Xinguang City had by now grown into a new metropolis of more than three hundred thousand souls, its population on the verge of surpassing that of neighboring Guangzhou.
Guangzhou had once been a thriving place, growing all the more prosperous as contact with foreigners increased. But the rise of Xinguang City had abruptly stalled its growth, and its population had even begun to decline. Half of Xinguang's splendor had been drawn from Guangzhou, while the other half came from the support of Dragon City, settlers from the interior, and foreigners. The number of foreigners in Xinguang City now exceeded fifty thousand.
Some well-traveled foreigners who had seen much of the world marveled that of all the places they had known, the most prosperous on earth turned out to be a city in what they had imagined to be such a backward corner of the globe. Of course, anyone who thought so had clearly never been to Dragon City.
Even now, the capital of the British Empire still lit its rooms with candles, yet here there were miraculous electric lights. Good God, it was beyond belief. And while the streets of Greater London were riddled with open sewers, the streets here were spotlessly clean. Everything—every rule, every arrangement—was wonderfully conceived and full of wisdom. Though one had to live here for a while before that feeling truly took hold. When you first arrived, it felt only marginally better than a prison. But this was a place that crept into your heart the longer you stayed, until leaving became unthinkable.
When people learned of the various welfare provisions of Dragon City, many simply went mad with desire. Scores of foreigners, eager to obtain official residency, resolved to stay for a full year. They would even attend primary school and sit through lessons, all for the sake of that basic guaranteed minimum. Where else in the world could you find such a guarantee?
As for the city next door? Oh, spare me. Its streets turned my stomach just as much as those of London or Paris. There was no light there—was I supposed to sit up burning candles all night? The place reeked of decay, and I wanted nothing to do with opium. What if I fell into that habit by living there? What's that you say—that we brought the opium? Ah, that is truly a beautiful misunderstanding. That was the business of gentlemen of high standing; what had it to do with me? I'm just an old soldier.
…
Beyond Xinguang City, the rumble of a train echoed across the land, and everyone knew that more fine things had arrived from Dragon City. Perhaps the beloved motorcars, perhaps exquisite little curiosities, perhaps delicious specialty foods. Whatever the train carried, it never failed to send merchants into a frenzy—whether they came from the interior or from overseas.
…
"Pfft—Mingwu, you're pulling my leg, aren't you?"
"You're telling me that even the great courts want to go abroad and establish colonies?"
"My lord, there is no mistake," Mingwu replied calmly, dabbing at a spill of tea with perfect composure. "Some have already made their preparations. Within a matter of days they will be ready to set sail."
"Have they lost their minds? With those few rotting wooden tubs of theirs, they think they're ready to sail the high seas? Do they imagine the foreigners out there are savages in the forest, whooping and waving clubs?"
Zhao Bairen found the whole thing faintly surreal.
In his own timeline, the courts of the Central Plains had always been on the receiving end—closed off, ignorant of the wider world, and yet somehow declaring war on everyone at once. In this timeline, not only had the gap between them failed to narrow, it had actually widened.
"When I think about it, though, it's not entirely impossible," he said, snapping out of his bewilderment and beginning to reason it through.
"The three or four great courts are not actually weak in strength. Their weakness lies only in technological backwardness and the frailty that their political systems breed. Because of our presence and our standoffs with them, their latent potential has been awakened, and each of them has been advancing rapidly."
No one understood better than he did just how great the potential of the Han people was, and how swiftly they could rise when roused.
"Each of the four great courts has a vast population. Even the smallest—the southwestern court—likely has no fewer than thirty million people, and fifty to sixty million would be perfectly normal for the larger ones. The total population of the Central Plains as a whole is probably somewhere between a hundred and fifty and two hundred million."
"So even divided four ways, any single one of them is a force comparable to a first-rank power—with the exception of Russia in the north. Russia's territory is simply too vast; its population is probably no less than a hundred million. But Russia isn't the top dog either. The top dog right now is still the empire on which the sun never sets—Great Britain."
Zhao Bairen's mind was spinning at full speed when Jinyi glided over and set a fresh cup of tea beside him.
"My lord, this isn't necessarily a bad thing," she said. "Let them go out there and grab what they can, and fight for it! If they seize something, all the better; if they fail to grab any territory, no matter."
"In the end, all of it will be ours anyway."
What a ruthless mind that woman had.