I

   Chapter 722 719 [What is the concept of a big country]

  Milton's reputation in later generations is too great, it is difficult for Zhao Han not to know.

  The pioneer of the democratic revolution in Europe, one of the six greatest British poets, and the patriarch who advocated freedom of speech and the press.

   "See Your Majesty the Emperor!"

   "A seat."

  Milton stood up again as soon as he sat down: "On behalf of the Republic of England and the respected Commander-in-Chief Mr. Cromwell, I would like to extend my high regards to His Majesty the Emperor of China. May the friendship between the two countries last forever!"

  Zhao Han smiled and said, "Send hello to Mr. Cromwell on my behalf."

   Milton's words just now were not nonsense.

  After the King of England was cut off, the country was ruled by Parliament. In fact, Britain is indeed a republic.

  Milton was completely unpredictable. It was Cromwell, whom he had always admired and upheld, who destroyed the Republic and completely betrayed the revolution. He devoted himself to Cromwell, but in two years, Cromwell will disperse Parliament and rule as a dictatorship as "Lord Protector".

Milton said: "Your Majesty the Emperor, the story of His Majesty's great restoration of the country has been passed down in Britain and throughout Europe. Mr. Cromwell, the commander-in-chief of our country, has always admired His Majesty's reputation, so he asked me to lead a delegation to visit China. "

  Zhao Han asked with great interest: "What stories are I spreading in Europe?"

Milton said: "Your Majesty is a former royal family who lost their country. The emperor of China was so brutal that the rebels captured the capital and the emperor was killed by the rebels. However, Your Majesty used to raise troops as a royal family and defeated the abominable The rebels finally restored the glory of their ancestors."

   "It's pretty good at making it up," Zhao Han couldn't help laughing, and said to Tong Shi, "There is no need to translate this sentence, just tell him whatever you want."

  Honglu Temple's general manager nonsense said: "Your Majesty said that the news from Europe is very well-informed."

Milton flattered a few words, and 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 **** Netherlands. Here, I My heartfelt congratulations to Your Majesty, and to His valiant army."

   Zhao Han asked: "Britain 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 benefits. They even control the business in the UK, threatening to collect loans and forcing Britain renounces the rights and interests that should belong to itself."

"It shouldn't be," Zhao Han continued. "The Netherlands is doing the same thing in Asia. It 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 and shameless country!"

   Milton said happily: "Our country can go to war with the Netherlands in Europe, and my country can go to war with the Netherlands in Asia. The little Netherlands will definitely not be able to fight on both sides. At that time, Your Majesty will be able to drive the Netherlands out of Asia!"

  Zhao Han said: "Unfortunately, China and the Netherlands have signed a ten-year contract. As the emperor of China, I cannot break the promise. It is despicable to tear up the contract."

   "Teach those despicable Dutchmen that they will not appear despicable by any means." Milton continued to fight.

  Zhao Han said ambiguously: "It is true, but China's previous wars have caused heavy naval losses. Britain can fight in Europe first, and China will respond."

   This is nonsense. With the existing communication technology, it is estimated that the first Anglo-Dutch war is over, and China has not received the news yet.

  At this moment, Cromwell has just promulgated the "Navigation Regulations", the general content: Non-British ships are not allowed to carry goods into the United Kingdom and its colonies.

  This regulation is clearly aimed at confronting the Netherlands, because the British import trade is about to be monopolized by Dutch merchants.

  Two years ago, the United Kingdom signed a treaty with Denmark, and British cargo ships can pass through the Sond Strait duty-free. This is the United Kingdom and Denmark teaming up to weaken the influence of the Netherlands in the Baltic Sea, because the three Nordic countries have also been pitted by the Netherlands. The Netherlands not only monopolizes the Nordic sea trade, but also expands its business power to the Nordic land, using its monopoly position to crazily suppress prices and squeeze profits.

  The reason why Cromwell dared to promulgate the "Navigation Regulations" was because Britain and the Netherlands had just reached an arms deal.

  The capital ships currently in service in the Netherlands, and the best of them, have all been sold to the British Navy, and if they don’t have enough money, they should find a loan from a Dutch businessman.

  The Dutch also felt that they had made a profit, not only disposing of the surplus warships expanded during the Thirty Years War, but also lending money to the United Kingdom to earn more interest. It's a win-win, the Netherlands wins twice!

   Milton saw that Zhao Han was fooling around and knew that it would be difficult to fool China into going to war, so he began to change the topic to "Da Tong Ji". Then, he advocated his own way, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of marriage, and freedom of religion. After hearing this, Zhao Han smiled and said that he was right.

  The essence of this guy is a scholar. Seeing that Zhao Han agreed with him, he immediately talked more and more vigorously, and finally even talked about education.

Milton said: "Dear Your Majesty, in Nanjing, I saw that many common people were literate, and His Majesty also funded the construction of a public library. I respect this very much. I think His Majesty is a great king who values ​​education. For Education, I also have some personal opinions."

   "Please speak freely." Zhao Han said.

Milton said: "The starting point of education is to learn the language. To learn a language is not only to learn to speak, but also to understand the deep meaning behind the words. Otherwise, even mastering the languages ​​of the world is a waste of time. .Education should start from children's intelligence, and children should not be forced to recite written articles, poems and speeches. These are suitable only after children have enough judgment, reading, and observation accumulation. When teaching various subjects, it is necessary to cultivate children's learning interest , should start with the simplest subjects. In British education, logic and metaphysics are taught as soon as they come up, which is a behavior that seriously undermines children's interest in learning."

   "Your Excellency makes a lot of sense." Zhao Han didn't try to be perfunctory this time, but sincerely agreed.

Milton continued: "I think that school activities should have three parts, namely study, exercise and diet. School education in China is very good. The only regret is that the collective lunch is canceled and students can go home to eat. The school collective Lunch can enhance the relationship between students and cultivate their virtue of saving food."

  Zhao Han asked: "How many schools and students are there in the British capital?"

  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."

  Britain was all church schools at the beginning, and the church monopolized the educational power. The European Reformation broke the church's monopoly on education, and some wealthy people began to donate money to run schools. Now there is fund-raising to run schools again, that is, residents of a certain block, how much money each family pays to build a school.

  As for the British government, there is no education fund of a dime, at most the king privately pays for running the school.

   There are two types of primary education in the UK. One is an English school, which teaches common people to read, write and calculate accounts. One is the aristocratic grammar school, which also teaches Latin, music and other courses. As for history or something, that can only be learned after entering university.

  Currently, 33% of students from Cambridge and other top universities come from aristocratic backgrounds, 27% from handicraftsmen, 16% from merchants, and 15% from self-employed farmers. The overall number of people is very small!

Zhao Han said: "Inside and outside Nanjing, including the suburbs near the city, there are nearly one million registered population over the age of 12. Including the floating household registration, the number has exceeded 1.1 million. There are 12 primary schools, four Secondary schools (including private girls’ schools), the number of middle school and elementary school students is maintained at about 20,000 to 30,000 per year. In the past, there were free lunches, but more and more children are enrolled, and the expenditure is too great. British schools can collectively Dining is very difficult in China.”

   This string of data stunned Milton.

   Except for missionary schools in the UK, the rest are all charitable schools. The large-scale ones have more than a hundred students in the school, and the small-scale ones have more than a dozen people in the school.

  In China, the number of primary and secondary school students in and around Nanjing alone can be maintained at around 20,000 to 30,000 per 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 only those over the age of 12 are counted?

  Milton was dumbfounded. He knew that there were many people in Nanjing, and there were people everywhere when he went shopping. But this Nima is too much!

   "May I ask, Your Majesty, what is the population of China?" Milton asked.

  Zhao Han said with a smile: "It should be hundreds of millions now, and we will only know after a few years of statistics."

  Milton was so shocked that he became aphasic, and didn't know what to say.

  More than ten years ago, he wrote an article called "On Education", proposing that the British government should pay for the school system.

  The scale of the school should be bigger, a school can accommodate 130 students. This is the limit that Milton can imagine. There are dozens of people in a class in Nanjing, and he can't even dream of such a scale.

   After a while, Milton said: "Your Majesty, can I visit the schools in Nanjing? The ordinary civilian schools are not noble schools."

   "Of course." Zhao Han did not refuse.

  What is the use of visiting? Can you still persuade the British government to pay for education?

  British public school system, that has to wait until the industrial age. Capitalists need wage earners who can read and write, so they promote public education. It is still too early for that stage.

On the way out of the Forbidden City, Milton said with emotion: "What kind of a great country is this? It has a population of hundreds of millions, and there are tens of thousands of students in the capital alone. If these students are formed into an army, it only takes one year of training, and the whole country The world can't find an opponent."

Marvell said: "As envoys, we should push China to form an alliance with 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 Holland's position in Asia and seize all of Holland's interests in Asia."

"It is estimated that it will be very difficult to directly request an alliance," Milton said. "You can invite Chinese officials to visit the UK. Let Chinese officials see that the UK is really confronting the Netherlands. Perhaps in the case of a common enemy, It can quickly bring the relationship between the two countries closer.”

  (end of this chapter)