Chapter 872, the importance of being at the top of the food chain
It was already the 21st century before Liu Jin traveled through time. At that time, the land of China had gone through decades of reform and opening up and hard work, and finally lived a well-off life.
Liu Jin still remembers very clearly that whenever the Chinese New Year comes, everyone gets together and the topics they talk about are highly similar to the topics he hears now.
What everyone discusses is how much money they make in a year, whether they have a house in the city, which industries are the most profitable, what kind of life do rich people live, etc.
One is the Ming Dynasty, and the other is the world before I traveled through it. They are so similar.
This made Liu Jin also fall into deep thought.
In later generations, the land of China can rise again, relying on hard work, diligent work, and cheap labor to earn some hard money in the international market. Only then did it slowly develop and grow, and the people also
Start living a life of abundance.
Because after a hundred years of bloodshed, a history of humiliation, being in a colonial or semi-colonial state, and amidst hundreds of years of internal and external turmoil, China at that time could be said to be poor and weak.
The foundation was very thin, and a large amount of wealth was plundered by the great powers through a series of unequal treaties, leaving the country impoverished and left with nothing.
What's more important is that the level of science and technology at that time was far behind the world. It was difficult to compete with other countries in the world in all aspects, so there was no other way but to work hard, earn some hard money, and slowly accumulate.
Keep growing.
After decades, the world has slowly developed.
But even so, China before future generations traveled was still a developing country, not a developed country, and there was still a big gap between it and the world's strongest bald eagle.
At the same time, the Chinese people at that time were the most industrious people in the world. They worked the most hours throughout the year, but they received the least remuneration.
In other countries in the world, those developed countries, many countries spend half of their time on vacation throughout the year and only work about six hours a day for the remaining half of the time.
But people in these developed countries have very high incomes, and all kinds of things are very cheap. They live a prosperous life and have all kinds of wonderful benefits.
Such a huge difference has also caused countless people to think.
Can hard work make you rich?
The Chinese people before time travel were very diligent and hardworking, but why couldn't they get rich?
The gap between China and developed countries is huge, not to mention compared with developed countries, even compared with many developing countries, the gap seems to be very big.
what is this?
Liu Jin thought carefully, and then looked at the Ming Dynasty people in front of him. They were also very hardworking and very smart. They were of the same strain as the Chinese people before time travel. There was no difference between them. They were equally hardworking and smart.
But because of Liu Jin, a time traveler, Ming Dynasty gradually embarked on the development path of colonialism and capitalism.
It has only been a few years. Counting from the ninth year of Hongzhi to the fifteenth year of Hongzhi, it has only been six years. It can be said to be a very short time.
But in just six years, great changes have taken place in Ming Dynasty.
If nothing else, you can see it just from the lives of these ordinary people.
Compared with the ordinary people of Ming Dynasty in front of us and the ordinary people of China in later generations, regardless of technology and some things of the times, the living standards of the people of Ming Dynasty in front of us are much higher than the ordinary people of China in later generations.
More importantly, these people of the Ming Dynasty in front of them are confident and proud, full of confidence in the Ming Dynasty, and full of pride in their own blood and identity. Such self-confidence will definitely not be possessed by future generations.
There are still six years to go, and the development speed of Ming Dynasty seems to be faster and more effective than the reform and opening up in later decades.
After decades of struggle, future generations could not reach the Ming Dynasty that has undergone tremendous changes in the past six years.
Because the current Ming Dynasty is definitely the most powerful country on the planet, with the largest population, the most powerful economy, the most advanced technology, the most powerful military and the most intelligent and hard-working people.
Although it only lasted six years, the development of the Ming Dynasty was comparable to the decades of struggle of later generations.
"Why is the difference so big?"
"Except for the advancement of science and technology, the current Ming Dynasty is far from being comparable to the China of later generations. Why is this?"
Liu Jin frowned and thought carefully.
"There is a huge difference in this, that is, the Ming Dynasty has not experienced the history of ceding territory, paying compensation, losing power and humiliating the country, so the Ming Dynasty itself is full of vitality and has a strong foundation."
"If the Ming Dynasty were allowed to pay hundreds of millions in compensation to the outside world, hundreds of millions of taels of silver, plus the ruler's blood-sucking and other things, it is estimated that the Ming Dynasty would be troubled internally and externally, and it would also become skinny and without much vitality. Even if it had
Even if there are no opportunities, I’m afraid it will be difficult to develop and grow.”
"And now the Ming Dynasty not only does not need to pay external reparations, but can also continuously plunder huge amounts of wealth from all over the world. The huge wealth is continuously imported into the Ming Dynasty, nourishing the Ming Dynasty, and making the Ming Dynasty have abundant vitality."
Soon, Liu Jin thought of a huge difference.
That is a matter of one's own foundation and vitality.
In later generations, China has experienced a century-long history of humiliation. During the century-long turmoil, internal and external troubles, China's vitality has been damaged, and its foundation is too weak. It is really difficult to recover.
The Ming Dynasty is different now. It is full of vitality. The key is that it can plunder the vitality from all over the world and bring it back to nourish itself. In this way, even if there is an internal disaster or famine, the Ming Dynasty can easily solve it.
This is like a person. In later generations, China is equivalent to experiencing a serious illness. He is poor, weak, skinny, his vitality is severely damaged, and he will feel uncomfortable if he catches a cold or whatever.
But now Da Ming is different. He is strong and full of vitality. The key is that he can also plunder other people's vitality to replenish his own. Even if there is something wrong with him, Da Ming can easily get through it.
This is a huge difference, a fundamental gap.
"The six years of the Ming Dynasty can almost reach the time of several decades in later generations, or even far exceed it. The basis is different."
"Of course, the most important thing is that the Ming Dynasty is now at the top of the food chain, but China in later generations has always been at the end of the food chain."
"Being at the top of the food chain, the Ming Dynasty can plunder the outside world, and the things produced by the Ming Dynasty can also maximize the value, unlike later generations, who are at the end of the food chain and have to be deprived from above. The things they produce are only
It’s just a small amount of hard-earned money.”
"This is the most fundamental difference!"
Thinking of this, Liu Jin's eyes lit up, and he seemed to have figured out something.
Later generations of developed countries in Europe and the United States obviously didn't work very hard, but they lived a very easy life. Chinese people worked very hard, but they lived a very hard life.
The difference is that they are at the top of the food chain, and we are at the end of the food chain.
Of course, they occupy the most resources on the earth, and they occupy a large amount of land. Land means resources and living space.
So they can live a good life without working hard, but because we have a large population, little land, and small space, no matter how hard we work, we will actually live far worse than them.
This is like today's Henan and other places in the Ming Dynasty. There are many people and little land. What can we do no matter how hard we work?
On average, each person only has a little bit of land. Even if he is exhausted, the land cannot produce much food, and his life is still very miserable.
But after the Ming Dynasty acquired its overseas colonies, large-scale immigrants migrated to the colonies, overseas, and Liaodong. In these places, the land was vast and sparsely populated, and there was plenty of land and living space.
Even without much effort, you can easily live a prosperous life.
This is the importance of occupying resources and living space.
In later generations of China, more than one billion people were confined to a small area of land. The Bald Eagles were about the same size as us, but their population was only 300 million. From this aspect alone, their lives would be better than ours.
This point can be seen from Nan Bangzi of later generations.
Although Nanbangzi is a developed country, and although its per capita GDP is relatively high, compared with developed countries in Europe and the United States, Nanbangzi's living standards are far behind. There is not enough land and living space. Even developed countries can live the same life.
Very reserved, you have to think twice before eating spicy cabbage, far inferior to people in Europe and the United States who eat beef, beef, beef.
Now Ming Dynasty is finally on the right track.
The development of colonialism gave Ming Dynasty a vast land and vast living space, and it could also plunder other countries to supplement itself.
Such a Ming Dynasty can still live a prosperous life even if he is a little lazy.
What's more, the people of Ming Dynasty are not lazy, they are very diligent and very smart, so in just six years, Ming Dynasty has developed to this point.
After thinking about this clearly, Liu Jin had a smile on his face.
"It's good to be at the top of the food chain. You can plunder the countries and regions below. With the continuous input of wealth, the lives of the people of Ming Dynasty will be much better in the future."
"There are many benefits to this large living space. It occupies most of Asia, all of Australia and the Americas, and will also occupy Africa in the future. In the future, this living space will be huge. It can be used by billions of people, not to mention more than a billion people.
Live a prosperous life with enough land and resources to support you."
The more Liu Jin thought about it, the better he felt. It was worth traveling through time. The land he grabbed would be enough for the people of the Ming Dynasty to live a prosperous life in the future.
