Dominate the Country

It was still sunny yesterday, but the north wind suddenly picked up in the middle of the night. In the morning, Abubakar once again saw the vast white snow through the window. A thick layer of snow has accumulated on the roofs of the city. Standing on the third floor of the State Guesthouse and looking out, the houses in the city are like rolling hills, and the sky and the earth are white.

As Sulu is located in the tropics, Abubakar has certainly never seen heavy snow. It can even be said that he does not know what ice and snow are. Therefore, although the severe cold in Lushan in winter made him shiver and huddle in the State Guesthouse like a hibernating bear all day long, he loved ice and snow very much.

The heavy snow was still falling, and the snowflakes danced in various postures in the air, either flying, hovering, or falling straight and fast, spreading to the ground.

Abubakar got up early today because there was a small private party waiting for him at ten in the morning.

Abubaika, who has been in Lushan for a while, has met a few people. Sulu is located in the tropical sea and has some specialties. Coral pearls and the like are still very popular in the mainland, or they are quite valued by Chen Han, a group of people who have just become rich. In addition, as the king of Sulu, Abubakar has a detailed understanding of the situation in Southeast Asia and the specialties of various places. For many people in the Chen Han Dynasty, this is very important.

The Fuhan Army will not only enter Sulu in a large scale in the coming year, but also settle down and build a port in a place named Singapore. For many people in Lushan, this is a clear signal from above - they will march into Nanyang. .

Therefore, not long after Abubakar came to Lushan, he became a guest of many people. He was also keen on Chen Han's high-level dealings.

Suddenly, wuwu~~, a sound of trombone caught the attention of Abubakar who was eating breakfast.

"What's happening outside? Is it so lively?" In addition to the sound of trombones, Abubakar also heard the sound of gongs and drums. After coming to Lushan for so long, Abubeka also understood some of Lushan's rules. Generally speaking, Chen Han was a relative of a noble family and would not show off when going out.

Lushan County is too small. Of course, even this small Lushan city is much better than Hele, the capital of Sulu, in Abu Beka's eyes. Therefore, except for the top few, Chen Han's close and important officials rarely went out with much fanfare. Like the trombone and gongs and drums he was playing now, he had only heard such a lively sound when he was grandly welcomed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when he arrived in Lushan.

"Master Hou." Abu Beka has already been given the title of Sulu Hou. Chen Hui also gave him a Chinese surname - Su, and the Chinese name Abu Beka himself took the word "Yunsun". This was Wen Tianxiang's first name. On the grounds that he admired Wen Tianxiang but did not dare to blaspheme the name of Prime Minister Wen, Abubakar named himself Su Yunsun after his first name. It will be officially canonized only in the New Year. As for this Marquis during the Chen-Han dynasty, he was still the scorpion shit under Chen Hui, Chen Ming and his son - the only one.

People around Abubakar have been shouting for half a month, but they have gradually gotten used to it. "His Royal Highness is traveling."

Abubakar frowned and thought for a while, yes, he seemed to have heard of such a thing a few days ago. His Royal Highness, who had just returned from the war, was leaving for Wuhan. It turned out to be today.

This matter has nothing to do with Abubakar. He heard the news and forgot it. Now that he remembered it, he continued to forget it. Because the prince is too far away from his current position, don't expect him to become a marquis soon! But this Marquis is a short-term Marquis, a sign, nothing more.

Abubakar is a smart man who understands his situation.

Suluhou is just an "advertisement", which means that Chen Han will not treat "meritorious ministers" badly, but this does not represent the real power.

The titles set by Chen Han did not include first, second, or third grades. Regardless of inheritance, there were seven levels in total: prince, county king, duke, marquis, uncle, son, and male. But a marquis like Sulu Hou will be worse than the lowest baron in the future. Because the latter must have meritorious service when he was made a baron! To establish meritorious deeds, one must hold authority. So what does Sulu Hou mean?

Although among the people Abubakar is currently interacting with, they all have official titles but no titles, but that was because Chen Han had not yet made any grand plans for titles. There have long been rumors in Lushan that they will move to Nanjing next year. When the King of Han proclaimed himself emperor, that was the time to give out generous rewards. By then, the whole hall was filled with honorable people. Even if their title is very low, the power and capital in their hands must be much stronger than this empty shell of his.

The Marquis of Abubakar is still a nobleman who can be demoted after five generations. Is it true that a gentleman will be beheaded after five generations? But the Su family will always be just a marquis, an empty marquis with no real power. And those people he is interacting with now have unlimited possibilities in the future.

——With power in your hands, there are opportunities to make meritorious deeds and be rewarded, and there are paths to climb.

But there was a cliff in front of Abubakar. He could not lead the army, nor could he be an official. He could not speak Chinese well, and he could not even recognize a few Chinese characters. How could he be reused? And the identity is a bit embarrassing. As for the sons he left behind in Sulu, their level of Sinology was even worse than his own. The two generations of the Su family had no hope, and all hope depended on his grandsons.

Next year, if Sulu settles down, Abubakar will move most of his direct descendants to China, learn Chinese and Chinese characters, and then enter Sungkyun Public School!

Yes, it was almost twenty days after Abu Beka came to Lushan that he first knew that there was a school named "Chengjun" in the heart of Chen Han, which was said to be the study of the Five Emperors of the Chinese ancestors. It included the children of Chen Han's relatives and ministers, and it was said that it would be a place for the study of the princes and grandchildren in the future.

Abu Beka's son could not catch up, but his grandson could definitely make it.

Such a place where the children of the powerful gathered, even if you roll in it, you can get a lot of benefits.

The Abu Beka family is a pure outsider, with a shallow foundation in China, and the most lacking foundation and connections. If his grandson enters Chengjun Public School, after a few years of classmates, it is equivalent to forming a large network of connections, a network that is the most important for their family. Only then will his family be truly integrated into the top of Chen Han.

So, don't think that he is so noble as a marquis at this moment, and don't think that he is so "close" to Chen Ming because he is going to be a marquis. It's just buying horse bones with a lot of gold. It was just a pretext that Chen Han put on the table, a ranking. Abubeka himself was also very sensible.

Chen Ming certainly didn't know that there was a person in the state guesthouse not far away who he didn't care about, and at the same time he didn't care about him.

After the team left Lushan, Chen Ming left the ceremonial guard behind, and under the protection of a hundred or so guards around him, he rode towards Wuhan.

At this time, at the Wuhan Hankou Wharf, a not-so-big sand ship entered the berth under the attention of the public.

Among the hundreds of large and small cargo ships at the Hankou Wharf, this small sand ship was like a small fish in a school of fish. If there were no eight warships surrounding it, and those soldiers with live ammunition, this sand ship would not attract attention at all. But with the external background, it is the most watched star of the entire Hankou Wharf!

No one knows what is loaded in this ship. Since the ship arrived at the wharf, the soldiers have been directly doing the labor, operating the jib crane, and hanging large boxes from the ship. Then these things were directly escorted by the troops and transported to an empty material warehouse.

There were also a few yellow-haired and green-eyed foreigners who disembarked with these boxes. Outsiders could not see more.

Chen Ming, who rushed to Wuhan on the frost, was looking forward to the machines [parts] and information in these boxes.

Last year, Chen Ming proposed to buy steam engines from Britain and France. Before the Watt steam engine came out, the practicality of steam engines was very limited. Britain and France did not pay much attention to this thing. They can only pump water now, and it consumes a lot of energy. In order to conceal his intentions, Chen Ming's attention to steam engines was also very bland. Chen Ming put his main "focus" on the textile machinery series, cotton spinning and wool spinning, including Jenny machines, reel spinning machines, water-powered looms, and a series of new inventions were all on Chen Ming's purchase list. In addition, there is a non-industrial boring machine, which cannot be considered a finished product. Just like the current steam engine, it is in the stage of moving from the laboratory to practicality.

There are also a large number of scientific instruments, mainly astronomy and chemistry. A large number of European books, from philosophy, theology to natural science, anyway, he doesn't read these things. Chen Ming asked Robert, Perrier and others to hire Western technicians and scholars, and they all came with generous remuneration.

At this time when Western civilization has developed to this point, these things are the most exquisite crystallization of the entire Western civilization!

It's just that in Europe, which is in peacetime, the technicians and scholars there are not very interested in traveling across the ocean to the unfamiliar China.

Or maybe Robert and Perrier didn't bother to find them at all. This time, there were only eleven technicians and scholars from Britain and France who came to China on the ship, and four of them stayed in India for health reasons. They all fell ill.

Chen Ming had previously revealed to Westerners about tea, bean sprouts and other means to avoid sepsis. Chen Ming didn't know whether these things caused a sensation in the West. Anyway, European merchant ships returning west from Shanghai, Ningbo and Guangzhou this year all purchased beans.

However, the waves of the sea are not only harmful to human health, but sepsis is also harmful to human health. Those four people are recuperating in India.

Perhaps someone would say that with Chen Ming's current status, is it worth his personal effort to get these things? But in fact, the official reason for Chen Ming's visit to Wuhan was a business conference held by the Industry and Commerce Bureau focusing on the textile industry. On the surface, those "strange and lewd techniques" from the West are not his cup of tea. It was this move that established Chen Ming's reputation as a business man.

Chen Ming didn't care about this. Jenny machine, reel spinning machine, water-powered loom...

These things cannot be held by Chen Ming alone when they come to China. The right way is to promote them. And this promotion depends on the textile industry business conference to be held in Wuhan.

Chen Ming also hopes that the Textile Industry Association, which will be established next year, can raise a sum of money to publicly reward more advanced textile machines and improved steam engines. Taking this opportunity, China's "Patent Law" will also come into being in the future.

With this tiger skin, it is estimated that no one will think that Chen Ming came to Wuhan because of those machines and books.

Chen Ming arrived in Hankou with a frosted face. He was greeted by Liu Dezhao and others and arrived at his destination. After a short rest, he arrived at the storage warehouse in person. In the large warehouse, most of the iron and wood machines had been assembled. Chen Ming also saw the Jenny loom in person, not just the drawings.

"How is it? What do you think after seeing these?"

Touching the steam engine that had not yet been assembled, Chen Ming said to Liu Dezhao, Pan Zhencheng, Han Teng and others around him.

Liu Dezhao had read the relevant introduction of these machines before, and Pan Zhencheng, Han Teng and others also knew the functions of these machines. They still clearly remember the shock and disbelief when they first saw the introduction book.

"The ability of Westerners' strange and lewd skills is ingenious and incredible."

With just a few machines, with the same manpower and time, the output of cotton yarn and cloth can be increased by dozens of times. What a powerful force. They are not nerds who study hard, how could they not know the profound impact of the sharp drop in the price of cloth and cotton yarn. It's chilling to think about it!

"Fortunately, Your Highness is so perceptive and can see far away. Let China also have this weapon. Otherwise, the Western cotton and yarn will become cheaper and dumped in our country, which will cause chaos in the long run." Liu Dezhao continued to compliment.

It seems that they have no idea that if this kind of machinery falls into the hands of merchants, it will quickly spread across China in such a short time, and what a huge impact it will have on China's traditional family economy! The water-powered loom and other equipment are not something that farmers can own as a family unit. In this way, the price of cotton yarn and cloth will drop significantly in the next few years, which will definitely be a disaster for ordinary people.

Liu Dezhao can think of this with his toes. But he didn't say it to Chen Ming. Han Teng and Pan Zhencheng didn't say it either. Because they have close connections with countless merchants behind them.

Instead, Liu Wu raised this point after Chen Ming returned to his residence.

"Thousands of bankrupt farmers, and the small peasant economy that has been hit hard..." Chen Ming's face showed a touch of disappointment, but he didn't say anything, but waved his hand to let Liu Wu retreat.

You only regret not having enough books when you need them, and you don't know how difficult it is until you have experienced it. Chen Ming, who was just a simple little p citizen in his previous life, really couldn't solve the "paradox" of how to "coexist harmoniously" with the labor problem required for the development of industry and the social problems brought about by the collapse and bankruptcy of the small peasant economy.

These two problems are two sides of the same coin. With the development of capital, the small peasant economy and natural economy will collapse and disintegrate; and if the small peasant economy continues to continue, how can capital get their sufficient expansion demand market? Just like the sheep-eating-people enclosure movement in the UK, just like the American Civil War...

There is progress and retreat, there is gain and loss. Or to use the words of the previous life, it is to reduce the number of rural residents, increase the number of urban residents, and liberate the labor force!

Although this process may be cruel and inhumane. But it can indeed force millions of Chinese people to walk out of the fields, and allow China's domestic demand market to continue to develop, expand and grow.

All industrial countries must first have a basic plate, that is, the domestic market. Especially in this era!

If China continues to fall into the small people's economy and continues to walk on the road of natural economy, tens of thousands of people can make a living in the local area. In the future, no matter how much territory the Fu Han Army has conquered, it will be a sand castle on the beach. It can't withstand the impact!

To put it bluntly, aren't most of the people who have been opening up and filling up the borders in the past dynasties of China poor and destitute? Didn't the British rely on the poor and destitute bankrupts, proletarians, and even criminals in the country to develop colonies?

In essence, it's all the same.

Mencius said: Those who have permanent property have perseverance, and those who have no permanent property have no perseverance. But if this sentence is changed and applied to the lowest-level farmers, that is - as long as they have a bite to eat, they will not think of other ways - immigration - right?

Land is the lifeblood of the Chinese people, and it is also the "means of production" that can best constrain the people.

If this plate is not smashed, how long will it take for America, Northeast China, Outer Northeast China, Southeast Asia, and Australia to gather enough people to fill these lands?

Economic bankruptcy can at least make the people's initiative to immigrate greater and stronger, right? This is better than the government whipping them with whips, threatening them with knives and guns, crying and screaming all the way, and "immigrants" who are like going to the execution ground, right?

This is the price that must be paid!

As for domestic agriculture, the gradual concentration of "means of production" has shifted from a self-sufficient small peasant economy to a supply of raw materials. Chen Ming does not expect advanced agriculture like the United States and Europe in the future. He must face reality and the current level of technology cannot reach that level. But the small and medium-sized family farm model is better than the tenant and self-cultivating farmer model.

Chen Ming's level is really limited. For many things, he has to take one step before he can see the next step. Fortunately, he is a time traveler, so he is still reliable in terms of foresight.

——The future is absolutely bright, but the road is absolutely tortuous. Cross the river by feeling the stones!