SWDnovel Chapter 69 "Everything is doomed"
Chapter 69 "Everything is doomed"
Chapter 69 "Everything is doomed"
As Irving listened to Zheng Fuguang's introduction, he was once again deeply shaken.
Now that I have direct knowledge of the East, without relying on legends and imagination, I have indeed gained something extraordinary.
After digesting this information for a while, Irving continued to ask, "So—what do these workers do with the rest of the time if they only need to work for half a day?"
"I remember the Han Dynasty strictly prohibited the use of opium?"
Zheng Fuguang was quite helpless about this kind of problem, not understanding why these Westerners always cared about these things: "Most of them are just having fun, singing, dancing, drinking tea, chatting, listening to stories, fighting, playing football, etc. They do all sorts of things, and no one specifically manages them."
"If they want, they can go to school and learn to read and write."
"The Institute of Gewu will arrange scholars to be teachers so that the workers can read and learn to read in their spare time."
"After learning a few hundred commonly used Chinese characters, you will have the opportunity to become a grassroots militia officer."
"Once you have read enough books and are able to write your own articles, you can then take the imperial examinations."
"After passing the exam and obtaining official rank, one can become a formal official."
"Of course, you can also learn practical skills and work as a technician in a factory for a long time."
"If skilled workers are highly qualified and pass some specialized assessments, they can enter the Institute of Geography."
The practice of using examinations to select officials in China had already spread to Europe over a century ago, and it was highly regarded by European intellectuals and scholars.
In European history, "scientists" did not have a high social status before the modern era, similar to scholars and artists in the East before the emergence of the imperial examination system.
Of course, some of these people genuinely enjoy studying "science".
However, many of them originally hoped to gain social status and political power, but they simply did not have a better way to achieve it.
The only way to gain the approval of the king and lords is to demonstrate scientific abilities.
However, even if they gained recognition, they often only achieved an appreciative status, no different in essence from painters and craftsmen, and could not directly obtain political power.
In their view, Eastern scholars do not need to curry favor with the powerful and wealthy; they can directly obtain social status and political power simply through ability assessments and competitions, which is the most ideal social system.
Even after the advent of electoral politics in modern times, a large number of scholars still believe that the imperial examination system was the best.
In the past, engaging in academic research was about pleasing the monarch; now, engaging in electoral politics is about pleasing the people.
Only the imperial examination was a pure test of ability.
Of course, the idea that the imperial examination system in the East only required ability was just their idealized imagination, much like how many people today think that Europe and America lacked interpersonal skills and were completely bureaucratic.
However, many details of modern Han society are things they could never have imagined.
After Zheng Fuguang's words were translated, the surrounding engineers started whispering among themselves: "The Han government is actually encouraging workers to study?"
"The key question is, after acquiring knowledge, can one become a government official? Or a member of the Royal Society?"
"How can a worker become an official directly?"
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"Wait, the secretary said that literacy is required to serve as a junior officer?"
"So, are all the officers in the Han Dynasty literate?"
"Were the officials, military officers, and scholars of the Han Dynasty all selected from among the workers?"
"The workers of the Han Dynasty are not our workers, how can they be the same? —"
"Is all of this true? If it is, what do we do? How do we set up a factory?"
Listening to the questions conveyed by the translator, Zheng Fuguang continued to explain with a sense of helplessness: "First of all, not all junior officers are literate at present."
"Therefore, as long as you can master commonly used Chinese characters, you have a high chance of becoming a military officer."
"The workers are not full-time employees; they are all members of the militia garrison and are essentially soldiers."
"They can also go to school and study in the militia garrison, and participate in the imperial examinations directly, without having to go to the factory gates. The Han Dynasty also has citizens, residents living in the cities, who can also study, participate in the imperial examinations, or join the army."
"Therefore, not all officials, military officers, and scholars are from working-class or military backgrounds."
"All I can say is that most of them are from the militia garrison."
After Zheng Fuguang finished explaining, the surrounding discussion grew louder, even becoming somewhat noisy.
Zheng Fuguang frowned slightly at the sight, thinking to himself with disdain: "Do you have to be so surprised? These barbarians really have no knowledge."
Owen sighed deeply, then bowed to Zheng Fuguang and thanked him: "Thank you for answering my questions. This information has filled in the gaps in my understanding of Han society."
"However, I have some other questions."
"How many of the civil officials in the Han Dynasty were of noble birth?"
"Do members of the Han Dynasty royal family and nobles also need to take exams to become government officials?"
Zheng Fuguang felt that this question was somewhat sensitive, but it was not something that could not be said: "The civil officials have no noble titles; they are all commoners."
"Of course, the common people include ordinary people, as well as the children of middle and lower-ranking officials without titles."
"However, they all started from the same point, all becoming officials through the imperial examination."
"As for members of the imperial family and those of noble birth, they can only serve as military officers."
"Only a few top nobles can inherit their positions directly without examination; we call this hereditary succession."
"But they can only inherit the title, not the actual power, and cannot directly hold office."
"To enlist in the military normally, promotion will be based on actual merit."
"Of course, noble families have a great advantage in education, and they will have a higher starting point, without having to start as ordinary soldiers."
"More than a third of the senior military officers come from noble families."
Other ordinary nobles need to pass a basic ability test in order to inherit their father's title; otherwise, they will inherit a lower rank each generation.
"If they are to assume actual official positions, they must all start from the ranks of junior officers."
Zheng Fuguang's words were perfectly reasonable, and the translator from the Court of State Ceremonial was translating sentence by sentence in a normal manner.
Owen and other top European craftsmen and scholars listened with astonishment and longing.
This caused the discussion and noise at the scene to become even louder.
"All civil servants were commoners! Why doesn't Europe have such a system?"
"Nobles are not even allowed to serve as civil officials!"
"Even nobles have to take exams! European nobility is all inherited!"
"They can only inherit the status, not the power!"
"If nobles lack ability, they should be demoted! This will eliminate those useless noble sons!"
"Putting aside the nobility and all that, let's first think about what we're here for? What about our investments? —"
Irving, in particular, nodded very seriously after listening to the translation: "Thank you for your explanation, I basically understand."
"Although the Han Dynasty's system was not perfect, the nobility still had a great advantage."
"But it is precisely because of this imperfection that it feels more real."
"For us, the Great Han is no longer a fantasy we learn about through books, but a real world."
"There is no perfect world or system, but the Han Dynasty is already the best."
Zheng Fuguang smiled politely and remained silent, not wanting to comment further; he didn't think these things needed any evaluation.
Barbarians are barbarians; they make a fuss over these basic systems.
Irving didn't continue speaking, lost in thought as he contemplated life in this kind of society.
Most of the other people around were either thinking about similar things alone or discussing them in small groups.
However, some people are very realistic and immediately start to worry about their business operations.
For example, Stephenson, while at sea, discovered that the Han trains were far superior to those of Britain, and became despondent because of his worries about the future.
Upon learning that the Dahan Railway used steel rails, his spirits were lifted again.
However, after hearing about the methods used by the Han Dynasty to build railways, factories, and mines, as well as the living conditions of the Han workers, they were once again filled with astonishment and confusion.
The common people of the Han Dynasty were all the emperor's "knights," so they could take turns serving the emperor.
If I were to open my own factory, how would I recruit workers?
What conditions should I offer my workers? Should I offer the same conditions as the emperor?
Everyone works only six hours a day? And for a maximum of three months?
The key question is, are they really going to teach them to read and write? Are they waiting for them to take exams? Could they become government officials at any time? Or even officials who directly manage them?
How do you manage these workers? Will they obey your requests?
Unless they only need one string of cash to work for him, and the Imperial Academy of the Great Han Dynasty (the Institute of Gewu) will arrange for someone to teach them to read, he simply has no way to run the business.
Would the Han Dynasty court and the Royal Society possibly do such a thing?
The emperor of the Han Dynasty could not possibly be unaware that the country he ruled was in this state.
If that's the case, why did he still invite me to build a factory? Was it a well-thought-out plan or just a casual remark?
The emperor may have just said it casually, but the British took it seriously.
The consequences of attracting a flood of British merchants and engineers to invest would be unimaginable.
This time it's not just me, but all the engineers and businessmen on this trip. Their total investment of tens of millions of pounds could be wiped out!
If such a disastrous outcome does occur, Britain may very well face another massive wave of factory closures, bank failures, and market depression, just as it did ten years ago.
After their initial excitement subsided, the other engineers gradually realized more practical problems and began to have similar concerns as Stephenson: how could they survive in such a society?
The methods he used in Britain were probably completely useless; these burly workers were citizens with land and status, not homeless people who could starve to death at any moment.
The key point is that they could become military officers and civilian officials at any time.
If the Han emperor hadn't made the necessary preparations, his group would have been doomed this time, and the British market would have collapsed once again.