In the East Palace of the Imperial Forbidden City, the Imperial Prince Su Shu looked at his eldest son Su Youmin who was playing in the courtyard after breakfast.
The little guy has grown up, and Prince Su Shu is thinking about how to educate him.
A good education can at least ensure the lower limit of the heir to the empire. Even if there is a foolish emperor, he can still have a bottom line of foolishness.
Prince Zhanshi Wang Baiyun of the East Palace walked in in a hurry.
When Prince Su Shu saw this situation, he immediately invited Prince Zhan Shi Wang Baiyun into the study and asked his close guards to retreat.
Nowadays, it is extremely convenient to transmit information whether by telephone or telegraph.
Prince Zhanshi and Wang Baiyun hurried to the East Palace to meet him.
Prince Su Shu didn't even have to think about it, he knew that something must have happened that he couldn't tell on the phone.
Prince Su Shu's private company masters some telephone and telegraph technologies.
Of course he knew that this technique could leave traces.
In some things, once traces are left, they are evidence.
Prince Zhanshi Wang Baiyun wiped the sweat from his forehead and reported with a trembling tone: "Lu Zhongyuan's group of officers were intercepted by the military police.
They are being reviewed now and I have cut off all the tails."
When Prince Su Shu heard the news, he immediately ordered: "Don't pay any more attention to the affairs of Shu.
I have illuminated the way forward for King Qian Mingyi of Shu. The next fate of Shu depends on them.
The Shu Kingdom is really incompetent and cannot be helped."
Prince Su Shu made an immediate decision and immediately stopped sending retired officers to Shu through his power.
He had already used Shu to hold back the development of Rui in the early stages of the great changes in the vassal country.
The initial strategy has been achieved and we cannot let ourselves get stuck.
My father was happy to see the consequences of the East Palace intervening in government affairs.
But there is a bottom line that the princes must not touch, and that is to interfere with military power.
As the prince, Su Shu did not dare to interfere in military power, as this would easily touch his father's sensitive nerves.
After the Xuanwu Gate Incident by Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty.
Emperors of all dynasties have become extremely wary of princes interfering with military power.
Prince Su Shu ordered: "Inform our people, do business with peace of mind, and collect some information about the vassal countries."
Prince Zhanshi and Wang Baiyun understood what Prince Su Shu meant.
"Don't worry, Your Highness, I will take care of everything."
Prince Su Shu watched Wang Baiyun leave.
Today is not a morning meeting, and he has no meetings to attend.
Prince Su Shu looked at the information compiled by the Imperial Intelligence Department on the table.
The vassal states have now become a mess, and there are very few vassal states that can stand alone.
Most of these vassal states that have not yet come to an end are weak in strength or choose to wait and see.
It can be said that there are basically no vassal states that are truly indifferent.
Prince Su Shu did not have a thorough understanding of the current situation.
But he was only slightly concerned about the current situation.
Because he knows, no matter how these vassal countries are fighting, how are they doing?
This had almost no big impact on the empire.
Prince Su Shu read the intelligence of the vassal country, and he also read about the major events in the empire?
Major domestic problems are basically natural disasters and economic problems.
There was no solution for natural disasters, so the imperial court could only organize people to provide money and food for disaster relief.
Economic issues are a commonplace issue.
Corruption by officials, tax evasion by businessmen, and rampant smuggling among the people.
These three major economic problems have never been completely solved since the establishment of the empire.
There was a knock on the study door.
"Jian Ye, come in."
After the Japanese eunuch received permission, he immediately came in and reported: "Your Highness, Eunuch Li from Qianqing Palace has come to inform you that Your Majesty wants to see you."
Prince Su Shu heard that his father had summoned him, and he panicked, wondering if something had happened.
He then calmed down and sent his veterans to Shu.
It was a bit taboo for him to intervene in this matter, and he always acted very cautiously.
These people were retired soldiers and were sent to Shu.
Even if his father wanted to beat him, there was no need to reprimand him in person.
Prince Su Shu felt that his father must have been summoned for other matters.
The East Palace is a bit far from the Qianqing Palace, but it can be reached quickly by car.
He came to Qianqing Palace and saw his father sitting on a chair, watching the eunuchs playing videos.
These videos are all real scenes shot on European battlefields and American battlefields, and mainly record the performance of new weapons on the battlefield.
Emperor Su He saw the arrival of Prince Su Shu.
He smiled and said: "Practice is the only criterion for testing truth.
As the saying goes, it is a mule or a horse, and it is pulled out for a ride.
Whether a weapon is powerful or not cannot be seen from the parameters on paper. Only when it passes the test on the battlefield can it be a truly good weapon.
Nowadays, the weapon with the most outstanding performance on the European battlefield and the American battlefield is the rocket launcher.
In the early days of forming an army, I used weapons like rockets.
Rockets at that time were mainly used in naval battles.
The accuracy of the rocket is extremely poor, and the range is also very short.
It only replaces the role of artillery in certain scenarios where artillery is not suitable.
Thanks to the rapid development of industry and scientific progress.
Rocket launchers have surpassed artillery in both accuracy and range.
Even in the field of large-scale firepower delivery, rocket launchers have an advantage.
The only remaining advantage of artillery now is that it is cheap."
Prince Su Shu saw his father's gesture and sat down next to him.
"Father, science and industry are developing so fast.
The war today is completely different from the war ten years ago.
Even a famous general and a military academy graduate.
Famous generals commanded the army ten years ago, and military academy graduates command the army today.
The person who wins in the end must be a military academy graduate.
The development of science and industry profoundly affects the course of the war."
Emperor Su He praised: "Shu'er, I'm very pleased that you can see this.
The war is fought based on the comprehensive national strength.
The important indicators of comprehensive national strength are industrial strength and scientific and technological strength."
After Emperor Su He finished speaking, he waved his hand and asked the eunuch to remove the projection equipment.
"Shu'er, what do you think of this war engulfing the vassal countries?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Prince Su Shu knew that this was a test for him by his father.
His growth has already been recognized by his father. During this period, the number of tests his father put on him has gradually decreased.
But whenever something big happens, his father still wants to test his ability.
Prince Su Shu has already done his homework.
"Father, in my opinion, a serious war has broken out between the vassal states.
For the entire world, this is a setback in development.
The world is currently in a period of unprecedented change.
The emergence of agricultural technology allowed our ancestors to expand from small tribes in the Yellow River Basin to the entire Chinese region.
Before our dynasty, there was no substantial progress in technology, and agricultural planting technology still dominated the country.
This is also the case in all dynasties, and their performances are similar.
We are now in an era of vigorous industrial development.
Every year that the empire went through, earth-shaking changes occurred.
This was due to the empire starting industrialization and re-understanding the world through science.
As vassal states are rising stars, they should maintain a peaceful environment and vigorously develop science and industry.
Only in this way can these vassal states have a real future.
Now for a little profit, a cruel war breaks out.
I think this is extremely short-sighted behavior."
What Prince Su Shu said was his reflection on assisting his father in handling government affairs over the years.
Things that he thought were very difficult before now seem to be easy to solve.
This is how the empire's strength is growing rapidly.
The problems encountered by the empire can be completely solved with the gains brought by development.
Prince Su Shu is also stumbling upon his younger brothers.
Even his brother Su Ming, King of Qi, whom he had previously thought was more stable.
The State of Qi also recently joined the alliance formed by the State of Wu and participated in this war.
Emperor Su He drank a cup of tea and said with a smile: "Shu'er's thinking now is from the perspective of a big country.
Big countries have their own strategies, and small countries have their own ways of living.
Don’t these vassal countries want to develop their industries stably?
They can't do it.
The accumulated conflicts between countries and the accumulated conflicts within the country have reached a point where it is difficult to recover.
Only through war and redistribution of interests can we gain new life."
Prince Su Shu listened to his father's teachings and gained new insights.
"My father observed the changes in the vassal country from this perspective, and my son and ministers also had some feelings.
Where the vassal state is located is the king's choice.
However, some vassal states are rich in resources, such as Zhao and Chu, and some vassal states are poor in resources, such as Qi and Yue.
Because of different resources, the development speed of each country is also different.
Countries that develop quickly will become arrogant, and countries that develop slowly will become jealous.
This naturally leads to conflicts between countries.
This contradiction is not the biggest contradiction these countries have encountered.
All external causes can ultimately be attributed to internal causes.
The reason why these countries choose war is that there are problems with domestic development.
Industrial development requires a market, but the market in the vassal country has not been cultivated, so industrial development is slow.
The vassal states were established by us Han people.
The conflict between the Han people and the local indigenous people is also an extremely serious conflict.
It is precisely because of these two main contradictions that the vassal states must reshuffle their cards through war."
When Prince Su Shu felt this way, he mainly thought of his uncle, Prince Zheng Wang Zhongce.
Wang Zhongce, as the first prime minister of the empire, was one of the founders of the empire's industrial development.
From the beginning of Hanzhong to the nationwide layout of the imperial industry, it was all completed by Wang Zhongce.
Zheng Guo realized very early that there was a market needed for industrial development and that there were also conflicts that could result from the inability to sinicize the indigenous people.
The Zheng State began to adopt a segregation policy similar to that of the Liao State for black people in the country.
The policy was okay initially, but problems soon arose.
Wang Zhongce directly chose a more cruel policy and completely expelled the local indigenous people.
A large number of indigenous people were sold to various countries and became slaves.
The Zheng State introduced a large number of local indigenous people from India, Siam, and Burma who had not yet completed Chineseization. They accepted Chineseization in the Zheng State and became citizens.
Zheng's national power grew slowly but steadily.
The development of industrial strength can also match the needs of the domestic market.
Emperor Su He smiled and said: "Shu'er, you have seen a very shallow side.
But it’s pretty good to see this.
The most essential contradiction of these vassal states is their domestic distribution problems.
The powerful and big businessmen occupy too many interests, while the common people bear the cost of national development but do not share much of the benefits.
This essential contradiction cannot be resolved by vassal states and can only be transferred through war.
They want to satisfy the interests of all classes in the country through war and plunder.
If the most basic thing of distributing benefits is not done well, the country will have problems sooner or later."
When Prince Su Shu heard his father say this, he opened his mouth wide and could not close it for a long time.
"Father, the fundamental cause of peasant uprisings in all dynasties is land annexation.
This was an important trigger for wars in the agricultural era.
Land annexation means uneven distribution of benefits. The landlord class has occupied a large amount of land, and farmers have lost a lot of land and become tenants.
The Ming Dynasty, which is closest to our dynasty, died because of this.
Now that we have entered the industrial age, could the cause of the war be similar to land annexation in the industrial age?"
Emperor Su He saw that Prince Su Shu, under his guidance, had realized why the war started.
"Shu'er, I said before that when looking at a problem, you must focus on the most critical point.
Before our dynasty, land was the most important means of production, and land annexation was serious.
The interests of the country are in the hands of a small group of people. If the people at the bottom cannot survive, they will naturally choose to rebel.
Now is the industrial age, and industry is the means of production.
You only need to take a look at which group of people are in the hands of each country's industry.
The people of the vassal country were dissatisfied with their current life.
The powerful people who control industrial capabilities push countries to engage in arms races and even wars for their own benefit.
Driven by the tacit understanding of the powers of various countries, coupled with the ambitions of the vassal kings, war has become inevitable.
The Empire does not need to be involved in this war at all.
To provide support to any vassal country is to satisfy the powerful people of that country.
There were no righteous wars in the Spring and Autumn Period, and there are no righteous wars among the vassal states now, so the empire does not need to bear moral shackles."
When Prince Su Shu heard this, he somewhat understood why his father taught him this way.
His father must have known about the support he provided to Shu, so he woke him up.
He understood the fundamental reason why the war broke out, which meant that there was no Virgin Heart.
Prince Su Shu's tense face relaxed, he nodded and said: "Father, I understand.
It is too difficult to give up one's own interests. It requires great perseverance and love for the country.
The powerful people in the vassal country only regard the people of their country as cattle and horses. They don't care about the life and death of the people at all.
Such a country rises suddenly and falls suddenly.
They are absolutely no match for the Empire.
The empire only needs to support ordinary people's small factories and maintain economic vitality as it does now.
Restrict the powerful and big businessmen from invading the interests of ordinary people.
The empire only needs to develop step by step, and it will surely be able to suppress the vassal states.
This is the development path of the royal way. There is no need to show the hegemony of the empire and interfere in the war between vassal countries."
Emperor Su He laughed and said seriously: "Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty knew that the way of overlordship is mixed, and any policy that is useful can be used.
There is absolutely no need for self-limitation in the empire's strategy.
Bawang Dao Zazhi is still useful.
Develop your own strength, this is the kingly way.
But we also need to show the empire’s hegemony and vassal states that dare to cross the line must be suppressed.”