Chapter 32

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"Is it absurd?" Engels put down the small, exquisite coffee cup and laughed, "Why is it absurd?"

"It's quite obvious. Two almost equally corrupt countries and armies, with both peoples living in dire straits. The working class in Britain might be suffering even more. Moreover, Britain is waging a war far from home, with a supply line stretching over thousands of miles, while the Qing Dynasty is fighting on its own soil with the advantage of rest and preparation. In terms of military strength, the Qing Dynasty has an absolute advantage. Friedrich, don't you find the outcome of the Sino-British trade war very hard to believe?"

Zhu Jishi slowly expressed his doubts, his tone heavy. Although he denied being a "Qing national" verbally, years of education in the future had made him view the Qing Dynasty's failures in foreign wars, including the Opium War, as a humiliation for China and the Chinese nation.

Engels smiled faintly, "Jason, I didn't expect your approach to military and political issues to be so similar to that of socialists, starting from the bottom up, from society to politics, and then to the military. Indeed, British society is quite corrupt. The ruling aristocracy and bourgeoisie are profit-driven and never care about the people's well-being. In their eyes, the working class is actually a commodity! Really, just a commodity!"

A look of pain crossed Engels' face, "Actually, I am also a member of the bourgeoisie. In the 'Ermen and Engels Textile Factory' where I serve as a manager, workers are also a commodity. Capitalists pay for their labor, and the price they pay is, of course, as low as possible..."

"If productivity develops further, wouldn't the workers' wages increase?" Zhu Jishi suddenly interjected. In his memory, the wages of workers in Europe and America were relatively high, possibly starting to increase significantly after the Second Industrial Revolution.

"Why?" Engels asked in confusion, "Why would workers' wages increase with the development of productivity? In the past hundred years, due to the emergence of machine industry, productivity has grown rapidly, but workers' wages have not increased. Currently, the wages of ordinary workers are only 4 to 6 pence per day, about 2000 pence per year, equivalent to 100 shillings or about 8 pounds (approximately 24 taels of silver, or 2 taels of silver per month, which is roughly comparable to the wages of Qing Dynasty artisans). Although they have increased compared to 100 years ago, they have not kept pace with inflation, let alone the growth in social productivity and the British government's fiscal revenue.

Moreover, if the labor of workers is a commodity, its price is determined by supply and demand, and has little to do with the development of social productivity or the growth of capitalists' wealth."

Zhu Jishi was silent, knowing that Engels was right. However, in the future, the income of workers in Europe and America was indeed high, and there was still a significant unemployment rate! This means that the supply of labor was excessive...

In comparison, although Britain is currently in an economic crisis, with 1.5 to 2 million "excess population," this is based on the widespread use of child labor. If all child laborers were sent to school, there would definitely be a labor shortage.

He sighed and asked, "Since Britain is such a corrupt country that does not care about the people's lives, why is it so powerful?"

Engels still looked at Zhu Jishi with a puzzled expression and shook his head, "Jason, do you think the strength of a bourgeois or feudal aristocratic state has a lot to do with caring for the people's lives? Whose theory is this?"

"This... has nothing to do with it?" Zhu Jishi thought, it really doesn't seem to have much to do with it. The most powerful countries in the world now are Britain and Russia, one a maritime hegemon and the other a land hegemon. In Britain, the working class is in dire straits, and in Russia, most of the working class are still serfs!

"Of course not," Engels said, "The strength of a bourgeois or feudal aristocratic state depends on the strength and wisdom of the ruling class, not on the lower-class laborers. In the Sino-British trade war, the British working class was busy struggling against the ruling class and did not support the British government (in contrast, the Qing people were just watching and had not yet taken to the streets).

So, my view on the outcome of the Sino-British trade war is that it was a war between the British bourgeoisie and the Qing feudal ruling class, not a war between the people of Britain and the Qing. The outcome of the war reflects that the British bourgeoisie is far more powerful and intelligent than the Qing feudal ruling class. However, this war may not necessarily be a bad thing for the Qing."

"Not a bad thing?" Zhu Jishi asked in confusion.

"Of course not, on the contrary, I think the British did a foolish thing. They awakened a sleeping lion."

"That's Napoleon's view," Zhu Jishi knew about the "awakening lion theory," but he was more aware that the British guns and ships did not wake up the Qing Dynasty.

"Napoleon was right," Engels took a sip of coffee, realizing that the interview had gone off track, but he was still happy to discuss Chinese issues with Zhu Jishi and planned to write an article about Chinese issues when he returned.

"I don't think the Qing will be awakened," Zhu Jishi shook his head, speaking of history, but Engels did not believe it.

"Why not?" Engels smiled at Zhu Jishi, "The Qing is a vast country with a population of 400 million, more than all of Europe, ruled by one emperor... Jason, do you know how powerful that is? This sleeping lion doesn't need to fully awaken; just a little bit would be enough to limit European influence to outside East Asia."

"How is that possible?" Zhu Jishi looked at Engels in surprise.

"It's obvious!" Engels emphasized, "The Qing emperor and his ministers must have realized their country's backwardness from the Sino-British trade war, and they will start reforms."

"There won't be thorough reforms."

"They don't need to be thorough," Engels said, "Just to the level of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, the Maratha Empire, the Mysore Kingdom, and the Sikh Empire."

"The Maratha Empire? The Mysore Kingdom? The Sikh Empire?" Zhu Jishi asked, "Where are they?"

"India, they are in India," Engels explained, "The Qing's population, land, and wealth far exceed those of the Ottoman Empire, let alone Egypt and the Indian principalities. So the Qing emperor only needs to implement reforms similar to those of Selim III of the Ottoman Empire, sending envoys to European countries... perhaps these envoys are already on their way. Hiring craftsmen, retired officers, and intellectuals from Europe to help the Qing establish factories, military schools, and modern universities, and emulating European military systems to form a new, loyal standing army. Of course, if there are powerful feudal lords and hereditary privileged armies like the Ottoman Janissaries in the Qing, the reform might be more difficult."

"Is that enough?" Zhu Jishi looked at Engels with doubt. "Such reforms do not touch the fundamental feudal system of the Qing. How can they establish a new army capable of resisting European colonizers?"

"There are no reforms that touch the fundamental system at once," Engels smiled at Zhu Jishi, "Reform is not revolution. The Qing only needs a small, gradual reform. This country is too far from Western Europe, and no European power has the ability to send a powerful expeditionary force to the Far East. So, they only need a few thousand loyal young nobles who have received European military education to support an army of over 100,000 European-style troops, which would be enough to dominate the Far East. I think this would be beneficial for the Qing emperor and his court. They have no reason not to implement such reforms unless they are complete fools and idiots."

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