The literary era since 1979

The next day, Yenching University.

Whether it is the history department, international relations, or other subjects, an extremely similar scene strangely appears in the church.

That is, lecturers and professors almost unanimously recommended this issue of "People's Literature" to their students. Some teachers even required all students to read "The Rise of Great Powers" and randomly select an article from it to write their thoughts after reading it.

"This is considered an assignment, just complete it within this week!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole classroom immediately became lively and the students were talking about it.

"Teacher Fang's "The Rise of Great Powers" has a new one!"

"I knew this yesterday. When I was flipping through People's Literature, I was surprised to find that there was a book called The Rise of Great Powers!"

"No wonder you didn't sleep last night. You stayed up late hiding under the covers with a flashlight. It turned out you were watching 'Rise of the Great Powers'!"

"You are so unkind that you didn't even inform us of this good thing."

"........."

Everyone was chattering and talking at once, while some hurriedly slipped out of the classroom and headed straight for the newsstand near the school.

At this time, there was a long queue in front of the newsstand, all of whom were Yan University students who came to buy "People's Literature", and even a few teachers mixed in.

“The articles on Portugal and Spain are good, but I am more interested in the United States and the United Kingdom.”

"Many of us will definitely go to study in the United States and the United Kingdom in the future. It is a good opportunity for us to learn more about the history of the rise of the United Kingdom and the United States and understand what the societies of the United Kingdom and the United States are like through Mr. Fang's book "The Rise of Great Powers"."

"Yes, especially the United States. I wonder when Mr. Fang will write "The Rise of Great Powers: The United States"?"

"Look at you, you look so mean. When you really go to America someday, you might say that the air there is especially sweet."

"Go away, you've never been to America, so how do you know the air there isn't sweet and fresh?"

Such heated discussions on "The Rise of Great Powers" also occurred in universities of all sizes, such as Renmin University and China Foreign Affairs University.

After all, when the two articles of "The Rise of Great Powers" were published along with "People's Literature", they were quickly reprinted, published and commented on by media outlets across the country, including "Guangming Daily", "Wenyi Bao", "Huaxia Youth Daily", "Yanjing Daily" and "Wenhui Daily".

At this time, a group of students from Shuimu University were either holding newspapers or "People's Literature" and having passionate exchanges on campus.

As Fang Yan moved among the crowd, she could always hear discussions about "The Rise of Great Powers".

"Yanzi, your brother has a new work!"

My roommate is one of the only five girls in the computer department. Although she is a natural science and engineering student, she is also very interested in literature.

"Are you talking about The Rise of Great Powers?"

Fang Yan looked as if she was used to it.

"Oh, so you already knew it."

My roommate blinked.

"hey-hey."

Fang Yan raised her chin and said, she has seen everything you have seen, and she has also seen everything you have not seen. This is what they call "the one who is close to the water gets the moon first"!

"So what will come after the Portugal and Spain chapters?"

My roommate's tone was full of anticipation.

"Next is the Dutch chapter, the British chapter, the German chapter, the American chapter, the Japanese chapter, the Russian chapter, and finally the Chinese chapter."

Fang Yan spoke of them in detail.

"What is the content of the China chapter?!"

My roommate's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Well...well...I haven't seen the rest of it yet. I'll tell you after I finish reading it."

Fang Yan was speechless for a moment. She couldn't say that her brother hadn't finished writing "The Rise of Great Powers: The China Chapter", right?

My roommate said, "I really envy you for having such an amazing brother."

Fang Yan was overjoyed when she heard from her best friend that Shuimu University was planning to invite Fang Yan to give a lecture on the "Rise of Great Powers" at the school.

"They said they wanted to let us open our eyes and see the world." said my roommate in a serious tone.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to wait until my brother returns from Hong Kong."

Fang Yan stopped and looked at another group of senior students who were reading "The Rise of Great Powers".

The chapters on Portugal and Spain in "The Rise of Great Powers" not only discuss separately the history of the two countries' rise based on maritime power and colonial expansion, but also deliberately combine them together for comparison in some places to analyze the differences and similarities between Portugal and Spain's colonial methods.

"The Ottoman blockade broke the European trade system, and trade between the East and the West was interrupted..."

"With the theory of the spherical earth, the lure of gold in the East led more and more seafaring adventurers to set sail. Famous navigators such as Di Gama and Columbus formed a large-scale fleet with the support of the Spanish and Portuguese royal families."

"However, Portugal and Spain, both located on the Iberian Peninsula, took completely different colonial paths."

"While Spain established a vast empire spanning the continent in the Americas, Portugal's main overseas territories were concentrated in Brazil."

"Why are the two countries, which have the same starting point and are extremely close in geographical location, so different?"

"In fact, this has a lot to do with their geographical conditions, choice of navigation routes and colonial models."

"Spain has 4964 kilometers of coastline, and a two-way layout facing the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, which makes its strategy a bit scattered. Catalan sailors are accustomed to using Mediterranean paddle boats, and Andalusians are good at Atlantic sailing ships. This technical division continued until the 16th century... Portugal's coastline is 1595 kilometers, and it all faces west. The 150-kilometer coastline from Lisbon to Cape São Vicente is home to 80% of the country's shipbuilding workshops, and the shipbuilding industry has formed a clustering effect here..."

Fangyan first proposed the "geopolitical environment theory" in "Guns, Viruses, and Steel", and this argument is naturally also included in "The Rise of Great Powers".

"Then why didn't Spain and Portugal, the first countries to enjoy the benefits of the Age of Exploration, quickly become some of the richest countries in Europe through violent plunder, industrialize first? Why did Britain take the lead instead?"

"First, we examine the rise and fall of modern Western countries, such as the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Britain, France, and the United States. The seemingly 'feng shui transformation' of their maritime status is actually a difference in the thinking of 'controlling the sea'."

“Although Spain and Portugal were early maritime hegemons, they still had a land-based mindset.”

"........."

"In addition, one of the main reasons why Spain and Portugal did not use the wealth plundered from colonialism for industrialization was that they used the plundered wealth for the enjoyment of the feudal ruling class rather than for industrial investment and development."

"Compared to Britain, the materials plundered by Spain were mainly American slaves and local gold and silver, and the materials selected were simple primitive products such as minerals, metals, tobacco and crops. For Spain, these primitive materials were mostly used for its own extravagant life."

"........."

In the original version, "The Rise of Great Powers" naturally did not write about the Spanish and Portuguese chapters in such detail as Fangyan did.

"Finally, in 1588, England and Spain fought a war in which the David and Goliath triumphed over the Goliath for maritime supremacy."

"At this time, Spain assembled the most elite naval force in the world at that time, relying on this 'Invincible Fleet' of up to 30,000 people to fight against the British navy of 3,000 people. However, the result that should have been no surprise made everyone dumbfounded."

"Spain, which had a good chance of winning, was defeated by the weaker Britain!"

When Xiao Zi read this, he looked away and couldn't help but sigh: "Well written! It is interesting and vivid without being boring, and it is also profound and thorough with connotations!" "I thought so too."

Pan Yaoming exclaimed in amazement: "This is the first time I've seen a book that writes popular history in such an interesting and profound way."

Xiao Zi cast a longing look at him, "Yanzi, when can you finish writing the next few articles?"

"Well, it's hard to say. I can only guarantee that the first draft will be completed before the end of the year."

Fangyan smacked his lips.

In the original outline of "The Rise of Great Powers", I planned to include various "predictions" about the information age in the "America Chapter" in addition to telling the story of the rise of the United States in the electrical age. Of course, I cannot be too prophetic. After all, being half a step ahead is a genius, and being one step ahead is a madman.

Therefore, in the Russia chapter, it is only speculated that Eastern Europe will undergo major changes in the next two years, but it will not directly point out when Big Brother will die.

Although being a prophet is fun and it feels good all the time, it is better to wait for something like "blowing up the big brother" to happen.

…………

After discussing for a while, everyone finally decided to wait until "The Rise of Great Powers" was completely completed before publishing it.

Especially in the British chapter, Xiao Zi hopes to spend more time to expose how immoral the Great Ying Empire is.

Fangyan readily agreed, and when it was time to get off work, people started leaving Sanlian Bookstore one after another.

After saying goodbye to Xiao Zi, Pan Yaoming and others, he drove back to the Repulse Bay Villa without any obstruction.

As I pushed the door open, the sound of "crackling" mahjong players rubbing hands immediately came into my ears.

At the mahjong table in the living room, Lin Qingxia, Wang Zuxian, Li Zhi and Zhu Lin were sitting in the east, west, south and north winds respectively.

Gong Xing sat next to Zhu Lin, ostensibly as a military advisor, explaining mahjong to Zhu Lin and giving her advice.

In fact, he was secretly the glue that bonded the four of them together. During each round of exciting mahjong, he quietly helped Zhu Lin integrate into the group.

After these days of adaptation and communication, Zhu Lin has undergone visibly changes. Both his spirit and complexion are several times better than before he came to Hong Kong. His face is rosy and shiny, his eyes are bright and hopeful, and clear laughter like silver bells frequently emanates from his mouth.

Of course, all this was not solely the credit of Gong Xing, but also thanks to Lin Qingxia and the other two who were willing to play cards and have fun with Zhu Lin.

Both Ching-Hsia Lam and Joey Wong moved to Hong Kong from Taiwan, so they can speak Mandarin.

Not to mention Li Zhi, who was brought from the mainland by her father and is a real Shanghai girl like Gong Xing.

The four of them cared for Zhu Lin from the bottom of their hearts, and even when playing mahjong, one of them accidentally gave Zhu Lin a cannon.

At this moment, Zhu Lin turned to look at Gong Xian, "I... am I being ridiculous?"

"Of course it's a mistake! And it was a self-touching one!"

Gong Xing was even more excited than Zhu Lin, who won the game, and pushed the mahjong tiles forward.

"Oh my, Zhu Lin is so lucky!"

Wang Zuxian took out a stack of Hong Kong dollars from the drawer.

"Xiaoxiang said that mahjong has a protection period for novices. I didn't believe it at first, but now I completely believe it!"

Lin Qingxia couldn't help but shake her head and laugh.

When Li Zhi obediently gave the money, she immediately noticed Fang Yan who was standing not far away. She saw him staring at them with a smile.

"Teacher Fang!"

She stood up from her chair all of a sudden, her attention focused on him.

"Yanzi, are you back?"

Gong Xing and Zhu Lin called him "Yan Zi", while Lin Qingxia and Wang Zuxian called him "Yan Zai". Except for the different names, they were almost in unison.

Fangyan greeted him with a smile, then asked, "How was the fight?"

Li Zhi sighed quietly, "Ah, I'm really sorry for not letting Sister Zhu Lin use her full strength."

"Hong Kong Mahjong?"

Fangyan glanced at the table and couldn't help being surprised. Sichuan Mahjong and Hong Kong Mahjong were very different.

Although the former has relatively fewer types of fan, it is more difficult. The common fan types are only Qingyi Se, Long Qi Pairs, etc. The gameplay is complicated and requires long-term practice to master. The latter has a richer fan type, as many as 54, such as Qingyi Se, Seven Pairs and other common combinations, and you need to reach a certain number of fan to win, which requires you to be proficient in basic fan types in order to respond flexibly.

"Yes, we can't beat Zhu Lin in Sichuan Mahjong."

Lin Qingxia said, "I thought we could beat her in a few games of Hong Kong Mahjong, which we are good at, but I didn't expect to lose even more miserably."

Seeing that Wang Zuxian, Li Zhi and others were praising her for her good mahjong skills, Zhu Lin felt warm in her heart and her cheeks turned slightly red.

"I... I was just lucky, and it was also thanks to Gong Xian's advice..."

"Don't be so modest."

Wang Zuxian put his arm around her shoulder. Although they had only been together for less than half a month, the relationship between the five girls had made rapid progress and they were very close.

Lin Qingxia smiled and said, "By the way, Yanzi, do you want to play with us? We want to play Sichuan Mahjong this time."

"Yes, yes. Although Sichuan Mahjong doesn't have that many types of games, it's really exciting and fun."

Wang Zuxian agrees very much, "Especially the 'fight to the end' gameplay!"

The dialect is not surprising. The so-called "fight to the end" way of playing is that after one player wins, the other three players continue to play until three players win or all the cards on the table are touched. This makes the whole process of playing Sichuan Mahjong seem particularly tense and exciting.

"Teacher Fang, how about you take my place?"

Li Zhi stared at him intently.

"No, no, I have a manuscript to finish, so I have to go to the study to retreat."

Fang Yan waved his hand and said, "Just continue to have fun."

"Fang Da is really a hard-working writer. He should pay attention to the balance between work and rest occasionally."

Wang Zuxian spoke with concern in a joking tone.

"sure."

Fangyan smiled.

"I asked Aunt Wu to prepare some midnight snacks for everyone and will send them to you later."

Seeing him nod, Gong Xing mentioned the internal preview of "Chinese Hero" sent by Yongsheng Company.

"Go! You must go! Even if it's not for Xiang Huaqiang and Xiang Huasheng's sake, you have to do it for Li Zhi's sake, right?"

Fang Yan smiled and said, "Besides, the idea of ​​this movie was originally mine, so I have to support Rong Cheng and the others!" (End of this chapter)