I'm really not doing business

Chapter 853 Don't be too cautious about winning small

The ancestors of the Lao Xuanwei Office were the Jinglong Kingdom, a tributary state of the Dali Kingdom. After Kublai Khan conquered the Dali Kingdom, the Jinglong people left Yunnan and settled in Laos. Therefore, from the very beginning of its establishment, the place of Laos has shared the same language, culture and blood with the Miao people in Yunnan.

In the minds of Dao Lansheng and the Laotian leader, there is no psychological burden at all to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, because their ancestors have lived like this for generations. For the barbarians, adaptive recognition of their father runs through their history, present, and even the future. Annan can do it, Toungoo can do it, and naturally the Ming Dynasty can do it as well.

After choosing and choosing, Daming seems to be the kindest father.

Yu Liangshi, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple, felt somewhat helpless. This was completely different from the education he received. All he had learned was to cultivate literary virtues in order to appease distant people. If distant people still wanted to fight with you, it meant that your literary virtues were not enough, and you were not gentle, tolerant, and respectful enough to them. You needed to continue to cultivate literary virtues, be more gentle, flexible, and make more exceptions to attract and appease distant people.

If one still cannot be comforted, then one's moral character is not good enough and needs to be improved.

But under the leadership of Wan Shihe, the atmosphere of the Ministry of Rites was completely corrupted. The barbarians were always like beasts, fearing power but not virtue. If they didn't understand what people said, they would be beaten. As long as they didn't want to die, the barbarians would reconcile with themselves and understand what the Ming Dynasty was saying.

Under this atmosphere, the foreign affairs work of the Honglu Temple became extremely tough.

Yu Liangshi felt that this trend was wrong, but practical experience told him that it was indeed true. It seemed that the Tuman Khan, Altan Khan, the Jianzhou Jurchens, Korea, Japan, Annan, Toungoo, and the Red-haired Barbarians were all like this. The Ming Dynasty spoke nicely, but these barbarians never listened. Only after a beating could things be made clear.

The red-haired foreigners established the Governor's Office of Luzon and the Governor's Office of Goa. After being beaten up, these red-haired foreigners dared not act rashly anymore.

But the Golden Haired Barbarians were too far away for the Ming Dynasty to defeat. Since the ninth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had been asking the Golden Haired Barbarians to revoke their privateering licenses, maintain the maritime business environment, and ensure free trade. But the Golden Haired Barbarians just wouldn't listen. No matter how many good and bad words the Ming Dynasty said, it was of no use.

The situation in Laos is different from that of these barbarians. Laos was beaten, not by the Ming Dynasty, but because it had evil neighbors and could do nothing about it.

The official post road from Ming Dynasty to Laos was built by the Lao people themselves. They gave away everything they could, seizing every opportunity and sitting under a big tree to enjoy the shade. After the official post road to Ming Dynasty was opened, everything in Laos became better.

Dao Lansheng hesitated for a long time before saying, "I heard on the road that the Ming Dynasty successively occupied Korea, Japan, Ryukyu, Luzon, Borneo, Java, the Governor's Office of Old Port, and Toungoo. This is not something we Mengzhu should worry about. We Mengzhu are more concerned about how to be accepted by the Ming Dynasty. Fortunately, everything went well."

"I just feel that the Ming Dynasty seems to be abandoning some of its benevolence and righteousness. Why is that?"

Although Dao Lansheng did not say it explicitly, he was still worried about the extremely bad impact brought about by the moral decline of the Ming Dynasty. He was afraid that the Lao people would become the price to pay for the Ming Dynasty's revival. Even so, Dao Lansheng still hoped to be incorporated into the Ming Dynasty, even if it meant becoming part of the price.

Before saying the words of joining the Ming Dynasty, Dao Lansheng had been thinking about it for several years and finally made the decision.

For the people led by Dao Lansheng, what they should be afraid of is not being used by others. Being used by others means that they are useful. The most frightening thing is that no one cares about them, which means that they are useless and anyone can bully them.

Even if it becomes the price of Ming's revival, they must be incorporated, because by paying the blood tax, they can truly be integrated into the Ming.

"Do you know Liu Bei?" Yu Liangshi asked after thinking for a while.

"I know, he is the lord of Prime Minister Zhuge, I have heard of his name." Dao Lansheng said very affirmatively. In Sanxuan and Liuwei, Zhuge Wuhou Temples are spread all over the city-states, because Zhuge Liang is the enlightener of the entire southwestern small country, musical instruments, crops, farm tools, methods to prevent the spread of plague and so on.

Yu Liangshi then continued, "At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the princes rose up, Emperor Zhaolie was kind throughout his life and never massacred a city. He led the people across the river. When he entrusted his son to the care of the emperor in Baidi City, he still warned Liu Chan, the last ruler of Shu, not to do evil, no matter how small it is, and not to refrain from doing good, no matter how small it is."

"But Emperor Zhaolie, who was kind and benevolent throughout his life, was determined to take Yizhou when it came time to do so, because if he didn't take it, Yizhou would belong to Cao Cao."

"Whether you are moral or kind, if you are eliminated, all your beliefs, your morals, and your pursuits will vanish into thin air. No one will remember you or show off their power over your grave. You can only watch the world being taken over by rotten people and the people wailing in pain."

"The Three Kingdoms exhausted all the heroic spirit, and the Jin Dynasty was full of rats."

Yu Liangshi explained why the Ming Dynasty abandoned some of its high morals and began to show its edge to the outside world, instead of being soft on foreigners as in the past.

The reasons behind this are very complicated. In Yu Liangshi's own opinion, this is a multiple-choice question. If the Ming Dynasty does not do this, the barbarians in the West will have to do the same. Rather than letting the barbarians take advantage of it, it is better for the Ming Dynasty to occupy it itself.

The red-haired barbarians have built the Governor's Office in Luzon, the doorstep of the Ming Dynasty, and on the territory of Hao.

If given a choice, Yu Liangshi hopes that the group of idealists in Shu Han can achieve ultimate victory and unify the world.

Unfortunately, the descendants of Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei and others were all willing to die for Shu Han, but they were still unable to save the country because the territory was too small, the strength was too weak, and the soldiers and generals were few and far between.

For hundreds of years during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, countless lives were lost in endless wars.

"I didn't quite understand what I heard, but Daming must be right to do this!" Dao Lansheng thought about it seriously, gave up thinking, and chose to support!
The Ming Dynasty has such a large territory, so many people, and so many scholars. Since it made such a choice, there must be a reason and it must be beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. What is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty is beneficial to Laos. The richer the Ming Dynasty is, the more it can gain, which will be enough for Laos to live a stable life for generations.

"We Laotians can be the guides for the Ming army's expedition to Toungoo. We know the rainforest very well!" Dao Lansheng couldn't wait to show his value. He said with certainty: "In our place, if you want to join a tribe, you have to kill enemies together before you can be trusted."

This is also what Mu Changzuo, the Duke of Qian, said when he taught Dao Lansheng. He was just showing off his merits. In fact, as early as after the contact between Ming and Laos, some Lao people joined the Ming army and became guides, exploring the way, looking for water sources, avoiding snakes and rats, looking for thieves' nests and medicinal herbs, etc.

The reason why Dao Lansheng was able to enter the capital was that they had already paid some blood taxes to join the Ming Dynasty, made certain contributions to the expansion of the Ming Dynasty's territory, and obtained the recognition of the Qianguo Mansion and the Yunnan Yamen, and only then were they qualified to pay tribute in the capital. Dao Lansheng had already tried his best to enter the capital.

"I have seen the memorial from the Duke of Qian and I believe what you said." Yu Liangshi replied with a smile.

Dao Lansheng said anxiously: "Really, we Laotians are also very good at fighting. We did not allow Annan and Toungoo Burmese bandits to bully us. We almost broke through the capital of Annan and almost killed the White Elephant King of Toungoo in the battle. However, we were too few in number, and every time we won, we could not expand our victory."

"I believe it, but you have to stay in the capital, and your son will return to Nanghan (now Vientiane) to help the Ming Dynasty establish its rule." Yu Liangshi changed his words. He no longer affirmed the other party but made demands on them, telling them clearly what they should do to reduce communication barriers.

"Okay!" Dao Lansheng finally stopped panicking and understood what the Ming official said.

Yu Liangshi held his forehead with his hand. He could only say that Wan Zongbo's theory was really useful. It seemed that only with this kind of arrogant and commanding tone could the other party understand what Daming meant.

Wan Zongbo has a theory that the barbarians will adapt and recognize their father, while Shen Li, the Shen Zongbo, has a theory that the barbarians will always win.

In Shen Li's opinion, no matter what the barbarians do, one thing counts: win.

You must not lose, not even a little bit. You must win, and you must win endlessly, continuously, without limit, and without end, that is, victoriae infinitae (infinite victory, eternal victory).
This is the conclusion that the Ming Dynasty reached after observing the formal logic of the red-haired and golden-haired barbarians in the West, and then from the barbarians living near the Ming Dynasty.

For example, the Huns would declare themselves as "the Great Khan of the Huns appointed by Heaven and Earth and by the sun and moon" and force themselves to win over the Han Dynasty in the letter of credence; they would wantonly humiliate Liu Bang's queen, Empress Lu, and then unilaterally declare victory, and sing the song "The Lone Wolf and the Phoenix" on the grassland.

Finally, the Xiongnu were defeated by the Han cavalry and fled thousands of miles away, not daring to cause any trouble.

For example, on the stele "Kültegin Stele" erected by the Turks, the Chinese characters all say "submission", while the Turkish characters express the paradox of my complete victory. If the Turks had won, how could Jie Li Khan make a living by dancing in Chang'an?
But the Turkic "Kültegin Stele" is meant to describe our complete victory, and inscribes on the stele such false words as "We have made the Turkic people achieve the golden Khanate in the world" and "The Tang army was defeated in every battle" etc.

For example, Bilge Khan of the Later Turkic Khaganate boasted that he had "made forty-four expeditions, fought twenty times, and defeated the Tang Dynasty forty times." This battle report was obviously a lie, because the battle line was constantly expanding to the northwest, which was completely contrary to Bilge Khan's boasting.

For example, the Liao Kingdom had a ceremony called Spring Hunting and Shooting Willows. At the beginning of spring, the ruler of the Liao Kingdom would hang the portrait of the Song Dynasty emperor on a willow tree. Then the Liao monarch would shoot an arrow. After the arrow pierced the portrait of the Song emperor, the spring hunting began. The signing of the Treaty of Chanyuan did not mean a complete victory for the Liao Kingdom, but the Liao Kingdom still firmly declared that it was invincible.

For example, the Annan Kingdom would commemorate two sisters, the Zheng sisters, and believe that they were heroes who resisted the Han Dynasty. Moreover, after nearly a thousand years of processing, too many mythological stories were superimposed on the two people, and they were even revered as the Zhengsheng King.

However, the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Rites searched through all the old classics before they found the records of these two women. The "Book of the Later Han Dynasty, Biography of Ma Yuan" said: The Jiaozhi woman Zheng Ce and her younger sister Zheng Er rebelled. In the first month of the next year, Zheng Ce and Zheng Er were beheaded and their heads were sent to Luoyang.

Probably, they rebelled, then Ma Yuan led his troops there, put down the rebellion, and sent their heads back to Luoyang.

For example, the Japanese pirates were clearly losing ground on the Korean battlefield, but the war reports that reached Japan were always very funny. Oda Nobunaga could not determine the specific situation on the front line. In the end, the Ming Dynasty attacked the Japanese mainland. The Japanese were all horrified. Weren’t we always winning? Why did the Ming army attack us?
These are the arguments Shen Li found to perfect his theory that the barbarians always win. It's not just the barbarians in the West, but even the barbarians around the Ming Dynasty who are winning all the time.

(Excerpt from the Secret Book of the Barbarians’ Constant Victory)
Shen Li believes that the basis of the existence of the barbarians is the survival mechanism of "must win". If they fail to win one day, they will face the overall collapse of the fragile consensus, so they can only declare unlimited victory.

This is not the case in the Central Plains. From ancient times to the present, there has never been a saying of unlimited victory. Winning two sentences and losing three books is the norm.

Qi Jiguang's expedition to Korea was a well-managed, steady and cautious one, with every step carefully planned. His plan made it clear to the Japanese that they were doomed. The Japanese saw through Qi Jiguang's plan and had no choice but to do as it was planned. What a terrifying control of the battlefield!

But the records on the Ming side only have an overview of "Six Victories to Secure the Border". They didn't lose, so why record so much?
During the Han Dynasty, the Han army regarded the Siege of Mount Baideng as a great humiliation and did not declare the Siege of Mount Baideng a great victory for the Han army. Instead, they prepared their troops and declared victory after defeating the Xiongnu.
During the Ming Dynasty, after the Tumubao Incident, the Ming Dynasty used every possible means to get the captured emperor back. In the end, Yesen's head was chopped off by the Alazhiyuan and sent to the Ming Dynasty in exchange for reward money.
Zhongyuan can accept losing, and even needs to conduct a comprehensive analysis and reflection on the loss, and then win back.

"The Theory of the Barbarians Recognizing Their Fathers" and "The Theory of the Barbarians Always Winning" constitute the basic logic of the Ministry of Rites in dealing with the affairs of the barbarians. These two logics together promote a methodology: to treat the barbarians, just give them a beating, and they will know what to do.

The theory that the barbarians always win is very difficult to deal with, because any respect, courtesy, preferential treatment, and kindness shown by the Ming Dynasty will be interpreted by the barbarians as a kind of victory, which will in turn make them become even more aggressive.

The most typical example is Japan. The Ming Dynasty had already pushed the Japanese pirates into the sea, but the Japanese pirates were still winning in the country and were not going to surrender. They were ready to fight to the death with the Ming Dynasty. The divine fire of flying crows burned Nagato, but it still did not wake up the Japanese pirates. Only when the Ming army burned Kyoto did the Japanese pirates finally wake up. Only war, real, visible violence, and the most direct victory and defeat can destroy the theory of the barbarians' constant victory and completely disintegrate the barbarians' constant victory. Only then will the barbarians reconcile with themselves and then succumb to the will of the Ming Dynasty.

After the theories that the barbarians recognized their fathers and the theory that the barbarians always won were tested in practice, they made the officials of the Ministry of Rites even more convinced that the best way to deal with the barbarians was to beat them up.

The two ministers of Rites completely corrupted the atmosphere of the Ministry of Rites.

Logically speaking, Laos's surrender with its territory and people was a big win no matter how you look at it, and it was worth writing about. However, Yu Liangshi, the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, felt that there was a missing process in the process. It was a bit incredible that the barbarians figured it out on their own during the beating.

Laos' surrender was very sincere, and they were even willing to pay blood tax for surrender. Yu Liangshi was misled by the perverse theories of these two ministers of rites.

Dao Lansheng settled down in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, and lived on the salary of a second-rank Tartar official, while his son was appointed by the Ming Dynasty as the envoy to Laos and returned to Laos to take charge of military affairs.

On the second day of October in the sixteenth year of the Wanli reign, Dao Lansheng was summoned to the Tonghe Palace for an audience.

"Your Majesty, I, Dao Lansheng, the envoy of Laos, pay my respects to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty." Dao Lansheng performed the ceremony in a proper manner, bowing five times and kowtowing thrice without daring to be disrespectful in any way. He knew very well how difficult the journey was. Because of his disrespect and disgust towards the Ming Emperor, all his efforts failed.

He traveled thousands of miles, and the Lao people joined the Ming army and fought for it. The Lao people worked together to build the official road and post road, which gave him, the leader, the opportunity to meet the emperor.

Everything had been settled, and if it was ruined because of him, he would be letting down those struggling people.

Dao Lansheng did not dare to be disrespectful in any way, for fear of ruining Laos' only chance in thousands of years to become a citizen of the Celestial Empire.

"No need to be polite, sit down and talk." Zhu Yijun said with a smile on his face, "Don't be so reserved. Your son Dao Shigong will have to stay in the capital for a while. It's not that I want to keep him here, but his health is not good and there are too many worms in his stomach."

Dao Lansheng had three sons in total. Two of them died in battle, leaving him with only this youngest son, who was 24 years old. However, his condition was not good and he was very thin. After diagnosis, the chief medical officers found that Dao Shigong had worms in his stomach due to long-term consumption of raw water.

"They're all bugs?" Dao Lansheng was extremely shocked. He couldn't have any more children. He only had this one son, and if he died, there would really be no heir.

"If he doesn't get treatment, he may not live long." Zhu Yijun said with certainty: "There are a lot of worms in his stomach. It's very dangerous."

"I beg Your Majesty to save us." Dao Lansheng's hands were shaking. He brought his son to the capital to show his sincerity, but only then did he find out that his son was seriously ill.

Dao Shigong's illness has affected his life, and his thinness and inability to eat are manifestations of this.

"Buddhism is flourishing in your place. The Buddha looked at a bowl of water and saw 84,000 insects. If you don't recite this mantra, it's like eating the flesh of living beings. This is the mantra for drinking water, but reciting the mantra cannot kill the insects in the water. These small insects drilled into Dao Shigong's stomach and grew bigger and bigger, but the situation has not yet reached the point of no return." Zhu Yijun explained the concept of parasites.

The Jiekongyuan once dissected a Japanese man, and when their head was opened, it was full of roundworms. Since then, the prevention and treatment of parasites has become a focus of the Ming Dynasty.

Dao Shigong's condition has not deteriorated to that extent. He just needs to get rid of the parasites and rest for a few days. According to the research of the Institute of Anatomy, ascarid eggs spread in the intestines, enter the lungs, develop in the lungs, enter the throat along the trachea, and finally develop into adult worms in the intestines.

Therefore, the treatment to kill the parasites takes some time, especially for people like Dao Shigong who have been infected for a long time. Zhu Yijun explained clearly why Dao Shigong had to be kept for a while.

Zhu Yijun said in a comforting tone: "Some arsenic will be used in this process. The main thing is that it is not just roundworms, so Artemisia wormwood will not work. Don't worry, the chief physician of Jiekuyuan has great medical skills."

"Do you believe me?"

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Dao Lansheng bowed his head again. He believed what His Majesty said because his strong son suddenly started to lose weight in the past six months.

Zhu Yijun smiled. Dao Lansheng knew how to be grateful and how to say thank you. He also believed in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, Zhu Yijun did not lie to Dao Lansheng. Given his son's condition, he would really die if he did not receive treatment.

"Do you have doctors in Laos?" Zhu Yijun asked about the situation in Laos.

"Yes, Your Majesty, there are, but we don't know!" Dao Lansheng trembled with fear after listening to the emperor's introduction of the parasites' way of survival. He and his son have the same living habits, and he is afraid that this situation may also exist.

"In this way, we can allow doctors from Laos to study in the Ming Dynasty, and after they finish their studies, they can return to Laos and set up a pharmacy for the benefit of the people." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "Twenty people can come every year, and each person's tuition fee of 120 silver coins can be offset by goods. The tuition fee is six silver coins per person per year, and this money will be subsidized by the court, just like the students of the Ming Dynasty."

"For foreign barbarians to enroll in school, I will pay 10,000 silver coins per student, and I will never bargain. However, Laos is sincere and determined to join the Ming Dynasty, so I will naturally not treat it as a barbarian."

"I thank you for your grace, Your Majesty... I..." Dao Lansheng knelt on the ground and kowtowed continuously. At this moment, he suddenly understood that the actual significance of joining the Ming Dynasty was not as simple as safety, but about living a decent life.

At this moment, Dao Lansheng felt what it meant to be a king. This was never a false concept, but a reality of people living like individuals.

The Ming Dynasty is building its own universal medical system. Even now the system has not taken shape, but training a large number of doctors has become a consensus, and the incorporation of Laos just happened to take advantage of the favorable conditions.

"I like to say the ugly truth in advance. If Laos rebels and makes trouble like what happened in Luchuan, I will never let it off easily." Zhu Yijun sat up straight, looked at Dao Lansheng, and warned Dao Lansheng not to let down the goodwill of the Ming Dynasty!
The price of betraying the goodwill of the Ming Dynasty is definitely not something Laos can afford.

Dao Lansheng was a little anxious. He held it in for a long time before kneeling on the ground and saying, "The Lao people are willing to serve the Ming Dynasty!"

"Get up." Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "I heard from the Duke of Qian that Laos was brave and led the troops without hesitation, risking his life to go to dangerous places to spy on the enemy for the Ming Dynasty. Yesterday's cause is today's result. Today, Laos is considered to be incorporated into the Ming Dynasty."

"I thank your majesty for your grace." Dao Lansheng bowed again. He knew that from today on, Laos would no longer be the Laos that was bullied by others. Why did Annan bully the Indochina Peninsula? Wasn't it because they were ruled by China for nearly a thousand years that they could do whatever they wanted?
From today on, the Lao people are no longer Lao people, but Ming people, the father of the Annan people!

Yes, this is also the reason why the Mengzhu are willing to sign the letter of surrender. As long as they are incorporated into the Ming Dynasty, they will be the father of the Toungoo Burmese bandits and the Annan people. This change in identity makes them very concerned. This is also a kind of victory, even if it is based on surrendering to the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun and Dao Lansheng chatted for half an hour, mainly asking about the situation in Toungoo. From Dao Lansheng, Zhu Yijun learned that Toungoo had fallen apart and was fighting each other. According to Mang Yingli's order, they could not even leave Toungoo City.

From the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, the attack from the southwest seemed like a small-scale fight. It took a long time for a victory report to come in, and there was no gain. Although there were wins, they were all small victories. But in the eyes of the Toungoo people, every attack of the Ming Dynasty suffocated all the Toungoo people, and they were in a state of constant fear, like a dog that had lost its home.

After Dao Lansheng left, Feng Bao brought the daily records to His Majesty and asked His Majesty to review them. His Majesty could delete any content he didn't like.

"No, can the matter of Laos's submission be such a big victory?" Zhu Yijun looked at the long article in the daily records in surprise.

He was very sure that he and Dao Lansheng had just chatted for half an hour just to understand the strength of Toungoo in Indochina. Without colliding with the Ming Dynasty, the Toungoo Burmese bandits would definitely be the little bully. Unfortunately, Mang Yingli was a fool who thought that the Ming Dynasty was a broken house and had to kick it and clash with it.

The daily records contain a long essay, almost as long as a ten-thousand-word book.

It starts from the Kingdom of Jinglong, and records how Laos was bullied by the Toungoo Burmese bandits and Annan, and how the Ming Dynasty sought justice for Laos, how Toungoo and Annan were disobedient and refused to listen to the mediation of the Ming Dynasty, and brazenly launched violence, and how the Burmese chief Mangyinli was so bold as to take the initiative to attack the Ming Dynasty, which eventually led to his thundering wrath.

The content is so detailed that it is almost equivalent to a volume of history of foreign countries. Zhu Yijun is sure that Toungoo, Laos and Annan definitely do not have such detailed national history.

Feng Bao explained: "Your Majesty, for the ministers, this is the first time since the Wanli Restoration that the Ming Dynasty has cultivated culture and virtue to win over the people of foreign lands. The Ming Dynasty did not attack Laos, but Laos surrendered on its own. Of course, this is worth writing about. This is a victory for the people of foreign lands."

“Isn’t it because the Ming army is so good at fighting that the Toungoo were forced to flee in fear, and Laos was afraid of the power of the Ming Dynasty and was willing to submit?” Zhu Yijun spread his hands. If it weren’t for the Rouyuan people and the Ming Dynasty had not established the Mubang Prefecture, Laos would not have been able to build official roads and post roads, and would have been interfered by the Annan people.

Feng Bao said with great confidence: "The fact that the Ming Dynasty did not attack Laos does not mean that it conquered Laos by force, but that Laos surrendered because they admired the king's culture, which means that they cultivated cultural virtues."

"Alright, it's okay. It makes sense. Let's just leave it that way." Zhu Yijun thought about it and did not make any changes.

Although the scholars of the Ming Dynasty were not barbarians, they also wanted to win, and the Ming Dynasty also had its own closed-loop winning theory. Shen Li did not let the Ming Dynasty off the table when discussing this point.

Shen Li did not have a critical attitude, but thought that the Ming Dynasty lacked the disease of having to win. It was not the kind of false win, but the real win. In Shen Li's view, the evolution of a group of people into a civilization, fundamentally, is to win.

We must win completely so that future generations will not suffer. We must win, we must win in the great battles of navigation and not leave huge hidden dangers for future generations.

"Mr. Shen said that the people of Song had everything except Ying." Zhu Yijun returned the daily notes filled with Ying to Feng Bao and said one sentence as a comment.

The Song Dynasty was a good dynasty. It had a large population, growing technology, and prosperous commerce. But it kept losing and had no decisive victory, which eventually led to the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty and even the entire world.

If Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, had won the battle at Gaoliang River instead of running away on a donkey cart, there might not have been so many regrets for the two Song dynasties.

The lack of a decisive victory meant that the two Song dynasties were always stuck in the lack of cohesion and could not move forward.

(End of this chapter)