An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

Jiang Baobin quickly gestured for him to wait a moment, translating for Tom while inwardly complaining:

He's just another armchair strategist who talks a good game but is completely clueless when it comes to actually doing something.

After Jiang Baobin finally finished translating, Yu Lizhang impatiently continued:

"Don't think that corruption is only the domain of high-ranking officials; lower-level officials are just as busy."

"County magistrates and township heads are low-ranking officials; they may not have much power, but they have big appetites."

"They arbitrarily increase taxes when collecting them, and deduct half of the disaster relief funds as soon as they come in."

"They can charge an exorbitant price for road repairs and make a quick buck from anything..."

Jiang Baobin quickly gestured for him to wait a moment, then looked down at his scribbled notes and explained them to Tom.

Yu Lizhang scratched his head and waited for Jiang Baobin to finish speaking before saying:

"Ordinary people pay taxes with great difficulty, but in the end they don't even see a trace of it; it's all swallowed up by those people."

"The government of this country is fucking rotten!"

"Officials are embarrassed to go out if they don't embezzle; the more they embezzle, the more capable they seem."

"The result was that the Guo family's finances were empty, the army had no money to fight, and the people were full of complaints..."

"Another major problem with the government of the Min Kingdom is nepotism. Officials rise to positions not through ability, but through connections."

"Kai-shen's relatives and friends occupied most of the power."

"Especially the 'Four Great Families,' each and every one of them climbed up the ranks through nepotism..."

"Kai-Shen himself was the boss, and the Soong, Kung, and Chen families were his closest allies."

"The Song and Kong families need no introduction; one was Chiang Kai-shek's brother-in-law, and the other was a porter, who controlled finance and the economy."

"The Chen brothers (the nephews of Chiang Kai-shek, who had a sworn brotherhood with him) controlled party affairs and intelligence agencies, wielding terrifying power..."

"These people rose to power not because they had any real ability, but because they were related to Chiang Kai-shek."

"The first thing they did after taking office was to seek benefits for their own people."

"For example, the government's major projects and big business deals are all given to their own companies..."

"The Kong family's son opened a company called 'Yangzi Company' in Shanghai. Relying on his father's connections, he monopolized the trade of many commodities and made a fortune."

"The Chen brothers used intelligence agencies to suppress dissidents and, incidentally, to enrich themselves..."

"The entire government is a family business, with power and wealth concentrated in the hands of a small group of people."

"Nepotism not only exacerbates corruption, but also makes the government's efficiency shockingly low."

"Officials aren't there to do the work; they're there to make money. People who can actually get things done never get promoted."

"The result was that no one cared about the important affairs of the Guo family, while corruption became increasingly rampant..."

"Kaisen was aware of this problem, but he couldn't do without these confidants because his real power was maintained by these people."

"This vicious cycle has completely corrupted the government."

"The common people see this and are filled with resentment. Why are these few families monopolizing all the resources?"

"Social injustice has reached its extreme; the people's hearts have long been lost..."

"The corruption of the army in the Kingdom of Min is also notorious."

"Generals treated military funds as their own private money, cutting corners on military pay to buy big houses and take concubines."

"The soldiers are starving and freezing, their combat effectiveness is a complete disaster!"

The guy smacked his lips and concluded, "Tsk tsk, just you wait and see, the Guo family is doomed sooner or later..."

On the way home, Tom, who had been deep in thought for a long time, suddenly asked:

"Jiang, I sense that you didn't seem worried at all after listening to Yu's words?"

"I don't think you're a callous person. Don't you feel anxious about your country?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Baobin was secretly delighted.

He's done a lot of preparation these past few days, just waiting for the chance to show Tom his talents.

After all, as a lowly time traveler, Tom was the strongest ally he could rely on.

Although it is somewhat shameless to do this, everyone has to look out for themselves!

I must seize every opportunity to climb up the ladder!

I also want to win without lifting a finger, but I just don't have the chance.

This guy racked his brains to explain the meaning of the idiom "否极泰来" (when things reach their worst, they turn for the better) to Tom.

He then went on to talk at length about the theory of "reincarnation".

In his words, "the cycle of karma" is inevitable and eternal.

Natural laws and life forms are inescapably transformed in cycles.

Simply put, all matter in the universe is cyclical.

Right now is the lowest point for flower cultivation, but that's not scary; a rebound is just around the corner.

Tom seemed to understand but not quite, so he laughed and said, "Jiang, so you're an optimist after all."

Jiang Baobin immediately retorted: "No, no, no, I am precisely a pessimist, even a bit of a 'persecution complex'."

"But why am I not worried about the future (damn, I'm a cheat code)? It's based on considerations of culture and history."

"Do you know how many countries on Earth have maintained an unbroken cultural heritage?"

Tom shook his head; he was a journalist, not a historian.

Besides, nowadays, planting flowers is synonymous with ignorance, backwardness, and poverty, and nobody is willing to study it at all.

Therefore, Jiang Baobin always gets the answer right.

Jiang Baobin held up one finger: "There's only one, and that's planting flowers."

Seeing Tom's interested expression, Jiang Baobin knew that his homework had finally paid off.

If you encounter an arrogant person, a single impatient glance can wipe out all their efforts.

This guy boasted, "The Mayan civilization and the Mesopotamian civilization have disappeared forever."

"Egypt, India, and Greece still exist, but they are not the original ones."

"Changes have occurred in terms of race, institutions, and culture."

"Therefore, only our flower cultivation has been passed down for thousands of years and is still in its original form, never interrupted."

"But do you know? To persevere was to endure countless hardships and trials!"

"First, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty in 200 AD, a very serious and virulent infectious disease occurred, as well as peasant uprisings that swept the country, causing the population of flower growers to plummet from more than 50 million to more than 10 million;"

"A hundred years later, northern barbarian tribes invaded from the south, and almost all the Han Chinese in the Central Plains were killed, an event known in history as the 'Five Barbarian Invasions'."

"You've probably heard of the Tang Dynasty, several hundred years later, right? The An Lushan Rebellion resulted in the massacre of 70% of the population, approximately 36 million Han Chinese."

"Several hundred years later, the Jin and Yuan dynasties destroyed the Song dynasty, and at that time, 90% of the Han Chinese were massacred."

"Then came the great catastrophe at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were 100 million people in China, but after peasant uprisings and the Qing Dynasty's entry into China, only 14 million people remained."

"And that only happened three hundred years ago."

"So Tom, never underestimate my country; it's a land that can create miracles..."