I'm in the Red Mansion

With the support of railways and power stations, China's development is changing with each passing day.

Steam engines also began to be used extensively.

Of course, it is mainly used in the laying of railways.

For example, transportation, rock collection, rock crushing and so on.

The lives of the people along the way also became more prosperous.

One day, several ships suddenly approached the dock.

After the ship docked, they discovered that it was a ship from Zhenzhen Country.

The princess of Zhenzhen Kingdom, along with the three hundred international students who went there, are back!
The local officials did not dare to delay and immediately sent someone to report the news.

A few days later, Jia Cong learned the news and was overjoyed.

International students are back!

These returnees will definitely stir up a whirlpool of public opinion in China.

Just as Mr. Lu Xun said, if you want to open a window or speak directly, it will definitely not be allowed.

If you just suggest lifting the roof, they will compromise and open a window.

A few days later, the Princess of Zhenzhen Kingdom, along with three hundred international students, came to the palace together.

Jia Cong met them in person.

After not seeing her for a few years, Princess Zhenzhen is still as charming as ever, as if time has left no trace on her.

Jia Cong went to look at the 300 international students again, and saw that most of them were wearing well-tailored black suits and top hats.

From a distance, he seemed polite, but there was a sense of arrogance about him.

Yes, that’s the taste!

That's right!

Jia Cong looked at Jia Lan again, and he saw that Jia Lan was still wearing his original clothes, but not a Western dress.

This kid is actually quite good. He has not been changed by the environment.

Jia Cong stood in front of three hundred international students, and all of them saluted him.

But compared with the admiration I received when I left a few years ago, it seems a bit perfunctory.

Jia Cong asked with a smile: "Dear students, you have traveled across the oceans for several years and returned after completing your studies. It must have been hard for you."

"I wonder what you have learned in the past few years? Do you have any good ideas that can make China stronger?"

Hearing the emperor's modest attitude and willingness to seek their advice, the three hundred students could not help but become excited and thrilled.

This makes them feel that their time studying abroad has not been wasted.

Then, these three hundred people started speaking one after another.

"Your Majesty, I think that China should be capitalized. Capital is the primary driving force. It can quickly gather wealth and make the country stronger."

The first suggestion scared Jia Cong.

Good guy, Jia Cong exclaimed: Good guy!
You actually want China to take the capitalist road?
This path is not feasible in China.

Perhaps it is possible to do so, but if it does, it will surely plunge the Chinese people into dire straits.

However, Jia Cong's expression remained calm and he didn't say much.

He just nodded to indicate that he would consider it.

"Your Majesty, I believe that intellectuals are priceless. China must improve the treatment of intellectuals."

Jia Cong nodded to this suggestion.

"Your Majesty, I think that Chinese characters are complex and difficult to learn, and it often takes many years of hard work to master them."

"Students think that China can abolish Chinese characters and adopt Western alphabetic writing. This way, we can save a lot of time learning characters."

Upon hearing this suggestion, Jia Cong's face changed color again.

Wow, there are people who actually demand the abolition of Chinese characters!

Well, in fact, in the original historical trajectory, Mr. Lu Xun also made such a proposal.

But all we can say is, things have changed over time!

What was the situation in China at that time?
The country has been on the verge of extinction, and the knowledgeable people in China are working hard to think of ways to save the country.

At that time, they were only thinking about how to save China first, so how could they care about cultural heritage or something like that?

Therefore, the intentions of the two are completely different.

Next, three hundred students put forward a variety of opinions.

Some people think that we should learn Western etiquette because it is more elegant and noble.

Some people also think that we should learn the Western aristocratic system. There is no real aristocracy in China, only in the West.

My goodness, there are aristocrats in the West, which is similar to the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty in China.

Many of their nobles had fiefs, which were hereditary.

However, the feudal system was a very backward system.

You are trying to reverse history!
Others have suggested learning Western beliefs.

After listening to them, Jia Cong had a general understanding of the situation of these international students.

The changes are indeed huge, but most of them are just superficial and one-sided.

Jia Cong couldn't help but ask, "I wonder how much have you learned in your studies, students?"

"Have you learned calculus in mathematics? In chemistry, have you been able to do experiments on your own? Or in medicine, have you learned anything real?"

"It's also possible to learn from other aspects. Tell me what you have learned."

"I would like to know what progress has been made in Western learning in the past few years."

However, after Jia Cong asked this question, the scene became a little awkward.

The vast majority of students stopped talking.

The rest were also hesitant and couldn't say much.

Seeing this situation, Jia Cong became more and more disappointed.

Well, it seems that I had too high expectations of them!

It seems that few people have learned anything real. They probably only learned some aristocratic etiquette.

Of course, they only studied abroad for a few years in total.

Plus, I just arrived and I have to learn the real Chinese language.

This process alone may take a year or two.

The time left for them to study is extremely short.

It is really difficult for them to learn much real stuff in such a short time.

Jia Cong asked again: "Are you still willing to continue studying in the West?"

There was silence again.

In their eyes, the West is excellent, but no matter how good it is, it is not as good as their own home.

In fact, what is good about the West is only its culture and etiquette.

In terms of prosperity, they are far behind China.

Although Western women are fair-skinned and beautiful, they have an unpleasant odor.

Their meals were extremely simple, consisting of only grilled meat and bread, and only bread and grilled meat.

This made them almost vomit.

Many of them have had enough of this kind of life and have long wanted to come back.

Although these people all praise the West.

Some of them were truly brainwashed.

When you look at the other person with a worshipful attitude, everything about the other person will be high-end and civilized.

Others, on the other hand, praise Western civilization purely to elevate themselves. After all, they studied in the West for several years.

If the West is garbage, then what are they?

Only by boasting about the unparalleled nobility and respectability of the West can their uniqueness be further highlighted.

At this moment, someone stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing."

Jia Cong looked over and saw that the man was none other than Jia Lan.

After Jia Lan, several other students stepped forward and expressed their willingness to continue studying abroad.

Jia Cong couldn't help but nodded. It seemed that there were still a few people who really wanted to study.

The vast majority of these people are trash!

However, these wastes must also be utilized.

Thinking of this, Jia Cong couldn't help but say: "My fellow students, why don't I want to change?"

"But you also know how stubborn some people are. They refuse all changes and only want to stick to the old ways. I can do nothing about it!"

Hearing this, the three hundred students were greatly encouraged.

They spoke up one after another, expressing their willingness to help the king solve his problems and to travel around to deal with these stubborn elements.

Jia Cong nodded and gave a few more instructions before letting them go.

Jia Cong kept Jia Lan.

Jia Cong wanted to see if Jia Lan had made any progress while studying abroad.

In the main hall, Jia Cong asked Jia Lan to sit down and talk.

Then he asked, "Lan'er, what do you think of what these foreign students said?"

Jia Lan couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, you must not listen to what they say."

Jia Cong couldn't help but laugh and asked, "Why do you say that?"

Jia Lan said: "Your Majesty, most of these 300 international students did not study seriously after arriving in Zhenzhen Country."

"Instead, he is keen on attending aristocratic balls and dating the noble ladies of the Zhen Zhen Kingdom, and he never gets tired of it."

"They haven't learned much knowledge, they just blindly worship Western civilization and lose their own thinking."

Hearing this, Jia Cong became more satisfied.

He smiled and asked, "So what do you think of Western civilization?"

Jia Lan said: "Your Majesty, I think they have some advanced features, but they are not suitable for China's national conditions."

"We should not blindly follow them. China has its own national conditions."

"However, they do have some advantages, so I plan to continue studying in Zhenzhen Country and learn more advanced knowledge."

After hearing these words, Jia Cong couldn't help but feel more satisfied.

He couldn't help but say, "You don't have to continue studying in the West."

Jia Lan asked in astonishment: "Your Majesty, why is this happening?"

Jia Cong said: "Because the civilization of the West is not more advanced than that of China."

Yes, the Western Renaissance did indeed break out.

But the development of technology cannot continue to soar.

At present, China has not only fully absorbed the scientific and technological achievements of the West, but also, under the guidance of Jia Cong, has taken a step further.

Under Jia Cong's guidance, the future development will be much faster than theirs. Why would we need to learn from them?

In fact, Orientals' IQ is far higher than that of other people.

The East just lacked a relaxed scientific research environment, and now Jia Cong has provided this environment.

With the same level of development, the East will far surpass the West.

Next, Jia Cong planned to let Jia Lan enter the research institute for further study.

……

After the three hundred overseas students returned, they soon caused an uproar among scholars.

These three hundred international students looked down on the world, despised everyone else, and were insolent.

They belittle China and highly praise Western learning.

They either gave lectures openly or held literary meetings to spread Western thinking everywhere.

Among the literati, a small number of scholars were impressed by their flamboyant self-confidence.

Actively gather around them, become their supporters, and become firm pursuers of Western learning.

However, most people are opposed to it.

They defended Confucianism to the death and vigorously opposed Western learning, and the two sides were almost at war to the death.

If it weren't for the fact that most of the 300 international students had strong backgrounds, they would have been secretly and physically eliminated long ago.

Among the scholars, Western learning was stirring up trouble.

Even the China Monthly Report has become a platform for competition between the two sides.

Overseas students wrote articles vigorously promoting Western learning.

Conservatives, on the other hand, vigorously refute the insults and denigrations.

Naturally, Jia Cong had people secretly fanning the flames.

However, because of all the noise, the new students have attracted more attention.

New learning is actually a kind of Western learning.

However, new learning is just a type of Western learning.

The two are completely different.

New learning only opens a window, allowing people to see different schools of knowledge.

Western learning, on the other hand, completely belittles Chinese civilization, and even wants to completely replace Chinese civilization.

These two things, one is opening a window, the other is demolishing a house.

The more moderate new school of thought was excluded and its support for the emperorship was naturally greatly reduced.

Western learning and conservatism are becoming increasingly incompatible.

The two sides fought openly and secretly, with each side winning and losing alternately.

This time, the two sides agreed to start a new round of competition in Suiyuan.

The leader of Western learning was called Zheng Xianfeng. He was not originally called this name, but he changed it to this name specifically in order to promote Western learning.

It implies that he is a pioneer.

This time, he was ready to kill with one blow.

Not long after, the two sides met in Suiyuan, and they had a fierce argument at the table.

The leader of the conservative faction was Liu Jingyi, who also changed his name.

Zheng Xianfeng was the first to raise questions: "What good is it for your family and country to study the scriptures?"

"Just because you have read the Four Books and Five Classics, do you understand the laws governing the world? Do you know how to govern a country? Do you know how to improve people's lives?"

Liu Jingyi said calmly: "This is natural. The Four Books and Five Classics are Confucian classics. As long as you read through the classics and understand the profound meaning of the books, you will understand it."

"If you can understand the mysteries of the world, what can't you do?"

Zheng Xianfeng looked at Liu Jingyi with a half-smile and asked, "There is a saying in the university that goes, 'Only after understanding things can one know everything.'"

"Then I will just ask you a very simple question. I wonder if you can answer it?"

Liu Jingyi said calmly: "Of course it's fine, just ask."

Zheng Xianfeng asked: "Two stones, one large and one small, fall freely from the same height at the same time. Which one will hit the ground first?"

Liu Jingyi said without hesitation: "I thought you would ask a very profound question, but I never thought you would ask such a simple question."

"Even a three-year-old child knows the answer to this question." (End of this chapter)