Dreaming back to 1949, the great powers were there to deceive us

On August 8, Carter walked into Hu Zhenhua's office holding a newspaper.

You can tell from his expression that this guy is in a low mood.

Hu Zhenhua picked up the newspaper he had thrown on the table and saw eight big words written on the front page: Abandon illusions and prepare for battle.

This article is a response to the US's comments on its relations with China.

Hu Zhenhua's eyes rolled, he jumped up and looked at Carter.

"My friend, do you think this could be targeting the industrial area?"

Carter became suspicious when he heard this.

He grabbed the newspaper and started reading it again more carefully.

Once a person has something to hide, he will feel that the other party is targeting him everywhere.

After Carter finished reading, Hu Zhenhua grabbed the newspaper and began to read it word by word. Since he wanted to scare the other party, he naturally had to find a good excuse.

In fact, Lao Hu's move was unnecessary.

The deterioration of the relationship between the two sides was a gradual process. Carter had heard too much bad news, which accumulated and filled his heart with pessimism.

With this mentality, he saw bad news in everything he saw.

After Hu Zhenhua finished reading the newspaper, he didn't say anything, lit a cigarette, and stared out the window in a daze.

The birds in the trees chirped and danced happily among the branches.

After an unknown amount of time, the phone on Lao Hu's desk suddenly rang. Lao Hu answered the phone and said,

"Invite him in!"

Jimla visited again, and with him was another person: Mike.

As soon as Carter saw the guy, he immediately went up to him and shook hands cordially.

"Sir, why did you come here in person?"

After Carter finished speaking, he quickly waved to Hu Zhenhua and said with a smile,

"Hu, come quickly. Let me introduce you. This is Mike, an assistant to Mr. Henry of the National Security Council. He is one of the White House staff."

Lao Hu quickly stood up and shook hands with the other party cordially.

"Hello, sir. I am Hu Zhenhua. Chongming will be honored to have you here!"

Carter acted as interpreter.

After exchanging greetings, both sides took their seats.

Jimla was originally going to sit next to Mike, but was pushed aside by Hu Zhenhua.

When it comes to flattery, it has to be Lao Hu!

"Mr. Mike, your arrival demonstrates the profound friendship between our two countries and the efforts made by the United States to improve relations. I wonder if I could have the honor of guiding you around."

After Carter translated, he immediately said,

"Hu, Mr. Mike has come here in secret this time. It is not convenient for him to appear in public. Please understand."

Hu Zhenhua looked a little embarrassed, but he was very well-mannered and smiled.

"That's a shame. The people here support free economic policies and the US dollar. If you could visit, it would surely help the United States make decisions. More options are always good."

The more allies, the better. Lao Hu also wants to try to see if he can pull Mike to his side.

Mike didn't want to waste any more words on this topic, so he smiled and said,

"Cooperation is a two-way street. It's not enough for us to just agree. Chairman Hu, I'm here today to seek your advice."

Hu Zhenhua was flattered and said with great trepidation,

"Sir, you're being too polite. I'm also a member of the free world. If you have any questions, we can discuss them."

"Hahahaha!"

Mike laughed for a while and then got to the point.

"You once told Morris that you could let Mi Yuan enter the polar bear territory. Is this true or false?"

Lao Hu's smile froze on his face.

Yes, he did say that and offered Morris 10 billion euros.

I was just bragging at the time, but I didn't expect the Americans to take it seriously.

This is really a dilemma. If I admit that I talked nonsense, I would be slapping myself in the face.

Am I, Chairman Hu, shameless?

Mike looked at Hu Zhenhua's expression and had given up hope, but suddenly the other party said,

"This is a long process and it's impossible to see immediate results like Chongming did."

Carter asked immediately without waiting for Mike to speak.

"how much time is required?"

“About 40-50 years!”

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

The United States is a society where voting is the key. The president can only be re-elected for two terms at most. If you come up with a plan and it takes half a century to see results, no one would use it.

Although the United States is rich, it is not a country that can show off its wealth!

Not to mention that we don’t know how effective the plan will be, even if we knew, the higher-ups might not use it. Don’t think that those officials all have a public-spirited mindset.

The quarrels in Congress can be summed up in four words: interests and compromise.

When Hu Zhenhua saw that these three guys looked constipated, he knew that they were in trouble.

Old Hu was immediately relieved, and thought proudly: It's not that I'm not capable, it's that you guys are unwilling to use my Zhang Liang strategy! What can I do?

Jimla coughed twice and asked,

"Why does it take so long?"

"Because by that time, the free world had already won a great victory!"

This topic really aroused the interest of the three people. Mike smiled and said,

"Hu, why do you think the free world will win? What's your basis for this?"

Hu Zhenhua smiled. He decided to fool Mike today. If he succeeded, it would be interesting. Hu cleared his throat and said,

"Let me tell you a historical event."

"Around 200 BC, Qin launched a war to annihilate Zhao. Besides direct battlefield action, Qin also waged an economic war against Zhao. They dramatically raised the price of copper and iron, by more than tenfold. This significantly increased the cost of copper and iron purchases for Zhao. Simultaneously, merchants, driven by profit, recruited a large number of workers to mine and smelt copper and iron. In ancient times, the population was fixed, and with everyone busy smelting copper and iron, the land was left uncultivated. By the autumn harvest, Zhao suffered from food shortages and soaring prices, leaving the people destitute and ultimately annihilated by Qin!"

Hu Zhenhua looked at everyone present and asked,

"Everyone, what inspiration does this history give you?"

The magnificent history, countless vivid lives, and heroic figures are often described in only a few words in history books.

After everyone exchanged ideas, Carter spoke first.

"The prerequisite for launching an economic war is that Qin's national strength becomes even stronger."

Hu Zhenhua nodded.

"Indeed, during the Warring States period, Zhao was a powerful military, while Qin was strong in both military and political power. The world situation today is very similar to that period in history. Look at polar bears; aside from their military prowess, they have little else to commend them."

Mike suddenly remembered something and asked,

"Hu, it seems that the Qin State finally perished, right?"

Hu Zhenhua immediately looked at him with a higher opinion. This guy was well versed in Chinese history, no wonder he was sent here.

"That's right, because the path they chose is exactly the same as that of polar bears!"

Mike immediately asked,

"What path is this? Did socialism exist over 2000 years ago?"

Hu Zhenhua glanced at him with a half-smile and said,

"I don't want to dwell on this issue. If you're interested, you can read about this period of history. I believe it will be enlightening!"

Mike pondered for a moment and smiled.

"Hu, can you please be our teacher and explain to us why the Qin Dynasty fell?"

Hu Zhenhua was helpless and said,

"Mike, it's not that I don't want to talk about it, but I really don't understand much. The history we see is just a corner of the truth, it's incomplete and one-sided, and what I see is only a small part of this corner. It will mislead you."

Mike picked up the teapot on the table, filled Lao Hu's cup, and said with a smile,

"Well, let me tell you something. I believe the gentlemen here have the judgment."

"All right!"

Since I can’t refuse such a kind invitation, I, Old Hu, will be your teacher again.

"The Qin Dynasty's national system was a groundbreaking initiative. It abolished feudal fiefdoms, established prefectures and counties, and strengthened central power. Logically, this should have led to long-term stability, but the reality was the exact opposite. Why? The Qin Dynasty's demise was due to many factors, including the emperor's incompetence, tyranny, corruption, and the refusal of the remaining six states to return to their cause. But I believe the most fundamental reason was the lack of a fault-tolerant mechanism."

"If a country can still function normally even without a certain person or group of people, then the country is healthy. Otherwise, the country is unhealthy."

Hu Zhenhua looked at Mike and smiled.

"So, the U.S. national system is very complete."

Mike smiled happily, which showed his confidence in his country's system.

Old Hu glanced at the crowd and found that they were listening very attentively, and continued,

"The Qin laws were extremely detailed, regulating every aspect of people's lives in the form of laws. For example, if an adult man in the Qin state cried for no reason, he would be punished by having his hair, eyebrows, and beard shaved off."

"For example, during the Qin Dynasty, people who littered were sentenced to tattooing."

"For those who love to flatter and fawn, the Qin State is their hell. Those who violate it will be tattooed on their faces."

"Eating beef, wearing fancy clothes, or even wearing silk shoes are all illegal and punishable by severe punishment."

"These regulations were originally harmless, but the problem was that most people in the Qin Dynasty were illiterate, making it impossible for them to understand the laws. As cases mounted, officials began imposing heavy penalties to deter others. This had a serious consequence: the people viewed Qin laws as harsh, and if they did something they believed was illegal, they would try to conceal it, weakening the imperial court's control over the local areas."

Among them, the most serious consequence was the Daze Township Uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. The reason for their uprising was that those who missed the deadline would be executed.

The rule that those who fail to meet deadlines should be beheaded is not necessarily a law in Qin law.

The Qin bamboo slips discovered at Shuihudi in the 20s contain information about the penalties for being late for corvee labor. According to the slips, those who were three to five days late would be verbally reprimanded by their superiors. Those who were six to ten days late would be fined a shield, and those who were more than ten days late would be fined a set of armor. Notably, there is no mention of beheading for being late. Furthermore, the slips state that "water and rain will eliminate the excitement," meaning that labor would be relieved if there were unavoidable circumstances such as continuous heavy rain.

This point is also implicitly described in "Records of the Grand Historian".

In the relevant records about Chen She's uprising in "Records of the Grand Historian: The Biography of Chen She", Sima Qian narrated in an affirmative tone that "those who miss the deadline shall be beheaded according to the law", but looking back, we can clearly know that the source of Sima Qian's words should be Chen She's "You all have missed the deadline due to the rain, and those who miss the deadline shall be beheaded."

Please note that this sentence was said by Chen She, not stipulated by the law.

"Records of the Grand Historian" is an extremely rigorous historical book. If there were relevant regulations in the Qin law, Sima Qian would not have said through Chen She's mouth, "You all encountered rain and have missed the deadline. You should be executed for missing the deadline."

Why did Chen She think that "those who miss the deadline should be executed"?

Later historians believed that the Qin law was too harsh in its implementation, which gave the people the impression of "brutality". This makes it easy to understand why they like to think of the worst case scenario when they encounter a situation.

Considering the military garrison that Chen She and others were involved in, the punishment might be relatively severe, but it would never be the death penalty.

In fact, Qin law was very humane in many aspects. For example, the government would reward those who bravely stood up for justice.

Hu Zhenhua talked a lot and everyone listened with great interest, but when they thought about it carefully, it was very different from the current situation.

Carter took advantage of the time when Lao Hu was drinking water to moisten his throat and said,

"What are the similarities and differences between Qin and a polar bear?"

Hu Zhenhua put down the water cup and said with a smile,

"The Qin Dynasty's lack of tolerance was reflected at the grassroots level. The Qin laws were so detailed that they shackled the common people, making it impossible for them to self-regulate their professions. Once they encountered misfortunes, they could no longer survive, and rebellion became their only option."

"When it comes to the similarities and differences between Qin and the polar bear, first of all, they both adopted new systems. Moreover, both mobilized national power and built many large-scale projects! Their military equipment was extremely advanced, and their society was a two-tiered structure: government and common people!"

"The advantage of a two-tier structure is that the country can concentrate its resources on major tasks. Just look at the polar bears' five-year plans; they achieved industrialization in just ten years! But the disadvantages are also very obvious. Officials have too much power, which easily breeds corruption. Businesses are politicized, and the state monopolizes the market, leading to a lack of competitiveness and innovation. For more details, study the polar bears more closely; you'll gain valuable insights!"

What Hu Zhenhua said had not happened yet. At that time, the polar bears had just experienced World War II and were still in the recovery period, and the officials were still relatively clean.

Their special supply system is still in a controllable stage.

The second leader after Uncle Steel who really experienced large-scale corruption was the one who took over. At that time, the special supply system was completely out of control, and corruption spread to the entire national leadership.

Therefore, what the United States saw at this time was the polar bear's powerful military strength and terrifying weapons design and production capabilities.

Mike frowned and asked,

"Information was not readily available in ancient times, which is very different from today. Using the Qin Dynasty as an example is a bit far-fetched."

Hu Zhenhua did not explain too much and smiled.

"Society develops, technology advances, but one thing remains constant throughout history: human nature! While history doesn't simply repeat itself, it does have striking similarities. Mr. Mike, China has 5000 years of history, and many patterns have repeated themselves countless times."

Suddenly, the white man became interested in history. He thought about it and asked,

"When do you think polar bears might become a problem?"

"Within ten years!"

Mike's eyes lit up and he asked,

"Why?"

Hu Zhenhua smiled.

"The country's top leader has too much power! The political struggle for that position is fierce, and all parties will inevitably grant them special privileges in order to win over officials!"

Hu Zhenhua knocked on the table and shouted,

"Privilege will corrode every aspect of the country!"

"Chairman Hu..."

The meeting lasted more than three hours. It was originally intended to discuss the situation, but it became a symposium for exchanging historical information.