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Two years ago, the United Kingdom also signed a treaty with Denmark, and British cargo ships can pass through the Sond Strait duty-free.This is the United Kingdom and Denmark teaming up to weaken the influence of the Netherlands in the Baltic Sea, because the three Nordic countries have also been pitted by the Netherlands. The Netherlands not only monopolizes the Nordic sea trade, but also expands its business power to the Nordic land, using its monopoly position to frantically suppress prices and squeeze profits.

The reason why Cromwell dared to promulgate the "Navigation Regulations" was because Britain and the Netherlands had just reached an arms deal.

The capital ships currently in service in the Netherlands, and the best of them, have all been sold to the British Navy, and if they don't have enough money, they still have to find a Dutch businessman for a loan.

The Dutch also felt that they made money, not only disposing of the surplus warships expanded during the 30-year war, but also earning more interest on loans to the United Kingdom.It's a win-win, the Netherlands wins twice!

Seeing that Zhao Han was fooling around, Milton knew that it was difficult to fool China into going to war, so he began to change the topic to "The Collection of Great Harmony".Then, he advocated his own way, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of marriage, and freedom of religion. After hearing this, Zhao Han smiled and said that they were all right.

The essence of this guy is a traitor. Seeing that Zhao Han agreed with his method, he immediately became more and more enthusiastic, and finally even talked about education.

Milton: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I saw that many civilians in Nanjing were literate, and His Majesty also funded the construction of a public library. I respect this very much. I think His Majesty is a great king who values ​​education. For education , I also have some personal opinions."

"Please speak freely." Zhao Han said.

Milton: "The starting point of education is to learn the language. Learning the language is not only a conversation, but also an understanding of the deep meaning behind the words. Otherwise, even mastering the languages ​​​​of the world is a waste of time. Education Children's intelligence should be started, and children should not be forced to recite written articles, poems and speeches. These are suitable only after children have accumulated enough judgment, reading, and observation. When teaching various subjects, children's interest in learning should be cultivated first. Start with the simplest subjects. In British education, logic and metaphysics are taught from the very beginning, which seriously damages children's interest in learning."

"Your Excellency is very reasonable." Zhao Han did not perfunctory this time, but sincerely agreed.

Milton continued: "I think that school activities should have three parts, instant study, exercise and diet. China's school education is very good. The only regret is that the collective lunch is canceled and students can go home to eat. School collective lunch , can enhance the relationship between students, and can also cultivate their virtue of saving food."

Zhao Han asked, "How many schools and students are there in the British capital?"

Milton was a little embarrassed: "Although there are not many schools in London, the number has been increasing. Common people have more opportunities to study than 100 years ago."

At the beginning, Britain was all church schools, and the church monopolized the power of education.The European Reformation broke the church's monopoly on education, and some wealthy people began to donate money to run schools.Now there is a fund-raising office, that is, residents of a certain block, how much money each family contributes to build a school.

As for the British government, it does not have a dime for education, at most the king personally pays for it.

There are two types of primary education in the UK. One is an English school, which teaches common people to read, write and calculate accounts.One is the aristocratic grammar school, which also teaches Latin, music and other courses.As for history and so on, you can only learn it after entering university.

At present, 33% of students from Cambridge and other top universities come from aristocratic backgrounds, 27% from handicraftsmen, 16% from merchants, and 15% from self-employed farmers.The overall number of people is very small!

Zhao Handao: "Inside and outside Nanjing, including the suburbs near the city, there are nearly one million registered population over the age of 12. Counting the floating household registration, it has exceeded 110 million. There are twelve small schools and four middle schools (including private ones) Girls’ schools), the number of middle and small students is maintained at about [-] to [-] per year. There used to be free lunches, but more and more children are admitted, and the expenditure is too high. In British schools, group meals are allowed, but in China it is very Difficult to do."

This string of data stunned Milton.

Except for church schools in the UK, the rest are all charities.The large-scale ones have more than a hundred students in the school, and the small-scale ones have more than a dozen people in the school.

In China, the number of elementary and middle school students in and around Nanjing alone can be maintained at around [-] to [-] per year, which is more than the total number of students in the entire UK.

Wait, the capital of China, with a population of 110 million, only counts people over the age of 12?

Milton was dumbfounded. He knew that there were a lot of people in Nanjing, and there were people everywhere when he went shopping.But this Nima is too much!

"May I ask, Your Majesty, what is the population of China?" Milton asked.

Zhao Han said with a smile: "It should be hundreds of millions now, and we will only know after a few years of statistics."

Milton was so shocked that he lost his voice and didn't know what to say.

More than ten years ago, he wrote an article called "On Education", proposing that the British government should pay for the garden system.

The scale of the garden should be bigger, a garden can accommodate 130 students.This is the limit that Milton can imagine. There are dozens of people in a class in Nanjing, and he can't even dream of such a scale.

After a while, Milton said, "Your Majesty, can I visit the school in Nanjing? It's an ordinary civilian school, not an aristocratic school."

"Of course." Zhao Han did not refuse.

What's the use of visiting, can you still convince the British government to pay for education?

The British public school system has to wait until the industrial age.Capitalists need wage earners who can read and write, so they promote public education. It is still too early for that stage.

On the way out of the Forbidden City, Milton said with emotion: "What kind of a great country is this? It has a population of hundreds of millions, and the capital alone has tens of thousands of students. If these students are formed into an army, it only needs one year of training, and the whole world You can't find an opponent."

Marvell: "As envoys, we should push China to form an alliance with Britain. India is the overlord of South Asia, and we have already won the favor of the Mughal emperor. China is the overlord of the Far East. If we can get the favor of the Chinese emperor, Britain can replace it. Holland's position in Asia, seizing all of Holland's interests in Asia."

"It is probably very difficult to directly request an alliance," Milton said. "You can invite Chinese officials to visit the UK. Let Chinese officials see that the UK is really confronting the Netherlands. Perhaps in the case of a common enemy, It can quickly bring the relationship between the two countries closer.”

Chapter 720 [Nanjing Chronicles]

The first place Milton visited was "Xi'anmen Street" in Nanjing.

The most prosperous places in Nanjing are Nanshi and Beishi.

Most of the wealthy merchants live in the south, and their address is located in the southwest of the imperial city, which belongs to Jiangning County.

Most of the dignitaries live in the north, and their addresses are located in the west and northwest of the imperial city, belonging to Shangyuan County.

Xi'anmen Street is small, just near the area where dignitaries and dignitaries live.No matter what the emperor thinks, the teachers in this school must be the best.

Even if they were not excellent at the beginning, after a few years, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will make them excellent!

Milton and Marvell walked all the way. Except for Xi'anmen Street, the rest of the streets are relatively narrow, and they can even be called alleys.Both sides are full of deep houses and large courtyards. It doesn't look very good from the outside of the fence, but only when you go in will you find something strange.

It was the afternoon, and the principal Yan Bangqi personally received them.

"How many teachers and students are there in this school?" Milton asked.

Yan Bangqi replied: "There are 32 teachers (including principals and other administrative staff), and more than 600 students."

During the conversation, everyone has arrived near the playground, and two classes are having physical education class.

When Milton saw girls on the playground, he was startled and asked, "Coeducation?"

"Not bad." Yan Bangqi smiled.

Wealthy families like to send their daughters to girls' schools.But Xi'anmen Street is different. The students here are either rich or noble. The teachers here are all celebrities, and the girls are not at the age of first love. The daughters of wealthy families can definitely study.

Therefore, the ratio of boys and girls is almost [-]-[-].

Milton asked again, "Why are they wearing the same clothes?"

Yan Bangqi introduced: "This is a Confucian shirt, the uniform of scholars. Your Majesty has ordered that primary and middle school students are not allowed to wear silk clothes, so these students all wear cotton Confucian shirts."

Milton looked carefully again and asked, "What are they wearing around their waists?"

"Jade pendant, a gentleman is like jade." Yan Bangqi explained.

The general official of Honglu Temple translated: "Those are ornaments made of jade. In ancient China, only philosophers with high moral character were eligible to wear jade.

This is to encourage students to develop excellent moral character. "

"So it is." Milton nodded.

In fact, students must hang jade pendants on their waists, which is the first requirement of Jinling University.

The jade pendants in Jinling University all belong to medicine jade, that is, stained glass.The pattern is also the school badge, and the jade pendant hanging on the waist is equivalent to wearing the school badge.

Xi'anmen Street quickly imitated it, but it was worn more advanced.This place is not glass, it is all real jade, and it is very valuable, you would be ashamed to wear cheap Xiuyu.If you can't compare in clothes, then change it to a jade pendant for comparison!

"Are they practicing combat skills?" Marvell pointed to the students in physical education class.

Yan Bangqi smiled and replied: "I was born to practice sword sticks, so the "Sword Classic" handed down by Yu Wuxiang can be used for physical fitness and combat. When fighting, you can use sticks or use swords instead. At the end of the month, the students will go to Chengdong Racecourse to practice riding for half a day. If there is heavy rain, they will practice indoor archery at the end of the month."

The general official of Honglu Temple translated: "More than 100 years ago, there was a victorious general in China, Yu Dayou. He left behind a set of fencing skills, which can be practiced with wooden sticks, and can be replaced with real swords at any time. This is a physical education class for students. At the end of each month, I will also practice riding and archery."

Swordsmanship, riding, archery?

Marvell immediately understood that this was an aristocratic school.In Europe, only aristocrats can learn these things. Firstly, it is a family secret, and secondly, ordinary people do not have the financial resources to learn it.

Yan Bangqi stroked his beard and smiled: "Your Majesty said that a gentleman in ancient times had six arts. Nowadays, scholars should not just study hard, but also practice martial arts to keep fit. Schools in all provinces of the country have arranged physical education courses. But, only I was young in the military and horse department, so I invited experts to teach swordsmanship, riding and archery. Students who come out of this school, regardless of gender, are both civil and military!"

When the director of Honglu Temple translated, he directly omitted half of it, but these are unique to this school.

Milton's educational point of view also believes that schools should have sports content.He praised: "China's education is the best in the world, and all schools should have physical education classes."

Go around the playground and come to the classroom area.

The quality of teaching here is also reflected in the number of classes.All are small classrooms, and there are no more than 2 students in each class, so as not to overwhelm the teacher.

Yan Bangqi pointed to the window: "Except for the imperial palace, the window glass here is the most transparent, the same as the government office and Jinling University."

The sunlight shines on the window glass and penetrates into the classroom, where the children are studying in the bright classroom.

Milton was in a daze. Only the big nobles in Europe could afford such expensive glass, and even the small nobles didn't have the financial resources.

In fact, China is similar, and the technology for making glass is still immature.

One is relatively brittle.If the glass is made too large, it is easily broken, and the window pane can only be made into many small squares.

Second, there are many impurities.The window panes of ordinary houses and schools are more or less light green, and the light transmission of the glass is not very good.Glass like the one in front of me is the top product, not only expensive, but also the annual output is not much.

In the classroom, a math class is being taught, which is single-digit multiplication.

Milton looked at the calculations on the blackboard and was suddenly a little confused.Because although the equal sign was invented in Europe, it was not popularized.At this moment, even Descartes is still using "=" to represent "±", while the equal sign is represented by double quotation marks.

After some questioning, Milton finally understood the formula.

Then I went to the class next door, where I was having a Chinese class, and there was a burst of reciting in the classroom: "It's noon on the day of hoeing, and the sweat drips into the soil...

Tingsheng was reciting poems, and Marvell hurriedly asked the official to translate.

Tong Tong said with some embarrassment: "I don't know how to write poems in Latin, I can only translate the general meaning. The farmers weeded the seedlings under the scorching sun at noon, and the sweat dripped down and wet the soil under the seedlings. Does anyone know the meal on the plate? , each grain is full of the hard work of farmers?"

It's a pity that the two famous British writers were not very moved by this poem.

It is true that they are all "democracy fighters", but the classes they represent are nobles, landlords, businessmen and small citizens, and there are also some owner farmers.The real poor peasants, who cares about their lives in Europe?

Milton commented politely: "The author of this poem should be a man of high moral character. He even cares about the hard work of farmers."

Tong Shi said: "The author is a prime minister in ancient China."

The two Brits have nothing to say. In their minds, it is kind of a country’s prime minister not to exploit the peasants too hard, and to care about the conditions of the peasants after eating too much?

At this time in Britain, agricultural planting technology was developing rapidly, almost catching up with China's Tang and Song Dynasties.In order to increase agricultural production, while importing Asian farming techniques, while enclosing James' land for large-scale production, farmers are necessary but occasionally redundant consumables.

After shopping around again, Milton said to Tong Shi, "Sir, can you take us to the school in the poorest neighborhood in the city?"

"Of course." Tong Shi smiled.

The poorest neighborhood in Nanjing is in the northwest corner of the city.There are many mountains in that area, Qingliang Mountain, Stone Mountain, Lion Mountain... There are so many forests, and the Qinhuai River is separated by the city wall. There are even farmlands in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.

If the low-level civilians who do not have a house want to build a few dilapidated houses for shelter, they must either live outside the city with a fence, or build a house in the northwest corner of the city against a mountain.

Gradually, a low-level block was formed in the northwest of the city.

Everyone walked along Xi'anmen Street, along the way, shops were densely covered with various advertising signs.

Stores often don't have unique names, but rely on product content to attract customers.For example, the signs of those stores often read: Northwest Liangkou Leather Goods, Chuanguang Grocery, Fuguang Seafood Fake, Beijing-style Boots and Shoes Store, North and South Fruits and so on.

There are also those who have a big tone, make a long move, and write a letter: they have both western and eastern goods.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were already names of Dongyang and Xiyang, and various advertising signs also looked very modern.For example, the seller of clothes and belts, the trick is

"Extreme official belt".Another example is the silver shop, the recruiter is "Wanyuanhao Tongshang Bank·Fair Access".

Milton likes this lively atmosphere. There are people everywhere on the street, and he doesn't know why the citizens of Nanjing have so much leisure time to go shopping.

After walking West Chang'an Avenue, continue west along Shichengmen Street, and you will arrive at Shichengmen in Nanjing City.It is next to the Qinhuai River, and it is also considered a bustling wharf. Many goods are shipped out of the city and transported along the Qinhuai River to the Yangtze River.On the other side of the river are Mochou Lake and Nanhu Lake, which are picturesque, so Shichengmen Street is relatively prosperous.

On the north side of Shichengmen Street, there are many large and small hills, which are also slum areas in Nanjing.

In the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing's military warehouses and barracks were also in this area.Zhao Han didn't dismantle it, it was used as the barn and school grounds of the imperial city guards.As for the rest of the army in Nanking, the military warehouses and school yards were located outside the city.

Due to the increase of goods shipped to the sea, the area along Jinchuanmen Street near the military camp in the city became more and more prosperous.From Jinchuanmen Street,

The goods can be shipped directly to the Yangtze River Wharf for loading.I used to walk on Shitoumen Street, and I had to transfer boats from the Qinhuai River, and large ships couldn't pass through at all.

The advantage of opening the sea is that in the northwest urban area of ​​Nanjing, along the line of Jinchuanmen Street, the common people nearby are getting richer and richer.Their houses are worth more, they can find more jobs, and the commercial atmosphere along the street has become stronger.

The real slums are between Jinchuan Chuanmen Street, Dinghuaimen Street, Qingliangmen Street and Gulouwai Street.

The houses here are very densely built, and whenever there is a gap, poor people will go to build shacks.There are dense houses, but no two-story buildings can be found. The houses are also built with rammed earth and bamboo strips.The window is just a hole left in the earth wall, and a few wooden strips are embedded.

Compared with the city center, it seems to be two worlds.

The general officer of Honglu Temple introduced: "In this area, most of the men work as coolies on the wharf, and most of the women work in textile factories outside the city. Although their income is not high, as long as they are willing to work, they don't have to worry about food and drink. That is the housing price in Nanjing. It’s too expensive and they can’t afford a good house.”

Milton nodded again and again, this is right, if it is all like the city center, China would be too scary.

The director of Honglu Temple smiled again: "In the past few years, the imperial court has not collected exorbitant taxes, and even the people here have a better life. Let's see, the houses in front are obviously newly built. The Lord must have saved money."

Those few houses really stand out from the crowd in the slums, because the outer walls of the houses are actually plastered.

The people at the bottom have only that little dream. They work hard, live frugally, save money to live in a better house, and it is easier for their sons to find wives.

Chapter 721 [Great Disparity in Civilian Education]

The houses in the slums are densely packed, and there are occasional streets, but the width of these streets is less than two meters.

"This is called Hu's Street," the director of Honglu Temple pointed to the narrow stone-paved street, "Three years ago, a wealthy businessman surnamed Hu donated money to replace the dirt road with stone slabs, so the county magistrate named this street Hu's. Street. The stone materials are donated by wealthy businessmen, but the stone slabs are laid on the street, but it is the efforts of every household along the street.

There are also many stalls under the eaves on both sides of the street. These stalls do not charge management fees, as long as they are not placed on the street.