Guo Ye saw that Guo Songtao was still a little restrained, and couldn't help laughing: "Okay, Brother Bochen, it's really fortunate to be able to meet my brother today, why don't you find a place to have a drink?" ”

Guo Songtao hesitated for a moment and hesitated: "This ......"

Guo Ye smiled: "Okay, if Brother Bochen refuses, he will look down on me Guo Ye, although Guo Ye is a martial artist, there is still a little ink in his chest......"

Guo Songtao hurriedly said: "Lord Guo smiled, how dare the lower officials have the slightest contempt, since Lord Guo is full of fists, Songtao obeys his fate." ”

Guo Ye ordered people to prepare horses, and the two of them came all the way to a restaurant.

Guo Ye asked for a seat, and the two of them sat down.

Guo Ye smiled and said: "Brother Bochen, I have always heard of your name, and today I want to ask you for advice, what is the situation in this dynasty?" ”

Guo Songtao hurriedly replied: "Lord Guo, you have praised it falsely, when it was in the south, the lower officials were indeed a little wild, but in front of adults, where is there room for me to put my beak?" ”

Guo Ye pretended to be displeased and said: "Brother Bochen, the younger brother has really admired your name for a long time, and he is dedicated to making friends, you are more than ten years older than me, I should treat him as a brother, then, why is Brother Bochen thousands of miles away from the younger brother?" You and my colleagues can just call me by my name. ”

Guo Songtao was embarrassed for a while, his face turned red, and asked, "This, I don't know Guo Da yet...... No, what about the words of the virtuous brother, the foolish brother is ashamed! ”

Guo Ye laughed and replied, "Brother Bochen, I don't blame you for this, don't say you don't know." It is the monk king and the king Gong, the two princes who have been friends with me for a long time. I don't know my words. Because--I don't have any words. “

Guo Songtao's face was full of shock, and he asked, "No words?" May I ask the virtuous brother Gui Geng? ”

Guo Ye replied: "Well, this year should be twenty-one, and after the New Year, it will be twenty-two, right?" ”

Young! is really shockingly young, this person who has been in the Qing Dynasty and has repeatedly turned the tide is only in his early twenties. Pity yourself, now you are about to be forty years old, and you are still stumbling to live, you really have no face to see people, but you can laugh at yourself for usually boasting of your great talent, and this one in front of you is a real genius!

Guo Songtao was shocked and inexplicable, and said speechlessly: "Brother Xian, you are so young and promising, do you want me and others to die of shame when they waste their time......

Guo Ye hurriedly said: "Okay, there is a specialization in the art industry." There is a precedence in hearing the Tao, even if the younger brother is a few years younger. It does not mean that Brother Bochen is inferior to the younger brother, Brother Bochen is talented, and he will be appointed as a feudal commander in the future, and he will also rely on horses. ”

The two of them turned the topic back, and Guo Songtao replied: "Virtuous brother, foolish brother The former entered the military affairs of the Shogunate Counselor of the Zeng Shuai Shogunate, and had some dealings with the foreigners, but he knows a little about foreign affairs, and now the British and the French are afraid of it, but they are just strong soldiers, their ironclad ships are very powerful, our cannons hit it, and they can't blow up the ironclad laid by others at all, as for our sailors, it is even more not, without the need for people to set off cannons, just by colliding, we can directly smash our wooden boats to smash, there is no comparison at all." , their ironclad ship is in millions of catties, and our ship is 100,000 catties, which is already a great ship! Then there is firearms, I followed the monk king Xiangzan military affairs, although because of the matter to go to Dagukou, but every war has been heard by the monk king, not to mention the foreigners' cannons, even if it is people's rockets, are not our cavalry can deal with it, this is still the monk king's Mongolian elite cavalry, if it is a green battalion soldier, it is even more vulnerable. We are in the Qing Dynasty, and we have fallen behind others! ”

Guo Ye nodded and asked, "Then in my brother's opinion, what is the problem that causes our Qing country's firearms to be inferior to the West?" ”

Guo Songtao said in a deep voice: "This matter, I have investigated, in the previous dynasty, our firearms were prosperous, still better than the West, the former dynasty's armor bureau, military warfare bureau, gunpowder bureau, etc., can produce and manufacture advanced firearms, at that time and Manchuria Eight Banners competed, the eight banners suffered from it, and later Shunzhi Ye entered the customs to do the dragon court, it was strictly forbidden to develop firearms, many skills of the previous dynasty were mostly lost, we don't want to say progress, compared with the previous dynasty has regressed. In the past two hundred years, we have stood still, the West is thriving, naturally left far away, in the foreign affairs, to be able to compete with the West, we must vigorously promote the West, learn the firearms technology of others, the introduction of Western firearms and ironclad ships. ”

Guo Ye shook his head and replied, "Brother Bochen, I have to say that you have an in-depth understanding of foreign affairs that others do not have, but what you have learned in front of you is far from enough......"

Guo Songtao was stunned for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Virtuous brother, foolish brother would like to hear your high opinions." ”

Guo Ye said with a smile: "First, the West surpasses the dynasty, but not only Bingfeng, in addition to Bingfeng, there are many aspects that surpass us, such as telegraph!" Thousands of miles apart, a telegram, thousands of miles in an instant, as long as your telegraph line is laid wherever it can be communicated; For example, in metallurgy, we don't produce as much steel a year as people in the West in a day; Without steel, where do we get our armor? Without gold, silver, and copper, where do we get the wealth? For example, in textiles, a factory in the West can spin tens of thousands of spindles a day, how much can we produce in Suzhou a year? These are gaps! ”

When Guo Songtao heard this, he fell into deep thought, but he had not yet come into contact with them in depth.

Guo Ye continued: "Second, our concept is not as good as that of the West, our dynasty only thinks that the classics and history are subset and the history is learned, but all the books taught in the academy are the four classics and five books, and there is only a group of masters and sons who come out of the academy. On the other hand, there are many universities in Western countries and the United States, not only to study the classics and literature, but also to vigorously study the study of science, but I don't know that it is precisely the study of science and things that is the basis of firearms research and production. ”

Guo Songtao sighed and said astringently: "Brother Xian, listening to your words, it is better to read for ten years, without you, I am afraid that I will never be able to know, it turns out that the gap between us and the West is so big......"

Guo Ye continued: "Brother Bochen, this is not the most important thing, the most important thing is that China's political system, economy, and system are completely different from those of the West. Isn't it because everyone else has sold all their Western things and made all our gold and silver? Without money, even if we have 100,000 miles of rivers and mountains and 30,000 people, we are still vulnerable! (To be continued.) )