London, the greatest city of mankind in this era, is not one, only the only one.
London's population has reached three million since 1850, and has been rising since then. By the 19th century, London's population had approached six million.
At that time, this was simply unimaginable. With ancient technology and productivity levels, as well as the government's management capabilities, a city with a population of one million was already the limit.
Every time the population increases by one order of magnitude since it exceeds one million, it poses a severe test to the ability of society to organize various resources.
Society must ensure that so many people have enough food, water, clothing, and housing...as well as garbage disposal, wastewater discharge, and other basic survival needs.
When the population increases, you must provide enough jobs, security, medical care and other guarantees. Not to mention medical care alone was already a curse in the medieval world.
As the population increases, natural infectious diseases will increase. If medical treatment cannot keep up with the super-metropolis, it will be impossible to emerge.
What is comprehensive national strength? This is comprehensive national strength. When a country can maintain the smooth operation of such a super city, this kind of strength is already superior to the rest.
In World War I and World War II, Britain's victory was actually largely due to its own accumulated superior organizational capabilities, especially in World War II when the Nazi wolves on the Atlantic began to massacre freighters without limit, and when U.S. aid was still available. There is no arrival time.
For countless days and nights, Britain relied on its strongest organizational capabilities to coordinate the distribution of materials for all citizens and reshape social order without causing any trouble.
This is the soft power of a country, something that many politicians ignore. Without this soft power, a civilization will lack resilience. When the war drags on for a long time, countries with strong organizational capabilities will always have the last laugh. of.
But today, the organizational capabilities of the entire London government have been unusually challenged. The city started to become agitated yesterday, and the police in London can smell this smell.
This is not a precursor to unrest, nor is it the fermentation of a conspiracy. It is all just because of the arrival of the envoy from the East. Under the constant propaganda bombardment of a series of Chinese reports, the curiosity of the British people has been detonated to the extreme.
Since half a month ago, London's hotels and hostels have been continuously welcoming guests, and they are only entering and not retreating. By ten days ago, there were no empty rooms in all hotels and hostels in London.
There are wealthy and leisure European aristocrats, capitalists, and giant businessmen everywhere... They will never miss such a major historical event. There are even wealthy Americans who took a cruise across the Atlantic to watch this excitement.
God knows whether they were spies or ordinary spectators.
Not only the big shots in Europe and North America are taking action, but countless middle class people with better economic conditions are also beginning to gather in London.
Especially people from other cities in the British Isles, who cannot book hotels or guesthouses, so they choose B&Bs all over the city. Countless London residents have made a lot of money by renting out their vacant houses in the past half month.
Many people hope that the Chinese mission will simply stop leaving. They will die if they stay in London for a long time.
The busiest people in London are the police. In order to ensure the safety of this diplomatic event, all foreign guests in the city must be registered. Especially guests from France and Tsarist Russia are potentially dangerous elements. There are even special police officers from Scotland. Plainclothes officers keep a close eye on the scene.
The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police mobilized all the more than 30,000 police officers in the city. If this was not enough, another 20,000 police officers were mobilized from other cities.
Fifty thousand elite police officers were concentrated in London, which greatly improved social security. The number of police patrolling the streets every day was fully doubled than usual.
Not only that, Prime Minister Benjamin also ordered the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Navy to mobilize some emergency forces to station on the edge of the city. Regardless of whether they are used or not, necessary preparations must be made.
Benjamin really wants all these Chinese people to die, but he must not die in London or England!
All preparations have been made for today. According to the last statistics from the Police Department, the number of out-of-town guests who came to watch the ceremony alone was close to 100,000. This kind of diplomatic prosperity is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event, so the people of London will also come to watch the fun.
Preliminary estimates indicate that there will be more than 300,000 people crowded on both sides of the street where Emperor Tongzhi and Xiao Letian marched during this welcome ceremony. Fortunately, the city of London is large enough, and fortunately the parade arranged for this ceremony is long enough.
Otherwise, the 300,000 spectators would not be able to fit in!
The chaos reached its peak today. The Commissioner of Police stationed at Tower Bridge stayed awake all night. Police officers across the city rode fast horses to deliver orders back and forth. The army even temporarily set up several telegraph lines here.
"Emergency! Emergency... More than 3,000 people suddenly poured out of Paddington. We don't have enough police to ask for support..."
"Waterloo Bridge is overcrowded, and people have fallen into the water... Please support, please support!"
"In the West District, there are crowds of people on Twelve Streets. We are evacuating..."
"Beyond imagination! It's really beyond imagination. There are completely more people than we expected..."
Urgent messages for help arrived at the Tower Bridge in London. The Commissioner of Police was in a room inside the Tower Bridge. From the window, he could see the pier and the beautiful welcoming ceremony venue. All the flowers were in place at this moment.
The anxious and sweaty police chief yelled, "Where is the subway? Is the subway safe? God, it would be better if the streets were a little more crowded. At least no one would die. Don't have an accident on the subway. People will be trampled to death..."
The London Underground is the first subway in human history. It is also a transportation hub that was built as a last resort as the city of London continued to expand.
In 1863, the Metropolitan Line was opened to traffic. It was the first subway in mankind and the pride of the British Industrial Revolution. In the era when the Manchu Qing Dynasty was still fighting the final decisive battle with the Taiping Rebellion, the British already had an extremely sci-fi underground railway. It can be seen from this how big the gap between the two sides is.
The Police Minister's concerns are justified. The Metropolitan Line is now overcrowded, and all three levels of police at the entrance are unable to cope with the surging crowds.
"Stand back... everyone, step back... get off the subway one by one!"
"My hat, my hat fell off..."
"My child, you squeezed my child's hand..."
"God, you losers, do people's taxes support you idiots?"
The crowded subway entrance was buzzing with people. The police blocked the entrance and exit with their bodies, leaving a small gap for the crowd to slowly enter. They knew that once the hole was opened and people rushed in, a trampling disaster would definitely occur.
"Gentlemen, ladies! Gentlemen... please don't crowd. It's too dangerous. You all rush in at once, and the subway can't hold so many of you!"
"Please back off... please back off... oh god, who kicked my dick? It hurts like hell... damn!"
