The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

It is clear that the vast majority of ordinary people did not have a single good day under the rule of the Manchu Qing dynasty.

But when the Qing Dynasty had to pay the price for its actions, it was still the common people who suffered first.

How unfair this world is!

"Wait, I'm a little confused right now."

"Let's start from the beginning."

Faced with the barrage of insults from the crowd, Yang Guang said he hadn't quite processed it yet.

"First of all, the Ming Dynasty did not fall to the Manchus, but to Li Zicheng, right?"

"Correct."

Zhu Youjian himself was certain of this.

At least in his eyes, the greatest threat to the Ming Dynasty was never the Manchus, but Li Zicheng!

"After Li Zicheng entered the pass, Wu Sangui learned that the Ming Dynasty had fallen, so he simply opened the border and let the Manchus into the Central Plains. So, to be precise, the Ming Dynasty did not fall at the hands of the Manchus, right?"

Yang Guang then asked.

No one understood what he was trying to say, but they still nodded in agreement.

That is indeed the case.

"In that case, isn't it only natural that the Manchus felt inferior or even fearful towards the Ming Dynasty?"

"Not only do outsiders think so, but even they themselves may feel that their entry into the Central Plains was not due to their own ability, but purely by chance."

"To them, this vast Central Plains is like a pie falling from the sky."

"They feel that this pie could be taken away at any time, so they want to seize the opportunity to take a bigger bite. I think that's understandable, right?"

Why do people think they are petty people who have achieved success?

If you see someone as a despicable person and observe that their actions are equally unscrupulous, then there's no need to doubt them further; they are indeed a complete and utter scoundrel.

They themselves may even know that they are not good enough for each other.

"They knew they were not worthy of ruling the Central Plains, but they were unwilling to give up this windfall."

"Therefore, after learning from the lessons of the previous dynasty, this decision was made."

Through various means, they suppressed the pride and dignity of the people of the Central Plains, completely annihilated those heroes who dared to resist, and imprisoned their minds through literary inquisitions and the alteration of various classic texts.

Every wise and benevolent ruler who founded a dynasty in the past would look for the shortcomings of previous dynasties and correct them.

Thus, the national policies were optimized generation after generation.

However, the Manchus did the exact opposite.

They didn't look at the merits and demerits of past dynasties, but only at the rebels who destroyed the major dynasties, and only wanted to find ways to target those potential rebels!

People have their own thoughts; if they feel they see no hope, will they turn the tide?

Then completely shut down their minds and never give them any hope from beginning to end.

At the height of the dynasty's power, those who might rebel were forced out and then suppressed.

Once powerful regional officials have amassed considerable influence, they may develop ambitions.

That's even simpler: elevate the status of the Eight Banners descendants without limit, until they are above everyone else!

Even the most meritorious high-ranking officials could only kneel down and call themselves slaves before the Eight Banners.

Ambition?

When treated like this, with dignity and integrity trampled underfoot, who could possibly harbor any ambition?

As for foreign enemies like the Song Dynasty.

This, ironically, became the thing the Manchus were least worried about.

They themselves came from outside the Great Wall, and for them, the area outside the Great Wall was as familiar as their hometown.

In the eyes of the Manchu emperors who conquered the Central Plains, those barbaric neighbors of the past were nothing more than a bunch of poor relatives who could be easily suppressed!

As for those foreigners on the other side of the ocean, they are good for nothing except tinkering with some strange gadgets.

Driven by their arrogance, they believed that the firearms and cannons they inherited from the Ming Dynasty were enough to allow them to crush the entire world.

They didn't crush them simply because it wasn't worth it. They believed that as long as they protected their muskets and cannons and prevented others from stealing their techniques, they would remain unmatched.

Therefore, the policy of closing the country to the outside world came about.

"So you mean they're all pig-headed, with the complete mentality of petty people, and from the founding emperor to the emperors after him, all they thought about was making a quick buck and leaving?"

With Yang Guang's detailed explanations, more and more people came to understand the mindset of the Manchu emperors.

It's true that a normal emperor couldn't understand this.

Why do some people not understand the difference between being full at one meal and being full at every meal?

But if you accept that they are not normal people, but utterly despicable beasts, then everything becomes clear!

"The founding emperor made a fortune, and every emperor after him made a fortune for himself."

"Therefore, every decision they made was not a good strategy for governing the dynasty, but rather an absurd decision to prevent the birth of a rebellion, like drinking poison to quench thirst."

"For them, as long as the rebels do not appear while they are in power, or at least do not gain momentum while they are in power, it will not affect their enjoyment."

"As for their descendants, perhaps every one of them is prepared to flee back to the borderlands!"

Two diametrically opposed emotions, arrogance and inferiority, continued to spread in the hearts of the Manchu emperors.

On the one hand, they felt that after inheriting everything from the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty was invincible.

The key is to prevent those shifty-eyed foreigners from stealing our firearms technology. If we keep this technology well hidden, no one in the world will be a match for the Qing Dynasty.

Thus, the policy of closing the country to the outside world came about.

Little did they know that just decades after the country closed itself off, technology and firearms on the other side of the sea had experienced a leap forward.

The cannons and muskets that the Manchu emperors treasured became scrap metal within a few decades.

If the Qing Dynasty had seized the opportunity presented by that period of industrial explosion, it could have maintained its position at the top of the world.

Unfortunately, their shortsightedness caused them to miss this golden opportunity.

On the other hand, when facing the gentry and common people of the Central Plains, they would always recall the scenes of their ancestors being slaughtered for plundering the borders of the Ming Dynasty.

In their hearts, the Celestial Empire had never perished.

However, in the past, the Celestial Empire in their hearts was the Ming Dynasty, but after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the Celestial Empire in their hearts became all the people of the Central Plains.

This is why they tried every means to block people's thoughts and suppressed people's dignity by carrying out literary inquisitions and forcing them to shave their heads and change their clothes.

Until they saw the vast majority of officials from the Central Plains kneeling obediently before them, wagging their tails and begging for mercy, like lapdogs.

At that point, they might feel they have succeeded.

Little did they know, it was like a spring.

When ordinary people are exploited to the extreme, their inherent resilience will begin to fight back.