There are thousands of people in China who care about national affairs, such as Huang Youtian's son, as a student at Hallym Academy, he must be one of the people who know the world best, and he is also one of the people who are most concerned about China's national affairs.

In today's China, it is not unreasonable for some people to compare the higher education group represented by college students to the scholars of the Han and Wei dynasties, and to the Tai students of the Two Song Dynasty.

is also Huang Youtian's half-brother - Zhang Jinlai. As a veteran of the army who is loyal to the current emperor, and as a current government official, Zhang Jinlai's concern for the war and the affairs of the court cannot be questioned.

But there are also thousands of people in China who are only buried in their own homes, such as Huang Youtian himself.

He didn't care about the war between China and Spain, nor did he care about China's development in India, he only cared about the benefits of his daily labor, and how he would continue to do business in the days to come.

Compared with the First American War between China and the West, the huge harvest and the feudal states that have now been canonized are not as worthy of reminiscence in Huang Youtian's eyes as the 'golden age' of traders like him who traveled all over the world. At that time, the goods they brought from the port area were the rarest and most sought-after goods in the whole 'market', and everyone had shovels, sickles, and scissors to sharpen, whether they were urban people or rural farmers.

The latter is also a craft.

How to sharpen the blade faster, and at the same time do not consume iron, this is a craft.

The people who sharpen knives and scissors in the city are also considered craftsmen.

When Huang Youtian accumulated the initial capital and began to evolve from mending pots to selling pots, plus he also knew some handicrafts, his monthly income could be said to be far higher than that of farmers who farm at home, and even workers who work in factories.

His dilapidated home was rebuilt, and he was able to regain his daughter-in-law and start a family, all because of the golden age of the petty traders. Although people work hard, they can't make money. So at that time, Huang Youtian was also very satisfied and happy even though he was tired.

For an ordinary low-level people, such a day is more worthy of their memories, in order to hope that such a beautiful day can come again one day.

It's a pity that with the development of Yantai, with the construction of roads and the increase of cars and horses, the 'distance' between the countryside and the Yantai port area is getting smaller and smaller, and the living space of these itinerant small traders is becoming more and more compressed, and the beautiful era is gone forever.

The whistling carriages brought a wide variety of goods to every village, just as the sea brought countless kinds of groceries to Yantai at surprisingly low prices. This direct, fast and efficient new trade method has greatly changed the local business and social environment, and this new trade mode has been based on convenient and fast transportation and a large-scale source of goods - Yantai is a commercial distribution center with all kinds of goods and commodities.

In today's Yantai, many occupations or industries that have existed in the local area for many years are gradually disappearing, and the merchant is likely to be one of them in the near future.

Huang Youtian still sometimes misses the past era, and misses the time when a group of them got together to chat and talk about the mountains, and others admired and envied his son's excellent academic performance. After sighing softly, Huang Youtian suddenly felt a little sad, because he knew that his profession would soon be eliminated.

His biggest hope now is that he will be two years late, so that he can buy his son a house in the city where he works, or make a down payment, after he has provided for him from college.

He believed that his son would graduate from Hanlin Academy University with excellent grades, and if his son returned to Yantai, Huang Youtian's savings would be able to buy his son a good house, because Huang Youtian knew that Yantai Mansion had preferential treatment for college students, especially graduates of prestigious schools like his son.

But if his son doesn't return to Yantai, then he doesn't plan to participate in the scientific expedition, and if he finds a job in Nanjing and Shanghai, Huang Youtian's savings may not even be enough for a down payment. That's what worries him the most right now. So he didn't care about the Sino-Spanish war at all.

The state no longer issues war bonds, and donations are only raised for the disabled officers and soldiers and the bereaved families of the fallen officers and soldiers. It's just that the bereaved families of the martyrs and the disabled soldiers have more pensions than he has worked hard all his life, so he doesn't have the money to care. As for the war, now he has no way to care about it, even if he wants to.

Speaking of which, the housing prices in Yantai are not low, and they can catch up with the provincial capital. With the increasing development of maritime trade, some general stores or shopping malls with large areas have gradually sprung up in Yantai City. Some of these stores are state-run department stores, supply and marketing cooperatives, and some are privately run industries, and no matter who runs them, their presence occupies a piece of land in the urban area of Yantai. Coupled with the flowering of real estate and enclosure, the whole Yantai has no essential surprise with Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen and other seaport cities, the difference is only the prosperity of the highland and the progress of social development.

With a variety of trading markets, large and medium-sized general stores and shopping malls, countless restaurants and hotels, countless schools and hospitals, the business model of the city has undergone a complete and revolutionary change.

From this emerging coastal city, you can no longer see the shadow of the agrarian society and the traditional Chinese society, where there is trade and industry and commerce, and there is the development of capital.

If he can't turn into a regular vendor as soon as possible, he will find that there will be no place for him in the huge Yantai.

And if he hadn't settled his home in Yantai early, in order to make a living, he, a part-time small trader, would have had to take his beloved little donkey, carrying some tools and goods, and staggered out of the city, which was no longer friendly to him.

It can be said that the changes in society have made people like Huang Laohan feel scared and frightened, such as Huang Youtian, a merchant who does not know how to change the way of doing business, they are a group of people who have been eliminated in the tide of social progress. They are neither the managers of the market, nor the merchants who set up fixed stores, but something called a 'market'.

In short, the current Huang Laohan is just a poor man who is engaged in the sunset industry.

It's a day to be able to do it! Huang Youtian sighed again, and then groped out a cowhide water bladder from his bag, which was a cowhide water bladder he picked up on the road back then.

More than 20 years have passed, although this water bladder has broken a lot, it is still strong, and it is also a treasure that Huang Youtian carries with him. After pouring a few sips of warm water, Huang Youtian felt alive again.

The sorrow in my heart dissipated with the warmth in my throat.

Forget it, don't think about it! Huang Youtian took another sip of water, then looked at the sky, well, it's already two o'clock!

Huang Youtian doesn't have a watch, but he can look at the sun.

The market of this meeting has passed the most crowded moment, generally speaking, there is no business to come to the door, and it is time for Huang Youtian and his merchants to eat and rest.

Huang Youtian closed the stall, put his things in two large baskets, and then put them on the donkey's back. Untying the reins of the wooden peg, he led the donkey out of the stall and headed for a nearby tavern, where he had to go to lunch.

Although the bazaar has passed its most lively time, it is still bustling with people. Some of the candy sellers, sugar gourds and the like are still gone, they crouch on the side of the road, staring at each potential customer with a child, and then use their voices to attract the attention of these children, making them cry and the adults to come and buy something.

There is also a troupe at the bazaar. One is the Hui Opera team from Anhui, which has entered its own maturity period and its most glorious period. Before Chen Ming raised troops, Hui Opera relied on the promotion and promotion of Hui merchants, which was an all-round prosperity, and Yangzhou alone had Jiangchun's Deyin class, Chuntai class, Xu Shangzhi's old Xu class, Huang De, Wang Qiyuan, and Cheng Qiande's family class. And even in the current era, Hui Opera has a great influence in China.

Of course, people like Huang Youtian can't tell the difference between Hui opera and non-Hui opera.

Walking through this area surrounded by many people, Huang Youtian led the donkey to the side of a small restaurant, and the busy boss nodded his head after seeing him. It's all acquaintances.

The owner of this house is from Henan, and the stewed noodles are delicious and the amount is large.

As long as Huang Youtian comes to this market, he will come to this small shop more often when he eats at noon.

Smiling, after tying the donkey to a tree, Huang Youtian found a stool next to him and sat down. Unexpectedly, at this time, an unfamiliar voice sounded behind him.

"Huang Youtian?"

Who called my name? Huang Youtian looked back and froze. This person is a little familiar, hey, isn't this the third Zhang Laifu:

"You, you're the third?"

……

On the garden-like campus of Hallym Academy, Huang Dan, who was holding a copy of "Science Daily", was very excited to his classmate friend Tokugawa Qimasa.

The latter is the third son of the Mito Tokugawa family in the Tokugawa Imperial Sanchu, and is as old as Huang Dan. Tokugawa Saimasa did not study at Kokuzijian University, but came to Hanlin University to study, and he also befriended a Chinese student from a civilian background, which has to be said to be a kind of miracle of fate.

As far as Huang Youtian's brain is concerned, he can't imagine that his son can make such a big friend at school.

"Qi Zheng, come and see. You've always been thinking about the newspaper on the steamer. ”

"The Royal Playground has decided to build a small steamer to release it into the water in the spring and summer of next year. The Science Newspaper said that the development of the steamship is nearing completion, and the technology is about to mature......

Two teenagers of the same age, both with short hair and short clothes, sat on a stone bench on the lawn, opened his hand to get the newspaper, and the other took the newspaper to send it, with a smug face.

Science Newspaper is a newspaper with a small circulation, but its backers are the Zhongshan Academy of Natural Sciences, which many scholars regard as a holy place.

"The power of real magic. Once the ship is successfully developed, it will have a disruptive impact on the whole world. "Tokugawa Kimasa was well aware of the importance of ships to Japan, and Japan is an island country, and the significance of ships to Japan cannot be overstated.

"Tokugawa-kun, if Japan wants to catch up with the pace of the imperial court, this ship really can't be missed. Otherwise, you will be left behind. ”

Although Huang Dan is still young, he is aware of the changes in Japan over the years. The latter should have realized the importance of the steam engine a long time ago, but after all these years, except for the textile industry, which has a certain degree of mechanization due to the high degree of convergence with Chinese enterprises, the other industries are still steam process.

According to economic data, since the year of the birth of the practical steam engine, the number of steam engines in China has grown by more than 50% for ten consecutive years, and the huge China is like a bottomless pit, engulfing batch after batch of machinery. The number of steam engines in China has increased geometrically. The specific figure is that in the ten years of Chengtian, there are more than 300 new machine flour mills in China. There are more than 5,000 textile mills, silk reeling factories, cigarette factories, tea factories, sugar factories, paper mills, etc., more than 5,000 light industry enterprises, as well as more than 100 heavy industry enterprises such as shipyards, machinery manufacturing plants, cement factories, steel plants, and metallurgical plants. While new businesses are opening, there are also large businesses of various formats that are closing their doors or even going out of business.

And this figure is really a world of difference compared to the number of steam engines in Japan, and the growth of steam engines in Japan is too small. Matsudaira Dingxin's implementation of the "leniency reform" is really harmful to Japan.

Tokugawa Sai was a Japanese official student, and he was also a descendant of the Tokugawa shogunate, and his father was the current lord of the Mito Domain. Tokugawa Saimasa will contribute to the strength of Japan and develop all his strength.

He will not come to China like some Japanese students, and after he has achieved some academic achievements, he will stay in China forever and will not want to return to Japan. He wouldn't be like that, but he really couldn't see Japan's tomorrow either.

I don't know if it's because Japan didn't suffer from the war, and it didn't experience any major crises, but when China attacked Japan, it was only a little bit of water, and it was not Edo, the base camp of the Tokugawa shogunate, that suffered. Therefore, there are still many people in Japan who cling to Confucianism.

China is the birthplace of Confucianism, and China itself has put aside Confucianism, but Japan has become stubborn.

At present, many Japanese young people are studying in China, some of them are from the Tokugawa shogunate, some are from local daimyos, including the Satsuma Domain, which was beaten by the Chinese, and they have also sent people to study and study in China.

Even if you can't go to a real college or university, a privately founded college in China is a good choice.

There are also Japanese businessmen and wealthy families who have sent their next generation to study in China.

The Chinese did not deliberately create the slightest obstacle at this point. China has always been very friendly to its subjects, and no matter whether it is the shogunate or the daimyos, whether it is an official or a private person, no one will be 'looked at differently,' and the machines and inventions that some schools have spent a lot of energy and money on to develop for a long time will not be open to the Japanese, and they will be guarded against them as if they were thieves.

Compared with the experience of Chinese students studying in Japan at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the life of these Japanese is not too wonderful. But Japanese politics really gave all Japanese scholars and students who came to China a headache, and the relationship between the local feudal government and the shogunate, and the local feudal soldiers and the shogunate, was too dizzying.

Moreover, in a peaceful environment, the Japanese simply could not find a solution to this difficult problem.

However, because of the fact that envoys were sent to the Tang Dynasty in history, the Japanese were very interested in coming to China to study and study. One by one, like fish crossing the river, they are constantly coming to China. Among them, Beijing, Tianjin and Jiangnan are the two centers.

"I really want to see with my own eyes what a ship is like."

Tokugawa was looking at the diagram of the ship printed in the newspaper, his eyes shining. If Japan could have a fleet of such ships, not small steamers like amusement parks, but large ships that could carry thousands of people across the oceans, would they too be able to cross the ocean and seize a precious colony in the distant and rich Americas?

The distances that used to be difficult to cross became less distant and terrible after the invention of the steamship. When the Japanese could also set foot thousands of miles away, why couldn't the Yamato people seek their own colonies?

Even if it's India, even if it's Africa......