Chapter 844: Do Not Neglect the Smallest Victory

The ancestors of the Laos Pacification Commission were originally from the Jinglong Kingdom, a tributary state of the Dali Kingdom. After Kublai Tian Kehan conquered and destroyed the Dali Kingdom, the people of the Jinglong Kingdom left Yunnan and settled in Laos. Therefore, from its very inception, the region of Laos shared the same language, culture, and bloodline as the Miao people of Yunnan.

In the hearts of Dao Lansheng and the Laotian chieftains, submitting to the Great Ming carried absolutely no psychological burden. They had lived this way for generations. For the barbarians, self-adaptation and "recognizing a father" permeated their history, their present, and even their future. Annam was acceptable, Ava was acceptable, and naturally, the Great Ming was acceptable too.

After picking and choosing, this "father" known as the Great Ming seemed the most benevolent.

Yu Liangshi, Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, felt somewhat helpless. This was completely different from the education he had received. What he had learned was to "cultivate civil virtue to soothe those from afar." If those from afar still fought you, it meant your civil virtue was insufficient—not gentle, inclusive, or respectful enough. One needed to continue cultivating civil virtue, becoming more gentle, flexible, and creating special exceptions to attract and appease those from afar.

If they still could not be appeased, it meant the civil virtue was still insufficient and needed further cultivation.

However, under the leadership of Wan Shihe, the atmosphere in the Ministry of Rites had been thoroughly corrupted. They frequently claimed that barbarians were "wolves in human skin" who "feared might but did not cherish virtue." If they could not understand human speech, one should give them a beating. As long as they did not want to die, the barbarians would reconcile with themselves, and then they would be able to understand what the Great Ming was saying.

Under this atmosphere, the foreign affairs work of the Court of State Ceremonial became extremely hardline.

Yu Liangshi felt this atmosphere was wrong, but practical experience told him it was indeed the case. The Tumad Tian Kehan, the Altan Tian Kehan, the Jianzhou Jurchens, Joseon, Japan, Annam, Ava, and the Red-Haired Barbarians—it seemed all these barbarians were the same. When the Great Ming spoke nicely, these barbarians never listened; only after a beating could matters be discussed clearly.

The Red-Haired Barbarians established the Governor-General's Office in Luzon and the Governor-General's Office in Goa. After being beaten once, these Red-Haired Barbarians dared not act presumptuously again.

But the Golden-Haired Barbarians were too far away for the Great Ming to reach. Since the ninth year of Wanli, the Great Ming had consistently demanded that the Golden-Haired Barbarians revoke their privateering licenses, maintain a maritime business environment, and guarantee free trade. Yet, the Golden-Haired Barbarians simply would not listen. All the nice and harsh words had been exhausted, to no avail.

The situation in Laos was different from these other barbarians. The beatings Laos endured were not from the Great Ming, but from having evil neighbors, leaving them with no other choice.

The official roads and courier routes from the Great Ming to Laos were built by the Laotians themselves. They took everything they could possibly offer. This was seizing every opportunity to "lean on a big tree to enjoy the shade." Once the official roads and courier routes to the Great Ming were opened, everything in Laos began to improve.

Dao Lansheng hesitated repeatedly before saying, "On the road, I heard that the Great Ming has successively occupied Joseon, Japan, Ryukyu, Luzon, Borneo, Java, the Old Port Governor-General's Office, and Ava. This is not something we chieftains should worry about. We chieftains are more concerned with how to be accepted by the Great Ming. Fortunately, everything has gone smoothly."

"I just feel that the Great Ming seems to be abandoning some benevolence and righteousness. Why is this?"

Although Dao Lansheng did not say it explicitly, he was still worried about the extremely negative impact brought by the Great Ming's moral decline. He feared that the Laotians would become the price paid for the Great Ming's resurgence. Even so, Dao Lansheng still hoped to be annexed by the Great Ming, even if it meant becoming part of that price.

Before uttering the words about being annexed by the Great Ming, Dao Lansheng had thought about it for several years, finally making the decision.

For the people led by Dao Lansheng, what they should fear is not being used by others; being used by others means you are useful. What is most feared is being ignored, which means you have no use at all and anyone can bully you.

Even if they become the price for the Great Ming's resurgence, they must be annexed, because once the "blood tax" is paid, they can truly integrate into the Great Ming.

"Do you know Liu Bei?" Yu Liangshi asked after some thought.

"I know him. He was the lord of Chancellor Zhuge. I have heard his name," Dao Lansheng said very affirmatively. In the Three Pacification Commissions and Six Comfort Commissions, temples to the Martial Marquis Zhuge were spread across every city-state, because Zhuge Liang was the enlightener of all the small nations in the Southwest—providing musical instruments, crops, farm tools, methods to prevent the spread of plagues, and so on.

Yu Liangshi then continued, "In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, warlords rose in swarms. Emperor Emperor Zhao Lie was benevolent his entire life, never slaughtering a city, and he carried the people across the river. When entrusting his son at Baidi City, he still admonished the Latter Lord of Shu, Liu Shan: 'Do not neglect the smallest evil, and do not neglect the smallest good.'"

"Yet, Emperor Emperor Zhao Lie, benevolent his entire life, still resolutely took Yizhou when the opportunity arose, because if he did not take it, Yizhou would have belonged to Cao Cao."

"Morality is fine, and benevolence is fine, but if you are annihilated, all your beliefs, your morality, and your pursuits will vanish into thin air. No one will remember them, and they will even flaunt their power over your grave. You can only watch helplessly as this world is occupied by scoundrels, watching the myriad people wail in agony."

"The Three Kingdoms exhausted the spirit of heroes; the two Jins produced nothing but rats."

Yu Liangshi explained why the Great Ming had abandoned some high morality and begun to show its edge to the outside world, rather than the "soothing those from afar" of the past.

The reasons for this were complex. From Yu Liangshi's own perspective, this was a multiple-choice question: if the Great Ming did not do this, those barbarians from the West would do it instead. Rather than letting the barbarians benefit, it was better for the Great Ming to occupy it itself.

The Red-Haired Barbarians had already built a Governor-General's Office at the Great Ming's doorstep in Luzon, and built one on Great Ming territory in Macau.

If there were a choice, Yu Liangshi hoped that those practitioners of ideals in Shu-Han could achieve final victory and unify the world.

Unfortunately, even though the descendants of Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei, and others were willing to die for Shu-Han, they still could not reverse the collapse of heaven, because their territory was too small, their strength too weak, and their soldiers and generals too few.

For several hundred years during the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, the people were plunged into misery, and the flames of war never ceased.

"I don't understand very well, but what the Great Ming does must be right!" Dao Lansheng thought seriously, gave up thinking, and chose to support!

With the Great Ming's vast territory, so many people, and so many scholars, since they had made such a choice, there must be a reason, and it must be beneficial to the Great Ming. What is beneficial to the Great Ming is beneficial to Laos. The wealthier the Great Ming is, the little bit that leaks through its fingers will be enough for Laos to live in stability for generations.

"We Laotians can become guides for the Great Ming army to campaign against Ava. We know the rainforests very well!" Dao Lansheng could not wait to show his value. He said very affirmatively, "Where we come from, to join a tribe, you only become trustworthy after fighting the enemy together."

This was also what the Duke of Qian, Mu Changzuo, had taught Dao Lansheng to say—it was about claiming credit. In fact, long after the Great Ming and Laos made contact, some Laotians had already joined the Great Ming army as guides, scouting paths, finding water sources, avoiding snakes and rats, and locating bandit nests and medicinal herbs.

Dao Lansheng's ability to enter the capital was actually because they had already paid some "blood tax" to join the Great Ming, having established certain merits in opening up territory for the Great Ming, and having gained the recognition of the Duke of Qian's mansion and the Yunnan government, only then gaining the qualification to enter the capital for tribute. Dao Lansheng's ability to walk into the capital had already exhausted all his strength.

"I have seen the memorial from the Duke of Qian, and I believe what you say," Yu Liangshi replied with a smile.

Dao Lansheng said eagerly, "Really, we Laotians are also very capable of fighting. We are not to be bullied by Annam and the Ava Burmese bandits. We once almost broke through the capital of Annam and almost beheaded the White Elephant King of Ava in battle. Alas, our numbers were too few; every time we won, we could not expand our results."

"I believe you, but you must stay in the capital, and your son will return to Vientiane to help the Great Ming establish rule," Yu Liangshi changed his phrasing, no longer affirming the other party but requiring them, clearly telling them what they should do to reduce communication barriers.

"Very well!" Dao Lansheng finally stopped panicking and understood the words of the Great Ming official.

Yu Liangshi rubbed his forehead, only able to say that the theory of the Minister of Rites, Wan, was truly useful. It seemed that only with this arrogant, commanding tone could the other party understand what the Great Ming actually meant.

Minister Wan had a theory of "barbarian self-adaptation and recognizing a father," while Minister Shen Li had a theory of "barbarian constant victory."

In Shen Li's view, no matter what barbarians did, they had to have one word: Win.

They absolutely could not lose; losing even a little was not allowed. They had to win, and win endlessly, win continuously, win without bounds, win without end—that is, *victoria infinitae* (infinite victory, eternal victory).

This was the conclusion the Great Ming reached after observing the formal logic of the Western Red-Haired Barbarians and Golden-Haired Barbarians, and then confirmed by the barbarians near the Great Ming.

For example, the Xiongnu would announce themselves as the "Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu, born of Heaven and Earth and placed by the Sun and Moon," forcibly winning over the Great Han in the headers of their state letters; they wantonly humiliated Empress Lü, the wife of Liu Bang, and then unilaterally announced victory, singing "The Lone Wolf Plays with the Phoenix" on the grasslands.

In the end, the Xiongnu were slaughtered by the iron cavalry of the Great Han and fled ten thousand miles away, not daring to harass them again.

For example, on the "Kül Tigin Inscription" erected by the Göktürks, the Chinese text was all about submission, while the Göktürk text was a paradox of "I won completely." If the Göktürks had won, how could Jiali Tian Kehan have ended up dancing for a living in Chang'an?

But the Göktürk "Kül Tigin Inscription" insisted on writing "I won completely," and inscribed on the stele were delusional words like "We made the Göktürk people reach the world with a Golden Khanate" and the Tang army "was defeated in every battle."

For example, Bilge Tian Kehan of the Later Göktürks boasted that he had "marched forty-four times, campaigned twenty times, and defeated the Great Tang forty times." This battle report was clearly a lie, because the front line was constantly expanding to the northwest, running counter to Bilge Tian Kehan's boasting.

For example, the Liao Kingdom had a ceremony called "Spring Hunt and Willow Shooting," where at the beginning of spring, the Liao ruler would hang a portrait of the Song Emperor on a willow tree, and then the Liao monarch would shoot arrows at it. After "the arrow pierced the Song Emperor's portrait," they would begin the spring hunt. The signing of the Chanyuan Alliance could not be considered a total victory for the Liao, but the Liao still firmly announced they were "totally invincible."

For example, the Annam Kingdom would commemorate two sisters, the Trưng Sisters, considering them heroines who resisted the Han Dynasty. Moreover, after nearly a thousand years of embellishment, too many myths were superimposed on the two, and they were even honored as the "Trưng Holy Kings."

But the Great Ming Ministry of Rites searched through all the old records before finding the account of these two women. The "Book of the Later Han: Biography of Ma Yuan" says: "The women Trưng Trắc and her younger sister Trưng Nhị of Jiaozhi rebelled. The following year in the first month, they were beheaded, and their heads were sent to Luoyang."

Roughly speaking, they rebelled, then Ma Yuan led troops over, quelled the rebellion, and sent their heads back to Luoyang.

For example, the Japanese pirates were clearly retreating steadily on the Joseon battlefield, but the battle reports sent back to Japan were always very ridiculous. Oda Nobunaga could not determine the specific situation on the front line. In the end, the Great Ming army reached Japan itself, and the Japanese were all shocked: "Aren't we winning all the time? Why has the Great Ming army attacked?"

These were all arguments Shen Li found to perfect his theory of "barbarian constant victory." It was not just the Western barbarians; even the barbarians around the Great Ming were the same, winning at every moment.

(Excerpt from "Secret Memorial on Barbarian Constant Victory")

Shen Li believed that the existence of barbarians was based on a survival mechanism of "must win." If they did not win for a single day, they faced the total collapse of their fragile consensus, so they could only announce infinite victory.

The Central Plains were not like this. From ancient times to the present, there had never been talk of infinite victory. Winning two sentences and losing three books was the norm.

When Qi Jiguang campaigned in Joseon, he commanded appropriately, fought steadily, and advanced step by step. Every step was carefully planned. His planning made the Japanese go to their deaths clearly. Even if they saw through Qi Jiguang's plan, they could only act according to it. What kind of terrifying battlefield control was this?

But the Great Ming's record was only a summary of "Six Victories to Pacify the Border." Since we didn't lose, why record so much?

During the Han Dynasty, the Great Han viewed the "Siege of Baideng" as a great humiliation. They did not announce that Baideng was a great victory for the Han army, but rather sharpened their weapons and horses, and only after defeating the Xiongnu did they announce victory.

During the Ming Dynasty, after the catastrophe at Tumu Fortress, the Great Ming exhausted all means to get the captured Emperor back. In the end, the head of Esen was cut off by Alachi and sent to the Great Ming in exchange for a reward.

The Central Plains could accept losing, and even conduct comprehensive analysis and reflection on losing, and then win back.

The "Theory of Barbarian Recognizing a Father" and the "Theory of Barbarian Constant Victory" constituted the basic logic of the Ministry of Rites in handling barbarian affairs. These two logics jointly promoted a methodology: when dealing with barbarians, give them a beating, and they will know what to do themselves.

The theory of barbarian constant victory was very difficult to deal with, because any respect, courtesy, preferential treatment, or kind treatment from the Great Ming would be deconstructed by the barbarians as a kind of "win," which would then make the barbarians even more unscrupulous.

The most typical example was Japan. The Great Ming had already pushed the Japanese pirates into the sea, but the pirates were still "winning" in their own country. They did not intend to surrender and were prepared to fight the Great Ming to the death. The "Divine Fire Flying Crows" burning Nagato still did not wake the pirates up; only when the Great Ming army burned Kyoto did the pirates finally wake up.

Only war—real, visible violence, and the most direct victory or defeat—could destroy the theory of barbarian constant victory, thoroughly disintegrate the barbarians' constant victory, and only then would the barbarians reconcile with themselves and submit to the will of the Great Ming.

The theory of barbarian recognizing a father and the theory of barbarian constant victory, after being verified by practice, made the Ministry of Rites officials even more convinced that the best way to deal with barbarians was to give them a beating.

Two successive Ministers of Rites had thoroughly corrupted the atmosphere of the Ministry of Rites.

Logically speaking, Laos bringing its territory and people to submit and attach itself was, no matter how you looked at it, a great victory, a matter worthy of being written about extensively. But Yu Liangshi, Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, felt that a process was missing in the middle—the process of giving them a beating. The barbarians had actually figured it out themselves; it was somewhat incredible.

The submission of Laos was very sincere, and they were even willing to pay a "blood tax" to submit. Yu Liangshi had been led astray by the crooked theories of these two Ministers of Rites.

Dao Lansheng settled in the Great Ming capital, living on the salary of a second-rank barbarian official, while his son was enfeoffed by the Great Ming as the Laotian Pacification Commissioner, returning to Laos to preside over military affairs.

On the second day of the tenth month of the sixteenth year of Wanli, Dao Lansheng was summoned to the Tonghe Palace for an audience.

"Your subject, the Laotian Pacification Commissioner Dao Lansheng, pays respects to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live Your Majesty." Dao Lansheng performed the rites properly, performing five kowtows and three prostrations, not daring to show any disrespect. He knew very well how difficult this journey had been, for fear that any lack of respect would offend the Great Ming Emperor and cause all his efforts to fall short.

He had traveled over mountains and rivers. The Laotians joined the Great Ming army to clear obstacles for them, and the Laotians worked together to repair the official roads and courier routes, only then exchanging for this opportunity for him, the leader, to have an audience with the Son of Heaven.

Everything had been negotiated. If he ruined things, he would be letting down those struggling countrymen.

Dao Lansheng dared not show any lack of respect, for fear of ruining the only opportunity in a thousand years for Laos to become the people of the Heavenly Dynasty.

"Exempt from the rites. Sit and speak," Zhu Yijun said with a full face of smiles. "Do not be constrained. Your son, Dao Shigong, must stay in the capital for a period of time. It is not that I want to keep him, but his physical condition is not good; there are too many worms in his stomach."

Dao Lansheng had three sons in total; two had died in battle, and only this youngest son remained, twenty-four years old. But his condition was not good, and he was very thin. After diagnosis by the imperial physicians, it was discovered that long-term consumption of raw water had led to Dao Shigong's stomach being full of worms.

"All worms?" Dao Lansheng was incredibly shocked. He could no longer have children, and this was his only son; if he died, there would truly be no heir.

"If not treated, I fear he does not have many days left," Zhu Yijun said very affirmatively. "There are many worms in his stomach; it is very dangerous."

"I implore Your Majesty to save him." Dao Lansheng's hands were trembling. He had brought his son to the capital to show his sincerity, only to learn that his son was suffering from a serious illness.

Dao Shigong's condition had already affected his life; his thinness and inability to eat anything were all manifestations.

"Buddhism is flourishing in your region. 'A bowl of water contains eighty-four thousand worms; if one does not recite this mantra, it is like eating the flesh of sentient beings.' This is the drinking water mantra, but reciting the mantra cannot kill the worms in the water. These little worms have burrowed into Dao Shigong's stomach and are growing larger, but the situation has not reached the point of no return." Zhu Yijun explained the concept of parasites.

The Dissection Institute had once dissected a Japanese, and his head was also full of roundworms. Since then, the prevention and treatment of parasites had become a key focus of the Great Ming Dynasty.

Dao Shigong's situation had not yet deteriorated to that point. He needed to get rid of the parasites and rest for a few days. According to the research of the Dissection Institute, roundworm eggs scatter in the intestinal tract, enter the lungs, develop in the lungs, travel along the trachea into the throat, and finally develop into adult worms in the intestinal tract.

Therefore, the treatment to get rid of the worms would take some time, especially for a long-term infected person like Dao Shigong. Zhu Yijun explained clearly why Dao Shigong needed to stay for a period of time.

Zhu Yijun said with a tone of comfort, "This process will use some arsenic, mainly because it is not just roundworms, so wormwood is not effective. Rest assured, the imperial physicians of the Dissection Institute are highly skilled."

"Do you trust me?"

"I thank Your Majesty for your holy grace." Dao Lansheng bowed his head again. He trusted the Emperor's words, because his strong son had suddenly started to lose weight in the last half year.

Zhu Yijun smiled. Dao Lansheng knew how to be grateful, knew how to say words of thanks, and also trusted the Great Ming. Of course, Zhu Yijun had not deceived Dao Lansheng; if his son's condition was not treated, he would truly die.

"Do you have physicians in Laos?" Zhu Yijun inquired about the situation in Laos.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we do, but we did not know about this!" Dao Lansheng was so frightened by the Emperor's introduction of the parasite's survival method that his whole body trembled. He and his son had the same living habits, and he feared that he might also have this situation.

"In that case, let the Laotian physicians come to the Great Ming to study. After completing their studies, return to Laos to establish People-Benefit Pharmacies." Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "Twenty people can come each year, with a tuition fee of 120 silver per person, which can be offset by goods. The living expenses are 6 silver per person per year. This money is the same as for Great Ming students and is subsidized by the imperial court."

"For barbarians from foreign lands to enroll, it is 10,000 silver per student, absolutely no bargaining. But Laos has the sincerity and determination to be annexed by the Great Ming, so naturally, I will not treat you as barbarians."

"Your subject kowtows to thank you for your holy grace. Your Majesty... Your subject..." Dao Lansheng knelt directly on the ground, kowtowing incessantly. At this moment, he suddenly understood the practical meaning of being annexed by the Great Ming—it was by no means as simple as safety, but rather living like a human being.

At this moment, Dao Lansheng felt what it meant to be "transformed by the King." This had never been a delusional concept, but a reality of living like a human being.

The Great Ming was building its own universal medical system. Now, the system had not even taken shape, but cultivating a large number of physicians had become a consensus, and Laos's annexation just happened to catch the favorable wind.

"I like to say the ugly words first. If Laos rebels, attaches itself to others, or causes chaos, like the old affair of Luchuan, I will never be lenient." Zhu Yijun sat up straight, looking at Dao Lansheng, admonishing him never to betray the Great Ming's goodwill!

The price of betraying the Great Ming's goodwill was absolutely not something Laos could bear.

Dao Lansheng was a bit anxious. He held his breath for a long time before bowing again and kneeling on the ground, saying, "The Laotians are willing to be at the Great Ming's beck and call!"

"Get up," Zhu Yijun said with a smile. "I have heard from the Duke of Qian that the Laotians are brave, charging at the front, not sparing themselves, and venturing into dangerous places to scout enemy intelligence for the Great Ming. Yesterday's cause, today's effect. Today, Laos is considered annexed by the Great Ming."

"Your subject thanks Your Majesty for your great grace." Dao Lansheng bowed again. He knew that from today on, Laos would no longer be the Laos that was bullied by everyone. Why did Annam act so fiercely in the Zhongnanbandao? Wasn't it because they had been ruled by China for nearly a thousand years that they could act so recklessly?

From today on, Laotians were not Laotians, but Great Ming people, and they were the "fathers" of the Annamese!

Yes, this was also the reason why the chieftains were willing to sign the submission and annexation document. As long as they were annexed by the Great Ming, they would be the "fathers" of the Ava Burmese bandits and the Annamese. This shift in status made them very concerned, and this was also a kind of "win," even if it was based on submitting to the Great Ming.

Zhu Yijun and Dao Lansheng chatted for half an hour, mainly inquiring about the situation in Ava. From Dao Lansheng's mouth, Zhu Yijun learned that Ava had already fallen apart, each fighting its own battle. The orders of Nanda Bayin could not even leave the city of Ava.

Standing from the perspective of the Great Ming, the offensive in the southwest direction seemed like a minor skirmish. A report of victory would only come after a long time, and there were no gains. Although they were always winning, they were all small victories. But in the eyes of the Ava people, every offensive by the Great Ming made all the Ava people gasp for breath, living in constant fear, like stray dogs.

After Dao Lansheng left, Feng Bao brought the "Diary of the Emperor's Activities" to the Emperor. The diary had to be reviewed by the Emperor, and the Emperor could remove some content he did not like.

"No, can the annexation of Laos also be considered such a big win?" Zhu Yijun looked at the long-winded text in the diary in surprise.

He was very sure that he had just chatted with Dao Lansheng for half an hour, just to understand Ava's strength in the Zhongnanbandao. Without touching the Great Ming, the Ava Burmese bandits were absolutely minor bullies. Unfortunately, the idiot Nanda Bayin thought the Great Ming was a dilapidated house and insisted on kicking it, wanting to clash with the Great Ming.

In the diary, it was a long-winded text, almost written into a ten-thousand-word essay.

It recorded from the Jinglong Kingdom, how Laos was bullied by the Ava Burmese bandits and Annam, how the Great Ming upheld justice for Laos, how Ava and Annam were not respectful, did not listen to the Great Ming's mediation, and acted rashly with force, playing both sides. How the Burmese chieftain Nanda Bayin was so bold as to actively attack the Great Ming, finally inviting the "thunderous anger."

The content was so detailed that it was almost equivalent to a volume of the "Records of Foreign Countries." Zhu Yijun could be sure that Ava, Laos, and Annam absolutely did not have such detailed national histories.

Feng Bao explained, "Your Majesty, for the ministers, this is the first victory of 'cultivating civil virtue to soothe those from afar' since the Wanli Reform. The Great Ming did not attack Laos, yet Laos came to surrender itself. Naturally, it is worthy of being written about extensively. This is the victory of 'soothing those from afar.'"

"Isn't this because the Great Ming army is capable of fighting, beating Ava until they fled in panic, and Laos feared the Great Ming's heavenly might, only then being willing to submit?" Zhu Yijun spread his hands. This was not "soothing those from afar." If the Great Ming had not established the Mubang Prefecture, Laos would not even have been able to repair the official roads and courier routes, and would have been interfered with by the Annamese.

Feng Bao said very affirmatively, "If the Great Ming did not attack Laos, it is not military conquest; it is Laos admiring the King's transformation and submitting. It is the cultivation of civil virtue."

"That works too. 'Do not neglect the smallest victory'—it barely makes sense. Let it be," Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and did not give instructions for modification.

Great Ming scholars, although not barbarians, also wanted to win. The Great Ming also had its own closed-loop "winology." On this point, Shen Li did not let the Great Ming off when discussing it.

Shen Li was not in a critical attitude, but believed that the Great Ming lacked a certain "must win" disease—not the kind of fake winning, but real winning. In Shen Li's view, the evolution of a group toward a civilization fundamentally required winning.

One must win thoroughly so that future generations will not suffer. One must win, win in the competition of the Great Age of Discovery, and not leave huge hidden dangers for future generations.

"Minister Shen said that the Song people had everything, but they just didn't have winning." Zhu Yijun returned the diary, which was filled with the word "win," to Feng Bao and said a sentence, which counted as an instruction.

The Song Dynasty was very good, with a large population, growing technology, and very prosperous commerce, but it kept losing, without a decisive great victory, finally leading to the Southern Song even losing the world.

If Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi had won at Gaoliang River instead of running away in a donkey cart, for the two Songs, perhaps there would not have been so many regrets.

Lacking a decisive victory, the two Songs were always trapped in cohesion, unable to move. ===== CHAPTER 845 =====

To win thoroughly, the descendants will not be burdened; one must win, must triumph in the contention of the Great Age of Discovery, and not leave behind huge hidden dangers for the descendants.

"Minister Shen says that the Song people had everything, except for victory." Zhu Yijun returned the page of the *Diary of Activity and Repose*, which was filled with the word "win," to Feng Bao, and said a sentence that served as his approval.

The Song Dynasty was very good, with a large population, growing technology, and extremely prosperous commerce, but it kept losing, without any decisive, great victories, which ultimately led to the Southern Song even losing the entire world.

If

Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi had won at Gaoliang River instead of running away in a donkey cart, for the two Song dynasties, perhaps there would not have been so many regrets.

The lack of a decisive victory meant that the two Song dynasties were always trapped by the issue of cohesion, unable to move.