At the end of the morning meeting of the imperial court, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Congrong was responsible for sending the 'Boyan Ten Rounds' to the crown prince Zhao Qian. Yang calmly saw that Zhao Qian was looking seriously, and wanted to guess Zhao Qian's reaction in his heart, but he couldn't help but think of Boyan, a bad old man. Yang Congrong really didn't think much of Boyan before, and Boyan led hundreds of thousands of troops to conquer the Italian Peninsula and rebuild the Western Roman Empire. Yang calmly led the initial less than 1,000 people to open up the province of Europa. Through the operation of the Quadripartite Alliance, Europa becomes the core of the entire Eastern Mediterranean Economic Circle. In terms of ability, Yang calmly felt that he was not under Boyan.

After reading this 'Ten Treatises on Boyan', Yang Congrong had to admit that purely in military affairs, and even including some of his cognition of religion and politics, Boyan's ability was a little higher than Yang Congrong's own. Well...... Maybe it's a little bit higher. As Luo Yiren said, in the time of Kublai Khan, 'there were people in Mongolia'.

Just thinking about it, I heard Zhao Qian say: "What do the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Affairs and the Ministry of Finance and Domain think of this exposition? ”

Yang Congrong immediately raised his head, and saw that Zhao Qian's expression was normal, and he couldn't see anything particularly excited. Sighing in his heart for the prince's cultivation skills, Yang Congrong hurriedly replied: "Both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Finance feel that Boyan's analysis of the war is very good. If the slave dynasty was only satisfied with conquering the Ilkhanate, if they really wanted to conquer the two river valleys, they were afraid that they would be defeated. ”

After speaking, Yang calmly looked at Zhao Qian's reaction. I saw Zhao Qian nodding slightly, but he was just thinking, and he couldn't see Zhao Qian's judgment on this matter. After a pause, Zhao Qian continued to ask: "Boyan has been away from the Mongolian court for ten years, how much weight do his words still have in the Mongolian court?" ”

Yang was stunned for a moment, he had also thought about this problem himself. Although his position is different from that of Zhao Qian, his thinking is similar. The Quadripartite Alliance only covered both sides of the Eastern Mediterranean, with the Western Roman Empire led by Boyan in the west, the province of Europa and the Eastern Roman Empire in the north, and the Yuan Kingdom in the north in the Black Sea region, occupying only half of the northern shore of the Black Sea and half of the western coast. The eastern and southern parts of the Eastern Mediterranean, and the eastern and northeastern coasts of the Black Sea were in the hands of the Mongols. From the point of view of the province of Europa, if you really want to establish an 'Eastern Mediterranean-Black Sea' economic circle, you have to find a way to bring Mongolia in.

This is the obvious question, and the most difficult one. No one in the entire province of Europa wanted to do business with the Mongols, and if they had to deal with it, it would be a criticism of weapons. From this point of view, Boyan did not belong to the Mongol court, but was completely independent of the Mongol court. In a sense, the relationship between Bayan and Mongolia can also be classified as 'neutral' rather than 'friendly'. If the Mongol court's view of Boyan is the same, the influence of this article of Boyan is very debatable.

Yang Congrong did not immediately agree with Zhao Qian's opinion, he had experienced too much and learned a lot over the years, so he was deeply impressed by a joke in Zhao Guanjia's article on "Breaking the Four Olds" and "Religious Freedom".

One man walked by the sea and saw another man trying to commit suicide by jumping into the sea.

He stepped forward and said, "Sir, don't jump!"

The man asked, "Why?"

He said, "Life is good! Are you an atheist or religious?"

The man replied, "I am religious."

"Buddhism, Taoism, True God or Cross?"

"Christianity"

"Roman Catholic See or Orthodox?"

"Orthodox Church"

"I'm Orthodox too! Is it an Armenian sect or a Constantinean sect?"

"Armenian Sect"

"Great! I am also an Armenian, do you believe in St. John or St. Shroud?"

"St. John, of course"

"It's amazing! Me too, so which three fingers do you make a cross?"

The one who wants to jump into the sea holds up three fingers.

The one who persuaded him kicked the ass of the man who threw him into the sea, and shouted angrily at the back of the man who fell off the cliff, "Heresy! Die!"

Yang Congrong himself is not a believer, but he has to learn the knowledge of the cross religion because of his work, and he only barely knows the knowledge points in it. What resonates with Yang Congrong in this story is not the knowledge points, but the fact that he finds that even if he and many people have most of the same views, they may be at odds or even incompatible on a decisive key point. At this time, he did not dare to have a decisive discussion with the crown prince Zhao Qian without being sure of the reference point.

"I wonder if the prince's attitude towards the Mongols is to exterminate them or to allow them to exist?" Yang Congrongwen.

Zhao Qian's face showed a little surprise, and it could be seen that he rarely discussed this issue, and he did not have a particularly strong determination. Surprised for a moment, Zhao Qian asked Yang Congrong in turn, "Yang Jiedu envoy...... Minister Yang, you have been in Europa for so long, what do you think about Mongolia? ”

Yang calmly replied: "The strength of Europa Province is insufficient, and three parties in the Quadripartite Alliance have deep relations with Mongolia, and Europa Province avoids Mongolia. As long as they don't get involved. ”

Zhao Qian's eyes lit up, he stared at Yang Congrong himself carefully, and then said, "I also think about Mongolia. After all, Mongolia is too far away, and there are too many things in the Great Song Dynasty that are more important than annihilating Mongolia. Speaking of this, Zhao Qian couldn't help but praise again: "What Minister Yang said made me a little enlightened. ”

Yang Congrong hurriedly shook his head, "I don't want to remind the prince of anything, I myself am confused about this matter." The reason for this is that I often have to think of the existence of Mongolia when I think about the affairs of the province of Europa. But if you want to destroy Mongolia, the investment is too big and the benefits are too small. I thought about it dozens of times, and finally came to the conclusion that it was better to let Mongolia occupy this land first, if the Great Song Dynasty did not have the ability to eat the two river valleys, it would be better to let Mongolia occupy this land first. After all, if Mongolia suddenly collapses, the forces that annihilate Mongolia and the surrounding forces will come to share the pie. When we gather strength in the Great Song Dynasty, we are afraid that we will only encounter stronger opponents. ”

Zhao Qian's expression finally became enthusiastic, and he nodded while thinking about Yang Congrong's words. After Yang Congrong finished speaking, Zhao Qian lowered his eyes to reflect on Yang Congrong's words, and then said: "What Minister Yang said is very good. If so, it would not necessarily be a bad thing for Mongolia to listen to what Boyan said...... No, it doesn't really matter what Boyan says! ”

Yang Congrong was glad in his heart, what the prince said was exactly the same as what he felt. It would probably be best if Mongolia could maintain its current state of immortality. The immortality of Mongolia meant that it would not be difficult to deal with the Great Song when it was able to gather forces, and at the same time, Mongolia was not able to meddle in the business and exchanges of the Quadripartite Alliance in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region. It dragged on until the province of Europa was able to solve the Mongol problem.

"One yard to one yard, Minister Yang, do you think the Mongolian court will accept Boyan's suggestion?" Zhao Qian continued to ask.

"Prince, I don't think there is such a thing as the so-called Mongolian court. We have a court in the Great Song Dynasty, and there are many arguments when the court of the Great Song Dynasty discusses things, no matter what the time of the argument is, once the decision is made, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty know that Yin Fengyang is going to have an accident. Just as the officials say, if officials know and fear the Commission for Discipline Inspection, it proves that officials know what the standard of honesty is. The decisions of the Great Song Dynasty were implemented by the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty and by the local government. Poor implementation will result in accountability. This is called the imperial court. Take the Great Song court as the standard, and there is no court in Mongolia. Eastern Rome and Western Rome also did not have a court. It's hard to say that the Yuan Kingdom has a small half of the imperial court at most. ”

Zhao Qian's eyes lit up, and then he closed his eyes. Looking at Zhao Qian's movements, Yang Congrong felt that his previous judgment of the prince of the Great Song Dynasty was wrong, the prince was not good at cultivating kung fu, he was like a normal person, he just didn't react to things that he was not interested in.

"Minister Yang, I would like to ask you to give a special lecture. This made me suddenly enlightened! Zhao Qian opened his eyes and sighed sincerely.

Yang Congrong hurriedly responded: "In the past, I would only feel that something was not right, and I would say that the Mongolian court is not called the imperial court." After listening to the official's speech, I figured out this. I used to say that only when I was angry or looked down on the Mongols, but now I finally understand that it is difficult to describe the accurate truth in one simple word. ”

"I don't know which time Minister Yang spoke to the official family?" Zhao Qian asked.

It is the official's speech on the four olds. Officials say that thousands of years ago, wizards who studied the world used terms such as "gods" and "ghosts" to name unknown powers, and later people added various specific contents to these words to describe the unknown, and promoted the unknown as known. Then there is the infiltration of economic interests, and religion is formed. When the Great Song Dynasty broke the Four Olds, it encountered such a fierce confrontation among the people, and many people did not understand. I think those people are stupid. This is not because the people are ignorant, but because the court and the people seem to discuss the same thing, but in fact they are completely different. The imperial court strongly advocated science, and science was the method of thought in the field of research, and the scientific conclusions and scientific results reached were obtained from the study of the unknown. Belief in the plague god is that when the level of productivity and cognition is insufficient, the people try to solve the problems they encounter with the idea of "thinking that they are known" and "actually unknown". Both sides use the term plague god, and from a scientific point of view, the plague god is the result of not being able to solve the plague threat. In the minds of the people, the plague god is the cause of the plague. If you are entangled in the word plague god, it is natural that chickens and ducks will talk about each other. ”

Zhao Qian clenched his right hand into a fist and tapped lightly on the table, and it could be seen that he was very excited. But what he said had nothing to do with this matter, "I understand, Boyan's report is here, and I will report it to the official." ”

After Yang calmly left, Zhao Qian reflected for a while, picked up the pen and wrote for a while. When he got up, the paper he was holding was already a logical diagram with the '∵' and '∴' symbols. Seeing his father, Zhao Qian first gave his father the logical cognitive relationship diagram he wrote about the recent Great Song Dynasty's 'breaking the four olds' action. As Zhao Qian expected, after reading it, Dad smiled and praised: "Is it very clear, it's very good." To this extent, you know what you're facing. As long as you can tell what is the cause and what is the effect. Zhao Qian, I don't have to worry about you not being able to stand on your own feet after death. ”

Zhao Qian was shocked, and instinctively wanted to oppose his father talking about death. But he wanted to stop talking, because he also knew that it would be too hypocritical to talk about this in front of his father. It's not that Dad thinks this question is hypocritical, but Dad thinks that Zhao Qian's words 'Daddy is prosperous in the Spring and Autumn Period, and he lives a hundred years old' is too hypocritical.

But without saying a few words, Zhao Qian felt uncomfortable in his heart. He thought about a few entry points, and finally chose what he felt was the most unpretentious statement, "Official, aren't you afraid?" ”

"I'm a normal person, of course I'm afraid. Zhao Qian, I've said many times that fear is when your body is reminding you that your brain is experiencing something abnormal, or that you are experiencing a danger that you have already experienced. The brain doesn't deal with normal situations, the various external signals you receive, the normal part is processed by the body. The brain is responsible for dealing with anomalies. So of course I feel the fear. You look at me because I understand fear and I truly recognize the legitimacy of fear. So my reaction will make you feel like I'm not afraid, so you'll feel like I'm not going to feel fear. That's a cause-and-effect relationship. ”

Zhao Qian has indeed heard this many times, and he feels that he can accept it. But Zhao Qian still felt that there was no way, so he ignored the unspeakable unacceptable feeling. He asked again: "Is the official family really not afraid of death?" ”

"If you look at this from a paradoxical point of view, you can see why I am reluctant to imagine my own death. The inner cause determines the essence, and the human body will definitely die. This is the essence. To not accept this essence is to not be able to face reality. Zhao Qian, do you think the human body can be immortal? ”

"I can accept that fact." Zhao Qian replied decisively. He had seen so many deaths when he was a soldier, and he had no objection to that.

"External causes give rise to essence. For example, if you go to an unknown place and get infected with germs. Or they are carrying germs, and the germs suddenly and explosively grow in an environment suitable for reproduction, triggering your body's immune system response, and in the intense internal exertion of the body, your skills are exhausted and you die. Or he was injured on the battlefield, or he was hit by a car, or he encountered some laceration, the wound was large, and he bleed a lot. Your body dies of skill failure due to lack of blood. Or it is organ lesions, which trigger a chain reaction. From a medical point of view, all deaths are the result of normal bodily functions. There is no such thing as an unnatural death. What does this mean? ”

"Seek good fortune and avoid evil?" Zhao Qian replied. He remembered the content of "Lao Tzu" that the old lady loved to read, which emphasized this issue.

"Nope. That's the result of recognizing the possibilities. From the point of view of causes, how you die has nothing to do with you, it is caused by external factors that you don't know about. Knowing why, I never thought about avoiding the necessary risks, so I didn't bother to think about how to die, this has nothing to do with me. ”

“…… Dad," Zhao Qian couldn't stand it a little, and his title couldn't help but change, "Why does it sound like death when it comes to talking about it like this, something as serious as death doesn't sound serious!" ”

"If you think that there are only a few factors to death, of course you think it's serious. If you realize that there are thousands of factors that contribute to death, of course you don't think that way anymore. Son, you've read so many books and seen so many scenes. In fact, the cause of death is sometimes ...... Not...... Often...... Slippery...... Delay. ”