This is also the biggest difference between the Central Plains Hall and Europa.
The Central Plains Hall pursues world harmony. Although the wording is slightly different, the essence is to pursue the fair and just distribution according to need mentioned in that song.
Europa's free competition system, on the other hand, only requires maintaining superficial fairness, and the rest can be ignored.
For example, all the emperors in the history of the Central Plains Hall who had excellent reputations were those who made the common people live good lives.
Besides that, figures like the First Emperor, Liu Yezhu, and Zhu Zhongba, while holding flowers, were also stained with filth.
They were controversial.
Simply put, their achievements were recognized, but their mistakes were never lightly overlooked.
In contrast, in Europa, there were numerous "Holy Kings," "Lionheart Kings," "Emperors," and so on. These figures outwardly appeared to be sage monarchs unparalleled in history, but what was the reality?
Aside from their military achievements, which could be bragged about, what else was there to praise?
Jiang Xinlong's face was filled with solemnity, and he said in a deep voice, "This world is ultimately composed of ordinary people. Is Europa's current pursuit of superficial fairness truly fair to ordinary people?"
Young Dai pondered and said, "Probably, perhaps, not so fair?"
Jiang Xinlong shook his head, not dwelling on the issue, and steered the conversation back to France itself: "I am very pleased with the current changes in France. After all, France is the best ally of the Great Ming, and I hope France can become better and better."
"However," Jiang Xinlong's tone shifted, "France's current reforms seem to go against the will of most French people. I hope you can gradually discover these problems and gradually change them."
Young Dai tentatively asked, "Then why don't you tell His Majesty Louis XVI these opinions directly?"
Jiang Xinlong smiled and shook his head, saying, "Do you think Louis XVI can listen now? Let alone me, even if our Great Ming Emperor told him these things, how much would he listen?"
Jiang Xinlong's words made Young Dai fall silent.
As Jiang Xinlong had said, Louis XVI was currently immersed in France's might. By directly adopting the Great Ming's system, France had reversed its past decline in military and tax aspects. Its military could now contend with the Habsburg family, and its treasury was gradually becoming fuller.
More importantly, the Great Ming's system involved imperial power. Louis XVI's direct adoption of the Great Ming's system might not have been without the intention of strengthening French imperial power.
In this situation, anyone who told Louis XVI that he couldn't directly copy the Great Ming's system would likely be regarded as his enemy.
After a long silence, Young Dai finally spoke, "Then, how should I change the potential problems in France?"
Jiang Xinlong smiled and said, "In our Central Plains Hall, there is a small story called 'Tribute Dragon Advises Empress Dowager Zhao'."
After roughly narrating the story of Tribute Dragon advising Empress Dowager Zhao, Jiang Xinlong continued, "We will always face various problems, but we must learn to be adaptable – different solutions will inevitably lead to different outcomes."
"Of course, regardless of anything else, whether it is the Great Ming, France, or any other country, all rule is based on the most ordinary common people."
"Or rather, the quality of life of the common people determines the stability of a country's rule."
"And this, in turn, relates to the 'People's Happiness Index' proposed by the Ministry of Revenue official last year..."
Young Dai glimpsed a new world.
According to the theory presented by Jiang Xinlong, the stability of a country's rule was not greatly related to the living standards of the common people.
The truly important factor was the "People's Happiness Index."
Therefore...
It didn't matter how Louis XVI messed around, and it didn't matter which system France used.
What mattered was how to make the common people of France feel "happy."
This left Young Dai very confused.
Happiness itself was an abstract and subjective concept.
So, what was this "People's Happiness Index"?
Jiang Xinlong was happy to enlighten Young Dai: "The 'Happiness Index' primarily refers to a country's common people's health status, crime rate, education accessibility, housing, government administration, property ownership, environment, and prices."
"For example, in the Great Ming, because the court established official, affordable hospitals and pharmacies, even the poorest common people do not have to worry about the cost of medical treatment, so this indicator's score is relatively high."
"Let's take the education accessibility in the Great Ming as another example – although the Great Ming has popularized village schools and county schools, the accessibility of prefectural schools and universities is still insufficient, so the score in this aspect is relatively low."
"The other indicators are similar to these two. They all reference a country's comprehensive strength in a certain area to derive a score."
"If you are interested, I can introduce you to the Ministry of Revenue official who proposed the Happiness Index."
Young Dai was not very eager to meet this so-called Ministry of Revenue official.
In other words, Young Dai was currently in a state of confusion and breakdown.
Because Jiang Xinlong had just said that the Great Ming's score in education was relatively low. If even the Great Ming, which had already popularized village schools and county schools, could not achieve a high score, then what about other countries on this small planet?
Garbage?
Or trash?
Taking France and England, which were relatively strong in Europa, as examples.
France and England each had several universities, and their academic disciplines were basically modeled after the Great Ming's university disciplines. Even their admission procedures and management systems were largely copied.
Then what?
It was all for naught.
Although France and England had each invested money to establish several universities, making them appear somewhat impressive, at the middle and primary school levels below the university, both England and France, and indeed all European countries, were basically experiencing a disconnect!
Even more infuriating was that while the schools of the Central Plains Hall were teaching various kinds of knowledge, European schools were teaching the Bible.
While students in the Great Ming were studying the three laws of motion and various mathematical and chemical knowledge, European students were studying how God created the universe in seven days.
Although France was somewhat better, as it had completely adopted the Great Ming's system and even copied the textbooks, the common people of France did not very much approve of it!
As for the other indicators, Young Dai was even more desperate. He couldn't even imagine which indicator France could score highly on.
Unless the crime rate was higher and the crime index was higher, then France's crime index should have a relatively good performance.
After a long silence, Young Dai looked at Jiang Xinlong and asked, "Teacher, if we want to improve the happiness index of the common people of France, where should we start?"
Jiang Xinlong smiled and said, "In our Central Plains Hall, we often say clothing, food, housing, and transportation. But we also have an old saying: 'Food is paramount for the people.'"
"Why is food paramount? Because without food, one feels hungry."
"You could try not eating anything for three days, only drinking a small amount of water. This way, you won't starve to death, but you will perfectly experience the pain of hunger."
"So, no matter what problem you want to solve, you must first solve the problem of whether the common people of France are hungry."
"After solving the problem of hunger, it is about having clothes to wear, which is the second problem to be solved."
"After that, it is about housing and transportation."
"As long as these four problems are solved, the other problems will not be problems at all."
"For example, the issue of crime rate – in our Central Plains Hall, there is an old saying that human nature is inherently good; no one is born to like committing crimes."
"If you investigate carefully, you will find that behind all sorts of crimes, there are various hidden problems, and most of these problems are based on clothing, food, housing, and transportation."
"Similarly, indicators such as your health status, education accessibility, people's property, environment, and prices are all extensions of these four points. Once these four problems are solved, other problems will naturally cease to be problems."
Young Dai suddenly felt enlightened, perhaps akin to a surge of inspiration, like a geyser of ideas.
Young Dai even thought of a multitude of methods to improve the happiness index of the common people of France.
For instance, letting Napoleon find another opportunity to fight the Habsburg family – as long as they fought the Habsburg family, France could obtain a large piece of fat meat from them, and the plundered grain could allow more French common people to have a full meal.
Another example would be to levy a war tax on the common people of France to target the Habsburg family, and then distribute dividends to the common people of France after defeating the Habsburg family, thereby making the common people of France richer.
As for whether the common people under the rule of the Habsburg family would suffer as a result...
What did that have to do with France?
At any rate, Young Dai didn't care about that.
...
After seeing Young Dai off, Jiang Xinlong let out a long sigh and slumped onto the chair.
Tired, extremely tired.
It was tiring to trick Adolf, and it was also tiring to trick this young man named de Gaulle, referred to as Young Dai.
After all, it was much more difficult to stuff the emperor's summarized dross into the minds of two intelligent people than to directly defraud them of their money.
In comparison, Jiang Xinlong still preferred to stay on Kyushu Island and scam the short and stout folks.
However, before Jiang Xinlong could catch his breath, a person in a brocade-robed uniform emerged from the shadows and said to Jiang Xinlong, "When you were deceiving that art student, why did you tell him about the systems of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot?"
Jiang Xinlong glanced at the person in the brocade-robed uniform and chuckled, "Because that art student is very ambitious. In my opinion, he cares more about Austria's interests than being absolutely loyal to the Habsburg family."
"More importantly, I taught him the theories from that song, and he will definitely put them into practice when he returns to Austria."
"It is foreseeable that Austria, under the rule of the Habsburg family, will soon usher in a period of chaos, and Francis II, the leader of the Habsburg family, will wish he could directly kill this art student."
"Without an existence like the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, could this fellow survive?"
"If he survives with the help of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot, then he will value their existence and rely on them more in the future."
"A country where the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot are rampant..."
The person in the brocade-robed uniform suddenly chuckled and said, "In that case, let our Embroidered Uniform Guard send someone to help that art student."
Jiang Xinlong glanced at the person and snorted, "That art student doesn't need your help at all. That fellow is very ambitious. It's more important for you to send someone to keep an eye on him – so that you can eliminate him in time if the situation becomes unfavorable."
"Compared to him, that Young Dai is the one who needs the help of your Embroidered Uniform Guard more."
The person in the brocade-robed uniform paused and asked, "Will that Young Dai also rebel in the future?"
Jiang Xinlong nodded and said, "Whether it is the system mentioned in that song or Europa's previous free competition system, both are essentially about limiting imperial power and public power."
"If Young Dai truly intends to promote the system of free competition in the future, then Louis XVI's existence is obviously a problem. Louis XVI values the interests of the Bourbon family and France, while the system of free competition values the interests of wealthy merchants."
"Unless Louis XVI is willing to make concessions, the conflict between these two is inevitable."
"When that time comes, even if Young Dai doesn't want to rebel, he will have to."
As Jiang Xinlong had said, Louis XVI was currently immersed in France's might. By directly adopting the Great Ming's system, France had reversed its past decline in military and tax aspects. Its military could now contend with the Habsburg family, and its treasury was gradually becoming fuller.
More importantly, the Great Ming's system involved imperial power. Louis XVI's direct adoption of the Great Ming's system might not have been without the intention of strengthening French imperial power.
In this situation, anyone who told Louis XVI that he couldn't directly copy the Great Ming's system would likely be regarded as his enemy.
Jiang Xinlong continued, "We will always face various problems, but we must learn to be adaptable."
"Of course, regardless of anything else, whether it is the Great Ming, France, or any other country, all rule is based on the most ordinary common people."