You can use the following code:

<%@page import="java.sql.*"%>
<%
Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver");
            Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/test", "root", "root");
            Statement stmt=con.createStatement();
            ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM employee");
            rs.next();
            int count = rs.getInt(1);
            out.println("Number of rows: "+count);
            %>