But looking at Zheng Yucong smiling, he didn't look like he was mad. He probably figured out that Emperor Guangwu wouldn't do anything to them.
Sure enough, Emperor Guangwu did not argue with her, but laughed and said:
"Princess, I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. I just said that although I am also a dictator, I am fundamentally different from those three dictators. Our era is also fundamentally different from the Louis XVI era.
.I am destined not to be like Louis XVI."
Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted his eyes and asked:
"You want to say that the 'soil' under your feet is better?"
Emperor Guangwu nodded and smiled:
"Not only is the soil better, but my rule is more legitimate, and it is more difficult to rebel in my era."
"How to say it?"
"The common people of the Qing Dynasty," Guangwu said with a smile, "even if they are not the most ignorant in the world, they must be the most... haha, the most obedient in the world. Based on this alone, the 'soil' of the land under my feet is
The best yet.”
"The most obedient one," Xiang Xiaoqiang said with a smile, "You want to say the most servile one, right?"
Guangwu didn't answer directly, he just laughed a little, which was regarded as acquiescence, and then said:
"When I was young, I read history. Every time I read that after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, Emperor Chengzong forced his hair to be shaved to change the order. I always sighed. Even after the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Song Dynasty, there was no similar haircut.
The Qing Dynasty forced the Han people to shave their hair and change clothes, and to 'keep your head but not your hair, and keep your hair but not your head'. It is really unwise..."
When Xiang Xiaoqiang heard this, he looked at Emperor Guangwu and felt that whether he was hypocritical or not, he finally said something human here. He turned his head and asked Zheng Yucong in a low voice:
"Who is 'Emperor Chengzong'? Isn't it Shunzhi?"
Zheng Yucong also turned his head and whispered:
"Dorgon's temple name."
He nodded to Xiaoqiang. It turned out to be Dorgon. Dorgon was the culprit who forced the Qing Dynasty to "keep your head without hair, and keep your hair without hair" after the Manchus entered the customs. This order of shaving one's hair made it easier to obey.
At that time, all the people in China who had any integrity were killed. Since then, the remaining blood of the Han people has been castrated. This guy did not get to be the emperor during his lifetime, but he was posthumously recognized as the emperor after his death.
Sure enough, Guangwu just said "human words", and then sighed:
"...Originally, the states and counties in Jiangnan have been basically pacified, but because of this "keep your hair, don't leave your hair, leave your hair, don't leave your head", the land of Jiangnan has once again been engulfed in war. Originally, there were only a few remnants of the Ming army still resisting in Jiangnan.
, this time go down the river
Both the army and the people in the south resisted desperately, and almost all the people in the south of the Yangtze River were in the army. In the end, it got out of hand, causing the Zheng family in Taiwan to make a comeback and seize half of the south of the Yangtze River again. The Qing Dynasty also lost the opportunity to dominate the world..."
When Guangwu said, "The Zheng family in Taiwan made a comeback and took back half of the south of the Yangtze River." Zheng Yuqing straightened his chest and his face was filled with pride. Only then did Xiang Xiaoqiang remember that the girl sitting next to him
, and is a descendant of the national hero Zheng Chenggong.
Later history textbooks said that Zheng Chenggong was a national hero, but did not mention his resistance to the Qing Dynasty. They only repeatedly emphasized that Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan, as if he became a national hero only because he recovered Taiwan. Xiang Xiaoqiang was also like this originally.
Conceptually. Even when he was in junior high school, he thought it was Zheng Chenggong sent by the Qing Dynasty to regain Taiwan.
But after arriving in the Ming Dynasty, many of the existing concepts in my mind were overturned and replaced with concepts that were fresher but more in line with common sense.
Xiang Xiaoqiang now knows that the reason why Zheng Chenggong is respected as a "national hero" by descendants of Yan and Huang all over the world is not just because he drove the Dutch East India Company people out of Taiwan (he had no idea when he seized Taiwan)
It’s so sacred, but it’s just missing a base area, and I happened to like that place). It’s even more because
, when the mainland was massacred by foreigners and shed blood, Zheng Chenggong represented the Chinese orthodoxy. Based on Taiwan, he fought alone against the Manchu Qing Dynasty for a long time and strived to recover. Even in the end, the Manchu Qing Dynasty's foundation on the mainland became more and more stable, and the Qing Dynasty recovered.
When there was no hope, Zheng Chenggong still fought against the Manchus unyieldingly until his death.
Later, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty couldn't help but write a joint tribute to Zheng Chenggong, saying:
The ministers were determined and stationed troops on the two islands, daring to fight for half of the territory to the southeast;
The kings had no land and only wanted to fight in one corner, only then did they know that there was a lonely loyalist overseas.
…
This is the real reason why Zheng Chenggong became a national hero. This reason is the same as that of Shi Kefa, Wen Tianxiang, and Yue Fei, and there is nothing controversial about it.
Xiang Xiaoqiang thought this, and gently held Zheng Yucong's hand under the table and squeezed it twice. He also felt the same rush of blood, spreading along with his body temperature.
…
Emperor Guangwu continued to smile and said:
"...At that time, I always felt that if the Han people only wanted to surrender sincerely, why should we force them to wear the same clothes and shave the same hair as us? The Han people pay attention to the body, hair and skin. They should not dare to damage their parents, and they should be filial to them.
At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty had just entered the country and had no foundation. It was the time to calm people's hearts. Therefore, Emperor Chengzong's "shaving his hair and obeying orders" seemed to me to be just motivated and for temporary pleasure.
.
"But many years later, especially after I sat in this position, I gradually understood the idea of Emperor Chengzong's 'shaving his hair and obeying orders'. After all, we Manchus only constitute a very small minority, and the Zhu Ming Dynasty relied on expelling the Mongols.
The Yuan Dynasty was founded by what you call the "Tatars". The Zhu Ming Dynasty has been extremely tough on foreigners for more than two hundred years since its founding. The Han people in the world are full of pride in the so-called "Tatars".
"With such a nation and such a population base, if you want to completely tame them mentally, it is impossible to do so without an 'order to shave your hair and make it easier to obey'. Although shaving your hair will lead to temporary fierce resistance, it may even cause
I will lose a large piece of land permanently, but it will guarantee me
The land already established by the Qing Dynasty can be ruled forever and passed on to all generations. The Mongolian Yuan Dynasty was expelled from the Central Plains by the Han people less than a hundred years after the founding of the Qing Dynasty. However, nearly three hundred years after the founding of the Qing Dynasty, we still have an iron-clad country. Why? Soil. What about the soil?
What’s coming from? The ‘order to shave your hair and change your clothes’ three hundred years ago.”
Xiang Xiaoqiang seems to know what Lu Xun's Hua Laoshuan, Uncle Kang, red-eyed Ayi, and the onlookers with "necks all stretched out very long, like many ducks pinched by invisible hands" are like.
It's coming.
He said coldly:
"That's right, Dorgon's "head or hair, hair or hair", he accurately singled out and killed those with the strongest backbone among tens of millions of Han people, and even a polygraph test couldn't detect it.
So accurate. The rest are all people who would rather be slaves in order to save their lives. Shaving this head is equivalent to marking a 'slave'. With your head shaved, you will
Do you still have the face to resist? Back then, the Mongols were afraid that the Han people would resist. They did not allow the Han people to have kitchen knives in their homes, and they also killed all the Han people with the four major surnames... What a stupid idea. If they had known better, they would have shaved the heads of the Han people all over the world, and everything would have been solved.
Oh. Haha, they are 'real barbarians' after all, but they are not as good at finding solutions as you 'half barbarians'."
Guangwu laughed:
"Thank you to the general for your reward."
But Xiang Xiaoqiang is more interested in another sentence Guangwu just said. This may be related to the following Northern Expedition.
"In addition to the better soil," Xiang Xiaoqiang continued, "you also said that your rule is more legal and that it is more difficult to rebel in this era. What do you mean?"
Guangwu said:
"This is easy to understand. This is also the most fundamental difference between me and Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin. I am the emperor, the king of a country, and the divine right of kings. As a descendant of the Aisin Giorro family, no matter how I become
Emperor, as long as I become emperor, it will be natural and legal. I will rule for life, and no one will
I think it's wrong. But the three of them are different. The three of them are just politicians. Hitler's power came from the people's vote and was granted by the people; Mussolini's power came from the king's grant and was granted by the monarch; Stalin's power was given to him by Lenin
, and Lenin's power was wrested from the Provisional Government through violence.
"The power of the three of them is inherently problematic. I am a monarch, and no one will think there is a problem if I hold power for the rest of my life. If I pass the power on to my son, people will think it is normal. And they are politicians, let alone
If power is passed on to sons, even if they only want to stay in power for life, the people will feel wrong and think this is not okay. People will think, what is the difference between this and the monarchy? If you do this, why do we need to continue to support you?
"So, it is easy for a monarch to be dictatorial, but if a politician wants to be dictatorial, it will be much more difficult and the opposition he will encounter will be much stronger. In order to monopolize power, or even to pass power to his son,
Autocratic politicians will have to work harder at purging dissidents and fooling the people. Their methods must be several times more cruel than monarchs. But despite this, their positions are still much more fragile than mine.
Because, my dictatorship is inherently legal, but theirs is inherently illegal."
This is the first time Xiang Xiaoqiang has heard what Guang Wu said. But it makes sense after thinking about it. This also explains why several dictators today, as well as those in Asia and Africa in later generations,
Why do Latin American dictators often massacre one-tenth, or even one-fifth, of the country's population? But those countries never did such a thing during their monarchy periods.
However, this does not mean that Emperor Guangwu has never done such a thing. Today's Beiqing is too closed, and it is difficult for the outside world to know what happened inside. Maybe Emperor Guangwu's words are whitewashing himself? Yes
Are you drawing a clear line between yourself and a murderer like Stalin?
"As for the difficulty of rebellion in this era," Guangwu continued, "it is easier to understand. In the era of cold weapons, the common people cannot survive. As long as one person rises up and shouts, everyone will rise up and attack with sickles, hoes, dung and forks.
Prefecture Ke County. Why? The peasant army and the government army are
There is not much difference in equipment. But it doesn’t work anymore. Now I have machine guns, light and heavy artillery, tanks, and airplanes. But what do the common people have? They still only have sickles, hoes, dung and forks. In this way, even if they can’t survive anymore
, no matter how afraid of death, it is impossible to fight back.
"Even if ordinary people accidentally get a batch of weapons, they can't use them well. Especially some heavy weapons, which require long-term professional training to operate, and require the support of the entire country's logistics system.
It can play a role. For example, the Taihang Mountain guerrillas you support have the best weapons among all the rebel armies. But what? They can only fight guerrillas in the mountains, where our heavy weapons cannot penetrate.
"
Xiang Xiaoqiang stared into Guangwu's eyes and sneered:
"Your Majesty, please don't forget that those who operate your machine guns, light and heavy artillery pieces, tanks, and airplanes are all sons of the common people."
Guangwu smiled and said:
"Then do you know why I must ask those 'sons of the common people' to serve far away from home?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang understood. What he was talking about was "serving as a soldier in a different place." Although serving as a soldier in a different place is an international practice of the modern army, it is mainly to prevent soldiers from falling in love with their families and having too many connections with local families, which would make it difficult for the troops to unite during the war.
Just pull it and go...waiting for all kinds of trouble. But in the Qing army, it seemed to have another meaning.
As long as those soldiers are not facing their hometown elders and are ordered to take action, the burden on their hearts will be minimized. Coupled with incentives such as meritorious service and promotion, those ignorant soldiers may even be happy to do so.
To complete the bloody mission. Isn’t that what those Qing soldiers on the north bank of the Yangtze River were like when they excitedly hunted down those who fled south?
Yes, just as Guangwu said, the people of Beiqing are in a completely desperate environment. They are in dire straits, and within the foreseeable period, there is no way to change their fate.
Apart from……
external force.
Yes, as long as the nuclear weapons era has not yet entered, the dictator's empire is not ironclad. Even if it cannot collapse from the inside, it may be destroyed from the outside.
Xiang Xiaoqiang also took a spoonful of monkey brains, stuffed it into his mouth with a smile, endured the disgusting smell, showed a satisfied expression, and said with a smile:
"Your Majesty, it's only the 1930s and you don't have nuclear weapons, so you're out of luck."
Emperor Guangwu was startled, and Zheng Yucong was also startled. The two looked at each other, and both looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang inexplicably.