: No Emperor Anymore?

Chapter 56: No Emperor Anymore?

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[Most of those out-of-towners who come here are beggars.]

Follow-up comment: AUV~ That's really authentic.

[Kublai Khan: Father, this is a Han Chinese hairstyle, it looks better than the Mongol style. I've been a Han Chinese for a long time.]

Some people spend their entire lives striving to achieve the legendary feat of sealing off the Wolf-Dwelling Mountain, while others are born on the Wolf-Dwelling Mountain itself.

[You rascal, your good fourth uncle is here to find you!]

Kublai Khan seems to have really been the fourth son. Ancient people from various dynasties have discovered another blind spot: Zhu Di was the fourth son, Kublai Khan was the fourth son, and even Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, was the fourth son. Could it be that there is some kind of saying about the fourth son?

During the Kangxi era, Yinzhen suddenly clenched his fist in his sleeve. He was a devout Buddhist and naturally believed in such prophecies of cause and effect. Could it be that he too had a chance to ascend the throne?

He shook his head slightly, banishing the inappropriate thought from his mind. This position naturally belonged to his second brother, the Crown Prince; how could it possibly be his turn?

Yinzhen looked at the Crown Prince Yinchu in front of him. His father's affection for his second elder brother, the Crown Prince, was no less than that of Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty for his Crown Prince Zhu Biao. The position of Crown Prince was as secure as Mount Tai.

The Yuan Dynasty implemented a tax farming system, where everyone lived independently as long as they paid taxes. The Qing Dynasty was different; it was a slave system. After entering the Central Plains, the Qing Dynasty first destroyed Han Chinese culture. The degree of destruction these two dynasties inflicted on Chinese culture was different.

Follow-up comment: The Yuan Dynasty's tax farming system made the landlord class extremely happy. As a result, after Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, they still wanted to return to the Yuan Dynasty's tax farming system. Otherwise, why would Zhu Yuanzhang have killed so many people?

Follow-up comment: So, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the landlord class happily welcomed the Manchus into the Central Plains, thinking that the Manchus would be like the Yuan Dynasty. In the end, however, they were even more oppressive than the Ming Dynasty. If they didn't pay money, the Manchus would really dare to draw their knives and kill people.

That's right! That's right!

The gentry and landlords of the Qing Dynasty, especially during the Yongzheng reign, nodded frantically. What the heavens said was absolutely right. They had hoped that after the Manchus entered the Central Plains, things would be like the Yuan Dynasty, and their good days would begin. But who would have thought that the Manchus were completely different from the Yuan, even inferior to the Ming Dynasty? They actually demanded that the gentry pay taxes! Exemptions from taxes for the gentry were ancient practices; such actions disregarded the rites and moral principles of Confucianism.

Moreover, if they don't pay, they really will kill with knives, and they have no qualms about killing, unlike the Ming Dynasty which still had some reservations.

The gentry were on the verge of tears, praying to the heavens, "Come back, Great Ming! We miss you so much!"

[It feels like this imperial throne has some kind of hidden mission. As long as you become emperor, regardless of whether you are of a different ethnicity or Han, you will automatically launch a northern expedition and strike hard against the northern grasslands.]

Follow-up comment: Just like the Northern Wei Dynasty's fight against the Rouran, the Yuan Dynasty's fight against the Mongols, and the Qing Dynasty's fight against the Dzungars, the first thing these ethnic minorities did after establishing their dynasties was to forget their roots.

Follow-up comment: They knew better than anyone the dangers posed by ethnic minorities. [Compared to the Yuan Dynasty, which directly invaded, the Qing Dynasty didn't directly invade, but it would have been better if they had. Apart from the initial group of Manchus who entered the pass, all other Manchus were prohibited from entering and exiled to Ningguta, the ancestral home of the Manchus. The Qing Dynasty oppressed every ethnic group equally, except for its own Eight Banners.]

Follow-up comment: Just kidding. Actually, the Eight Banners were also oppressive. The Eight Banners outside the Great Wall were looked down upon. Follow-up comment: Guess which banner of the Eight Banners was the first to shout "Overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming"?

Follow-up comment: Who told the Qing Dynasty to be so incompetent? They enjoyed their own good life but didn't let the people back home have an easier time. Emperor Qianlong even sent people to burn down the crops that people had worked so hard to grow during the harvest season, saying it was to maintain their wildness.

Commentary: Emperor Qianlong's famous saying, "The bitter cold can maintain their fighting strength." Commentary: In the late Qing Dynasty, when the Qing emperor wanted to escape back to his hometown in the Northeast, the Manchus in the three northeastern provinces did their best to prevent him from returning. They were the ones who shouted, "Do not let the Qing emperor return to the east."

During the Qing Dynasty, the Manchus outside the Great Wall were shivering from the cold. The winter temperature in Heilongjiang was so cold that it could freeze a person's fingers off. Not to mention that their food had been burned by those beasts that winter. If they wanted to survive the winter, they had no choice but to brave the bitter cold and go into the mountains to find food.

Their eyes were red, they rubbed their emaciated bellies, and glared fiercely in the direction of the pass, "Damn Qing dogs!!"

The Qing emperors were disheartened by the attitude of their ancestors. How could they treat their ancestors like this? That was the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty! Wouldn't it be better to leave it to them to bask in the imperial aura? Such a large territory, undisturbed, they could peacefully farm and fish. Of course, to prevent them from developing bad farming habits and becoming complacent with a small harvest, it was reasonable to have the grain burned. They wouldn't understand, and burning it would surely make the land more fertile next year. Wasn't this all for their own good?

Hunting in the mountains during winter also helps them build up their physical strength, doesn't it?

The decadent and extravagant world of the Central Plains would melt their bones; their resolve is weak, they can't control themselves, and we still have to step in. But now they dare to rebel against their own people, even daring to talk about overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming, and preventing the Qing emperor from returning east! This truly hurts our feelings. These old kinsmen are no longer our kinsmen. The corrupting influence of the Han people has crossed the Shanhaiguan Pass and corrupted them. I no longer consider them family. Such traitors must be dealt with severely!

The Qing emperors secretly vowed to themselves that they would deal a heavy blow to these old folks later. If they didn't want to go hunting in the mountains, then they shouldn't go. They should all go to the battlefield.

If you understand what you're eating, then eat. This big cake of Central China is getting smaller and smaller with every bite. If you eat it, what will we eat?

If they live a good life and indulge in extravagance, who will help us fight? Are we going to send those Manchu bannermen who spend their days walking birds and fighting cocks? Once they get to the battlefield, they'll have to argue about the rules first.

If it weren't for the Han Eight Banners and the Solon soldiers, who else in the world could help them suppress the rebellion?

The emperors of the Qing Dynasty were not human, and emperors of other dynasties were not much more concerned about the common people. Or rather, emperors were high and mighty beneficiaries who had no empathy for ordinary people like us.

Follow-up comment: Even though there are no emperors now, many people still have an emperor's mentality and empathize with those emperors, without considering that in ancient times we were treated as disposable resources.

The people in front of the canopy seemed to have been struck by lightning. This sentence shattered their long-held belief that there must be an emperor in the world, or even that the emperor could be a puppet with little power but still need someone to make the decisions. How could there be no emperor in later generations?

If there were no emperors in later generations, who would they listen to?

Could it be that later generations didn't have emperors, but just used a different title? Just like the king and the Son of Heaven during the Zhou Dynasty, didn't the title of the prime minister also keep changing?

The common people simply couldn't imagine that without an emperor, and with so many corrupt officials, who would stand up for them?