But Xiang Xiaoqiang showed that this feeling of "fear of becoming a national sinner" seemed to be only he himself. And whether it is in the royal family, the cabinet, or the high command, few people feel that they are "betraying the country". Because everyone felt that even in the Northern Ming Dynasty, these places were not actually controlled in their hands, and they were only theoretical land. There are not many Han Chinese living in those places now. South Xinjiang is all Uyghur-Er-people, Manchuria is Manchu, and Daming never recognizes Manchus as Chinese.

Therefore, except for Xiang Xiaoqiang, the Ming people of this era do not seem to have much emotional baggage for the Western Regions and the Northeast. Their feelings are concentrated in Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Zhili, Anhui, Henan, and other traditional "Chinese homelands". As long as the Western Regions and the Northeast are given up, these real "Chinese homelands" can be regained at the lowest cost and the fastest. Whether it is worth it or not is at least morally unquestionable.

……

"Standing up," at 12 o'clock in the night, looking at the Christmas Eve fireworks outside the palace, Zhu Yourong took champagne and said quietly to Xiaoqiang, "You are a man, I am a woman, maybe because of this...... We don't see things in the same way...... You may be more focused on what war will give us...... And I'm probably more focused on what the war will cost us......"

"Rong Rong ......" Xiang Xiaoqiang looked around, lowered his voice, and boldly said with a nickname, "At the beginning, we all advocated that the Yellow River would be finished, but you jumped to 'not destroy the Qing captives, never withdraw the troops'...... Aren't you afraid of war? Why are you afraid to continue to fight now? ”

"Quite right," Zhu Yourong stared at him and said, "Then you must remember that I also said what the purpose of our Northern Expedition was." ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned, opened his mouth and said:

"Of course, it is to restore the homeland and unify China."

Zhu Yourong shook his head gently:

"I didn't say that. As I said, our Northern Expedition is not for land and resources, nor for improving the strategic situation...... Our northern expedition is so that the people in the north no longer need to flee south. ”

"Ah...... yes, what's the difference? ”

"Stand up, we are fighting for people, not land."

"But man lives on the land."

"Yes, people are always much more important than land."

Xiang Xiaoqiang sighed:

"I see what you mean...... We are a country with few people and many people. Daming has no shortage of land and people. ”

Zhu Yourong smiled:

"That's not what I meant. Whether there are fewer people and more land, or less land and more people, people are always much more important than land.

Xiang Xiaoqiang also smiled:

"I'm afraid that the majority of the people don't think like this."

Zhu Yourong suppressed his smile and said:

"Well, you're wrong. The general public will think this way. Now we have a Ming army of 230,000, including 350,000 female officers and soldiers. More than half of the families already have relatives in the military. Compared with those ethereal lands in the Northeast and Western Regions, they hope that their relatives can return to them safely. In this war, although we have annihilated and captured more than 1 million Qing troops, the casualties of our soldiers have also approached 100,000, of whom 40,000 are disabled for life.

“…… I went to the hospital to see the wounded soldiers...... Many are blind, and many more are burned...... You also know, we have a high degree of mechanization, and both tanks and armored vehicles are gasoline-motivated...... Once hit, a fire will immediately erupt, and the people inside will have to climb out desperately...... You know better than I do. …… Many people's faces were burned and twisted into a ball, like ghosts...... These originally handsome young men are going to spend their lives with this face that is not like a human and a ghost...... You say, no matter what medals or how much consolation money are given to them, what is the use? …… I held their hands, but they just lay there with blank expressions and no reactions......

"They knew it was me, but it didn't matter to them who was with them at the moment...... Their loved ones were in tears on the side...... In the reports of the reporters, they all said that these were tears of emotion. But I know that in the hearts of those wives and mothers, they must be cursing me, cursing those of us who signed the war......

"Well, what do you say the state exists for? Is it to better protect the people? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang said slowly:

"National ...... It is said that the country is ...... It is the unique organization of class society and the product of irreconcilable class contradictions...... It still seems to be ...... The ruling apparatus of one class oppresses another......"

Zhu Yourong slowly looked at him with wide eyes, and said in disbelief:

"It's ...... Who taught you these extreme thoughts? You...... You wouldn't have been educated in the USSR, would you? ”

"Ahem," Xiang Xiaoqiang coughed dryly, and forced a smile, "How can it be...... You're kidding......"

Zhu Yourong went down, looked at the champagne in his hand, stared at the rising bubbles inside, and didn't speak for a long time.

After a while, she whispered:

"But...... When I told the soldiers that because of your efforts, how many of our compatriots would end their suffering forever and never have to flee south at the risk of being pierced by wire...... Yes, if I had said to them at the time: How much land and how much resource tax have been paid to the country because of your contributions, would they still be moved? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was speechless for a while, and he had nothing to say.

"Yes," Zhu Yourong said emotionally, "land and resources are valuable. And people are priceless. There is only one circumstance in which it is worth sacrificing human lives for war. That's to save more people. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang finally found something to say:

"Then the people of Southern Xinjiang and Manchuria are not people?"

"Our blood is only worth shedding for our compatriots. Are there our compatriots there? ”

“……”

Xiang Xiaoqiang can't say Zhu Yourong. He also knew that the debate between the two was not based on the same set of values at all. Therefore, there is no way to argue the result. However, he knew that Zhu Yourong's way of thinking would be very dangerous once it was magnified. If you are strong enough to win, this kind of thinking can be called a virtue. It not only embodies the "humanism" of Western enlightenment thought, but also embodies the "humanism" of Chinese Confucianism, which can be summarized by Confucius's thought: man is more precious than all things.

However, when the self is not strong enough and faces the threat of a strong enemy, this kind of thinking is likely to become the spiritual support for compromise, appeasement, betrayal, surrender, etc. For example, Marshal Petain of France and Wang Jingwei of China were heroes of their own nation in their early years. But later, they also cooperated with the invaders and formed a puppet government. The reason why they have taken this step is not because of how inferior their personal character is, but precisely at the crossroads of history, they also think like Zhu Yourong:

- War is for the protection of the people. If war does not protect the people, but makes the people bleed, then it is better to end the war. As to whose rule the people are, it is a secondary question.

But these things, Xiang Xiaoqiang can't tell Zhu Yourong now, even if he tells her, it won't change anything. The agreement has been signed, and I am a participant. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty is indeed very powerful now, even if it is thrown out of Southern Xinjiang and Manchuria, it is still very powerful. This is not an unequal treaty signed by someone else who drove the gunboat to the door of his house and pointed a gun at the head of the Ming Dynasty, but a fair and voluntary transaction between the Ming Dynasty and others. In this kind of treaty, both sides take what they need. It can indeed bring great benefits to Daming.

As for what you gain and what you lose, whether it's worth it or not depends on which value system you use.

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang was suddenly very scared, he wanted to confirm that if one day Daming also occupied a similar crossroads, Zhu Yourong would not make the same choice as Petain and Wang Jingwei.

He took a deep breath, held the wine glass, looked at Zhu Yourong, and asked solemnly:

"Your Majesty, do you think that war is for the protection of the people. If war does not protect the people, but makes the people bleed, then it is better to end the war. As to under whose rule the people are, it is a secondary question? ”

Zhu Yourong pondered for a while and said:

"I ...... I agree. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang's heart trembled, and secretly said that it was not good.

Zhu Yourong lowered his head and said softly:

"What if...... If one day, the people don't want me to be their monarch, I won't rely on it. As long as that's their true will. Really, well, if the people vote and the result is that they are willing to abolish the monarchy and adopt a republic, I will really abdicate peacefully. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang breathed a sigh of relief and sweated, but he didn't expect this Nizi to think about it. He hurriedly laughed and said:

"No, no, don't think about it, that's not what I meant...... I mean, what if the new ruler is an alien? What if we accept foreign rule, so that there will be no more wars and no more bloodshed? ”

Zhu Yourong raised his head and said:

"Huh? How do you ask such a question? Needless to ask, of course I can't accept it. It must be fought to the end. I will fight to the end when I go out into exile. …… Hehe, quite right, why do you suddenly ask such a stupid question? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang breathed a sigh of relief at this time. He laughed and said:

"Hehe, it's nothing, just ask, just ask."

Hell, how did you forget how fierce this girl was during the Battle of Nanjing? Although human life is precious, there will always be something more important than life in the world.

……

Japan's efficiency was very fast, and as soon as the agreement was signed on the 25th, the evacuation of overseas Chinese from the territory of the Northern Qing Dynasty began on the 26th. Instructors, advisers, and observers in the Qing army, as well as technicians and engineers in the factories of the Northern Qing Dynasty, as well as their families, began to recall them to China under various pretexts. At the same time, ferries continued to shuttle through the Tsushima Strait, and Japan began to increase its troops in Korea.

The USSR was not idle either. The three major military districts of the Soviet army in Asia, the Central Asian Frontier Military District (Central Asia), the Trans-Baikal Frontier Military District (on the northern side of Mongolia), and the Far Eastern Frontier Military District (Far East), have all begun to enter a state of alert. In particular, the Far Eastern Frontier Military District has the highest level of alert, almost in a state of imminent war. Because soon Japan was going to attack Manchuria, and the Soviet Union was going to confront Japan here.

In the Ming-Soviet agreement, it was clearly stipulated that the Soviet Union could not directly send troops, but that after the Ming army destroyed the Northern Qing regime, the area demarcated in the agreement would be peacefully transferred to the Soviet Union. But now, the Soviet Union's Trans-Siberian Railway is frequently moving troops, not only to the Far East and Zabaikal border military districts, but also to the Central Asian border military districts. Although the increase is not as large as the two military regions in the east, it is still increasing the number of troops.

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