Chapter 22

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Zhu Jishi once heard a story 170 years later: During the Opium War of 1840, when the British fleet broke through the Humen fortifications and sailed north along the Pearl River, tens of thousands of local residents gathered on both banks of the river. They watched the battle between their own court and the foreigners with a cold, calm demeanor, as if they were watching a conflict that had nothing to do with them. The British officers, witnessing this scene, were greatly puzzled. A British officer asked a traitor who was guiding the British army, and the reply was: "If the state does not know the people, then the people do not know the state."

Obviously, the Qing Dynasty of the 1840s was a state that did not know its people. But could the British Empire of 1840 truly be considered a state that knew its people, and the people knew their state?

Based on the information Zhu Jishi learned during this period, the answer is clearly no!

On October 1, 1839, the British Cabinet, citing the obstruction of trade and the threat to the lives of British subjects, decided to dispatch a fleet to Chinese waters. What were the British working people, who should have known "the state," doing at that time?

They were busy marching and gathering, incited by the Chartists' leaders and politicians with ulterior motives, demanding universal suffrage!

The British government could spend millions of pounds in 1840 to send troops thousands of miles away to protect a few British subjects in China, but they were unwilling to provide adequate relief to the British working people who were on the brink of starvation and freezing to death. According to the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the poor could only receive food relief after entering the "workhouses," which were essentially labor camps. The work was arduous, the treatment was poor, the food was bad, and the accommodation was crowded. People were separated by age and gender, causing families to be torn apart. Without written permission from the overseers, they could not go out or receive visitors. It was practically no different from being in prison. Even such "workhouses" were unable to accommodate many more poor people due to a lack of funds. As a result, many British people died from hunger and cold every day.

Does such a state seem to know its people? If the Qing Dynasty's fleet were to reach the mouth of the Thames now, would the British poor, who cannot even beg for permission and are on the brink of starvation, fight to the death for Queen Victoria?

On the train to London, Zhu Jishi finally could not resist asking the question that had been troubling him for a long time. However, Will Heming's answer surprised him, but upon further reflection, it made sense.

"State does not know the people, so the people do not know the state? What does that mean... I don't know if the serfs in your Russia (Will Heming still thought Zhu Jishi was a Tartar) love the Tsar and the country, but the poor here definitely do not love the country, that's for sure!

Moreover, what is there to love about this country? The government has an annual revenue of 90 million pounds and vast colonies in North America, Australia, and India, but it is unwilling to spend a few pennies to help the poor, only using the money for war. In reality, helping the poor doesn't cost much. The British Isles have only about 20 million people, with an excess population of 1.5 to 2 million. North America and Australia are vast and sparsely populated. They can spend millions of pounds to fight China, but why can't they spend the same amount to send the excess population to Canada to farm?"

"But the British seem very brave on the battlefield?"

"Brave? I don't think so." Will Heming chuckled. "Jason, do you know that during the war with the French Emperor (Napoleon), the British government's biggest headache was not being able to recruit enough soldiers! Ha ha, during the American Revolutionary War, the British Empire also couldn't recruit enough soldiers and had to pay to hire Germans from Hesse to fight. Do you think the people of this country are very patriotic?"

Is that true? Zhu Jishi really suspected that he had traveled to a parallel world that looked very much like his original world but was actually different.

"Let me give you a more vivid analogy. This British Empire is actually a company."

Will Heming said seriously, "It's not much different from the East India Company... The nobility and the big bourgeoisie are the shareholders of this company, and there are probably a few thousand of them. The British Empire is their company. The petty bourgeoisie, the middle class, and the intellectuals are the managers of this company, and there are probably a few hundred thousand of them. Both Cosper and Jason are part of the management, and I, this unfortunate man who has been dismissed from the British Army, don't know how long I can maintain my middle-class life. Perhaps I will soon become a member of the proletariat.

And the nearly 20 million working people are the workers of this British Empire company, including higher-income skilled workers, lower-income ordinary workers, day laborers, and child laborers, as well as the unemployed.

As for the soldiers in the British Army, very few of them fight out of love for the Queen and the country. At least, there are none among the ordinary soldiers. The cavalry is a bit better off because those who can ride horses in England usually have some assets. The light infantry and artillery are more fond of pounds, as their pay is higher, similar to the cavalry, and several times that of ordinary soldiers.

As for the ordinary soldiers, as the Duke of Wellington said, they are the dregs of society. Some join the army because they have illegitimate children, but most join because they are drunk. Our duty as officers is to turn these dregs of society into good soldiers!

Jason, you are a scientist, not a soldier, so you wouldn't understand what war is like."

After hearing Will Heming's words and considering what Zhu Jishi had seen and heard in London and Manchester, a chemical reaction was taking place in his mind—the once glorious British Empire was not so great after all. The Victorian era, which was at its peak, was not much stronger than the Qing Dynasty. In this era, the gap between China and the West had not yet widened!

In other words, as long as the country can open its doors in time, there is still much that can be done...

...

London, Dover Street, third floor of the Dulan Clothing Store.

"A piece of sulfur and a piece of rubber, heated to melt them together, and then it becomes this vulcanized rubber? Oh my God, this is truly amazing!"

After witnessing the process of vulcanizing rubber and seeing the elasticity, heat resistance, tensile strength, and insolubility in organic solvents of the rubber sheet that was vulcanized right in front of him, even Cosper William, a normally stern and reserved bank manager, could not help but exclaim.

"Is the patent for this vulcanized rubber really in your hands? Really? Can I see the patent certificate?"

Zhu Jishi took a stack of documents from the drawer of his desk—patent certificates—and handed over the patent certificate for vulcanized rubber.

"Really, 14 years of patent... No, oh my God! This is a great invention, Jason. Do you know what this vulcanized rubber can be used for?" Cosper William's face was filled with unbridled excitement.

Zhu Jishi frowned slightly and shook his head. "Cosper, I think you should ask what this vulcanized rubber cannot be used for."

Natural rubber is one of the four major industrial raw materials, along with steel, coal, and oil! However, before the American Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber, rubber was almost useless, only good for erasing pencil marks.

"Cosper, how much can this patent be mortgaged for? How much can it be sold for?" Zhu Jishi asked Cosper William with a smile.

"2000 pounds for a mortgage, 3000 pounds for a sale!" Cosper William pondered and made an offer.

Zhu Jishi smiled and shook his head. "Cosper, do you know how the vulcanized rubber business works?"

Cosper William was slightly taken aback and looked at Zhu Jishi with some confusion. Zhu Jishi smiled and said, "The uses of vulcanized rubber are extremely wide-ranging. It can be used almost everywhere. Currently, it can be used for wheels, shoes, gloves, condoms... which are used to prevent women from getting pregnant. I think the sales of rubber condoms in Europe alone could earn 3000 pounds a year."

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