Transmigration

February 24, 1862, Germany.

Late at night, the hazy stars cast a faint glow in the dark, cold sky.

The perspective shifted to southern Germany. The leaves of the street trees in the ancient city of Hechingen rustled in the biting early winter wind.

The wood-colored streetlights formed patches of light and shadow, illuminating the street paved with dark blue flagstones. The street was deserted, and hollow, eerie sounds echoed from the dark alleys.

Through the windows of the scattered houses lining the street, it felt as if one could hear people whispering.

The citizens of Hechingen were enjoying their dinner, the candlelight flickering within the dark, wooden window frames like natural dancers, moving freely.

Walking along the road, gradually leaving the town center, a road leading out of the city opened up. Following a gentle slope, a luxuriously decorated carriage slowly drove out of the city and proceeded along the road towards the distant hills, atop which stood a solemn and majestic ancient castle.

Soon, the carriage arrived before the castle gate. The armed guards recognized the carriage and opened the gate. The carriage slowly entered the castle.

Inside the carriage sat none other than the ruler of the Hechingen region, Prince Constantin of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Hechingen was originally a small country in southeastern Germany and the birthplace of the Hohenzollern family. It is now part of the Prussian Hohenzollern Province.

The decision-maker who pushed for Hechingen to join the Kingdom of Prussia was this very Prince Constantin, whose full name was Constantin von Hohenzollern.

Prince Constantin, weary from a day of travel, finally returned home and was about to retire to his room.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor. The person approaching was the old butler, Keno.

"Master, something terrible has happened! It's a big emergency!" Keno reported to Constantin in a panic.

"What is it, Keno? Don't rush, tell me slowly," Constantin said calmly and naturally.

"His Highness collapsed while riding his horse today. The doctor is examining him now. Master, please go quickly!" Keno explained hastily.

Upon hearing that his son was in trouble, Constantin's regal demeanor faltered. Forgetting his exhaustion, he hurried with the butler to his son's bedroom door.

The household servants waited outside the door, not daring to breathe, cautiously awaiting the arrival of their master.

Constantin, not knowing what to say, pushed open the bedroom door himself and walked in. His son, Ernst, was lying in bed.

Seeing Ernst, who had "awakened," lying unharmed before him, Constantin's worried heart finally relaxed. He turned to the waiting physician and asked, "Doctor, how is he?"

The doctor did not dare to delay and replied respectfully, "Your Highness, the Prince is not in serious danger. However, the cause of his collapse is still undetermined. It is highly likely due to overexertion. We should ask the Prince himself later."

Constantin carefully approached the sickbed, took his son's small hand, and asked, "Ernst, how are you feeling?"

Ernst felt groggy and a bit heavy-hearted. Suddenly hearing someone speak, he didn't want to seem too deliberate and replied softly, "Uh, my head feels a bit fuzzy, and I'm still not fully awake."

"Do you remember who I am?" Prince Constantin asked anxiously.

"Of course, Father. It might be a lingering effect of my fainting. It should be nothing serious."

Constantin turned to look at the doctor, who quickly replied, "Your Highness, there's no need to worry too much. The Prince's physical condition has been checked before and he is very healthy. He can rest for a while, and we'll observe him. I will follow up with treatment promptly if anything changes."

Looking at the dark sky outside the window, Prince Constantin pondered for a moment before saying, "Alright, you may all leave. Let the Prince rest well."

Everyone quietly withdrew from the room. The old butler closed the door as he left. Prince Constantin, relieved, realized he was covered in a cold sweat. He placed his hand on his chest and said piously, "Thank God for his protection!"

Prince Ernst, as the sole heir of the Hechingen line of the Hohenzollern family, had been Constantin's darling since childhood.

Constantin had only had this one child at the age of fifty. Shortly after Ernst's birth, his wife, Eugénie de Beauharnais, passed away from a cold. Therefore, Prince Constantin doted on Prince Ernst exceptionally.

Of course, historically, Constantin had no heirs. From the moment Ernst was born, the timeline of history had changed, branching out from the main trunk.

At this moment, Ernst lay in bed, not daring to breathe, playing the ostrich. Only he knew that he was actually a transmigrator. Today, he had suddenly awakened his memories from his past life, which caused him to faint. In his past life, he was a "patriot," who, if not working himself to the bone, at least gave his all until death. He occasionally read novels to pass the time and vented his emotions in online groups.

Of course, Ernst had been here for twelve years. It was only today that he realized he was a transmigrator. Was this a second life? It felt like Zhuang Zhou's dream of a butterfly.

Fortunately, the knowledge and common sense he had learned in his previous life couldn't be faked. Coupled with historical evidence, such as the now-deceased Emperor Napoleon, who once shook the continent, the loose German Confederation, the developing Prussia, the still-powerful Austrian Empire, and his own identity as a member of the Hohenzollern family...

Speaking of the Hohenzollern family, they were quite famous. However, Ernst's family was somewhat different from the renowned Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg-Prussia. His family was a junior branch of the Hohenzollerns, located in southwestern Germany. Nearby was another junior branch, Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, which, like his own Hechingen, belonged to the Swabian branch. Ernst had some vague knowledge of this Sigmaringen branch.

Historically, they had vied for the Spanish throne and would later produce a Romanian emperor. In that regard, apart from his own family, all were prominent families recorded in history books.

If one were to ask why the Hohenzollerns of Hechingen were not mentioned, well... it was because the Hechingen line historically died out. However, Ernst's arrival had changed history.

While Ernst was still sorting out his thoughts and memories, Constantin had recovered and began to ask, "Are you feeling better, Ernst?"

"Yes, Father. I think I'll be full of energy again after a good sleep," Ernst replied, feigning ease.

"It's good that you're alright. You are to inherit the title in the future, so don't put too much pressure on yourself. It's fine even if you live a muddled life. I don't expect you to be ambitious, but you must grow up healthy. Pay attention to rest, eat healthy food, and don't indulge excessively like those prodigal sons and spoiled brats..."

After rambling on for a while, Constantin finally stopped. He tucked Ernst in, told him to rest well, and to call a servant if he needed anything, then got up and left the room.

The candlelight flickered weakly, illuminating the dim walls. Silence fell upon the room.

Ernst curled up in the blankets, trying to get warmer, and began to organize his thoughts.

Speaking of which, in his past life, Ernst had a promising job and was sent by his company to Africa as an engineering consultant. Life in Africa was boring, and he often moved with the construction sites.

The places where Ernst worked in his previous life were basically isolated wilderness, with frequent power and internet outages, and sometimes supply shortages. Fortunately, the salary was decent.

His time in Africa had greatly changed Ernst's perspective. Ernst's previous workplace was in Tanzania, a distant African country.

His time working in Tanzania allowed Ernst to re-evaluate Africa. Before going to Africa himself, influenced by the media and news, Ernst's impression of Africa was synonymous with backwardness, poverty, harsh natural conditions, and instability.

But after truly working and living there, Ernst overturned his previous ideas. Most of the information online was one-sided.

In terms of environment alone, the temperature and rainfall conditions in all of Tanzania were better than those in his hometown, the North China Plain.

Ernst had always imagined Africa as a place of unbearable heat, vast rainforests, endless savannas, and the immense Sahara Desert. However, upon arriving in Tanzania, he found the temperature to be between ten and thirty degrees Celsius, neither too hot nor too cold. The rainy season brought ample precipitation, creating excellent conditions for growth.

Tanzania was a little-known country, but Ernst began to familiarize himself with it due to his work. Researching online and comparing it with reality revealed a surprisingly different nation.

Despite being in the tropics, its high-altitude terrain made it a habitable place, similar to the Brazilian Highlands.

The land was flat with dense vegetation, mostly savannas, which challenged his preconceived notions. The African savanna clashed with his traditional understanding of grasslands.

Before seeing a savanna firsthand, Ernst had naturally pictured all grasslands in the world as being like the Mongolian steppes.

But in Africa, he witnessed a different landscape. The savanna, a unique blend of trees and grassland, was a delightful sight. Its climate was far superior to that of the Mongolian steppes, which had always been described throughout his education as a cold, harsh region north of the country. In contrast, the African savanna was a veritable natural paradise.

Local farmers generally enjoyed good harvests, even with rudimentary farming methods. Their biggest challenge seemed to be the difficulty of obtaining water for irrigation, due to a lack of water conservancy projects and basic irrigation systems.

The living standards of the locals weren't too bad. Their simple lifestyle allowed even the poorest Africans to live contentedly.

Due to its tropical savanna location, fruits and meat were readily available. Combined with a basic smallholder farming economy, their living standards were even slightly higher than those of farmers in the late Eastern Asian dynasties.

Of course, attitude was also a significant factor. Over the past century of colonial history, they had been abruptly pulled from a primitive hunter-gatherer lifestyle into modern society by Westerners.

The Africans' mindset hadn't adapted quickly enough. The complex, refined, and seemingly natural way of life of East Asians was difficult to replicate in Africa.

Industrial conditions in Africa also had a distinct characteristic. The mineral resources here weren't as abundant as often portrayed online, taking Tanzania as an example.

It was a country that mined and exported minerals, but many of its main mineral resources weren't as rich as one might expect. While it had coal, iron, copper, and oil, the quantities were not comparable to truly resource-rich nations.

Many of its resources didn't rank highly on a global scale, yet the extremely low level of industrialization created a perceived abundance of mineral wealth.

In his memory, East Asia was considered poor in mineral resources. In reality, this was related to East Asia's high degree of industrialization. However, when comparing actual mineral reserves, Tanzania was far inferior.

Considering just coal, iron, and oil, East Asia possessed world-class mines for all three, and even its oil reserves included several well-known large oil fields.

Before the discovery of oil off its eastern coast, Tanzania could also be considered oil-poor. However, Tanzania was not the small country people traditionally perceived it to be.

In terms of land area, it spanned 940,000 square kilometers, nearly one-tenth of East Asia. Yet, the deserts in East Asia's northwest alone occupied nearly a quarter of the land, not to mention high-altitude, difficult-to-develop cold plateaus and countless mountain ranges. Only the eastern regions offered considerable potential for agricultural development.

Tanzania was primarily a plateau, but its altitude wasn't excessively high, and the terrain was relatively gentle. The equator passed through it, resulting in suitable temperatures and moderate rainfall. This had made it a renowned agricultural nation in Africa. Tanzania's overall natural agricultural conditions were estimated to be second only to Nigeria in Africa.

In terms of population, Tanzania was also a major country by international standards, having surpassed the 50 million mark and still growing rapidly. However, Tanzania still had vast undeveloped lands and its fishing resources were not fully exploited, meaning its population capacity was not yet at its limit.

Regarding industrial conditions, although its mineral resources weren't exceptionally rich, it depended on the comparison. At least a group of small and medium-sized European countries were far behind. If the goal was basic industrialization, it was more than sufficient. Africa's mineral resources overall were not abundant compared to other continents, with resources concentrated in Southern and Western Africa, and oil resources being unique to North Africa. Tanzania's mineral resources were considered average within Africa.

Tanzania's transportation infrastructure was also quite good. It was located on traditional Indian Ocean trade routes. Dar es Salaam was one of Africa's few well-known major ports. Before the opening of the Suez Canal, it was a significant global commercial hub, a jewel on the Indian Ocean. Historically, the Omani Empire, which rose to prominence for a time, established a branch here – the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

From this, it was clear that Tanzania's conditions in various aspects were not poor. So why was its level of development so low?

Before Ernst went to work in Africa, influenced by traditional media, he believed the sole reason for Africa's poverty was that Africans were lazy and relied on nature.

However, after arriving in Africa, Ernst realized the one-sidedness of this view; it was merely a superficial observation.

Multiple factors contributed to Africa's poverty. Before the arrival of colonialists, the overall civilization level of the African continent was very low. The isolation caused by the Sahara Desert meant that most areas south of the desert were "civilization deserts," with only West Africa and Ethiopia in East Africa developing independent civilizations, heavily influenced by Arabs.

The Bantu people of West Africa were the earliest to migrate south. However, the Bantu only developed characteristics of early states with extremely low technological levels. Their southward migration also required traversing the Congo rainforest and areas teeming with wild beasts like the Central African savanna. The Omani Empire's expansion in the Middle East was limited to Zanzibar Island and the East African coast, with civilization not spreading inland.

In Central and Southern Africa, hunting-based tribal societies were widespread. The tribes on the Mongolian steppes, influenced by Central Plains culture, developed into political entities. In Africa, however, it was a desert of political structures. The indigenous people lived a life of struggle against wild beasts.

The arrival of Westerners forcibly integrated this region, primarily composed of primitive tribes, into the modern societal system.

Based on Ernst's own experience, this destructive method made it difficult for indigenous peoples to integrate into modern society. For example, in the mountainous regions of East Asia's "Land of Abundance," slavery still existed at the founding of the Republic. Even after nearly a century of integration and support, it was difficult to change some of the locals' habits.

This was compounded by the fact that the Westerners who brought their social systems were not there for poverty alleviation, and their societal structures were arguably less advanced than the primitive tribal systems of Africa.

In fact, for the Africans of that time, the tribal system was already a very advanced institution.

In many parts of Africa at the time, basic structures like families and villages existed. To put it simply, lions on the African savanna also existed in family units!

Therefore, the starting point of African civilization was very low, almost non-existent, on par with prehistoric civilizations.

Africa was forced onto a path of enlightenment by Western firearms, which also became a cause of the constant warfare after African independence.

Tanzania, of course, was not affected by large-scale warfare. In modern times, Tanzania has consistently ranked high among African nations in terms of stability.

However, Tanzanians lacked experience in governing a country. With no historical precedent and a low starting point, societal rigidity led to slow overall progress. Although there was some development, it was insignificant compared to the rest of the world. For instance, East Asia and the Middle East in later generations far surpassed Africa.

Yet, compared to other African nations, Tanzania could be considered one of the most successful.

Ernst couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy as he recalled his past life experiences. Moving from a region with complete infrastructure to one with virtually none had been a disaster. Eventually, Ernst slowly adapted to that life.

Of course, now was not the time to reminisce about his past life. He had transmigrated through history back to modern Europe, and a new life beckoned. He was about to seek his own place in the torrent of history.