I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 579 The so-called Westernization Movement

Li Tian hesitated for a moment, then said,

"Apart from us, the only big households hoarding goods today are the Wang family and those small merchants.

It is estimated that there are at least [-] to [-] but still alive in their hands.

The Wang family lost a lot this time. The remaining money in their hands is probably enough to repay the loan. They can't keep this batch of goods. They probably will have to sell it in a few days.

At that time, Wang Fu, who has worked hard for you, will go to the Wang family in person. If they are willing, they can buy them all at a 'reasonable' price! "

Li Tian said again, when it was reasonable, he deliberately emphasized his tone, Wang Fu immediately understood, squinted his eyes and nodded, saying,
"Young Master, don't worry, this old slave will definitely handle this matter."

As a prominent family among the famous families, the Wang family can almost be regarded as a thousand-year-old family. Whether it is in the local area or in the court, they all have deep-rooted strength.

On the bright side, although Meng Xianying, Marquis of Baoding, is only an idle third-rank official, he is still considered the Marquis of Ming Dynasty, and his status is not comparable to that of ordinary people.

Even if the cotton cloth business of Baoyuan Bank and Wang's family was defeated by Li Tian, ​​it seems that they have no strength to fight back.But Li Tian knew that a skinny camel was bigger than a horse. The Wang family might be in a slump for a while, but it was still too early for them to completely decline.

Beating a dog in the water, taking advantage of a person's illness to kill someone, is just an ordinary person's method. At Li Tian's level, he doesn't even bother to do so.

In his opinion, if he wanted to completely eliminate the influence of aristocratic families on the imperial court, it would not work just to get rid of one royal family or several big families.

If you want to completely cure these diseases that have secretly controlled the rise and fall of the dynasty for thousands of years, you still need to rely on the emerging working class.

And it will take Li Tian and the court alone how many years it will take for the working class to rise.

The only way is to attract these big families and let them cultivate the working class with Li Tian, ​​which is the most effective and safest way.

At this time, some people may say, "They are not stupid, why do they do this kind of self-destruction of the foundation and self-destruction of the city wall?"

Li Tian's answer, only two words, that is 'interest'!
In the face of interests, no one can withstand the temptation, even a thousand-year-old family, a hundred-year-old family is no exception.

They haven't acted yet, but the benefits are not yet big enough to make them envious.

As for how to get them on his boat, Li Tian had actually been thinking about it a long time ago.

It is also very simple to say, that is, eight words, 'Rejuvenate the country through industry, rejuvenate the country through hard work'!
To put it simply, Li Tian intends to let these aristocratic families all devote themselves to the torrent of doing business.

At this time, someone may be confused again.

Why is it possible to reduce the influence of aristocratic families on the court by engaging in business?

This is actually very easy to explain.

In fact, if you look closely at history, you can find that even in the last few decades of the Qing Dynasty, there is still a chance to return to the pinnacle of the world.

That was the Westernization Movement initiated by industrialists headed by Li Hongzhang and others.

So what is the Westernization Movement?

The so-called Westernization Movement was an industrial revolution initiated by the Westernization School in the late Qing Dynasty in the middle and late nineteenth century, which introduced Western science and military technology to save the Qing government.

Although this vigorous revolution finally ended with the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War and the complete annihilation of the Beiyang Fleet.

On the surface, it seems that the late Qing Dynasty was just frightened and tossed for decades in the end, and it did not play a role in saving the country and life.

But in Li Tian's view, the Westernization Movement certainly failed.

But it still has great significance.

After decades of struggle, the Qing Dynasty at least left a warning to future generations, that is, industry can indeed prosper the country and enrich the people.

The reason why the Qing Dynasty failed was mainly because the Qing government and the industrialists at that time did not have a clear understanding of the real industrial revolution.

In addition, the personnel affairs of the imperial court participated in it at that time, which did not give the national industrialists any room for independent and free development.

Blindly imitate, blindly introduce, do not pay attention to their own accumulation in science and technology.

Even though the Qing Dynasty had the world's top fleets at that time, even though it had railways and arsenals, the core technology was always in the hands of foreigners.

That's why in the naval battle with Japan, the accumulation of the previous decades was completely lost, and the Qing government was never recovered, and it was completely reduced to the object of Western plunder.

When Li Tian read this period of history, he was also very touched.

He believes that the original intention of the Westernization Movement at that time was still good, and the reason why decades of efforts still failed in the end.

In fact, the main reason is the Qing government.

Corruption was rife, and it was a common problem of state-owned enterprises to pretend to be false.

To put it bluntly, the Westernization Movement was not destroyed by insufficient knowledge and accumulation, but by the incompetent management of the Qing government.

If the Qing government could have changed its thinking and encouraged the development of private industrialists at that time, perhaps history would have been a different scene.

It is right to engage in industry, and the concept of rejuvenating the country through industry and science and technology is also right.

The Qing government was wrong because it used the wrong people and the wrong direction.

But Li Tian knew that all mistakes made by people can actually be avoided.

With his vision far beyond this era, if Daming embarks on the road of rejuvenating the country through industry like the Qing Dynasty, he is fully confident that he will guide them on the right path.

The fundamental reason why Li Tian left the Wang family was not to kill them all. In fact, he planned to use this incident to let those aristocratic families know that they are no longer the only players in the game, and that he, the banker, has already begun to end.

If they want to continue to survive, they can only follow the path they have arranged for them.

Anyone who does not join it, or wants to resist, will eventually be ruthlessly crushed by the torrent of history.

Li Tian just blocked the arrogant Wang family, but did not completely destroy them.

It is hoped that a big family with a deep accumulation like the Wang family can find a new way out by themselves, and embark on the bright road that Li Tian arranged for them.

As for what this road is, most people probably don't quite understand it now.

Even Li Tian hasn't figured it out yet.

However, the first opportunity has already begun to emerge, and that is the construction plan of the national road that is about to start to be built across the South and Baie.

Whether the Wang family can seize this last chance to turn around depends on their foresight and courage.

Seeing Wang Fu's smiling face, Li Tian didn't forget to add one last sentence,
"When the time comes, ask the Wang family what they plan to do after losing the textile workshop..."

(End of this chapter)