1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 240: Make up for the shortcomings (2)

The various historical events that took place during the Spring and Autumn Period and are well-known to later generations can actually be summed up in just these eleven words, as the teacher said: "A good chess player plans for the situation, a bad chess player plans for the pieces."

It’s just that the word “strategy” is easy to say, but if you really want to do it, how difficult is it?
Therefore, the "strategists" in the Spring and Autumn Period often failed and eventually fell into the hands of the "strategists".

Among them, the two most famous strategists are King Fuchai of Wu and Duke Xiang of Song.
Of course, in the later generations where success or failure is the key to success, these two were also criticized the most...

………………

In 494 BC, King Fuchai of Wu defeated the invading Yue army in the Battle of Fuju and took advantage of the victory to invade the heartland of Yue. King Goujian of Yue was left with only remnants and retreated to Kuaiji Mountain.

Under such favorable situation, the ruler and ministers of Wu State had a major disagreement on how to deal with Yue State. One faction, represented by Wu Zixu, pointed out that Yue State "shares the same soil with us but has been our enemy for generations", "is surrounded by three rivers, and the people have nowhere to move. If Wu exists, there will be no Yue, and if Yue exists, there will be no Wu". The contradiction of survival competition is irreconcilable, and they advocated taking advantage of the situation to destroy Yue State.
However, the faction of Taizai Bo Pi believed that "I have heard that in the ancient times, those who invaded other countries only made them submit. Now that they have already submitted, what else is there to ask for?" They advocated following the rules of the struggle for hegemony in the Central Plains and accepting the peace request of Yue State.

After a heated debate, King Fuchai of Wu finally adopted Bo Pi's opinion and accepted Yue's request for peace.

After that, Fuchai adopted a policy of appeasement and control towards the State of Yue for a long time, allowing King Gou Jian of Yue to have a strategic breathing period of "ten years of accumulation and ten years of lessons", and finally succeeded in turning the tables and destroying Wu to gain hegemony.

Later historians mostly attributed the defeat of the State of Wu to Fuchai's decision at the foot of Kuaiji Mountain.

However, many so-called "folk historians" really could not understand the chess moves between the two great masters, Fuchai and Goujian. However, they were brave enough to share the worries of the ancients, so they "listed (arranged)" a lot of gossips that interfered with Fuchai's decision-making.

For example, Bo Pi was defeated by Yue's sugar-coated bullets, Fu Chai himself was seduced by women and was stubborn and self-righteous, etc., which raised Yue's public relations operations and strategic deception to the top level in Chinese history.

Ha ha,

Is history that simple?
Anyone who can become a superior, especially a superior who becomes a great ruler in a chaotic and unjust era like the Spring and Autumn Period, is not a simple character!
........................

A book called The Chess Game of History explains this roughly as follows:
In fact, the dispute between Wu and Yue has a long history.

Moreover, this contradiction is innate.

If you have a map of the territories of various countries during the Spring and Autumn Period, find the locations of Wu and Yue on it, and then study their geographical features, you will understand that from the very beginning, these two countries presented a geopolitical pattern of "there cannot be two tigers in one mountain";

The State of Yue claimed to be the descendants of Yu the Great, and that Shaokang's concubine's son was granted the title of Lord Kuaiji to guard the sacrifices to Yu the Great (Records of the Grand Historian: The Family of King Gou Jian of Yue).

The State of Wu was a branch of the Ji Zhou. According to history, King Tai of Zhou wanted to pass the throne to his youngest son Ji Li's son Ji Chang (i.e. King Wen of Zhou). Ji Li's elder brother Tai Bo and his second brother Zhong Yong took the initiative to promote the virtuous and capable, and fled south to the Yangtze and Huai River basins under the pretext of collecting herbs, and established the State of Wu (Historical Records: The Family of Wu Tai Bo).

The nineteenth generation of Wu Taibo passed the throne to King Shoumeng of Wu, and the State of Wu began to become strong.

Although the upper rulers of Wu and Yue both migrated south from the Central Plains and conquered the local indigenous peoples and established their own countries by relying on their cultural or military advantages, Yue, as a pioneer in the migration to the south, had its living space constantly squeezed by the subsequent Wu, which had more advanced culture, agriculture, and military technology.

When Wu and Yue rose successively, the geographical situation between the two countries was roughly as follows: Wu was established in the Yangtze and Huaihe River Basin, with its core area being the prosperous Taihu Plain; Yue was squeezed between the Qiantang River and the southern bank of Hangzhou Bay, a narrow east-west coastal plain and the mountains to its south.

This long and narrow coastal plain, starting from the mouth of Hangzhou Bay in the west and ending at the Ningbo coast in the east, is today's Ningshao Plain (Ningbo-Shaoxing Plain)... You must know that before the rise of Hangzhou, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions were centered on Kuaiji/Shaoxing for a long time, so the importance of the Ningshao Plain can be imagined at that time.

In fact, this plain was formed by the alluvial deposits of many rivers, including the Qiantang River, Cao'e River, Yao River, Fenghua River, and Yong River. It is fertile and suitable for rice cultivation. It was indeed a treasure land that was not inferior to the fertile soil in the Central Plains during the Spring and Autumn Period.

But no matter how fertile it is, this precious land also has its own inherent shortcomings in the environment of the Spring and Autumn Period.

Going further south from the Ningshao Plain, you enter the mountainous area of ​​southwestern Zhejiang, which is cut into countless small fragments by the Longmen Mountain, Huiji Mountain, Siming Mountain and other mountain systems... The Yue people living in this mountainous area at that time were extremely scattered due to geographical barriers, so they were called "Baiyue";
Even in later times, the Jiangzhe area still had the characteristics of "different accents every ten miles, different languages ​​every hundred miles", which shows the difficulty that this spatial division brought to the rule of the Wu State... You know, the saying "The Yue people like to make trouble" does not just refer to the Qin and Han dynasties.

But even so, for the State of Yue, the Ningshao Plain was its last plain base.

If they lose this plain, they will have no choice but to retreat westward and southward into the mountainous areas of Zhejiang and Fujian. The mountainous areas are not suitable for rice farming, and the poor output is not enough to support large-scale population settlements. Whether it is the scale of the regime, military organization, or handicraft technology represented by metallurgy and sword-making, they will all degenerate rapidly and comprehensively.
In a nutshell, if the Yue State lost the Ningshao Plain, it would suffer a dimensionality reduction attack, and its level of civilization would fall back to that of a barbaric tribe from the transition period from slavery to feudalism.

In view of the fact that the Ningshao Plain is related to the rise and fall of the country, after the Yue State established its capital in Kuaiji (now Shaoxing) at the western end of the plain, it has always defended this core area with an attitude of "the king dies for the country".

But the problem is, according to the laws of human history, whenever there is a narrow land bridge between the core areas of two civilizations, the two ends of this narrow land bridge will be places where wars frequently occur.

the reason is simple.

Because no matter which civilization becomes strong, it will inevitably try to establish a bridgehead on the opposite side of the land bridge - which is beneficial for both defending its own core area and waiting for an opportunity to attack the other side's core area; and the weaker side must also desperately stop this attempt, because controlling the narrow exit of the land bridge is the most labor-saving way to prevent the other side's harassment.

Taking Chinese history as an example, Yanmen Pass, which controls the Yinshan Pass, and Shanhaiguan, which controls the Liaoxi Corridor, are both typical land bridge defenses.

As luck would have it, there happens to be such a narrow land bridge between the Ningshao Plain and the Taihu Plain, which is the apex of the Hangzhou Bay's trumpet-shaped mouth, a short and narrow land bank formed by the alluvial deposits of the Qiantang River between Tianmu Mountain, Longmen Mountain and the coastline.

This piece of land... was called Qiantang at that time, and later it was called Hangzhou.

It was precisely because of the narrow land coast of Hangzhou that the two kingdoms of Wu and Yue could not coexist peacefully.

For the State of Yue occupying the Ningshao Plain, if they could squeeze through the Qiantang Land Bridge and seize the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Plain south of Taihu Lake, it would not only be equivalent to double insurance for the Ningshao Plain, but also give them the capital to confront the State of Wu across Taihu Lake and threaten the Wu capital Gusu at any time.

Look, what a tempting thing this is!
But the cruel fact is that Wu was much stronger than Yue - just look at the plains of the two countries on the map. For two homogeneous agricultural countries, the plain area basically determines the agricultural output, which in turn determines the population base and the upper limit of the army that can be supported.

Of course, Wu could not tolerate Yue moving north to control the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Plain; however, Wu also had its embarrassment.

Although Wu was stronger, it was threatened by the powerful Chu in the west and the hegemonic Qi in the north, so it had no time to deal with Yue. Therefore, although Wu was strong and Yue was weak, Wu took a defensive stance against Yue for a long time. Basically, if you don't cross the Qiantang River, I can ignore you; but if you cross the river and get close to Taihu Lake, I must fight you to death! ... No, does this geopolitical pattern sound familiar?

However, unlike the later generations’ “small fights continue, big fights are restrained”, in the Spring and Autumn Period, there were not so many concerns. Therefore, the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou Plain south of Taihu Lake and north of Qiantang River became a battlefield for the long-term tug-of-war between the Wu and Yue countries.

This is a bit like the Anglo-German naval strategy in World War I, when Germany desperately tried to break out of the North Sea, while Britain tried its best to block it and prevent it from breaking out. Only by clarifying the geographical situation between Wu and Yue and their respective concerns can we understand the strategic choices of the two countries.

In 584 BC, the State of Jin accepted the advice of Wu Chen, a defected minister of the State of Chu, and established diplomatic relations with the State of Wu, forming a military alliance against the State of Chu.

The greater significance of the Jin-Wu alliance to Wu was that it reduced a major defense direction, and could remove the northern powers Qi and Lu, which were on the same front as Jin, from the list of imaginary enemies... Just like World War I, if there was a Russia eyeing Prussia in 1870, would the Franco-Prussian War still be fought?
After forming an alliance with the State of Jin, the State of Wu, on the one hand, sent its prince Ji Zha to the north to the Central Plains in a high-profile manner to engage in diplomacy with the States of Lu, Qi, Zheng, Wei, and Jin; on the other hand, it frequently made trouble on the eastern front of the State of Chu, attacking Chu, Chao, and Xu, destroying Zhongwu, and entering Zhoulai, dividing and disintegrating Chu's vassal states of Tang and Cai, and so on.

Jin disturbed the north, Wu disturbed the east, making Chu run around in a panic.

Of course, Chu also had to think about countermeasures. The simplest way was to follow suit and support Wu's southern enemy Yue, adding back the strategic burden that Wu had cut from Qi and Lu.

With not only geopolitical deadlocks and historical feuds, but also the behind-the-scenes instigation of two superpowers, the relationship between Wu and Yue was naturally tense; however, benefiting from this situation, King Yunchang of Yue also grew stronger with the support of the State of Chu... Look, this pattern, this way of playing, does it sound familiar?
In 510 BC, King Helü of Wu launched a campaign against Yue and defeated the Yue army at Zuili.

Zhuli is located to the west of present-day Jiaxing and southeast of Taihu Lake, less than a hundred miles away from Wudu Gusu...So Helü's campaign may have been intended to eliminate the threat from the nearby State of Yue before attacking Chu.

The process and outcome of this battle are unknown in historical records, but judging from the fact that Helu dared to boldly lead an expedition to the State of Chu four years later, the State of Yue must have suffered a great loss, and it is very likely that it lost the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou triangle area, and even retreated beyond Qiantang.

In 506 BC, Wu State sent troops to attack Chu State together with Tang State and Cai State. Wu Army defeated the main force of Chu Army in the Battle of Baiju, and then pursued them relentlessly and won five battles in a row, and marched into the capital of Chu, Ying.

However, after entering Ying, Wu was short of troops and unable to control the vast hinterland of Chu. Moreover, the king and his ministers of Wu were greedy for Ying's wealth and women and refused to withdraw their troops, so Wu gradually fell into a passive position.

Then three things happened in succession, completely shattering Wu’s hope of destroying Chu.

First, Qin sent troops to aid Chu and defeated Wu's army in Yiyi;
The second is that the general of the Wu army, Hechang's brother-in-law, returned to the country and established himself as king;
Third, in the spring of 505 BC, King Yunchang of Yue took advantage of the weakness of Wu to attack Wu.

Under internal and external troubles, Helü had no choice but to abandon Chu and return to Wu. Fu Gai was no match for his brother and fled to Chu after his defeat, and Wu basically stabilized. Yue Wang Yunchang's sneak attack was not completely successful, but Wu was busy dealing with Chu's counterattack and retaliation in the following year and was temporarily unable to launch a large-scale attack on Yue. Although historical records do not record it, the two sides apparently reached a ceasefire agreement, and Yue regained control of the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou triangle.

However, Helü had to hold Yue responsible for the failure of the expedition against Chu. Nine years later (9 BC), King Yunchang of Yue died and Gou Jian succeeded him. King Helü of Wu took the opportunity to attack Yue, and the two sides fought again at Zhuli.

The historical records recorded this battle in detail: Gou Jian committed suicide in front of the Wu army with three lines of death soldiers. The Wu army was defeated because of the disruption of its formation. King Helu of Wu was hit in the toe by the spear of Yue general Linggu Fu, and died of infection.

As mentioned above, Zhuli is very close to Wu's capital Gusu, and can be reached in one day on foot; but the victorious Yue army did not pursue the victory, and it is estimated that its losses were also very heavy. Although the Wu army was defeated, the place where Helu died was only seven miles away from Zhuli, which shows that the Wu army was slightly defeated rather than routed, and it is very likely that it was caused by the confusion after Helu was injured.

In the second battle of Zhuli, the most impressive achievements of the Yue army were Helu's toes and shoes. But killing an old hero who was famous all over the world was enough to make the newly crowned King Gou Jian ego-inflated. He was so dazzled by this accidental victory that he thought that the experienced Wu army was just so-so.

After more than a year of rest, Gou Jian took the initiative to attack Wu in early 494 BC.

This time, the Vietnamese army did not take the old land route.

Gou Jian wanted to catch Fu Chai off guard and attempted to cross the Taihu Lake and attack Gusu directly. However, he encountered the Wu navy, which had the advantage of home field and more experience in naval warfare, in the waters of Fujiao Mountain on the east side of Taihu Lake. The Yue army, which underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, was defeated. The Wu army used the same tactics as in the war against Chu, and drove all the way to chase the retreating Yue army across Qiantang... Even the natural barrier of Qiantang was not defended, so it is conceivable that the Yue army was in a panic during the retreat.

Once Qiantang was abandoned, the Ningshao Plain would be even less secure. So after defeating Qiantang, Gou Jian had to face a life-and-death question: where to go next?
As mentioned earlier, the Ningshao Plain is an S-shaped narrow strip of plain running from east to west.

Therefore, there were two paths before Gou Jian.

One way is to escape along the S-shaped plain, running all the way from Shaoxing to Ningbo. If the opponent is still following, then you have no choice but to get on the boat and go out to sea... This is how Song Gaozong fled more than a thousand years later. The one chasing him that time was Jin Wushu (zhú), who "searched the mountains and seas."

The other way is to go up the mountain at the western end of the Ningshao Plain. If you still have a certain amount of troops, the enemy will not dare to go into the hinterland of the S-shaped plain before killing you, because that is likely to cut off your retreat. Gou Jian chose the latter way and led the remaining "5,000" soldiers to Kuaiji Mountain.

Kuaiji Mountain is the birthplace of the Yue people. They have a good mass and material base, and there are mountains and ravines behind them for them to maneuver. At least in the short term, it will be difficult for the Wu soldiers to capture them.

So Gou Jian boldly proposed peace talks to Fu Chai.

In the initial contacts, both sides were testing each other's cards.

Gou Jian's biggest bargaining chip, the so-called "5,000 extra soldiers", came from the unilateral statement of Wen Zhong, the negotiating representative of the State of Yue.

Judging from the retreat of the Vietnamese army, they were unable to defend even the natural barrier of Qiantang, so it is quite questionable how many troops Gou Jian had left.

But the problem was that in the war against Chu, the Wu army only had 30,000 soldiers and naval forces, and they suffered continuous losses in subsequent wars; the current war against Vietnam would obviously be difficult to surpass the war against Chu; the Battle of Fuju was another fierce battle, and although the Wu army won, it also suffered heavy losses; after the war, they pursued the enemy for hundreds of miles from the shore of Taihu Lake to the foot of Kuaiji Mountain, and many of them fell behind and were lost, and they were already at the end of their strength.

Gou Jian was familiar with the situation of the Wu army. If he really had 5,000 soldiers, he could have lured the enemy deep into the Kuaiji Mountain and fought back even if he did not defend Qiantang. However, he did not fight, but took 5,000 soldiers to the mountain and squatted, and was determined to surrender.

There is no other reason. As mentioned above, even with modern agricultural standards, the products of the mountains are not enough to feed a large army, let alone Wu and Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period!
So Wen Zhong was cheating.

He had a clear calculation. The total number of Wu troops was only 30,000. Apart from the losses on the battlefield, the remaining troops could not attack Yue. After all, there was the Chu State in the west, which wanted revenge all the time. The number of Wu troops that could attack the foot of Kuaiji Mountain was at most 10,000. If Gou Jian still had 5,000 brave soldiers, the Wu army fighting away from home would have no chance of winning with only 10,000 soldiers.

However, Wen Zhong underestimated the war experience of the king and ministers of Wu, especially veterans like Wu Zixu... After such a terrible defeat, they still need five thousand armored soldiers? You, the Yue State, may not even be able to gather five thousand militiamen carrying wooden sticks!

So Wu Zixu rejected Yue's initial peace proposal without hesitation.

After failing to feign peace, he had to pretend to be a grandson. The second time, Wen Zhong took action again. This time, he found Bo Pi and first presented him with a "beautiful treasure" before speaking... It is actually impossible to verify whether Xi Shi, who was born in Zhuji, was among these beauties, so let's just assume that she was among them.

But in fact, it doesn’t matter whether Xi Shi is in it or not, and it doesn’t matter whether Xi Shi has the beauty that can make fish sink to the bottom of the water as the folk legend says... What matters is that this group of beauties came from Zhuji.

This is an important signal!
You know, Zhuji is right in the valley between Kuaiji Mountain and Longmen Mountain where Goujian fought guerrilla warfare. The message released by the contribution of a group of Zhuji beauties indicates that Goujian's Yue regime can still get the support of the Baiyue tribes in the mountains of western Zhejiang.

The offering of "treasures" revealed that the State of Yue still had financial resources and would not collapse immediately.

The entire information chain is connected together, which means that Goujian still has a certain amount of military force and may fight to the death if forced into a desperate situation; the Baiyue tribes in the mountains still support him (and can get food and military supplies); the Yue regime still has the ability to govern and can maintain its status quo for a period of time materially.

The above three reasons are exactly why Chu was able to recover after the Battle of Ying. The king and ministers of Wu State have all learned this lesson... It is not easy to destroy a country. If the people do not abandon it, even if you conquer a country, it will be difficult to use it effectively, and it will waste manpower and material resources. If the war lasts for a long time, other countries will take the opportunity to stab you in the back.

For the State of Wu, which was attacked on both the western and southern fronts, it could only fight a quick battle. After defeating an opponent, it had to quickly withdraw its fist, otherwise it would suffer a loss in the Battle of Ying for a second time. It would be even more perfect if it could turn this enemy into a friend or even an ally once and for all.

Huh~
Does this situation and condition give you a very familiar feeling?
As I said before, when it comes to "struggle", whether it is a struggle at the level of war or a struggle in terms of strategy and power, the Chinese are unique in the world. The things that the West fiddled with in later generations were already what our ancestors had left over!

So do you know why the famous Wu Zixu was later disliked by the King of Wu?
Wu Zixu only saw the opponent's fraudulent peace, but did not see the urgent needs of Wu State itself, nor did he understand Fu Chai's intention at all - what Fu Chai wanted to do was Zhuge Liang's "seven captures and seven releases"!
In short, Wu Yue finally negotiated a solution that both parties could accept:

Gou Jian and his wife and important ministers became his concubines (after all, Wu had to give an explanation to the people).

The State of Yue gave up some of its land (the specific circumstances of the land concession are not clearly recorded in history, but it can be inferred that the Hangzhou-Jiaxing-Huzhou triangle, the Qiantang natural barrier, and the bridgehead at the western end of the Ningshao Plain were bound to be handed over. These concessions were later partially returned to the State of Yue);

Wen Zhong managed the State of Yue on behalf of Gou Jian (it was this fact that laid the seeds of Wen Zhong's death).

Objectively speaking, this condition was not harsh for the State of Yue, and Gou Jian and his wife were indeed treated preferentially after entering Wu.

Choosing the guest official Wen Zhong to govern the country instead of Gou Jian's brothers and nephews also had the profound meaning of preventing the rebellion of Ban Fugai in Yue State.

In general, from the conditions for peace talks to subsequent handling, all fully expressed the Wu State's true desire for long-term peace.

To some extent, Fuchai let Goujian go based on objective reality on the one hand, and on the other hand, it was Fuchai's plan to conquer the whole world... Although later generations said that "there were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period", no matter what, a magnanimous monarch would be more likely to undermine the resistance of the enemy country.

And in this world, is there any more convincing act of benevolence and righteousness than to show mercy and let your enemy go and treat him kindly?

Facts have proved that Gou Jian was an even more fierce opponent. The reason why he pretended to be crazy and stupid and slept on straw and tasted gall, in addition to sharpening his mind, was actually more to destroy the "momentum" that Fu Chai wanted to accumulate in public opinion... Unlike the Warring States Period, the Spring and Autumn Period was a "war between brothers" or even a "war between gentlemen" for a long time. Not only was the war not as unscrupulous and cruel as in later generations, but the people also did not reject a virtuous monarch of another country to rescue them. Therefore, the power of public opinion and reputation is sometimes more terrifying than swords and spears.

In fact, if Fuchai had not insisted on launching an expedition to the Central Plains, or if he had waited three to five years before launching an expedition to the Central Plains, and if the Wu State had not suffered from famine at that time, permanent peace between Wu and Yue might have been achieved, and Fuchai would not have been burdened with one unwarranted infamy after another, and then become the object of ridicule by later generations whose brain stems had not even fully developed.

But no matter what, the fact that Gou Jian was let go had nothing to do with Xi Shi, the beauty who was widely known among the people... She was just a woman, and Fuchai was not a monarch who had never seen beautiful women. As for giving up his principles for a mere beauty with no background or power?

You’ve read too many novels about domineering CEOs!

………………

Although Bao Shuxian has not read the book "The Chess Game of History", it does not prevent him from having similar views as many history enthusiasts.

Therefore, after explaining the cause and effect in the most concise language, Bao Shuxian looked at Bai Mengmeng, whose face was turning pale and blue, with some pride: "Comrade Xiaobai, you must remember that history is very cruel. Since the end of the era of Duke Xiang of Song, there has been no place for gentlemen and idealists in ancient Chinese history... If you are so naive as to think that a woman can influence the important decisions of the superiors with just her beauty, then you can really take your head out and put it in the washing machine!"

Bai Mengmeng was extremely annoyed by Bao Shuxian's sarcastic words, but she really didn't have the confidence to refute.

How could she know that such a simple question would involve so many things?

There are historical grudges, geographical environment, geopolitical relationships, causal interactions, and strategic plans... Aren’t these men tired of thinking about these things all day long!
He glared at Bao Shuxian with some dissatisfaction: "From what I hear, this is just something you figured out based on historical data... Humph! Using modern people's minds to speculate about ancient people, there are many mistakes!"

Bai Mengmeng squinted his eyes provocatively and snorted again: "I just want to know if your viewpoints have been proposed by any serious historians... If not, then what is the difference between you and those folk historians you look down upon? Big brother, please don't criticize the second brother!"

Bao Shuxian was choked for a moment. Historiography has always been a taboo for those in power. For a long time, the rulers of China have always had an attitude of "knowing it all" towards studying history.

Therefore, they don't mind the public swallowing up the whole thing, and they can tolerate you objectively recording some real details.
Seeing that Bao Shuxian was speechless after being asked back by him, Bai Mengmeng suddenly felt refreshed. Just when he was about to press on with the victory and let out a sigh of relief, Yang Mo on the side spoke.

"Okay, let's stop with this question."

"Xiaobai, whether what Lao Si said is right or not is actually not important. After all, as you said, we are not ancient people, and no one has the ability to really figure out what the ancients were thinking at the time;"

"What's important is Lao Si's method of analysis and reasoning."

“Whether he was right or wrong, Lao Si put himself in the role of Fu Chai based on the objective information he knew, and made what he thought was the most objective judgment…Please remember that this so-called objective judgment, whether it is truly objective or not, at least has its own self-consistent logic, and it involves both micro and macro, short-term and long-term thinking, without strong emotional tendencies.”

"And this is exactly what you lack, so much!"

At this point, Yang Mo glanced at his young apprentice calmly: "The fourth elder once said something that I agree with very much. People in later generations said that there were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period, and there was no benevolence after Song Xiang... But according to today's value standards, it should be said that [there were no righteous wars after the Spring and Autumn Period], which is more appropriate;"

"When the era of idealism came to an end, when justice lost its appeal, everything that involved scheming would be done to the utmost. And the things that the scheming people need to consider and deduce are far from what you think or see... China is now in a period of economic transformation, and many things are the same."

"Therefore, if you continue to use your old linear thinking, based on your personal emotions, and take things for granted, you will definitely die an ugly death in the future!"

"So, this is why I gave you a set of "Teacher's Comments on the Twenty-Four Histories" and hope that you can spend some time every day to study it carefully... Do you understand?"

Since his master had spoken, Bai Mengmeng had no choice but to agree respectfully. Then, with a bitter face, he looked around in the office and began to search.

Obviously, the girl felt that the box of books was too heavy and needed a cart to pull it.

Looking at this girl's face full of bitterness and hatred, as if she was a high school student returning to the darkest moment before preparing for an exam, Yang Mo couldn't help but sigh speechlessly.

If possible, he actually didn't want to accept a little girl with flaws as his apprentice.

But there is no way...

Just as I was thinking about it, Miss Mu, who was wearing a woolen autumn skirt, suddenly walked in at the time when she was about to get off work.

Curiously looking at Bai Mengmeng who was bending over and struggling to move books, Mu Liya glanced at Bao Shuxian who quickly turned around and pretended to be busy with work, and finally her eyes fell on Yang Mo.

"Yang Mo, you're here... That's great. I have something to tell you. Come to my office."

Miss Mu, who always appeared to be aloof outside, still had a stern face, but her eyes were full of teasing and mockery when she looked at Yang Mo.

After saying that, without waiting for Yang Mo to answer, he turned the door and walked into his office.

Seeing this, Yang Mo could only sigh helplessly at the clock on the wall, then lazily stood up from his chair and walked into the supervisor's office amid the gossiping eyes of the other two rookies in the office...

(End of this chapter)