In the process of escaping to the steppe, Altan Khan repeatedly thought that this battle should not have been lost.

If you fight a field battle from the beginning and don't attack the city, even if the opponent has a thousand new muskets, you will never lose.

It was Xiao Feng, the bastard, who first disturbed his mentality by not selling grain, and then threatened to take advantage of the emptiness of the Mongols and Jurchens to fight outside the Liaoxi Province to steal his home, which successfully angered him.

He wanted to kill Xiao Feng too much, so he attacked the city fiercely, and lost a lot of soldiers and morale first. Later, he was ambushed by Li Chengliang.

Of course, there is also a major problem, that is, the temporary coalition of the Mongols and Jurchens is not smooth enough to command, and if these fifteen thousand people are their own, it will be another matter entirely!

Wang Gao did not escape, he was either captured or died, and the Jurchen cavalry who followed him also scattered and fled. Altan Khan was now left with just over a thousand Mongol cavalry to follow him.

Whether it is to aid Liaoxi Province or to turn back and fight the Ming army to take revenge, this amount of troops is far from enough. Altan Khan decided to go back to his own territory first, gather the tribes, form a large army, and then talk about anything else.

Wang Gao was captured, and he was brought to Xiao Feng, staring at Xiao Feng stubbornly, with a posture of looking at death as home.

Xiao Feng smiled: "Do you think I'm going to kill you?" ”

Wang Gao snorted, expressing disdain.

Xiao Feng smiled: "Don't worry, I will not only let you go, but also make you an official." ”

Wang Gao couldn't believe his ears, is there such a good thing in the world?

"Lord Xiao will kill if he wants to kill, and let him go, why bother playing with it."

Xiao Feng smiled and said, "I'm not kidding you, I really want you to be an official." Although your original commander-in-chief of Jianzhou is big, his name is not right.

In the future, although you are only the head of a farming area, this official is sealed by the imperial court, and if you have official documents, you can manage 2,000 people. ”

Wang Gao was furious: "You are insulting me!" Aren't you afraid that I will rebel again? ”

Xiao Feng shook his head: "I'm not afraid." I'm telling you, don't be too petty about this official. In the later government system outside the Guan, in addition to the three general soldiers and the prefect, this is the biggest official. ”

Wang Gao was stunned: "What do you mean?" The imperial court wants to set up a prefect outside the customs? It has always been the place managed by the General Military Administration? ”

Xiao Feng nodded: "That's right, not only will there be a prefect, but also a school palace." What is in the customs will be there outside the customs. The difference is that there are no longer counties under the prefecture, but agricultural areas.

There are about 2,000 people in each farming area, and the head of the district reports directly to the prefect. In the farming areas, the tuntian system is implemented, and all the people are soldiers. The Jurchens and Han Chinese lived in mixed places and intermarried. ”

Wang Gao was silent for a long time: "You are doing this because you are worried that the Jurchens will be unified again, just like on the Mongolian steppe, right?" ”

Xiao Feng nodded: "Yes, there will always be a strong person like you, or even someone stronger than you, who can unify a nation and unify a region with a dozen pairs of armor."

Then, they will have greater ambitions, ask the sentence 'Princes and generals, rather have a kind of', and say the sentence 'The emperor will take turns to do it, and he will come to my house next year.'" ’

It is safer only to prevent such mergers and unifications and to maintain decentralization. As for living in mixed places, it is a truth, gathering is chaos, and scattering is peace.

This is not only the case outside the gates, but also on the grasslands in the future. Whoever dares to attack and annex other people's land tribes will be destroyed first by the imperial court! ”

Wang Gao took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, and finally made up his mind. He looked straight at Xiao Feng.

"Lord Xiao, today I don't care about life and death, I just want to ask you a word, do you dare to answer me with your conscience in front of heaven and earth?"

Xiao Feng nodded: "You say, I can't lie to you." ”

"Lord Xiao, why can only Han people sit in this world? Why can't anyone else sit still?

The Han people call everyone else a barbarian and consider themselves orthodox. Could it be that the Han people sit in the world, is the destiny of heaven? Other nations sit in the world, is it a great rebellion? ”

Xiao Feng smiled indifferently: "Who told you that?" There are not so many cheap things in the world. Why don't you want to think about it, why do Han people call others barbarians? ”

Wang Gao said angrily: "What other reason can there be? Preconceived, he calmly regards the world as his own bag and looks down on others! ”

Xiao Feng smiled: "Preconceived ideas are true, but looking down on others may not be. The Han people themselves were divided into north and south. Southerners find northerners rude, and northerners feel southerners weak.

Therefore, it is not that the Han people look down on other ethnic groups, but people from different regions and people with different customs are not used to each other. ”

Wang Gao said loudly: "The Han people are not used to each other, but they don't scold each other for being barbarians, but only scold people outside the Han people!" ”

Xiao Feng said with a smile: "Ethnic groups other than the Han people open their mouths and scold the Han people as Han dogs, do they look up to the Han people?" ”

Wang Gao was stunned for a moment, this is a fact, the barbarians have never scolded honestly and did not return the favor, strictly speaking, the Han dog sounded dirtier than the barbarians.

"But since the Han Dynasty, you Han people have been grabbing the territory of other ethnic groups! Shouldn't this be scolded? ”

Xiao Feng said lightly: "Then you say that since the Han Dynasty, which war between the Han people and other ethnic groups was actively provoked by the Han people in order to seize territory?"

The origin of war is often the friction of borders, and it is not easy to determine who will strike first. However, since ancient times, the Han people have mainly been agricultural, and they are famous for their teachers, so they do not have a strong initiative in warfare.

That is, in today's battle, I will stay in the general army's mansion, and the two of you will join forces to fight me, will you be warlike or will I be warlike? ”

Wang Gao gritted his teeth and said: "We beat you because you hinted that you would attack our hometown when our troops were empty!" ”

Xiao Feng was puzzled: "When did I say I was going to attack you?" I kindly remind you that the emptiness of the army in your hometown has become a crime?

Isn't this a sin that is not justified? You are embarrassed to say that you are brazenly waging war just because you misunderstand a word from others? ”

Wang Gao thought for a while: "Even if you don't explicitly say that you want to attack us. But if you refuse to sell us food, you simply want to starve us to death and provoke our civil strife by this means! ”

Xiao Feng sneered: "Listen to what you said!" Because the Ming Dynasty refuses to sell grain, you will attack the Ming Dynasty.

If you have no food, you will starve to death, there will be civil strife, and it will threaten your rule, so it is only natural that the Ming must sell food to you!

Why? Since you don't regard yourself as the people of the Ming Dynasty in your heart, why does the Ming Dynasty have to meet your needs? ”

Wang Gao also felt that this reason was a bit far-fetched, but still argued: "But you obviously have extra food......

Xiao Feng said coldly: "We have surplus food, if you need food, we must sell it, if we don't sell it, you will rob it, right?" ”

Wang Gao stopped talking, indeed, for a long time, this was the way of thinking of nomads.

The nomads are not bloodthirsty and easy to kill, and they are not itchy for a day without fighting.

But they needed a lot of things that they couldn't produce themselves, or that they produced in very low quantities at the time. Like grains, tea, clay pots, iron pots, textiles, these are just needs.

So they want to buy, they want to change. However, the Central Plains has always been wary of nomads, so this kind of trade has always been smooth, both sides feel that the other is unreasonable, and eventually war will break out.

Wang Gao suddenly had a flash of inspiration and argued: "You Han people were born in the Central Plains from the beginning and occupied the best land in the Central Plains, so you can have so many things.

And we were born in the steppes and grew up in the wilderness, and we didn't have a chance to develop so many of you! You don't deserve to be cheap! ”

Xiao Feng said coldly: "This kind of thought, many people really have it." Did you know that this so-called wilderness under your feet is also a blessed land that others dream of? ”

Wang Gao snorted: "The land of Kanto, full of mountains, forests and weeds, and the bitter cold land, is far inferior to the Central Plains, how can we talk about blessed land?" ”

Xiao Feng sighed: "There is a people, they were born on an island. Their island was small, less than half the size of the Eastern Lands.

Moreover, this island has many mountains and little land, which is not suitable for grazing. The earth movement encountered once in decades in the Central Plains and outside the Guanxi is several times a year on that island.

Once it occurs, thick smoke is everywhere, houses collapse, winds and rains are fierce, and tsunamis and landslides are fallen. You say, how is such a place compared to outside the gate? ”

Wang Gao was stunned: "That's naturally far inferior!" ”

So, they thought, we're all human, why were we born on this broken island? You Jurchens can live in the vast and stable land of Kanto?

So they came and smote you, and robbed you of your land, and they felt that it was right. Do you think this is reasonable? ”

Wang Gao gritted his teeth and said: "Whoever dares to come and rob our home, we will fight, the Jurchens are never afraid of war!" ”

Xiao Feng asked lightly: "But the environment of other people is so poor, why don't you be generous when you get a cheap one?" ”

Wang Gao knew that Xiao Feng was attacking his shield with his spear, he thought about it again and again, knowing that the Han people were born to take advantage, it was a bit unreasonable.

Wang Gao laughed miserably: "People are inherently unequal, tall, short, fat and thin, high and low.

It seems that the nation is also inherently unequal, some are born in good places, and some are born in bad places.

But those who were born in a good place feel that it is righteous, but what should they do if they are born in a bad place? Did you accept your fate?

Surely not, in the end, isn't it just a fight, and the winner is king? ”

Xiao Feng nodded: "In many places between heaven and earth, this is indeed the case. Only war can finally solve this problem.

The victors turn the losers into slaves, even extermination, and occupy better places for themselves until another group of tougher men arrives and defeats them.

Then the once victors became slaves, even extinct, good places were occupied, and there was constant reincarnation. ”

Wang Gao took a deep breath: "So now that I have lost, I admit it." Are you going to turn me into a slave, or are you going to exterminate me? ”

Xiao Feng shook his head: "As I said before, I won't kill you, and I won't treat you as a slave." I'll let you go, and if you want, you can be the mayor. ”

Wang Gao looked at Xiao Feng in surprise: "Aren't the truths you just said to tell me the results of me and the Jurchens?" Slave or extinct? ”

Xiao Feng looked at Wang Gao with a smile: "I said that in many places between heaven and earth, there are only two endings. But only in China, there is a third outcome. ”

Wang Gao looked at Xiao Feng puzzled, Xiao Feng looked at him calmly: "Do you know why many ethnic minorities in history have defeated the Han people and occupied the Central Plains, but in the end they have not been able to stay for long?" ”

Wang Gao can now feel that Xiao Feng is not teasing himself, but seriously reasoning with himself, and his answer is much more serious.

"I think it should be because there are too many Han people!"

Xiao Feng shook his head: "When the Five Hu Rebellion was in China, the Han people were slaughtered in large numbers, and the total population was only four or five million, which is not much of an advantage compared to other ethnic groups.

But in the end, the Han people returned to the position of masters in the Central Plains. Can this be said to be just because there are too many Han Chinese? ”

Wang Gao thought about it again: "That is, those ethnic minorities who have established political power are fighting and killing each other, while the Han people are the same ethnic group and are more united!" ”

Xiao Feng shook his head: "The Mongols relied on fast horses and long knives to conquer large areas of land. Why did their regime fail as well, not of a few ethnic groups, but of the unified Mongols? ”

Wang Gao thought for a long time: "That is, the Han people are smart, their weapons are more advanced, and they are more proficient in the art of war!" ”

Xiao Feng smiled bitterly: "Today I defeated you and Altan Khan with a musket, so you can say such things."

The Han people are not a nation that is good at fighting, and in terms of combat power, most of the time they are only half a pound or eight taels with other ethnic groups. ”

Wang Gao looked at Xiao Feng unconvinced: "This is not right, that is not right, then you say, what's going on?"

Don't tell me anything about the destiny of heaven, I don't believe that God is the God of the Han people! ”

Xiao Feng smiled: "This has nothing to do with God. The reason why the Han people were able to occupy the Central Plains for a long time is actually because he used the third ending to solve the problem of ethnic inequality you mentioned.

Any place, any country, only by solving this problem can it achieve long-term peace and stability and be invincible! ”

Wang Gao shook his head again and again: "How to solve this problem?" Han people were born in the Central Plains, Mongolians were born in the grasslands, and Jurchen people were born in the white mountains and black waters.

What kind of ethnic group are you talking about, born on that hellish broken island, if these people want to live in the Central Plains, how do you solve it? ”

Xiao Feng said lightly: "The Han people have never allowed any ethnic group to live in the Central Plains.

If you look at the Central Plains now, the Han people you see are themselves composed of many ethnic groups. It's just that no matter what they were called before, now, they are all called Han Chinese.

Just like the Mongols, they are actually made up of many ethnic groups, and they are now called Mongols.

If you think about it carefully, you will find that when the ethnic minorities were in power, they never thought of turning the Han people into people like themselves, but regarded the Han people as inferior people.

And when the Han people were in power, what they did intentionally or unintentionally was to turn other ethnic groups into people like themselves. ”

Wang Gao was stunned: "This ...... I don't read much, don't lie to me. Do you have any credentials? ”

Xiao Feng smiled: "When the Five Hu were chaotic, they called the Han people two-legged sheep, killing people like killing cattle and sheep.

When the Jurchens established the Jin Dynasty, they called everyone other than the Jurchens 'people of all colors', and the Jurchens were not guilty of killing 'people of all colors'.

The Mongols established the Yuan Dynasty, which divided the people into four classes, and it was still the Mongols as the ruling nation, enjoying a large number of privileges over other peoples.

The only thing that was still friendly to the Han was the Liao state established by the Khitans, and in their country, at least legally, the Han and Khitans were relatively equal.

But if you look at the dynasties established by the Han people, is there any dynasty whose laws specifically made privileges for the Han people, and regarded other ethnic groups in their country as inferior, slaves, and even livestock? ”

Wang Gao pondered for a while, and said sullenly: "I don't read much, maybe I have, maybe I don't. ”

Xiao Feng Zhengse said: "If you say that in this land, the Han people appeared earlier, just like the eldest son of this land. They chose the best place to live and built a house.

Later a new nation appeared, the second and third sons of the land. The place where these sons were born is not so good, and they also want to come and live in the place where the eldest son lives.

The eldest son never disagreed. He just hopes that these brothers can abide by the culture and rules they have established, is this too much?

But what did those brothers do? They felt that the eldest son was pedantic and weak, so they took turns to grab the place.

They don't want to live well together, they want to be in charge of their own affairs, and they want to replace the rules of the eldest son with their own rules.

And their rule is that only they themselves are the noblest, and the other brothers are inferior, slaves, and livestock! ”

Wang Gao stopped talking, he knew that what Xiao Feng said, although it may not be absolutely correct, but in most cases, it is indeed like this.

He knew that in the Central Plains, there were many Khitans, Dangxiang people, and Huns in the past, and now they have all become Han people.

Although their appearance is still different from the original Han people, they consider themselves Han people, and others also regard them as Han people, there is no difference.

Even the Miao, Mongols, and Jurchens, who are still struggling with the Han Chinese, have many people living in the Central Plains.

The Han Chinese have never discriminated against them because of their ethnic identity, and if there is discrimination, it must be for other reasons.

For example, the officials hated Hai Jui, not because he was a Muslim, but simply because he was too hateful.

Therefore, the Han people will never look down on a person because of what nationality he is, and the Han people will look down on a person only because of the person's character.

The Han people will never look down on a nation, if the Han people look down on this nation, it will only be because of what this nation has done!

If a nation is unreasonable and only talks about the law of the jungle, why can't such a nation be looked down upon?

If a nation does not create civilization, but only destroys civilization, why can't such a nation be looked down upon?

If a people are displaced and rescued by the aborigines, they generously share their food and land. Why can't they be looked down upon by slaughtering the indigenous people and keeping the remaining survivors in quarantine areas?

If a nation occupies the land of other peoples, slaughters hundreds of thousands of civilians at a time, treats killing people as a contest, regards shamelessness as glory, and treats other nations as livestock, why can't such a nation be looked down upon? ”

Wang Gao looked at Xiao Feng blankly, speechless. He knew that today he was completely defeated, both on the battlefield and mentally.

Even the ideal he had always been most proud of, when he entered the customs and entered the Central Plains, suddenly changed from an ideal that occupied the moral high ground to an ideal of a careerist, and lost a lot of luster.