Wild North America 1846

Chapter 659 Culture and thugs

Author: Portuguese toothless

Chapter 659 Culture and thugs

Investment in education has been an important area for the imperial government and the royal family for decades. It is also an important department after military and colonial expenditures, ranking third in importance.

to this day

According to the social census at the end of 1877, the national literacy rate had reached 56.3%, that is, more than half of the people had got rid of illiteracy. This was a gratifying and huge achievement.

Looking around the world, the national literacy rate of the Tang Empire also ranked third, second only to Germany and Britain, and higher than France.

Take a closer look

Eighty percent of the first-generation immigrants from the mainland to North America were illiterate. In the North America, Mexico, Central America, and South America that the Tang Empire conquered, eighty to ninety percent of the local residents were also illiterate.

This has formed a large illiterate population base, and is the real reason why nearly half of the national literacy rate is still illiterate after 32 years of efforts to promote education.

some of

Some young immigrants receive literacy classes after joining the army or in society, but this proportion is less than a quarter, which far does not affect the overall low literacy rate.

What is gratifying is that the literacy rate of the second generation of immigrants has made a qualitative leap, reaching more than 87%. Only a few families are limited by prejudice against girls, or are located in remote areas, and do not allow their children to receive a complete primary and secondary education.

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Nowadays, many three generations of immigrants have reached the age of receiving education. With the vigorous promotion of the "Five-year Compulsory Education Law of the Tang Empire", the enrollment rate has basically reached more than 98%.

This ensures that the national literacy rate of the Tang Empire will maintain a slow and steady upward trend for a long time to come, helping to improve the overall national quality.

in today's world

After reunification, Germany has the highest literacy rate in the country, and it is also the country with the best implementation of basic education, unparalleled in the world.

In 1825, Prussia implemented a universal compulsory education system. The development of basic education greatly increased the number of people with basic reading and writing skills in Germany, and the illiteracy rate dropped rapidly.

In Prussia, 1.4 million children entered public primary schools in 1822, and by 1876 this number had risen to 4.2 million, basically covering all school-age children and teenagers.

The literacy rate of the Prussian population reached a high level of 60% in 1800, 80% in 1850, 87% in 1860, and further increased to 95% in 1876.

It won't take long for Germany to achieve its goal of universal literacy, which is unparalleled in the world.

Compared with Germany, the UK seems careless. The government believes that education is a social matter and a family matter, and it is inconvenient for the government to interfere too much.

even so

The United Kingdom, the first country to enter the industrialized world, has relied on its profound accumulation to increase the male literacy rate from 25% 100 years ago to the current 78%, and the female literacy rate to 64%, ranking second in the world.

The Tang Empire ranked third in the world with a literacy rate of 56.3%, and France ranked fourth with 55%. However, in second-tier European countries such as Italy, the literacy rate was only 39%, and the Ottoman Empire, Qing Dynasty, and Tsarist Russia were even lower.

Emperor Richard put forward the concept of attaching importance to education in his early years: "Strong youth will make the country strong, and education will make the country prosperous." Now, with the development of culture and education, it has become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and has become one of the basic policies firmly implemented by the imperial government.

With the rise of education and the great development of the cultural industry, the Tang Empire took the lead in manufacturing an electric printing press in 1864, which greatly improved the shortcomings of the original steam printing press, improved work efficiency, and greatly reduced the cost of printed matter.

The update of printing technology promoted the prosperity of the publishing industry. By the end of 1876, the Tang Empire counted 1,371 publishing houses across the country, publishing as many as 260,000 kinds of books every year, covering humanities, geography, military, history, mechanical chemistry, etc.

Social sciences, natural sciences, education and other aspects have formed a prosperous cultural market.

Among them, books, newspapers and periodicals published in Mandarin account for more than 80%. There are more than a thousand newspapers, periodicals and periodicals published regularly, forming a comprehensive flowering pattern.

Among the many published genres in the Tang Empire, there was a category called Zhiqi comics that was widely popular among the public. This was a type of picture book compiled from stories about strange legends, country gossip, foxes, ghosts, snakes, and gods.

Specialized illustrators compiled and illustrated the story based on the content of the story, and included written plots. Even illiterate people can understand it, and it is very popular among the people.

The most outstanding "Journey to the West" Zhiqi comic book has a set of 72 volumes, each with a short story. It was widely loved by the public as soon as it was launched. In just two years, more than 670,000 sets have been issued, and more editions will continue to be printed.

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Taoyuan Entertainment Publishing House, which published the "Journey to the West" comic book, has made a lot of money and is very confident that it will publish 1 million or more copies of "Journey to the West" and break the record for leisure and entertainment books in the publishing industry.

The increasingly prosperous publishing and cultural undertakings of the Tang Empire were common among the great powers of the world. This was an era from conservatism to ideological reform, an era when nationalism and the workers' movement sprouted, and it was also an era when knowledge was popularized by all the people.

from now to the end of this century

With the popularization of newspapers, periodicals and radio, the national literacy rate of the world's major powers will increase significantly. Italy will increase from 39% to over 60%, and the same will be true for the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia.

"Liang Aiqing, what's going on with the mass strike in Pittsburgh?" Emperor Richard put down the "Central American Chronicle" in his hand and pointed to a news report published on the front page.

Recently, due to the large number of affairs in the three new colonies of Cuba, Luzon Islands and Puerto Rico, Zheng Yuan, the chief steward of the Royal Secretariat, has been very busy. Deputy Director Liang Bojun and other chief secretaries have more opportunities to serve the emperor.

Usually at these times

No matter how busy or tired he is, Director Zheng Yuan will always be close to His Majesty the Emperor when he is on the board of directors, so that His Majesty the Emperor can inquire at any time.

Liang Bojun hurriedly came forward and replied respectfully;

“In reply to His Majesty’s words;

Wei Chen has consulted the Imperial Security Bureau and the Ministry of the Interior about this matter. It should be a spontaneous workers' movement and has nothing to do with us.

in recent years

The labor movement originating from Britain, France and other countries has also spread to the United States of America. Newspapers often advocate fighting for workers' rights, fighting for legal working hours, uniting against capitalist oppression and other inflammatory remarks, which poses a great temptation to grassroots workers.

In big cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, many private voluntary organizations have emerged, and some of them are good and bad.

Many organizations pretend to be seeking welfare for workers, but in fact they are evil forces in society, running underground casinos, opium dens, sex venues and bars, and do evil things in one area.

Among them, Italian gangs and Scottish gangs are the most rampant, and sometimes some labor movements are instigated by them in order to achieve certain goals."

"Well, let the relevant parties pay attention. The slogan of the Pittsburgh workers' march is quite special." Emperor Richard ordered calmly.

"In compliance with the decree, I will definitely pay close attention to the direction of the workers' movement in Pittsburgh and report to the Holy Spirit at any time." Liang Bojun immediately replied.

He was thinking;

I need to quickly collect all the relevant information about the workers' movement in Pittsburgh and study it carefully to see what aspects attracted His Majesty's attention.

His Majesty the Emperor cannot explain. Whether you can understand it or not depends on the wisdom of the people around you.

nowadays

Dignitaries from various countries attending the Summit of the Organization for American Cooperation in Panama arrive one after another, and often the first thing they do is to meet with His Majesty the Emperor as a show of respect.

Just today, His Majesty the Emperor has successively received the President of Paraguay, General Zheng Fengrong, and the President of Uruguay, General Dai Xueli, and gave warm words of encouragement to the two presidents.

General Zheng Fengrong was originally the chief of the Tang Empire's military delegation in Paraguay before the First South American War, with the rank of colonel. He was an immigrant from Zhangzhou who joined the army in 1847. He was a group of imperial ministers Chen Cailiang and Huang Yuanjia who served as ministers of the Dragon. They were quite senior.

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After the war is won

Working with Paraguay's President Stuart, he served as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and shouldered the important task of reorganizing the Paraguayan country until 1872.

This year, President Stuart was accused of serious corruption, and Paraguay faced a political crisis. After a military coup, General Zheng Fengrong became the new president of Paraguay and the fourth president after the founding of Paraguay.

Uruguayan President General Dai Xueli also had roughly the same experience, but he came to power through a legal election and defeated former President Bernard Dobero to become the new president.

These two countries are the two generals of the Tang Empire in South America. Their economic reconstruction has received strong support from the Tang Empire. Their national income levels are ahead of Argentina and Brazil in South America, and are basically on the same level as the Andean Viceroyalty.

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The influx of a large number of Chinese immigrants helped Paraguay, which had a population of only more than 230,000 people after the war, recover rapidly. The current population has exceeded 720,000, and its economic and military strength far exceeds its pre-war heyday.

The economies of these small countries have recovered very quickly, especially Paraguay, which is rich in yerba mate. As long as there is enough labor to restore planting, this tea drink, which is loved by Europeans, will have no problem selling.

This alone supports half of Paraguay's economy.

After the First South American War, Uruguay's total population was only around 200,000, making it a weaker country than Paraguay.

After the influx of Chinese immigrants, a lot of Chinese capital entered the country to build factories, roads and docks, and relied on the advantage of the coastal sea to develop ocean transportation to Europe.

In just over 10 years

Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, has developed from a small city with a population of less than 30,000 to a regional transportation hub with a population of 165,000. It has smooth roads leading to Paraguay, Argentina, the Andes Governor's Palace and Brazil, and is an inland waterway and maritime transport hub.

Transit hub port.

Inland river ships from Paraguay and Argentina arrived in Montevideo loaded with goods. From here, they were loaded onto sea ships and set sail, transporting local specialty goods to North America and Europe.

vice versa

It is precisely because of its unique geographical conditions that Uruguay is now prospering. Its total population is less than 200,000, and now it has grown to more than 570,000 people, with more than 16,000 military personnel.

It also has a pocket navy headed by two retired 1,500-ton ironclad destroyers from the Tang Empire, with a total of more than 730 naval officers and soldiers.

This is enough for Uruguay, which has a narrow coastline.

(End of chapter)