Mainz thought it was strange, and the boy opposite who was not yet eighteen years old also thought it was strange.
The young man is quite in awe of foreigners, because his ancestors were destroyed by foreign attacks. If it hadn't been for the war eighty years ago, he might still be able to dominate the world now.!
"Teacher, who is this?"
Although the young man was a little afraid of the foreigners in front of him, he still had the courage to ask the teacher standing next to him.
However, the so-called teacher he asked about was actually a foreigner. A foreigner who was nearly fifty years old. The teacher lowered his head and said in the boy's ear:"He is from Hans, he is the commander-in-chief of Hans's armed forces, and he is very likely to be Hans's president in the future!"
Compared with Chinese people, Johnston, as a foreigner, undoubtedly knows more about the international situation, especially the situation in Europe. It is precisely because of this that he can become the teacher of the last emperor Puyi.
As a Chinese expert, and A Chinese man with a heart for the Chinese Empire, Johnston was loyal to the Qing Dynasty.
As early as the Westernization Movement, he was employed in the Qing Dynasty's army to help the Qing Dynasty train its troops.
He even participated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 as an instructor and the Qing government fell.
After that, Johnston still chose to stay in the Qing court, and did not abandon the Manchus like others, so he was selected as the teacher of the last emperor Puyi, teaching Puyi English, mathematics, world history, and geography, and helping Puyi broaden his horizons for this great relationship.
The loyal teacher of the Qing Dynasty was very trustworthy.
After all, a friend in need is a friend indeed.
When the Qing Dynasty building was about to collapse, others abandoned the Qing Dynasty like worn-out shoes, but he was the only one who remained loyal to the Qing Dynasty and never abandoned him.
What's more, he still He imparted this new knowledge to him without any reservation, which made Puyi trust him so much that he almost asked him about every detail!
In Puyi's view, these new knowledge and knowledge have greatly broadened his world view. , made him aware of the situation in other countries in the world, and established a preliminary international vision. Although this pattern is not large, it is compared to his ancestors who could not find the empire where the sun never sets even when looking at a map. In terms of performance, his performance has undoubtedly improved a lot!
It is precisely because he learned knowledge about Western countries from Johnston that Puyi suddenly gasped when he heard that the person in front of him was Hans, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He breathed a sigh of relief!
This is probably the biggest foreign official he has ever seen in his life, right?
"Dear guest from Hansi, I wonder why you are visiting the Forbidden City?" Pu Yi was both nervous and excited. He didn't know what Johnston's purpose was in bringing Han Si, the commander-in-chief, to the Forbidden City, but he was very excited that he could always come into contact with such high-level foreign officials! As a person
, he was very excited.
Puyi, the last emperor, was actually quite unwilling.
Especially as he grew into adulthood, he saw too many cold and chaotic world affairs. Moreover, during the period of the rule of the Beiyang government, the internal turmoil within the Celestial Dynasty was extremely high. It was even worse at the end of the Qing Dynasty!
Although the Qing Dynasty did not rule well, it was a complete country and a central government with real power.
They had more control over the local governments than the Beiyang government.
Even before its demise, the Qing Dynasty still did a lot.
Hanyang Arsenal, Jiangnan Shipyard, Hanyang Iron Works, etc.
were all built under the auspices of the Qing Dynasty.
In addition to investment, there were mining of minerals, establishment of industries, and establishment of The military industry, etc.
, are all what the Qing Dynasty was working hard to do.
Before the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was basically self-sufficient in weapons and equipment. They could produce rifles and bullets for soldiers, ships for the navy, and even some Artillery, Jiangnan Shipyard can also build more than 2,000 tons of ironclad ships.
Under the auspices of the Qing government, a large number of railways were built in the country, telegraphs were established, telephones were established, and a new army was established. Although there was chaos in the late Qing Dynasty, But the Qing Dynasty was really working hard to maintain the country and was moving forward falteringly. Until that shot was fired, the Qing Dynasty collapsed, and all the progress came to an abrupt halt.
From the Revolution of 1911 to the present, a full ten years have passed! Well, the foundations laid by the Qing Dynasty have been almost destroyed in the warlord melee. Jiangnan Shipyard has not launched a warship for a long time. Hanyang Iron Works has gradually closed due to lack of iron ore. The manufacturing capacity of Hanyang County Factory is not only Instead of improving, it is still declining, and even the quality of the firearms produced is declining!
All of this made Puyi, the last emperor, very unconvinced!
You kept saying that the country would not be good if the Qing Dynasty did not fall. But now that the Qing Dynasty has been dead for ten years, has the country become better?
Not at all!
The long-term war has caused serious damage to industry, agriculture, and economy across the country. The country's national strength is declining, not improving.!
Has the life of the people improved?
Not at all!
At least there were not so many internal wars during the Qing Dynasty, and the people could at least enjoy a relatively stable life. But now, under the chaos of warlords, they will recruit young men everywhere. , in order to prevent these people from escaping, they will even tie chains on these people and imprison them like prisoners!
In order to obtain military expenses, there are countless exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and the warlords do not hesitate to use various means to deal with ordinary people. , some people with poor military discipline even directly sent troops to rob the people, knowing that a lot of families were destroyed and people were killed! Puyi didn't know how many people died in the war, but he knew that the number was probably very huge and unimaginable!
The ten years of the country's subjugation were undoubtedly a huge catastrophe for the people. If the Qing Dynasty still existed, the lives of the people would certainly not be so bad!
It is precisely because of this that Puyi has no good impressions of those revolutionaries who keep saying that they brought republic to China. He feels that without the trouble of these people, the Qing Dynasty would not have fallen. If the Qing Dynasty had not died, The country will not become like this!
So Puyi always wanted to restore the country. He wanted to change everything back to the way it was before, the way he was familiar with it!
Mainz didn't know Puyi's inner thoughts, and he would definitely sneer at him if he knew.
The republic may not be the best for the Celestial Empire, but compared to the monarchy, the republic is indeed a lot better.
The reason why Puyi felt that the current situation of the Chinese dynasty was worse than before was not because the republic was worse than the monarchy, but because the republic was useless. It was entirely because after Yuan Shikai's death, the dynasty lacked a strong leader who could stabilize the situation, which led to civil strife in the dynasty!
Under the melee of warlords, this country was not a complete country at all, but a panicked country during the Thirty Years' War in Europe.
Under such circumstances, it is good for the Celestial Dynasty to be able to survive and not perish. It is naturally impossible to expect them to lead the entire country and nation forward like a complete country!
Therefore, the top priority of the Chinese dynasty is to unify the country and eliminate the warlord separatism in the country. Only in this way can the potential of 400 million people and 11.5 million square kilometers of land be developed!
Puyi also didn't know what Mainz was thinking, so he seemed extremely excited about Hans' distinguished guest.
"I heard that there was an emperor living in the Forbidden City, so I just came to take a look. You don't need a ticket to enter now!"
Mainz said with a smile.