Three Kingdoms: Start by buying a governor.

"Let's not even talk about the Yuan Dynasty. The emperors were from the northern grasslands, and after just over ninety years they were driven back to the grasslands. It was a pure conqueror mentality. They divided people into four classes, with Han Chinese and Southern Chinese at the bottom. The imperial examination system was suspended for decades, and most of the officials were Mongol nobles. This kind of system was suicidal."

Governing the country isn't about seizing pastures; you have to ensure the people's survival, employ scholars, and understand how to manage finances, grain, and civil affairs. If they had all learned from the Sui and Tang dynasties' imperial examination system and equal land distribution, they could have lasted another fifty years.

"Let me explain the Ming Dynasty. You need to listen carefully to this one; it's somewhat similar to our current situation." Liu Ce sat up straighter, his tone more serious, and tapped his finger on the table.

"The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty came from a beggar background and had been a monk. He truly climbed up from the bottom. After he became emperor, how ruthless was he towards corrupt officials? He would kill anyone who embezzled sixty taels of silver, and after killing them, he would skin them, stuff their bodies with straw, and display the skin at the entrance of the government office to frighten future generations."

Is it useful? No. One batch after another is executed, yet corrupt officials continue to emerge. Why? First, the salary is too low; a county magistrate only earns a few dozen taels of silver a year. He has a large family to support, and he also needs to bribe his superiors; without corruption, he can't survive.

Secondly, the system is in place, but the root of land annexation hasn't been eradicated. Sooner or later, officials will collude with landlords. He also strictly guarded against eunuchs, relatives of the empress, and military generals, but no matter how much he guarded against them, he couldn't prevent the civil service group from rotting itself.

In the later stages, the Donglin Party and the eunuch party fought to the death... The Donglin Party consisted of scholars and officials from Jiangnan, representing the interests of landlords and wealthy merchants; the eunuch party was a group of henchmen brought out by the emperor to check and balance the civil officials.

The two sides argued in the court every day, neglecting their duties. The Later Jin in the north was sharpening its swords outside the Great Wall, and the Little Ice Age in the country caused drought, leaving the people starving. The court even increased the Liaodong tax and the suppression tax, which only made the people more rebellious.

Finally, Li Zicheng captured Beijing, and Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill, saying before his death, "My ministers have misled me." But was it all the ministers' fault? He himself had problems; he was too suspicious, and ministers came and went like a revolving door, so no one dared to work sincerely.

What caused the Ming Dynasty to fall? Don't tell your grandfather... The Little Ice Age + land annexation + infighting among civil officials + financial collapse. These four bombs exploded together. Individually, none of them would have killed the Ming, but together, it was beyond saving.

Liu Chen gripped his sleeve tightly...

He used to think that rulers who lost their kingdoms were either tyrants or incompetent rulers.

But after hearing what my father said, it seems that Chongzhen wasn't particularly incompetent. So how did the country fall?

It seems... the entire system is rotten, and no matter who takes over, it will be difficult to save. Whoever sits on that throne will be doomed.

"Finally, let's talk about the Qing Dynasty. This is the most worthwhile to discuss." Liu Ce's lips curled into a mocking smile, as if he were talking about a student who ultimately failed an exam.

"They came from outside the Great Wall and learned from the lessons of all the previous dynasties."

After entering the pass, the emperor implemented the policy of "no increase in taxes for increasing population" and "integration of poll tax into land tax," which abolished the poll tax at its root, so that farmers would not go bankrupt because they had more children. He also implemented the policy of "replacing local chieftains with centrally appointed officials," which took back the power of the chieftains in the southwest. He also implemented the "secret report system," which allowed the emperor to directly read the secret reports of local officials, bypassing the civil officials of the Six Ministries, and keeping the information gap in his own hands.

Their system was slightly better than that of the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties, prolonging their existence the longest. Logically, they shouldn't have collapsed so quickly. But what couldn't they overcome? The times had changed. That world had no steam engines, no railways, no scientific physics. The Qing emperors still clung to the airs of a "Celestial Empire," closing the country off from the world, believing they had everything and that the outside world consisted of barbarians.

As a result, the Europeans, having completed their Industrial Revolution, arrived with large ships and cannons. The Qing army was still wielding broadswords and spears, still preaching that "horse riding and archery are the foundation of Manchuria," while the other side was firing cannons from miles away, and the Qing army couldn't even touch their men.

Every war they fought ended in defeat, a mountain of unequal treaties were signed, territory was ceded, and reparations were paid. The face of the "Celestial Empire" was slapped to pieces. Isn't that laughable? They spent their entire lives guarding against internal rebellions, only to be defeated by outsiders in the end.

The Imperial Study was quiet.

The wind outside the window stopped, and sunlight streamed in through the window, casting dappled shadows on the floor and warming the father and son.

Liu Chen sat in the chair, his back still ramrod straight, but his eyes were unfocused... not absent-minded, but rather his mind was racing, trying to piece together what his father had been saying for the past half hour with the "way of the sages" his maternal grandfather had taught him.

The clicking sound of the keys being put together was loud.

Some parts match up, such as "He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world"; but many more parts are things that my grandfather never mentioned in his book.

For example, land annexation is a serious problem; the civil service group will become the beneficiaries; and closing the country off from the world will only lead to being attacked by outsiders...

After a long pause, the boy finally spoke, his voice dry, as if something was stuck in his throat: "Father... then... then our world..."

"In this world, I exist." Liu Ce smiled, a smile tinged with pride and weariness, as if he had carried a heavy burden but had finally found a helper.

"I've brought in steam engines, railways, natural science... things that didn't exist in that world before I even got there. But bringing them in doesn't mean the game is over. I'm alive, able to suppress the civil service, nip the rise of regional warlords in the bud, implement land redistribution, change merchant registration, and abolish artisan registration... because I know where the pitfalls are, and I can avoid them. I can suppress them for one lifetime, two lifetimes... but what about the third lifetime? The tenth lifetime?"

He leaned forward, staring into Liu Chen's eyes, his tone solemn, each word spoken as if he wanted to etch it into his son's bones:

"Boss, what I told you today..."

He tapped the paper with the endless loop drawn on it. "This isn't a story for you to hear; it's a mirror for you. When you become emperor, you'll have to look in this mirror every day and be constantly vigilant, so that our great Han Dynasty doesn't fall into that trap."

To avoid pitfalls, you must first identify where they are. Simply reading classic texts won't prevent you from seeing them; just knowing how to tighten screws won't either. You need to understand people, understand their interests, and understand what all the major and minor powers in the world are thinking and want before you can secure your position.

Liu Chen took a deep breath, nodded slowly, his voice carrying a heavy weight:

"...I understand."

"You don't understand anything." Liu Ce scoffed and reached out to rub his head.

The boy was sixteen years old and almost as tall as his father. He was a little uncomfortable from being rubbed, so he shrank his neck but didn't dodge. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and let his father rub him.

"Just understanding it is useless. Everyone can talk about principles, but when faced with a real situation, they'll still be confused. Anyone can talk about war on paper. Zhao Kuo was good at it, but in the end, his entire army was wiped out."

Liu Ce walked back to his desk, pulled out a list he had prepared long ago from the bottom, and pushed it in front of Liu Chen. "So from today onwards, I'm assigning you a task that requires you to 'get your hands dirty.' I won't let you grow up listening to reports in the deep palace. You must personally handle concrete matters, see the real officialdom and the common people, and only then will you know how this empire works and how it gets stuck."