C491 Advanced and backward (1/2)
Having more people and strength seemed like the right thing to say, but was that really the case? No, manpower is great in numbers, but it's also great in terms of internal friction. How can you guarantee that you can think of a group of people together and do things in one direction?
Many people have many thoughts. One person's set of thoughts from east, south, west, and north would cause a great deal of internal friction. Many things lost because of internal friction.
Furthermore, there were also many traitors. There were always people on the ship who wanted to jump the ladder while sitting in the pot, and the chances of encountering such people were much higher than the probability of success.
Therefore, for thousands of years, all of China's dynasties had been under the rule of the world, and they did not take the lead in developing an advanced national and national view. It was not because the Chinese were stupid, but because the ancient Chinese were too smart.
In ancient China, only blood-related clans could maintain the bond of a group of people. They could work together to resist the enemy or invade others together, and thus form a relatively loyal interest group.
The brothers were of one mind, and their sharpness cut the gold. The truth was that simple.
But this social order, which knows only home and no nationality or state, is destined only for agricultural societies, and in industrial societies the idea is destined to become a cancer.
How much would it cost to start the The Age of Great Navigation? To promote the steam engine, how much did it cost to cultivate railway network throughout the country? How much would it cost to send an expedition fleet to colonize the world? How much would it cost to climb an unknown technology tree?
Such a huge amount of funds was not something that could be spent on one family. Even if one family could spend so much money to do such big things, who could guarantee that the other families wouldn't covet it?
In the early stages of The Age of Great Navigation, if one wanted to build a navy, as long as they supplied the materials, it would not be a problem. In the late stage of Industrial Revolution, the first time a sail battleship used up its funds, it was not wood but artillery.
The more money you spend the less you need, the more you need to upgrade your wooden battleships to Iron-armored battleship, then to battleships, submarines, aircraft carriers, and then to develop your Air Force, Armored Forces, and even Manhattan Project.
The more powerful a human was, the higher the stepping stone. In the end, the gap between countries could no longer be calculated by adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.
In the middle of nineteenth century, to be honest, this is really the last chance for the Chinese nation to surpass the strongest people in Europe. If you don't jump on the train that just started up on this trip of the Second Industrial Revolution, you probably won't have another chance in the future.
Xiao Letian knew how urgent the time was and how serious the situation was. He would never forget the humiliating history of his previous life.
What was worse was that at that time, the production capacity of the Chinese military factories was not even enough to fill the gaps between teeth. 90% of the military supplies needed to be imported, and the scenes from the humiliating war were still appearing in Xiao Letian's nightmares.
Look, how can we live without industrialization?
Money, money! Don't look at how Xiao Letian was already as rich as a nation. If he wanted to enjoy it, he could even lead a luxurious life like an emperor. However, this money was still far from enough, because Xiao Letian had a dream of growing strong strong strong countries in his heart. He even wished for China to become the leader of the Second Industrial Revolution.
The newest Iron-armored battleship will be the first to appear in East Asia, okay? The first electric light bulb in the human world was invented by the Chinese, okay? The first tank, the first plane appeared in the world of China, okay?
What a beautiful scene this was, but could it be possible without a vast amount of money? Is it okay to have so many like-minded people gathered together?
What troubled Xiao Letian even more was that with so much money gathered together, how could he prevent his subordinates from harming their private and official affairs? What the heck if they were all embezzled by me?
To put it another way, the prevalence of China's corrupt culture, more or less, has to do with the cultural tradition of home. They only knew that there was a family, but they did not know that there was a country. Then the interests of the family were supreme, and the national interest and national interest could be completely ignored, or it could be carelessly cheated.
”I don't care if your project is vital to the country? I don't care if you are in the interests of the masses. Your nation has been revived and your country is rich and powerful, but what does that have to do with me? Anyway, I'll give this project to my brother-in-law. Anyway, my family's benefits are sacred and inviolable … ”Un, I'm really too great. My wife might even drag my sister-in-law to bed tonight. It's not impossible for her to be rewarded with a pair of wings!”