Episode 165 Soil and cages

Emperor Guangwu did not show Zheng Yuxuan's worried annoyance, but smiled:

"General Xiang, you mean to say that I am also with Hitler, Mussolini, and I."

Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't speak, just lowered his head and chewed on a piece of elephant. Then he looked at him and grinned, which was a tacit acquiescence.

The elephant is the trunk of the elephant. The inconspicuous small table of Emperor Guangwu was full of the "Eight Treasures of the Mountain" in the Manchu and Han Dynasty banquets: hump, bear's paw, monkey brain, scarlet lip, elephant pull, leopard fetus, rhino tail, and deer tendon. Xiang Xiaoqiang has never eaten anything in Nanming, this time he ate Guangwu, he didn't eat it for nothing, and he seized the opportunity to taste it all.

Emperor Guangwu looked at Xiaoqiang's "poor and sour" appearance, and couldn't help but smile sarcastically, and the self-esteem in his heart was not greatly satisfied.

He smiled faintly:

"It's not surprising. Not only you, but also many people who write articles in Nanming newspapers and Western newspapers compare me to the three of them. But neither you, the generals, nor they understand the fundamental difference between me and those dictators. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, their reign was destined to be short-lived. I can make a prediction here: of the three, the shortest ruler will be Mussolini, followed by Hitler, and the longest will be Stalin. Of course, I don't mean sudden illness, assassination, and other unexpected situations. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang chewed on the tendon in his mouth, and did not raise his head, but listened with his ears. I was very surprised when I heard this, and for a moment I even suspected that this guy had also crossed over. It was 1936, but the judgment made by Hirotake was strikingly consistent with the later facts. Mussolini was arrested by the king in a coup d'état in 1943 and executed by the guerrillas in 1945. Hitler committed suicide in 1945 by drinking a bomb, and after his death, he was burned to charcoal, and his skull was placed in a glass window for people to see, and the second ended his reign; Stalin died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1953, and was posthumously exhumed and the last to end his reign.

Although Xiang Xiaoqiang only bowed his head and ate heavily, Emperor Guangwu seemed to see the surprise in his heart and said with a smile:

"The general must be curious as to why I am judging this way. My basis is simple: soil. I do not deny that I am also a dictator. You see, I'm at ease. I am the dictator. But dictatorship also needs soil. Of the three countries, Italy has the least suitable soil for dictatorship. Italy was the land that gave birth to the Roman Republic, the first representative form of government of mankind. By the late Middle Ages, the land had become the birthplace of the Renaissance. The Renaissance sparked the European Enlightenment in the 18th century. It can be said that the revival of the Western world began in Italy. And now the United Kingdom, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland...... Including you Nanming, your democratic-sovereign government, and the 'freedom, equality, fraternity' and so on in your mind, all of them first came from the European Enlightenment.

All of this has made the Italians very national: warm, shrewd and not like to be inhibited. You can easily let the Germans live under some kind of uniform order, and it is much harder to make the Italians endure this uniform order for a long time. Look at you, general, this is the soil. And the soil in Germany is much better. Prussia has long been under the Spartan and eventual system, and the people have long been accustomed to this uniform way of life and to the uniform way of thinking. This is already part of the German national character. The Italians were far less loyal to Mussolini than the Germans were to Hitler.

"Germany was the main target of the Treaty of Versailles, and when it was already bankrupt, it had to pay for the whole European war, which was compounded by the Great Depression...... So although it had a brief period of democratic-dominated government after the war, the impression that this period of democratic-dominated government left on the Germans was not so much freedom as hunger and humiliation. …… These are the things that Italy does not have. Therefore, the soil of Germany was a gift from heaven for Hitler. Germany was also destined to produce a Hitler. Even if it wasn't Hitler, it would be someone else. ”

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang was already very interested in listening to it. He knew that Emperor Guangwu was a dictator, but he didn't expect that he was still a learned dictator.

Zheng Yuxuan was also fascinated by what he heard, and he no longer ate vegetables, but looked at Emperor Guangwu intently and listened to him.

Xiang Xiaoqiang found that Zheng Yuxuan's eyes were wrong, and he was very unhappy, so he kicked her down and "woke up" this little girl. Then, with a smile, he said:

"Your Majesty the Emperor, then, what about Russia? The soil in Russia must be the best. ”

Guangwu also nodded and smiled:

"The Russian dictatorship is, of course, the best. There were two major plagues in the European Middle Ages, the Black Death and the Mongols. You Nanming always say that we are Tartars and barbarians. Hehe, well, even if we are barbarians, we are also 'barbarians' who created the prosperous era of Kangqian and Qian, edited the Siku Quanshu, treated the Han people well in words and deeds, and realized the equality of the Manchus and Hans under their rule. And the Mongols in the Middle Ages were real barbarians. They began to destroy civilizations in Asia, all the way to Eastern Europe, spreading their ignorance and barbarism to most of Eurasia.

"The easternmost part of the Mongol Empire was called the 'Great Khanate', or 'Yuan Dynasty'. The westernmost part was called the 'Kipchak Khanate', also known as the 'Golden Horde'. The country, known as 'Russia', was born on the land of the former Golden Horde. Born in the most barbaric and obscurantist part of Europe, this can also be considered a misfortune for Russia.

"Russia is at the easternmost point of Europe, and neither the Renaissance nor the Enlightenment has been blown into Russia for hundreds of years. Even Peter the Great, learning from the West, used the most brutal and crude methods. Until the beginning of the century, Russia was a serf state. As a European country, a country composed of white people, it is still a serf country. This is God's greatest irony for white people.

But, again, it was the best gift from heaven to Lenin and Stalin. Ignorant citizens are always the favorite of dictators. I like it too, hehe. Ignorance means not being able to think, and it means being easy to believe in anything. You can't imagine the British nationals, the French nationals, the American nationals, the Dutch nationals, or even the German nationals in the 20th century believing that there is a 'utopia' in the world. But the Russian people of the 20th century believed. The Russian people are more ignorant, poorer, and more eager for their fate to be changed by a myth. So when the Bolsheviks painted a utopia for the ignorant workers, sailors, and serfs, they believed it. As a result, changing the fate of Russia has forever become a myth.

"Compared with fascism and Nazism, the Bolsheviks can be said to be the most mature system. Its theory was born at the earliest, with nearly a hundred years of perfect evolution, also has the most perfect organizational system, the ultimate goal is also the most attractive, and the means of self-consolidation are also the most fierce, it can be said to be the most perfect evolution. These are the other two that cannot be compared, and the other two are just the products of the madman's brain, and in front of it is just a newborn.

"The Nazis were the Nazis of Hitler alone, and the fascists were the fascists of Mussolini alone. Once these two men die, it is difficult to say whether the country they left behind will be able to continue these two doctrines. But the Bolsheviks were not the Bolsheviks of Stalin alone, they had a life of their own. Since it was not born with the birth of Stalin, it will not die with the death of Stalin. ”

……

Zheng Yuxuan listened attentively, and at this time he had the courage to interject:

"Your Majesty the Emperor, are you so pessimistic?"

Guangwu smiled:

"Pessimism or not, it depends on who it is. For the common Russians, for you, naturally, it is very pessimistic. But for Stalin, or for me......"

He poked a crispy bear paw with a spoon, slowly filled it into his mouth, closed his eyes and tasted the most luxurious delicacy in the world. After a while, he swallowed his stomach before continuing to laugh:

“…… That's the most optimistic and best thing to do. Hehehe. ”

Guangwu put down the spoon, picked up a wet towel and wiped the corners of his mouth, looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang and smiled:

"Isn't it? Doesn't your empress Zhu Yourong envy me? Isn't your first minister, Shen Rongxuan, envious of me? Or to you, General, don't you envy me? …… When Zhu Yourong wanted to do something and had to read the constitution and look at the face of the cabinet, when Shen Rongxuan was scolded by the newspaper all day long, and was scolded by the people blocking the official residence and not daring to go out, when General Xiang was almost arrested and imprisoned by the Metropolitan Procuratorate three times and twice because of a big fart...... Don't you envy me? Well? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at Guangwu's arrogant appearance, and wanted to pounce on him and strangle him to death.

But he can't say "not envious". To say that there is no envy is false. He still has a smile on his face, but he can't do it in his heart. He wanted to say, "You have to be nervous, you can't be nervous for two months", but he still held back, and the words became into his mouth:

"Your Majesty the Emperor, it seems that you don't want to discuss with me what the results will be, but simply enjoy the feeling of this discussion, which shows that you don't even have anyone around you who dares to speak. Don't you think you're too lonely? You see, isn't it sad that you have to go all the way to find someone from the enemy even if you want to enjoy the pleasure of discussing with people? And whatever issue Her Majesty wants to discuss, a large number of ministers will discuss with her at any time, and even argue, and it doesn't matter if they are blushing in the face. …… Does this also make your Majesty the Emperor very envious? ”

Emperor Guangwu laughed and said:

"There is a saying that 'the high place is not cold', and since ancient times, the supreme people have been lonely. It is also a small sacrifice that must be made after gaining power. General, take a look, from ancient times to the present, how many people have been willing to give up their safe lives, their wives and children, and even be willing to pay the price of nine deaths for the sake of supreme power? As for the 'pleasure of argument', what is this small price? And who of those who have attained supreme power would rather give up their power for the sake of the 'pleasure of argument'? No, you can't find any of them.

"Don't talk about your empress Zhu Yourong. From birth to adulthood, the girl had not tasted the pleasures of 'supreme power' for a single day, and of course a large number of people dared to fight with her. Because she is simply a queen in a cage, and her power is also the power of being locked in a cage. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang thought silently in his heart:

"The supreme power in a cage", this is a good description. Later generations have said that the greatest invention of mankind is not the gunpowder printing compass, nor the airplane cannon car computer, but it is precisely a "system that puts the supreme power in a cage". It is precisely because of this invention that mankind has been able to escape the tragic cycle of repeated violent revolutions and regular self-destruction, and it is possible for human wealth and technology to accumulate at an accelerated rate in recent centuries, so that there is an industrial revolution and everything that comes after.

Otherwise, it will never be possible to explain why humanity has exploded in the last few hundred years, after not changing much for thousands of years. Progress in productivity is only a façade. It is only a result, not a cause. It is not the gold that has been snatched from the Americas that has caused the productive forces to throw off their shackles and run away, but this "system of putting the supreme power in a cage".

Otherwise, Zhu Yourong would not be such a kind, gentle, elegant, and compassionate girl as she is now, but would become a vicious woman like Empress Lu, Wu Zetian, and Cixi, whose power desire is infinitely inflated, and her hands are covered with blood.

Of course, there are also people who voluntarily put themselves in a cage for the pleasure of arguing. But this kind of person is very rare. But once it appears, it will go down in history and be infinitely admired by future generations. Like, George Washington. After winning the war, Washington, whether it is actual power or great prestige, can be the king of the United States, enjoy the power in his hands for life, and then pass it on to his descendants.

But he served only two terms as president, drafted a constitution with his colleagues, put the supreme power in a cage, and went home to farm. It was this choice made by Washington two hundred years ago that gave rise to the United States, which was proud of the world in later generations. Otherwise, North America is at most a copy of South America. Anyone in the world who knows only one American president in the future will be George Washington.

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang was thinking about whether to tell Emperor Guangwu about this, Zheng Yuxuan suddenly smiled and said:

"Your Majesty the Emperor, you must know the truth that 'water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize a boat'. If you do that, aren't you afraid that one day you will end up with Louis XVI? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang gasped, looked at Zheng Yuxuan, and marveled at how she spoke so strongly. The severed heads of Louis XVI and his wife have been a nightmare for all monarchs for more than a hundred years. Xiao Nizi took this to stimulate Emperor Guangwu, was she dizzy?