Chapter 721 718 [Milton’s Visit to China]
A river ship came carrying the British delegation to China.
The British mission is relatively shabby, with only a dozen people in total. And it didn't come by warship, because the British mainland was planning a naval war with the Netherlands and could not spare a warship to escort the envoy.
They traveled aboard British East India Company merchant ships 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 in Banten for business, and the British mission was escorted north by the Datong Navy.
The representative of the British mission is called John Milton. His works include: "Paradise Lost", "On the Freedom of the Press", "On Education", "On the Powers of Kings and Officials", etc.
Milton was Cromwell's master and actively promoted revolution and democracy.
After Cromwell came to power, Milton served as his foreign secretary. Milton was responsible for all British diplomatic correspondence, and also wrote for 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 Marvel knocked on the door and entered.
Andrew Marvell, a famous British metaphysical poet, 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 to China as an envoy, 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 move forward, and there were many people carrying sliding poles. In fact, it is a "taxi". The "taxi drivers" are gathering together to wait for business, bragging and laughing from time to time.
There was a sliding pole that carried passengers from the city to the pier.
The guests got off the sedan, paid, and went straight to the riverside to wait for the boat. The two men carrying the sliding pole also got together with the other "car drivers". Because the surrounding area was crowded, they could only wait there to pick up passengers. They would be fined if they stayed across the border to entertain guests.
"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 arms. He rented it for one 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 Chunlan Club, insists on marrying Xiao Hongtao, the famous actor of Kun Troupe in his own drama club. He doesn't even take concubines. She wanted to marry her and become his wife. Master Yang was not happy, so Young Master Yang eloped with Xiao Hongtao. The two had eloped for almost a month before the news came out, and they haven't been found yet. "
This boy was obviously a student in the cattle herding class. He was the kind who didn't study hard. He had to make guesses even when reading the newspaper. Otherwise, even if you graduate from elementary school, you won’t be able to earn a living by carrying a sliding pole.
When the "taxi drivers" heard the news, they immediately started talking:
"Mr. Yang is also a respectable person. His son will be embarrassed if he elopes with an opera singer."
"Hey, Second Young Master Yang is still a lover."
"I've heard of Little Hongtao's play. Last year, when Mr. Li celebrated his birthday, he invited Little Hongtao to sing. Liu Er and I carried Mr. Zhang to Li's Mansion, and listened to it for a while. It made people's hearts tingle. If I screamed in bed Get up, just hearing that sound can kill half of a man's life. It's not like my wife, who screams like a pig being killed."
"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 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 could actually read and read newspapers.
Milton pointed at the young man and asked, "Why does he still do this kind of work if he can read?"
The translator sneered and said: "You can tell that you don't study well at first glance. After you finish primary school, you can easily find a living. Even if it doesn't work out, you can also become an apprentice. Many businesses are happy 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 find out through careful inquiry 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 service examination, you must at least graduate from elementary school.
"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 a carriage. Horses are bad horses, and good horses are sent to fight.
"Dang-dang-dang!"
Milton heard the sound of the gong and opened the curtain. He saw an official walking and shouting: "The Golden Building outside the south city was completed yesterday and will be opened to the people on the 15th of this month. Those who like reading are willing to read. Yes, you can go to the Golden Building to read! His Majesty said that there is no charge for reading, so 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 Building was. He immediately jumped off the speeding carriage and ran to ask the official of Honglu Temple 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, but it's a pity that it doesn't exist in the UK, and it doesn't seem to exist in Europe either."
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 read for free. I really hope that one day, the same can be done in Britain."
Everyone was arranged at the feudal embassy, with a dedicated translator responsible for 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 a high-ranking official, but a first-class official. He must master at least two foreign languages. Although he is just an official, he is also considered a cultural person. Naturally, he will not take the envoy to visit Goulan House, but always go straight to the cultural supplies street.
After returning in the evening, Milton took out his quill and wrote in his "Visit to China":
"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 There are 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 people 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. Different rents are set according to 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. There are books and paintings everywhere. For European scholars, this street is a paradise. They must have never dreamed of it..."
"I asked a Chinese official and he said that the best-selling book in China, apart from the ancient Four Books and Five Classics, is the Datong Ji 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 , 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 everything. 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 hated by heaven. He will be overthrown..."
"Everything is people-centered. What is this but 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 is completely obsessed with "Datong Collection" and thinks the Chinese emperor is a revolutionary.
However, after he finished reading "Datong Collection", he probably wouldn't be so happy.
Zhao Han's theory of land distribution conflicts with Milton's democracy. Because it was the landowner's field, and Milton believed that personal property was sacrosanct.
Of course, Milton can also be ignored. He has already decided to translate "Datong Collection" and delete the theory of land division when the time comes.