head of the colossus, the four big characters "return my rivers and mountains" are impressively carved, making the general seem to be full of divine brilliance.

Obviously, this is the statue of Yue Fei, the "god of war" of the Southern Song Dynasty, which contains the eternal sorrow of the "Australian Song Empire" to recover its homeland and return to the Central Plains.

——The major affairs of the country are in worship and worship.

Every nation will try to mythologize their great history and make it a precious spiritual wealth, even if it is a virtual country or a virtual history - any great nation must have a great origin or idea, otherwise the nation will be very uncohesive.

In the case of the Roman Empire, the Roman city-state was founded by a group of slaves, fugitives and vagabonds, gathered by the Romulus brothers (wolf children), on the banks of the Tiber River. Because the cottage is too poor and dilapidated, a group of poor bachelors can't marry a daughter-in-law, so they have to dig out their tricks to rob the neighbor Sabines to rob the "Lady of the Village...... But after the Romans dominated the Mediterranean, looking at the Greek city-states claiming to be descendants of this and that mythical hero, they couldn't be more noble, and they couldn't help but feel that their ancestors were too vulgar and a little too bad.

So, in order to raise their value, the Romans dug out a Trojan hero Aeneas whose whereabouts were not clearly recorded from the popular "Homeric Epic", and then concocted a mythical story that after Troy was broken by the Greek coalition Trojan Horse plan, Aeneas led the Trojan remnants to sail out to sea, escaped the pursuit of the Greeks, traveled thousands of miles to North Africa, met the Carthaginian queen, and finally landed in Italy, becoming the mythical story of the ancestors of the Romans, in order to put gold on his face. At the same time, it also provided a theoretical basis for the conquest of Greece by the Roman legions.

Then, thousands of years later, the reason why the Russians, who had nothing to do with Rome from the perspective of race or territory, had the audacity to claim to be the inheritors of ancient Roman civilization and the "Third Rome" (the Second Rome is the Byzantine Empire) blessed by God on the extremely far-fetched reason that a certain generation of monarchs married a Byzantine princess...... It was also out of the consideration of raising national pride and enhancing national cohesion - the real Slavic ancestors of the Russian Empire, who were generally regarded as slaves and savages by the civilized world at that time, were really unproductive!

Similarly, although the "Global Chinese Traveler Alliance" comes from the future world, all members still have a strong identity with "Chinese", and it seems that there is no need to dig out their minds to concoct a grand ancestor for the crossers.

But the problem is that Huameng needs to consider not only the situation of the traverser, but also the perception of the naturalized people. After all, these time-travelers are really very different from the Ming Dynasty people in this time and space in terms of thoughts, concepts, and culture, and even more than the gap between people from other countries and the Ming Dynasty people in the same era. In order for the natives of the Ming Dynasty to successfully integrate into the state system of the travelers, and not to let the travelers be regarded as barbarians and invaders on Chinese soil, a fictitious "connection" and transition was needed - hence the construction of the current "Song City" site.

- Don't underestimate the role of "soft power", the great Soviet Union, which was majestic and dominated half the world in the past, is not because of its comprehensive defeat in soft power, even if it still has a million troops and countless nuclear warheads, it still collapsed all of a sudden, and perished extremely aggrieved?

In short, the theme of the construction of the ruins of the "Song City" must serve the ambition of the "Huameng" to rule the Central Plains and conquer the world.

Of course, this is in the good direction, and if it is said in the bad direction, it is ...... In order to publicize the superiority of the traverser regime, in order to allow the natives of the Ming Dynasty in this time and space to establish a sense of identity with the traverser regime, and in order to prevent the previous Lingao group, North American group and South American group from lying in front of the people of the world, the previous lies must be rounded up with big lies, and the big words can only be remedied with bigger cowhides - therefore, when the time-traveler was founded in the Huameng, he had to spend so much manpower and material resources to build a lost ruin of the "Australian Song Empire".

Should this be said to be romantic? Or is it brain-dead? Alas, it is really difficult to explain, it seems that it can only be the opinion of the benevolent and the wise.

In addition, it feels really cool to be able to spend the country's money and play a real version of the game setting in a vast land.

Riding a bumpy off-road vehicle to the foot of the recently completed colossus of Yue Fei, Wang Qiu looked up at the resolute face of this national hero through the car window - it is obvious that in the near future, this place will become a "patriotic education base" for Ming Dynasty immigrants to visit!

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At the same time as the ruins of the "Song City" are gradually taking shape, a "history of the rise and fall of the Australian Song Empire" has also been preliminarily finalized.

——After the Battle of Yashan, the Southern Song Dynasty court was completely destroyed, Wen Tianxiang was captured and taken to Dadu, and Lu Xiufu committed suicide by jumping into the sea with the last young emperor of the Song Dynasty on his back.

After that, 100,000 Song people committed suicide in despair, and hundreds of thousands of remnants of the Song dynasty refused to submit to the Tartars and went into exile.

But after all, this is under the fence, and they are discriminated against and bullied by the Nanyang natives in all aspects, so the remnants of the Song Dynasty generally live very aggrieved.

Moreover, soon after the Mongols destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, they immediately launched large-scale expeditions to Vietnam and Java (I have to admit that the Yuan army's long-distance expedition across the sea to Java really broke through the imagination of the feudal dynasties of the past dynasties, and it is hard to believe that this is actually a decision made by a steppe nomad), and its war seems to be endless, and even has a vague momentum of conquering the world.

Therefore, the remnants of the Song Dynasty, who had long since become frightened birds, thought that the countries of the South Seas might not be a place to live in peace, and that sooner or later they would be ravaged by the iron hooves of the Mongol Tatars, so they set sail again and set out to a more distant place, trying to find their own paradise.

Such a voyage was of course very dangerous, and many people disappeared into the vast sea, but there was also a fleet of remnants of the Song Dynasty, carrying distant relatives of the Zhao and Song royal families, outstanding scholars who had fled and the most outstanding craftsmen of the old empire, and succeeded in finding a new land - Western Australia, which was "still rich in water and grass and fertile land at that time", because there was a large lake ("Tai O") on the shore, so it was named Australia by the migrant fleet.

Then, in this strange land, these outstanding sons and daughters who inherited all the essence of Chinese civilization spent hundreds of years overcoming thorns and thorns, reclaiming wasteland and cultivating land, and finally established their own country, named "Ao Song".

After multiplying for several generations and possessing a certain strength, the Ao-Song Empire also sent a fleet to investigate the situation of the homeland, in an attempt to take revenge on the Mongol Tatars. But the news came back that the once invincible Mongol and Yuan Tatars had been expelled, and a new Han dynasty had regained legitimacy in the Central Plains...... Since the enemy of the dead country no longer exists, and now it is the Han compatriots who rule the homeland, these "Australians" discussed for a while, but in the end they were still unwilling to read the wall and fight with the people of the same race, so they temporarily extinguished the idea of returning to the Central Plains.

In the days that followed, the Otto-Song Empire continued to prosper and develop, achieving the Industrial Revolution and pushing civilization and technology to an astonishing height. However, the good times did not last long, a terrible drought suddenly struck, and the entire territory of the Song Empire did not see a drop of rain for many years, and the rivers dried up, and the crops dried up alive, and finally countless once-prosperous towns and villages were quickly swallowed up by the expanding desert.

At the same time as the tragic natural disasters erupted, the internal contradictions of the ruling class of the Song Empire also intensified, and despite the fact that the land was gradually turning into a desert, it was mired in frequent palace coups and bloody all-out civil wars, thus further weakening the country's ability to cope with natural disasters.

(This section is a reference to "The Destruction of the Nexriel Empire" in the DND Feron Continental Campaign canon.) ）

In the midst of civil wars and natural disasters, the once-prosperous Austro-Song Empire soon collapsed, and suddenly destroyed Miè like the legendary Atlantean civilization. Many "Australians" who are of great Song and Miao descent bid farewell to their hometown again with tears and sailed out to sea like their ancestors to find a new home...... As a result, it blossomed in all corners of the world, establishing colonies such as the United States of China, the Eastern Coast State, the Senate of Lingao, and the Far Eastern Company in Vladivostok.

As for the people who kept the homeland of the Ao-Song Empire, they barely struggled for a while. But it didn't take long for a tragic super sandstorm to turn even the capital of the empire, "Song City", into a barren land where humans could not survive. These last survivors of the Australian Song Empire had no choice but to embark on a migration journey, relocated to the rest of the desolate places on the Australian continent outside the territory of the Australian Song Empire, and tried to rebuild their homes......

- At this point, the origin of the power of the various traversers from the North American crowd to the Australian crowd has been put on a "reasonable" explanation. And the ambition of the "Huameng" traversers to land in the Central Plains and enter China also has a legal origin: it was originally their hometown.

Although it seems to be too much to go around such a big circle to prove that the traverser is Chinese, in order to round up the lies they told to the natives of this time and space, the central government had to pinch its nose so much after taking over.

It seemed that everything was very good and reasonable, but Wang Qiu still felt a subtle incongruity.

“…… That one...... Brother Levi, although this 'Australian Song City Ruins' does seem to be a bit interesting, I still can't figure out why you are so energetic? Anyway, you've already made up your mind to leave this world, and haven't your sister-in-law already gone back with your little nephew? ”

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——Just as Wang Qiu was puzzled, the "genuine Australians" in this time and space, that is, the more than 100 unlucky passengers who first took the modern all-metal sailing ship "COSCO Star" and unfortunately crossed to the port of Darwin, Australia, after connecting with the liaison personnel sent by the central government, were all crying and shouting to return to the modern world, including Levi, a "senior time-traveler", not even a single one was willing to stay.

Later, the relevant departments said that more than 50 of them were allowed to stay temporarily and work temporarily for the central government in Australia in this time and space - after all, they had traveled for two years and were more familiar with this land. But the rest of the nearly 100 women, children, old and weak, and those who refused to work, including Levi's wife Zhao Na, have now all returned to the modern world of the 21st century to enjoy modern urban life.

Even those who stayed behind were all like arrows, and they all agreed in advance with the relevant departments that when the central government sent personnel to evacuate this world, they must take them back with them, instead of letting them stay in this ghost place for the rest of their lives, gnawing on the smelly kangaroo meat...... In this case, it feels a little strange that Levi is not in a hurry to survive, but so enthusiastic and active in the work of counterfeiting.

“…… This one...... Is there any contradiction between my intention to leave this wild world and leave some memory in this world? ”

Li Wei glanced at Wang Qiu and said, "...... Of course, there are reasons for this - you can get out of the car with me and take a look. ”

Speaking of this, Li Wei opened the car door and walked down, with his action, a hot air instantly poured into the outside of the car, Wang Qiu suddenly felt as if he had become a duck waiting to be roasted in the oven, just like this, he felt almost cooked

Shaking his head, he took out Doraemon's magical prop [Universal Adaptation Lamp] from his backpack and shone it on his body, and immediately felt more comfortable. Immediately, Wang Qiucai jumped out of the off-road vehicle, followed Li Wei, and walked towards a slope behind the cliff where the colossus statue of Yue Fei was.

At this time, a hot wind suddenly rose, blowing the wind and sand—stinging his skin, but Levi didn't seem to care, just walked forward quickly, and Wang Qiu had to frown, stumbling to barely keep up...... Fortunately, after turning to the back of the cliff, the wind and sand became much smaller.

Then, on this slope, Wang Qiu saw an unfinished cemetery, and on the periphery of the cemetery, it was filled with various Christian-themed religious ornaments—marble statues of Christian angels, relief panels of the Virgin Mary with a holy face, as well as bronze statues of "Jesus on the Cross" and ultra-miniature "dollhouse" chapels...... And in the very center of the cemetery, there is a majestic marble statue of a knight in military uniform, which is wearing gorgeous full-body armor and the cloak of the Knights Hospitaller, but deliberately does not wear a helmet and exposes his face!

Looking at the inscription on the pedestal of the stone platform of this statue of Li Weirong on horseback, Wang Qiu couldn't help but be embarrassed for a while:

“…… The most devout Christian, the tomb of the paladin Levy from France? Hey, is this your identity in the previous Black Death era medieval European plane? In the port of Marseille, France, there has never been a member of the Knights Hospitaller named Levi! ”

“…… Hey, according to the setting here, my title of paladin is not given by the Holy See, but from the Australian Church! In the fictional history of the Otto-Song Empire, I am set up as a French knight who wandered to the Austro-Song Empire in the 14th century, and I am also the first famous saint to introduce Christianity to the Australasian Empire, and to have the Australasian court abandon the old era name and switch to the Gregorian calendar, in order to explain to the current Europeans why the 'Australians' use the day and the Gregorian calendar like them, and the origin of the 'Church of Australia'......"

As a Chinese-Russian mixed-race person with a lot of Westerner characteristics in appearance, Levi replied with a smile, "...... Manuscripts of my amulets, figurines, and frescoes, as well as carols in praise of my 'merits,' will be found in many corners of the ruin—roughly a slight modification of our previous journey to the European Middle Ages to fight the Black Death, and place it in the realm of this non-existent Australian and Song Empire. And in the future, the Australian church will also sing my praises as a saint for generations - it is really cool to become a celebrity in both worlds, and to be carved by a tree monument! Next, I am going to build a holy woman's tomb and make my wife a saint's name! ”

“…… Belch...... Forgive me for having some difficulty understanding your thinking, Brother Levi. Anyway, I would never get myself such a tomb of the living dead...... Of course, I don't understand that being able to erect such a statue of myself is a beautiful thing anyway......"

Wang Qiu stretched out his hand and rubbed his temples, with a tangled expression on his face, "...... But then there will be a problem, I don't think you plan to bury yourself here! But if you leave an empty tomb, it doesn't seem like it! Are you going to take a random corpse and stuff it into your own grave, so that others can enjoy the incense offering in your name? With all due respect, it feels so awkward that it couldn't be awkward......"

“…… I've thought about it all! A qiē is all planned! Levi patted his chest confidently and said, "When the grave is all covered, I will dig another hole and disguise it as if the tomb has been stolen, so that since I have been robbed by the tomb robbers, the coffins, the dead and the burial goods in the tomb can be saved, as long as I throw some rags into the tomb, I can probably deal with the past......"

Looking at this knight Levi who was very interested in repairing his own tomb, Wang Qiu didn't know how to complain for a while.

But then, after Tong Guò [Random Gate] returned to the Sanya base, Wang Qiu didn't even have the leisure to complain about this matter.

“…… What's what? Huang Shi, commander of the East Asian Theater of Operations, sent an urgent telegram from Quanzhou, claiming that a drastic change had broken out in Fujian? ”