A river ship came carrying the British delegation to China.
The British envoy was relatively shabby, with only a dozen people in total. And they did not come by warship, because the British mainland was planning a naval war with the Netherlands and could not spare any warships to escort the envoy.
They took a merchant ship of the British East India Company and resupplied at Portuguese colonial ports along the way. After arriving in India, they heard that Malacca had been captured by China. The British cheered and immediately went to Malacca for exchanges.
Then, British merchant ships docked at Banten for business, and the British mission was escorted north by the Datong Navy.
The representative of the British mission is called John Milton, and his works include:,,, etc.
Milton was Cromwell's master and actively promoted revolution and democracy.
After Cromwell came to power, Milton served as his foreign affairs secretary. Milton was responsible for all British diplomatic correspondence, and he also provided writing support to the nobles who opposed Cromwell.
The British mission to China was of a somewhat personal nature, and Cromwell directly sent his diplomatic secretary over.
"Mr. John, the Chinese came and said that Nanjing is coming soon. Let us prepare." Deputy Envoy Andrew Marvell knocked on the door and entered.
Andrew Marvell, a famous British metaphysical poet, was Cromwell's tutor in his boyhood, and currently serves as Milton's Latin secretary.
Milton put down his quill, hung up his glasses and said, "Then get ready to disembark."
Marvell said with a smile: "This mission is to persuade China to go to war with the Netherlands, weaken the Netherlands' strength in Asia, and order the Dutch headquarters to send more warships to support Asia. This mission is over before it even begins. China and the Netherlands have already
After two battles, the Netherlands' strength in the Far East has been weakened to the extreme. The two of us only need to pay homage to the Chinese emperor, and we can focus on appreciating the exotic customs."
Milton shook his head: "Our navy is still too weak. It would be best to provoke another war between China and the Netherlands."
"I'm afraid this is unrealistic," Marvell said. "China and the Netherlands have just signed a ten-year truce contract, and neither side will take the risk of tearing up this contract."
"Try it." Milton is a workaholic. If he is not sent as an envoy to China, he will go blind next year because of working day and night.
The Yangtze River Navy sent the British mission to the dock, and someone went into the city to inform Honglu Temple. Officials of Honglu Temple would pick up the foreign envoys into the city.
Before the officials from Honglu Temple arrived, Milton and others were waiting at the dock.
More than a dozen dock cranes are at work, and workers pull pulleys to lift heavy objects and put them on the ship. There are more dock coolies behind, carrying boxes of goods, and there is a busy scene everywhere.
"Everyone, please come to the front and wait. Don't block it at the dock." The navy translator said.
Everyone then continued to walk forward, and there were many people carrying slide poles here. They were actually "taxi", and the "car drivers" were gathering together to wait for business.
Wherever I brag, I laugh from time to time.
There is a sliding pole that carries passengers from the city to the pier.
The guests got off the sedan and paid, then went straight to the riverside to wait for the boat. The two people carrying the sliding poles also got together with other "carriage drivers". Since the surrounding area was crowded, they could only wait there to pick up the guests. They would be fined if they stayed across the border to entertain guests.
of.
"The little scholar is here, read the newspaper to us quickly!"
One of the two people who had just lifted the sliding pole was a teenager, and he immediately became the center of attention.
The young man took out a newspaper from his pocket. It was rented for a penny a day. After carefully unfolding it, the young man began to read the newspaper with his head shaking: "The biggest news in this issue is that Young Master Yang Er, the young class leader of the Chunlan Club, insists on marrying
Xiao Hongtao, a famous actor in the Kundan troupe of his own drama club, refused to take concubines and insisted on marrying as his wife. Master Yang was not happy, so the second young master Yang eloped with Xiao Hongtao. The two had eloped for almost a month,
That’s when the news came out, but no one has been found yet.”
This boy is obviously a student in the cattle herding class. He is the kind who doesn't study hard. He has to make guesses even when reading the newspaper. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to make a living by carrying a slide pole after graduating from elementary school.
When the "taxi drivers" heard the news, they immediately started talking:
"Mr. Yang is also a respectable person. His son will be in disgrace if he elopes with an opera singer."
"Hey, Second Young Master Yang is still a lover."
"I have heard the play of Little Hongtao. Last year, when Mr. Li celebrated his birthday, he invited Xiaohongtao to sing. Liu Er and I carried Mr. Zhang to the Li Mansion and listened to it for a while. It made people's hearts beat. If I screamed in bed
Get up and just listen to that sound, which kills half of the man's life. Unlike my wife, who screams like a slaughtered pig."
"Haha, Brother Zhou, do you dare to tell your sister-in-law this?"
"Why don't you dare? I have the final say at home!"
"Then who scratched your face two days ago?"
"The cat scratched it."
"Ha ha ha ha…
Milton asked the naval translator: "What do they do?"
The translator said: "That kind of bamboo pole is used as a sedan chair, which can carry guests on the road. Depending on the distance, the guests will pay the toll."
Milton was extremely surprised and turned to look at Marvell.
They were not surprised by the sliding pole, but that the person carrying the sliding pole was obviously at the bottom of society, but he was actually able to read and read newspapers.
Milton pointed at the young man and asked: "Since he can read, why does he still have to do this job?"
The translator sneered and said: "^_^It's easy to find a job after finishing primary school. Even if it doesn't work out, you can also become an apprentice. Many businesses are willing to recruit primary school students as apprentices."
The translator spoke in Latin and didn’t know how to translate “primary school”, so he just spoke the original Chinese pronunciation.
Milton could only ask carefully and found out that China has primary schools, middle schools, and universities. As long as they reach the age, both boys and girls must go to school, and there is no tuition fee. If you want to take the county civil servant exam, you must at least go to primary school.
graduate.
"If all children study for free, how much will China's annual education expenditure be?" Milton was shocked to the extreme.
In fact, primary school graduation rates are very low.
Many children cannot read and often drop out of school after one year. In this case, they cannot even read a newspaper. The dropout rate for girls is particularly high. Many parents do not allow them to continue studying because they think it is enough for their daughters to be able to write their own names.
Regarding this situation, the government is happy to see the results. The more dropouts there are, the more pressure on education funds will be alleviated.
Otherwise, if all the children in Nanjing are in school, how many classrooms will be needed?
In the shock of the British envoy, Honglu Temple finally sent officials to receive them and led these guys into the city in carriages. The horses were bad horses, and the good horses were sent to fight.
"Dang-dang-dang!"
Milton heard the sound of gongs and opened the curtains. He saw an official walking and shouting: "The Golden Building outside South City was completed yesterday.
It will be open to the public on the 15th of this month. Those who like to read and are willing to read can go to the Golden Building! Your Majesty said, no money is required, you can read whatever you want!"
Milton couldn't understand, so he could only ask the translator: "What is he shouting?"
The translator understood it, but he didn't understand what the Golden Tower was. He immediately jumped off the speeding carriage and ran to ask the Honglu Temple official who was leading the team.
Soon, the translator came back and explained: "His Majesty the Emperor of our country built a library with royal expenses. There are many books in it. The construction was just completed yesterday. All civilians can read the books inside for free. The daily expenses of the library are also borne by the Emperor.
Your Majesty is responsible."
Milton suddenly said excitedly: "This is a public library. It's a pity that there is no one in the UK, and there seems to be no one in Europe."
Marvell said: "His Majesty, the Emperor of China, should be the legendary Philosopher King. The country he rules is full of scholars, and civilians can study and study for free. I really hope that one day, Britain can do the same."
Everyone was arranged in the feudal embassy, with a dedicated translator in charge of contacting them. They could go out at any time if they wanted to go shopping.
But, if you want to see the emperor, you have to wait slowly.
Early the next morning, Milton couldn't help it anymore and asked the translator to take them shopping.
The general manager of Honglu Temple is not an official, but a first-class official. He must master at least two foreign languages. Although he is just an official, he can be regarded as a cultural person. Naturally, he will not take the envoy to visit Goulanwashe.
Ben cultural supplies street.
When he came back in the evening, Milton took out his quill and wrote in his poem:
"Today, Chinese diplomats took us to Literature and Art Street. It is a half-mile-long street. The shops on the street sell all kinds of literature and art supplies. There are exquisite books, magical Chinese calligraphy and paintings, and
Paper, ink and other items..."
"There are many people walking around on the street, and they are all literate. Some are wearing silk, but more people are wearing ordinary cotton clothes. Books here are very cheap and common people can afford them. There are many popular books, and the lower class citizens also like to read them.
.But I heard from Chinese diplomats that civilians prefer to rent books to read. There are rental bookstores in Nanjing. They set different rents based on the value of the books. If the damage is serious, the deposit will not be refunded..."
"We seem to be in a sea of literature and art, with books and paintings everywhere. For European scholars, this street is paradise.
They must have never dreamed of it..."
"I asked a Chinese official and he said that the best-selling books in China, apart from the ancient Four Books and Five Classics, were compiled by the current Chinese emperor. I asked Chinese friends to translate a few articles and read them to me, so I can be sure that the Chinese emperor is
a democratic revolutionary"
"The Chinese emperor's legal system does not come from the church, but from the 'sky'. The sky is not only the sky above our heads, but also similar to the origin of all things. The Chinese regard it as the master of all things. Heaven and earth give rise to human beings and all things. Human beings are
The elves in the world formed the country of China. The country needed leaders, so there was an emperor. An emperor who is kind to the people will be recognized by heaven and become the son of heaven. An emperor who is cruel to the people will be disgusted by heaven.
He will be overthrown..."
"Everything is people-centered. What is this if not democracy?"
Milton spent his whole life pursuing natural human rights, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of education, and freedom of marriage. This guy was completely obsessed with it.
, and believed that the Chinese emperor was a revolutionary.
However, by the time he finished reading it, he probably wouldn't be so happy.
Zhao Han's theory of land distribution conflicts with Milton's democracy. Because it is the landlord's land, and Milton believes that personal property is sacred and inviolable.
Of course, Milton can also be ignored. He has already decided to translate and delete the theory of land division when the time comes.