In Guo Kang's time, this kind of plundering incident can be said to be common.

Ergin's name is actually not unfamiliar to the Serisians. Because the Ergin who robbed the Parthenon is the father of the Ergin who burned the Old Summer Palace.

- Of course, the old Elgin once went into a lawsuit in anger because his wife was "taken care of" by an old friend, suing the two for adultery and demanding 10,000 pounds in compensation. In that era, what the serious aristocracy could tolerate was generally tolerant of this; If you can't stand it, you will duel with each other for the sake of honor. As a result, the old Ergin, as a seventh-generation earl of the family, came up to ask for money, so he became famous and became the top in the country for a while. Therefore, it may not be easy to say whether this father is a father or not......

Although the little Ergin did not know where he came from, his ancestral craftsmanship was not left behind. However, he is in England, and I am afraid that he is not as famous as his father.

Old Ergin made a fortune with the help of plundered sculptures, and even came up with the proper noun "Ergin Marble"—a sum of 35,000 pounds, which was enough for three and a half wives. Little Ergin was very unlucky and did not have time to enjoy his "results".

In 1861, the younger Elkin, who had ended the war and negotiations, left China and went to India to become governor-general, but died in 1863. The reason was that the house where he was staying while traveling in the local area was accidentally struck by lightning and caught fire.

It may have been a sudden shock that caused him to have a heart attack and become unable to move for a while. The servants, relatives and friends around him, for some reason, did not come forward to help. In the end, Ergin, who could not escape from the fire, was burned alive.

So, history is actually a very interesting treasure trove of knowledge.

As for the poor Greeks, in fact, until Guo Kang's time, they often played the role of scapegoats.

In his time, it was believed that "Europeans recognize Greek civilization as their ancestors and boast all day long, so we can deny the existence of ancient civilizations of the Greeks and attack the legal system of Europeans." "But in fact, if you look at the performance of Elgin Sr. and the rest of the British, you can see that Western Europeans don't really take Greece seriously at all.

In fact, not only Greece, but also Rome. Once upon a time, European monarchs did like to rub the Roman relationship, but this relationship, perhaps even in the early Middle Ages, was still somewhat useful. As the Roman heritage fades away, it becomes a show. The name of the Roman emperor is beyond the control of even the princes inside the HRE, let alone the outside.

As for the folk ...... It would be nice for the commoners and the illiterate lords at the grassroots level to know what the Roman Empire was in the past.

When history continued to develop and the people had some culture, Rome was simply completely abandoned. Most modern European countries have invariably shunned Rome when establishing their culture.

The French regarded Vicintoli as a hero, and the Germans began to praise Arminius. The English, for some reason, recognized the Anglo-Saxons of the past. In the process of nation-state construction, Rome has long been completely abandoned. The people they chose to establish the myth were all the local barbarians of the year. It may be that only Italy before and after World War II is still insisting on cosplay.

And even these are actually very niche. Not to mention Rome, which may only be of interest to related enthusiasts. Therefore, for these countries, at most, it is the extent that "we barbarians have learned some of the ideas left over from Rome".

But if you learn some Roman elements, it's too convenient. The largest Roman law state in the world is Seris. So who is Rome?

Therefore, the most embarrassing part of this matter is that attacking other people's ancestors, only to find that the barbarians don't care about their ancestors at all. People don't have this weakness......

"We must know more about history, and we must know ourselves and our opponents." Guo Kang said to the brother and sister:

"I say all this, in fact, I want to tell you how big the gap between the Seris civilization and other civilizations is. The gap between India and India is much greater than the gap between India and Western Europe. Because this is not essentially two 'civilizations', but a chasm between two 'civilizational blocs'. It's just that the civilization group in the east seems to have only one member. ”

"Therefore, using the Central Plains way of thinking to set other civilizations is not only a problem of poor results, but sometimes even dangerous."

Zhu Wenkui nodded, a natural look, and it was estimated that Guo Kang's words were also in line with his cognition. Jeanne looked down in thought.

Guo Kang is not in a hurry about this. She was very young and would see a lot of examples in the future. As long as you have enough experience, it is not difficult to understand this conclusion.

Of course, he still hopes that with his knowledge and experience, Jeanne Jr. will take fewer detours. In particular, she will definitely have to participate in various affairs in the future, and it is estimated that dealing with the Ming Dynasty is also indispensable. These are important things, and the lessons can be too painful.

Guo Kang himself can understand this, but also because of the painful experience in history.

There is an example of black humor in the late Qing Dynasty. After Lin Zexu took office in Guangdong, there were already rumors that the British were ready to start a war. In this regard, Lin Zexu did not close his eyes and listen, but specially investigated and studied.

Among Lin Zexu's staff and local officials in Guangdong, there were already people who took the initiative to inquire about the situation in the West. Xiao Lingyu, the former Ruan Yuan's aide, Lin Zexu's own aide Yu Zhengxie, and others all discovered the law of Westerners' expansion through the sea, and advocated being vigilant and referring to the methods of foreigners to increase their military force and achieve the goal of defeating razing with razing.

After Lin Zexu arrived, he disregarded suspicion and gathered a group of people who knew English to translate relevant information. not only made direct contact with the foreigners, but also took advantage of the contradictions between the Americans, the Portuguese, and the British to obtain information from them; He also specially bribed a group of translators, middlemen, sailors and other people from the lower strata of society to "spy on foreign affairs all day long." Despite his advanced age, he even learned English from scratch without textbooks.

Lin Zexu was originally a language genius, and when he first went to the capital, he learned the official language, which shocked many people (the Ming and Qing dynasties officially recognized that Fujianese people could speak difficult to understand, and it was difficult to change it...... ）； Later, I took the Manchu exam and got the first score (there were few people in the first banner that year, and the first place in the exam was the first in the world). Even if he was later relegated to the Western Regions, he quickly learned Uyghur and Persian, and was even able to integrate these two languages into his poems. It can be seen that he is talented.

As an old bureaucrat who has been crawling in the court for decades, his understanding of power and his ability to analyze politics are of course very solid. With his old eye and precise techniques, by the time of the war, he not only had a preliminary understanding of the situation in Britain itself, but also had some understanding of colonial matters. In addition to national events, even the list and salary of female officials in the British Queen's Palace were collected by him for analysis.

Through a series of analyses, Lin Zexu came to the conclusion that the war could not be fought in the short term.

According to intelligence, in 1837, the old King William IV had just died, and the British could not find a male and set up Queen Victoria, who was only eighteen years old. And at this time, the Queen's uncles were still there.

In particular, Victoria's fourth uncle, Ernst, once served as an army general. Unlike the members who gradually became vases, Ernst was really trained in Prussia, fought on the battlefield, fought Napoleon, and was seriously wounded in the process. It is a person who really has military experience and has commanded large armies in battle.

At this time, Ernst inherited the broken kingdom of Hanover, with its own state and soldiers. Even the British themselves at that time were rumored that he wanted to murder Victoria and usurp the throne.

So it's actually obvious that this orphan and widow won't stay long at all. I'm afraid it won't be long before Victoria will face a rebellion and be killed by the fourth uncle.

And those who came to Guangzhou to look for trouble were the people of the East India Company. At the time of the change of monarchy, these merchants actually wanted to start a war on the border without authorization. Since ancient times, border merchants have acted on their own, and the country has not been without problems - the Qing Dynasty itself is clearly clearer. Obviously, the crisis within Britain is already extremely serious.

In this case, how can you wage war against the outside world?

On the other hand, Lin Zexu also inquired that there were also people in Britain who opposed the tobacco trade. With his understanding and judgment of national interests, Lin Zexu believed that the British court could fight for it. Because the tobacco trade is not a good thing for them morally and profitably, it can convince them to control the merchant for the time being, and gain time.

He also wrote a letter to Victoria, in the tone of an experienced elder, to warn the other party that the goods sold in China are all beneficial to people. Westerners have benefited a lot, and there has never been anything harmful to others. Now the British are harming people by selling tobacco that is not produced in China to the point of harming people, which is not only morally intolerable, but also does not benefit them. It is better to eradicate the tobacco soil of India, plant grains instead, and implement benevolent government, so that we can rule for a long time. The offender should be dealt with severely, otherwise, what will happen if someone sells tobacco to England in the future?

In addition to still insisting on referring to Britain as a Yi, the tone of the letter has been very mild. Before sending it, Lin Zexu also specially found a group of Britons who were rescued after falling into the water, and asked them to see the polishing. He also left a step, saying that he believed that Britain was only too big to manage because there were too many merchant ships. It's better to take care of it quickly, it's good for everyone.

As a result, the letter was sent to London, and after it was made public, it became a famous joke of the time. The Times dedicates full text to the reader's amusement. Lin Zexu's desired result was also not achieved.

In the end, Lin Zexu obtained a lot of effective information and reasoned that he could not be wrong, but he came to a completely opposite conclusion.

Because he insisted that the fight would not be fought in the short term, Lin Zexu did not choose to go all out to strengthen his defense as soon as possible, but purchased Western-style large ships and steam steamers, began to study, and prepared to take a long-term route, learn from the experience of foreigners, and run Western-style sailors. In the end, I was caught off guard. Although the city was held, the losses were quite large, and even the American ship that had just been bought was blown up......

This is a typical case: different civilizations have so different ways of thinking that it is very difficult to understand each other. Not to mention an old-fashioned official like Lin Zexu, who was a Seris from Guo Kang's time, who learned the language of foreigners, and to be honest, he may not be able to fully understand what people are thinking.

So, it's a troublesome phenomenon, but one that really can't be ignored.

(End of chapter)