I can't sleep, so let's post a single chapter and continue the topic that was updated before.

I am very relieved that there are a lot of long comments in that chapter, which shows that everyone is distracted, which is expected and unexpected.

....

After more than a year of writing a book, the only skill that is improving may be: how to write to make the details "look rigorous".

The answer is also very simple, for all my colleagues who write history, that is, try not to express opinions.

Before the chapter "The Dead Knot of the Central Plains Regime" was written, I hesitated several times to write this relatively sensitive text. Even a few months ago, when I was talking about why I didn't build artillery, I had the same hesitation.

It's just that at that time, I chose to pretend to be confused, and this time, I tried to convince some people.

....

Cangshan knows very well that writing like this does not conform to the laws of online writing, nor does it conform to the public psychology, because people don't want to believe that there is no competition, and they have already lost the game. People prefer to believe that our ancestors crushed the world in all areas. Merely....

We haven't done a good job lately, we've just been surpassed.

Moreover, there is a potential factor in reading historical texts, that is, the worship of traditional culture and the past of our ancestors compels us to understand the people and events of that era.

And that chapter, almost all the red lines were touched.

Looking back, it is not difficult for you to find that the first perspective of that chapter is actually not Tang Yi, but Cangshan himself. And it's you who confide in you, not any of the characters in the book.

It is a little selfish of Cangshan, and I fantasize that through these small details, I can subtly make every reader of "Tempering the Great Song" tend to be rational, so that I will save a lot of trouble in the process of writing.

Including this single chapter serves the same purpose.

....

In fact, all dissent in this chapter can be quelled with just one sentence. That is, we have used bloody history to prove that the Ming and Qing dynasties were more than 500 years before and after, and the Age of Discovery, colonial plunder and China were insulated.

There's nothing to argue about.

The Ming Dynasty was forced to seal the territory and ban the sea by the silver of the Americas, didn't the government know that there were gold and silver treasures on the other side of the sea, and robbers were rising on the coastline of the Atlantic? So why hasn't it kept up with the Age of Sail?

Short of money? Is it ischemic? Is there a lack of military strength?

I don't know how much better it is than the Northern Song Dynasty, right?

....

In addition, it was also the Ming Dynasty, and the Jiangnan at that time was also brightly lit and the first in the world; Europe was also dark and ignorant.

However, the fools who sail to the sea bring back greed, while the relatively advanced ones bring back the glory of the nations.

...

Then, the question comes back to square one, why can't we get out?

Aside from the anti-business we talked about, let's talk about something else.

First, I remember mentioning it once when I opened the book, that is, the Han people are an introverted people and have no strong desire for expansion.

Second, as a book friend mentioned in the comments, why can't the imperial court be a little more robber.

Yes....

We really can't rob yet.

This involves a question of "volume", and it is also a problem that many people will ignore when considering the causes of ancient ruling policies.

That is, the establishment of a regime, why it was established like this, why there was such a policy.

....

From the beginning, that is, since the first emperor unified China, there have been few divisions and mergers in China for more than 2,000 years. Even if there is a brief split, it is a rapid reunification, and it is not like other great powers that have appeared in the long course of history, once they fall apart, they can no longer be united.

...

Note!

The stickiness and centripetal force of Chinese civilization are very, very bullish, very, very unimaginable.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a miracle that the backward information exchange and the backward transportation environment in ancient times have maintained a territory that spans thousands of kilometers and has been aggregated for more than 2,000 years.

Throughout the world, only China is unique!

Why?

Here we must boast about Confucianism, which we have been belittling.

The edifying role of Confucianism and the cohesion of the common culture have made China still China two thousand years later, rather than being divided into countless small countries like Europe.

Loyal and patriotic, strict hierarchies, and respectful of etiquette and morality, even if he goes to a farthest place and serves as the farthest official, he is still governed by etiquette, and he still has to believe in the strict etiquette of "Heaven and Earth Monarch Teacher".

Volume 1, Part 1, Paragraph 1 of the book "Zizhi Tongjian":

In the twenty-third year, the first Jin doctors Wei Si, Zhao Ji, and Han Qian were appointed as princes.

Chen Guang said: The duty of the Son of Heaven is no greater than the courtesy, the courtesy is greater than the points, and the points are greater than the name.

What is courtesy? Discipline is also; What is a score? Monarchs and ministers are also; What is a name? Gong, Hou, Qing, and doctor are also.

Translated: Chen Sima Guang said, I know that the most important duty of the Son of Heaven is to maintain the rites and religions, and the most important thing in the rites and religions is to distinguish status, and the most important thing in distinguishing positions is Kuang Zheng's name.

What is Rite and Religion? It's the law.

What is Distinguishing Status? It's the difference between kings and ministers.

What is a name? It is the princess, the princess, the doctor and other officials.

In the "Zizhi Tongjian", which is known as the teaching book of the ancient emperors, Sima Guang puts etiquette and rank in the first paragraph of the first chapter of the first volume, which shows its importance.

Having said so much, I just want everyone to understand that the supremacy of etiquette, hierarchy, and morality, and abiding by the constraints of etiquette and law at all times have become the core competitiveness of the pinnacle of power, or the basic plate of the monarch.

If you let him be a robber, you are destroying his basic plate, and then the unified gluing element of the world, the Rite Sect, will also collapse.

No one can touch it, and even the tyrant will not dare to bear the charge of immorality.

If the Son of Heaven is immoral, it is equivalent to giving the courtiers a legitimate reason to oppose you.

....

Etiquette, hierarchy, the core ruling ideology of the emperor, and the general policy policy of maintaining the integrity of the territory have also led to the suppression of merchants and flat merchants becoming an irreversible iron law.

Without merchants, where is finance? Moreover, in later generations, ourselves, including many countries in the modern world, have proved that it is impossible for a government-planned economy to replace the free-trade financial system to drive the state apparatus.

And it is precisely this financial system that is the most important part of the industrial revolution, and in a sense, it is even higher than technology itself.

For example, if the workers' revolution is compared to a car, then science is the engine, the transportation industry is the drivetrain plus four wheels, and modern finance is the accelerator, brake and clutch of the car, plus a steering wheel.

To put it bluntly, without the status of a businessman, there would be no modern finance; Without modern finance, there will be no industry consolidation, and Huaxia can only watch. What industrial revolution, what great voyage, we are not qualified to enter the game.

In terms of population, the two Song Dynasty cannot be compared with the Ming and Qing dynasties; In terms of armament, the two Song Dynasty cannot be compared with the Ming and Qing dynasties; In terms of productivity, the Ming and Qing dynasties also surpassed the two Song Dynasty and one big cut because of the relationship between American crops.

Then why did some people think that the Great Song Dynasty could do it without changing what the Ming and Qing dynasties had done?

The mood is understandable, but self-confidence is not such a self-confidence method, but we need to recognize where we are weak and where others are strong, and then change it.

Some friends mentioned the comparison of science and technology in the 11th century, just from the hard data to make a comparison, how to say.... Unrealistic.

Whether it is in the book or historical facts, the Great Song Dynasty does not have the opportunity to compete between the two countries and compare hard data.

Because, the Great Song Dynasty couldn't send troops at all.

There are too many shortcomings in this empire, he wants to save himself and survive. I don't care about anything, just do it with my arms, I'm going to lose the country!

....

Finally, some friends said that these things that Cangshan said were taken for granted.

Belch... It's embarrassing, this part is the one with the least amount of private goods I carry, and it's also the one that is the most brainless.

Because if you have the heart, just open a big historical work of a historian, and the section about the economy is almost the same point of view.

It's not that Cangshan takes it for granted, but Cangshan takes it for granted and uses a non-controversial argument.

Also, some people are worried about Cangshan, this pit is a bit big, and they buried themselves in it.

Well, you see through it, it's a pit.

I also know that it is very cool to come up, and I also know that it is very cool to raise my hand and take out the cannon, but I still go around so many circles.

Tell everyone because I'm going to be cooler! More windy!

Of course there will be big voyages, of course there will be cannons, of course ....

It's just that now is not the time, we have to wait for the right time, the right place, the right event, so that we can ..... Explode.

I remember that I told you before writing Yanyun, waiting for me to explode.

Cangshan didn't disappoint everyone, right?

This time I'm still saying that, waiting for the explosion.

The protagonist is a madman, and sanity is only a chance. When he makes a move, it must not be the right time, but when he is going crazy.

(No one corrected the typo, just make do with it.) ）

....

The problem of chattering is done again, and in the end, don't take the controversial book friends mentioned above to heart, but just happen to see it.

Cangshan endured the back pain and said so much, but he didn't want to talk to anyone.

But...

Let's put it this way, I'm a weird writer, and in reality I may have communication barriers and don't know how to make friends.

But in the book, I'm God, I'm relaxed, I'm hungry to communicate, I'm hungry to express.

So, I have written so much, not for the sake of refuting, but in the hope that you will understand.

It's not that you want to understand me, but to really understand history.

Its charm does not necessarily depend on how much glory it has won, but it may also be how many mistakes it has made and how many warnings it has given us.