When he came to the backyard, Chen Chao saw the tall Long Qian, who was holding a gray cloth and looking at the sun.

"That's pretty much it, let's get it." Long Qian handed the gray cloth in his hand to another woman, who was also wearing a military uniform.

"Commander, Master Chen is here." Jiang Yun shouted.

"Oh, you're here, I'm thinking about going to Chenjiaya." Long Qian smiled and arched his hand towards Chen Chao, "Please, let's talk in the house." ”

"Are you going to open a dyehouse?"

"There are a lot of new recruits, and the original captured military uniforms have been used up, so there is no way. The training intensity of the troops was high, and the knees and elbows were worn out early, and the shirts and pants also needed to be replaced. In addition, winter is coming, so you must prepare early. Ha Luha, make you laugh. The army is like a family, eating, drinking, sleeping, and everything must be thought of. Please," Long Qian gestured.

Sure enough, Long Qian occupied the main courtyard of Zheng Jing, this room, Chen Chao had been here, it seemed that it was just a little messier than the original, and the biggest change was that the owner had changed.

"Sancai, make a cup of tea for Master Chen Zhuang and wash the cup well." Long Qian instructed Li Sancai, the guard who was busy in the outhouse.

"Mr. Chen, what advice do you have for coming to me?" The two sat down separately, and Long Qian asked with a smile.

"You said you want to go to Chenjiaya, what's the matter?" Chen Chao asked rhetorically.

"Ha Luha, I am entangled in everything, and I am worried that there will be problems in the implementation of discipline in the troops stationed in Chenjiaya and Bai Wei. In addition, I am also preparing to recruit troops in Guizhuang and Baiwei. ”

"Ready to confiscate my land too?" Chen Chao said coldly.

"Not really. I have analyzed the situation of Sanzhuang, but it is actually different. Zheng Jing is a bully that must be suppressed, Bai Wei needs to make some changes, as for Guizhuang, first, the per capita land occupation of Guizhuang is only a little more than half of Zhengjiazhuang, but the per capita occupation is the same as Zhengjiazhuang. What does this mean? It shows that you, the landlord, are not rich. What's more, the villagers of Chenjiaya do not have the resentment of Zhengjiazhuang. Rest assured, everything in your village is the same, and no changes will be made. ”

"But my villagers are inspired by this side and are ready to move!"

"Really? Worried? ”

When the tea was served, Chen Chao saw that Long Qian's cup was just a cup of white water.

"I'm borrowing flowers to offer Buddha. Tea is good tea, and Zheng Jing made a fortune by dealing in tea. Please use tea. Long Qian said, picked up the cup and took a sip of white water.

"IMHO." Chen Chao decided to get straight to the point, "If you do this, you are rebelling, do you know the truth?" ”

"Oh, isn't the horse that occupies the mountain a rebellion?"

"That's different."

"What's the difference?"

"Different is different. Hugging the calf has been occupied by strongmen for more than 100 years, and the court doesn't care, but what you do in Zhengjiazhuang, the court will never sit idly by. ”

"Because of Zheng Jing?"

"That's just one aspect."

"I think you have also seen that the villagers of Zhengjiazhuang are very happy with everything that Meng Shanjun has done."

"Because of this, the court will not let you go." Chen Chao sighed, "To be honest, I've lived for almost forty years, and it's the first time I've seen such a well-disciplined ringing horse, not only does it not harass the people, but it even recruits female soldiers!" And you, both in terms of knowledge and talent, are the only ones I have ever seen in my life. If you listen to me, don't recruit soldiers, you are harming people, do you know the way? ”

"Giving land to the landless people and food to the hungry people is recruiting soldiers, and it is also voluntary.

"I admit that after more than 200 years, the land annexation was very powerful, and the rich were in a state of flux, and the poor had no place to stand. However, land is the foundation of the country, and if you kill people like you and divide the land, what is it not a rebellion? ”

"Hehe, I just said that the imperial court doesn't care about the ringing horses who rob the house, but the Mengshan army that destroys the land system, right? I really understand this truth. The reason is also simple, because the court does not consider the life or death of the people, but whether the foundation of his rule is solid. The imperial court always thought that among the four types of people, 'scholars' were the foundation worth relying on. For others, it's just the object of wealth extraction. Whether they live or die, the court basically doesn't care. You're right, it's been 2560 years since the Manchu Qing Dynasty was established, and the land annexation has reached a very dangerous point. As soon as it was managed, the ruling foundation of the imperial court was shaken, and when Emperor Sejong engaged in the integration of the gentry and grain, how much criticism did it arouse? After a thousand autumns, the history of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was written, and I dare to guarantee that in the official history and the wild history, this Yongzheng Emperor will not have a good reputation. ”

Chen Chao was shocked again. The last time he talked about overseas anecdotes, Chen Chao just admired his extensive knowledge, but this passage just now involved the fundamental policies of the imperial court. It was the first time he had heard of such a concise and clear summary of the attitude of the imperial court. In this case, the original prepared rhetoric is naturally useless. The burly and majestic man in front of him is by no means a simple-minded bandit, but a man with big plans.

Chen Chao stood up, "Since the last deep talk, Chen deeply admires your knowledge and talent." With Er's talent, even if he learns from Tao Zhugong, he will definitely be rich. Why do you want to do such a thing? If I were a friend, listen to me and stop there. Although Chen is a mountain village man, there are a few people who work in the officialdom in the same year, and I would like to say something for you__"

Long Qian smiled, "Please be seated." Sit down and talk. Long did not have any hope for the Manchu regime at all. You're right, if you're trying to get rich personally, Long is confident that he's still eight or nine points sure. However, the internal and foreign affairs of the Manchu Qing Dynasty have reached a terminal point, and the edifice is about to collapse, and you and I are in it, how can we be spared? ”

"You're talking too seriously, aren't you?"

"No, you don't have to hide your ears. It is a fact that before the rise of the industrial revolution in Taixi, China's agricultural civilization has always been in the leading position in the world. However, throughout history, dynastic changes have had their own patterns. Generally only two or three hundred years of appearance, not to mention those short-lived dynasties, that is, the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, there are almost no more than three hundred years, you have read the history books, can you find the mystery? ”

In fact, Chen Chao noticed this law, he firmly believed in Confucianism, the way of heaven is constant, and change is inevitable. Aside from the overly esoteric explanations, the rise and fall of dynasties can be largely attributed to the wisdom and decay of the rulers. The founding emperors tasted the hardships of the world, were diligent and loved the people, but their descendants were born in the rich and noble, grew up in the hands of women, and were arrogant and lascivious, so it became inevitable to lose government.

Chen Chao didn't want to talk about this now, he knew that Long Qian must have a better and more curious explanation, "I want to hear it in detail." ”

"Political clarity and corruption are one aspect of this. In politics under dictatorship, corruption is an unstoppable trend. But what determines the rise and fall of a dynasty is mainly economic reasons. The newly established dynasties after the war generally introduced the policy of 'exempting the land from taxation', which not only reduced the surplus population, but also created a large amount of ownerless land, providing favorable conditions for the land to be paid. The newly established dynasty had fewer government agencies and fewer taxes. In this way, a situation was created in which the dynasty flourished. However, with the political stability, population growth has become almost inevitable, and you have to believe that the population is growing faster than the growth of food. On the other hand, the increasing bloat of government institutions and the sharp increase in the number of people eating imperial grain forced the imperial court to increase taxes. Over time, land annexation became more and more severe, leading to the creation of a large number of destitute strata and laying the seeds for new unrest. This contradiction was almost impossible to resolve under the system of agrarian civilization, and the result was unrest in order to eliminate the surplus population. In a serious situation, the old dynasty will be overthrown and a new one will be established. Then a new round of evolution begins. This is the cyclical law of dynastic change. This cycle, history has proven that even a dynasty with a deep heritage will not exceed three hundred years. ”

Chen Chao was dumbfounded. He was conceited to read history books, but he never summed up the law of change in history so succinctly.

"Three hundred years? Didn't you say that chaos was coming? ”

Long Qian nodded, "Mr. Chen is an intellectual who grew up under the Manchu education system, and in my habitual thinking, you are a person in the Manchu system. Although you are not a celebrity, don't you have a reputation for being a famous person? You must want to tell me that although the Manchu Qing Dynasty was a foreign race, the emperors of all dynasties were diligent and wise, and they were by no means comparable to the emperors of the former Ming Dynasty. The politics of the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not have any major immorality. Therefore, the dynastic periodic law you talked about cannot be applied to the Qing Dynasty at all. ”

"Although they are Han Chinese, I must admit that the kings of the Qing Dynasty were all British lords__Even if there is the Hongyang Rebellion, isn't it the same as cutting it off?"

"What's more, there is Tongguang Zhongxing?" Long Qian smiled, "Throughout history, the emperors of the Manchu Qing Dynasty are indeed better than the Ming Dynasty. However, if you entertain yourself with ZTE, you are just deceiving yourself. What is particularly important is that the era we live in is no longer yesterday, and we are already in the midst of great changes within the boundaries of the world. The impact of this change is extremely far-reaching, we all know that the country of Taixi is strong and strong, why can those small countries comparable to a province of our country be so strong? Why can more than 10,000 people in the Anglo-French military region defeat the Eight Banners Army, occupy Beijing, and burn the Old Summer Palace? Mr. Chen, it's hard to imagine what it was like for the Western powers that had completed and were in the process of the Industrial Revolution: a large number of mines were developed, a large number of factories sprung up everywhere, countless peasants gave up their traditional work to become workers in the cities, new and strange but extremely practical industrial products that you have never seen before flowed out of the assembly lines of the factories, and wealth grew vigorously and luxuriantly like weeds after the rain. Traditional handicrafts have been destroyed, and people's lives have been forced to change dramatically.

"The main factor supporting these changes is the prosperity of science and technology, the development of any science and technology is first applied to the military, dozens of stories high ironclad warships cleaving the waves on the ocean, the bowl mouth of the thick caliber cannon, a single flowering cannonball is enough to destroy a village. Machine guns that can fire bullets continuously have also appeared, can you imagine a scenario where a machine gun fires hundreds of bullets per minute? With sophisticated weapons and endless national power, the great powers marched into the world, they abandoned the traditional agrarian society, the government no longer depended on the land for tax revenue, and the industrial and commercial tax became the main income, resulting in a huge difference in the national strength of an agricultural country like China. They frantically carved up the world, leaving their footprints in every corner. They divided the world into civilized and uncivilized countries, and pursued different policies towards different countries. They either occupied other countries, such as India and the Philippines in our south, which became colonies of Britain and the United States respectively, and they sent officials to manage these colonies, plundering the wealth of the colonies, transporting raw materials such as iron ore, timber, rubber, cotton, etc., back to their countries at very low prices, and then forcibly selling cheap industrial goods to the colonies. Or use artillery to open the doors of other countries, establish their own sphere of power, choose spokespeople, force these countries to open their doors, and greedily plunder the wealth of Zhejiang and Western countries. And we in China are in this second category.

"The rise of Europe came from the advent of the Age of Discovery and the completion of the Industrial Revolution. After they could not find colonies in Europe, they began to expand into the world. Africa, South America and Asia have become the dishes of the European powers. While the Manchu court was still indulging in the dream that it was the Celestial Empire, the European robbers were already flying around the ocean in sailing ships. The first time to make China accept humiliation was in the Daoguang period, when Lin Zexu Humen sold tobacco and brought the first Opium War, and in the 22nd year of Daoguang, Britain ceded Hong Kong Island. Fifteen years later, Britain and France jointly launched the Second Opium War against China in order to force China to accept trade from their diplomats and merchants, and 15,000 allied soldiers captured Beijing, plundered it, and burned the Old Summer Palace.

"Not to be outdone, the Russians used the Treaty of Beijing to cut off large chunks of the territory of the north, and although the so-called bitter cold places looked desolate and sparsely populated, there were endless treasures buried underground, and they had a very important strategic position related to the rise and fall of the country. It's a pity that it can't attract the attention of the people in power at all. In 1860 of the Western calendar, that is, the tenth year of Xianfeng, the Russians occupied Vladivostok and finally obtained the coveted eastern outlet to the sea.

"In our south, the deterioration of the situation did not alarm the incompetent imperial court, and in 1867 Korea became independent, and China lost its most important vassal to the northeast. In 1883, the French, after a ridiculous war, turned Annam into a protectorate, followed by cobbling together Annam, Cochin, Tonkin, Laos, and the Angkor region of Cambodia into French Indochina. Guangxi is not safe anymore. In 1886, the British annexed Burma, driving a nail in the southwest of China, and Tibet became unsafe."

Chen Chao's face became darker and darker.

"Counting back, China's borders were completely opened, and the influx of cheap industrial goods destroyed China's handicraft industry and plunged more peasants into abject poverty. They forced China to accept no more than 5% tariffs, set up concessions in a dozen important cities, and formed a state within a state, which was completely free from Manchu law.—Now, some very important ports have been ceded to the Great Powers: the Treaty of Shimonoseki has left China with the loss of Taiwan, the Ryukyus, and the Liaodong Peninsula. Last year, Germany leased Jiaoao for 99 years, and the Germans are penetrating deep into the hinterland of Shandong. Eight years ago, the Russians began to lay the Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest railway in the world, which ended in the former Chinese territory of Vladivostok, which is now called Vladivostok, which means to conquer the East. The Russians eagerly coveted Manchuria, both for the safety of the Trans-Siberian railway line and for the treasures all over Manchuria. Therefore, the Russians would never allow the Japanese to invade the hinterland of Manchuria, and the French, who had already formed an alliance with Russia, firmly supported Russia, and the Germans, who were eager to enter the Asian stage, the three countries joined forces and forced Japan to return the Liaodong Peninsula to China, at the cost of China paying an additional 30 million taels of silver to Japan. As soon as the Japanese left, the Russians came again, and they finally got a military port of Lushun, which was superior to Vladivostok. These problems have never been encountered by Wanli and Chongzhen. At the beginning, Kangxi and Qianlong thought that China was the country, complacent, and did not want to open their eyes to see the world. However, how could the Manchu court seriously reflect on it? ”

Chen Chao's heart turned upside down. In recent years, the country's situation has deteriorated, and where can I get such a systematic and concise introduction, listening to the words and opinions, a ringing horse leader pays attention to such things, "What you said may be true." However, the Heavenly Dynasty is not as good as people, and the imperial court has been doing foreign affairs since the Tongzhi period, isn't it just for the sake of mastering the long of the Yi to control the Yi? ”

"The result? Although I once wanted to do foreign affairs to be self-assured, you have also seen the effect, but it is just a waste of national strength. In fact, the weapons and equipment of the regular army of the imperial court were not much worse than those of the invading army, but they were defeated again and again on the battlefield! If you lose your teacher and lose your land, you will pay compensation for the land! The first is to buy a large number of weapons from Western powers, and the second is to run factories to make their own products. It is incomplete to attribute the previous defeats to the inferior weapons, and the Black Flag Army fought with the French army in Vietnam, but in fact, they won the war, but in the end they signed a traitorous treaty. Since the First Sino-Japanese War, the country's strength has declined greatly, marking the complete failure of the Westernization Movement. The cause of the Wuxu Revolution was also innovation, and once the interests of the supreme ruler were involved, they were immediately strangled. The Manchu court ignored this unstoppable trend, guarded the sage's precept of 'the sky does not change, the Tao does not change', resting on its laurels, repeatedly frustrated by the Taixi powers, and now the country is in turmoil, the people are extremely poor, there are foreign powers eyeing each other, and there are revolutionary parties in the ascendant __ not to mention the far, let's just say that in front of us, the Boxer Rebellion that arose in Shandong and spread in Zhili is not so much a hatred of foreigners, but a kind of resistance to the despair of the people's lives! If the imperial court fails to deal with the righteousness and fist well, it will inevitably lead to a new catastrophe. It is uncertain whether the imperial court will be able to cross this hurdle. ”

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It's not preachy. Writing this paragraph, my heart really hurts.