Chapter XXII Scientists

Looking at the soldiers training outside, Xu Shou's brows furrowed tightly, and his eyes showed a deep sense of worry.

"Father!"

Seeing his second son Xu Jianyin coming over, the old man's face couldn't help but show a look of satisfaction, his son's achievements in invention and creation are no less than his own, and he is especially good at shipbuilding and machinery, he is a rare talent, if there is no accident, the son inheriting his father's business may be the best portrayal of the life of the two! But all this changed on that night six days ago!

That day, Xu Shou finished a day's work, went home from the Jiangnan Machinery Bureau, and after having dinner with his family and went to sleep, he woke up the next day when he had come to the sea, although his family was there, but the unpredictable future made him very worried, he was already in his prime, and he had not long to live in the world, but his children and grandchildren were in their prime!

It wasn't until I came to this place that it was obviously a military camp and met my mentors and friends, Hua Yufang and Li Shanlan, that the friendship for many years made the originally nervous mood a little calmer!

Moreover, there are many Western technologies written in strange characters here, and he can't help but devote himself to them because of his strong interest. But the black-haired, yellow-skinned, Chinese-speaking jīng soldiers outside made the worry in his heart even stronger.

"Father, are you still worried about those soldiers outside?" asked Xu Jianyin.

"Yes, Zhonghu! These soldiers are trained like this every day, and they have far surpassed the most sharp soldiers of the Qing Dynasty, the Xiang Army and the Huai Army, and you don't know how much? Moreover, you can see that they have cut off the braids at the back of their heads, which is a capital crime in the Qing Dynasty! It can be seen that these people must have a great conspiracy to rebel against the rule of the imperial court!" Xu Shou said with a worried face.

"Xue Chuen is reasonable! You and I are both people who study Western machines, and Zhong Hu has a deep insight into firearms, and he can see that the muskets in the hands of these soldiers are far beyond those in the West, and even more so in the Qing Dynasty! I don't know who developed such excellent weapons, although these people don't have braids, but they are all Chinese, but I have lived for so many years, how come I have never heard of such a talent in the Qing Dynasty!" Hua Yufang slowly walked behind the two of them, looked out the window and said worriedly.

"It's weird everywhere here, it's really incomprehensible!" Li Shanlan also walked over and said.

"Looking at the scale of this place, there should be as many as forty or fifty thousand people, and this "Treatise on China" is even more openly written into it to overthrow the imperial court, such an anti-Qing place should be very famous, why haven't I heard of it before!"

"That is the Qing Dynasty of the Aixin Jueluo family is already terminally ill, and there is no cure!" Just as Xu Shou's words fell, a young voice came from outside the door.

"Who?"

"Hehe, Huo Shan has seen Mr. Xue Cun, Mr. Jing Fang, Mr. Ruo Ting and Mr. Zhong Hu!" Huo Shan said with a smile after pushing the door and walking in.

"Are you the 'young master' they call it?" Xu Shou asked with some hesitation as he looked at the boy who was only about eleven or twelve years old.

"Yes, I'm sure you've already read my writings!"

"You are so old, you have such talent, why don't you think about serving the court and strengthening the country, but instead do this anti-thief thing!" Li Shanlan on the side looked at him with an angry face and said.

"Are you talking about the Tartar court? What a joke, why do I carry a pig's tail on my back and kneel for the foreigners. What's more, it is still a court that has lost its power and humiliated the country, and lost its teachers and land!" Huo Shan said fiercely and mockingly.

"How can you say such a rebellious thing!" pointed at Huo Shan's Hua Yu Fang angrily shuddered.

"Hehehe, it's still light to say these words, or it won't be long before you will see how I overthrew the rotten court and sat on the throne of the Qianqing Palace!"

"You won't succeed, the Qing Dynasty still has more than a million troops, as well as the heroic Hunan army and the Huai army!" These scholars who have lived in the Qing Dynasty all their lives have adapted to the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and they will not bow their heads easily.

"Mr. Zhonghu, what you said is right, but how many of these armies are still capable of fighting? Is it because of those officers who are corrupt and eat empty salaries, or by those soldiers who smoke big cigarettes and go to kilns, and only know how to bully the common people. Mr. Zhonghu, do you expect these troops to defeat the Jīng Rui army that you are training every day and equipped with weapons that are not inferior to the Westerners, or even better?" Huo Shan asked with some mockery.

"Young man, the imperial court is actively learning the science and technology of Westerners, making guns and cannons, and revitalizing the country, I'm afraid it can't be defeated by these armies in front of you alone!"

"Mr. Jingfang, you are also familiar with Western studies, and you are even working under the ministers of the Westernization faction, I believe what those factories they run are like, I think all the gentlemen also know! Li Hongzhang and others are probably more engaged in foreign affairs for the sake of power and profit!"

Thinking of the ills of the imperial court now, the four people, who were once handsome, certainly understood! The wind of corruption had already blown into various government-run factories, and all kinds of illegal behaviors such as cutting corners and using shoddy products were rampant in the factories, making those who had struggled for the rise of the country all their lives a little disheartened.

Looking at their silent appearance, it was obvious that Huo Shan was right!

I believe that all the gentlemen have read the book "On China"! The Western powers will not die in their desire to kill us, but the current imperial court only knows about internal fighting, but does not know how to build the country. The reason why I invited the four gentlemen in every possible way is to let them jump out of that fire pit and use their rich scientific knowledge to teach and educate people! Originally, he wanted to put these people into the newly established R&D department, but looking at their fierce opposition just now, it was obvious that they couldn't twist the bend in their minds for a while, so Huo Shan retreated and asked them all to teach, so that they would be better receptive, and when they changed their attitudes, everything would fall into place!

"We won't betray the imperial court, you don't have to bother talking!" Li Shanlan said with an unkind face.

"Hehe, you gentlemen don't have to rush to answer me, you can think carefully about it, and then decide whether what you just said makes sense!"

"Huo Shi?"

"Young Master?" replied, a man in jīng pretend, who had been standing next to him.

"Normally, don't restrict the movement of the four gentlemen in the barracks!" Huo Shan commanded with a smile.

"Yes, young master!"

"Alright, that's all for the boys! If there is any change in your minds, you can always let the soldiers here inform me!"

Looking at Huo Shan's distant back through the window, Li Shanlan said with emotion: "The four of us are almost three hundred years old combined, I didn't expect that we couldn't even talk about a child, what a shame!"

Thinking of Huo Shan's words just now, the faces of the four of them were full of deep thought, and the large room fell silent for a while.

"Young Master, I don't understand, why are you so polite to those old guys?" Huo Shi said with an indignant expression.

"Can't figure it out?" Huo Shan asked with a smile looking at his face.

"Yes!"

Looking at the blue sky in the distance, Huo Shan said with a somewhat melancholy face: "Huo Shi, a strong country not only needs sharp soldiers, but also needs talented people from all walks of life. The Qing Dynasty closed itself off from the country for several hundred years, and the scholarly class, which represented the country's high-level talents, had long since lost the pursuit of science and technology in the Han and Tang dynasties, and one by one they could only bury their heads and deceive themselves and others! Every day, those who talked about the etiquette of foreigners were a state of etiquette, and China lost its teachers and land! We lost the face of our Han people! During the two opium wars, we made our cannons and muskets lose their armor! What does this mean? It shows that our country is far behind in science and technology! If we don't catch up, then we will still be bullied by outsiders! However, the development of science and technology requires a large number of high-level scientific personnel, and our country is really lacking in this respect! Far less than the Western countries, which have already gone through the first industrial revolution and have achieved great results in popularizing education. Therefore, every qualified worker and scientist among our own people is our wealth. And Xu Shou, Xu Jianyin, Hua Yufang, and Li Shanlan are all outstanding in this regard, and they are valuable assets that cannot be measured by money! If they are willing to display their talents for our ideals, not to mention that they have a bad attitude towards me, even if we let us kneel and kowtow to them, I am willing to do so!"

Listening to the young master's loud words, Huo Shi's heart was extremely moved, in the past, he worked hard to train the troops, more out of loyalty to the Huo family, and now he has a more noble purpose, that is, to fight for the rise of the nation!

At this moment, Huo Shan's not tall figure became incomparably great in his heart!