Chapter 33

New book uploaded, seeking recommendations, seeking collections.

The moon was high in the sky, and the surroundings were utterly silent.

Since arriving in this era, Zhu Jishi found the most difficult thing to adapt to was the loss of national and ethnic identity. In his previous time and space, he knew clearly that his homeland was China, but here he was a man without a country. The Qing Empire was not his homeland; if he set foot on its land, he would surely be captured and beheaded. The country occupying the land where China was located was an enemy, not a friend. Zhu Jishi thought helplessly. He rested his head on his hand, with no sign of sleep in his eyes.

The words Engels spoke to him during the day still echoed in his ears. The Qing Empire or this era's China was not beyond saving.

Napoleon's views, Engels' views, and what he had seen and heard in Britain over these days seemed to confirm this judgment: as long as some necessary reforms were carried out seriously, China could easily resist Western aggression and smoothly embark on the path of modernization, thus avoiding the suffering and humiliation of the next hundred years. Moreover, the resistance to such reforms seemed not as great as imagined.

Of course, the Qing Empire had its historical burdens, but among the major countries of the East and West, how many were not troubled by various historical legacies?

Perhaps Britain and France were better off. The United States had the issue of black slavery; Russia had the problem of serfdom; Germany was in a state of "warlord chaos" — though this metaphor might not be entirely appropriate, a truly unified German nation did not exist; Italy was a collection of small states; the Ottoman Empire, needless to say, was a sick man of the Near East, plagued by internal and external troubles, with strong religious conservative forces, and conflicts between Islam and Christianity, as well as traditional enemies like Russia and Austria.

As for Japan, which later became the mortal enemy of the Chinese nation, it was still playing the "shogun" game (Zhu Jishi's historical knowledge was limited, but he had played a computer game called "Total War: Shogun 2" and had learned some about the political situation of the Japanese feudal domains). The country's system was still in the Middle Ages, without a truly unified central government!

Yet, Japan managed to successfully implement reforms, and the Ottoman Empire, with its tangled political, military, religious, and ethnic issues, could also establish a relatively strong modern army through reforms. Although it suffered continuous defeats in wars against Russia and Austria, the forces Russia deployed in the war against the Ottoman Empire far exceeded those sent by the Western powers to invade China in later years. From this perspective, the Ottoman Empire's reforms had achieved a certain degree of success.

However, in the Qing Empire, which had a centralized and autocratic government, the emperor's word was law, yet the Self-Strengthening Movement, which lasted for several decades, failed to establish even a single modern army!

What was the reason for this?

Moreover, should he do something for China in this era?

He had been in this world for almost six months. Not only had he established himself, but he had also become famous by leveraging his 170-year-advanced medical knowledge, and he might soon be elected as a member of the French Academy of Sciences. His plan to get rich was also progressing smoothly, and he had become a major shareholder in a rubber products company and a pharmacy. With the four major patents of vulcanized rubber, morphine hydrochloride, diacetylmorphine, and berberine hydrochloride, the future of the rubber products company and the pharmacy was unquestionable, and getting rich was just a matter of time.

Now was the time to start thinking about what to do after getting rich. Starting a family was just a joke he had with Ye Yiren. For someone who was both famous and wealthy and looked decent, dating was not a problem. So, after becoming famous and rich, what should he do? Naturally, it should be for the country and the nation, but this topic sounded a bit grand.

Zhu Jishi thought for a moment. Although the internet said, "In the Qing, don't rebel, use an electric drill on your anus," he did not seem to have the skills to rebel. He was a medical student, not a military or political one. Not to mention rebelling, even becoming a bandit in the mountains was beyond his capabilities.

Indeed, the fall of the Qing Dynasty was closely related to Sun Yat-sen, who was a medical student. But that was several decades later. If it were 1900, he might join Sun Yat-sen in the revolution and even leverage his wealth and fame in Western countries to become one of the leaders of the revolutionary party.

But now, the Qing Dynasty was still in power, and although a Taiping Rebellion would occur in a few years, what did that have to do with him? What common language could he have with "heretical leaders" like Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing? Would he join them in their charades, pretending to be relatives of God?

Of course, he could become a sponsor of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and, if necessary, establish a munitions company to supply them with weapons... Yes, picric acid had been invented for a long time, but Europeans did not know how to use it as an explosive. He knew how to detonate picric acid and how to prevent it from becoming highly explosive picrate, which could be used to make powerful hand grenades. Once he had some spare money, he could start a munitions company?

But the question was, would it be a good thing for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's "shamans" to rule China? Although the CCP later praised the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom highly and considered denying it historical nihilism, no one could deny that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom followed a theocratic path. If they ruled China, China might follow a theocratic path, becoming a country like the Arab Empire or the Ottoman Empire, which would not be suitable for the future world. Moreover, the leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, such as Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, were quite ignorant, even more so than the Qing rulers.

In fact, almost all Chinese people in this era knew nothing about the West or the world! The real reason for the failure of China's Self-Strengthening Movement was probably ignorance.

Helping the Chinese people open their eyes to the world might be the mission given to him by heaven! In the end, Zhu Jishi told himself that he should become a teacher, one who introduces the world to China, brings science to China, and brings Western culture, art, politics, education, and military systems to China, becoming a guide for China's modernization!

With this thought, he could no longer sleep. He put on a robe, sat at his desk, lit a whale oil lamp, and took out paper and pen, seemingly ready to write something. But after a long time, he still did not start writing, not because he had nothing to write, but because there was too much to write, and he did not know where to begin.

Start with the customs and manners of the West? Write a book like "Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms"? He did not know much about the current situation in Western countries. Perhaps he should hire a ghostwriter. He heard that Lawyer Jones had no business recently. Maybe he could write it, and Zhu Jishi could handle the translation. The title could be... "Journey to the West," but the author's name would still be his own!

Or introduce the military and political systems of Western countries? Uh, he did not know much about that either. Perhaps he could ask Engels and William Hale to write it. They were experts. The titles could be "Western Military Tactics" and "Western Political Strategies." He would handle the translation and also sign his name, which might give him more exposure in the "Collected Works of Marx and Engels."

Or write about Western science and technology? This... he did not seem capable! Not because he did not know, but because he knew too much! If he accidentally wrote about chemical and physical knowledge that did not exist in this era, it would be disastrous for European scientists. The gap between the East and West in science and technology would only grow larger! He could just translate some British middle school and university textbooks.

In the end, Zhu Jishi took a deep breath, picked up a fountain pen, and wrote in Chinese on the paper, "English-Chinese Dictionary — Compiled by Zhu Jishi"...

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