SFS Chapter 597 The money paid out will not bring peace, but only sharper swords from the enemy.
Chapter 597 The money paid out will not bring peace, but only sharper swords from the enemy.
Old Zhu rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
How many?
How much silver?
How many billions of taels of silver?
He never even dared to dream of working for that company, yet he ended up losing it all!
How much land was ceded?
Millions of square kilometers!
Although Lao Zhu didn't know what the number actually meant, he could understand what ceding territory meant.
Ceding territory and paying reparations, humiliatingly seeking peace!
Even those shameless bastards actually joined forces with foreign enemies to suppress the rebel army!
This can hardly be called a dynasty?
The initial assessment on the screen was indeed spot on!
The so-called Qing Dynasty was not a legitimate dynasty at all.
The emperors of the Manchu Qing dynasty should be called slave owners!
They had neither the dignity of an emperor nor the backbone to speak of.
Therefore, they did all these things without any psychological burden, such as signing treaties, ceding territory, and paying reparations!
"Billions of taels of silver..."
"How many years of tax revenue would it take for my Great Tang Dynasty to catch up with this figure?"
"Although I know that the progress of the times often means an increase in the yield per mu of crops planted by farmers and an increase in tax revenue, even in the Qing Dynasty, billions of taels of silver must have been an astronomical figure, right?"
"Even if it's through exploiting the people, billions of taels of silver would be the result of many years of exploitation, wouldn't it?"
"With so much money, they could easily expand their forces, or at the very least, use it to buy weapons from others!"
"But what about them? How did they do it? What about their minds?"
Billions of taels of silver—that much money! If it were in Li Er's hands, he truly felt he could easily defeat any enemy within his sight!
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian's eyes turned red with envy.
If he had that money, he wouldn't have been in arrears with the border troops' food and pay.
If every soldier of the Ming Dynasty could receive the treatment they deserved and receive the pay and rations they were entitled to, they would not have been forced into such a predicament by the rebels.
Why force Sun Chuanting to say that Li Zicheng could lose countless times, but he could not lose even once!
Why would they rather pay such a large sum of money as reparations under a treaty than use it to strengthen their own power?
Haven't the lessons learned from previous dynasties been enough?
During the Song Dynasty, alliances were repeatedly signed with the Liao, Jin, and even the Mongol Yuan dynasties. What was the final outcome?
We lost a lot of money and supplies, but in the end, the enemy could still attack us whenever they wanted.
A signed alliance may be seen as a lifeline by the weaker party, but in the eyes of the stronger party, it is nothing more than a piece of paper.
They can tear up that piece of paper at any time they want, start another war, and force you to sign the next humiliating treaty and pay the next round of money.
"Surely no one is naive enough to think that a written alliance has any binding force on the stronger party?"
Zhao Shen was equally dumbfounded.
It should be noted that even the weak emperors of the Song Dynasty were fully aware of this.
Why were they willing to sign such a humiliating treaty step by step, while paying a large amount of tribute?
Zhao Shen felt he was qualified to speak on this matter.
"Isn't that what your father was like?"
Zhao Kuangyin said irritably.
Seeing the compensation payment made him think of bad things.
The last time he experienced such a humiliating event was in his Great Song Dynasty.
"So that the Taizu Emperor knows that even someone like my father would not be so naive as to think that once an alliance is signed, the Jurchens will obediently abide by it and never invade the south again."
"On the contrary, the army at the border has never been lax."
"He is a weakling, that's undeniable, and I admit it. But throughout the history of our Great Song Dynasty, we have never merely yielded with reparations; we have always dealt with our enemies in a different way."
Zhao Shen explained.
Although this explanation doesn't sound very appealing.
Fortunately, the Song Dynasty was not the last dynasty, and most people who know the history of the Song Dynasty know what he is talking about.
"It seems that's really true, from the Liao Dynasty, to the Western Xia, and then to the Jin Dynasty..."
"Although we don't know exactly what the Song Dynasty did, all of their powerful enemies eventually met their demise, while the Song Dynasty managed to survive for over a hundred years."
Zhu Di was somewhat puzzled.
Zhu Yuanzhang was well aware that he looked down on the weak emperors of the Song Dynasty.
Whether he looks down on it or not, facts speak louder than words.
The Song Dynasty remained weak for three hundred years, yet it also survived for three hundred years.
As Zhao Shen said, the alliance is just a piece of paper. The money paid out will not bring peace, but only sharper swords from the enemy.
Whether it was the Liao or the Jin dynasties, they always coveted the Song dynasty and the Central Plains.
In this situation, the Liao Dynasty perished, the Jin Dynasty perished, and there was also the interlude of the Western Xia Dynasty, which also could not escape the fate of national demise.
Unfortunately, the Song Dynasty survived, and even during its period of relative peace after the southward migration, it lived a relatively comfortable life.
To be honest, this was achieved through constant concessions.
At least Zhu Di didn't believe it.
"It's simple, win their hearts."
“Use luxurious items such as cloth and jewelry to gradually corrupt people’s hearts and minds, making them fall in love with the culture and life of the Central Plains.”
"They gradually became reluctant to part with the Song Dynasty, and at the same time, the emperors of the Song Dynasty also became extremely obedient to them."
"Compared to the fact that they had to fight their way to the top and then work themselves to death to govern the country, having a puppet emperor to help manage it and paying tribute regularly every year was just as acceptable to them."
"By using such methods, they can create divisions within the country. As long as there are some people who are unwilling to completely destroy the Song Dynasty, the war of national subjugation will be difficult to start."
"So from Liao to Jin, the Song Dynasty changed masters one after another. When the master was at the peak of his power, he was torn between whether or not to eliminate this obedient lackey. When the master's power declined, he no longer had the ability."
"It must be admitted that the emperors of the Song Dynasty were indeed quite clever and shrewd, but unfortunately they ultimately encountered a monster like the Mongol Yuan Dynasty."
Having thoroughly studied history, Zhu Yuanzhang was well aware of the fundamental reason why the Song Dynasty was able to survive until the end.
If you don't dare fight on the front lines, then you might as well try to win hearts and minds.
There is a fundamental difference between the reparations paid by the Qing Dynasty and those paid by the Manchus.
Every emperor, including someone like Zhao Gou, would weigh how much to give to satisfy the Jurchens and how much to give to inflate their ambitions.
And in this review on the sky...
Billions of taels of silver and millions of acres of land.
This is ridiculous! They might as well just give you whatever money they have!
They placed all their hopes on the enemy's adherence to the treaty and used money to buy peace.
This is absolutely the work of an idiot!
Hoping for mercy from the enemy is always the most foolish thing to do.
Anyone with a modicum of common sense wouldn't do that.
So Lao Zhu couldn't understand it.
Billions of silver dollars were enough to buy weapons and armor to arm countless armies.
Wouldn't it be better to press the enemy's head down on the battlefield?
Does he really have to kneel down and act like a grandson?