The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 712 Macartney in Nanjing

Mozibu did not meet with Macartney and the members of the delegation immediately. Instead, after a brief appearance at the welcome banquet, he selected a rough date and allowed the members of the English delegation to move freely.

This is because for an avid Chinese culture enthusiast like Macartney, no matter how much you tell him, it will not be as influential as what he sees himself.

Contrary to our inherent impression in history books that this person was a pioneer of imperialism attempting to open up the Chinese market, Macartney was actually a very interesting person, or rather, his growth experience was very interesting.

From his youth, Macartney grew up in an environment filled with all kinds of praise for China, such as:
''China is the oldest, largest, most beautiful, most populous and best governed country in the world.''

"If there ever was a country where the life, reputation, and property of the people were protected by law, it was the Chinese Empire."

"As for China, as soon as I hear about its laws, I am forced to say that China is the most just and benevolent nation in the world."

"In China, even servants have high morals, even more so than our European nobles."

Such comments are something that even China in its best times would find difficult to bear, and are completely exaggerated.

Moreover, this kind of evaluation was not just the rambling of an ordinary person, but came from the mouth of a top European scholar like Voltaire.

Of course, when later generations of Chinese people heard this kind of flattery, they would understand what was going on. This was completely the flattery of Yilin and readers, and it was like a great scholar's debate.

Of course, the reason why Voltaire and others praised China so much was certainly not because they loved China too much or were playing Volaf, but because Europe at that time was facing many problems of continued reform and could not find a anchoring target.

Because looking around, European Enlightenment scholars could not find an existing civilization to verify the world they described. If you want countries to become civilized, you must have a reference, even if it is superficial.

So after receiving a large number of Chinese books brought to Europe by missionaries, these Western scholars who absorbed nutrition from the books all began to praise China, and by the way, the Chinese style began to blow strongly for most of the eighteenth century.

However, these great scholars know what is going on. Even if China is indeed a highland of civilization, it cannot be as perfect as they say.

But the people below, even many children of nobles, simply couldn’t figure it out!

Macartney was one of them. He grew up reading endless articles praising China and heard nothing but exaggerated praise, which planted the seed of his extreme yearning for China in his heart.

This yearning was actually the biggest motivation for him to make an urgent trip to China. Otherwise, Macartney, who did not even want to be the Governor-General of India in history, would not have volunteered to serve as an envoy.

Of course, there are far more Europeans coming to China in recent years than during the Qing Dynasty, and the information they have sent back shows that China is not so perfect either.

But Macartney still wanted to see it for himself. He didn't believe that the education he had received since childhood was completely fictitious.

This kind of plot is like when people grow up and miss their first love, the white moonlight. That kind of hazy beauty will not be easily broken, but if it is broken, it is easy to go to the other extreme.

Historically, when Macartney came to the Qing Dynasty, he was directly overwhelmed by the current situation.

He saw that his idol, the Chinese civilization, which was said to be the most moral in the world, had turned into a pale and skinny man with a ridiculously long braid, a numb walking corpse, or even a beggar. The strong stimulation shattered all his fantasies.

To be fair, when Macartney arrived in China, that is, at the end of the Qianlong period, China had not yet reached such a terrible state.

At least they are no better off than the poor in England, and even slightly better off than the poor in Jiangnan and Lingnan of the Qing Dynasty.

But Macartney just couldn't accept it. He was completely broken down and wrote many exaggerated evaluations. One could even feel his extreme frustration after his dream was shattered between the lines.

In this time and space, I don’t know whether Dayu can make up for Macartney’s broken heart in history.

In Nanjing City, Macartney, his deputy envoy Baron Staunton, surgical expert William and others were strolling on the street.

As the capital of Dayu, Nanjing Yingtianfu is very beautiful and prosperous.

Although there were two capitals at that time, the emperor spent much more time in Nanjing than in Beijing, and the economic and cultural strength of Jiangnan was far beyond the reach of Beijing.

This made Nanjing the political and technological center of the country, with an open and positive atmosphere.

Beijing, on the other hand, focuses more on education, religion, ethnicity and other issues. The overall atmosphere is conservative and a bit rough.

"The emperor is very confident in the country he rules!" Deputy Envoy Baron Staunton sighed.

Macartney knew the reason why Staunton said this. The emperor did not rush to summon them, but let them wander around at will, with the purpose of letting them see the power and prosperity of the Chinese Empire.

"But the emperor doesn't know that I don't care how powerful and wealthy the Chinese Empire is. What I care about is whether there is a moral nation in this world."

Macartney muttered to himself, and suddenly a small triangular red flag appeared on his chest.

He looked up in astonishment and saw a man wearing a red wide-brimmed hat and red cloth armor waving a red flag stopping him.

Only then did Macartney realize that they had arrived at a very busy intersection, with pedestrians bustling everywhere.

At this time, the yamen runners beside him raised the red flag, and the carriages and pedestrians moving straight ahead began to move forward unhindered.

The yamen runner looked at these red-haired foreigners wearing round-necked robes, thinking that they did not know the rules and were not doing it on purpose, so he nodded at them kindly.

After dozens of breaths, the yamen runner put down the red flag in his hand and raised the green flag, and the person who was holding the green flag in the distance changed to a red flag.

Macartney was pushed by someone and suddenly realized that he could move forward.

This was just a simple, primitive human-powered traffic light copied by Mo Zibu, but it already amazed Macartney. Only after he walked across the street did he understand the meaning of the red and green flags.

As the crowd crossed the street in an orderly manner, even for a moment, Macartney felt that he had become civilized.

A representative of the East India Company in Nanjing beside him explained with a slightly proud tone:
"This is the Emperor's original invention, used to manage traffic. Yingtian Prefecture has a huge population, exceeding 1.5 million. If it's not managed, the streets will be jammed."

Don’t think that Nanjing’s population of 1.5 million is small. In fact, it is a lot, because the city of Nanjing at that time was probably only a quarter of its size in later generations, and some streets and alleys were already very crowded.

"London also lacks a system like this, but I'm sure it wouldn't be of much use because many people wouldn't comply with it."

Surgeon William stroked his thick beard and said, then he walked to the wall, took out a small umbrella from his arms smoothly like magic, and held it over his head.

"Mr. William, I think we definitely don't need an umbrella. The weather is very good today and it won't rain." The business representative said to the cautious surgeon with a smile.

William shrugged and pointed to the three-story building made of bricks and cement, meaning that he was not going to release rainwater, but domestic sewage poured down from the upper floor, which was very common in London.

"Look over there, in the Chinese Empire, there are people who collect urban sewage, so citizens don't dare to dump it indiscriminately. If they are caught, they will face fines."

Then, the commercial agent continued to explain: "Those wearing red jackets are here to collect kitchen waste, which can be collected and sold to pig farmers in the suburbs.

Those wearing blue jackets are here to collect human and animal feces, which not only solves the problem of dumping feces and urine, but can also be sold to vegetable farmers in the suburbs to fertilize their fields.

However, they usually arrive in the early morning and late at night, when they should be resting.

As for the rest of the solid waste, residents need to throw it to the garbage station for transportation. Only the sewage from washing can be taken from here."

The business agent stepped on a stone slab by the roadside, making a hollow thumping sound. "There are many sewage tunnels here that can drain away sewage and also drain rainwater from the city during the rainy season."

"Huh!" Dr. William took a deep breath and then he remembered that the air in Nanjing did not have the smell of urine that was smelly and sometimes even irritating like London. Although it could not be called fresh, it was already very good.

"Look at the blue sky and smell the fresh air. This is much better than London, which is always covered by thick fog!
"It turns out that our Kingdom of England still has a long way to go and is still far from being a true civilization," Macartney sighed sincerely.

But in fact, the urban planning and construction of Nanjing City are not very good. The collection of excrement twice a day is not enough, and preparations are being made to increase it to four times a day.

There is still a lot of sewage from washing clothes, cooking and washing dishes, so much so that you can smell the faint smell of sewers from a long distance away.

There are even many people in the city who, in accordance with traditional customs, wash or secretly dump their excrement in the river that runs through the city, making the river water black and full of smoke. Mo Zibu is unwilling to live in the city and often goes to Tangshan Hot Spring Palace.

But the standards for all this were judged by Mo Zibu using the standards of later generations. A big city with a population of 1.5 million without a sound sewage treatment system is just like this.

But compared with London, it is much higher.

After all, in cities like London and Paris, their citizens can urinate and defecate in the streets, sewage is dumped directly from buildings, there is almost no garbage recycling and disposal system, and discharge depends entirely on artificial ditches, so you have to wear high heels to avoid stepping on all kinds of disgusting things.

However, after Macartney praised them, he pointed to the people wearing short coats and said, "These people look quite old. Can they handle such heavy work?"

As expected, they came from the capitalist base. You might think that Macartney felt sorry for these people in their fifties who worked hard, but no, he felt from the bottom of his heart that people of this age did not deserve to have jobs because they were too inefficient.

Of course, in England, in London, you rarely see such people, because the poor in places like Little Ireland, London's main industrial area, cannot live to this age.

The hellish reality is that the poor elderly people in England's big cities only account for a few percent, and only in the countryside can you see some old farmers.

"Not quite up to the task," the commercial agent shook his head. "But luckily, their wages are relatively low, only about one-third of what ordinary workers make. So, while the workload is a bit more onerous, we can hire a few more people, and efficiency can still be improved."

"This just proves the inefficiency." Orientalist Wilkins interrupted the commercial agent.

"This is wrong. I think we should hire some young people and raise their wages to half of factory workers' wages. Then more people will come to do this job.

This can greatly improve efficiency and save money, thus saving the government a lot of money.”

"Yes, this is efficient. I believe that if this is implemented, Nanjing will be cleaner and more like a perfect moral city." Macartney also agreed.

English society is actually quite deformed, as it is unique in human history in possessing the most advanced productive forces without having experienced a strong and prosperous agricultural civilization. This extreme fragmentation and rapid progress have led to very slow moral progress in English society, and the civilization it represents. Driven by profit, they have all plunged headfirst into the pursuit of profit.

They lacked the respect for elders that agricultural civilization had, because they did not need the elders to impart their rich agricultural experience and pass on various strategies. The English only needed to fill the flesh and blood factory and bring in profits.

Therefore, when Macartney and others heard about this unreasonable arrangement, the first thing they did not do was to lament the difficulties faced by the old man, but to feel that this design was very inefficient and unreasonable.

The commercial agent sighed. He had lived in Nanjing for many years and had been immersed in Chinese culture. He looked at Macartney and said:

"The Emperor and his ministers naturally understand the truth that we understand, but they still adopted this method.

That’s because these older people are also the subjects of His Majesty the Emperor!

They also need to survive in this city. We cannot abandon them and let them die of hunger and cold just because they have lost their labor force."

Orientalist Wilkins blushed, but remained firm. He responded softly, "Since this is the emperor's benevolent policy, shouldn't he pay them enough so they can earn enough?"

"I understand!" Before the commercial agent could speak, Macartney suddenly said loudly: "The low salary is to prevent people with sufficient labor from snatching the job, and also to employ more elderly people so that more people can benefit.

After all, people of this age just want to survive and don’t need as many supplies as young people.”

"Yes, that's what His Majesty the Emperor said. Benevolent governance is not about self-satisfaction, but about fully considering feasibility and practicality, as well as the ability to be implemented in the long term." The business agent nodded in agreement.

"I feel ashamed of my words and actions. When I faced these elderly people, the first thing that came to my mind was not sympathy, but disgust at their inefficiency.

The Chinese Empire is indeed, as Voltaire and others said, full of humane morality. This reminds me of a famous saying of a Chinese sage.

Macartney's face flushed crimson with shame, and he said in a dreamy tone:

"That's the saying, 'Caring for other elderly people is like caring for my elders, loving other children is like loving my own children and grandchildren.'"

Well, it can indeed be understood this way: respect the old and the young, not only your own but also those of others.

After sighing, the group of Englishmen just remained silent on the street, all with shame on their faces, so much so that the Nanjing citizens passing by looked at them with strange eyes.

These golden retrievers were already quite conspicuous in Nanjing, and now they were even more conspicuous. The business agent couldn't stand the monkey-like looks, so he quickly made a suggestion.

"The Shangyuan County Court is just ahead. Count, why don't we go and sit in on an Eastern-style trial? It's quite interesting."

There was no taboo in England about attending trials, and Macartney could not bear the gazes of others, so a group of people left in a hurry.

At this time, the imperial examination system in Dayu was very different from that in previous dynasties. In places like Jiangnan and Lingnan, scholars could become officials, but in reality they were doing the work of clerks in the past.

As the economy and productivity developed, the original small government model was no longer sufficient, the number of officials increased greatly, and the number of corresponding officials also increased, and their status became higher.

After a scholar became an official, he had to pass the examination at the age of three years before he could take the examination for a Juren. If he passed the examination, he could become an assistant official or a subordinate official except for the county magistrate.

Then, after serving as an official for three years, the candidate could take the imperial examination and be promoted.

However, in other places, especially in the north, the economy is not so developed, and the imperial examination system still follows the old way.

This led to the situation where most of the Jinshi scholars in the Jiangnan and Lingnan regions had already been working in society, especially in the officialdom, for many years and had considerable experience in governing, completely surpassing the officials in the central, western and northern regions.

Therefore, county magistrates like Shangyuan are basically all from Jiangnan and Lingnan.

This is the case with Zuo Fu, the magistrate of Shangyuan County. He is from Changshu, Jiangsu Province. At the age of 42, he has almost 20 years of official experience. He has worked his way up step by step and is extremely experienced.

However, today, this case made Zuo Fu, the experienced county magistrate who ranked second in the second class of the Guangzhong 15th year and was a Jinshi, feel a little uneasy.

After a long silence, Zuo Fu looked at the man standing proudly in the Confucian robe and shouted, "Qian Ping, you are the cousin of Concubine Xian, a meritorious official and a scholar.

He Miao is from your hometown. His family has been tenant farmers for four generations. Even if we're not related, there's still some affection. Why are you forcing me like this?

The county magistrate said so, but unexpectedly Qian Ping glared at him and symbolically bowed his hands, "Qian Daling, you can't say that. What do you mean by forcing me?
He Miao's family rented and farmed my family's land. His father and grandfather had made contributions to the Qian family, but when Your Majesty restored the Han Dynasty, my family also gave out six acres of land to their family.

That is six acres of land on the edge of Nanjing city. It is priceless even now. Any contribution should be enough to reward it.

And now, in less than 20 years, the He family has basically squandered these six acres of land and is now renting my land. I took him in out of pity, and that was out of my kindness. Now I don't want to take him in anymore, so I let him go. Isn't it only natural!"

County Magistrate Zuo was speechless for a while. He looked at He Miao who had a bitter face on the other side, and was angry at him for not fighting for it. The six acres of land on the edge of Nanjing city were gone in less than twenty years. You are really amazing!

He Miao felt wronged, sobbing and kneeling on the ground, "Master, my family has divided the land, and we are all grateful for the emperor's kindness, but the Qian family is unwilling to accept this, and they lured my father and brother into gambling and set a trap in secret.

The family lost everything and only had my little acre of land left. I could barely afford three meals a day. Later, my mother became seriously ill and we had no choice but to pawn the last of our land.”

Zuo Fu sighed again. It is certainly wrong for others to tempt your father and brother to gamble, but your father and brother can also choose not to go. Doesn't this still mean they can't resist the temptation?

"What kind of temptation is that? Every time we played cards, it was your father who insisted on playing. Don't frame people!" Qian Ping cursed a few times, and then put pressure on County Magistrate Zuo in the main hall.

"Your Excellency will not believe this nonsense, will you? The He family can barely make ends meet now. We don't even have many hoes, let alone oxen. I don't want to waste my land.

Now that His Majesty is encouraging agricultural production and large farms, I, Qian, am following His Majesty's orders and contributing to the nation's development. This is the proper and proper thing to do. Please, Your Excellency, do not hesitate and send the yamen runners to help me drive the He family away!"

He Miao heard this and looked at Qian Ping with tears in her eyes, "Sir, my family of eleven depends on this little piece of land. If we lose this land, how can we survive?"

"Live! There's nowhere else in the world where you can live!" Qian Ping roared. "There are so many factories in Jiangnan, can't you find a job? Go to Southeast Asia, the Northeast, the Western Regions. Where can you not survive?"

"If it was your own flesh and blood, would you be willing to let them cross the ocean?"

"How could I be reluctant? Not only is my third son going to cross the ocean, he's also planning to go to Zhanzhou as soon as he graduates from the Imperial Academy. He'll expand the territory for Your Majesty, the court, and future generations!"

Qian Ping's words directly cut off all of He Miao's escape routes. He was indeed a ruthless man who was willing to let his second son respond to the call and go to Australia to pioneer.

However, Qian Ping's arrogant attitude aroused dissatisfaction among most farmers.

After about fifteen years of the Dayu Dynasty, farmers who had only obtained small plots of land in their early years were constantly going bankrupt, so it was easy for them to unite against the enemy.

"Sir, the laws of Dayu state that each person in Jiangnan is only allowed to own fifteen mu of land, and your mulberry and rice farms cover a thousand mu. Isn't this breaking the law?"

"What law are you breaking? Humph, you country leopard!" Qian Ping snorted coldly, "I run an agricultural cooperative. Each share is 15 mu. Every shareholder gets dividends every year. We have the accounts to check, so we can handle it with integrity!"

County Magistrate Zuo Fu sighed when he heard this. He also knew that there must be something wrong with Qian Ping's agricultural cooperative company, and the shareholders would not get much dividends at all.

But he couldn't check because everything from the account books to other aspects was flawless and there was indeed no violation of the law.

"He Miao, Qian Pingzhi is right. Working in a factory or going abroad to colonize are both good choices. Now it's not a matter of one life and one death, but a matter of nine lives and one death. It's much better than suffering in your hometown."

After hearing this, He Miao burst into tears and said, "Sir, as the sages said, one should not travel far away while his parents are still alive. My father is old and my mother is sick, how can I leave them to venture out into the world?"

Besides, we have six children crying for food, and although our eldest daughter works in a textile factory, it is not enough to support the family. How can we leave?"

He Miao was so sad that he had no tears to cry. His father and elder brother had almost lost all the family property, but he still had to support them. Although his elder brother died early, he left it to his three nephews. The family pressure was obvious.

There was really no other way. Zuo Fu, the county magistrate, gritted his teeth and said, "He Miao, you'd better give up the lease immediately. This is stipulated by law."

"Sir!" He Miao howled and looked at Zuo Fu.

"Sir, please don't do that!" The farmer who was listening outside also made a fuss.

Zuo Fu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "My fellow townsman's villa in Qingliang Mountain is in need of a gatekeeper. Why don't you go and hire him? You can earn a few more cents a month.

Your father is not yet fifty, so he goes to the county government office and waits for arrangements to be made as a cleaner.

As for your mother's medicine expenses, I will cover them for you first, and you can pay me back after you get your salary!"

Having said that, the staff beside him could only sigh. This was almost becoming the daily routine for County Magistrate Zuo. He had to spend some money out of his own pocket every time he solved a case, and it was considered good if he could save half of his monthly salary.

If County Magistrate Zuo had not come from a prominent family with a wealthy background, he would have collapsed long ago.

The matter was resolved satisfactorily, and it is no exaggeration to say that everyone was happy. The people dispersed happily and praised County Magistrate Zuo.

On the other side, Malgani's eyes were shining. He didn't care about the wealth of Nanjing at all, but he liked this scene full of morality and humanity very much.

“Baron, this is the moral kingdom and perfect world I want.

Even evil people and rich people dare not cross the boundaries of the law.

Although the ordinary person lost his property, he still bravely took on his responsibilities, did not abandon his father and brother, still raised his nephew who did not belong to him, and shed tears because of his mother's illness.

Officials can act in accordance with the law, but are also full of compassion and generosity.

This is true freedom, equality, and fraternity. I can't wait to meet His Majesty the Emperor and, with his permission, continue to travel in this perfect moral country."

(End of this chapter)