The World's Number One Medical Hall

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Era

"He is indeed a prince, unaware of the hardships of ordinary people!" Hearing Ming Wang ask so easily about the fact that telegrams were not yet widely used, Tie Xiong felt once again that the Ming Wang he knew in the past had returned.

Actually, although Mo Bai is a prince, he actually grew up among the common people. To say that he doesn't know the hardships of ordinary people would be an exaggeration.

But for Tie Xiong, this was perfectly natural, because ever since he started following Ming Wang, he had never seen Ming Wang be particularly sensible, so it wasn't surprising that he would ask such a common-sense question...

It was from here that Mo Bai first gained a clear understanding of this world.

In fact, when he first woke up, he looked at the electric light and had already made some guesses about the era he lived in.

At the time, I guessed it was probably during the late Qing Dynasty or the Republic of China period, but then I remembered the conversation I overheard and became a little unsure.

Because that conversation revealed an extremely absurd fact.

In Mo Bai's understanding, Shangqing Mountain, a place of cultivation, was nothing more than a martial arts sect, yet it could be used as a check and balance against the imperial family of a nation.

Without a doubt, Mo Bai had never heard of such an absurd thing in history. Even in times of great chaos, how could a martial arts sect participate in the struggle between dynasties? Wouldn't that be courting death?

So at that moment, a thought flashed through his mind: could it be that he was living in a legendary era of cultivation, where individuals possessed extraordinary and transcendent strength, even to the point of being able to disrupt the laws of the world?

After all, Mo Bai was a direct disciple of the Taoist sect, and he was no stranger to the Taoist legends about breaking the limits of the human body and becoming carefree, even like a god or an immortal.

If one truly lives in such an era, it's not entirely incomprehensible. After all, just by looking at that lamp, one can tell that current technology is certainly not advanced. If someone could achieve the status of a True Person like his master, in this environment, if they were to disrupt the Dharma, they would indeed be difficult to deal with.

This is only his master, who has already achieved the realm of a True Person in the Dharma-ending Age. If his cultivation truly flourishes in this life and he reaches the level of a terrestrial immortal, then he can truly roam freely in the world, even amidst thousands of troops.

Not to mention an organization formed by such experts, it might not be impossible for them to contend with the dynasty. However, the guess at the time was just a fleeting thought and was quickly dismissed, because it was obvious that Master Zhang was a practitioner of medicine.

However, his medical skills were not enough to frighten Mo Bai. But this alchemist was clearly of extraordinary status. Even Zhang Bangli, who was close to the emperor, respected him. This was enough to tell Mo Bai that even if there was a cultivation culture in this world, it was impossible for it to truly transcend Mo Bai's understanding and reach an era where human beings could defy the heavens.

At this moment, as Tiexiong slowly recounted the story, his doubts were finally resolved little by little. He finally understood that his guess at the time was not entirely wrong. If we were to really categorize it by living standards and social resources, this place should indeed belong to the style of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.

Technology was beginning to emerge, marking a turning point from feudalism to civilization.

Electricity was already available, as were telegraph and telephone.

But just like the late Qing Dynasty in the previous life, because the Great Xia Dynasty lasted too long, while other powers had begun to make great strides, Great Xia was still cultivating the tree of feudal authority and did not connect with the outside world, which was already in turmoil.

Undoubtedly, backwardness invites aggression, and when war comes and the nation is powerless to resist, it is only under humiliation that it is forced to open its eyes to the outside world.

Electricity, telegraph, telephone, automobile... these objects, which were once regarded by those in power as devoid of any etiquette, finally had to step onto the historical stage of the Great Xia Dynasty.

However, despite the humiliation it had suffered, the dynasty was still reluctant to open up too quickly in order to maintain its feudal rule. So, not to mention widespread adoption, even the capital city of Pingjing was developing very slowly.

The fact that Zhang Bangli refused to let Mo Bai ride in the carriage that day shows that feudal etiquette was still deeply rooted.

"A train? Yes, it's been there for ten years, in Mingzhu Province. I heard it was a railway secretly built by foreigners. I heard it was originally supposed to be built all the way to Pingjing City, but apparently the court didn't agree, saying that the railway would break the imperial aura and feng shui of Pingjing City, and that the capital would be without any natural defenses. There are also rumors among the people that it's because the smoke and dust are too much, which the nobles in the palace dislike..."

When Mo Bai asked which regions the railway now connected to, Tie Xiong replied as follows.

Upon hearing this, Mo Bai remained silent for a long time; this history was all too familiar…

He remained silent for a long while before letting out a deep breath and asking a question that had been on his mind for some time: "I observe that the soldiers are still using bows and arrows and swords; why are there no firearms?"

"Yes!" Tie Xiong nodded almost without hesitation upon hearing this: "Since the dynasty suffered repeated setbacks in wars ten years ago..."

Soon, Mo Bai learned from Tie Xiong that the world was indeed somewhat different.

Guns and cannons have indeed existed for a long time. Cannons were even used in warfare three hundred years ago, while firearms have only been widely adopted in the last ten years or so.

The root cause was the battle thirteen years ago when the enemy came from the sea. The artillery battle was lost and the country suffered a great defeat. However, after the enemy landed, everyone was armed with a foreign gun and each could attack from a distance.

Needless to say, the soldiers wielding swords and spears found it difficult to win, and were defeated by the enemy who outnumbered them.

From that day on, the nation realized for the first time that inferior weapons were the root cause of defeat. The nation naturally had bows and arrows, but how long would it take to train a good archer?

How could all the soldiers be armed with bows? A small number of archers could not gain an advantage under the overwhelming barrage of ammunition. Therefore, in the face of this situation, the dynasty began a large-scale re-equipment program.

In fact, the musket battalion was established in the country a long time ago, but it has never been used as a mainstream weapon. The main reason is that the musket is not very useful. Not only is it slow to load ammunition, but it also poses a risk of barrel explosion to the user. Not to mention that when it rains, it can only be used as a fire poker. Its range is also short. In short, compared with bows and arrows, this thing is really useless and has not been valued in the country for many years.

Therefore, when it cannot keep up with the times, it can only purchase weapons from other countries. However, due to the decline of the country and several wars, it is difficult to even buy some outdated guns. Even today, although the musket battalion of the country has been fully expanded, it is still very limited for the entire army.

Upon hearing this, Mo Bai couldn't help but frown deeply. He knew very well that falling behind would inevitably lead to being attacked, and now that chaos was raging, the most disastrous period in his previous life's history was about to arrive.

Although Mo Bai was calm and composed, he was a doctor and never dared to take life lightly. His compassion was never lacking.

Not to mention that every Chinese descendant is destined to be unable to ignore that unimaginable era of disaster, when national dignity was trampled underfoot. Mo Bai is also a man, and in his previous life he came from a family of generals!

"Even the royal guards who protected me that day couldn't be equipped, so how can we talk about changing clothes? Isn't that a joke?" Mo Bai's voice was deep.

"Huh?" Tie Xiong was taken aback, but then he realized what was going on and smiled, "Your Highness misunderstands. The guards who protected you that day were the most elite members of the Royal Guard. How could they be carrying muskets? They were naturally carrying bows and arrows. After all, the power of muskets is not that great. In fact, they cannot compare with bows and arrows at all, whether in terms of speed or range. If someone had achieved mastery in martial arts, let alone someone as powerful as you, Sixth Master, if my foundation hadn't been destroyed, I wouldn't have been able to touch the hem of my clothes with that fire poker..."

It was obvious that Tie Xiong didn't think much of foreign guns, which surprised Mo Bai.

However, it was from here that the conversation finally turned to the Taoists of today.

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