Dominate the Country

"Stupid Spain, stupid Madrid, stupid Carlos IV, pigs are smarter than them..."

Newton, who had decided to die in China, was lying on his desk writing down his diary. He was already very old, over 70 years old. His nearly thirty years of life in China had made him accustomed to everything in China. I don't want to go back to the 'strange' society in the UK.

Although the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh where he once worked [this is a university in Scotland, not England, and there are only two universities in England, Oxford and Cambridge], are willing to welcome his return with very high treatment, even the British royal family and The cabinet sincerely welcomes his return.

——Newton stayed with the Chinese emperor for so many years. He also educated His Royal Highness Prince Yu of China and served as a private tutor for the Chinese royal family. Not only did he have inextricable connections with the Chinese royal family and high-level officials, he also truly understood Chinese politics. , and understand the great emperor of China. This is a valuable asset for the Kingdom of Great Britain in China and a valuable asset for Europe as a whole.

But Newton just didn't want to go back. He no longer cared about Great Britain. He only let his notes, his own biographies, his understanding of China, his research on China's present and history, etc., and his countless manuscripts return to England on a sailing ship.

Newton, who is in his seventies, still maintains the good habit of keeping a diary. The diaries he wrote over the years have now become an important basis for senior British central cabinet officials to study China's politics, economy, culture and other aspects.

It was precisely because of his thorough understanding of the huge country of China that Newton hated Spain's "rash actions" so much. Because Spain is indeed the current ally of the British.

The British will be punished for this.

More than a month has passed since the day when the comparison news came. More detailed information has been sent to Chen Ming and is also known to the general public. At the same time, some small adjustments made by His Majesty the Emperor to India are also known to many, many people. Everyone knows that the British are really innocent in this matter. They are innocent, but it is useless.

The reason why rumors started to spread a month ago can only be attributed to the fact that this news coincidentally happened to catch up with the 'Robert' and his entourage who came to make mischief. Based on Newton's understanding of Emperor Chen, China will definitely cause trouble in India. This is indeed the case. As for the root of all this, Newton did not blame the British, but the Spanish.

In Newton's mind, the Kingdom of Spain was just a second-rate country in Europe. It had no capital to compete with the current Han Empire. Even after they had been in business for more than two hundred years, Chen Han had just set foot in the empire for more than ten years. America.

But their rash actions forced the British to pay the price. Newton didn't know how many times he scolded Madrid!

"A bunch of pigs!"

The tip of the quill in Newton's hand kept scratching across the paper, making a rustling sound. He wanted to use his pen to severely satirize the stupid Madrid people and the stupid Bourbon family.

After living so long, Newton had never seen a fool before, but this was the first time he saw such a fool. A chicken wanted to challenge an eagle. Of course, Robert is also a big fool, and he should not come to Nanjing.

John Shaw, the British Governor-General of India, did not know the temper of the Chinese emperor. Did Robert also know it? He has been dealing with China for twenty years. The Emperor of China did not have a bad temper, but he would never tolerate anyone acting rogue or mischievous with him. Anyone who is unreasonable to him will be even more unreasonable to him.

China has the capital to support him in doing so. Even though the person who provoked him was the Kingdom of Great Britain, the number one power in the Western world.

"Grandpa, it's three o'clock, we should go to the amusement park..."

A clear boy's voice sounded outside the study. The child's Chinese name is Niu Pu. He is a Portuguese and an orphan. His father was one of the Portuguese who chose to stay in China, and his mother was a slave girl from the Ottomans, to be precise, she should be a Russian.

His father, who followed the local customs, kept his mother. Unfortunately, his father, who believed in one god, still did not dare to break through the "obstruction" and take his mother as his concubine.

The boy's mother died eight years ago, and the boy's father died three years ago. Before his death, this Chinese-Portuguese man, who also had some friendship with Newton, sent his twelve-year-old illegitimate son to Newton.

Newton, whose life was really lonely, thought twice and formally adopted the twelve-year-old child and named him Niu Pu.

Pu, in Chinese, refers to uncarved jade, or a stone containing jade.

Newton hoped that the child he adopted would be an uncut gem. At the same time, the pronunciation of the word "Pu" is also similar to "Portuguese".

Newton, who was full of anger towards Spain, suddenly turned cloudy and clear when he heard the clear and cheerful voice of his grandson outside the door. The cheerful voice was like a break of dark clouds in the sky, letting the sunshine in the sky instantly shine on every inch of Newton's heart.

Human beings are not grass and trees, how can they be ruthless?

Newton has been alone for more than twenty years, and now he has a child in his name. Although he is not a real bloodline, it has also invested a lot of emotion in him.

"Okay, Dias." Newton looked at the clock. It was really time to go. If it was later, there would be no need to go to the amusement park.

Newton immediately stopped writing, "Because I have to go to the amusement park with my lovely grandson, I don't have time to express my anger towards the Spaniards now, but I will continue writing tomorrow. Stupid Spaniards , my anger towards them is far from finished.”

…

China has officially entered early winter in the tenth month of the lunar calendar. Even in the Jiangnan region, as the temperature drops, the outdoors is a bleak scene. In the land of Qilu on the Shandong Peninsula, leaves are falling and everything is withered.

However, in Yantai Port, the market is still going on lively.

It didn’t take long for Yantai to develop, and Yantai’s fame and prosperity are already comparable to Jinan.

As one of the two most important external ports in Shandong, Yantai has a population of more than 200,000. The increasing population has caused consumption here to increase sharply every day. Every day, villagers from ten miles and eight towns bring their own goods to Yantai's large and small markets to sell them, and then buy some things they need to take back: it may be thick cotton cloth, or it may be thick cotton cloth. It is metal utensils, meat, alcohol, or salted fish, whale meat, kelp, seaweed, etc.

Huang Youtian sat in a corner of the market. He had sold three pots in the morning and sharpened kitchen knives and shovels for five people. In addition, a lot of trinkets such as sesame seeds, peanut candy, and whale jerky carried in canvas pockets were also sold. A conservative estimate is that his income this morning is at least three yuan, which should be satisfactory.

But this is a market in the city after all!

Nowadays, every market has an administrator, and the fee is only five cents a day. Huang Youtian sighed and leaned against a pot behind him. The market is crowded with people. If someone’s pot is broken, the knife is dull, or something is missing, they will come here to find a solution. Huang Youtian made a living by mending pots in his early years, and finally saved some capital to start a pot-buying business. , which seems to be much more respectable than a tinker, but the money really is not more than that of a tinker.

Although tinkerers have to work harder, when business is bleak, they often have to travel long distances and visit many villages before meeting a customer.

But the tinker’s capital is small.

It's like buying a pot, all the money is spent.

Huang Youtian felt regretful again.

He didn't regret that he started buying pots, but he regretted that he didn't shamelessly slam the door of Zhang's house in the first place. After Zhang Jinlai became a professional, he became the chief of the police station in the town, and his family had a good life.

In addition to the fact that his little sister was unlucky, the year he left that price, he got poisoned from something he ate, suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and had no money for medical treatment at that time, so he watched her die. And that Zhang Laifu also runs a small business, but he bought a shop in the town where the wind can't blow him, the rain can't hit him, and no one will bother him or bully him. Now that his son has given birth to a fat grandson, his life is so comfortable.

After Huang Youtian settled in Yantai, he returned to his hometown several times and walked outside the door. However, he only put down his things and did not enter the Zhang family's door. Although it wasn't his home, the person inside was his real brother.

Half-brother.

Zhang Laisheng was brave enough and joined the court early. Although he did not become an official, he is now the chief of the police station in the town, which is a great honor for his ancestors. The Zhang family also started to tremble.

The two brothers are living a good life, they have children and a daughter, and they both have grandchildren.

Unlike him, old man Huang, who is in his mid-fifties, is already turning sixty, and has a son who is not even twenty yet, let alone a good wife.

He left the Zhang family that year, firstly because his surname was Huang, and his stepfather was not too wronged to him, but he couldn't get close to her; secondly, because the family had no money to give him a wife, and they were really poor.

But Huang Youtian was almost twenty-five when he married his wife. Moreover, it was not easy to marry a wife, finally have a son, and the Tatars brought trouble to the family. It was only in his thirties that he truly settled down, and the current imperial court has conquered the whole country.

Huang Youtian has no nostalgia for the Manchus at all. Not to mention the family feud, he only said that life is much easier now than it was during the Manchus.

Although his business is very hard, he can't wait to go to the market every day, even if it rains, snows, and winds blow, he has to work for sixty years, and he still works hard. But Huang Youtian's hard work really paid off with success, and he made money.

In Chenhan, as long as you work hard, you won't get rich, but at least you won't go hungry. During the Manchu period, even if you worked hard all day long, you still couldn't even fill your stomach.

Huang Youtian was a man who endured hardships when he was young. His current life is not as good as Zhang Jinlai or Zhang Laifu, but he is much better than the Zhang family back then.

He is still working hard now, not because his family does not have overnight food, but because his son is studying in college.

Yes, it’s not a junior college or a college, it’s a real university, Hanlin University. This tuition fee is a big expense.

As for his son, except for his unexpected disobedience to Old Man Huang when it came to getting a job as an official, his son really had no choice in other aspects.

It's just that his son has just entered his sophomore year in college this year and is still three years away from graduation. But the bright future of their family is something everyone can see.

The value of people with higher education in China is depreciating, but it depends on which institution they come from. Is Hanlin Academy University an ordinary university? People from there, even if they are pure nerds, can find a place in schools, publishing houses, or newspapers.

However, Huang Youtian cannot deny that the good days of mobile vendors like them who go from village to village are really over, and business is getting harder and harder. In the current Yantai area, there are more and more small shops in the villages, and they sell everything.

From small needles and thread to large pots and bowls, farm tools, plus snacks and candies, they have everything, and they are getting more and more complete. The living space of mobile vendors like them is becoming more and more compressed.

Moreover, the management of large and small markets in the more populous Yantai city is becoming more and more strict, and even going to the village to visit the market requires paying a venue fee. Huang Youtian belongs to the category of "department stores", and the management fee is one level higher than that of vegetables, fruits and melons. Just like the market in front of us, it jumped from 20 cents to 50 cents. If the business is bad, all the hard work of the day will be done by these managers.

Huang Youtian is unwilling to rent the fixed stalls in the market, always feeling that the risk is too great.

Of course, in the inland areas of Shandong, small vendors like Huang Youtian who walk the streets and alleys still have a lot of room for survival, but Huang Youtian's family is in Yantai. If he can persist, he is unwilling to learn from his stepfather.

As a last resort, in order to increase income and to fully explore his advantages of traveling around, Huang Youtian also runs small vendors such as sesame gardens, peanut candy, and whale meat jerky. These things are not heavy, so his income is at least a little more. But this cannot change the overall situation of the river going downhill, or this good time will not last too long, and it will become worse day by day.

As an emerging seaport city, Yantai has more and more goods circulating here, not only imported but also exported. It can be said to be a large collection market. Although the city was built here for a short time, the commercial economy is really developed.

It is said that in the inland of Shandong, some places along the banks of the Daqing River and the Grand Canal, those traditional essences of Shandong, the current rural areas are not as good as Yantai. The local market is held every five or ten days. On that day, countless small vendors like Huang Youtian will carry shoulder poles and baskets into the village, and then set up along the sides of the road. Under normal circumstances, villagers do not need to go to the city or town specifically, and can buy daily necessities at their doorstep.

The original commercial order in the inland area is gradually beginning to disintegrate, and a new business model is gradually taking shape.

However, this new business model is about to be eliminated in Yantai.

Huang Youtian believes that sooner or later, there will be small department stores in those villages, and then this golden age of small vendors will be gone forever.

The things that Chen Ming is worried about are not really of much concern to ordinary people like Huang Youtian. Many people don't know that the war between China and Spain has started again, and they don't know that the Spanish navy took the initiative to intercept the Chinese fleet a few months ago.

This is the case for a huge country.

The focus of the upper and middle classes is completely different from that of the lower classes, and the perspectives of urban residents and rural farmers are also completely different.

It is really difficult and not easy to mobilize a country in the true sense in the current era.