At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 603, Sinicization Movement and New Rome

With the arguments of Claudius and others, some other senators who had not suffered much loss were also worried that such a large-scale punishment of citizens would lead to the division and even disintegration of Rome. They were in a state of uncertainty, and the punishment had to be suspended until the next meeting to make a decision.

After the Senate meeting ended, Claudius and others came to the largest municipal square in Rome, and they unloaded the books they had prepared from the carriage.

Claudius stood on a high platform with a book in his hand and shouted loudly: "Citizens of Rome, the book in my hand is the "Book of Great Harmony" of the Han Dynasty. All the laws, regulations, and morals of the Han Dynasty are derived from this book. Its status is equivalent to the "Twelve Tables" of my Roman Empire."

"Today I stand here and want to talk to all the citizens of Rome about the contents of the "Book of Great Harmony". The Han Dynasty is undoubtedly the richest country in the world. I studied in the Han Dynasty for four years and once suspected that the Han Dynasty was the legendary kingdom of God. It is not shameful for the weak to learn from the strong. It is true arrogance to find that the strong do not learn. This kind of arrogance is extremely fatal and will completely destroy a country and a civilization."

A large number of Roman citizens were attracted by these words, and soon a large number of Roman citizens appeared in the square. They all knew Claudius and knew that he had been fighting for the rights and interests of Roman citizens during this period, so most of the Roman citizens here were his supporters.

Claudius looked at the Great Harmony Book he translated and said, "When the social rules of this world were just established, the world belonged to everyone. Citizens at that time selected virtuous and talented people to do things for everyone. The social morality of that world emphasized honesty and harmony. Citizens not only supported their parents and raised their children, but also ensured that the elderly could live out their natural lives, the middle-aged could serve the society, and the young could grow up smoothly. The elderly without wives, the elderly without husbands, the children who lost their fathers at a young age, the elderly without children, and the disabled could all be provided for.

Men should have jobs, and women should get married in time. People hate the phenomenon of goods being thrown on the ground, and they should store them, but not for their own enjoyment; they also hate the behavior of not trying their best in common labor, and they should not work for personal gain. In this way, no one will plot, steal property, or raise troops to cause chaos, and every household will not need to close the door. This is called a "Great Harmony" society. "

After Claudius and his companions returned to Rome, they wanted to build their hometown like the Han Dynasty according to the Han Dynasty template they had seen.

But they never expected that they would be hit head-on when they returned to Rome. The whole of Rome was against the Han Dynasty, and the rebellion was extremely crazy.

After three days of discussion, they reached a consensus that in order to build a Roman version of the Great Harmony, they needed to promote the Great Harmony throughout Rome, so that the citizens of Rome could be enlightened and know how to correctly identify and solve problems, rather than just venting their anger incompetently.

So they spent half a month establishing the Great Han Translation Institute, translating the book knowledge they obtained from the Great Han into Roman characters to let more people know about the world of Great Harmony. They also established a Roman newspaper to publicize the Great Han system, the Great Han industry, and the democratic and free life of the Great Han. They all decided to make "The Book of Great Harmony" the first book to be translated, and then promote it to all citizens of Rome.

"This is the harmonious society that the Han Dynasty wants to build. What do you think of such a society?"

"Good!" all the Roman citizens said in unison.

"We don't want to riot, and we also want to eat, but I have lost my job for more than a year. No one has hired me, and no one is willing to help me. People like me will die sooner or later in the dark corners of the streets of Rome." A middle-aged man with a scruffy beard said sadly.

Claudius asked, "Uncle, what did you do before?"

The middle-aged man smiled bitterly and said, "I used to make weapons for the Roman legions, but now the Roman legions no longer need the weapons I made. They need muskets. My blacksmith shop has been taken away by the temple, my wife has been captured as a slave by those loan sharks, and my son died of illness not long ago."

Upon hearing the tragic fate of the blacksmith, the atmosphere at the scene was filled with grief and indignation. Rome was the center of the entire Roman Empire, but it was hit the hardest by industrialization and globalization. It could not catch up with the train of the new era, and no one was willing to help them. These lower-class Roman citizens could only be left far behind.

Claudius said, "If something like yours happened to the Han Empire, you would receive three months of unemployment benefits. If you still can't find a job, the Han Empire will arrange for you to go to their south or a vassal state, where you can have land to support your family."

"And these are what we are going to do in Rome. We are going to build a great society in Rome too, where people can get relief if they lose their jobs, and can get a piece of land to live on if they can't find a job."

"We are going to build a new Rome. This new Rome will be like this. Children will not play in the wilderness, nor will they die of hunger and disease. They will study happily in school. There will be teachers with high morals to teach them, let them know the text, cultivate their noble morals, and let them learn a skill to support themselves."

"The Roman citizen will get a stable and respectable job with an income that can support his parents, wife and three children."

"The elderly in Rome don't have to worry about their lives in their later years. The state will give you a pension to ensure your happiness and well-being in your later years."

"In this new Roman world, citizens don't have to worry if they get sick. Doctors trained by the state will treat you and solve your housing problems. The state will help you deal with the difficulties you encounter in your daily life. Citizens of Rome only need to devote themselves to their work."

The new Rome described by Claudius made everyone look forward to it. It was better than the kingdom of God they had imagined.

But some people still doubted and said: "There will be such a new Rome. Even the gods can't do such a thing, right?"

Claudius said firmly, "I don't know if the gods can do such a thing, because I have never seen a god, but there is indeed such a country in the distant eastern continent. Although this country has not achieved all of the things mentioned above, it has achieved some of them. That is the Han Empire that everyone knows. All children in the Han Empire receive compulsory education. Han children can go to elementary and middle schools in school without charging any fees, and the Han people also subsidize the food expenses for these children. In the past few years, Rome has built several ranches to produce milk powder, cheese, and butter. Most of these dairy products are used by Han students."

"The Han elderly do not have to endure hunger and die in misery, because the Han law stipulates that a 60-year-old can receive more than 200 kilograms of wheat and rice, one kilogram of salt, one kilogram of cooking oil, two cans of milk powder, and in some places can also receive candy and cloth every month."

"The Han Dynasty has built tens of thousands of medical clinics throughout the country. Each hospital has several doctors. In the Han Dynasty, as long as the patient is not terminally ill, most diseases can be cured, and the cost of seeing a doctor is extremely low, so very few people die from diseases in the Han Dynasty."

"At the same time, the Han Dynasty attaches great importance to the employment of citizens. Every unemployed citizen receives unemployment benefits. This amount of money was 2000 coins a month before I left the Han Dynasty, which was enough to support my family. Of course, if you haven't found a job after three months, the Han Dynasty will force you to go to settle down and cultivate land. But settling down and cultivating land is not a bad thing. The Han Dynasty will give you about 100 acres of land, and the food grown on this land can feed more than 20 people."

"All that you said can be done by a powerful empire like the Han Dynasty, but it would be very difficult for Rome to do it. I heard that the Han Empire is hundreds of times more powerful than Rome."

Claudius immediately refuted such remarks: "The Han people are human beings, and the Romans are also human beings. What the Han people can do, we Romans can also do. The Han people are pursuing their great society, and we Romans can also pursue our own new Rome."

"New Rome!" Roman citizens.

Claudius said firmly: "What I just said is the world of New Rome."

"Senator Claudius, we are going to elect you as the new consul of Rome and let you lead us in building a new Rome."

"Become consul and build a new Rome."

"Become consul and build a new Rome." All the citizens of Rome shouted.

In recent years, the citizens of Rome felt that their lives were getting worse and worse. They also felt that they were being abandoned by the times. Now Claudius gave them a new goal and ignited their hope. The citizens of Rome hoped that Claudius would lead them to build a new Rome.

"Everyone present here can take a copy of the Book of Great Harmony that we translated. After reading the contents of this book, they will understand what we are going to build as the New Rome." "But what if I can't read?" a Roman citizen immediately asked awkwardly. With Rome's productivity at that time, most of the people who could read were nobles and scholars.

Claudius said, "It's ok to take the books first. If you have time, you can go to the Dahan Translation Institute. I will teach you to read and learn the contents of the "Datong Book" in the evening. If you are a Roman citizen who really has difficulties, you can also go to the Translation Institute to find us. We can find a way to arrange a job for you. Don't give up your life."

"Everyone line up and take a copy of the Book of Great Harmony. It doesn't matter if you don't get one. After we finish printing, we will distribute it in the Roman Forum, and we will try to get everyone a copy."

After hearing Claudius' words, the Roman citizens lined up and each received a copy of the Book of Great Harmony.

Apatius exclaimed when he saw the scene before him: "This is simply a natural politician. Claudius' family has produced a great man."

When the crowd dispersed, Appadius invited Claudius to his home.

Apatius family

"Senator Claudius, please take a seat." After Apatius asked everyone to sit down, he boiled water and poured tea himself. He spent half a day following the Han people's tea principles and made a cup of tea for Claudius, motioning him to drink it.

Claudius picked up the teacup and said with a smile: "This is the highest quality bone china of the Han Dynasty, and the tea is the best Dahongpao of the Han Dynasty. Senator Apatius is indeed a famous Han expert in Rome."

Hearing this, Apatius laughed proudly. "I learned this from a tea merchant in Dahan. It is said that this can calm the mind, make people's thinking more flexible, and think more deeply. I have learned it for a few years and found that it can really improve thinking."

He had a feeling of having met a bosom friend, but what he feared most was encountering an aristocratic elder who did not know the value of his tea and would drink it all up, making his work in vain.

But Claudius said, "I think the essence of the Han tea ceremony is not these fancy moves, nor these functions of calming the mind, but the fact that the Han people have turned tea into an industry. Do you know where the tea in the Han Dynasty is produced?"

Apatius said: "It is said to be from the mountains south of the Han Dynasty. The tea in my hand is said to be Da Hong Pao from Wuyi Mountain. It is said to have a history of 3000 years."

Compared to Appatius who only had a cursory visit, Claudius studied in the Han Dynasty for four years. He was also in Chang'an, the capital of the Han Dynasty. He had a much deeper understanding of the Han Dynasty than Appatius.

He laughed and said, "These are all made up by these tea merchants. The Dahongpao in Wuyi Mountain may really have a history of 3000 years, but tea was first used as medicine in the Han Dynasty. It was the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty who really popularized tea. Tea grows in the hilly areas of the Han Dynasty, which are the most backward and poorest areas of the Han Dynasty. But after the Han Dynasty established the tea industry, these backward mountainous areas became wealthy places. The establishment of tea gardens brought huge wealth to the south of the Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty used this wealth to develop thousands of miles of mountains and rivers in the south. The area of ​​this mountain and river is several times that of my Rome."

"The Han Dynasty used the tea industry to transform a place where barbarians gathered into a prosperous country. This is the true path of tea."

Apatius said with deep feeling: "I have learned a lot."

Then he asked, "This is a matter of citizen riots. How do you plan to resolve it? More than one Roman senator has suffered heavy losses. They will not let the citizens of Rome go so easily."

Claudius said: "Even if the Senate really wants to punish these citizens, I hope that such a punishment will be beneficial to the future development of Rome. Without depriving these people of their Roman citizenship, exile them to the north of the Alps and establish a new Roman territory."

Apatius asked, "The Han Dynasty's system of reclamation?"

Claudius nodded and said, "This is a plan to minimize the conflict. I have been in the Han Dynasty for four years, which are also the most urgent four years for me. There are new things and new changes in the Han Dynasty every day. The Han Dynasty is already so powerful, but it continues to grow stronger. The gap between Rome and the Han Dynasty is getting bigger and bigger. If Rome doesn't find a way to catch up with the Han Dynasty, when the Han Dynasty's strength reaches a critical point, I am afraid it will be time for them to annex my Roman Empire."

In order to let Apatius understand the strength of the Han Dynasty, Claudius said: "Even if the power of their princes is not counted, the Han Dynasty itself has 5 governors' offices and 4 general offices. The Han Dynasty has nearly 60 counties, and each county has 1 to 2 engineers. The navy has four fleets, which have 460 to warships and nearly artillery pieces. This is just the military strength of the Han Dynasty. Last year, the Han Dynasty produced million tons of iron. According to the statistics of the Han Dynasty, % of the world's steel is made by the Han Dynasty.

I don’t know the exact figures for how much steel Rome produced last year, but I think it should not exceed 10 tons. The railways in the Han Dynasty exceed 4 miles. So even though the land area of ​​the Han Dynasty is dozens of times that of Rome, the Han Dynasty can mobilize its army faster than Rome. They can mobilize 1 troops in three days and appear anywhere in the Han Dynasty. I’m afraid that three days will not be enough for Rome to gather these 1 citizen soldiers.”

The Han Dynasty's officials had to report data every year, and this was basically public. Claudius had experienced four reports in the Han Dynasty and had a clear understanding of the development of the Han Dynasty's heavy industry in recent years.

Xu Fan also brought the transparent governing philosophy of later generations to this world. He did not think there was anything to hide. As long as the Han Dynasty moved forward at its own pace, no country could become its enemy.

"What do you want to do in Rome? Do you really want to build a so-called New Rome?"

Claudius said: "We will do our best to develop industry and catch up with the Han Dynasty. The construction of New Rome is just the result of the development of industry."

"The world doesn't have much time left for Rome, and the land left for Rome is not much either. The territory of the Gauls is our only hope for Rome to become a great power. Only with a territory can we have enough specialties. Only with enough specialties can we join the global trade led by the Han Dynasty. Only when we accumulate enough money and use this money to develop industry can Rome truly become a great power."

This is the same as Apatius's idea. He said: "I will vote for you in the Senate."

After leaving Apatius's mansion, Claudius returned to his own Han Translation House.

This was originally his family's house, but when Claudius became a Roman senator, his family gave this house to him. His family originally wanted it to be his senator's residence, but he turned it into a base for overseas students and transformed it into a building like the Dahan Library.
When he arrived here, "Boom, boom, boom!" Roman craftsmen were using printing presses to print a new "Book of Great Harmony".

Fabius said: "We have recruited 100 blacksmiths."

Claudius was surprised and asked, "Why are there so many?"

Fabius raised his hands helplessly and said, "The efficiency of a blast furnace is hundreds of times that of a blacksmith. Every time a blast furnace is built in Rome, dozens of blacksmiths will lose their jobs. If the number of blacksmiths were not limited, we would be able to find several times as many blacksmiths, let alone hundreds. What Rome lacks the least right now is unemployed blacksmiths."

Claudius went to see these blacksmiths. Originally, these people were upper middle class in Rome, but now each of them was extremely poor. He was extremely shocked. Steel workers in the Han Dynasty were truly white-collar workers. Their income was the highest among all the craftsmen in the Han Dynasty, but in Rome, there were so many unemployed blacksmiths. If he hadn't known that the amount of steel in Rome did not even exceed 10 tons, he would have thought that the amount of steel in Rome was several times more than that in the Han Dynasty, so that all the blacksmiths would be unemployed.

Claudius lamented, “We in Rome lack a Mohist to protect the interests of blacksmiths.”

(End of this chapter)