C2155 Welcome by the Queen (1/2)

Xiao Letian had truly missed out on a great opportunity in history. He had no idea that the Kingdom was currently in a critical period of internal affairs and external affairs transforming into each other.

The truth was, the government invested heavily every year, and these investments had a very strong purpose in mind. With Benjamin as the leader, the Tory Party would place a large amount of investment in expansion.

The colonial army was going to be installed, the port was going to be built with new cannon emplacements, new wars were going to be waged abroad, and so on … It even included aiding the opposition in other countries, secretly financing some of the rebel armies, and so on.

All of these required money, and were all gold-eating monsters. Especially the expansion of the navy, which was a bottomless pit, even if one was as rich as the British Empire, if they wanted to upgrade their warships, they had to be meticulous.

However, to Gladstone and others, the prosperity of an empire depended not only on the size of the population but also the vastness of the territory. It was good to have more colonies. Everyone knew that dumping of raw materials and goods was very important.

However, there was always a problem with everything. Expansion on the outside could not forget the development on the inside!

Look at the mess of security in London right now. There are countless uneducated children running the streets, selling newspapers or polishing shoes or working in factories.

Some even became thieves or beggars, and their parents were completely incapable of providing any help to their children's future. These children had no choice but to perish on their own.

Education was a big problem, but what about medical care? What about road construction? Public health drainage facilities? Needless to say, the number of people who die from typhoid and dysentery in City of London would increase year by year.

Dirty streets, blocked small waterways, people couldn't even drink clean water, was this really what the British Empire wanted?

It was time for change, and Gladstone's vision was to pull national policy from focus to focus on the right path of inwardness.

The existing colonies could no longer be expanded and limited funds had to be invested in improving the livelihood of the people.

Education was especially important. The Empire needed more talented people, and that was the root of Britain's continued prosperity!

At this time, human society did not have the concept of Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution for the first time. This was an analysis and summary of history that came later on.

And only someone as powerful as Xiao Letian could tell that the technological innovation was coming!

However, no one could underestimate the intelligence of the ancients. Although Gladstone and the others didn't know where the breakthrough point of the new technology was, they were aware that it was in the process of breaking through.

Business competition allowed the Factory Owner to increase efficiency and reduce costs, and then they had to research and produce new technology and products. Only then would they be able to obtain more, more abundant profits.

But in the new industry, new technology would definitely require more high-quality industrial workers, this was something that Xiao Letian understood the best. In the future, there would be electricity, chemicals, oil industry, internal combustion engine … The emerging industries such as this, were not something ordinary people could step into.

All practitioners needed a solid foundation of knowledge before they could start training in a professional manner, and even innovate in their work.

This was the benefit of compulsory education. It was also the only way to become a powerful country, and it was also Gladstone's lifelong dream.

What Xiao Letian did not know was that it was because of the sudden birth of the Chinese that the compulsory education system in Britain had been brought forward by more than ten years.

To let a small country like Zuhel snatch the world's first place in compulsory education for all, this caused British Empire to lose a lot of face, and he also felt a deep threat.