削藩，均田，下长安。
Why don’t vested interest groups understand that without the lips, the teeth will feel the cold? Why would they rather be overthrown and start over again than give up their interests? This is because human greed hinders their judgment of impending consequence. The vested interest class will always hold on to their own stakes and interests. They are unwilling to sacrifice their own interests to bargain in exchange for the survival of the lower-class people. Read more history and you will know that there is nothing new under the sun. The essential nature of power is that it cannot be restricted. It will only succumb to greater power and collude with equal power to exchange interests. There are individuals who betray vested interest class that they belong to, but there will never be groups that betray vested interested class that they belong to. Knowing that there is a dead end ahead, there is no way that vested interest group would cut off the meat in advance. They believe that only their interests are above everything else. They only understand that whoever let go of interests will die first. They will hold on to the interests in their hands until they have to finally let go.
Let me give you a few examples and you will understand. The Qing Dynasty rulers knew that Western science, technology and culture were advanced. But why did they reluctantly make reforms only after the Eight-Nation Alliance overthrew their home after Boxer Rebellion? Kangxi, Louis XIV of the Bourbon Dynasty of France, and Peter the Great of Russia were three great emperors of the same period. Kangxi was very skilled in the concepts of square, root, power, circle, etc. in advanced mathematics calculus. When missionaries translated Western works for him in the court, he gave very accurate suggestions on the use of corresponding Chinese nouns. Do you still think that the Qing Dynasty emperors were stupid fellows who knew nothing about the West?
Kangxi knew everything. He himself was a beneficiary of astronomy, mathematics and Western medicine. He also carefully cultivated and educated his sons. All the princes had to learn the advanced knowledge of the West at that time. The eldest prince had observed and drawn astronomical charts. When others were still nodding their heads and reciting the Four Books and Five Classics, Standards for Being a Good Pupil and Child, The Classic of Filial Piety, Emperor Kangxi used a hand-cranked calculator to calculate square roots in the palace after attending the court assembly. He knew Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, and a small amount of Latin, English, and Spanish. He could communicate with missionaries in simple foreign languages. He not only studied mathematics, but also dabbled in modern medicine and dissected a bear. When he went to inspect the river control project, he stood on the dam and explained to the officials below how to calculate the flow of water. Kangxi knew everything. Why didn’t he reform from top to bottom like Peter the Great and learn from Europe in all aspects?
The emperors of the Qing Dynasty were actually very in tune with the world. For example, Yongzheng also played cosplay, wore Han dress, had permed hair and liked Western things. But why didn’t they learn from Europe? French missionary Jean-François Gerbillon recorded such an incident in his diary. Kangxi asked the missionaries to translate Western books into Manchu for him to read, but he deliberately kept an eye on them and didn’t let them go out and being seen by Han officials. Didn’t Emperor Qianlong know that Western firearms, military, and natural sciences were powerful? Why did he still implement a comprehensive closed-door policy and strengthen control over literary inquisitions? In fact, he was quite clear about the world situation. From the books left by missionary Michel Benoist, we can find that Qianlong was very familiar with the situation of many European countries. Qianlong and the King of France at the same time were close pen pals and often exchanged letters. He also paid close attention to the progress of the French Revolution.
Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong were the three most outstanding emperors of the Qing Dynasty. They actually knew that Western science and technology and philosophical and cultural ideas were far superior to China. These emperors did not learn but closed their country to the outside world because they knew what it would mean to learn advanced Western technology and culture. On the one hand, the Manchu nobles had always been wary of the Han people. They were always afraid that the Han people would rebel against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, Western democracy and freedom seriously hindered their feudal rule and interests. How could Qianlong not know that King Louis XVI of France was sent to the guillotine? How could they bear the pain of giving up their power, money and status to let the people pursue freedom, equality and democracy? Now can you understand why Qianlong acted so cold when the Macartney Mission came to China? He didn’t even look at the latest Western scientific and technological achievements they presented. In fact, Qianlong knew what Macartney would present to him. But for the sake of the eternal stability of the Qing Dynasty and the interests of the Manchu rulers, they must not let them make it public. Qianlong also specifically instructed that all documents related to European technology be written in Manchu and kept in the palace. He was afraid that Han officials would see it and it would spread among the people. They racked their brains to think about who the best would be to rule. That’s right, fool the people. A group of ignorant, foolish and gullible people can be firmly controlled. They can’t cause any trouble. They just farm and raise pigs. They don’t need to know anything else.
In 1909, two years before the fall of the Qing Dynasty, a survey was conducted. The number of literate people in the country was less than 3 million. At that time, the Qing Dynasty had a total population of 400 million, which means that the literacy rate of the Qing Dynasty population was less than 1%. After the Meiji Restoration, the literacy rate in Japan was 40%-50%. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was actually 30 million literate Japanese fighting 3 million literate Chinese. Failure, isn’t that inevitable?
Another example is the vested interest group of the Ming Dynasty, the Donglin Party. When rebel leader Li Zicheng reached Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen almost knelt down to beg the Donglin Party for military expenses, but he couldn’t raise 100,000 taels of military expenses. After Li Zicheng’s army entered Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on a crooked tree and wrote “Every civil official can be killed, but don’t hurt a single civilian.” When the army searched, they found that there was money everywhere in Beijing. Official in the capital handed over 60 million taels of silver after being tortured by Li Zicheng. You see, this vested interest group headed by the Donglin Party would rather die or be overthrown and start over than give up their own interests.
Another example is the Tang Dynasty, where the vested interest groups headed by the aristocratic families monopolized the imperial examinations, economy, politics and other resources of the Tang Dynasty. To put it bluntly, the imperial examinations and recommendation systems were exclusively for the aristocratic families only. Ordinary people could not have any chance. The imperial examinations controlled by them through marriage and collusion were like AIDS, which was only transmitted through blood, mother-to-child and sexual channels. People from ordinary families could not pass the exams in their entire lifetime. Huang Chao was a representative example. He took the exams many times but failed all the times. He was so angry that he wrote the famous poem in Chang’an.
I shall wait till autumn comes on September 8,
I will mutilate all flowers when the flowers bloom,
Sky penetrating bursts of fragrances permeate Chang’an,
The entire city will be covered with golden armours.
By the end of the Tang Dynasty, the interest groups headed by the aristocratic families had made the Tang Dynasty corrupt to the core, and peasant uprisings continued everywhere. Huang Chao led the peasant uprising in Shandong. Every time he conquered a city, he would kill aristocratic clans and officials until all the aristocratic families in the city were totally killed. Huang Chao’s army marched into Chang’an City. He had no mercy on the powerful officials in the court who locked up the economic and political resources. He executed all officials above the third rank. The result of Huang Chao’s killing was that all the 28 major aristocratic clans in China that had accumulated for thousands of years were killed. This led to the social form of “selecting scholars without asking about family affairs and marriage without asking about family background”. This really gave ordinary people a channel to rise through the imperial examination.
Finally, I will tell you something about the core of this book. The vested interest groups will always hold on to their own privileges. Most of them will not sacrifice their own interests to bargain in exchange for the survival of the lower class. This is like people in our era. Even if there are continuous thunderstorms, the birth rate is dropping sharply, it is still difficult to make a down payment for a house even if you empty six wallets to the extent that some young people have already been forced to just lie down. This is the current situation. As those who profit from real estate, will they be willing to see the price of real estate fall? No. They will only despise those who cannot afford to buy a house as poor and have no vision. No one will be willing to sacrifice their own interests to give young people a future. If you read more history, you will find that all history is modern history. There is nothing new under the sun. It just appears in a different form. As Wang Jianlin said, “I have a suggestion for everyone. Read more history. Any history is modern history. Turning it over, any modern history is history. It just changes a little. Just read more history and you will be very wise and smart.”
I highly recommend you to read this book. Chinese history is addictive after reading it. This book clearly tells you that everyone can predict the future of this world as long as he knows enough about the past of this world. History will not repeat itself, but it will be similar enough.
If you have read the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, you will understand why big cities are natural contraceptives. In fact, the fertility crisis in today’s society was destined as early as 30 years ago. If you understand the causes and consequences of Wang Anshi’s reform, it is not difficult for you to understand the so-called Internet revolution of finance. It was a false proposition from the beginning. The ending must also be as hasty. If you understand the historical trajectory of ancient land tax from the double taxation system to Zhang Juzheng’s one-whip system, and then to the land tax promoted by Emperor Yongzheng, you will know that it is only a matter of time before the large-scale deployment of real estate tax. Why can Confucian culture last for more than 2,000 years? Why did Qin Shihuang burned books and buried Confucian scholars? Why did Yue Fei have to die? Wu Zetian’s wordless stele, the game within the game of the Hongmen Banquet, the truth of the nine sons’ fighting for the throne, etc. It is very helpful to improve your vision and stretch your perspective.