Master Yuan, start!

Mingye grew up in Korea, so he was naturally unfamiliar with the centuries-old traditions of Beijing's Caishikou. He only remembered Yuan Shikai's advice to "find a lively place with a lot of people coming and going."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiangcheng had no choice but to ride his horse towards Caishikou.

Si watched as Yuan Xiangcheng's procession got closer and closer, and the scholars from all over the country who came to the capital also raised banners and flags!

4. "The Cantonese Society represents the students of Guangdong and Guangxi to pay their respects to Mr. Yuan!"

On behalf of the thousands of elders of Zhejiang, I pay my respects to Mr. Yuan!"

"One thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven scholars from the Fujian Society pay their respects to Master Yuan!"

...

After Germany forcibly occupied the Hengqin Islands in Zhuhai, scholars from various provinces in Beijing successively established national salvation conferences, which were named after their provinces.

Although these groups were suspended for a time due to the loss of personnel, they were reconvened when scholars from all over the world gathered in Beijing again.

Yuan Xiangcheng dismounted and walked to the high platform that had been built long ago. With just a wave of his hand, the crowd below immediately quieted down.

"I'm here today to discuss this with you all. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about the current situation in China and abroad."

As soon as Yuan Xiangcheng finished speaking, the audience burst into cheers, and everyone asked their own questions, and no one could hear who was speaking.

"Silence, silence!"

Yuan Xiangcheng could only let the yamen runners maintain order and decided to question people one by one.

"How many people from the Yuexiu Society come forward and raise your right arms!"

"Swish, swish, swish" dozens of arms were raised high.

"Come here." Yuan Xiangcheng pointed at a person, making Tan Sitong next to the person envious.

The young scholar asked, "Sir Yuan, the foreigners are so powerful that they have ceded territory to China from east to west, north to south, and north to north. Are they really so invincible?"

The deep pain of ceding land has been an indelible scar in the hearts of scholars in recent years, so they are eager to find an answer in Yuan Xiangcheng.

Because in today's world, only Yuan Shikai has defended the land for China.

Yuan Xiangcheng thought for a moment and replied:

"When England invaded Guangzhou 50 years ago, it was also invading Afghanistan, a small country in the Western Regions. Afghanistan is only about the size of Sichuan, and its population is less than % of China's. Yet, despite their defeat in Afghanistan, the British were able to force China to sign the Treaty of Jiangning, ceding territory and paying compensation."

The crowd in the audience was immediately shocked when they heard the news. After 50 years of invasion, the scholars now knew that the British were rampant in the seven seas and dominated the world, so it was not shameful to lose to the British.

But no one expected that the British at that time would attack in two directions. One attacked China and won; the other attacked Afghanistan but lost!

And Afghanistan is still a small country in the Western Regions!

"Ah, is this true?"

"Could it be that China is not as good as a small country in the Western Regions?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible, there must be something hidden!"

Seeing the scholars discussing this, Yuan Xiangcheng threw out another explosive piece of news.

"Moreover, Afghanistan was also a vassal state of China during the Qianlong period!"

This news from Yuan Xiangcheng completely shattered the remaining sense of shame among the scholars. Many people opened their mouths wide and found it difficult to accept the news.

"Is this true?"

"Is Lord Yuan making fun of us?"

"We, a vassal state of China, actually defeated the British army?"

The scholar then asked, "Master Yuan, I would like to ask what kind of system is used in Afghanistan?"

"The country hasn't even registered its people, nor has it a unified government. If we make an analogy, it's more like the Xiongnu during the Han Dynasty and the Turks during the Tang Dynasty, a tribal alliance."

They were stunned. All the scholars who heard Yuan Xiangcheng's words were stunned.

A small country in the Western Regions with a population less than 10% of China's. It was once a vassal state and had no imperial court.

Such a country that cannot even be called a country was defeated by the British army, but the Qing Dynasty was defeated by the British many times.

The scholar did not give up and asked again: "Then how did Afghanistan defeat the British army?"

"There is no other reason, just persistence!" Yuan Xiangcheng revealed the Afghans' secret to victory.

"Isn't the Qing dynasty persistent enough? How could we have persisted when tens of thousands of troops were defeated in Guangzhou Bay?"

"Only if all the people hold their ground with swords and spears can the British army be deterred!"

"Isn't Master Yuan afraid of a popular uprising?"

"Civil uprising?" Yuan Xiangcheng laughed. "Why would there be a civil uprising?"

"The First Emperor mobilized all the armies in the world and erected twelve golden men in Xianyang, yet didn't the Qin Dynasty still fall in the second generation? Does taking away weapons mean the people won't rebel?"

"So, if you ask me how China can avoid being defeated by foreigners, I have only one thing to say: trust the people. If everyone carries a gun, how can England's tens of millions of people defeat China's four hundred million people?"

"But the people are not yet enlightened, and it is feared that if we act rashly..."

"That is why we need to open schools to enlighten the people. Only when everyone understands that no one will be spared after the foreign invasion can we let the people deal with the foreigners."

“The students understood.”

In front of so many people, the scholar did not ask any further questions, and Yuan Xiangcheng also tacitly stopped talking.

Because further discussion would involve the issue of the Qing Dynasty's national system. What if everyone had a gun and turned the guns against the Manchus?

But that was enough. Many people lowered their heads in thought, as if they knew why the imperial court would always be so eager to seek peace after a minor defeat.

Seeing that everyone was thinking, Yuan Xiangcheng asked the scholars of the Fujian Society to stand up and speak.

"I would like to ask Master Yuan, how can China achieve prosperity and strength? Does it have to follow the Western tradition of constitutional reform?"

After hearing this answer, everyone held their breath, because this was the answer they wanted to know most: what should they do to save the country?

"Reform is by no means a panacea. When Prussia, the predecessor of the German Empire, invaded the French capital of Paris, it did not implement constitutional reform. When the Russians fought against Britain and France, they also did not implement constitutional reform."

6?679yi02?5 swelling,

In front of so many people, Yuan Shikai naturally could not directly say that he supported constitutional reform. After all, he had to consider Cixi's face.

So he came up with an idea, picked up the gun of the guard soldier beside him, closed his eyes and aimed at the ceremonial apricot-yellow umbrella when he came out.

"boom!"

Gunshots rang out, umbrellas fell, and people were startled.

There was a slight commotion among the crowd, not knowing what Lord Yuan was going to do with the gun.

"Look, this is a musket invented by foreigners. One shot can break a wooden pole as thick as a fist. I'm afraid that if you use a knife to chop it, it will take several hits to achieve the same effect. If it hits a person, blood and flesh will fly everywhere.

"What would the might be if hundreds of guns opened fire simultaneously?" Yuan Xiangcheng asked.

The scholar below replied cleverly: "I'm afraid all of our colleagues here will die together."

"Hahahaha" everyone laughed when they heard this.

"But what if the foreigners have already developed this kind of weapon, and these thousands of guns can be operated by just one person?"

The scholar put away his joking expression and replied seriously, "The man who wields such a sharp weapon must be braver than ten thousand men."

"That's exactly what I want to say. The reason why Westerners are so powerful is because they have such powerful weapons not only on land but also on the sea.

Even two people couldn't hold the shells on the foreign warships! The foreigners have such powerful weapons, do we have them?

"Sir Yuan, all the governors-general have established gun houses and have ordered the purchase or imitation of foreign weapons. The Qing Dynasty is not without such weapons. Besides, even you do the same."

"Yes, are there many? The foreigners have thousands of cannons of one kind, and they are updated every year and replenished every month. How many cannons do we have along the Chinese coast?"

Novel?8997;Three 8?

Yuan Xiangcheng tried hard to make this group of people understand that a country’s strength is not just about making guns and cannons.

"Today, foreigners have a cannon that can shoot 20 miles. Our Chinese craftsmen may be able to imitate it in a few years, but by then, the foreigners' cannons will have already been able to shoot 50 miles.

If we lag behind others step by step, how can we expect to defeat the foreigners?"

"Only by spreading Western learning and letting scholars around the world understand why foreigners were able to build such huge ships and cannons, and only by learning the skills of foreigners, can China resist foreign aggression."

The scholar bowed deeply and said, "I understand. After the next spring imperial examination, I will return home to study Western learning and work hard to build guns and cannons."

"No, don't take my words one-sidedly. Where are guns and cannons made?"

Someone who knew the business replied, "Steel and gunpowder."

Yuan Xiangcheng asked in return: "Does China have steel and quality gunpowder now?"

The man bowed again and said, "I understand. I will go back and study how to make steel and gunpowder!"

"We need iron ore to make steel. Do you know where we can find it?"

"I understand. I'll go learn how to find dragons and explore for gold!"

Yuan Xiangcheng was amused by this man and asked with a grin, "Even if you know everything, let me ask you, how do you transport the iron ore after it's mined?"

"Look for Minfula!"

"The cost is too high. We can't sell more than foreign iron, and we'll go bankrupt."

"Then build a railway and transport tens of thousands of pounds at a time."

"Then can you build a railway?"

860780: Old man

"student"

At this point, everyone understands that treating the symptoms rather than the cause will not be effective.

The act of making guns and cannons involved many industries such as steelmaking, gunpowder, transportation, and mining.

It’s impossible to fight alone!

"I believe you all understand that in today's world, whether or not there is constitutional reform is not important; what matters is industrialization!

What is industrialization?

Yuan Xiangcheng pointed to the gun in his hand.

“Industrialization is turning a piece of stone into steel, and then into the gun in my hand, or into a cannon, or into railroad tracks;

In addition, silk can also be turned into gauze, and finally into the clothes you wear.