"Neighing..." The sound of horses pulling an open carriage in the middle of the cobbled dirt road
"Mr. Sarmin when will we arrive?" A young voice rang out from the open carriage of the horse-drawn carriage.
From there was seen a young man in his early 20s, wearing simple but neat clothes.
"About 4-5 hours sir, if the weather is good," replied Mr. Sarmin, the name of the horse-drawn carriage driver.
And the figure of the young man who asked then looked up at the sky, where the sun had just passed its peak.
Not strong with the heat, then he immediately asked to stop at a small shop.
"Sir, find a small shop, let's take a short break before continuing our journey," said the young man asking to rest.
"Okay sir" replied Mr. Sarmin again.
A few moments later they found a small tavern on the side of the road, parked the horses in the shade, then the two them immediately entered the tavern.
While entering, the young man did not forget to look around the shop, where the shop they were currently stopping at a simple shop made of a collection of wooden boards and also woven bamboo to then be used as walls.
Seeing that the shop was standing around trees that were thick enough to make the atmosphere in the shop look very beautiful, entering the shop the young man saw that several visitors were enjoying their lunch, only when he saw the dishes served, the young man had to sigh.
Because the food choices in the shop seemed very limited, in the shop the young man saw that only a few foods were available, which included fried tempeh, fried tofu, fried bananas, and also some simple side dishes that are used as a meal when eating together with rice.
To drink alone, only water is available, and also plain and sweet tea, no coffee or soft drinks.
But even so, the young man didn't really mind it because it often went by which time after adjusting to his new identity it could be said he was getting used to it.
"Ma'am, ordered rice rames with fresh tea," the young man ordered food from the shopkeeper.
"Mr. Sarmin, what do you want?" The young man asked the coachman who accompanied him.
"Ahh... I'll just banana fried and tea sir is enough!" Mr. Sarmin answered shyly.
"Don't hesitate, with me where are you full of fried food, after we still have a few hours left of our journey," said the young man to Pak Sarmin in a reminiscent tone.
"I don't feel well sir, I often treat you to food," replied Mr. Sarmin with a red face, imagining the journey he took to take his landlord's son to the big city for the past few days, on the way every time they stayed and also stopped at a shop, His youth has always treated him very kindly and humanely, and this is something he is very grateful for.
It was just that he who was used to being a coachman wasn't used to being treated like that.
However, what Mr. Sarmin didn't know was that the young master in front of him was not the real young master who accompanied him during the trip, the young master in front of him had another identity that had miraculously replaced the young master's position.
"Ok, don't talk about it, let me take care of it," said the young man again and made a decision to order another portion of the same food as himself.
And soon their orders came immediately, and without further ado, the two of them immediately devoured the food that was in front of them.
Until they were both full and rested enough, the young man then asked for the bill,
"Madam, how much is it all?" asked the young man.
"So 30 Cen sir" replied the shopkeeper's mother.
Hearing this figure, the young man only complained in his heart, how cheap this price is to eat 2 rice full of side dishes and some fried food, don't forget 4 cups of tea in addition, only worth 30 Cen.
"It's ma'am" replied the young man and then paid, after paying the two of them immediately went out of the shop, where they were already greeted by a 10-year-old little boy, who currently appeared to have black skin with full-patched clothes, serving their horse with spirit.
And again the young man had to shake his head about the conditions that existed this year, he still clearly remembers, as poor as a child in his time, will not be like the child in front of him today, who looks thin and small and wears clothes full of patches, Eagerly watered their horses.
"Have you fed it?" The young man asked the little boy in front of him.
"Yes sir, I have fed him enough grass and drinking water," replied the little boy with a shy face.
Seeing his responsible attitude, the young man was very happy because it was very rare for him to see a child of this age who was so responsible in his era.
"Ok, this is your gift" the young man gave the little boy 10 cents.
And the little boy was surprised and also happy, "This....master is too much!" Said the little boy happily but sincerely reminded the young man.
"It's okay you can take it" the young man replied with a smile.
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Continuing their journey, now the young man and Mr. Sarmin were chatting on the sidelines of their trip.
"Master, didn't you pay too much for the little boy?" Ask Mr. Sarmin to start a conversation.
"No, I just feel happy Mr. Sarmin" replied the young man.
"But sir, with that much money, in the village we can buy 5 liters of rice," said Pak Sarmin complaining.
"Hahaha... Mr. Sarmin sharing it is a good thing, anyways I don't lack either" replied the young man again.
And when Mr. Sarmin listened to the reason for the shooting of his young master for some reason he felt sick, but on the other hand the young man only smiled wryly because for him the value of 10 cents was very small, he who came to this era could be said to be surprised and also stunned and what he saw.
He can only see all the scenes that are currently being experienced from history books and also some video clips that exist on various media platforms, now when he experiences it himself feels very unreal, Luckily later when he traced the original owner of the body which he currently occupies himself quite gratefully.
He who had suddenly occupied this original youth's body was shocked at first, until after a moment of adjustment he finally accepted the fact that he had crossed, yet… again later he also realized that the place he had shifted to was similar to the earth in his previous life except that there were a few the objects here, and the name of the planet he is currently living on is called planet Emas, for the rest, he finds similarities in history, culture, politics, and others which can be said to be just repeating history with different perceptions and also different figures.
Because the identity of the young man he replaced was a son of a landlord who was quite famous in his hometown in terms of life it could be said that he had a much better life than most of the people there.
"Mr. Sarmin, when will our country become independent?" Suddenly a young man's voice was heard from behind.
And Mr. Sarmin who heard the words of his young master panicked, and immediately stopped their horses.
"Neigh," the horse's voice stopped.
"Sir...don't talk carelessly," said Mr. Sarmin in a panicked tone and looked around. Fortunately, at this time the road they were on was very quiet and there was no one else, he breathed a sigh of relief Mr. Sarmin said again.
" Young master, I was assigned by the big master to take you safely to Surabaya, so I hope the young master doesn't make trouble like this, have mercy on me and my family young master!!" Mr. Sarmin said in a pleading and pleading tone.
"Ahhh.....ok..ok...I won't ask Mr. Sarmin again about this, let's continue" replied the young man in a helpless tone.
On the other hand, after listening to the promise from his young master, Mr. Sarmin was grateful and said thank you, until they continued their journey there was no more conversation between the two of them.
However, Mr. Sarmin may feel guilty or uncomfortable when he reopens the topic of their conversation. "Young master, I understand young master's point, however at this time we cannot speak openly and frankly, because master may know that there are too many traitors!!!" Mr. Sarmin said in an angry tone.
"Yes I know about that, and I would be much more careful," the young man replied.
"Thank God, if the young master understands, you must remember clearly that many villagers depend on the big master, and the punishment for rebellion is the abolition of the entire village or even exile," said Mr. Sarmin again.
And the young man who listened to Mr. Sarmin's words now began to be much more aware of the fact that at this time his homeland was still a colony, and not yet independent.
This year, 1935, was the year when his country was still colonized by foreign invaders, he could not imagine such a large and rich country should be colonized by a small country located on the European continent, and this is where knowledge is very important where many Ordinary people like Mr. Sarmin never thought that the invaders who colonized their country only had a very small land in their homeland compared to the area of their entire country.
"There will be a day sir when our land will be free!" The young man said full of confidence.
How could he not as a passerby who comes from the future knows that his beloved homeland will be independent within the next 10 years, and he can be said to be a historical actor who witnessed this?
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The second trip was then continued by chatting about trivial things that existed in this era, especially now that he had just crossed, it could be said that he still needed an adaptation process, so taking advantage of the free time he asked about various things that Mr. Sarmin knew.
One of them is how the status of the kingdom that he currently occupies is under colonial rule, from what he got, Mr. Sarmin said that their kingdom was monitored by a large kingdom that colonized the entire territory of their homeland, only then the kingdom they lived in was given the authority its autonomy with the supervision of the colonial empire.
Ex: this is the status of the Yogjakarta sultanate since hundreds of years before independence.
"Vasal kingdom/state/dependent state" in colonial rule starting from the VOC, French Indies (Dutch-French Bataav Republic), East India/EIC (United Kingdom), Dutch East Indies (Kingdom of the Netherlands), and finally the XVI Japanese Army (Japanese Empire). By the Dutch, this status is known as Zelfbestuurende Lanschappen and by the Japanese, it is called Koti/Kooti. This status carries legal and political consequences in the form of the authority to regulate and manage its territory under the supervision of the colonial government, of course.
And after knowing this, the young man understood that this could only be said to be an old version of the special autonomy that would be implemented during the reform era in his country when it was independent.
Next, he also asked about the main livelihood of their kingdom, and it was found that most of the livelihoods of ordinary citizens were farming and some were factory workers in various factories in their kingdom, and some were small traders.
Especially for factories, he found a surprising thing that, currently in his era 19 sugar factories were operating in their kingdom, becoming their kingdom one of the largest sugar producers on the island of Java, but unfortunately all of that was only enjoyed by the colonizers, who make sugar as their main export.
Taking this advantage, you can imagine how much income and profits the colonizers got, on the other hand, they were ordinary people who would only get a small wage and a hard life.
Imagining that somehow the young man felt the feeling of helplessness he had, he was just an ordinary young man even with the vast amount of knowledge and information he possessed, without adequate protection and strength everything he knew would only make a small splash, or if he is unlucky he will be tracked down and arrested for later interrogation.
Imagining this he couldn't help but shake his head, because he knew he couldn't do much at the moment, he could only do one thing at a time and see what opportunities he could get, so that slowly he would become better and stronger until at last he finally had enough stock to make a sound and stay safe.
Unknowingly in the end the sky began to turn yellow, and looking at his watch, the young man found that the time was already showing 5 pm, the time when night would soon come at exactly 6 pm.
Sensing the urgency of the time, the young man was about to ask Mr. Sarmin, but then in the distance he saw many cars passing by on the main road a few hundred meters from their position, seeing this he became happy because his destination was now in sight.
"We have arrived Mr. Sarmin!!" The young man exclaimed happily to Mr. Sarmin.
"Yes, young master, we have arrived, just walk for a while when we enter the paved road we will find the closest hotel there" replied Mr. Sarmin.
"Good, I'm quite tired during this trip so if you can find the nearest hotel immediately," said the young man again.
"Okay young master, you can rest assured," replied Mr. Sarmin.
"Buzzing...the noise of the crowd was heard when the young man and Mr. Sarmin who were driving a horse-drawn carriage entered the paved road, looking around the road, various vehicles appeared on the road, it's just that compared with the future this is still too quiet.
However, if you refer to this era and the surrounding area, you will find that this street is one of the busiest and most developed places on the island, except Jakarta as the main center.
Maybe because this is the outskirts of the city so the existing vehicles are still dominated by horse-drawn carriages, even though he knows that there are also buses, taxis, trams, and trains in this city, but they all seem to be in the city center and the area around the port, only when he goes to the harbor tomorrow will he be able to see it all.
"We have arrived, young master," said Mr. Sarmin when he stopped the horse-drawn carriage at an inn that looked simple.
Looking at the inn, the young man felt that the inn in front of him was quite good, even though it only had 3 floors, but seeing the vast courtyard filled with horse-drawn carriages he knew that the business of this inn must be good.
So without hesitation, he immediately went in together with Mr. Sarmin, while their horse-drawn carriage had been brought by the officer to the special care cage.
"Welcome, can I help you?" Asked a middle-aged male receptionist, welcoming the young man and Mr. Sarmin.
"Please prepare a room with two beds," said the young man making an order.
"Okay, for how long, sir you stay?" Asked the hotel maid.
"Just one day, we will check out tomorrow morning around 9" replied the young man again.
"Then you can pay 200 cents sir for a day's stay, this service includes breakfast for both of you," said the waiter again explaining to the young man.
"Oh yeah almost forgot, please give food to my horse," said making another order.
"For the cost of staying the horse and eating two meals, you will be charged 20 cents, sir, so the total is 220 cents," said the waiter again.
"Okay here's the payment" paid the young man with 2 Golden notes plus a 20-cent coin.
After receiving the money, then a waiter came on duty to escort them to the room.
their room was right on the second floor, with the room at the end of the hall on the right, after thanking the young man and Mr. Sarmin entered the room, in the room they occupied, there were only two simple mattresses with an additional table and cupboard, there was a a fan hanging on the roof, and looking out over the bathroom a squat toilet with a large wooden barrel is available with the faucet.
Seeing this arrangement the young man felt quite satisfied, with the existing conditions it was said to be much better than the conditions of the inns in other small towns around this big city.
"It's very expensive to eat the horse, 20 cents to feed the horse, can we feed our horse with gold?" said Pak Sarmin after leaning on the bed.
"This is a big city, so it's only natural sir," said the young man to Mr. Sarmin again.
"Still too many people in this city are taking profit, obviously there is a lot of grass in the surrounding area, not to mention that they only use sickles and ropes, they already get a lot of horse feed, how greedy they are," complained Mr. Sarmin again.
And the young man could only smile at what Mr. Sarmin said because he understood that Mr. Sarmin's salary in the village was only small compared to eating horses which were so expensive, even though the food was taken from the environment and it was all free, he felt very annoyed.
But if you think about it, it's not about eating that becomes expensive, but the safety of the horses and also the shelter provided by the hotel, it must be known that horse carriages are an expensive means of transportation. In this era, the price of horses is quite expensive, reaching tens of golden.