Ivanova was surprised: "How could that rebellion have anything to do with Peter the Great?"
The salon held by Marion today invited about 20 guests. Several couches were not enough to sit on, and some chairs and benches were brought in. Before, everyone did not take Zhou Hexuan seriously, until he said
His views on Picasso only attracted a little attention, but they basically thought that Zhou Hexuan was trying to please others.
The Russian October Revolution has been successful for nearly ten years, causing great panic in Western society. However, relevant research only remains on the surface, because even the Soviet Union itself is still advancing in exploration.
Zhou Hexuan's entry point was completely beyond everyone's expectations. He actually involved Peter the Great from 200 years ago.
Leonard, deputy editor of the Beijing-Tianjin Times, asked: "Does Mr. Zhou think it was Peter the Great who laid the root of the disaster?"
"Don't worry, let's analyze it slowly," Zhou Hexuan asked Puyi with a smile, "Mr. Pu (that's what he's called), do you know Peter the Great well?"
Puyi nodded and said: "That is a monarch with great talent and great strategy."
During the Reform Movement of 1898, the reformers highly praised Peter the Great and Emperor Meiji, and hoped that Emperor Guangxu would follow those two monarchs as examples. Nine years ago, when Zhang Xun was restored, Puyi was also ready to fight, and he had studied and understood it.
Reform monarchs of various countries.
"Two hundred years ago, the young Peter the Great concealed his identity as monarch and went to the Netherlands to study shipbuilding, to England to study architecture, and to Sweden to learn infantry tactics...Prussia, Austria, France, Italy, and Spain. He traveled to almost all advanced countries in Europe.
country,” Zhou Hexuan said eloquently, “He wanted to complete Russia’s modernization reform on his own. From this point of view, Peter the Great was indeed a talented and strategic monarch.”
Everyone nodded involuntarily, wanting to hear Zhou Hexuan continue talking.
"However," Zhou Hexuan's tone changed, "Peter the Great's reforms, like those of the former Qing Dynasty, were doomed to failure from the beginning."
"Why?" Puyi couldn't help but ask.
Amid the inquiring and doubtful eyes of everyone, Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "Although Russia's territory at that time was large, its system was very backward. The domestic economy relied entirely on agriculture. There were only dozens of manual workshops in the country. Even in the capital Moscow, only one hundred people were literate.
There were no more than three. Because the land was sparsely populated and productivity was extremely low, Russian peasants were unable to cultivate enough land, leaving a large amount of farmland idle and barren. So the nobles came up with a way to capture the peasants and keep them as slaves.
, first to satisfy the cultivation of one's own fiefdom, and this is how Russia's serfdom came into being."
Everyone knew everything about serfdom in Russia, but Zhou Hexuan's analysis was simple, clear and thorough, which made Leonard, Peter Pan and other newspaper people shine.
Zhou Hexuan added: "Peter the Great's industrialization and modernization reforms will inevitably release a large number of serfs from the land, which touches the fundamental interests of the nobility. Therefore, during the reform process, the aristocratic group opposed him, and the church forces hated him.
Even his son was determined to rebel. Peter the Great was very tough. He suppressed the nobles, executed rebels, and even killed his own son. Mr. Pu would not be able to do this if you were to be the emperor.
?”
Pu Yi smiled bitterly and shook his head. Not to mention that he had no real power. Even if he had the power, he would not be so fierce.
"Under the insistence of Peter the Great, Russia's reforms finally made some progress. In order to get rid of the conservative strength, he did not hesitate to defeat Sweden and seize the seaport, and moved the capital to the newly occupied land," Zhou Hexuan smiled mockingly,
"But once Peter the Great died, all his reforms were in vain, and everything returned to where it started. What a pity."
Ivanova felt the same and said: "It is indeed a pity. If Peter the Great's reforms could succeed, Russia might still be under the rule of the Tsar."
Peter Pan asked: "Mr. Zhou, what does this have to do with the October Revolution in Russia?"
"Don't be anxious, let's take your time," Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, "Let's talk about Catherine II and Napoleon."
Everyone was even more confused. After all, Catherine II was still the Empress of Russia, but why was the French Emperor Napoleon also involved?
Zhou Hexuan slowly narrated: "It's funny to say that after the death of Peter the Great, the person who inherited his reform cause was actually a woman, and she was a German woman, a Russian woman who was educated in French Enlightenment thought. She was Catherine.
II!"
Empress Wanrong studied in an American missionary school in Tianjin when she was a child. She could also understand English and couldn't help but ask: "Isn't Catherine II the Empress of Russia? Why did she become a German woman again?"
Catherine, the British consul's wife, explained: "European royal families have a tradition of marriage, and Catherine II was indeed born in a German aristocracy."
"Yes," Zhou Hexuan said, "When Catherine II was in Germany, she was deeply influenced by French Enlightenment thought. Its roots lie in Napoleon. At that time, Emperor Napoleon swept across European countries, and every time he occupied a place, he brought French Enlightenment ideas to the forefront.
The ideas were passed on and later led to imperial revolutions and civil rights movements in various European countries. After Catherine II married to Russia, all she thought about was freedom, equality, democracy and the rule of law, which were incompatible with the social reality of Russia.
She regarded herself as the successor of Peter the Great, and after becoming empress, she resolutely set off a wave of reforms in Russia."
Lu Jingyan praised: "Ye Huang is really a role model for women."
Other women in the living room also praised Catherine II and regarded Catherine II as an advanced female representative.
Zhou Hexuan poured cold water on them: "However, Catherine II betrayed herself. She took the initiative to terminate the reform and became the leader of Russia's conservative forces."
"How is that possible?" the women exclaimed in unison.
"Because Catherine II encountered the same problem as Peter the Great," Zhou Hexuan explained, "during the reform process, she discovered that her power came from the nobility, and the reform was to change the lives of the nobility, and ultimately to revolutionize
Her own life. She was afraid. In order to consolidate her position and shift domestic conflicts, she resolutely started foreign wars and expanded Russia's large territory. In order to rule a larger empire, she turned more civilians into serfs.
She is reversing the course of history!"
The women in the living room looked at each other. How did the promised heroine turn into a female devil?
Zhou Hexuan continued: "Although the reforms of Peter the Great and Catherine II were not successful, they also achieved some results: first, Russia's territory expanded rapidly in their hands; second, the nobles gained more freedom,
Industry has also developed to a certain extent; third, the literacy rate of Russians is increasing, and people's minds have been liberated to a limited extent; fourth, the vast territory of Russia is ethnically complex, and ethnic conflicts are increasingly intensifying; fifth, the number of serfs is increasing,
And the situation is even more miserable.”
Speaking of this, Zhou Hexuan suddenly said loudly: "These all planted the seeds for the October Revolution!"
Everyone looked at Zhou Hexuan in amazement and did not interrupt him. The entire salon seemed to have become Zhou Hexuan's personal display stage.
"Why are the reforms of Peter the Great and Catherine II sowing the seeds for the October Revolution? Let's analyze them one by one..." Zhou Hexuan's words became smoother and smoother. What he said will not be unusual in later generations.
, but for people at the beginning of the 20th century, it was particularly novel and profound, like an enlightenment that made people enlightened.