Since the Industrial Revolution, human research on natural science and technology has entered the fast lane, with the introduction of various new technologies. Then the power of capital has pushed science and technology into actual productivity, and productivity has greatly improved national power.
Only then did an island country like the United Kingdom become an empire on which the sun never sets. Only then did the Japanese archipelago rely on the power of industry to become a small country and become a big country.
Humanity's pursuit of power is endless, because it is not only about monetary interests, but also about the fundamental survival of all nations and countries.
Big countries annexed small countries, strong countries were weak, and countless nations became colonies of the great powers. Countries with powerful power have swept away the world's wealth.
This is an era in which the weak get weaker and the strong get stronger, and this trend will accelerate as the times evolve.
A deep reason for this is because of the in-depth development of technology. Some people vividly call technology classification a technology tree, which explodes from one source and then begins to branch out in large numbers.
In ancient times, there may have been generalists who were proficient in various sciences, but as the technology tree became deeper and deeper, generalists were gradually replaced by specialists. It was already good for a single natural person to be able to master one category in his life.
In this way, the strength of a country cannot rely on the contributions of a small group of scientific and technological elites, but requires the overall strength of a large scientific research team.
This group of people focuses on electricity, this group of people focuses on chemical industry, this group of people focuses on petroleum, this group of people focuses on machinery... Only with an extremely large base of scientific researchers can one or two miracle flowers be created.
It can be seen that when science and technology develops to a later stage, big and powerful countries can develop various branches of science and technology relatively independently in all aspects due to the completeness of their own scientific research systems and their large populations.
Weak countries, on the other hand, can only selectively invest all their energy in some branches of science and technology. It is impossible to become a generalist.
This is terrible! Gradually, weak countries will become more and more dependent on the science and technology of big countries. In the end, the fate of weak countries will only depend on dependence.
Just like the example Xiao Letian gave just now, in the era of sailing battleships, there were only two to three thousand types of parts for a battleship. This ensured that small countries such as Portugal and the Netherlands could independently complete the production of all series of parts.
Now that we can produce and process it ourselves, we don't need to rely on other countries, so we can naturally build our own ocean-going fleet at a very economical cost.
However, with the development of science and technology, when steam-powered iron-clad battleships began to roam the oceans, the average variety of parts for the battleships would explode ten to twenty times.
At this time, small countries such as the Netherlands and Portugal, due to their small land area and small population, could not build ironclad ships 100% independently. They could only localize some parts and choose to purchase other parts from Britain, France and the United States. Or a powerful country like Prussia.
There is no way around this, the reality is so cruel!
What about further development? When ironclads gradually evolve into advanced battleships, when gas turbines replace old boilers, when electricity begins to be popularized on battleships, when the navy enters the post-dreadnought era...how many types of parts will a battleship have at that time?
No one can make specific statistics, but the complexity of battleships of that era was many times greater than that of the Zhiyuan. Even if it increased by five times, it meant that the number of parts for a battleship alone exceeded 100,000.
What a terrifying number. Even if a small country with few people is tired and vomits blood, it is impossible for them to independently complete the autonomy of so many technological categories!
Weak country! Small country! Their industrial system is inherently incomplete. They must rely on industrial powers and supplement it with imports in order to produce finished products.
However, it is not pleasant to rely on a powerful country. Not only do you have to pay more, but you will also be choked by others. If you want to sanction those key technologies and parts, you have no way to do it.
Facts have proved this. During World War I, especially in the later period, the navy officially entered the era of dreadnoughts, and only a handful of countries were able to manufacture such warships in that era.
Britain, France, the United States, Russia, Germany, Japan, and Italy are the few countries that have independently built dreadnoughts. The remaining countries have been brutally kicked out of the naval arms race. Even the old powers such as Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands occasionally have Large warships are launched, but many key parts must also be imported.
The distinction between the superior and the weak has been very obvious. During World War II, when aircraft carriers replaced large ships and cannons, the complexity of aircraft carriers increased a lot.
For an aircraft carrier, it is very easy to have more than one million parts. After World War II, it became even more terrifying. The emergence of various new technologies made aircraft carriers truly the pinnacle product of human shipbuilding industry, and the number of parts can even reach tens of millions.
At this time, weak countries have been completely kicked out of the game, and there are only a few countries left in the human world that can afford such complex and expensive toys.
As for the aerospace field, this is even more bullying. It’s okay not to give this example.
This is true for the military industry, and the same is true for the civilian industry. They all go from easy to difficult, from simple to complex, and then productivity also increases accordingly.
Under such a general trend, compulsory education is actually the core competitiveness for the survival of a country and a nation. The overall quality of the entire nation directly determines whether your country is strong or weak, and whether your descendants will eat meat or drink. Porridge, does it depend on others or can you be independent and self-reliant?
Xiao Letian is not wrong at all when he scolds those fat-headed and short-sighted people. Britain is already lagging behind Prussia at this moment, and even the United States will surpass him in ten years.
In this huge empire on which the sun never sets, only people like Gladstone are aware of the crisis in the future, while more people, like Benjamin, are still immersed in the glory of the old routine of the past and cannot extricate themselves.
Colonial wars, colonial wars continue, always trying to alleviate their own crisis by plundering the wealth of other nations, while ignoring the excellent opportunity to practice their own internal skills. How can such a Benjamin be undefeated!
Xiao Letian peeled the problem apart bit by bit like peeling an onion. The problem of darkness under the lamp was actually solved at one point. Although he did not tell the secret of the future, the changes that had taken place at this moment had already moved the eavesdroppers.
The handkerchief in the hands of the Vice-President of the Bank of England was soaked. The leaders of industry and commerce were dumbfounded and murmured, "Why didn't we think of this? Why did the Chinese realize it first? God, please accept us." Repent!"
Until the end, Xiao Letian sighed, "Future Prime Minister, please remember the following words I send you!"
"You will eventually replace Benjamin, but this is not due to any conspiracy, but simply because you are on the right path!"
"It's because Britain needs your policies and society needs changes. It's this huge power hidden deep in the pool that drives you!"
"It is the times that create heroes! Please remember, it is times that create heroes, not heroes that create times!"
