The knight in the big world of American TV series

Chapter 2303

Of course, a mature politician cannot gamble everything on emotions.

Frigga's choice to trust Heimdall was not only based on emotional reasons, but also because she could never imagine why Heimdall would betray her!
First of all, Heimdall has no chance of seizing supreme power in Asgard!
Because he's not an Asgardian at all! While Asgard may appear enlightened, its political structure is actually far from enlightened; on the contrary, it's quite conservative. Supreme power can only be inherited by members of the royal family!

This has a bit of the old witch's "I'd rather give to a friendly nation than to my own slave" mentality.

First, I have to debunk a rumor about Empress Dowager Cixi—the saying "I'd rather give to friendly nations than to my own slaves" was not actually said by the old witch.

Empress Dowager Cixi said, "Use the resources of China to win the favor of foreign powers." This famous quote truly came from her own edict.

The story begins in 1900. That year, the Boxer Rebellion broke out in northern China, with the slogan "Support the Qing, Destroy the Foreigners," and the unrest escalated. They opposed all Western culture and vandalized, looted, and burned everything Western had. Western legations in Beijing were also besieged by the Boxers, many places were bombed to ruins, and some foreign envoys were killed. On August 14th, the Eight-Nation Alliance, with the direct objective of protecting the envoys and suppressing the Boxers, attacked Beijing. The next day, Empress Dowager Cixi, along with Emperor Guangxu and others, fled towards Xi'an.

On February 14, 1901, the Qing court issued an imperial edict issued by Empress Dowager Cixi in the name of Emperor Guangxu: "This summer, the Boxers instigated chaos and provoked hostilities with friendly nations. I, the Empress Dowager, accompanied the Emperor on a western tour, and the capital was in turmoil. I repeatedly appointed Prince Qing Yikuang and Grand Secretary Li Hongzhang as plenipotentiary ministers to act expediently and negotiate peace with the envoys of various countries. Yesterday, Yikuang and others telegraphed the outline of twelve articles of peace negotiations with various countries, which have already been approved. I further instruct the plenipotentiary ministers to carefully review the detailed articles, consider the resources of China, and win the favor of the foreign countries. Now that there is an opportunity to repent, it is appropriate to issue an edict of self-reproach... The treaty we have negotiated does not infringe upon our sovereignty, nor does it cede our territory. Considering the understanding of our friendly nations and the ignorance of our foolishness and tyranny, I am filled with shame and indignation upon reflection."

While Empress Dowager Cixi never explicitly stated "I'd rather give to friendly nations than to my own slaves," the phrase "Use the resources of China to win the favor of foreign powers" dealt a far greater psychological blow to the people. Simply put, it meant: Give as much as possible to foreign powers to maintain friendly relations. Why? Because to Cixi, even if the Boxers helped her fight foreigners, they were merely "lackeys," disposable figures, and could never truly feel a sense of ownership—that would be far more dangerous. Now that the Boxers had angered the foreigners, she had to weigh the pros and cons, with preserving her rule being the primary objective. Maintaining good relations with foreigners was crucial to preventing them from actually destroying the Qing dynasty. Because foreigners were powerful and ruthless, the Qing dynasty couldn't withstand such a move. The Boxers, however, were different. While these "lackeys" appeared to benefit the Qing, rejecting foreigners and defending the Qing, they were actually a greater threat. After all, foreigners still needed the imperial court as their agent, but if the Boxers grew too powerful, they would truly threaten Empress Dowager Cixi's regime. Therefore, the Boxers could be used to their anti-Western mentality as leverage against foreigners; but lackeys are lackeys, and they would not be treated kindly in essence.

This is the core essence of "using the resources of China to win the favor of foreign powers." The goal of preserving the regime far outweighed the dignity of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, while Empress Dowager Cixi relied on the Boxers to incite anti-Western sentiment to appease the people, she also had to be wary of the Boxers and simultaneously beg for mercy from the West.

So where did the saying "Better to give to friendly nations than to domestic slaves" come from? Although it didn't originate from Empress Dowager Cixi, it did come from the Qing Dynasty government. In the late Qing Dynasty, there was a conservative minister named Gangyi. He resolutely opposed the Hundred Days' Reform and did many things against it during the reform period, even proposing to depose Emperor Guangxu because Guangxu supported the reforms. This man also had a characteristic: he was better at talking than anyone else. He said, "The eight virtues of loyalty, respect, sincerity, uprightness, diligence, prudence, integrity, and clarity are essential for an official," portraying himself as a very upright and incorruptible official. I've noticed a pattern: officials who oppose reform and tend towards conservatism generally claim to be incorruptible. But behind the scenes, these people are often extremely corrupt scoundrels. Gangyi was such a person; when he returned to Beijing after supervising tax collection in the south, he brought with him thousands of chests of gold and silver jewelry he had amassed through plunder. In his "Record of the Wuxu Coup", Liang Qichao wrote: "Grand Secretary Gangyi once said to someone: 'Reform is beneficial to the Han people, but harmful to the Manchus! If I have property, I would rather give it to my friends than let the slaves share in its profits!'"

This passage means that the reforms would benefit the Han people, while the Manchus would suffer. The powerful officials of the court would rather give their own property to friends than share it with their own servants.

In that context, "Han people" actually referred to the general public; "Manchu people" referred to the powerful and wealthy.

As the saying was passed around, it became: "I'd rather give to a friendly nation than to my own slaves." But the meaning remained the same.

In reality, whether or not the old witch from Cixi actually said these words is not very significant.

Because their basic core is the same.

Why not give it to the household slaves?
Because the servants are one of our own, they might rise up and seize their master's property if they benefit from it!
Why did Cixi oppose the reform?
Ultimately, it's all about power!
After all, no matter how much benefit the friendly nations receive, they can't just walk into the master's house and seize all the master's property! They're just after a quick buck and leave! They won't touch the core interests of Cixi and the ruling class!

They are still the rulers.

But if those Han Chinese officials and the general public were to gain power, they could change the dynasty in no time!
Although this situation is very different from the current situation in Asgard, the principle is the same!

Frigga gave Heimdall the utmost trust, so she wasn't afraid of Heimdall betraying her.

After all, the worst that could happen if he betrayed Asgard was the loss of Heimdall himself; he posed no threat to the power structure of Asgard.

He could not possibly usurp the power of Asgard!
He's not even an Asgardian!
Secondly, she wasn't afraid that Heimdall would betray Asgard!
Who can he sell it to?
Vanaheim?

Please, Vanaheim has been unable to recover for thousands of years because of Hela's actions. Hela was too ruthless.

But who else is left besides Vanaheim?

Uh... that's all!
Asgard has done a really good job in this regard. None of the Nine Kingdoms can actually threaten Asgard!

The Light Elves are a group of extreme environmentalists and hedonists who lack even the most basic political structure. Although they have an Elf King, he is essentially a figurehead leader. They are somewhat like the Holy Roman Empire—neither holy, nor Roman, nor imperial.

There are so many mountain lords within the area that even the Elf King himself doesn't know exactly how many there are!

They even entrusted Asgard with the most basic orbital defenses... Under these circumstances, how could they possibly plot against Asgard?

dwarf?

Not to mention that.

While they were slightly stronger than the Elves of Light, their strength was limited. If it weren't for Asgard, they would probably have been enslaved and sold into slavery throughout the universe eight thousand years ago!

Dark elves... they're all extinct!
Why did Asgard go to such lengths to eliminate the Dark Elves? On one hand, it was because the Dark Elves were all insane; on the other hand, it was also for Asgard's own benefit!
The last one left is the Frost Giants... Pfft, Heimdall and the Frost Giants are conspiring to plot against Asgard?

This could be called the funniest joke in Asgard for ten thousand years!
Unless their intention is to use this to make all Asgardians laugh!

Therefore, from both an emotional and a self-interested perspective, Heimdall could never betray them!
If that's the case, why act so stingy?
Heimdall was actually quite pleased with Frigga's trust.

After all, the royal family still trusts me!

……

at the same time.

At the Eternal Altar.

Sif stared at the bizarre scene before her, lost in deep thought.

Is this the Altar of Eternity?
She found herself on a barren planet. She tried to find others, but she discovered that she could only passively remain in place, motionless, staring at the scenery before her.

She became extremely frightened.

She tried to scream, but found that she could only open her mouth and not make a sound. She tried to use weapons to destroy everything around her, but she was horrified to find that she and everything around her seemed to be in different dimensions. She was like a ghost in legends, unable to touch anything!
Just when she was feeling desperate, the desolate scenery suddenly brought a change!
A figure is walking towards us from a distance!

A pale-faced man is holding his daughter, who is dying of thirst, and prays to the gods for salvation.

"Great Rap, I beg you to answer your believers and save my daughter!"

The man's name was Ger, and he had lived on this planet for generations.

Three days ago, he was driven out by his tribesmen, who forbade him from migrating with them!
During those three days, he and his daughter didn't even see a drop of water. His daughter couldn't hold on any longer!

In despair, he could only pray to Lapu, the god of light whom they had worshipped for generations, for rain to alleviate the drought. Sadly, the god he so desperately sought did not appear, not even as his daughter breathed her last. Suddenly, he saw two streaks of light, one black and one gold, flying away into the distance. Dragging his severely dehydrated and exhausted body, he stumbled forward in pursuit. Through his blurred vision, he saw a vast expanse of green—an oasis. This awakened his will to survive, and he rushed towards the oasis without hesitation.

Sif discovered that she could move, but strangely, it wasn't her own choice to move; she was simply passively following the familiar-looking man in front of her.

She finally realized that she seemed to be an observer!
And everything happening before her eyes was the experience of her new friend, Ger!

Finally, the man reached the oasis. His eyes, which had long since dried up, were now filled with ecstatic joy. Geer threw himself into the pool and drank the water in large gulps.

After climbing ashore, he headed deeper into the oasis. His intuition told him that there he would find his god, Lapu, and offer him his unwavering faith in exchange for the planet's blessings. Ger staggered towards the oasis's depths, but suddenly tripped over something, cutting his hand on a strange piece of metal. However, to his astonishment, not a drop of blood flowed from the cut; in fact, it healed rapidly!

"Thank you, God of Lap, for your blessings!"

Still clinging to his devout faith, Ger believed this was a gift from his god. He knelt down, holding the necklace around his neck, and prayed in gratitude. Meanwhile, in the center of the oasis, the ecstatic god Lap was joyfully celebrating his victory over the Black Death Sword's wielder.

This guy suddenly appeared out of nowhere, holding a divine weapon called the Black Death Sword. He killed many of his followers, which angered the god Lap. So he confronted this strange guy, and the two began to fight. Then his followers and warriors all died in the battle.

Only he is left!

He discovered that the divine weapon known as the Black Death Sword was incredibly effective against their gods!

The Black Death Sword could devour the blood of gods to make its host stronger. Fortunately, that strange creature hadn't actually killed many gods and wasn't very powerful, so the god Lap got lucky and became the hero who killed the Black Death Sword's host.

"The Black Death Sword must be destroyed! It can no longer be a weapon that harms the gods!"

After searching around the corpse for a long time, Lap God found no trace of the Black Death Sword.

That's because the Black Death Sword possesses a degree of self-awareness; at the moment its host dies, it automatically retreats into the shadow world. Unable to find the Black Death Sword, Lap could only vent his frustration on the pile of fruit in front of him. At that moment, Gel smelled the fragrant aroma of the fruit, rushed forward, and with only food in his eyes, grabbed a piece of fruit and began to devour it.

"Look who this is?"

"I don't recall ever inviting you to join this feast."

The god Lap, who was watching the drama unfold, was already displeased to see a weak mortal daring to eat his food without his permission.

This day was already bad enough for Lap God.

His followers and all his servants and warriors died.

He's now a lone commander!

Lap was not a powerful deity in the Pantheon, and he ruled over only a few planets. Therefore, he was not qualified to live in the incredibly luxurious Pantheon.

He could only live his own quiet life within his own divine realm.

They were mocked by the powerful gods of the Pantheon as rural deities.

That's fine.

Now he's all alone. For a god, he can lose everything, but he can't lose face!
How is he supposed to face people after this?!