"Wrong?" Zhao Jingxian was stunned for a moment. Anqing Ordnance Institute relied on its own Liliang to build a steamer, and even the imperial court had issued an order to commend it, why did Xuan Shuai say that this path was wrong?

Zhao Jingxian's stunned expression, Guan Zhuofan saw it in his eyes, but this is not something that can be said clearly in a few words, so he didn't know how to explain it for a while.

There are many reasons why the Qing court's Westernization campaign failed in the end, and there are countless analyses and evaluations in this regard by later generations. However, for Guan Zhuofan, this is not the time to do a thesis, he can only grasp the most important points in the trivial and complicated clues.

In this era, whether it is the imperial court or the officials who handle it, for this kind of thing, they have always held the mentality of answering shyly and wanting to refuse and welcome, on the one hand, they feel that the things of foreigners are good and should be learned, but on the other hand, they must "strictly guard against them", and they cannot let foreigners take advantage of them, let alone let foreigners break the "style of the Qing Dynasty"! With such a mentality, even relatively enlightened people like King Gong, Zeng Guofan, and Li Hongzhang are not exempt from vulgarity.

To put it bluntly, if the Westernization Movement suddenly succeeds at this time, and the official army actually drives the army of foreign devils into the sea, then what will follow will definitely not be more openness and exchange, but most likely - great, finally beat all the foreigners away, and close the door quickly!

Another more profound mentality, which is shared from top to bottom, from Cixi to a common man, is the extraordinary hope that "what you can do, we can too", and preferably "we can do the same without you". This mentality can't be said to be wrong, to put it in the big picture. This can be considered national pride. National pride. But at such a time, if this article is taken as the goal of action, or even as a guide for action, most of the things that are done will be deviated.

Where there is a deviation, one is time, and the other is money.

That is, in the case of this steamer manufactured by Anqing Ordnance Institute, although it is borrowed from foreign ships. But the whole manufacturing process does not need foreigners, and even the design drawings are drawn by Xu Shou himself, which is really remarkable, and in future generations, it can be cheered for this milestone-like achievement.

But that's a celebration of historical achievements, and if you put it in the present, it's not the same thing.

According to Guan Zhuofan's thoughts, the gap between China and the great powers in this era, not to mention, can be counted as 30 years. To catch up with this gap. You can't go the ordinary way – you're walking, and so are others. And go faster than you. When you re-follow the path that others have taken, and then shout loudly and say, "I did it too," you look up and see that the gap has widened to fifty years.

This is the deviation in time - the Anqing Ordnance Institute has worked hard, not relying on foreign devils, although it has also built a 25-ton steamboat, but during this time, foreign devils have built ships with a displacement of 100 times this.

If it's a peaceful time, it's just that, maybe you can take it step by step and take it slowly. However, at this time, not to mention the western powers, just the evil neighbors in the north, they are already eyeing each other, and the island countries in the east are not far from rising, how can there be time for you to toss slowly?

There's no time, there's really no time, the wolf has come, are you still drawing the knife?

There is no other way but to take shortcuts and shortcuts.

Another deviation is money.

Everything has a cost, and if 10,000 taels of silver are spent here, they cannot be spent there at the same time. At this time, the imperial court, with weak finances, struggled to scrape together some money to do foreign affairs, and if it was invested in the wrong place, it would not only be as simple as money.

Whether it is the current Anqing Ordnance Institute, or all the enterprises built by the Westernists in the future, the things made have never escaped the four-word test - quality and high price.

From now until decades from now, without exception.

That is to say, if you make a foreign gun that can be bought for ten taels of silver, the cost alone will be twenty taels; A foreign ship that can be bought for 100,000 taels of silver, if you make it yourself, the cost alone will be 200,000 taels.

Not to mention that the guns and cannons that are made are inaccurate, and the ships that are made can't run fast. The guns produced in his own country have been refused to be installed by his own army more than once, such as Li Hongzhang, who once returned 5,000 imitation Lin Mington-style breech rifles at one time, and had to continue to look for high-quality and low-cost foreign guns.

Originally, it was thought that "there is something to resist the insult, and nothing can be demonstrated", but in the end, there was no Sasuke in the "royal insult", and only the effect of the demonstration was left - these guns, used internally, can certainly be used against kitchen knives and sticks, once faced with the Western army, it will inevitably be exposed.

Originally, there was not much money, but as a result, it was spent on these illusory and good-looking things, which made it even more sloppy, which cannot be covered by a big hat of "national industry".

Every time he thinks about this, Guan Zhuofan can't help but sigh that the national industry can do it, but it must not be done like this.

Although Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zuo Zongtang, who are talented people, have done their best, they are not only limited by their knowledge, but also constrained by the limitations of this corrupt system, and it is really difficult to do better.

This path is really wrong.

However, for Guan Zhuofan, such an idea is difficult to say, otherwise it will most likely be said - "It's not hard to see people carrying the burden, you can try it?" ”

That...... I'll give it a try.

Guan Zhuofan thought to himself, the change more than 100 years later is really worth pondering.

*

*

Zeng Jize, Xu Jianyin, and Hua Yufang were very concerned about the affairs of the Cantonese Dialect Museum, and many fresh ideas were put forward at the reception banquet. On the fourth day, not only had the site of the museum been selected, but also Liu Xunjiao and Libin had already taken out the preliminary regulations.

"Mr. Lee has really helped a lot!" Zeng Jize, who served as the president of the Canton Dialect Museum with the rank of Sanpin Inspector, happily presented the first draft of the charter to Guan Zhuofan, "Especially the teaching and learning part, it all depends on his contact." ”

"I don't dare to plunder the beauty of people," Libin, who was sitting on the sidelines, quipped, "but seriously, seeing the strength of the Jie Gang brothers, even I was tempted to want to find a job as a teacher in your hall." ”

The teaching and learning of the Cantonese dialect hall is intended to be used both Chinese and Western, but it is mainly Westerners. When Zeng Jize first arrived, he didn't know much about the situation in the foreign field, so the hiring of foreign teachers was Libin to help him.

"Great," Guan Zhuofan took the manuscript with a smile and asked as he flipped through it, "Where did you choose the venue?" ”

"In the old school palace in the east of the city, as long as it is slightly repaired, it can be used."

"Okay, good, save time and effort, and save money for Zhao Zhusheng." Guan Zhuofan nodded again and again, "Jie Gang, I don't know how many subjects you plan to open in total?" ”

"For the foreign language section, I plan to open two subjects of English and French first. In the practical part, I plan to open four subjects: Western arithmetic, geography, chemistry and international public law. ”

Guan Zhuofan thought about it in his heart, in this era, English is the common business language, and French is the agreed diplomatic language. As for science, Hua Yufang is a mathematician, Xu Jianyin's father Xu Shou is a chemist, and these two subjects are naturally opened, and geography and international public law are probably wanted to be taught by foreigners.

"At the beginning of the preparation, it is also good to have these six subjects." Guan Zhuofan groaned and said, "Jie Gang, since it comes to practice, I'll add two more subjects for you, do you think it's okay?" ”

"Well, the more the merrier." Zeng Jize's official language is very good, and he can hardly hear the Xiangxiang accent, "Xuan Shuai is the person who knows most about foreign affairs, and I can't wait to ask you for advice." ”

"I can't talk about it, it's just that I'm in Shanghai, I'm familiar with it, and I know a little bit about it." Guan Zhuofan was polite for a moment before turning to the topic, "I want to add a ship repair department and a gun repair department for you." ”

These two sections, somewhat strangely, in the name of repair, naturally sound not as loud as "shipbuilding" and "gunbuilding". For Zeng Jize, although Guan Zhuofan's words are emotional intelligence, they can actually be regarded as instructions, and it stands to reason that he should agree, but after hesitating, he still raised the doubts in his heart.

"Xuan Shuai, Anqing can already make guns, bullets and shells, and now ships have also been made......"

The implication is that Anqing is already like this, let alone Shanghai? Even if you want to open these two subjects, it is not possible to open "manufacturing".

"Anqing Ordnance Institute, is Ling Zun's hard work, not only willing to spend money, but also vigorously recruit talents, a few years later, the foundation is already very strong, we are not good to compare for a while." Guan Zhuofan couldn't say his true thoughts yet, so he had to use this statement to perfunctory first, "I think, don't be in a hurry, step by step, step by step." These two repair subjects can be hired by foreign teachers, focusing on the repair of foreign ships and foreign guns and guns. However, even though it is repair, it is always necessary to understand the structure and principle of the guns of these ships of foreigners, so it is called repair, but it is actually a study and study. ”

Zeng Jize thought that he understood, thought about it, and felt that it was good to do it this way - understand the structure and principle, know how to repair, and the next step will naturally be manufacturing. But since it's a repair, there's a new question.

"Xuan Shuai, these two subjects are really practical, just rely on learning in the Cantonese dialect hall, I'm afraid it's not enough, you have to have the opportunity to do it."

"That's, but this section, I've already planned it for you." Guan Zhuofan smiled and said, "There is an American merchant in the concession named Cole, who has a Qiji iron factory and a shipyard under his name, and the feudal secretary Yamen is talking to him about the sale. He asked for 90,000 taels of silver, and I plan to pay him back 30,000 yuan, so I can pay it all down. When the time comes, the students in your hall are still afraid that there will be no chance to practice hands-on? ”

"That's great!" Zeng Jize was overjoyed, "I don't know which one Xuan Shuai wants to assign to manage the iron factory?" I'll talk to him. ”

"This man, buddy must have heard of it." Guan Zhuofan smiled slightly, "Rong Hong." ”

*(To be continued......)