Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2716 The Price of Betrayal is Too High (Second Update, Please Subscribe)
The world is changing very fast.

Thirty years ago, the SEA was an immigrant-receiving country; now, thirty years later, the SEA is an immigrant-exporting country.

While other countries were caught up in the Cold War and engaged in the confrontation between the East and the West, SEA people were migrating to the world at a rate of 150 million per year.

From fintech elites in New York to political upstarts in London, from business leaders in Canada to the SEA community in Australia, people of SEA descent are everywhere.

So much so that some people jokingly say: "In the future, there will definitely be 'wherever there is seawater, there will be Chinese people'!"

Is this a continuation of colonial legacy, or a silent cultural counterattack?

No one knows, but the global expansion of SEA is just like a real-life sequel to the Age of Exploration.

What's even more enviable is that these immigrants rarely sever ties with their home countries; instead, they band together for mutual support. They mentor and help each other in various fields, and many European and American companies have SEA-origin groups. These groups are highly capable, but they also like to claim territory.

SEA people never argue about this. What's wrong with me taking care of my own people?
Isn't that the case all over the world?

They completely disregarded any outside opinions, instead radiating confidence:
"You can't stand it? Then you should adapt to us!"

This confidence makes SEA people completely different from the Chinese people of the past, and for this reason, there are more and more people of SEA descent among senior executives in various countries.

Of course, they are also people of strong likes and dislikes, and they will never tolerate betrayal.

"This is a special emotion formed by their unique experiences."

In a class at Columbia University's Department of East Asian Studies, Professor Adams addressed his students:
"During the Tang Dynasty's expansion into Southeast Asia, they suffered repeated massacres. Although they began colonizing Southeast Asia more than a thousand years ago, they never established their own country or their own rule. Instead, the Arabs and Westerners later surpassed them. One of the important reasons for their massacres was the lack of unity, nationalism, and internal disunity, which led them to flee in panic and be massacred in various ways."

Even for their own selfish interests, they collaborated with outsiders, ultimately leading to the Chinese community being controlled by outsiders…

As the professor recounted all this, Tian Yici listened intently from the audience. This year, he was selected as an international student through the study abroad exam. He originally studied mechanics, but after learning that the university's East Asian Studies department was founded by Chinese laborers from a century ago, Ding Long donated all his savings of $1.2. After a Sinology department was established at a well-known American university, he also enrolled in the course.

Actually, the reason he chose this course was because East Asian Studies now focuses more on the SEA (Self-Experienced Area). The rise of the SEA has always been a subject of study for countries around the world, not just economists, but also many humanities scholars.

What kind of world did they face after the war?

Western colonial powers were shrinking their influence, and amidst this wave, how could the millions of Chinese in Southeast Asia protect their interests? At the time, they were accused of being "colonizers" and outsiders, so they understood that they needed to have their own country. After the establishment of SEA, a series of wars after its success made them feel that there was nowhere else in the world for them, and that SEA was their only home.

Therefore, regardless of what others thought, they focused solely on maintaining internal unity and drive, using technological superiority and organizational efficiency to defeat their formidable neighbors.

The professor then recounted the various problems they faced after the establishment of SEA. They were neither recognized by the West nor welcomed by the locals; they were not even accepted by everyone.

"...No one can be relied on, so they are even more convinced that no matter what we do, there will be people who oppose us, so all we can do is build ourselves up."

They didn't care whether others were harmed, not even Washington. Because of this, relations between Chang'an and Washington grew increasingly tense from the Nixon era onward. But faced with a life-or-death struggle, the SEA people believed that only by banding together and maintaining a strong will to survive could they live.

As Professor Adams spoke, he wrote the words "stick together" on the blackboard, and the characters were even in Chinese characters.

Meanwhile, Tian Yici listened intently from the audience. Adams' description of the SEA national character felt unfamiliar to him, even completely different from his own.

In fact, there are many SEA international students in this university. Unlike in China, although SEA has world-class universities, they still encourage students to study abroad and apply to foreign schools. They even provide scholarships that can cover 65%-80% of tuition fees.

This is why SEA students are the most common Asian students at Ivy League universities in the United States. Although they look much like him, except for some Eurasian mixed-race students, most of them have the same appearance and bloodline.

However, they lacked any sense of restraint; instead, they were flamboyant and undisguisedly confident. In fact, when he stood next to them, he was easily distinguishable.

It wasn't because of their age difference, but because he lacked confidence—the kind of confidence that allows you to project confidence in any situation.

This also made it easier for them to get along with their American classmates. In fact, although they had been here for several months, Tian Yici still hadn't made a single friend.

"Loyalty to or betrayal of the group is an issue that cannot be ignored when discussing the character of SEA people."

Adams wrote the two words on the blackboard again, and then he said:

"Regarding loyalty, as everyone already knows, they always stick together for mutual support in any situation. This is a significant difference from the old Tang Dynasty. When an SEA member joins a foreign company, he will do his utmost to create opportunities for his own people and recommend them. The recommended person then regards him as a leader and follows him. This relationship is somewhat similar to that between a commander and his soldiers. Yes, the military atmosphere has had a great influence on their upbringing, especially on male citizens. From kindergarten training and Boy Scout training to military service experience, they will spontaneously follow their seniors and officers, and the other party will give them corresponding care. This is a kind of loyalty..."

Adams then emphasized:
"Since there is loyalty, there is also betrayal. In fact, people are driven by self-interest, and this is the root cause of betrayal. This is why the old Tang people were considered a disorganized mess. They betrayed their ethnicity for personal gain, and the betrayers gained more benefits by cooperating with others. When such things happen, there is often only moral condemnation, but as everyone knows..."

Looking at the students below the stage, his gaze fell on Tian Yici. It was truly a rare opportunity to meet an Eastern student in this class.

"The victors go unpunished. So how do they punish the traitors?"

A seemingly simple question piqued the interest of all the students, including Tian Yici, because that was exactly what he was curious about.

What is the most distinctive characteristic of those SEA people?
They are united, extremely united. However, their unity is limited to themselves. For example, when he tried to get close to someone, the other party's response was very cold, very polite, and very courteous, without any intention of integrating him into their group.

In contrast, the people of Southeast Asia are very close to each other, and they celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together.

In contrast, Tian Yici was an outsider. Although he received gifts such as mooncakes from the other party, that was all.

A polite courtesy.

We're not exactly close, but we're not exactly distant either.

Perhaps it's like being relatives, growing closer with time.

If we don't leave, we'll drift apart.

The countries of Southeast Asia have very close ties with each other, and students travel and study together during their school years. Because of this, their relationships appear not only close but also very harmonious.

The topics they discussed were things they didn't understand, so there was a certain distance between them.

However, when he heard about the punishment, Tian Yici immediately became interested. After all, he wanted to know what kind of punishment this multiplication would entail.
Others also became interested; after all, everyone is very interested in punishing others.

"So first we need to determine what kind of behavior constitutes betrayal."

Professor Adams looked at the student in front of him and continued:
"For example, betrayal among one's own people might be for the purpose of obtaining money or for the purpose of getting a promotion."

So, what methods would he use to handle such a situation?

Adams pointed to one of the students and asked him to answer.

"We can't really go to court, can we? It's more of a moral condemnation. After all, they don't have a court to restrain these behaviors, and legally speaking, this betrayal is more of a moral betrayal, so all they can do is condemn it morally."

Adams nodded, and then said:

"Yes, just as you said, they are indeed punished by the courts, but they can establish moral courts."

Turning back, Adams wrote a few words on the blackboard:
"This moral court is not a formal court; it belongs to an institution, a committee. It is a moral constraint mechanism. When someone chooses to betray, the moral court will judge them. If it finds that they have indeed committed betrayal, then the corresponding isolation will be initiated."

When the professor wrote the word "isolation" on the blackboard, a thought popped into Tian Yici's mind.

What does this isolation refer to?
"This isolation is a moral isolation. They will completely blacklist this person—no one will offer him any cooperation anymore, and they will actively facilitate his dismissal. At the same time, they will also carry out an industry-wide blacklist."

They can do it; in fact, they have been doing it for many years. And in the first decade or so, many people were blacklisted for it, a blacklist led by the China Tang Association in the US, in a morally motivated manner, of course.

However, it's not just limited to morality—for example, all banks and commercial institutions affiliated with Tangren Capital will cease cooperation with the other party.

There were even cases where a person was blacklisted and was unable to live in Tangcheng. They could not buy the food they needed, and even their basic living conditions such as water and electricity were affected. Not only that, they could not even sell their houses because no real estate agents were willing to help them. In the end, they could only flee Tangcheng in a panic.

Even so, they faced exclusion within the white community because white businesses also had partnerships with Chinese businesses. If those businesses learned that a white person had hired them, they would terminate their partnerships.

Ultimately, that person was forced to face a situation where they had nowhere to stand, and some even had to commit suicide to atone for their past mistakes!

The professor's words stunned Tian Yici; he hadn't expected SEA to be so demanding.

"For this reason, many people, including those in Chinatown, have been affected and changed their attitude towards their fellow countrymen. They dare not cross the line, because for them, the price of betrayal is unbearable, even unacceptable."

The professor then gave some more examples. What was Tian Yici thinking while he was giving those examples?

He was thinking about how polite and courteous those people were.

They appeared polite and courteous. But who would have thought that behind that politeness and courtesy lay such a vengeful nature?
Thinking of what the professor had said earlier about the care they showed each other, a thought flashed through Tian Yici's mind:
"Something seems off. How can they be so friendly and enthusiastic, yet also so... vengeful?"

Tian Yici had no answer in his heart, but then he saw the professor write two square characters on the blackboard:
"Unity!"

Then Professor Adams turned around and said:

"Because the Tang people were not united in the past, they used this method to force everyone to become united. Now, helping each other and never betraying each other has become their habit. After all, betrayal comes at a price... and the price of betrayal is too high for them to afford, or even for everyone to bear."

In this situation, all that's left is loyalty!
I think this is precisely their greatest characteristic, and the biggest difference between New Tang Dynasty Television and Old Tang Dynasty Television. Of course, this is not the fundamental reason for shaping their national character, and this point involves another core issue—rules!

Then the professor wrote another word on the blackboard. As for Tian Yici in the audience, he was pondering the professor's words over and over again: "Betrayal comes at a price!"
(End of this chapter)