Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 754 This time he's really dead.

Fairness is the greatest common denominator of human society and the most morally correct concept.

Unfortunately, fairness is incredibly difficult to achieve. The universe itself is asymmetrical, and Earth and humanity are products of this diversity.

Humanity has always pursued fairness, or at least it has done so.

(Damn it, I can't write this book anymore, everything's being banned. I don't doubt that someone's targeting this lousy book, it's just that there are too many things banned on book websites these days.)
The world has been accelerated. Jia Lian can see that bigger and better internal combustion engines have emerged, and many previously barren and desolate places have suddenly become important.

Java was the first to become a hot commodity, and Yenangyaung also discovered an oil field. These once insignificant places have now become highly sought-after.

Anxi also discovered a large oil field, instantly increasing its importance. The long-delayed railway construction was finally completed, and the imperial court decided to invest heavily in building a railway along the edge of the desert, connecting Yumen Pass with Dihua (Urumqi), and then to Anxi. Private enterprises excelled in the automotive sector, mainly concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta region, and extending along waterways all the way to Wuchang.

The reason why this region took the lead is entirely due to the role played by the Yangtze River's golden waterway.

Private enterprises are more flexible and will seize any opportunity. The automobile industry is a prime example. After its inception, the government did not pay much attention to it and did not include it in the state-run sector, but private enterprises immediately got involved.

In just five years, the automotive industry concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta region has reached an annual production scale of 1.5 million cars and 2 million trucks.

The development has been so rapid that it has created job opportunities that have absorbed a large number of people from surrounding provinces.

Europe has finally broken out in war. History is repeating itself in an astonishing way: it's still a war between two camps, and still between European countries.

The start of the European war was brought forward, and the Central Empire closely monitored the situation, repeatedly emphasizing its neutrality.

Neither side could achieve a quick victory, and they were caught in a two-front war.

The Russians opted for inexpensive, readily available products from the East, purchasing large quantities of cheap arms from the Central Empire and continuously shipping them to the front lines. Meanwhile, the British continued to lend large sums of money to Tsarist Russia, fearing it might not be able to withstand the pressure.

The attitude remains the same: do business when there is business, and watch the show when there is no business, remaining neutral.

The brutality of the war was shocking. Military observers sent to Europe continuously sent back information, and after summarizing and analyzing it, they came to a startling conclusion.

We've been researching this stuff for twenty years, nothing surprising. Besides, there were geographical reasons for trench warfare in Europe; Europe is a vast plain, what else could they fight besides trench warfare!
Interestingly, at the beginning of the war, both sides believed they had the upper hand and could achieve a quick victory.

This resulted in a protracted war.

The Ottomans did not participate in the war at first; they were merely spectators and remained absolutely neutral, prohibiting both sides from using their own waterways to transport supplies.

The British side lodged a protest because a large amount of supplies needed to be transported to Tsarist Russia by sea.

It's important to understand that Russian water transport is seasonal, freezing for most of the year. Therefore, after being refused Turkey's request for passage, John Bull ambushed the Turkish fleet in the Mediterranean.

A startling scene unfolded in Europe: the German Socialist Party seized power and, in coordination with the Russian Socialist Party, Russian prisoners of war joined the German army to help defend their homeland.

Perhaps it was precisely because of the loss of colonies in East Asia that the economic situation of European countries was not ideal, and the war led to a rapid increase in internal conflicts among these countries.

Britain and France were alarmed by the changes in Russia and Germany and demanded that their troops continue the offensive. However, the troops were extremely war-weary, especially the French soldiers, who mutinied on a large scale.

The reason for the French mutiny was bizarre. A soldier received a letter from his parents saying that his wife had cheated on him, run off with all the family's money, and abandoned their child. The soldier's mother fell seriously ill, but they had no money for treatment. The soldier asked his officer for leave to go home and see his mother. The officer said his plight was sympathetic, but he couldn't help him.

An enraged soldier pointed his gun at the officer, forcing him to sign the leave request.

The military police arrived and were about to take the soldier away. The soldier's comrades tried to plead for him, but the military police refused to show leniency, and the officers also demanded severe punishment.

The soldiers, whose war-weariness had reached its peak, could no longer tolerate it and opened fire on the military police, thus destroying the military police's post.

This incident immediately escalated into a large-scale mutiny, with almost half of the French soldiers on the front lines refusing to launch an attack.

The German troops on the other side, at the request of the new government, also retreated back into the country in an orderly manner and built a national defense line.

The British panicked and sent the British Indian Army as the main force to launch an attack. As a result, the German army launched a counterattack, and 200,000 British Indian troops were defeated and surrounded, and all of them were taken prisoner in three days.

By the time the French quelled the mutiny and launched another attack, they had already missed the optimal time to strike.

The Russian news agency suggested that the German news agency release Russian prisoners of war so they could join the German army as volunteers. Under the Russian news agency's mobilization efforts, a large number of prisoners of war accepted reorganization.

Of course, Russia is also facing a counterattack from the old forces. 300,000 old troops deployed along the Urals have launched an attack on the new Russian regime.

During the chaos in Europe, the Central Empire maintained a restrained attitude and resolved everything through negotiation.

First, a new trade agreement was reached with Britain, and Britain made a fortune during the war. The British also wanted to use this method to bind the central empire. It can be said that Britain's goal was achieved.

The Central Empire complied with the agreement, and not a single warship entered the sensitive area, only reaching as far as Yangon.

When Britain and France launched their renewed offensive, it was already the fourth year of the war.

Unfortunately, the German army held its line, while the British and French suffered heavy casualties and could not sustain the offensive.

At this point, the Central Empire stepped forward and proposed a ceasefire between the two sides.

Britain and France rejected the ceasefire proposal because they believed that Germany absolutely could not be allowed to take power and had to be eliminated.

Under these circumstances, Russia and Germany formally formed an alliance to jointly counter the attack from the West.

Of course, both Germany and Russia responded to the Central Empire's suggestion and agreed to a ceasefire.

At the same time, Austria-Hungary surrendered, the emperor abdicated, and the country was divided.

Italy's performance, well, it's the same as always.

Britain and France refused to recognize the new regimes in Germany and Russia, but were powerless to launch an attack. A strange scene emerged on the front lines: they were still at war, but neither side was attacking.

Unrest broke out in both Russia and Germany, and the new regimes mobilized troops to suppress it. The internal strife lasted for two years before gradually subsiding. The Ukrainian army, which had participated in the war, gained nothing and, after confirming that Britain and France had no intention of continuing their offensive, they also ceased their operations.

At this critical moment, unrest also broke out within France, with a large number of families of wounded soldiers facing problems, the White Feather Movement triggering fierce conflicts, and frequent violent incidents.

French rank-and-file soldiers were unwilling to fight, and the government was helpless. The British army was struggling alone; they had plenty of Indians, but they were really useless. They could hold their ground for a while, but their offensive was chaotic and they were just easy targets. At this point, the British seemed to understand why the Middle Kingdom had been so reluctant to enter India—it was all part of what they were waiting for.

The soldiers on the front lines sat calmly, neither side attacking, but neither could retreat. This situation continued for a year. In the fifth year of the war, seeing that they could not defeat the other side, Britain and France accepted the suggestion to negotiate a ceasefire.

Britain and France did consider persuading the Central Empire to join the war, and they emphasized the dangers posed by Germany and Russia.

The Central Empire scoffed at this argument. Through trade, the war solved domestic economic problems and greatly alleviated internal conflicts.

What benefits could one gain from participating in the war? What could one expect from those harsh, cold lands?
Because the Ottomans refused the British demands, their fleet was ambushed by the British fleet in the Mediterranean and suffered heavy losses. Demands for retaliation were widespread throughout the country, and after consulting with military advisors of the Central Empire, the Pasha decided to retaliate against the British alone. The Ottoman navy's surface ships were ineffective, but their submarines could.

His submarines, the Central Empire model, diesel-electric hybrids, operated in the Mediterranean, causing considerable trouble for British merchant ships.

After the British, through the mediation of the Central Empire, agreed to pay the Ottomans a sum of money, they then declared a truce.

Interestingly, the armistice agreement between Britain and Turkey was the last one to be signed.

The British criticized the Central Empire in newspapers for stationing too many troops on the Russian border, arguing that this led to Russia's defeat. The Central Empire retorted, "If you hadn't attacked the Ottoman fleet, would we have needed to reinforce our troops? The combined strength of the several military districts at the front only amounted to 300,000 men. There were only five standing divisions. It's only because we didn't have a military alliance with the Ottomans that our fleet was already there."

The newspaper quickly backed down and published an apology. It had no choice but to back down; the Central Empire's fleet had left the Strait of Malacca and assembled four battleships and four battlecruisers in Rangoon.

If something happens to India again, the entire British cabinet will have to hang themselves.

In Germany, the rebels in East Prussia were caught in a pincer movement and were quelled after six months of investigation. However, the civil war in the new Russian regime lasted a full two years.

After Russia and Germany signed a military alliance agreement, Britain and France, along with Austria, Hungary, and other smaller countries, formed a new military alliance.

After a period of negotiations, which lasted on and off for more than a year, the two sides finally announced a ceasefire.

France did not come away empty-handed; it recaptured two territories that had been ceded during the Franco-Prussian War.

The main reason for the Anglo-French ceasefire was the intense internal conflicts that forced them to stop. The United States, however, was eager to continue the war and encouraged both Britain and France to do so.

Unfortunately, nobody took their words seriously.

Although the war has ended, everyone knows that the next war is not far away. This is not because of the harsh war reparations, but because of political issues.

After the armistice, the British and French leaders did not prioritize dealing with domestic issues, but instead visited the Middle Empire together.

The purpose of the two leaders' joint visit was also clear: to persuade His Majesty the Emperor of the Central Empire to join them in their campaign against the North.

His Majesty the Emperor did not immediately express his opinion, but instead went to the Jia residence that very night to pay his respects to Jia Lian, who was already 120 years old.

At this point, Jia Lian was truly old and could not get up from his reclining chair.

Two concubines helped him sit up, but Jia Lian couldn't move, though he could still speak.

After the emperor explained his purpose, Jia Lian remained silent for a long time before saying, "No matter how large an empire's territory or how strong its national power, if it cannot solve the internal problems of people's livelihood, it will inevitably descend into chaos. The saying 'The world, after a long period of division, tends to unite; after a long period of unity, tends to divide' is not a universal truth. Only when everyone has a basic guarantee of survival can a country enjoy long-term stability. Europe's problem is a lack of capacity for internal governance. They have an electoral system, and candidates who want to win votes must first be good at performing and satisfying the psychological needs of voters. How well the country is governed is not the most important thing. War can divert attention from problems temporarily, but it does not solve the underlying issues. To govern a country, problems must be solved, not simply shifted."

After listening, the emperor thanked Jia Lian and took his leave.

The next day, devastating news came from the Jia family: Jia Lian had passed away.

Jia Lian finally died.

The emperor decided to hold a state funeral, and the entire nation lowered its flags to half-mast to mourn the end of an era.

Indeed, people of that era generally believed that Jia Lian's appearance in politics marked the beginning of an era, which lasted until his sudden death.

Later generations created numerous derivative works based on Jia Lian's story, which quickly gained popularity among the public. Operas, films, storytelling performances, and novels all emerged, and merchants from all walks of life made a fortune.

It seems absurd that a person dies but becomes a means for others to make money.

Who really knows who the man in the beret with the image printed on the T-shirt is, or what his story is about?

I think probably not.

Humans are so forgetful; they came, brought light and hope, yet have been forgotten by the vast majority.

One late night, a bored soul, instinctively wanting to learn more about that man, discovered that at some point in time, a group of people had ushered in a magnificent era and embarked on a great undertaking. They were true idealists; the man in the beret possessed an indomitable spirit and noble sentiments.

They came and truly changed the world. People in this country are lucky because, if you want, you can find authentic historical records about all of this online.

Someone can stop you from speaking, but they can't stop you from seeing what you like.

The world has probably changed; at least this land has truly changed.

This chapter has been revised multiple times but still can't pass the review. I don't know how to revise it anymore. The content is already a mess, so please bear with it.

The gist is that half of Europe has become socialist. A certain country, ironically, has become one of the strongholds of imperialism.

That's roughly the gist of it. I can't find the sensitive part at the starting point at all, so I had to delete everything as prompted. Please understand.

That concludes the main text of this book. I'm quite surprised that the number of subscriptions has remained surprisingly stable, even after writing it at a leisurely pace for so long.

P.S.: Don't worry, there's an extra chapter. Haha, this is a book I wrote for my own amusement; it's quite fun to talk nonsense.

(End of this chapter)