The Chamber of Commerce was held, and Chen Ming also saw the machinery that represented the essence of Western civilization. The pen %interesting%www.biquge.info but Chen Ming's interest suddenly dropped. Is Liu Wu's question too heavy?

Truly. Chen Ming's heart sank.

The future consequence of his decision may (certainly) be the bankruptcy of China's thousands of small-scale peasant economies, that is, the bankruptcy of millions of peasants. They are forced to leave their ancestral homeland and enter unfamiliar cities to work hard to earn a living, or at some point in the future, they are forcibly sent on the path of emigration on the grounds of 'extreme poverty'.

As long as he thinks of the despair and helplessness of millions or tens of millions of peasants, 'hungry and without clothing', Chen Ming's psychological face is heavy.

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

The bigwigs of the textile industry around the country were shocked by the Jenny machine and the water conservancy loom, and then they were overjoyed. As for the impact of the doomed price reduction of cotton yarn and cloth on the farmers who plough and weave women in the future, 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 elites surnamed Chen, Huang and Gao, had just announced its establishment, and the factory in Wuhan had not yet been laid, and their company's products were ordered by a large number of textile industry tycoons waving banknotes - gold yuan coupons.

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

There must have been many people present who had the idea of finding another foreigner to buy machinery, or finding someone to imitate it after getting the machine. Otherwise, the number of more than 2,000 units will more than double!

Chen Ming did not appear again after showing up once, but followed the European technicians and scholars who arrived in Wuhan to talk about European affairs.

Chen Ming's understanding of Europe is now becoming clearer, the Fifth Russo-Turkish War is still raging, and in the past year, the Russian 1st Army, in coordination with the Danube fleet, occupied Gyurgyu in February and blockaded the fortresses of Turka and Isaaccha in March. General Dolgorukov's 2nd Army, in coordination with the fleet of the Sea Sector of Azov, captured Perekop on June 25 and occupied the Crimea.

After the main forces of the Austrian army advanced to the Russian border, the Russian First Army moved to active defense. The army group, which fought in 3 clusters on a frontal distance of 1,000 kilometers, repeatedly repelled the attacks of the superior forces of the Turkish army (120,000 men) on the left bank of the Danube from June to October. The victory of the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean contributed to the outbreak of the anti-Turkish uprising of the Arabs in Egypt in North Africa and Syria in the Middle East.

It can be said that in the fifth Russian-Turkish war, the situation is tilting towards the woolly bear. But the advantage was not too obvious, and the Ottoman army still had a certain combat effectiveness. Chen Ming heard two familiar names from their mouths - Rumyantsev and Suvorov. Bright star!

With the exception of the Russo-Turkish war, which was of concern throughout Europe, peace remained in other places. But to Chen Ming's surprise, the last volume of the "Encyclopedia Britannica", which was well known to later generations, has been released this year, which means that the first edition of "Encyclopedia Britannica" has been freshly released. Although none of these scholars had bought them, they were already adrift at sea by the time the third volume of this set of magnum opus was released this year. But the book is very popular in Europe, and the question of when it will be released is known.

In December 1768, the first volume of the encyclopedia finally appeared, selling for sixpence. Then waited until this year for Smaily to finish the remaining two volumes.

A scholar from England, who is said to have shared Newton's name, once served as an official professor at Oxford University, introduced Chen Ming in a very proud tone: This set of tome reference books has a total of 2,391 pages, including 160 copper plate engravings. The three volumes are of similar length, arranged alphabetically, and divided into A-B, C-L, and M-Z. A complete set can cost up to £12.

Chen Ming was very unhappy and asked the translator to introduce him to what the "Yongle Canon" was, and the latter's more than 7,000 copies were firmly in his hands when Chen Ming invaded Nanjing. Chen Ming, who 'didn't learn and didn't know how to learn', didn't know that there were more than 7,000 copies of the Yongle Dictionary in Nanjing at that time. You must know that the entire "Yongle Canon" has only been written into 22,877 volumes, 60 volumes of catalogs, and 11,095 volumes.

The books in the city of Nanjing are manuscripts from the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Ming Shizong liked the "Yongle Canon" very much, and often carried it with him, flipping through it to find the prescription. In August of the 41st year of Jiajing, he ordered a copy of it. Longqing was completed at the beginning and was originally returned to Nanjing. The original is stored in Wenyuan Pavilion, and the copy is not stored in the Emperor's Palace. There were 8,000 volumes in this set of books during the Qianlong period, and there were so many in the catalog, but Chen Ming sent people to count and found that there were only a little more than 7,000 left, and compared with the catalog, it was found that there were 2,422 volumes missing, thousands of volumes. He was so angry that he scolded!

Although he used the "Yongle Canon" to earn face for himself, Chen Ming still felt that it was necessary to send a letter to Robert, he not only wanted to buy the entire set of "Encyclopedia Britannica", but also needed to buy its Chinese copyright, organize human translation, and then strive to publish it in China as soon as possible.

As for Chen Ming's green tea, bean sprouts and other items that the Europeans said, it has been proved that they are indeed effective between voyages.

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

Stephen Newton was a serious scholar, a historian and sinologist who was a professor at Oxford and Edinburgh at the age of forty-seven. Among the European scholars who came to China this time, he had the highest number of qualifications. Chen Ming wondered why he was willing to come to China at this time, and with his knowledge, he could easily live a middle-class life in Europe.

But Newton kept his mouth shut.

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

Although Newton had never been to China, as a qualified sinologist, he had a certain level of research and understanding of China's political system. Of course, Sinologists don't necessarily speak Chinese, and Chen Ming, who pops out of his mouth, can't understand the Chinese, which is said to have been learned based on Matteo Ricci's "The Miracle of Western Characters" and Jinnige's "Western Confucian Ears and Eyes". It's in the process of being rebuilt!

He could recognize some of the Chinese characters.

Newton had a full understanding of Chen Ming's position in Chen Han, and Newton wanted to stay by Chen Ming's side, even if he needed to go to the foreign language college to teach first, but he wanted to stay close to Chen Ming's side.

Chen Ming could not feel Newton's malice, but he could detect that Newton was full of interest in himself, and in his words, he wanted to write a "Living Note" for Chen Ming, record the next real him, and portray his true image in the text.

Newton was the only one of the technicians and scholars who came to China to drink green tea. It's not that there is no green tea in the UK, but the quantity is much smaller than that of black tea, and there are very 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. This made Chen Ming have a good impression of him.

"There is a bias in the perception of China by a considerable part of the British society, and the old books only record China's past, I hope to stay by the side of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, as a witness to history, and use my notes to write down a real monarch who is destined to have a profound impact on China. At the same time, it also records the real and not false China, so that my compatriots can truly understand China. ”

"The account of China in His Excellency Anson's Travels Around the World seems to be lacking, but I trust my own eyes more than the mouths of the merchants full of lies." George Anson, the second captain of the British Royal Navy to circumnavigate the world after Francis Drake. His warship, the Centurion, was the first British ship to enter Chinese waters.

According to rumors, Anson and his warships [originally six, but only one remained when they entered the Pacific] arrived in the waters near the Philippines in 1743. Here, he commanded the Centurion to capture a Spanish galleon carrying treasures, which were then transported to auction in Guangdong, China, for £400,000. But Chen Ming felt that this news was absurd.

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

Of course, one of Chen Ming's more important impressions of Anson is his book.

As the West moves eastward, China's long-standing aura fades, especially in the United Kingdom, a rising country. In 1719, the English writer Defoe launched a sequel to his Robinson Crusoe. Defoe did not come to China, but his Robinson did find the Chinese "ignorant and dirty" and "poorly organized," that their navigation, trade, and agriculture were "very unsound," and that knowledge and science and technology were "quite backward." Soon after, British Admiral George Anson, in his Travels Around the World, published in 1748, presented Europe with an image of China as "deceitful, impoverished, depraved, ignorant, and stubborn." Soon, the French thinker Montesquieu criticized China, a "**** empire" that "has neither laws nor rules" in his magnum opus "On the Spirit of Law". China's principle, he argued, was "terror" and that "only the use of sticks can make the people do something; The Chinese "naturally tend to slave obedience," they are "the most deceitful people on earth," and he even said that "in China, deception is allowed." ”

How do you say it anyway?

The British are now a lion circling around 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 male lion's fear of the elephant is fading little by little. When the elephant is sick and can't walk, or the lion has completely forgotten its fear, that's when the lion pounces.

Twenty years later, the British would send envoys to visit China.

Two or three years later, Staunton published "The British Envoy's Meeting with Qianlong". Based on the experience of the Magalny Mission in China, he presented Europe with the image of a "giant with feet of clay" who had "not made progress for hundreds or thousands of years." In his book, China's "merchants cheat, peasants steal, and officials extort money" in China, just as European businessmen are honest and fair. Then there is Hegel, Chen Ming can no longer remember what Hegel said, compared to Germany and Britain, the trauma to China is greater, and the visit of the Magalny mission also has more records, and the average person who cares about a Hegel.

Then China's image in the West was basically stereotyped. "A mummy coated with embalming materials" has become the object of slander and ridicule in the Western world. The two subsequent opium wars seem to have found a footnote to this.

It's a mighty torrent.

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

Whether the substance is true or not, they – the developed and powerful Western Europe – have worked together to overturn China, a mountain that has long weighed on their hearts. The latter is a symbol of wealth in Europe, and the popularity of China fever has blessed China with the image of "civilized, rich and powerful" layer by layer, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, after the Mughal Empire was gradually held in the palm of the hands of the British, China was the last fortress they needed to conquer.

This victory put the Caucasians at the top of the whole world spiritually, and they ravaged the blacks and looked down on the yellows.

"So ...... now, has China's image changed in British society?" Chen Ming asked curiously. His army had never been at war with the Europeans, and the Portuguese did not count.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Newton said very solemnly: "You and the Han Dynasty you represent have shown an open and free spirit that far surpasses that of the Qing Dynasty of the Tatars. Judging by your actions in Europe, I feel a surge of anger.

Different from the stubbornness and arrogance of the Qing Dynasty, what you exude is the bearing that accommodates everything and envelops the sea. This is likely to be an unprecedented era, and the exchange and integration of East and West will be reopened in your hands.

As a historian, the temptation to see all of this up close is irresistible. ”

Chen Ming was not interested in these points, and Mao, a historical witness, would prefer to hear Newton's impressions of today's China.

"Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Hankou are all prosperous trade ports. A strong order rules everything there. ”

Fraud, poverty, depravity, ignorance and stubbornness, Anson's writings may still have traces, but the same traces are indelible in London. Fallen and ignorant souls float over the whole city of London.

Defoe said that China lacks organization, but this description is too widespread. In Newton's eyes, China is the opposite, the trading cities along the coast of China are cleaner and safer than London, and there are not many beggars here, but enforcers in red vests. Everyone has their own place and their own job.

Without the presence of these enforcement teams, Canton, Shanghai, and now Hankow might have been as filthy as London, as full of beggars, and full of wandering fraudsters and criminals, even more depraved than London. But when a strong order spread in China, everything changed.

In Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Hankow, Newton, who had not seen much of it, was deeply aware of the powerful and incomparable order. It rules everything in the city, rules every corner!

And now, the founder of this order is sitting in front of him.

In a certain sense, China is indeed a 'zuan country', and the common people do have a stick on their heads. But it is by no means the use of 'sticks' that can make the people do something; the Chinese are not naturally inclined to servile obedience.

"Order is not a stick of violence." Newton was not a jurist, but he also had the most basic judgments. Any sinologist is well aware that the Chinese monarchy 'zuan' is very different from the West as a whole.

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

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

European countries with scattered monarchies could not imagine the majesty of emperors and government under the centralized monarchy system of the East. Otherwise, how can it be called an official-based society?

Chen Ming has never read "On the Spirit of the Law", and he has no sense of Montesquieu, although he has attacked China enough, but his ass is different, and Chen Ming will not completely veto him because of this. But if Montesquieu could live to thirty years later, Chen Ming was willing to invite him to China and let him see China at that time! (To be continued.) )