Dominate the Country

The Chamber of Commerce was held, and Chen Ming also saw the machines that represented the essence of Western civilization. But Chen Ming's interest suddenly dropped. Was Liu Wu's question too heavy-handed?

really. Chen Ming felt heavy in his heart.

The future consequence of his decision may (certainly) be the bankruptcy of thousands of small farmers in China, that is, the bankruptcy of thousands of farmers. They are forced to leave the homeland where their ancestors lived and enter a strange city to make a living, or they may be forced to emigrate by the government on the grounds of "absolute poverty" at some point in the future.

Whenever he thinks of the millions and millions of farmers who are hopeless and helpless, with "no food to eat and no clothes to cover their bodies," Chen Ming feels heavy in his heart.

Chen Ming only showed up at the opening ceremony and never showed up again, but all his intentions were carried out without any change.

Big bosses in the textile industry everywhere were shocked by Jenny machines, water conservancy looms, etc., and then became very happy. As for the impact of the destined big price cuts on cotton yarn and cloth in the future on farmers where men farm and women weave, these people don't care. All they care about is how much money these machines can make for them!

The Huaxia Manufacturing Company, funded by the three powerful men named Chen, Huang and Gao, has just been announced. The foundation of the factory in Wuhan has not even been laid yet. Their company's products have been ordered by a large number of textile industry bosses waving banknotes - golden yuan coupons. More than 2,000 units were purchased.

Very, very high quantity. Jenny machines, reel spinning looms, hydraulic looms...the total number of more than 2,000 units is estimated to be no less than the current number of British machinery. But is this a large number? Not much at all.

There must be many people present who want to find foreigners to buy machinery, or find someone to copy the machinery themselves after getting the machine. Otherwise, the number of more than 2,000 units would not be more than doubled!

Chen Ming showed up once and then disappeared. Instead, the European technicians and scholars who followed the ship to Wuhan chatted about matters in Europe.

Chen Ming now has a clearer and clearer understanding of Europe. The Fifth Russo-Turkish War is still fiercely going on. In the past year, the Russian 1st Army, in coordination with the Danube Fleet, fought in the Western calendar. In February, Gyurgiu was captured, and in March, the fortresses of Tulcea and Isakcha were blockaded. General Dolgorukov's 2nd Army, in coordination with the Azov Sea Fleet, captured Perekop on June 25 and occupied Crimea.

After the main force of the Austrian army advanced to the Russian border, the Russian First Army shifted to active defense. The group army was divided into three groups and fought on a front of one thousand kilometers. From June to October, it repelled multiple attacks by the Turkish army's superior force (120,000 people) on the left bank of the Danube River. The victory of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean promoted the outbreak of Arab anti-Turkish uprisings in Egypt in North Africa and Syria in the Middle East.

It can be said that the situation in the fifth Russo-Turkish War is tilting towards the bear. But the advantage is not too obvious, and the Ottoman army still has a certain degree of combat effectiveness. Chen Ming heard two familiar names from their mouths-Rumyantsev and Suvorov. A shining star!

Except for the Russo-Turkish War, which is the focus of the entire Europe, peace is maintained elsewhere. But to Chen Ming's expectation, the last volume of the well-known "Encyclopedia Britannica" has been released this year, which means that the first edition of "Encyclopedia Britannica" has been released. Although none of these scholars has purchased it, when the third volume of this masterpiece is released this year, they are all already floating on the sea. But this book is very popular in Europe, and everyone knows when it will be released.

In December 1768 AD, the first volume of the encyclopedia was finally published and sold for sixpence. Smellie then waited until this year to complete the remaining two volumes.

A scholar from the UK, who is said to have the same name as Newton, once served as an official professor at Oxford University, introduced Chen Ming in a very proud tone: This set of large reference books has a total of 2391 pages, including 160 copper plates. engraving. The three volumes are similar in length and are arranged alphabetically, divided into A-B, C-L and M-Z. A complete set costs a whopping £12.

Chen Ming was very upset and asked the translator to introduce to him what "Yongle Dadian" was. More than 7,000 volumes of the latter were firmly in Chen Ming's hands when he invaded Nanjing. Chen Ming, who was "uneducated and incompetent", had no idea at the time that there were more than 7,000 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" in Nanjing. We must know that the entire "Yongle Dadian" was compiled into 22,877 volumes, with a table of contents of 60 volumes, and 11,095 volumes.

The books in Nanjing City are copies from the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty liked "Yongle Dadian" very much. He often carried it with him and read through it to find prescriptions. In August of the 41st year of Jiajing's reign, he ordered a copy to be made. After Longqingchu was completed, it was originally returned to Nanjing. The original copy is stored in Wenyuan Pavilion, and the copy is stored in Huang Shicheng. There were 8,000 volumes of this set of books in existence during the Qianlong period. There were so many volumes in the catalogue, but after Chen Ming sent someone to count them, they found that there were only a little more than 7,000 volumes left. After comparing the catalogue, it was found that there were 2,422 missing volumes, or thousands of volumes. He was so angry that he yelled!

Although he had gained face with "Yongle Dadian", Chen Ming still felt that it was necessary to send a letter to Robert. Not only did he want the complete set of "Encyclopedia Britannica", he also needed to purchase its Chinese copyright and organize manpower Translate it, and then strive to publish it in China as soon as possible.

As for the green tea, bean sprouts and other items that Chen Ming mentioned to Europeans, it turns out that they are indeed effective during voyages.

"Your Highness, because of this new discovery, the price of green tea has risen by 50% in Europe."

Stephen Newton is a serious scholar. He is a historian and sinologist. He has been a professor at Oxford and Edinburgh University. He is 47 years old. He is the most high-profile among the European scholars who came to China this time. Chen Ming was very curious why he was willing to come to China at this time. With his knowledge, he could easily live a middle-class life in Europe.

But Newton kept silent.

The information sent by Robert even said that he took the initiative to find the door.

Although Newton has never been to China, as a qualified sinologist, he has a certain level of research and understanding of the Chinese political system. Of course, sinologists do not necessarily speak Chinese. Chen Ming can't understand the Chinese that comes out of his mouth. It is said that he learned the "Chinese" based on Matteo Ricci's "The Miracle of Western Characters" and Ginige's "Western Confucian Ears and Eyes". It is now under renovation!

He can recognize some Chinese characters.

Newton has a full understanding of Chen Ming's position in Chen Han. Newton hopes to stay with Chen Ming, even if he needs to teach at the Foreign Languages ​​College first, but he hopes to stay close to Chen Ming.

Chen Ming can't feel Newton's malice, but he can sense that Newton is full of interest in him. In his words, he wants to write a "Daily Notes" for Chen Ming, record the real him, and portray his true image in the text.

Newton is the only technician and scholar who came to China who is used to drinking green tea. It's not that there is no green tea in the UK, but the amount is much less than black tea, and there are also few people who like to drink green tea. There are even fewer people who drink green tea in the Chinese way of clear tea, but Newton is one of them. This made Chen Ming have some good feelings towards him.

"A considerable number of people in British society have a biased understanding of China, and ancient books only record China's past. I hope to stay with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince as a witness of history, and use my pen to record a real monarch who is destined to have a profound impact on China. At the same time, I also record the real, not false China, so that my compatriots can truly understand China."

"The records about China in Lord Anson's "Travels Around the World" seem to be lacking, but compared with the lies of the merchants, I believe my eyes more." George Anson, the second captain of the British Royal Navy to sail around the world after Francis Drake. His warship "Centurion" was the first British ship to enter Chinese waters.

According to rumors, Anson and his warships [originally six, only one was left when they entered the Pacific] arrived in the waters near the Philippines in 1743. Here, he commanded the "Centurion" to capture a Spanish sailing ship carrying treasures, and then transported the treasures to Guangdong, China for auction, earning 400,000 pounds. But Chen Ming thought the news was absurd.

What is the concept of 400,000 pounds? According to the silver price thirty years ago, it was at least 1.5 million taels of silver.

Of course, Chen Ming's more important impression of Anson was his book.

As Western power spread eastward, China's long-standing halo faded, especially in the rising Britain. In 1719, the British writer Defoe launched his sequel to "Robinson Crusoe". Defoe had never been to China, but Robinson Crusoe in his work came to China and felt that the Chinese were "ignorant and dirty" and "poorly organized". Their navigation, trade and agriculture were "very imperfect", and their knowledge and science and technology were "quite backward". Soon afterwards, British Admiral George Anson showed Europe an image of China that was "fraudulent, poor, decadent, ignorant and stubborn" in his "Journey Around the World" published in 1748. Soon, the French thinker Montesquieu criticized China's "**** empire" with "neither laws nor regulations" in his masterpiece "The Spirit of the Laws". He believed that China's principle was "terror", "only sticks can make people do something; the Chinese "naturally tend to obey like slaves", they "are the most deceitful nation on earth", and he even said "deception is allowed in China."

Anyway, what can I say?

The British are now a lion circling an elephant. The elephant is sick, but his appearance is still strong and powerful, but the lion is not afraid of this strong appearance, and the lion's fear of the elephant is fading little by little. When the elephant is too sick to walk, or the lion has completely forgotten the fear, that is when the lion will pounce.

In the original time and space history, the British will send envoys to visit China in 20 years.

Two or three years later, Staunton published "The British Envoy's Audience with Emperor Qianlong". He used Based on the experience of the Macartney Mission in China, he showed Europe the image of a "colossus with feet of clay" that had "not made any progress for hundreds or thousands of years". In his book, Chinese "merchants cheat, peasants steal, and officials extort money from others", just as if European merchants were honest and the European officialdom was clean and fair. Then there is Hegel. Chen Ming can no longer remember what Hegel said. Britain caused more trauma to China than Germany. There were more records of the Macartney Mission's visit. Who cares about Hegel?

Then China's image in the West was basically established. "A mummy coated with preservative materials" became the object of slander and ridicule in the Western world. The two opium wars that followed seemed to have found a footnote for this.

This is a mighty torrent.

In Chen Ming's view, this is a "great" spiritual victory for John Bull and even Europeans as they climbed to the throne of the world.

Regardless of whether it is true or false, they - the developed and powerful Western Europe - worked together to overturn China, a mountain that has long been weighing on their hearts. The latter is a symbol of wealth in Europe, and the popularity of China fever has added layers of "civilized, rich, and powerful" images to China. After the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the gradual grasp of the Mughal Empire by the British, China is the last fortress they need to conquer.

This victory allowed the white people to stand at the top of the world in spirit. They ravaged the blacks and looked down on the yellow people.

"So now..., has China's image changed again in British society?" Chen Ming asked curiously. His army has never fought with Europeans, and the Portuguese don't count.

"Yes, Your Highness." Newton said solemnly: "You and the Han Dynasty you represent have shown an open and free spirit far beyond the Tatars' Qing Dynasty. From your actions in Europe, I feel a surge of vitality.

Unlike the stubbornness and arrogance of the Qing Dynasty, you exude a temperament that accommodates everything and embraces the sea. This may be an unprecedented era, and the exchange and integration between the East and the West will be opened again in your hands.

As a historian, watching all this up close is a temptation I can't resist."

Chen Ming is not interested in any of this. As a witness of Mao's history, he would rather listen to Newton's impression of China today.

"Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Hankou are all prosperous trading ports. A strong order governs everything there."

Fraud, poverty, depravity, ignorance and stubbornness, these may still have traces in Anson's writing, but the same traces are equally indelible in London. The souls of depravity and ignorance floated over the whole city of London.

Defoe said that China lacked organization, but this description was too vague. In Newton's eyes, China was just the opposite. The trading cities along the coast of China were cleaner and safer than London. There were not many beggars here, but law enforcers wearing red vests could be seen. Everyone had his own position and his own job.

If these law enforcement teams did not exist, Guangzhou, Shanghai and now Hankou might be as dirty as London, full of beggars, wandering fraudsters and criminals, and even more depraved than London. But when a strong order spread across China, everything changed.

In Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hankou, Newton, who had a cursory look, did not see too much, but he deeply realized the powerful order. It ruled everything in the city and every corner!

And now, the creator of this order was sitting in front of him.

In a sense, China is indeed a "dictatorial country", and the people do have a stick on their heads. But it is not only the use of "sticks" that can make people do something; the Chinese are not naturally inclined to slave-like obedience.

"Order is not a violent stick." Newton was not a jurist, but he also had the most basic judgment. Any sinologist knows that China's monarchical "zuan system" is very different from the Western as a whole.

The Russian tsar is a powerful figure in the entire European monarch family, but his power is far from comparable to the imperial power of the Chinese monarch.

In China, in the East, the monarch dominates everything!

European countries with decentralized monarchical power cannot imagine the power of emperors and officials under the centralized monarchical system of the East. Otherwise, how can it be called an official-oriented society?

Chen Ming has not read "The Spirit of the Laws" and has no feeling for Montesquieu. Although he attacked China very badly, the butt is different, and Chen Ming will not completely reject him because of this. But if Montesquieu can live to thirty years later, Chen Ming is willing to invite him to China and let him see China at that time!