Milton's reputation in later generations was so great that it was difficult for Zhao Han not to know about it.
A pioneer of European democratic revolution, one of the six greatest British poets, and the founder of advocating freedom of speech and press.
"See His Majesty the Emperor!"
"Give me a seat."
As soon as Milton sat down, he stood up again: "On behalf of the Republic of England and the respected Commander-in-Chief Mr. Cromwell, I would like to extend my lofty greetings to His Majesty the Emperor of China. May the friendship between the two countries last forever!"
Zhao Han smiled and said: "It also represents my greetings to Mr. Cromwell."
What Milton said just now was not nonsense.
After the King of England was deposed, the country was ruled by Parliament. In fact, Britain was indeed a republic.
Milton was completely unable to predict that the person who destroyed the Republic and completely betrayed the revolution was Cromwell, whom he had always admired and defended. He devoted himself to Cromwell, but in two years, Cromwell would
Disperse the parliament and establish a dictatorship as the "Defender of the Country".
Milton said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty the Emperor, the story of your Majesty's great restoration is spread throughout Britain and even Europe. Our Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Cromwell, has always admired your Majesty's reputation, so he asked me to lead the envoy to visit China.
"
Zhao Han asked with great interest: "What is my story circulating in Europe?"
Milton said: "Your Majesty is a former royal family who lost his country. The emperor of China was so cruel that the rebels captured the capital, and the emperor was killed by the rebels. But as a former royal family, your Majesty raised troops and defeated the abominable
The rebels finally restored the glory of their ancestors."
"You're pretty good at making it up," Zhao Han couldn't help laughing, and said to Tongshi, "There's no need to translate this sentence, just tell him whatever you want."
The general manager of Honglu Temple said nonsense: "Your Majesty said that Europe is very well-informed."
Milton flattered a few words and then said: "I was in India and heard the news that the Chinese army defeated the Netherlands. This is really exciting. Britain and China have the same enemy, and that is the damn Netherlands. Here, I
I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Your Majesty and His Majesty’s heroic troops.”
Zhao Han asked: "The United Kingdom is also at war with the Netherlands?"
Milton replied: "There must be a war. The Netherlands is too greedy. Their merchant ships are all over every sea in Europe. They want to monopolize all the interests. They even control the British domestic business and use the threat of loan collection to force the British to
Give up what should be your own rights and interests.”
"This shouldn't be done," Zhao Han continued. "The Netherlands is also like this in Asia. They even invaded China's territory and massacred and oppressed the Chinese living in Taiwan. That's why I sent troops to drive the Dutch out of Taiwan. The Netherlands is
The most despicable country!”
Milton said happily: "Our country can go to war with the Netherlands in Europe, and China can go to war with the Netherlands in Asia. The small Netherlands will definitely not be able to fight on both sides. When the time comes, your Majesty will be able to drive the Netherlands out of Asia!"
Zhao Han said: "It's a pity that China and the Netherlands have signed a ten-year contract. As the emperor of China, I cannot break my promise. It is despicable to tear up the contract."
"Teach those despicable Dutchmen a lesson, and you will never look despicable by any means." Milton continued to ignite his anger.
Zhao Han said ambiguously: "That's true, but China's previous battles resulted in serious naval losses. Britain can fight in Europe first, and China will provide support."
This is bullshit. With the current communication technology, it is estimated that after the first Anglo-Dutch War was over, China has not received the news yet.
At this moment, Cromwell had just promulgated the "Navigation Regulations", which roughly stated that non-British ships were not allowed to carry goods into Britain and the colonies. Once discovered, the ship and its goods would be confiscated directly.
This regulation was clearly intended to fight against the Netherlands, because the British import trade was almost monopolized by Dutch merchants.
Two years ago, Britain also signed a treaty with Denmark, allowing British cargo ships to pass duty-free through the Sonder Strait. This is a joint effort between Britain and Denmark to weaken the influence of the Netherlands in the Baltic Sea, because the three Nordic countries have also been cheated by the Netherlands - the Netherlands not only has a monopoly
Nordic sea trade and commercial power also expanded to the Nordic land, using their monopoly position to crazily lower prices and extract profits.
The reason why Cromwell dared to promulgate the "Navigation Regulations" was because Britain and the Netherlands had just concluded an arms deal.
The Dutch capital ships currently in service, including the best ones, have all been sold to the British Navy, and if they don't have enough money, they have to seek loans from Dutch businessmen.
The Dutch also felt that they had made a profit, not only by disposing of the surplus warships expanded during the Thirty Years' War, but also by lending money to Britain to earn more interest. It was a win-win situation, the Netherlands won twice!
Milton saw that Zhao Han was fooling him, and knew that it would be difficult to trick China into starting a war, so he began to shift the topic to "Datong Collection". Then he advocated his own ideas, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of marriage, and freedom of religion. Zhao Han
After hearing this, I smiled to show that I was right.
This guy is essentially a scholar. Seeing that Zhao Han agreed with his statement, he immediately became more and more enthusiastic about talking, and finally even talked about education.
Milton said: "Dear Your Majesty, I saw that many civilians in Nanjing are also literate, and Your Majesty also funded the construction of a public library. I have deep respect for this. I think Your Majesty is a great king who values education. For
I also have some personal opinions on education.”
"Please speak freely." Zhao Han said.
Milton said: "The starting point of education is to learn language. Learning a language is not only learning to speak, but also understanding the deep meaning behind the words. Otherwise, even if you master the languages of the world, it will be a waste of time.
.Education should be based on children's intelligence. Children should not be forced to recite written articles, poems and speeches. These are only appropriate after children have sufficient judgment, reading, and observation accumulation. When teaching various subjects, it is necessary to first cultivate children's interest in learning.
, should start with the simplest subjects. British education teaches logic and metaphysics from the very beginning, which seriously undermines children’s interest in learning.”
"What your Excellency said makes sense." Zhao Han did not mince words this time, but sincerely agreed.
Milton continued: "I think school activities should have three parts, namely learning, exercise and eating. China's school education is very good. The only regret is that collective lunches have been cancelled, and students can go home to eat. School collective
Lunch can enhance the relationship between students and cultivate their virtue of saving food."
Zhao Han asked: "How many schools are there in the British capital and how many students are there?"
Milton was a little embarrassed: "Although there are not many schools in London, the number has been increasing. Common people have more opportunities to study than a hundred years ago."
In the beginning, all the schools in the UK were church schools, and the church had a monopoly on educational power. The European religious reform broke the church's monopoly on education, and some wealthy people began to donate money to run schools. Nowadays, there is a method of raising funds to run schools, that is, the residents of a certain neighborhood contribute how much each family contributes.
Money builds schools.
As for the British government, there is not a dime of education funding. At most, the king privately funds schools.
There are two types of primary education in the UK. One is an English school, which teaches civilian children reading, writing and accounting. The other is an aristocratic grammar school, which also teaches Latin, music and other courses. As for history, you have to enter university.
study.
Currently, 33% of the students at top universities such as Cambridge are from aristocrats, 27% are from craftsmen, 16% are from merchants, and 15% are from yeoman farmers. The overall number is very small!
Zhao Han said: "Inside and outside Nanjing, including the suburbs, there are nearly one million registered people over the age of 12. Including those with floating overseas registration, the number has exceeded 1.1 million. There are a total of 12 primary schools, four
The number of middle schools (including private girls' schools), middle schools and primary schools remains at around 20,000 to 30,000 every year. There used to be free lunches, but with more and more children enrolling, the expenses are too great. British schools can collectively
Dining is very difficult to do in China.”
This string of data made Milton dumbfounded.
In the UK, except for church schools, all the others are charity-run schools. Large ones have more than a hundred people in the school, and small ones have more than a dozen people in the school.
In China, the number of primary and secondary school students in Nanjing and outside the city alone can be maintained at around 20,000 to 30,000 each year, which is more than the total number of students in the entire UK.
Wait, the capital of China has a population of 1.1 million, and it only counts those over 12 years old?
Milton was stunned. He knew that there were many people in Nanjing, and there were people everywhere when he went shopping. But this was too much!
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, what is the population of China?" Milton asked.
Zhao Han smiled and said: "It should be over hundreds of millions now. We won't know until we make statistics in a few years."
Milton was so shocked that he didn't know what to say.
More than ten years ago, he wrote an article called "On Education", proposing that the British government should fund the establishment of an academy system.
The scale of the academy should be larger. One academy can accommodate 130 students. This is the limit that Milton can imagine. There are dozens of students in a class in Nanjing. He could not dream of such a scale.
After a while, Milton said: "Your Majesty, can I visit the school in Nanjing? It's an ordinary civilian school, not an aristocratic school."
"Of course." Zhao Han did not refuse.
What's the use of visiting? Can the British government be persuaded to fund education?
The British public school system had to wait until the industrial age. Capitalists needed workers who could read and count, so they promoted public education. It is still early for that stage.
On the way out of the Forbidden City, Milton said with emotion: "What a great country this is? With a population of hundreds of millions, there are tens of thousands of students in the capital alone. If these students were formed into an army, it would only take one year of training to defeat the entire country.
There is no rival in the world."
Marvell said: "As envoys, we should promote the alliance between China and Britain. India is the overlord of South Asia, and we have already won the favor of the Mughal Emperor. China is the overlord of the Far East. If we can get the favor of the Chinese emperor, Britain can
Replace the Netherlands' position in Asia and seize all the Netherlands' interests in Asia."
"It is probably very difficult to directly request an alliance," Milton said. "Chinese officials can be invited to visit the UK. Let the Chinese officials see that Britain is really confronting the Netherlands. Perhaps if there is a common enemy,
It can quickly bring the relationship between the two countries closer."