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

"What does this have to do with us? When we sent troops north to attack the remnants of the Yuan dynasty, the Jurchen tribe didn't even exist!"

Old Zhu said irritably.

If anyone truly ingrained inferiority and servility into the very bones of the Manchus, it could only be Zhu Jianshen.

After all, before the Chenghua Emperor's purge, the Jianzhou Jurchens were still quite rampant.

They would plunder the borders of the Ming Dynasty, kidnap and kill the people of the Ming Dynasty, and break through the borders to seize various resources when the Ming Dynasty's border guards were not paying attention.

Before that, let alone being servile, his ferocious appearance was nothing like that of a lapdog.

During the Han and Tang dynasties, these were the barbarians who needed to be educated!

The problem was that Zhu Jianshen during the Chenghua era didn't have the patience to educate them.

And so a thorough sweep of the place ensued.

If one must find a reason for the servility of the Manchus, then it can probably only be traced back to the Chenghua Emperor's purge of the court.

Zhu Jianshen: "?"

"If you're not talking about the founding emperor, are you talking about me?"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with what I did, right? At most, it's just that it wasn't cleaned properly. I'll definitely pay more attention to that from now on."

Looking at the words on the sky, he almost ground his teeth to powder.

Who would have thought that someone would try to shift the blame onto him!

Did he make a mistake by sweeping away all the obstacles?

Does he mean he should just sit idly by and watch those people plunder the people of the Ming Dynasty without doing anything about it?

Does that mean the lives of the people of the Great Ming Dynasty are not lives?

If you make a mistake, you should be punished; if you kill someone, you should pay the price!

If he attacks the borders of the Ming Dynasty and plunders its people, but ultimately fails to make them pay the price, then he would be a truly pathetic emperor!

"It's not entirely your fault, it's just..."

"Who could have imagined that everything would happen so coincidentally?"

Zhao Kuangyin hesitated for a long time, and finally could only shake his head helplessly.

Who the hell could have imagined that the Jurchens, who were treated like pushovers and almost wiped out, would end up gaining such a huge advantage and conquering the Central Plains!

What a coincidence!

Li Zicheng destroyed the Ming Dynasty, and during the few days when he was still consolidating his power and unable to mobilize his army, Wu Sangui allowed the Qing army to enter the pass.

If it had been just a few days later, and Li Zicheng had reacted, let alone Wu Sangui letting the Manchus into the pass, even if he had led his troops into the pass with the Manchus, it would have been impossible for him to defeat the Shun army so easily!

If the situation remains deadlocked, the first to give out will definitely be the Manchu Qing Dynasty!

In those few short days, it's safe to say that if Wu Sangui had hesitated for even a few more days, the Manchus would never have been able to conquer the Central Plains!

Given their deep-seated inferiority complex, they would most likely just break through the barriers, grab some benefits, and then go back.

Just a few days' difference, a single thought, and the whole world was at stake.

Li Zicheng destroyed the Ming Dynasty, but the country fell into the hands of the Manchus.

"Those civil officials and gentry are also implicated!"

Thinking of this, Old Zhu also gritted his teeth.

Li Zicheng has already captured the capital, and his forces must be numerous elite troops and generals.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing army was unable to truly enter the pass, let alone Li Zicheng, whose military strength far surpassed that of the Ming Dynasty.

He wouldn't believe it if someone said that no one was behind Li Zicheng's downfall and death!

"If nothing unexpected happens, those gentry probably think that the Mongol Yuan dynasty, after taking control of the Central Plains, was lenient in governing the country. As long as they paid enough taxes, they could act tyrannically and do whatever they wanted. The Manchu Qing dynasty should be much the same."

"Little did they know that the Yuan dynasty lost the empire because of its leniency. Even if they couldn't understand Sun Tzu's Art of War, could the Manchus not see through such obvious matters?"

"They were overjoyed to welcome the Manchus into the pass and abandoned Li Zicheng. Everyone was preparing to live a carefree life like the Mongol Yuan dynasty, and they all felt that they were the ones who oppressed the people."

"Unfortunately, they guessed wrong. The path taken by the Manchus was completely opposite to that of the Mongol Yuan dynasty."

At this point, Zhu Di felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

I'll make you spineless cowards kneel!

Instead of kneeling to a good master, he chose Li Zicheng, who was clearly more worthy of loyalty than the Qing Dynasty.

When they knelt before the Manchus, most of them thought that the Manchus only oppressed the people. Little did they know that in the eyes of the Manchu Eight Banners, there was no difference between the gentry and the common people.

After squeezing the common people and finding there wasn't much profit to be made, they turned their attention to the local gentry.

Wu Sangui's decision to let the Manchus into the pass may have been a major disaster for Li Zicheng, but it didn't mean he was completely powerless to resist.

The final straw that broke the camel's back was actually the gentry who had originally agreed to surrender. It was their betrayal that prevented Li Zicheng from having the chance to mobilize his army for even a few more days.

"Yuan lost the empire because of leniency? How come you, Zhu Yuanzhang, ended up begging for food?"

"Logically speaking, if the policies are relaxed, shouldn't people's lives be pretty good?"

Zhao Kuangyin was somewhat curious.

Old Zhu: “…”

“We are lenient with the officials and gentry below us, only requiring each place to pay taxes on time and in the required amount, and we don’t care about anything else.”

Do you think the people can have a good life under such rule?

Of course, even if it was bad, it wouldn't be as bad as the Qing Dynasty.

After all, although the Zhu family were all long-term laborers for the landlords, they were at least called long-term laborers, not slaves!

In years with good harvests, people can barely make ends meet.

However, the Mongol Yuan dynasty imposed increasingly heavy taxes, and the harvests declined year after year, which led to widespread famine.

Compared to the Qing Dynasty, which was absurd from its founding, if Zhu Yuanzhang had to choose, he might actually choose the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, which he had no fond memories of!

At least the Mongol Yuan dynasty never intended to destroy the culture and history of the Central Plains.

They only want money and food.

In contrast, the Manchu Qing dynasty falsified history books, launched literary inquisitions, and forced people to shave their heads and change their clothes, attempting to completely erase the traces of the Central Plains dynasty's existence!

A person's death begins when they are forgotten.

The demise of a dynasty also begins when the people forget about it.

The Manchu Qing dynasty, by its own efforts, attempted to make everyone forget the former glory of the Central Plains.

Even in the end, they would rather kneel before the enemy than suppress the last resistance of the rebels.

"That really is a case of losing a country through leniency, but those emperors of the Mongol Yuan dynasty were far too careless."

"To a large extent, they probably didn't even respect the Central Plains culture, so naturally they wouldn't do anything unnecessary to target it."

Zhao Kuangyin was speechless for a moment.

That's really wide.

Unfortunately, this leniency didn't reach the common people; instead, it reached those who least deserved it.

With the imperial court indifferent, local gentry naturally did whatever was in their own best interest.

In the end, it is the ordinary people who suffer.

"At least I can retain some dignity and not be tortured to death as a slave."

"Perhaps it was the Mongol Yuan dynasty's approach that gave the wealthy and powerful a false impression, leading to a single wrong step that resulted in total defeat."