Chapter 58 Dignity is only on the edge of the sword, and truth is only within the range of the cannon!
……

"I would rather bear a lifetime of infamy than let my descendants enjoy happiness for generations to come. That's a very good saying..."

Yongle period.

Looking at the passionate man in military uniform against the sky, I felt like I had met a soulmate.

Only people in later generations understood him.

Looking at the ministers below who always advised him not to start a war lightly, he couldn't help but sigh: "I know that over the years, you always say that I am warlike and spend money like water, and never care about the country's strength and people's livelihood."

“But someone has to do it.”

"Let's talk it out today. I'm not afraid of being criticized. There are some things that I will do even if you don't understand or don't know, even if you scold me!"

"I also wish there would be no wars forever, the soldiers would go back to take care of their children, and the people would never suffer from the war, but the question is, is it possible?"

As he spoke, Zhu Di glanced at the grandson beside him and said, "Yang Shiqi advised me that day that he was worried that I would take too big a step and asked me to share some of the wind, frost, snow and rain with my children and grandchildren. But I was afraid that my Ming Dynasty would produce another "God of War."

"It would be fine if the Ming Dynasty was revived, but I am afraid that my descendants will not live up to their expectations."

"If we leave the problem to our children and grandchildren, what if a foolish ruler emerges? Wouldn't the Ming Dynasty be ruined? Who will take responsibility for this?"

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment, but had to admit that what the emperor said made sense.

Seeing that the ministers did not respond, Zhu Di continued: "So I think what this descendant said is very good."

"We, as ancestors, cannot just think about the problems at hand and the gains and losses at hand. We must look further ahead, a hundred or two hundred years in the future, and plan ahead so that our descendants will not scold us in the future!"

"Your Majesty is right. For the sake of our descendants, it doesn't matter if we work harder." Zhu Gaoxu was the first to agree: "Your Majesty, I want to fight. I am willing to lead the Ming cavalry and let those thieves who invade China in the future see how powerful our Ming cavalry is!"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu with admiration. His brave and extraordinary second son was like him.

What's there to be afraid of being scolded?

Are there not enough emperors who have been scolded in this world?
If he really wants to protect his children and grandchildren from more storms, he is not afraid of being criticized!
At this time, even Zhu Gaochi, who always liked to sing a different tune and called for living in harmony with the people, no longer refuted.

However, Zhu Pangpang always plays it safe, so he suggested, "I think the emperor is right, but we can't be too hasty about this matter, we need to think about it in the long run."

"Now that we have the guidance of the sky, I believe that within five years, the national strength and military combat effectiveness of our Ming Dynasty will be improved several times. By then, perhaps our Ming Dynasty can also emulate Genghis Khan and let the Ming Dynasty's iron cavalry travel all over the world!"

……

the other side.

As Professor Ai finished speaking.

There was crackling applause from the sky.

[“Don’t applaud. This viewpoint may not be correct. It is for you to criticize!”]

[“To help you understand the teacher’s wrong views, let me show you some pictures.”]

[Professor Ai pointed to a location on the map and asked the students below: "Excuse me, where is this place?"]

"What lake?"

[As the map zoomed in, every student in the class could see the mark on the map: Lake Baikal.]

[“This is Lake Baikal.”]

【“The deepest lake in the world.”】

[“All of Russia’s current submarines were successfully tested here.”]

【“Endless fresh water resources.”】

[Professor Ai sighed and continued to zoom in on a location on the map, again asking the students a soul-searching question: "What lake is this? What lake?"]

【“Lake Balkhash.”】

[“Whose hometown?”]

【“Li Bai.”】

[Professor Ai continues to zoom in on a place: "What kind of lake is this?"]

[“Aral Sea!”]

[“Classmates, these lakes are all ours.”]

[“This was all ours in the first place, right?”]

[Seeing that the students below did not respond, Professor Ai continued to ask: "Is that right? Is it right to speak?"]

[The students immediately shouted in unison: "Yes"]

【“Hey!” Professor Ai nodded in satisfaction, and then pulled up a brand new map. The map showed the territory of China during the Yuan Dynasty. Looking around, it was vast and boundless. Most of Asia was filled with red pixels representing the territory.】

[“Look at this picture again. Wow, are you proud?”]

【“Yuan Dynasty.”】

[“Lake Baikal, Lake Balkhash, the Aral Sea; this is the Caspian Sea, the largest lake in the world! These places used to belong to us.”]

[As he spoke, the map changed to the Mediterranean Sea.]

[Professor Ai pointed to a body of water above the Mediterranean Sea and continued to ask: "What lake is this?"]

"The Black Sea."

[“It used to be our Neihu.”]

[After saying this, Professor Ai took out a map from the Ming Dynasty.]

【“Look at this picture again.”】

【“Lake Baikal is still there.”】

【“Lake Balkhash has become a border lake.”】

[“The Aral Sea is lost.”]

【“Look at this one again.”】

【Professor Ai replaced the map with one from the Qing Dynasty.】

【“Qing Dynasty.”】

[“This is said to be the result of an equal treaty. According to Wei Xiaobao, Lake Baikal was in the draft and there is no formal signing yet!”]

[“If this piece is present, then it is a complete mulberry leaf. Without it, it is still a mulberry leaf.”]

[“To the east of this mulberry leaf, there are two silkworms lying. The one to the north is called Korea, and the one to the south is called Vietnam.”]

[“Back then, this place was called Jiaozhi, right?”]

[“Cochin is ours.”]

[“How big is it…”]

[This territory has at least 1300 million people. ”]

[If Lake Baikal comes in, it will be another 100 million.”]

[“The key is resources, freshwater resources and fishery resources.”]

[“Excuse me, this picture shows that Lake Balkhash is also lost. Do you think Li Bai is Chinese or Russian?”

[“We have lost our ancestors’ hometown. It is a great shame!”]

[The foundation of a country's strength is its vast territory! ]

[Look at us, with a land area of ​​960 million square kilometers and years of history and culture, who can compete with us for years! ]

……

Tang Dynasty.

Xuanzong period.

On top of Mount Lushan, Li Bai was wearing a blue shirt with fluttering sleeves.

However, when he heard that his hometown no longer belonged to China, his heart trembled violently.

"This...is this true?" Li Bai's voice trembled slightly.

His eyes widened.

It’s as if I want to see through the thousands of years of time through the screen and find the eternal homeland in my heart.

"My hometown is now in another country, but I still miss the old days. I wish I could ride the wind and waves and sail across the vast ocean."

Li Bai murmured in a low voice: "My hometown, why did you leave me?"

"but."

Li Bai suddenly raised his head, and a determined light flashed in his eyes.

"Even though my hometown is no longer in the country, my poems, my feelings, and my soul will always belong to that land. No matter how time passes, my love and longing for my hometown will never change."

"I hope that our descendants will not forget our homeland, work hard, and one day we will be able to restore our homeland!"

……

"The foundation of a country's strength is its vast territory. This is a good saying!"

When Old Zhu saw this, he nodded in agreement.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang had little education, he still understood the principle that all land under heaven belongs to the king.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang started his army, he has always regarded expanding territory and unifying the world as his mission.

Because Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the land he had conquered would be left as a legacy for his descendants.

Looking at the map which was much larger than when he was in power, Zhu Yuanzhang was very pleased.

"This piece of land in the north should have been conquered by the fourth brother later. Although the brat is a bit naughty, he is a good fighter."

Old Zhu said with a smile: "I'm not wrong. In the future, let him serve as a general to conquer the north for Biao'er. In this way, there will be no worries on the border."

"But this expansion of territory..."

Old Zhu thought for a moment and said, "We must issue an oral decree that the descendants of the Ming Dynasty must take it as their responsibility to expand the territory!"

……

"Giao Chi is lost?"

When the Ming emperor and his ministers heard what Mr. Ai said, they all looked at each other in surprise.

Zhu Di was immediately unhappy and said, "If my guess is correct, this Jiaozhi was probably the work of Nuo Qing, right?"

"Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, Jiaozhi has always been a territory of our China. After the Five Dynasties, it was no longer civilized. Later, our Ming soldiers conquered Annan and incorporated Jiaozhi into the territory of our Ming Dynasty. I didn't expect that it would be lost just like that! Humph!"

You know, the Ming Dynasty soldiers had just recovered Annan, also known as Jiaozhi.

The soldiers worked so hard to recover the lost territory, expending so much manpower and material resources, but in the end it was lost.

Not to mention that Zhu Di was angry after hearing this, even the ministers in the court clenched their fists and felt furious.

My resentment towards the Qing Dynasty increased even more.

……

[“I have proposed since 96 that the first thing China needs to do to become strong and prosperous is to destroy the little bastard!”]

[“In this world, there are two places where men are trained: the army and the prison!”]

[“Having a sword in hand and not using the sword are two different things!”]

[“Strength is always the foundation for upholding justice, and national defense is the true backing of diplomacy!”]

[“Dignity lies only on the edge of the sword, and truth lies only within the range of the cannon!”]

[“What is the cannon used for? Let me tell you, the cannon is used to measure the land area!”]

[“We won the eight-year war of resistance. If we lost, do you believe that Japan would be one of our provinces in a hundred or two hundred years? Assimilate it! It’s the same as the Yuan and Qing dynasties. Assimilate it. This is our 5,000 years of cultural confidence!”]

[“The United States still wants to compare itself with us? You still worship foreign things. They have been here for a little over 200 years, while we have been here for 5000 years. I tell you, you are uncultured.”]

[“Our nuclear weapons can reach anywhere in the world, including the United States. No one in the world can defeat us!”]

Barrage:

——Strength is always the basis for maintaining justice!

——What a pity that our ancestors did not do their job properly. Zheng He's voyages to the West did achieve certain results in promoting national prestige and strengthening exchanges between China and foreign countries, but there were not many substantive benefits. You should know that the Ming Dynasty's firearms were the best in the world at that time. What a pity that they did not seize the opportunity!

——The firearms of the Ming Dynasty were indeed the best in the world. The strategy of China during the Ming Dynasty was somewhat similar to ours now. We would invent if we could, and if we couldn’t, we would spend a lot of money to buy them back and study and imitate them.

——That is, at that time, the "Shenjiying" in the capital had 5000 people in one battalion, 3600 thunder cannons, 200 multiplier cannons, and 400 muskets. For foreigners who were still using cold weapons, these were completely advanced equipment.

——What a pity, after the Qing army entered the pass, backward culture took over the relatively civilized China, and China's technology tree miraculously reversed, and even the most advanced firearms were buried.

——It’s funny to say.

After the Qing army entered the pass, the musket was considered a "strange and lewd trick" and was abolished. Among the captured firearms, Kangxi only kept two for himself to play with, and destroyed the others. He also ordered the Qing army to be prohibited from using this new type of firearm.

By the time of the Opium War, the Qing soldiers armed with swords and spears had completely forgotten about firearms. They thought they were evil objects and wanted to use dog blood to destroy them. Isn't that ridiculous?

——It is indeed a pity to say this. The Ming Dynasty was equivalent to getting up very early, but ended up catching up with nothing. This missed opportunity made China fall behind by an entire era and suffer attacks for more than a hundred years.

——With the national strength of the Ming Dynasty at that time, so what if all nations came to pay tribute? These regions posed no threat to China's waters. At that time, they were completely barbaric small countries. It was an honor for them to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.

They also enjoyed it.

You have to know that at that time, even if you paid tribute to the Heavenly Kingdom with an ordinary local item, you would receive hundreds or thousands of rewards. Why not do it?
——It would be great if we could break the backbone of the Japanese pirates in advance.

……

The Tang Dynasty.

Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, felt his blood boiling.

"A good dignity is only on the edge of the sword, and truth is only within the range of the cannon!"

"It is indeed true. Back then, the Turks took advantage of the Tang Dynasty's weakness and launched an invasion to force me to sign the Weishui Alliance. Now that the Tang Dynasty is strong and powerful, I will make them pay the price one day!"

Seeing that the barrage mentioned "the ancestors didn't do their job", Li Er's face turned red. Although he knew that the barrage was talking about Zhu Di, Li Er always felt that the barrage was referring to him.

"Now that our Tang Dynasty is strong and powerful, if we don't expand our territory now, when will we? I will personally train the navy from now on, and soon attack Japan, break their backbone myself, and take it as a county!"

Li Shimin looked up at the sky with high spirits.

As the general of Tiance.

Who else but me can expand our territory?

In the past, when the Turks were strong, even he had to temporarily avoid their edge. Unfortunately, the offense and defense have changed now!
……

Southern Song Dynasty time and space.

The two emperors Huizong and Qinzong, who were kept in a sheepfold, burst into tears.

Until you fall into the abyss and live like a dog.

Until he saw the Jin people insulting his wife and daughter in person, he became their joke and his dignity was trampled on the ground.

Only then did they deeply understand what it meant that dignity lies only on the edge of the sword.

But unfortunately, they realized it too late.

Now they have completely lost the possibility of returning to the Song Dynasty.

……

"Yes, the bigger the fist, the more truth there is, that's the truth!"

During the Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang strongly agreed.

Why was he able to conquer the world, and why did the four countries respect the Ming Dynasty?

Isn’t it because the Ming Dynasty is stronger than them?

If the Ming Dynasty was weaker than them, these wolf cubs around them would have bared their fangs long ago. They would not be as docile as lambs as they are now.

This is the deterrent power!
(End of this chapter)