Ten years of trees, 100 years of people.

For the Ming Empire ruled by Emperor Zhu, the most difficult thing was not industrialization, nor to build a powerful army with land and silver dollars, but to cultivate people and turn more than 40,000 subjects of the monarch into militaristic people.

The word "militarism" seems to sound a bit harsh to later generations. However, after the middle of the 19th century, most of the great powers in the world actually followed the path of militarism. Because the war of this era is, to a certain extent, a sea of people. On the one hand, the era of high-tech warfare has not yet arrived, and several countries that have initially achieved industrialization have similar weapons, and no one can crush their opponents with high-tech and advanced weapons. On the one hand, the emergence of a series of new weapons that do not require soldiers' skills, such as rear-loading guns, rifles, new cannons, explosive shells, and barbed wire, has also overwhelmed the elite doctrine of human sea offensive. In the wars of this era, whoever can concentrate the largest army in the shortest time will often win.

Therefore, militarism is the only way for the great powers to claim the king and hegemony. Transforming subjects into militaristic citizens is a long process that requires both education and propaganda. The ultimate goal of the former is to establish compulsory education for all. Compulsory education does not mean that school-age children have to go to school, stay in the classroom for a few years, and read books of sages that are not of much use - if militaristic education were like this, Frederick the Great of Prussia would not have been the first to introduce compulsory education in his own country! In fact, in this era, the primary goal of national education is to train excellent soldiers with a strong sense of state and nation! And this kind of education is not something that traditional Chinese Confucian education can provide.

Otherwise, even if it is only a few million such male nationals. The Song Dynasty and the former Ming Dynasty were not destroyed by the Mongols and the Manchus! But imitate the West. The new type of education that cultivates militaristic civilians is not something that can be established in China in the short term.

The Old Summer Palace is dedicated to the Xian Palace. Zhu Jishi and Luo Zenan explained several key points for cultivating petty militarists in the Ming Dynasty. For example, the establishment of national consciousness, the brainwashing of nationalism, the training of military sports, and so on. Beside her, is the summoned Maria. Clementina. Her belly bulged slightly again, and she was three months pregnant. Sit on the sidelines and participate in discussions from time to time.

"Your Majesty, the concubine has discovered that although your subjects speak the same language, they do not speak the same language." Maria. Clementina smiled slightly, "I think of the people of a country. First of all, they should be able to speak the same common language, which is also an important part of cultivating national and national consciousness, and is also the basis for becoming a good soldier. ”

"Oh, it's the need for a common Mandarin." Zhu Jishi's brows furrowed slightly. The current Ming army is transferred from the south to the north, and if the officers and soldiers are not fellow villagers, it is really a bit difficult to command.

The problem that Maria said does exist, before the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, the main language used in the Manchu officialdom was Beijing official dialect, which was the basis of Mandarin later, although the Nanjing official dialect left over from the former Ming Dynasty also had a certain market. But there are not many officials who can use it skillfully - even Zhu Jishi can understand, but he can't speak.

It was his Japanese concubine Akiko Tokugawa and the lady queen. There are also concubines and maids they brought from Japan, who are proficient in using the official dialect of Nanjing. Because Nanjing Mandarin has a certain market in Japan, it is the language used in Confucian education in Japan.

In addition, the officials of Emperor Zhu's Korean Kingdom were able to speak fluently "Hongwu Zhengyun", which was an official language formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang himself in the early Ming Dynasty.

If you start from the perspective of political correctness, you should naturally choose one of the Nanjing official dialects and Hongwu Zhengyun as the standard official dialect of the Ming Dynasty. However, there are not many Chinese who can use these two official languages correctly, and it is very difficult to promote them. Moreover, there is no Hanyu pinyin in China today, but a complex method called "reverse cut" is used to phonetize. It's easy to want to write the same text, but it's hard to have the same sound.

Maria. Clementina suddenly thought of something at this time: "By the way, Your Majesty, the concubine has a book called "Western Confucian Ears and Eyes", which was printed by the Holy See and used to teach Westerners to learn Chinese. Compiled by the monks of Kinnie Pavilion more than 200 years ago, the book uses the Latin alphabet phonetics, using only 25 letters and 5 symbols to indicate the tone of the Nanjing official dialect. ”

"Hanyu Pinyin ......" Zhu Jishi was surprised, and turned his head to look at Luo Zenan, "Why don't you use the method in this book "Western Confucian Ears and Eyes" to annotate the official dialect?" ”

Luo Zenan looked at Zhu Jishi in surprise, could it be that the emperor is going to suppress Confucianism again? But he knew that once the matter was raised, it would not be easily resolved, so he said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the study of phonology, I also have it in China, "Phonology Interpretation", "Four Tone Cut" and "Phonology Tongran Collection" are all excellent books of rhyme. ”

"It's too complicated......" Emperor Zhu showed a pained expression. Luo Zenan is talking about "reverse cut", which is a traditional method of phonetic Chinese characters, which began in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. In the beginning, it was relatively easy to learn and master. But later, as the pronunciation continued to evolve and change, it became more and more complex, and even many readers did not understand the use of "reverse cut". Zhu Jishi, a great intellectual who has mastered several languages, has also studied the phonological books spoken by Luo Zenan, and feels that "reverse cutting" is extremely difficult to master, at least not something that children in the first grade of primary school can figure out. In contrast, it is much easier to use the Latin alphabet.

Luo Zenan shook his head: "But people who read books don't know the Latin alphabet. ”

Zhu Jishi smiled: "It's just 25 letters, and you can learn it in one day." He looked at Luo Dajunshi's embarrassed expression, and said, "I don't want the private school gentlemen all over the world to learn it, but all the new schools must teach this method of alphabet phonetics, and within three years, Confucianism will be taught in the official dialect of Nanjing." In addition, all court officials had to learn the Nanjing official dialect within two years, either by using the Latin alphabet phonetic or by reverse cut. ”

"Obey." Luo Zenan breathed a sigh of relief, after all, there are not many new-style schools, and it should be easier for people to accept.

Zhu Jishi nodded: "The foundation of national education in all Western nation-states is the same text and the same sound, and in the past two thousand years in China, there are books with the same text, but the same sound and sound are not done well. I intend to change the phonetic method of the Latin alphabet invented by the monks of Kinnicko to Hanyu Pinyin and spread it to all places where Chinese characters are used. ”

"All the places where Chinese characters are used?" Luo Zenan was a little puzzled.

"Yes, at least let the Koreans and Japanese use the Nanking Mandarin in their new-style schools and Confucian schools."

Zhu Jishi paused for a moment, and then said: "I will issue an order to the Korean government in the name of the king of Joseon, ordering them to promote the official dialect of Nanjing and the Latin alphabet, and the Ministry of Propaganda and Education will cooperate. As for Japan, I will write to Akiko and ask her to implement it in the country. ”

At this time, kanji was not only used in China, but also in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, and many people could not only write but also read it. And the pronunciation is similar to a certain official dialect in China, so to speak, the influence of Chinese culture on the surrounding area is far greater than that of later generations. Zhu Jishi does not intend to give up this advantage. Even Japan will form a nation-state like the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Zhu hopes to popularize the Chinese language in Japan. As for North Korea, of course, it will be more Chinese.

After finishing talking about Hanyu Pinyin, Zhu Jishi turned the topic to propaganda: "Military Division, I read every issue of major newspapers such as Qingliu Daily, Shilin Daily, Ta Kung Pao, and Business Times. Public opinion during this period was one-sided anti-Russian, which is very good. However, there is a problem with these newspapers, almost all the articles are written in classical Chinese, and those who read can naturally read them, but what about those who do not read? Not only can't I read it, but I guess I can't even understand it, right?

This kind of propaganda is not aimed at the whole people, but only at a small number of readers. I hope that the mission department can improve as soon as possible. Shilin Bao may be changed to Daming Daily, writing news and commentary in the vernacular. In addition, the Ministry of Missions and Education should think of more ways to let ordinary people who do not read and write know through the newspapers about the affairs of the world and why they want to fight the Russian Empire. (To be continued......)