Gordon could not refute Samuel Baker's words. As a British explorer destined to go down in history, this man's knowledge far exceeded the average intellectual.
It can also be said that in the 18th and 19th centuries, those who could really become explorers were truly great scholars, because they understood science, history, humanities, and various languages... It is impossible not to be a generalist. Call it an explorer.
These people all have a pair of extremely tricky eyes, and their observation skills are incredibly sharp. They will never look at problems superficially.
During the gradually in-depth conversation, time passed by minute by second. The temperature outside the snow nest had dropped to minus 35 degrees Celsius, but the temperature inside the snow nest still remained at around zero.
It seems that the field survival tactics of special forces left by the Chinese are very successful and worthy of promotion!
At this time, the camp was quiet. Even the howling northwest wind suddenly disappeared. The strong wind that lasted for two hours rolled up the snowflakes and smoothed the edges of hundreds of snow nests. You can see from a distance. It's as if there were just a few hundred more bumps on the ground.
But what was amazing was that there was a faint light shining upward from the snow. It was a very weak candle light. It was very weak but could be seen at a glance in the absolute darkness of Mazong Mountain.
The war horses formed a circle, relying on each other to keep warm against the winter night, while humans could only rely on the power of natural science to contend with this harsh winter.
Suddenly, a certain snow nest moved, and the snow on the surface of the entrance was moved by a big gloved hand, and then a paper firecracker stretched out and was firmly inserted into the snow.
Gordon held out a candle, lit the fuse and soon made a crisp sound. A firework exploded straight from mid-air, more than ten meters in the air, and the red fireworks bloomed in the dark night!
"Successful... I have to rely on luck for the rest. I hope Zuo Zongtang's cavalry can find us..."
After getting back into the snow nest, Gordon rubbed his hands desperately. Just a little while after lighting the fireworks, his hands were already numb from the cold.
The temperature difference between the inside and outside of Xuewozi is too great. The severe cold of minus 35 degrees is not something ordinary people can withstand!
"It's so cold... so cold... Samuel, go on, what do you think is the root cause of this situation?"
Seeing that Gordon couldn't stand the cold anymore, Samuel quickly handed him the wine bottle and said, "Take a sip... I just said that the important prerequisite foundation that determines the foundation of a civilization should be the characteristics of the people at the bottom... …”
"You must remember that in the final analysis, the true appearance of a nation is not determined by the elite, but by the illiterate people at the bottom..."
"What common characteristics do these people have? Then you can figure out the characteristics of this nation!"
"Look at us in Europe. Although natural science has been recognized by the mainstream of society after the baptism of rational thought, what about our people? It is still an iron prison controlled by religious ideas..."
"What do ignorant farmers talk about next to the fireplace? In fact, it is no different from the Middle Ages. They are still vampires, ronins, witches..."
"These are the topics that the illiterate people at the lowest level chat about on a daily basis, and they are also the important cornerstones of their thoughts during the war... God, angels, dragons, knights, Nordic mythology... these are all..."
"If we go a little further, what about the people who can speak a little more than 700 or 800 words, and are basically beyond the standard of illiteracy? The topics these people talk about may be Grimm's fairy tales, the Atlantic sea monster in the newspaper... and of course us. Such bizarre stories concocted by such explorers..."
"Golden mountains in Africa, cannibals in the Amazon, strange beasts from ancient times... these are all things, plus at most adventure stories from the Age of Discovery..."
"Only those who have received higher education can consider natural sciences, history and humanities, political economy, military strategy... and so on!"
"And how much of the total population in Europe does this population account for? One thousandth!"
Samuel said and suddenly sat up with a serious look on his face, "But...in China, in this Eastern civilization, I discovered a phenomenon that is completely strange to our Europe..."
"What is it?" Gordon forgot about the frostbite on his hands and looked at Samuel Baker with wide eyes.
"It's history! Yes, it's a very scary historical popularity rate!"
Gordon was stunned by these words and couldn't turn around for a long time, but the example Samuel gave later made Gordon wake up suddenly.
"My friend, if you look carefully at Europe and China, the lowest levels of society in these two countries... To give a simple example, it is in the poorest tavern..."
"When illiterate and extremely poor people spend a little money to drink the worst drinks, when they are drunk, if you carefully observe the topics they chat about, you will find something different..."
"What are the people at the bottom of Europe talking about? They are either complaining, whether it is the boss, society or family members...or they are talking about women. Their minds are full of all kinds of despicable women, all of that kind of thinking... …”
"There are also bizarre legends, zombies, vampires, witchcraft... ancient Greek and Nordic legends..."
"We talked and talked, and in the end most of the time we spent fighting or getting drunk..."
"But it's different in China... I found that the topics of these lower-class people chatting after drinking are filled with a lot of history, politics, military... these diverse topics!"
"Can you imagine? An old farmer who doesn't know how to read will talk to people around him about the founding of the Han Dynasty thousands of years ago... Veterans on the border will chat with people. The top priority of Gansu's military defense is Wushaoling... …”
"If you meet a down-and-out scholar, no matter how poor he is, he can re-enact every detail of the Han-Hungarian battle on the map for you..."
"God, what a terrifying force this is... This kind of behavior does not exist in Europe!"
"The whole society is upside down. Things that the people at the bottom of China love are only accessible to the top nobles in Europe!"
"My Gordon, is your steward not illiterate? Then let me ask you, can such an educated person restore the Punic War in Rome?"
"Do the drunkards who drink in taverns and steal women know how Europe fought against Attila, the whip of God?"
After waking up the dreamer, Gordon suddenly said in shock, "You are right. When I was helping the Qing government in the war in Jiangnan, I also cooperated with the Hunan army..."
