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[bookid=1783009,bookname="Save the Nation through Industry and Commerce 1907"]
Preface
Magic City, autumn 2012. night.
A passenger ship at Shiliupu Pier is slowly setting sail towards Zhoushan with a low whistle blowing.
On the passenger ship, Zhu Qiang looked at the dazzling neon lights along both sides of the river, and couldn't help but fall into reverie again.
It has been six years since I came to this city in the blink of an eye. Six years should be a long time, but at this moment Zhu Qiang found that he still felt so strange to this place.
Through the ups and downs of the magic city, Zhu Qiang should be said to have achieved some success in his career. From an ordinary website interface designer to now having a small company of his own, although there are only five employees including him, this is at least the beginning of a business.
The customers who will visit Zhoushan tomorrow are extremely important. If a cooperation agreement can be reached, this will be the most important contract signed by the company since its establishment. The profits gained will be enough to support all daily expenses of the whole company. In this way, his small company, which was swaying in the wind and rain, could really take a foothold.
It¡¯s tiring. One person takes on the responsibility of a company. In this high-paced urban life, which is like being wound up, Zhu Qiang doesn¡¯t dare to slack off for a moment. Whenever I have some free time like this, the overwhelming fatigue comes over me uncontrollably.
Zhu Qiang opened the notebook he carried with him and found a few novels he was following. When he saw that there were updates, he felt refreshed and refreshed. After work, Zhu Qiang does not have many leisure and entertainment activities. My biggest hobby is reading novels online. On such a slowly moving passenger ship, it is definitely a rare enjoyment to have your mood fluctuate with the plot in the novel.
Maybe it was because he was too tired, or maybe the plot of the novel was a bit dull, but as he watched, Zhu Qiang fell asleep.
Autumn is deep, the mist is rising on the sea, and this small passenger ship is drifting away.
¡¡
Zhu Qiang simply couldn¡¯t explain the reality he was facing. When he was woken up by the cold wind in the morning, everything in front of him seemed extremely strange, tens of thousands of times stranger than the Demon City, as if it were centuries away.
It is also a passenger ship, but it is definitely not the ship Zhu Qiang boarded last night. At first he thought he was dreaming, and he staggered off the boat. In a trance, he walked on the streets of this city that looked like an early 20th century city in an old movie, scared like a fool.
He just walked around aimlessly, until he was hit by a rickshaw and the severe pain of his head hitting the ground made him realize that all this seemed not to be a dream.
1The era of time travel
Three months later, packages of cotton yarn were unloaded from the ship at the North Pier of the Merchants Bureau in the East District of the Shanghai Public Concession. As an empty cargo ship slowly left, the sweaty dock workers finally had a rare moment of rest.
¡°Brother Qiang, it¡¯s okay!¡±
"Fortunately, this cotton yarn is not as heavy as rice or wheat sugar."
It was Zhu Qiang who answered. Three months passed in a blink of an eye. In the blink of an eye, he had been in this era for so long. At this time, Zhu Qiang was completely different from before. Not only was his clothes the same as those of the dock coolies around him, but his fair skin had turned slightly tawny under the long exposure to the sun. The body bones that originally seemed a little thin have become a little thicker after continuous physical labor.
¡°It¡¯s time to eat, it¡¯s time to eat!¡±
Hearing the sound of dinner being served, the exhausted workers gathered towards the canteen. Zhou Li, who was talking to Zhu Qiang, jumped up energetically and said, "Brother Qiang, you go get food first, and I'll buy a newspaper."
Before Zhu Qiang could answer, Zhou Li had already rushed over, making Zhu Qiang sigh and laugh. Ever since I started reading newspapers to him on a whim a month ago, I never thought that he would suddenly become addicted to it. He used to be the most active person when eating, but now he is always rushing to buy newspapers during meals.
Before taking a few bites, Ali bought a newspaper. While handing it to Zhu Qiang, he said, "Brother Qiang, please eat slowly. Wait until I finish the meal and come back. Eat and listen at the same time."
As soon as the newspaper was bought, the laborers gathered around and the man who was familiar with Zhu Qiang had already shouted, "Mr. Zhu, tell us first, is there any big news today?"
¡°We¡¯ll talk about the big news later, otherwise I won¡¯t fight you all when Ali comes back!¡±
"That's true, hahaha"
A group of warriors who were extremely tired just now became energetic and started laughing with a few words.
"Last night at Zhabei Railway StationA bizarre murder occurred"
As Zhu Qiang read the newspaper, the scene immediately fell silent. Zhu Qiang has long understood people's tastes and interests, and specializes in telling social gossip and anecdotes that are of interest to the general public. And it automatically translated the text in the newspaper into vernacular that everyone could understand, explaining it in simple and easy to understand terms, and sometimes adding special explanations. Everyone was so fascinated by it that they even forgot to eat. They were completely immersed in Zhu Qiang. in the newspapers you read.
Sometimes as we talk, the topic will change, and the topic will change, and it will include some classic sketch plots, or humorous jokes with a bit of pornographic jokes. Most of them have nothing to do with the newspaper, they are just some distant memories left in Zhu Qiang's mind. Unexpectedly, the response was surprisingly good. Whenever those funny dirty jokes come out, they always cause bursts of laughter from everyone.
Zhu Qiang¡¯s eloquence is not bad. The combination of newspapers and jokes attracted workers who like to gather together for gambling during their daily breaks. They squatted nearby and listened with relish. The newspaper in Mr. Zhu¡¯s hands is even more exciting than those storytellers. The most important thing is that there is no charge for listening to Mr. Zhu read the newspaper.
This is the consensus among all dock workers. Of course, the exchange of favors has a very profound imprint on the Chinese people. Everyone listened happily to Zhu Qiang reading the newspaper to them every day. When they were working, they took good care of Zhu Qiang. This is really not an easy thing for the very exclusive Pier Lifu.
The spiritual entertainment life of this era is extremely scarce. Apart from newspapers, there is no radio, no television, and no Internet. Zhu Qiang was entertaining his coworkers by reading newspapers, and he was also comforting his lonely heart with memories.
"Beep"
The long whistle woke up the people surrounding Zhu Qiang. A fully loaded cargo ship entered the port, and the short rest came to an end.
Zhou Li finished the rice on the plate in a few mouthfuls and said in a slurred voice, "Brother Qiang, this boat is made of millet and is very heavy. You just sit here and rest for a while."
Zhu Qiang nodded. He was very self-aware. With his body and bones, he was able to carry cotton yarn and the like, but this two hundred kilogram sack was very strenuous. Anyway, half a day's wages are enough to pay for his food and drink. There is no need to fight with heavy sacks filled with rice for a small amount of money.
Looking at the suddenly busy dock in front of him, Zhu Qiang sighed softly. Time travel, this theorem that had become an objective rule in online novels, never imagined that it would actually happen to him. In the past three months, through what he saw with his eyes and the summary in newspapers, he had confirmed that he traveled to Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty, in the 33rd year of Guangxu, which was 1907 AD.
What¡¯s even weirder is that when Zhu Qiang woke up, he was also on the boat. His clothes had not changed, but his wallet, computer and other items were all missing. The most incomprehensible thing was that Zhu Qiang found that his body had become more than ten years younger, returning to his youthful days when he was fifteen or sixteen years old.
If he hadn¡¯t found a few special secret marks on his body, Zhu Qiang would have almost suspected that he had passed through his soul. But since time and space can go back more than a hundred years, and the body can turn green for a teenager, it's really not worth Zhu Qiang's fuss.
After paying half a day¡¯s wages and saying hello to Ali, Zhu Qiang walked along the Huangpu River towards the central area of ??the public concession, which was later known as the Bund. Strolling across the newly completed and opened steel-frame Waibaidu Bridge on the Suzhou River, the sound of horns from cars passing by made Zhu Qiang feel like he was in a dream, as if he was in a movie scene.
The closer to the Bund, the more shocking and unimaginable the scene was to Zhu Qiang. Although he is used to seeing high-rise buildings and tired of seeing cars and people, when the four- or five-story foreign-style buildings on the Bund and the very old convertible cars appeared in Zhu Qiang¡¯s The shock in my eyes was completely different from the feeling when I went to hang out on the Bund in my previous life.
Walking on the sidewalk on the Bund, Zhu Qiang couldn't help but start thinking about a way out. Of course, his ideal is not to be a dock worker, but the major he learned in his previous life is of no use in this era when there is no television. I originally planned to rely on my knowledge of many characters to keep accounts and write documents for others, but it was still possible to use traditional Chinese characters in this era, and Zhu Qiang had difficulty reading many characters, let alone writing them.
Going to be a soldier? join the army? It is undeniable that this is the method adopted by many novel protagonists. Having an armed force, in the coming troubled times, can separate one side when advancing, and protect oneself wisely when retreating. Logically speaking, it is indeed a completely safe strategy. But Zhu Qiang quickly rejected this idea. Although he was very interested in historical and military-themed novels and could be considered a half fan of the puppet army, although he also had some knowledge of the history of this era, so what. Is it possible to rely on these to become aA general who is victorious in every battle? Stop dreaming. Any adult who is not confused will not think this way.
??????????????As a soldier, his physical fitness cannot keep up, and it is difficult to fool him about his family background. Even if he is selected, he may one day be used as cannon fodder on the battlefield. If you want to become an officer directly, there is no way out. If your status and age are not a problem, you can go to the Army Elementary School in each province. Those with excellent graduation scores will be promoted to the Army Middle School. Only those who graduated from the Army High School had the opportunity to be admitted to the imperial court's only higher military school, Baoding Army University (renamed Baoding Army Officer School in the Republic of China).
?Obviously, this is very unrealistic for the current Zhu Qiang. In the past three months, while Zhu Qiang was trying to adapt to this era, he was also thinking about the future. In the future, there will be more problems such as how to solve the problems of food, clothing and shelter. This makes Zhu Qiang often feel ashamed when compared with the protagonists of many time-travel novels he has read in his previous life.
It is a good choice to work as a translator in a foreign company, get acquainted with people first, and gradually change your job to a comprador. As far as Zhu Qiang knows, during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, many wealthy compradors relied on this to accumulate wealth. And an unavoidable fact is that if you want to develop in this era, the power of foreigners cannot be ignored.
Regrettably, Zhu Qiang¡¯s poor Chinese English has long been forgotten since he graduated from school. Not to mention going to a foreign company to be a translator, even simple communication with foreigners is still difficult. And in the current era, if you want to be a foreign translator, the most important thing is not to know English, but to be proficient in French, the only international official language.
However, Zhu Qiang also understood that soon after France was greatly weakened by China in World War I, American power took the opportunity to rise, and the dominant position of French was gradually replaced by English. So instead of spending time learning French from scratch, you might as well devote yourself to improving your English.
After making up his mind, Zhu Qiang began to wander purposefully in this ten-mile foreign market, and finally bought several Oxford English Dictionary, Huaying Dictionary, Huaying Elementary, Huaying Advanced and other related books from a bookstore, preparing to go back and study hard. Review and improve his English proficiency to lay the foundation for him to apply for jobs in foreign companies in the future.
It was getting dark in a blink of an eye, so Zhu Qiang returned to his residence holding a few books, a few kilograms of meat, and a few kilograms of white rice. Zhou Li also just came back. When he saw Zhu Qiang, he quickly came up to take the rice and pork. While looking at the book in Zhu Qiang's hand, he said, "My dear, Mr. Zhu, you can even read foreigners' ghost-drawing talisman books. No wonder my mother said that you Not an ordinary person.¡±
Zhu Qiang smiled and said to Zhou Ma who came out after hearing the sound, "Zhou Ma, I bought a few kilograms of rice and meat. Please cook some rice for everyone to eat together."
Zhou Ma rubbed her hands hard on her waist and said uneasily, "Mr. Zhu, you why did you buy meat again? This it costs a lot of money."
When the two children in the room heard the sound, they jumped out for joy, shouting enthusiastically "Brother Zhu" and jumping happily around their grandma. There is rice to eat and meat to eat. For two children a few years old, it can be said to be a New Year's treat.
"Mother Zhou, it's time for your grandchildren to grow taller, so they must not lack nutrition." Zhu Qiang said without hesitation. In fact, not only the two children of the Zhou family need supplementary nutrition, but his body, which is now fifteen or sixteen years old, is also in a critical period of development and growth, and cannot be careless.
Zhou Li followed in and helped Zhu Qiang change the pot of hot water in the house. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Brother Zhu, my mother also means well. You can't make much money on the dock every day. If you don't save it, , when can I save enough travel expenses to go home?"
go home? Zhu Qiang was struck by this word in the softest part of his heart. He quickly reacted and smiled bitterly.
Three months ago, when he was walking on the streets of Shanghai at a loss, like a lost child, he was accidentally knocked down by a rickshaw pulled by Zhou Li's elder brother, which scared Zhou Tie, Zhou Li's elder brother. Especially Zhu Qiang, who was wearing a suit and had no braids. Most of the people who dress up like this are comprador figures who serve foreign companies all year round. It is indeed unbearable for Zhou Tie to bump into such a big shot. If it is serious, he may have to stay in the patrol room for a few days.
Who would have thought that after Zhu Qiang was helped up, his condition turned out to be serious, and he was so stupid that he couldn't even speak clearly. Zhou Tie was frightened and quickly carried Zhu Qiang home, serving him hot water and soup. After finally getting better, Zhu Qiang said that he seemed to have forgotten many things, including where his home was.
The doctor who was invited could not find anything wrong and told the Zhou family that maybe if they rested for a while, the 'disease' would naturally recover. So Zhu Qiang rested at Zhou's house for a week.
I don¡¯t know whether it was out of guilt or other reasons, but the Zhou family was not only extremely polite to Zhu Qiang, but also gave them special treatment in life. Leave him aloneThey used a room as a bedroom and took great care of it, fearing that there would be any slight inconvenience.
After gradually accepting the fact of time travel, Zhu Qiang was embarrassed to continue cheating on food and drink after seeing the Zhou family in such a state. But he was penniless and had no friends, so where could he go? So they spent a lot of effort to persuade Zhou's family, and finally Zhou Li helped and introduced him to work as a helper at the dock to earn some hard money and maintain his pocket.
Although life was a bit hard, Zhu Qiang felt extremely comfortable and fulfilled. This somewhat leisurely pace of life is completely different from the tense and busy life in his previous life. Sometimes Zhu Qiang even enjoys the feeling of tranquility.
Over the past three months, Zhu Qiang¡¯s relationship with the Zhou family has become increasingly close. To a certain extent, he has regarded the Zhou family as his relatives in this world. So when Zhou Li suddenly mentioned going home, Zhu Qiang was really in a daze for a moment.
Zhou Li had already retreated out of the room at some point. In the entire room, the afterglow of the setting sun filled the walls with a glow of red, making people feel warmer. The fragrant smell of meat in the kitchen makes people salivate, and makes the neighbors outside the window cast envious looks. Inaudible voices of discussion reached Zhu Qiang's ears intermittently.
"The Zhou family is serving braised pork again today!"
"Yes, ever since a relative came to the Zhou family, he has been cooking meat every now and then. Do any of you know what his relative does?"
"It is said that he originally worked for foreigners, and he didn't even have braids."
"No wonder the Zhou family has such a relative?"
""
Zhu Qiang smiled and closed the window. No matter what, it's time to consider finding a stable job as soon as possible, then rent a house and move out of the Zhou family. After all, it's not a problem for the Zhou family, a large family of six, to always be squeezed into two rooms of more than ten square meters.
After dinner, I checked the homework of Zhou Tie¡¯s two children and taught them a few new words. After chatting with everyone and washing up, Zhu Qiang went back to his room to read.
Aunt Zhou sighed again and whispered, "Dati, come back tomorrow and buy a few feet of foreign cloth. Mom will make a new dress for Mr. Zhu. You made me look like that, and I can't even remember where I live." . Not only did they not blame you, but they also taught your children how to read. What a favor this is. Don¡¯t forget it.¡±
"I know, mother, I'm going to bed." Zhou Tie was dull and didn't speak much. He never disobeyed my mother's orders.
Aunt Zhou nodded, stopped her younger son who was about to sleep on the upper bunk, and said, "Alli, remember, Mr. Zhu is working on the pier, so you need to help me more, and don't burden him."
"Mom, I understand, you have said it countless times." Zhou Li slowly climbed onto the berth, muttering in his heart, why do you need his help? Mother has no idea. I wish my eldest brother is very popular now that he is on the dock. good.
In the inner bedroom, Zhu Qiang lit a candle and was reading the newspaper he bought during the day. Most of the social news was read on the dock during the day. What Zhu Qiang really cared about was the current affairs and international information in the newspapers. Although there is very little information about international news, and it is not of much practical use to Zhu Qiang, this is already a habit that Zhu Qiang developed by reading news online in his previous life.
In Zhu Qiang¡¯s subconscious mind, he always thought that the era he lived in was not very real. It's like being in a dreamer's dream. The past and present life are just dreams at different levels. However, in the past few months, countless current affairs news have made Zhu Qiang's mood increasingly unable to calm down and becoming more and more 'lost'.
This is a turbulent era that is about to change. After three thousand years of unprecedented changes, the results of the Russo-Japanese War have further stimulated the ruling dynasty and the scholars of this country. Various arguments for national salvation and rejuvenation are rampant in this era of extremely open public opinion.
¡°Industry saves the country, education rejuvenates the country, revolution enriches the country, democracy, republic, constitution and other exciting words impact the scholar class and the common people of this ancient oriental nation.
The boiling blood and surging passion of countless scholars also unknowingly infected Zhu Qiang. If you don't live in this era, you can't understand this feeling. If you don't feel this passion deeply, you won't be able to understand the cry that comes from the heart and is like tears from the vertebrae.
Zhu Qiang put down the newspaper and closed his eyes gently, feeling uncertain. It is different from the scholars of this era who struggled to find a way out for their country and nation. Zhu Qiang looks down on the current era from a historical perspective, but his heart is so calm and detached.
Unable to fall asleep, he simply sat up, lit a candle, and wrote down what was on his mind. To set the tone, development is the greatest truth, and education is the fundamental path to promote development.
Starting from his own knowledge and understanding of history, Zhu Qiang unified the relationship between saving the country through industry and rejuvenating the country through education.Clearly point out the commonalities between the two. Zhu Qiang pointed out that the economic foundation determines the superstructure, and industry is not prosperous, leading to the depletion of national finances and taxes. The country's financial and tax constraints further restrict the development of education. The stagnant development of education, in turn, affects the progress of industry, resulting in sluggish national strength, a sluggish military, and exhausted people's livelihood. This is the root of everything.
Zhu Qiang analyzed China's industrial development since the Westernization Movement, and briefly compared Japan's national industrial development after the Meiji Restoration. He pointedly pointed out that the reason why our country has been weakening over the years, and the reason why Japan first defeated our Beiyang Fleet, and then defeated The fundamental reason for the strength of Russia lies in Japan's industrial institutional system, which is hugely different from our industrial system. The most significant difference is heavy industry.
Zhu Qiang enumerated the existing heavy industries in China. Except for the military steel industry founded by the 'Father of Industry' Zhang Zhidong in Wuhan and the military shipbuilding industry founded by the 'Mother of Industry' Li Hongzhang in Shanghai, there is no other heavy industry in the huge China. Handy heavy industry. Moreover, these two industries alone are currently in a state of limbo and struggling to develop. Compared with Japan's increasingly perfect and systematic heavy industrial system, we can distinguish between superior and inferior. From this, it can be concluded that it is not difficult to understand why Japan defeated our Northern Fleet and even defeated the powerful Russia.
Zhu Qiang pointed out that the primary criterion for measuring a country¡¯s national strength at present and in the future is the development level of heavy industry. A country's military armed forces need strong heavy industry as support. Relying on money for outsourcing is not a long-term solution after all, as the destruction of the Beiyang Fleet is proof. Self-reliance and self-reliance are the only ways to revitalize China and regain our country's prestige.
Zhu Qiang wrote that the only way to rise and rejuvenate a country is not only development, but also development. Development is the greatest truth. The development of heavy industry requires huge investments and takes a long time. It needs to be led by imperial investment and supplemented by private capital to improve the entire country's industrial system as soon as possible. As for light industry, we will fully unleash the vitality of private capital, reward investment, and create a fair market environment.
At the same time, in order to avoid the shortcomings of commercial-run industry, the imperial court's investment in industry should try its best to avoid the government-supervised commercial-run model, and should adopt a government-funded commercial-run model. The official will not intervene in any operation of the enterprise and only have the responsibility of supervision. In addition, we should also be wary of foreign capital getting involved in the country's heavy industries and controlling the country's basic lifeline. If we work hard and cultivate our duties diligently in this way, the country will be greatly changed in twenty years.
People without perseverance cannot be witch doctors. The way to rejuvenate the country through industry requires not only huge capital investment, but also countless manpower and material investment, which cannot be accomplished in a day. Zhu Qiang finally called on the majority of young students to devote more enthusiasm to learning in related industrial technology fields. Once the time is right, join the hot industrial construction and production, and contribute to the rise of the nation. Instead of wasting time arguing in newspapers all day long. Merely arguing about democracy and republic and carrying out revolutionary movements will only cause harm to the country and the people.
Zhu Qiang worked hard and wrote three to four thousand words. Although due to space limitations, he was not able to be extremely detailed, he finally described the words he had been holding in his heart for the past few days, and finally calmed down his agitated mood.
The night is deep, and the flame of a candle is flickering. Zhu Qiang stood up, stretched out, turned on the lamp and went to bed.
Note: 1 Waibaidu Bridge was completed and opened to traffic in the 33rd year of Guangxu reign (1907). As for the month, I don¡¯t know, so I¡¯ll ignore this detail.
? 2The first car was launched in Shanghai in 1901, and a provisional license was obtained the following year. In five or six years' time, there should be many cars on the Shanghai Bund.
? 3 Prices and wages are based on information from the early Republic of China, and there are differences in different places. There may be errors, please check them out. \