Chapter 700 Heaven and Sin

From the 15th to the first half of the 18th century, the West rapidly caught up with the East for three hundred years.

European countries rose up one after another. The great voyages and geographical discoveries allowed Europe to completely escape the poverty of the Middle Ages. The wealth promoted the progress of society and the development of science, allowing Europe to overwhelm the evil Ottoman Empire and the Soviet Union in terms of force. The ancient Eastern Empire...

I believe that in the first half of the 18th century, if a war broke out between the East and the West, the Qing Empire might have been very strong, but it would never have the overwhelming advantage of the Chen-Han Empire now...

The Emperor of China once said: "In the past three hundred years, China has been a sleeping dragon in the East. Outsiders can only pray that this terrible dragon will sleep forever and never wake up. Because when it wakes up, The whole world will be shaken."

Now the sleeping dragon is awake.

Ten years of war declared that the Qing Empire became a historical term. In the far east, a brand-new China appeared in front of the world, and the ancient dragon awakened. The Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Russia, the Kingdom of Spain, the Netherlands... have all been defeated or succumbed to this country, which accounts for more than one-third of the world's population.

The awakened Chinese dragon is roaring at the Western world, waving their claws and claws, and robbing the Western world of the fruits of centuries of accumulation and development - Southeast Asia and North America.

There is a voice in China. They want to take back all the land that once belonged to 'themselves' in history - even if that person is Genghis Khan, whom the Chinese do not want to admit. They say that wherever the Chinese have reached, they belong to them. of. Following the westward migration of the Northern Huns, the Western Turks, and the Mongolian conquests into Europe, the Chinese once again had a heavy fear of the Western world. If their global expansion was not curbed, it would not take long for the Western world to make discoveries after three hundred years of hard work and exploration. The New World will completely fall into the hands of the Chinese, and all achievements will be stolen by the Chinese. The entire earth will be shrouded in yellow.

Russia's mission is to completely strangle the Chinese at an early age before they successfully rule the earth.

--"White and Yellow--Russia's Historical Mission" written by the Russian Czarina Catherine II in 1790 AD

Of course this is all ten years later.

At that time, China had already exposed its sharp claws and greedy appetite to the West.

But what about China now? Everything China has done is within the scope of an empire.

Judging from China's actions, what China is currently pursuing is 'regional' hegemony. This poses little threat to the Western world. Who makes the distance between the East and the West too far in this era?

China has not yet revealed its desire for global hegemony, and China still has huge interests of its own.

The 'political vision' that has seen through ten years is not something that can be obtained casually.

And then again, a powerful empire never becomes overnight, just like the Western proverb: Rome was not built in a day. The foundation of an empire does not become stronger overnight.

China, the Eastern dragon, is able to wreak havoc around the world not only because of China's huge population and vast land and abundant capital. At least for Chen Ming himself at that time, he would classify "universal education" as one of the centers of China. .

High-quality national groups not only represent high-quality military personnel, but also have an unimaginable driving force and promotion effect on the entire society. Because Chen Ming's thoughts can be directly infiltrated into the compilation of textbooks, this popularization of education will play an important role in China's great strides forward in the next ten years.

Even in this era, the role of education has been vaguely reflected. This is very obvious in places where universal education is developed. Such as Lushan!

As the old capital of Chen and Han, Lushan occupies an extraordinary position in China's political map. Although the geographical environment and social and cultural factors have limited the sustainable development of Lushan's economy, Chen Ming has found another way out for Lushan - education.

From the most basic elementary schools to junior and senior high schools, and then to major colleges and universities, the number of Lushan colleges and universities is greater than the number of colleges and universities in other places in the entire Central Plains Province combined.

And it is not limited to ordinary colleges and universities, but also art colleges and military colleges. Almost all the top domestic colleges in various majors have branches or branches in Lushan.

For example, medicine, law, engineering, drama, painting, as well as several comprehensive military university branches, as well as professional colleges for various military services, plus politics, economics, diplomacy, etc.

Zhongyuan Province was originally a major province in education. Due to the personal feelings of senior officials Chen Han, Zhongyuan Province was the place that received the most support during the establishment and construction of colleges and universities, and Lushan was the top priority.

In today's China, the number and development prospects of higher education institutions there are even lower than those in Nanjing.

Although the tax revenue of Shuntian Prefecture is paid to the national treasury in the same proportion as Lushan, they are special cases in China's political landscape. A small part of the tax revenue is paid to the national treasury, and a large part is kept for their own use. Therefore, the annual funding support for education is much greater than that of other places, and local finances are also much more generous.

For example, 70% of Shanghai's finance and taxation is handed over to the central government and 30% is reserved for local government use. Then in Nanjing and Lushan, 30% is handed over to the central government and 70% is retained for their own use. This obviously occupies a great advantage.

In terms of the economic volume of both sides, Nanjing obviously has a great advantage over Lushan. If the latter is small in overall scale, even if it retains more, its effectiveness is limited. But it is not urgent. Lushan's education funds have never relied on government funding. Their main source is social donations.

Whether it is the royal charity fund, the intention of the dignitaries, or the donations from private giants such as Jiuzhou Chamber of Commerce and Zhongyuan Bank, Lushan's education can invest more funds every year than Nanjing.

And how many people are there in Nanjing? How many people are there in Lushan?

So in the fifth year of Chengtian, that is, last year, the Lushan government announced the complete popularization of compulsory education in schools, that is, children do not have to spend money to go to elementary school. As long as you have a Lushan household registration, your son and daughter can enter the school. And it is compulsory.

At the same time, since the first year of Chengtian, Lushan has set up night schools and technical schools on a large scale. The "lasting stability" here has not only existed for five years. Since the Fu Han Army made a name for itself, there has been no threat in Lushan. It has been stable for many years. Before this, the investment in education by the General's Mansion and the Prince of Han's Mansion had already laid a foundation for Lushan, and now this seedling is growing rapidly.

Also last year, the emperor and the empress dowager returned to their hometown to worship their ancestors, which brought new development to the entire Lushan economy and education. At the same time, a lot of people began to open their wallets for Lushan, and the empress's family donated more than one million last year. This made Lushan's investment in education take advantage of the wind. In addition to compulsory education in schools, the policies introduced by the Lushan government last year also include scholarship systems for junior high schools, high schools and higher education institutions, as well as education subsidies and loans for poor students, which directly allowed the Lushan government to complete its education plan for the next three years.

This also made Lushan the real "first" in China's education.

Children from outside the province and rich families cannot go to school because the schools have limited enrollment. However, Lushan is a township with at least five primary schools, two middle schools, and one high school, as well as night schools and technical schools for adults...

Lushan has its own unique regional advantages. In recent years, all graduates from Lushan universities have a decent appearance, which makes the local people in Lushan pay more attention to the meaning of "university".

Because of the government's mandatory requirements, the enrollment rate of school-age children in Lushan has reached 100% for the first time in the country. Although all this is piled up with money.

The sky gradually brightened.

The eastern sky showed a trace of fish belly white, and clouds gathered in the eastern sky like a market. The light of the rising sun was like a red brocade, revealing a faint crimson.

The moon, which had completely lost its luster, turned into a small crescent, hanging in the western sky like a small boat, blinking and peeping at the countless creatures in the lower world.

The world gradually recovered.

The sun rises from the horizon, presenting the hazy blue sky to people's vision.

It's April, but the morning in Lushan is still a little cool.

As the world gradually recovers, more and more people start a new day of busyness, as if it has never changed since ancient times, day after day, year after year.

The houses in Lushan County are very crowded. The houses in the city are lined up one after another, one after another, although they are different in height and old, they are all the same color, and they look blue-gray from a distance.

The people in Lushan City finally have a higher income, and they can at least afford blue bricks to build houses, otherwise they will all be mud houses.

The whole city wakes up. Groups of women carrying various household items appear at the faucet, which has become popular in Lushan. Even if someone would rather carry water to save the money, they can't find the wellhead. The latter is either covered up or disappeared completely. Lushan urban reconstruction - sewer projects and tap water projects, has changed the city too much.

The streets and alleys are all cement, and the main roads are still paved with bluestone slabs. Familiar neighbors greet each other warmly, and laughter fills the city. Proportional to the enthusiasm between people is their behavioral rules. The people of Lushan, who have been tamed by the "City Civilized Behavior Code", will no longer urinate and defecate in the corners of the streets, or dump garbage and sewage at their doorsteps.

Many people also go out for exercise before breakfast. Lushan has this condition. Although the urban living area is getting smaller and smaller, the previously planned urban parks are still parks, and no one will or dares to demolish them.

Chinese people believe that the season of the year is spring, and the season of the day is morning. Exercising in the morning will only benefit longevity in the future.

If it weren't for the fact that there were only men and no women in the morning exercise crowd here, this scene would give Chen Ming a sense of familiarity deep in his soul.

And this is the old capital of Chen Han, which was evaluated by Newton in his letter to Britain: This is a paradise on earth. It is not famous for its beautiful scenery, nor for its long-standing culture, but this city, which was still unknown 20 years ago, exudes a unique charm and attracts countless people.

It is the first city in the East to implement compulsory education, and it is the first city in the world to achieve 100% enrollment of school-age children.

The flower of civilization blooms here, a great humanistic expansion based on the bottom line of human conscience and a spirit of concern for mankind, like the holy light of God's care that illuminates the whole world...

...

Qiqihar, this is a young city. In the 24th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the Qing Dynasty set up the Bukui Post Station, which gradually became the center of the post stations in the western Heilongjiang region and developed into a village. In the 30th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the Qing court approved the construction of Qiqihar City at Bukui Station and granted the title of Deputy Governor to Mabudai, the General Manager of Solon, to take charge of the city construction. In the 38th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, the Heilongjiang General's Office moved to Qiqihar City.

It can be said that this city is less than a hundred years old.

When the Fu Han Army entered the city, it was bloodless. Everyone bowed their heads to them. Among them were the surrendered Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty and the rescued Korean serfs, as well as some Han people and some people with ulterior motives.

Now the latter happened.

A fierce battle is going on in a village outside Qiqihar.

The captain of the armed police wearing iron armor waved his saber and killed another sturdy Mongolian. He was already bruised, his arm was bitten by the gravel sprayed by the earth cannon, and the two revolvers on his waist were all out of bullets, and there was no time to reload!

Because now the enemy and us are engaged in a hand-to-hand fight!

The Qiqihar Police Station, which finally identified the suspect, did not wait for the arrival of the border guards. The officials of the police station and the county government hoped to catch the suspect first and find all the evidence to reduce their own responsibilities.

A smuggler was hiding under their noses for a year or two, and they didn't notice it at all. This is dereliction of duty, or even malfeasance.

The sound of shooting faded from the battlefield, and a loud cry of killing rang out. The armed police force, which was taught by the National Defense Army, rushed into the village with standard triangle tactics. It can be said with certainty that everything has been decided. However, the resistance of the smuggling caravan far exceeded the expectations of the officials in Qiqihar. The deputy director who led the attack at the beginning has become a corpse...

This era is full of delusions and buried all kinds of sins. High-rise buildings and slums coexist, heaven and hell coexist. Compared with the stable and peaceful atmosphere of Lushan, the screams and groans in the suburbs of Qiqihar are not the same world at all.

But this is the current situation in China, this is the current Northeast.

There are many places where local officials have made the same choice as Qiqihar. Officials will hold on tightly to a slight opportunity.

For a full ten days, gunshots and shouts of killing rang out in many places in the central and northern Heilongjiang. All the smugglers who have been caught have received the punishment they deserved. At the same time, thousands of people and more than 10,000 family members have suddenly changed from a stable and affluent life in the past to a member of the labor camp.

They cried, shouted, and begged, but they did not get any mercy.

The old is gradually moving towards its destination, facing the sunshine towards a bright future...