I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 80 You all deserve to be hanged on the street lamp! (Repaying the debt)
It was the first time in Song Shen’s two lifetimes that he had to talk about the First Industrial Revolution with a group of emperors and generals.

He looked at the information in the teaching plan and felt a little confused.

Even if you are talking about this to a group of elementary school students, it shouldn't be that difficult, but their common sense reserves may not be as good as those of elementary school students.

Song Shen thought for a moment and said:
"First, let me tell you about the background."

"At that time, Britain, the country where the Industrial Revolution emerged, politically completed the bourgeois revolution. The bourgeoisie came onto the stage and not only broke the monarchical dictatorship, but also had the right to speak."

The faces of the people below immediately became a little subtle.

Zhu Yuanzhang believed that he was most familiar with Song Shen—one-sided familiarity was also called familiarity—so he immediately stood up and asked:

"What is the bourgeoisie, sir?"

Song Shen didn't expect that he would run into a problem when he just started talking about the first point of the background, so he could only explain patiently:

"You can understand it as... uh, similar to businessmen. In that era and that country, businessmen held the power of speech, and the monarch also needed to listen to the words of capital because they held too many industries and funds in their hands."

Zhu Yuanzhang began to frown:
"So, breaking the monarchy means..."

Song Shen nodded:

"When the emperor makes decisions, he has to consider the opinions of merchants. For example, you have to consider the opinions of civil officials, prime ministers, relatives, military generals, etc. in the court. At that time, the weight of wealthy merchants is even more important than officials, because they can use money to make officials change their positions."

At this moment, everyone's expressions were not just subtle.

Their faces were already starting to turn a little green.

From the Qin Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, no matter how the dynasties changed, merchants always had the lowest social status. The Han people always followed the food chain of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. Even if merchants were rich, they could not use many things and wear many clothes.

But now Song Shen actually said that the background of the Industrial Revolution was that the emperor had to consider the opinions of businessmen?
Just don’t call it the Industrial Revolution anymore, it’s simply going to kill them, it’s out of control!
Song Shen didn't care what these people were thinking. As long as they stopped asking, he could continue talking.

"Secondly, since the opening of the new sea route, people have continuously explored overseas markets, continuously strengthened their occupation of marine resources, and gained dominance over the ocean. A large amount of maritime trade has continuously added sufficient financial support for the First Industrial Revolution."

"I should have mentioned this before, right? After the Age of Exploration, goods from many places began to circulate. Where there is demand, there is a market, and where there is a market, there is capital, which leads to the flourishing of commerce."

“Britain was later known as the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets because its colonies spread across the globe.”

"I've said before that the world we live in is actually a sphere. The Earth revolves around the sun once a year, and it takes one year to complete one revolution. This is called revolution. The Earth also revolves around itself once a day, and it takes one day to complete one revolution. This is called rotation."

"The British Empire means that the sun never sets on their territory, and their colonies are spread all over the world."

Song Shen took something out from under the podium and placed it on the podium for them to see.

That is a globe.

He pointed to the globe and said as it turned:

"Look, our Central Plains is here, but this, this, and this were all colonies of Britain at the time, and they were all under their control."

"The reason why Britain could become the empire on which the sun never sets is definitely inseparable from the Industrial Revolution!"

"The last one is the enclosure movement, which refers to the activities of the emerging bourgeoisie and the new aristocracy landlords using violence to seize peasants' land on a large scale. Its purpose is to separate peasants from the land, combine land with capital, eliminate the small peasant economy with violence, establish private farms, obtain a large number of cheap hired labor, and accumulate technology through long-term manual production."

“The above three points, bourgeois revolution, overseas market expansion, and cheap labor, are the background of the Industrial Revolution.”

"Okay, now you can start asking questions or discussing."

After Song Shen finished speaking in one breath, he drank half a glass of water before he recovered.

He really didn't dare to stop at all, otherwise questions like the ones Zhu Yuanzhang just raised would continue to pop up. By that time, he wouldn't have said anything yet and would be asked so many questions that he had to leave the get out of class. Who could stand that?
As expected.

Ying Zheng looked very unhappy and raised his hand and said:

"In addition to the question Zhu Yuanzhang just raised, what I want to ask is, if there had not been an industrial revolution, would Great Britain have been unable to become the empire on which the sun never sets?"

When this question was asked, everyone looked at Song Shen in unison.

The so-called emperors, generals and ministers, actually all seek similar things in their lifetime.

At their level, ordinary material things no longer have much appeal. Of course, there are also many who are extravagant and licentious, but such people are not qualified to enter this class for the time being, and the probability of them entering in the future is not very high.

Even if it was the most incompetent and worthless Zhu Qizhen, if he didn't have a dream in his heart, he would never have led the army in person and caused such a shocking joke as the Tumu Incident.

For the emperor, it is important to ensure that the people live and work in peace and contentment, expand the territory, and hold power. The Qin Emperor, Han Emperor, Tang Emperor, and Ming Emperor who are present here have basically done the same, and no emperor would mind having a larger territory. - Even if they are as poor as Baozong.

The title of "The Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" seemed more attractive to them than anything else as seen on the small globe on the podium.

The sun will never set on its own territory... It's true, it makes people excited just thinking about it!
Song Shen didn't care about their grand plans and ambitions, and just wanted to become an emotionless history teacher:

"Yes, that's right. Without the Industrial Revolution, there would be no British Empire."

"Don't you think about it? If there hadn't been the Industrial Revolution, where would the steam engine have come from? Without the steam engine, would such a large and heavy iron ship have to be cranked by hand? Without the steam ship, do you think that manpower alone could have carried so many people to conquer a continent? Apart from those scattered small island countries, Europe, America, and Australia are all similar to our Central Plains, or even larger!"

"The Industrial Revolution and Britain's global colonization are causally related!"

Liu Che looked at the faces of everyone around him and saw that they all looked equally unhappy, so he gritted his teeth.

He raised his hand:

"So if we skipped the Industrial Revolution, would we not be able to build a steam engine?"

"Now that we have a steam engine, it's the same as building a ship!"

Song Shen sneered:

"Assuming that you, Liu Che, really invented the steam engine in the Han Dynasty, let me ask you one thing first. Do you have enough money to hire workers? No matter what you build, it costs money. You, Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, almost emptied your family fortune just by spending money on war. Do you still have money?"

Liu Che could not understand what this meant:
"Where do I need to spend money? I am the emperor. Qin Shihuang, Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang were all emperors. Ask them. Building the Great Wall was corvée labor. Mining was corvée labor. These are what the people should do. I just need to provide food, right?"

Song Shen just felt a headache.

Damn, how come these emperors of the feudal dynasties are more vampires than the capitalists on the street lamps?

We just talked about the Industrial Revolution. Because it was so modern, Song Shen's efforts to get closer to the ancients' thinking were met with a detour. So for a moment he did not even think that these emperors did not have to pay for hard labor.

Cheaper than cheap labor, even the most unscrupulous factories have to bow down before them.

"I really want to hang you all from the street lamp."

Song Shen squeezed out a word from between his teeth.

However, no one understood what he meant, and no one cared.

Zhang Liang continued to ask:

"Sir, how about you move this industrial revolution aside for a moment? Wasn't there a steam engine painted on that white cloth before? Can you let me see it again? I want to remember what it looks like."

What he actually wanted to say was, take a quick look, take a few more glances and remember it clearly, then go back and ask the craftsmen to try to make a similar one. Even though there are no rubber trees yet, that is a matter for the future, and it won't be a loss to start studying it now.

However, since Song Shen didn't know that they were real people, he couldn't say that.

Upon seeing this, Li Shimin and Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly exchanged glances with Fang Xuanling and Zhu Biao - there was nothing they could do, they were the only ones with better memories, so they were forced to do something, even if they copied others, it would still count!
Zhu Biao and Fang Xuanling had no choice but to bow to Song Shen to show their agreement.

At the same time, Zhu Biao said helplessly:

"Sir, we are indeed more interested in the appearance of the steam engine. You have also seen the Industrial Revolution. My father and his people were emperors and could not bear to hear merchants rise up and give orders to the monarchs. You are not comfortable with what I am saying, are you?"

"Why don't we let the students see what the steam engine actually looks like first, and then I'll persuade my father after class. After all, there's not much time left. I'll talk to him later. Do you think that would be a good idea?"

What Zhu Biao said was actually very pertinent. These people had no interest in listening to the Industrial Revolution at all. Their minds were full of steam engines and the expansion of the British Empire brought about by the steam engines.

Before teaching the lesson on the Industrial Revolution, Song Shen had already prepared himself mentally. He also knew that it would be difficult to make these students understand the background, causes and consequences of the Industrial Revolution, but he really didn't expect the level of difficulty to be so high that he wanted to give up.

"Forget it, forget it. You guys just watch it first. There are still a few minutes left. When the get out of class is over, I will go back to the office to rest."

Song Shen looked up at the sky with disappointment, then walked slowly back to the office with his hands behind his back.

He felt like he was twenty years older.

Damn it, what sins did I commit in my previous life, that not only did I reincarnate as the unlucky guy of the Song family, but I also have to teach these people a lesson!

You have done a great evil and will suffer terrible misfortune!
　I owe a total of 6 words. I have been taking and changing buses these two days and have not been able to write properly on the bus. I wrote several times before and deleted them. I don’t want to mess around, so I will start to pay it back slowly today. This is the first update, and the progress of paying off the debt is 3000/6000.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)