knife

Chapter 358 Everyone is struggling
No one is stupid.

It is human nature to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune.

Whether it's people like Hong Zhan who stand at the top of humanity in this world, or people at the very bottom who struggle to even afford three meals a day.

They can all sense danger and will naturally choose to avoid it.

However, due to the vast differences in the information they have access to, their choices often differ significantly.

And this is the information gap.

The ultimate benefits brought about by information asymmetry are vastly different.

At that time, Li Dachui was still a legend among the people, and most people didn't even know that such a person existed.

How can you expect someone who has never traveled more than a few dozen miles from home in their entire life, or even been to the county seat, to have any far-sighted plans?
Being able to live each day well is already a sign of wisdom.

So often, even when the world changes and dynasties rise and fall, if you carefully examine those in high positions, you will be surprised to find that many of those who were on the stage before are still standing on the stage now.

Even those who used to stand in the corners of the stage are now standing in the very center.

There aren't actually many newcomers; sometimes, you could even say they're few and far between.

These few individuals, sometimes deliberately brought to the forefront, are meant to serve as role models for all those at the bottom of society.

As long as you work hard
As long as you work hard
Then you also have the hope of becoming someone like him, working your way up from the bottom and eventually standing in the center of the stage.

This is the smartest thing for those in power to do.

As a result, countless people have taken this role model as their ultimate goal in their struggle.

How many people ultimately succeed is not important.

Importantly, such a goal can reassure 99% of the people.

It even allows 99% of these people to comfort themselves after failing, saying that it wasn't because they didn't try hard enough, but simply because their opportunity hadn't come yet, and maybe it would be their turn next time.

So they settled down and began the next round of hard work.

Of course, in times of peace, the imperial court usually uses methods such as the imperial examination to provide the people with a path to upward mobility.

However, those who truly hold power naturally have upward mobility channels that ordinary people are unaware of and do not understand.

What ordinary people need to work hard their whole lives to achieve.
They may be born with it.

Your destination is merely someone else's starting point.

Just like Hong Zhan right now,
Wasn't he furious that Li Dachui impersonated him to kill Li Tai and pinned such a huge blame on him?

It should be noted that Li Tai was the rightful and universally recognized Crown Prince of Qin.

People like Linghu Ye marched under the banner of "purging the emperor's inner circle and eliminating treacherous officials."

If they win, shouldn't villains like Hong Zhan be executed along with their entire families to appease the late Crown Prince? If they don't avenge the Crown Prince and the Emperor, how can these victors justify their actions?

Therefore, Hong Zhan either needs to closely follow Wei Zhengdao or choose another powerful figure who can guarantee the safety of his family and ensure the continuation of its prosperity.

Wei Zhengdao is clearly unreliable.

Therefore, Hong Zhan's choices were very limited.

Basically, it can only be Li Dachui.

Innate masters are indeed the strategic nuclear weapon of this era.
But they are, after all, human beings with flesh and blood.

It's not that we come into this world naked and leave without any attachments.

Only those innate masters who are unfettered, unburdened, and willing to abandon everything can inspire fear in everyone else.

Tang Yin was a master of innate martial arts.
However, for the sake of the Tang family, he had no choice but to fight Hong Zhan first. In order to escape, he chose to fight to the death. Then, while still seriously injured, he challenged another master of the innate realm. He fought to the death and ultimately died on the battlefield.

Hong Zhan is a master of innate skill. He can come and go without a trace. Whoever offends him can be taken away without a sound. Even someone like Li Dachui cannot protect his subordinates from Hong Zhan's attacks.

But what about the Hong family?

If Hong Zhan dares to be the first, the entire Hong clan will immediately suffer.

After all, there aren't many innate masters like Zhou Zhi who are completely naked.

This is also why Zhou Zhi dared to threaten Linghu Ye back then.

If Linghuye dares to lay a hand on Li Dachui, Zhou Zhi will stop at nothing to deal with Linghuye.

Thus, Linghuye had no choice but to watch as Li Dachui gradually grew stronger and eventually became his greatest enemy.

Once you have attachments or entanglements, you can only step into the great net of the mortal world and struggle within it.

The only difference is that the struggles of such people have a different ultimate goal than those of ordinary people.

Whether for a living, for fame and fortune, for honor, for survival, or for some other inexplicable thing, everyone struggles in this web called the mortal world.

From birth to death, Hong Zhan struggles to secure a better future for his family.

Wei Zhengdao is struggling, both to keep his family from falling and to ensure the continuation of his political life.
Li Dachui is also struggling, striving to build the best country in his mind. Of course, under this grand goal, there are also some personal smaller goals.

No one can move forward easily; everyone carries a heavy burden and struggles on the road of life.

Ultimately, some people will leave a significant mark on history.
Some are remembered in history, while others are infamous for eternity; those who cannot eat from five tripods are cooked in five tripods.

Most people, however, vanish into the world like dust, leaving no trace.

Even their relatives and descendants will gradually forget their ancestors' past over the long years.

The blessings bestowed by a virtuous person will last only five generations!

While Li Dachui was striving hard in the south, in the far north, in a place called Zhen Ding Prefecture, the Tiele were also struggling desperately, or rather, fighting for their lives.

The mighty Yuan Dynasty collapsed and split into three after Yingzhuo's death.

Akdun occupied Yandu and gained the support of most of the important ministers and generals of the Northern Yuan. He nominally became the new emperor of the Northern Yuan and was also the most powerful.

However, after the Tiele led their troops to flee to Zhengding Prefecture, they rallied and led their troops to defeat the Yandu's punitive expeditions several times. They had already established a firm foothold and at the beginning of this year, they even declared themselves emperors in Zhengding and openly challenged the Akdun of Yandu.

The despicable Li Dachui let the Northern Yuan's eldest prince, Zhebie, escape at Qingtongxia, allowing Zhebie to lead his troops back to the Northern Yuan. Zhebie then marched all the way north and now has the support of the eight tribes of Wugudilie. Although they are living the most difficult lives, their strength is not weak. In addition, the northern barbarians are extremely loyal to Zhebie. Now, the fierce northern nomadic cavalry has given the two emperors, Tiele and Akdun, a great headache.

Because Jebe's men didn't discriminate when they looted.

He robbed the Tiele, and he also robbed the Akdun.

Whatever lands on the plate is food.

Neither Akdun nor the Tiele had any interest in dealing with Jebe, because they knew very well that attacking Jebe would be a thankless and arduous task.

You simply cannot find his main fighting force.

Unlike the subordinates of the Tiele and Akdun, who now have cities and farmland, with agriculture and animal husbandry being secondary, Jebe lived entirely by following the water and grass, without any burdens. He could roll up his bedding, mount his horse, and go anytime, anywhere.

When Li Dachui is mentioned, Tiele grits his teeth.

The current state of the Northern Yuan can be said to be entirely thanks to Li Dachui.

Even though he hated Li Dachui to the core, Tiele still had to keep a smiling face when he actually met with Li Dachui's men.

The Beiting Protectorate is now a powerful and well-equipped force, with its standing army, commanded by Xiao Changche, exceeding 50,000 men. This formidable army, if it were to slightly shift its offensive, would cause its opponents considerable distress.

Because, like the Tiele, they now have to guard against both Aktun and Jebe.

On the contrary, there is still a possibility of negotiation with Beiting.

With Akton, there was absolutely no room for negotiation.

It's a classic case of either you die or I die.

Recalling the scene at Xuanwu Gate where he was almost killed by Akedun, Tiele wished he could chop Akedun into seven or eight pieces to vent his hatred.

Footsteps sounded outside the door. Tiele stopped writing and looked towards the doorway, where Gao Qunshu stood.

"Your Majesty, Dean Zhou has come to visit!"

"Please invite Dean Zhou in!" Tiele said.

Dean Zhou, whose given name was Yi, was the deputy dean of the Zhiqiu Academy of the Beiting Protectorate. Tiele did not know exactly what role he played in the Yandu Incident, but it was undeniable that he led thousands of spies out of the tunnels to save Tiele's life.

From this perspective, Zhou Yi was the benefactor of the Tiele people.

Although this person's motives for saving Tiele were impure, for Tiele, death meant losing everything, while living offered a glimmer of hope.

For the Tiele people, who now have their capital in Zhen Ding Prefecture, Zhou Yi is also an indispensable figure.

Large quantities of urgently needed supplies were transported via Zhou Yi's caravan.

Now, caravans traveling north from outside the Great Wall cannot move an inch without the permission of the Beiting Protectorate.

"Zhou Yi greets Your Majesty!"

The chubby Zhou Yi bowed deeply to the ground, and before Tiele could speak, he had already straightened up.

If he were just a simple merchant, this etiquette would naturally be inappropriate. However, Zhou Yi was an important official of Beiting, and the Protector-General of Beiting was now at least on par with the Tiele. Bowing deeply was already a sign that Zhou Yi respected the Tiele very much.

Princess Chang Le was partly to blame for this.

It should be noted that in Yandu, Zhou Yi only gave Akdun a slight bow.

"Please have a seat, Dean Zhou!" Tiele leaned back in the large chair, his hands clasped together in front of his abdomen, looking at Zhou Yi with a half-smile: "You came from Yandu, right? How was it there?"

Zhou Yi smiled and sat down, but shook his head like a peddler's drum: "Your Majesty, you haven't seen the current situation in Yandu. The situation inside the city is barely acceptable, but in the surrounding areas, there are corpses of the starving everywhere, it's a terrible sight!"

(End of this chapter)