Dominate the Country

There are tens of thousands of people in China who care about national affairs, such as Huang Youtian's son. As a student at Hanlin Academy University, he is definitely one of the people who knows the world best and is one of the people who cares most about China's national affairs.

In today's China, some people compare the higher education group represented by college students to the literati of the Han and Wei dynasties and the students of the Song Dynasty, which is not without reason.

Another example is Zhang Jinlai, Huang Youtian's half-brother. As a veteran who is loyal to the current emperor and a current government official, Zhang Jinlai's concern for war and court affairs is beyond doubt.

But there are also tens of thousands of people in China who only bury their heads in their own homes, such as Huang Youtian himself.

He doesn't care about the war between China and Spain, nor does he care about China's development in India. He only cares about the benefits of his daily labor and how to do his business in the future. At most, he listens to people's comments in his spare time.

Compared with the first Sino-Western American war, the huge harvest and the vassal states that have been enfeoffed today are not as worth recalling as the "golden age" of the peddlers like him who traveled all over the country. At that time, the goods they brought from the port area were the most scarce and popular goods in the entire "market". Whether it was the townspeople or the rural farmers, everyone had broken pots to repair, and everyone had shovels, sickles, and scissors to sharpen.

The latter is also a craft.

How to sharpen the blade faster while not consuming iron is a craft.

People who walk around the streets and alleys in the city sharpening knives and scissors are also craftsmen.

When Huang Youtian accumulated the initial capital and began to evolve from repairing pots to selling pots, plus he knew some crafts, his monthly income could be said to be far higher than the farmers who farmed at home, or even the workers who worked in factories.

His dilapidated home was rebuilt, and he was able to find a wife and start a family again, all thanks to the golden age of small peddlers. Although it was a bit hard, it was worthwhile to make money. So at that time, Huang Youtian was very satisfied and happy despite being exhausted.

For an ordinary lower-class person, such days are more worth remembering, hoping that such a beautiful day will come again one day.

Unfortunately, with the development of Yantai, with the construction of roads and the increase in carriages, the "distance" between rural areas and Yantai Port is getting smaller and smaller, and the living space of these mobile small vendors is becoming more and more compressed. The good times are gone and never come back.

The roaring carriages brought all kinds of goods to every village, just like the sea brought countless kinds of department stores to Yantai at surprisingly low prices. This direct, fast and efficient new trade method has greatly changed the local business and social environment, and the basis for the emergence of such a new trade method is convenient and fast transportation, and a large-scale source of goods-Yantai is just a trade distribution center with all kinds of goods.

In today's Yantai, many professions or industries that have existed for many years are gradually disappearing, and peddlers may be one of them in the near future.

Huang Youtian sometimes misses the past times, and misses the admiration and envy of others when they heard his son's excellent academic performance when they gathered together to chat. After sighing softly, Huang Youtian suddenly felt a little sad, because he knew that his profession would soon be eliminated.

His biggest hope now is that this time can be delayed by two years, so that he can support his son from college and then buy a house for his son in the city where he works, or pay a down payment.

He believes that his son will graduate from Hanlin Academy University with excellent grades. If his son returns to Yantai, Huang Youtian's accumulated savings can also buy a good house for his son, because Huang Youtian knows that Yantai Prefecture has preferential treatment for college students, especially graduates from prestigious schools like his son.

But if his son doesn't return to Yantai, he won't plan to take the imperial examination. If he finds a job in Nanjing or Shanghai, Huang Youtian's savings may not even be enough for a down payment. This is what he is most worried about now. So he doesn't care about the Sino-Western War at all.

The country no longer issues war bonds, and the fundraising is only for the disabled officers and soldiers and the families of the fallen officers and soldiers. It's just that the pensions for the martyrs' families and disabled soldiers are more than what he has worked hard for a lifetime, so he doesn't have the money to care about it. As for the war, now he has no way to care about it even if he wants to.

Speaking of which, the housing prices in Yantai are not low, and they are comparable to those in the provincial capital. With the increasing development of maritime trade, some comprehensive stores or shopping malls with large areas are gradually rising from the ground in the urban area of ​​Yantai. Some of these stores are state-owned department stores and supply and marketing cooperatives, while others are privately run industries. No matter who opened the store, their existence occupies a piece of land in the urban area of ​​Yantai. Coupled with the blossoming of real estate and the enclosure of land, the whole Yantai is no different from the seaport cities such as Shanghai, Ningbo and Xiamen. The only difference is the level of prosperity and the progress of social development.

There are trading markets of different categories, large and medium-sized comprehensive stores and shopping malls, countless restaurants and hotels, countless schools and hospitals. The model of urban business has undergone a thorough and revolutionary change.

From this emerging coastal city, you can no longer see the shadow of agricultural society and traditional Chinese society. What is here is trade and industry, and what is here is the development of capital.

Huang Youtian, a wandering peddler, will sooner or later be sold. If he cannot transform into a fixed vendor as soon as possible, he will find that there is no place for him in the huge Yantai.

If he had not settled down in Yantai early, in order to make a living, he, a part-time small vendor, would have to take his beloved little donkey, carrying some tools and goods, and staggering away from this city that is no longer friendly to him.

It can be said that social changes make people like Huang Laohan feel scared and terrified. Peddler like Huang Youtian who do not know how to change their business methods are a group of people who have been eliminated in the tide of social progress. They are not eliminated by market managers or merchants who open fixed-point stores, but by something called "market".

In short, Huang Laohan is now just a poor man engaged in a sunset industry.

One day is better than another! Huang Youtian sighed again, and then fumbled out a cowhide water bag from his bag. This was a cowhide water bag he picked up on the road. At first, the water bag was inlaid with silver flowers. It must have been left by a Tartar official.

More than 20 years have passed. Although the water bag has been broken a lot, it is still strong. It is also a treasure that Huang Youtian carries with him. After gulping down a few mouthfuls of warm water, Huang Youtian felt that he was alive again.

All the sorrow in his heart dissipated with the warmth in his throat.

Forget it, don't think about it! Huang Youtian drank another sip of water, and then looked at the sky. Well, it's almost two o'clock!

Huang Youtian didn't have a watch, but he would look at the sun.

The market had passed the peak time. Generally speaking, there was no business coming to the door. For peddlers like Huang Youtian, it was time to eat and rest.

Huang Youtian closed his stall, put his things in two large baskets, and then put them on the back of the donkey. He untied the reins tied to the wooden peg, led the donkey out of the stall, and walked towards a nearby small restaurant. He had to go to lunch.

Although the market had passed its busiest time, it was still bustling with people. Some vendors selling candy figurines and candied haws were still there. They squatted on the side of the road, staring at every potential customer with a child, and then used their voices to attract the attention of these children, so that they and the adults would cry and come to buy things.

There was also a troupe at the market. One was the Hui Opera troupe from Anhui. The Hui Opera of this era has entered its maturity and its most glorious period. Before Chen Ming started his rebellion, Hui Opera was fully prosperous with the promotion and advocacy of Hui merchants. In Yangzhou alone, there were Jiang Chun's Deyin troupe and Chuntai troupe, Xu Shangzhi's Lao Xu troupe, and Huang De, Wang Qiyuan, and Cheng Qiande's family troupe. Even in the current era, Hui Opera has a great influence in China.

Of course, people like Huang Youtian can't tell what is Hui opera and what is not.

Passing through the area of ​​the opera troupe surrounded by many people, Huang Youtian led the donkey to a small restaurant. The busy boss nodded and asked him to wait after seeing him. They are all familiar with each other.

The boss of this restaurant is from Henan. The stewed noodles are delicious and the quantity is large.

Whenever Huang Youtian comes to this market, he often comes to this small restaurant for lunch.

After smiling, Huang Youtian tied the donkey to a tree and sat down on a stool nearby. Unexpectedly, at this time, a strange voice sounded behind him.

"Huang Youtian?"

Who called my name? Huang Youtian looked back and was stunned for a moment. This person looks familiar. Hey, isn't this the third brother Zhang Laifu:

"You, you are the third brother?"

...

In the garden-like campus of Hanlin Academy University, Huang Dan, holding a copy of "Science Daily", was very excited to face his classmate and friend Tokugawa Qizheng.

The latter is the third son of the Mito Tokugawa family of the Tokugawa Gosanchu, and is the same age as Huang Dan. Tokugawa Qizheng did not study at the Imperial College, but came to the Hanlin Academy University, and made friends with a Chinese student from a commoner family. This has to be said to be a miracle of fate.

Huang Youtian could not imagine that his son could make friends as old as Laitou at school.

"Qizheng, come and see. The newspaper on the ship you have always been thinking about is here."

"The Royal Amusement Park has decided to build a small ship and put it in the water in the spring and summer of next year. The Science News said that the research and development of the ship is nearing completion, and the technology is about to mature..."

The two teenagers of different identities but the same age both have short hair and wear short clothes. One sits on a stone bench on the lawn and reaches out to take the newspaper, while the other takes the newspaper and passes it over, looking very proud.

"Science News" is a newspaper with a small circulation, but its supporter is the Zhongshan Academy of Natural Sciences, which is regarded as a holy place by many scholars.

"A truly magical power. Once the steamship is successfully developed, it will have a subversive impact on the entire world." Tokugawa Nariasa is well aware of the importance of steamships to Japan. Japan is an island country, and the significance of steamships to Japan cannot be overstated.

"Tokugawa-kun, if Japan wants to catch up with the imperial court, this steamship really cannot be missed. Otherwise, you will be left behind and it will be difficult for you to catch up."

Although Huang Dan is still a young man, he is aware of the changes in Japan over the years. The latter should have realized the importance of steam engines long ago, but after all these years, except for the textile industry, which has achieved a certain degree of mechanization due to the high degree of integration with Chinese enterprises, the steamization process of other industries is still very slow.

According to economic data, since the year when the practical steam engine was born, the growth rate of the number of steam engines in China has been above 50% for ten consecutive years. The huge China is like a bottomless pit, swallowing up batches of machinery. The number of steam engines in China has increased geometrically. The specific figures are that in the tenth year of Chengtian, there were more than 300 new machine flour mills opened in China. There are more than 5,000 light industrial enterprises, such as textile mills, silk reeling mills, cigarette mills, tea mills, sugar mills, paper mills, etc., and more than 100 heavy industrial enterprises such as shipyards, machinery manufacturing plants, cement plants, steel mills, and metallurgical plants. This requires a huge amount of machinery. Although while new enterprises are opening, there are also large-scale enterprises of various formats that are closing down or even going bankrupt.

This number is really a world of difference compared to the growth of steam engines in Japan. The growth of steam engines in Japan is too small. Matsudaira Sadanobu's implementation of the "Kanpei Reform" really hurt Japan.

Tokugawa Nariaki was an official student sent to Japan. He was also a direct descendant of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan. His father was the current lord of Mito Domain. Tokugawa Nariaki would contribute and develop all his strength to the strength of Japan.

He would not be like some Japanese students who came to China and stayed in China forever after learning and were unwilling to return to Japan. He would not be like that, but he really could not see Japan's tomorrow.

I don't know if it is because Japan has not suffered from war and has not experienced any major crisis. When China attacked Japan, it was just a light touch, and it was not Edo, the headquarters of the Tokugawa Shogunate, that suffered. So there are still many people in Japan who hold on to Confucianism.

China is the birthplace of Confucianism. China has abandoned Confucianism, but Japan has become stubborn.

There are many young Japanese studying in China now. Some of them are from the Tokugawa shogunate, some are from local daimyo, including the Satsuma domain, which was paralyzed by the Chinese, and also sent people to study in China.

Even if you can't go to a real college or university, it is also a good choice to come to a private college in China.

There are also some Japanese businessmen and wealthy families who have sent their next generation to study in China.

The Chinese have not deliberately created any obstacles in this regard. China has always been very friendly to its vassal states. Whether it is the shogunate or the daimyo, whether it is an official or a private person, they will not be "looked at differently". Some institutions have spent a lot of effort and money to develop machines and inventions for a long time, and they will not be closed to the Japanese, and they will be guarded against like thieves.

Compared with the experience of Chinese students studying in Japan in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, who lived in a discriminatory gaze, the lives of these Japanese are too wonderful. But Japanese politics really gives all Japanese scholars and students who come to China a headache. The relationship between local feudal politics and the shogunate, local feudal soldiers and the shogunate is so complicated that it makes people dizzy.

Moreover, in a peaceful environment, the Japanese can't find a way to solve this problem at all.

However, perhaps because of the Tang envoys in history, the Japanese are very interested in studying and seeking education in China. One by one, like fish crossing the river, they keep rushing to China. Beijing, Tianjin and Jiangnan are the two centers.

"I really want to see what a steamship looks like with my own eyes."

Tokugawa Nariaki looked at the schematic diagram of the steamship printed in the newspaper, his eyes flashing. If Japan can also have a batch of such ships, not the small steamers in the playground, but large steamers that can carry thousands of people across the ocean, can they also cross the ocean and seize a precious colony in the distant and rich America?

The distance that was difficult to cross in the past has become less distant and terrifying after the invention of the steamship. When the Japanese can also set foot thousands of miles away, why can't the Yamato people seek their own colonies?

Even if it's India, even if it's Africa...