Chapter 67, Nanhai Railway Travel (7)
As a time traveler with integrity, ambition, and ideals, Yu Guozhen has been filled with the ambition to save the country and the people, and save China's destiny since he came to this time and space. Although he was severely hit by the dark and cruel social reality and the bad relatives who killed each other in the early stage, he still had a strong understanding of these before coming into contact with the real Donglin Party, a political group of Jiangnan scholar-bureaucrats who had long controlled the world's public opinion and dominated the court in the late Ming Dynasty. " Gentlemen" hold a trace of fantasy - although these guys have fierce internal party conflicts and their bones are a bit soft, but in that dark world of stagnant water, this Donglin Party should be at least as good as the revolutionary party in the late Qing Dynasty, and at least there is some progress. Breathe it.
Then, after thoroughly seeing the true face of the Donglin Party, Yu Guozhen finally despaired of the prospects of the Ming Empire.
He originally thought that his road to success was bloody and dirty enough, but who would have thought that this group of Donglin gentlemen, who usually spoke of benevolence, justice and morality, actually did something even more despicable - what use? Natural disaster steak He would build river embankments and submerge other people's fertile fields, and then collect money and grain from the poor people on the pretext of providing relief. At the same time, he would privately buy the fields of these disaster-stricken people, and even turn other people's wives and daughters into his crotch playthings. La. Under the guise of building bridges and paving roads, renovating temples, setting up charity schools, etc., they levy exorbitant amounts of money, enrich their own pockets, and earn a good reputation even if they don't use a cent of their own money. What kind of long-term secret manipulation of the imperial examination, pre-determining the list of Jinshi as a "civilian", buying and selling the quota of scholars and candidates, and not being able to win the examination unless the Donglin boss nods, treating the emperor and the court like monkeys, blocking the advancement of poor scholars The road is on! They brag all day long, saying that scholar-bureaucrats and gentlemen are the cornerstone of the country and the model of moral sentiments. In fact, the bottom of every family is full of shit, urine, blood and tears.
Of course, these hypocritical words and deeds of Donglin Party members are nothing. After all, politicians all over the world are so duplicitous.
On the other hand, the corruption of Donglin Party officials is not the most disgusting problem. Although the politics of backward feudal countries are rotten, the politics of early capitalist countries are also corrupt and smelly - the army of the British Empire Until the 19th century, officials were still selling their jobs. Officials and school officials were all "donated classes" bought by wealthy people. They relied on reselling materials, robbery and extortion on the battlefield to make money and make a fortune. However, they still fought against invincible enemies all over the world. During the Opium War, only After mobilizing thousands of people, they went to the other side of the world and beat the Qing Dynasty until they could no longer take care of themselves. The modern Japanese imperial government has been extremely corrupt since the Meiji Restoration. It is not uncommon for high-ranking officials and dignitaries to directly collude with the chaebols to carve up state-owned assets. However, it still defeated the two great powers of China and Russia on the battlefield, and for a time dominated the East, almost completing the previous tasks. The miracle of snake swallowing elephant.
And the cruel exploitation of ordinary people by these gentry is not a cause for despair - in the Victorian era, when the British Empire was at its peak, the lives of British workers were still unimaginably miserable. Textile workers usually died within three years of entering the factory. They will be exhausted to death. Apart from tens of thousands of manor houses for gentlemen and ladies and hundreds of thousands of apartments for decent people, the whole of Britain is a huge slum; the average life span of the working class is only fifteen years old... "...British industrial Power comes only from brutal treatment workers, by destroying the health of workers, by neglecting the social relations, physical and spiritual development of entire generations of people..." (Engels) Then, in the era when the old Japanese Empire was at its sharpest, The living standards of ordinary people are also extremely miserable, not even as good as those of the Chinese during the troubled times of the Republic of China. Girls from entire villages were sold overseas as prostitutes... But all this cruel exploitation and miserable conditions did not prevent them from becoming one of the great powers and achieving great success. A great and glorious empire.
From the perspective of history and social development, the real problem of the Donglin Party members in the late Ming Dynasty is that they are extremely selfish and arrogant to the point of being stubborn - only one of them is not a problem, but when the two are superimposed, , the Donglin Party has become an extremist organization similar to the Arab fundamentalist terrorists in the Middle East in later generations, or the experts of the square movement in Ukraine and the neo-Nazi violent groups. It has done far more damage to the entire civilization than it has advanced, and no improvement can be seen. and the possibility of evolution. If coupled with the unrepentant habit of valuing literature over martial arts... it would be a complete suicide attempt.
First of all, as a political group composed of Jiangnan scholar-bureaucrats, the Donglin Party represented the interests of Jiangsu and Zhejiang merchants and landlords at that time. They took advantage of the opportunity when Emperor Chongzhen eliminated Wei Zhongxian's influence to significantly cancel or reduce overseas trade taxes and mining taxes in the Jiangnan region. , salt tax, tea tax and other taxes The government's financial losses in the late Ming Dynasty were on the verge of collapse, and financial expenses were almost entirely allocated to the already overwhelmed farmers. In addition, various natural disasters continued at that time, which caused the bankruptcy and exile of a large number of farmers in the north, which directly led to the violent epidemic that swept through the Central Plains. The great peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty.
To put it simply, a group of rich people refused to pay taxes and pushed all taxes onto the poor, directly forcing the poor to rebel, leading to the end of the country.
There is no way, no matter how nice the slogans are, how much they claim to be "upright, honest, and unyielding", but in terms of class composition, the backstage sponsors of the Donglin Party are a large group of wealthy people who refuse to pay taxes. Its main political goal is to prevent the rich from paying taxes and to allow the poor to Death, even if some upright people cannot understand this kind of thing, but they are controlled by the forces behind them, and they have to ignore their conscience and tell lies with their eyes open - just like the politicians in the United States of America do not care how beautiful they say during the election campaign. It's awesome, and it's hard to disobey the wishes of the big consortium behind you after taking office.
Secondly, under such severe class oppression, the entire Chinese society in the late Ming Dynasty has long been turned into a sizzling powder keg. The correct response is either to reduce the burden on the people and give the people a way to survive; The strategy of repression, while carrying out bloody bombings in the country, Suppress popular resistance while launching foreign wars to divert social conflicts: No matter how hard a country tries to save its troops, as long as it continues to win foreign wars, the people's cohesion will be more or less strong, and the regime's support will also be Barely within acceptable limits.
In fact, the Japanese chaebols in modern times were also extremely extravagant, but they imposed exorbitant taxes on the poor people, forcing the Japanese people to live in poverty. However, they still knew that they should advocate force and rely on militarism to suppress domestic and expand overseas. Transfer conflicts. However, the Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty was actually a well-known expert in seeking death in history. They extorted excessive taxes and forced the people to have no way to survive. At the same time, they are trying their best to suppress the status of military personnel, desperately weakening the combat effectiveness of the army, tarnishing the reputation of soldiers, and maintaining the pattern of nobles and military officials. Any proposal to improve the treatment of military personnel and increase the combat effectiveness of the army will be met with madness by the Donglin Party and the entire landlord class. Suppression, let alone launching a war of aggression to deflect social conflicts.
Even slave owners in ancient Rome knew that they needed to have a group of tough thugs and overseers to drive their slaves to work, but the Donglin Party refused to acknowledge this truth. Imagine if the Japanese army during World War II was like the imperial army in the late Ming Dynasty. Ordnance and ammunition were sold off, soldiers starved to death in camps, rifles and artillery were all rubbish that exploded as soon as they were fired, and the navy fleet was It was a piece of junk that sank as soon as it went to sea. When soldiers went to war, they had to rob homes and houses to collect military rations. When they returned home, they had to "enjoy" untouchable treatment and all kinds of discrimination... Then it is estimated that Zhang Xueliang and his younger brother can parade in Tokyo.
Third, Yu Guozhen, a time traveler, had high expectations for the "Western Learning craze" that emerged among scholar-officials in the late Ming Dynasty, believing it to be a progressive manifestation of "opening one's eyes to the world." As a result, when he actually talked with a few "late Ming Christians" and "Western learning enthusiasts", he was immediately disappointed - although the Westernizationists in the late Qing Dynasty had many problems, at least they still had the ability to "learn from the foreigners and develop skills to control the foreigners" The significance of progress and the simple enthusiasm to save and strengthen the country, then the so-called "spread of Western learning to the east" that appeared in China at the end of the Ming Dynasty was really just a recreational plaything for the scholar-bureaucrats when they were full and had nothing to do.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, facing the rapidly changing world after the Industrial Revolution and the reality of the country being opened by bombs, some scholar-officials had to reluctantly admit the power of the Westerners and began to learn from them. In China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Westerners were not so powerful in the far east, and the technological levels between the East and the West were not far apart. The Ming Dynasty scholar-bureaucrats did not think that they were advanced in any way
The reason why Western learning became popular at the end of the Ming Dynasty was because at that time the wealth and power of the entire society had been divided up, and social classes had been solidified. Those dandy sons of wealthy gentry families can live comfortably by relying on their ancestral property. A considerable number of them are naturally keen on fame and official career, but there are also many who are not qualified to be officials, so they focus on various pastimes. ——Those who are more traditional are naturally obsessed with poetry. Those who are more dissolute want to achieve fame in the literary world; those who are more dissolute spend all day wandering in the flower streets and willow alleys, indulging in the gentle countryside; those who are fond of fantasy go to practice Taoism and alchemy, chant sutras and meditate, and buy lolita for double cultivation; finally, some scholar-bureaucrats who like the latest trends , will delve into various Western studies and miscellaneous studies. Just as modern wealthy people compare themselves with each other in luxury homes, luxury cars, yachts, private jets and horse racing; and in the British Empire at its peak in the Victorian era, there were many alternative British aristocrats who had no intention of pursuing an official career and took overseas adventures as their main occupation—— There was a time when being an adventurer was a fashionable thing for British aristocrats, and it was easy to become the darling of London's high society.
But precisely because they only regard these Western learning as personal interests and pastimes, rather than as a truly useful way to seek official positions, make money, enrich the country and strengthen the military, those scholar-bureaucrats in the late Ming Dynasty who were able to accept Western learning generally had a "three-minute enthusiasm". Lack of enthusiasm and plan to apply what they have learned. Although Xu Guangqi promoted overseas crops and Sun Yuanhua experimented with Western-style cannon casting, they still remained at the level of personal behavior and had minimal impact on society.
Finally, and the most despairing thing is that most of these Donglin gentlemen are stubborn in their thinking and refuse to change in any way - unless a knife is held to their necks. Otherwise, no matter whether these scholars are reading stupidly or not, at least when it comes to asking others, they will only cling to Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism as a sage (of course they basically do not abide by it). In short, anything that is not in line with the maximization of interests and traditional concepts of the landlord class and the gentry class will be regarded as "treason", and they are not even willing to take a look, let alone learn and think about these evil ways.
At several gatherings of Donglin scholars, Yu Guozhen once tried to put forward some suggestions, such as carrying out capitalist farm management on the farm to increase production, and not just leasing the fields to tenants for the sake of peace of mind, without paying attention to water conservancy and breeding. Wenbuwen... and developing a variety of specialty businesses, etc., have tried their best to use inducements to get them interested in new knowledge. Unexpectedly, he was extremely despised by the officials and dandies of the Donglin Party, who thought that he was vulgar, illiterate and ignorant, and he actually said such "vile and dirty things" to noble scholars like them. Even Yu Guozhen, who personally handles the cultivation of freshwater pearls, was ridiculed, saying that he was willing to humble himself and steal the work of his subordinates...
In this regard, Yu Guozhen spent a lot of energy to finally understand the extremely twisted mentality of these guys: on the one hand, they were greedy for wealth, on the other hand, they did not bother to run any industry, and only thought about how to use their power to seize the rich. Pick. They all hold a disdainful attitude towards all production activities from agriculture to handicrafts, thinking that these are things done by inferior people, and they, the noble scholars, only need to be responsible for enjoyment and squandering. The only correct way to "make progress" recognized by these "proud men of heaven" is that "you can become an official by studying, and you can get fame even if you don't become an official, thereby gaining privileges and wealth." Other than that, all their thoughts and opinions are ignored by them. Ignore and disdain. You talk to him about the investigation of things, and he talks about the truth with you; you talk about the philosophy with him, and you talk about philosophy with you; you talk about philosophy with him, and he talks about moral integrity with you... In short, it is doomed to have a conversation with someone who sits on a crooked buttocks. It will not work, and we must be uncompromising with spiritual terrorists as well. Bullets and butcher knives are the only means of communication they understand.
In fact, the Donglin Party, or to be precise, the feudal landlord and gentry group in the south of the Yangtze River with the Donglin Party as its political representative, except at the fateful moment in the late Ming Dynasty, pushed the destiny of the nation into the abyss, even in the Qing Dynasty. Still relentlessly disgusting. For example, although many of the reforms of Emperor Yongzheng were aimed at maintaining the dominance of the Qing Dynasty, they also benefited the common people to a certain extent. For example, they required the gentry to bear some taxes and allocate some servants, thereby reducing the burden on the common people at the bottom. . As a result, this diligent emperor, who was not cruel enough, became an unprecedentedly vicious tyrant in the mouths of these stingy men who controlled public opinion... If it were in the Ming Dynasty, he would probably be planning how to kill the king and dethrone the emperor!
Therefore, Yu Guozhen quickly concluded in despair that the ruling class in the late Ming Dynasty had completely lost the possibility of reform and progress. The seemingly famous Donglin Party was actually the most decadent and conservative group of people, and was even one of the direct driving forces behind the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. Those so-called pure gentlemen are basically scum among scum. Their bottom line is lower than that of beasts. However, until new ideas with more combat effectiveness enter China, their status cannot be shaken, and they can only rely on external force. Completely smash this desperate old world, use the courage and strength to create a sea of blood, Only in this way can we destroy those things that are inferior to animals and give this country and nation the possibility of rebirth. Fortunately, in this overly busy time and space, the forces that can smash the old world, except for the barbaric Manchu and Qing Tatars In addition, there are also travelers from all over the world...
Therefore, when Qian Qianyi proposed the "threat theory of the robber thieves" and the "rebellion theory of the Funing Army" at the Donglin Party in West Lake, Hangzhou, Yu Guozhen, who had completely despaired of the Donglin Party and the Ming Dynasty, took advantage of the situation and joined the party. Lingnan Observing the "investigation team" of "beauties" - although in his opinion, this is just a group of dandy young people who want to find a reason to spend their parents' money to travel far away, eat, drink, have fun and see the scenery and gain experience.
Then, while everyone else was intoxicated in the Ziming Building in Guangzhou, enjoying the exotic customs of bunny girls and cat-eared girls, Yu Guozhen was collecting various information about the Hainan Island Crossing Group, and soon felt that this group was closely related to the current situation. Vigorous and incompatible with the times - it is obvious that the basis of this group's rule is liberated tenant farmers, soldiers, craftsmen, slaves, and the persecuted bottom small and medium-sized landowners. At the same time, they tried their best to expand the area of education and cultivate their own new cadre team to replace the traditional gentry who were unreliable, stubborn and ignorant...
So, when the "Donglin Party Tour Group" finally set foot on Hainan Island, they saw a brand-new society that they could not understand, and found that the "Sage's Way" and "The Supreme Principle of Heaven and Earth" they had learned had no bearing on this strange place on Hainan Island. It is completely meaningless for the organization of the country. This regime has no When acknowledging the various privileges enjoyed by these "proud sons of heaven" and the landlord class they represent, but not acknowledging that the core basis of their rule is the inferior people they looked down on before... even if they originally had no regard for "Australians" Too many hostile scholars became hysterical.
As for the local Ming Dynasty scholars on the island who originally lived under the rule of the thieves, they have been hysterical for several years.
Of course, hysteria is hysteria, but at best it's just a few curses behind the back. After all, they are all traditional literati, and they are only responsible for spitting. As for knocking down the thieves and sending them to death, there will naturally be ignorant cannon fodder, no, it is the loyal and brave men who do it...
In addition, if the price offered by the Australian Bandits is right, most scholars actually don't mind selling themselves and joining the Bandits. Ever since the Bandits' navy swept across the Pearl River and bombarded Guangzhou and made a name for themselves on the ground in Lingnan, they have come to join the Bandits in various ways. The frustrated poor boy and the talented scholar appear in waves like mushrooms after the rain. The problem is that there are too few of these people who sincerely ask for a job, and there are too many who daydream about reaching the sky in one step... As a result, after getting frustrated, they can only go home and eat old rice while continuing to sulk hysterically. .
However, no matter what thoughts are running in the granite heads of these great Ming scholars, Yu Guozhen has no intention of continuing to associate with them anyway. When Yu Guozhen came into close contact with a large amount of information about the Hainan Island Crossing Group in Guangzhou, he initially After determining their nature, goals and style, we have plans to contact and cooperate with them.
After he followed the team to Lingao, he saw the modern landing ship with the five-star red flag on the sea, the giant airships flying past with the "August 1st" badge in the sky, and the military cars and camouflage uniforms scattered on the streets. , Yu Guozhen is even more determined to hold on to his thigh - there is probably a time and space gate connecting the modern world of the 21st century here!
So, Yu Guozhen found an opportunity, sneaked out of the team, found a People's Liberation Army soldier who was chewing gum and playing with his mobile phone, and managed to reveal his identity as a time traveler. He was then searched by the doubtful People's Liberation Army soldiers and sent to Bairen City to be accepted by Lingao. The interrogation of the time traveler Senate... However, Although his identity was quickly recognized, it seemed that he was not taken seriously. Yu Guozhen was actually asked to go to Sanya to report on his own, and he was also assigned a task to bring the "Donglin Tour Group" with him. There is someone near Sanya Station who is responsible for connecting with him...
Fortunately, just when Yu Guozhen was worrying about how to trick everyone into going to Sanya, Fang Yizhi, the leader, had already offered to find out the true identity of the "Australian Emperor" in Sanya... Yu Guozhen was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly said, I fully agreed with Fang Yizhi’s feat of “going deep into the tiger’s den”, so he took this trip to Sanya, which was equivalent to throwing himself into a trap...
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"...Woo-woo--clang, clang, clang..."
Accompanied by the sharp whistle and white steam gushing out, the bus that had been driving for a day finally stopped slowly at its terminal, Sanya New Town. Looking up, I saw that the setting sun at dusk had almost fallen to the ground, and half of the sky to the west was filled with colorful flaming clouds.
Then, as soon as the steam train stopped, passengers carrying various large and small bags, boxes and baskets moved their sore legs and feet and poured out of the carriage in a noisy manner. Fang Yizhi and several Donglin scholars covered their heads and faces with their sleeves and finally squeezed out from the sweaty and smelly crowd. Then he met the servants in the second-class and third-class carriages on the platform, counted the heads and luggage, and then walked out of the station.
Then, as soon as they walked out of the station gate, through the twilight of dusk, they saw something vague in the distant sky. It was spitting out shining orange-red flames, roaring straight into the sky. After a long time, After a while, it disappeared among the clouds and sunset...
"...Tsk, tsk, it's not even dark yet, why have the Australians started setting off fireworks? What a waste of money..."
A Donglin scholar was slightly stunned at first, then smacked his lips in disdain, shook his head and said disdainfully, and others also agreed. Only Yu Guozhen had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but he only had a vague intuition, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.
——What they don’t know is that the “fireworks” just now were actually a launch vehicle heading straight into the satellite orbit...
Since setting up a base in Sanya, Hainan Island in this time and space, the "relevant departments" have begun to use the newly arrived Doraemon magical props [mini communication satellites] to deploy a global satellite communication system to the world in order to facilitate the scattered The forces of travelers on various continents are connected. At the same time, there were two [Space Lifeboats] carrying travelers from the Far East Fleet of the Chinese American Republic and the East Coast Republic, each carrying a set of satellite communication equipment and central red-headed documents, and landed on the coasts of New York and Uruguay in this time and space. It brought a huge shock to the traveling forces in the New World.
At the same time, accompanied by the four members of the Ming family and the little girl Jin Lingxue, Liu Dalin, the first Jinshi in Lingao County, Hainan Island in the Ming Dynasty, the headmaster of Molixuan Academy, was also leaning on a cane, some He walked out of the station tremblingly.
Then, amidst the hustle and bustle of people, he began to squint at Sanya at dusk: the strange tall buildings standing like a jungle around the station square, the bustling shops with flashing colored lights, and the vendors with the smell of food wafting not far away. Tall cranes on the pier and mountains of cargo of all kinds, port The ships gathered here felt both familiar and strange at the same time - he remembered that when he was young, he had traveled throughout Qiongzhou with a sword, and came here by chance. He clearly remembered that this place only had grass and sandy beaches, and overgrown trees. There is no human habitation in the mangrove forest for more than ten miles, and not even a small fishing boat can be seen in the harbor. I didn’t expect it, but now it has turned into this prosperous look!
After the fall of the Song Dynasty, these "Australians" who refused to submit to the Tartars and sailed out to sea were really capable of uncanny craftsmanship!
Well, maybe it would be much better for the common people in the world to let them rule the world instead of the old Zhu family?
While Liu Dalin was frowning and thinking hard, an open-top electric sightseeing car had already driven up to him. Before the old Jinshi could come to his senses, the little lolita Jin Lingxue was already carrying a heavy luggage bag and quickly jumped up to occupy a seat. Then she turned back and waved to him, "...Grandpa Liu , come up quickly! If you don’t hurry up, it’s going to be dark!”
Therefore, Liu Dalin, a Jinshi of the Ming Dynasty, smiled with relief, no longer thought about anything, and just walked onto the car with a cane. On the other side, Yu Guozhen watched with envy as the group of people got on the open-top electric sightseeing car one after another, and then disappeared away... Didn't we already agree in Lingao that there would be someone at the station gate to take care of them? Where is the guy who came to meet him now?