Although Istanbul was not as dirty and chaotic as Paris and London at the same time, it was not much better.
People urinate and defecate anywhere and anytime on the streets, and throw away rubbish randomly.
Although there is no sewage flowing across the entire Istanbul, it still smells like excrement.
It's okay during the rainy season. If it rains, the smell can be suppressed a bit!
But when the dry season comes, when the sun shines and the wind blows, the smell is simply amazing.
Originally, Siroson was already used to the taste of Istanbul.
And he began to brainwash himself and let himself accept that mess is the price of prosperity.
Every big city in the world should be like this, because there are too many people and it is impossible to be clean.
It wasn't until he came to Ming Dynasty that he suddenly discovered that prosperity and cleanliness could coexist.
What I saw along the way was that not a single city was dirty!
This is true in every city. There is no garbage or sewage on the streets, and the people who come and go are dressed decently.
But what shocked him the most was the extremely high literacy rate in Ming Dynasty. Almost one out of ten people was literate.
In Siroson's eyes, such a literacy rate is no different from a myth.
In his opinion, this kind of Ming Dynasty is simply a paradise on earth and a beacon of civilization.
But now that he is leaving Daming, he will naturally feel a little reluctant in his heart.
Thinking about these messy things, Siroson turned around and returned to his bedroom, ready to rest.
Before going to bed, he went to the bathroom to wash up.
The post hall of Honglu Temple in the Ming Dynasty was completely renovated after the restoration of the Ming Dynasty.
The steam-pressurized faucet is used for washing. Just turn it gently and hot water will flow out.
In addition to faucets, there are also different sanitary appliances such as showers and flush toilets.
From the perspective of Xiluosen, the water supply system of the Ming Dynasty is simply magical!
After he figured out the principle of the water supply system, he was even more amazed by the wisdom and creativity of the Ming people.
I admired in my heart that Ming Dynasty is indeed the most civilized and advanced country in the world!
With these messy thoughts, Siroson lay back on the bed.
It was obviously the depth of winter, but he was only covered with a thin silk brocade quilt, but he didn't feel cold at all.
The reason is because the house he lives in has heating installed!
It can provide heat stably, making the room warm as spring.
Plus that electric light can make the room as bright as day even at night.
Siroson couldn't be more satisfied with his life in Ming Dynasty.
It's just a pity that I have to leave soon.
Sighing again, thinking about these messy things, Siroson gradually fell into sleep.
…
Not far away, in the courtyard of Lingjia, Liszt and Lauren were also making preparations before leaving.
Liszt opened his mouth and gave instructions.
"Dear Lauren, I need you to personally lead a team around Nanjing tomorrow, purchase some samples, and bring them back to Great Britain for sale to see how the market is."
Lauren held a small notebook in her hand, picked up a quill stained with ink, and asked.
"Please tell me, captain, what cargo do we need to bring?"
"I'll make a note of it, don't forget it!"
Liszt pondered for a while and then spoke.
"First of all, we need to purchase silk, tea, and porcelain, all of high, medium, and low quality, and of various styles."
“In addition, we also purchase cloth, sugar, ironware, hardware, perfume, soap, MSG, glass, clocks, drinks and other general merchandise.”
"There are also muskets, artillery, armor, swords and other weapons sold by the Ming Dynasty. We can also purchase a batch and bring them back to Great Britain for research and imitation."
After saying this, Liszt fell silent and thought about other things.
If there was anything that impressed him most after arriving in the Ming Dynasty, it was undoubtedly the Ming Dynasty's steam engine.
He once wanted to purchase a batch of steam engines and bring them back to Europe for research.
But you can’t buy it at all!
Although the Ming Dynasty did not explicitly prohibit the export of steam engines, due to the limited production capacity of steam engines.
The steam engine factory currently has a large number of orders that are still being queued, so Liszt has no place to buy them.
Even if you buy it second-hand, you can't buy it.
Except for the factories under the imperial court, most of the factories that can use steam engines now are very profitable factories.
For these factories, steam engines are their cash cow.
You a foreigner want their cash cow?
It’s a good thing they don’t discount your legs!
The reason why the Ming Dynasty did not ban the export of steam engines was because Zhu Hongyu knew that if he wanted steam engines to spread on a large scale, he would use this to promote social change.
Then, it is inevitable to push the steam engine to the entire society.
Once the forest gets bigger, there will be all kinds of birds!
There will always be those who are greedy for profit and will be tempted to sell the steam engine.
Therefore, control cannot be controlled!
Besides, the so-called science and technology in this era are not as advanced as imagined, and many things cannot be kept secret at all.
For example, a steam engine!
Although the steam engine looks very high-end, as long as you understand its specific principles, it is not a difficult problem to build a steam engine by hand.
Now that Ming Dynasty has clarified the path of scientific and technological development for the whole world, it will always be easier for the latecomers than the first movers.
If other countries follow Ming's footsteps in research and development, he can also come up with many things.
If Ming Dynasty really wanted to have a technological advantage that would always be ahead of the world, instead of working hard to create any technical barriers, it would be better to invest a lot of manpower and material resources in cultivating talents to promote the progress and development of science and technology.
Only in this way can we always stay in the leading position!
After all, if you sell it to me, then I might have to consider whether it is more cost-effective to build it myself or spend money to buy it.
It was like the Westernization Movement carried out by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, because as long as they had money, the Western powers would buy everything.
All the officials in the Qing Dynasty think it's more cost-effective to buy it than to make it yourself.
The results of it?
The Westernization Movement has been going on for decades, but the technological level of our Qing Dynasty is still the same, with no progress at all.
But if you don’t sell it to me, doesn’t that force me to try my best to make it myself?
The dispute between eagle and rabbit in later generations is the best example!
Yingjiang teamed up with his friends to block Rabbit. The more powerful the blockade was, the faster Rabbit's technological breakthrough would be.
Then, under the full force of Yingjiang's blockade, a rabbit with complete industrial categories and the ability to make anything was blocked.
Although Rabbit has shortcomings, and its level is indeed a bit worse in some aspects, but having it and not having it are two completely different things.
That’s the truth!
After thinking for a long time, Liszt finally spoke.
"Tomorrow, I will ask to see the Ming Emperor again and discuss with him the purchase of a steam engine."
"I hope Emperor Ming can agree to it!"
Lauren nodded and added.
"There's also the matter of electrical appliances!"