He fiercely criticized the Manchu scholar clique and the twelve emperors of the Qing Dynasty.

Zhao Shuyao's remarks about "contentment" and "protecting one's own livelihood" lingered in the spacious room for a long time.

Lin Jing stopped taking notes, placed her pen next to the outline, and looked up from the paper, staring intently at the young man sitting opposite her.

There was no scrutiny, no platitudes, only a deep respect for the survival philosophy of the underprivileged.

"Zhao, your father is truly an extraordinary person," Lin Jing exclaimed sincerely, her voice slow and gentle. "Really, he understands gratitude and life better than many of us who are busy every day in this city."

Lin Jing leaned back in the sofa chair, her brows furrowed, as if she were conducting a difficult self-analysis.

"What you just said is very thought-provoking." Lin Jing spread her hands. "In this industry, we have studied for so many years, witnessed all kinds of so-called high-end games, and earned a considerable salary every month."

"But why is it that when we have free time, or when we see certain information online, we become so anxious and so easily lose our mental balance? Many people are indeed not as insightful as him."

Zhao Shuyao picked up the glass of water on the coffee table. The warmth traveled through his palm. Instead of criticizing anything, he chose a very inclusive understanding.

"Actually, I can completely understand this anxiety and imbalance." Zhao Shuyao took a sip of water to clear his throat, a peaceful smile on his lips.

"Times have changed after all." Zhao Shuyao put down his water glass. "In the past, everyone lived in the same village, gossiping about each other's neighbors, and there were only a few points of reference."

"Now everyone lives in a network. As soon as you open your eyes, the algorithm will push the world's most luxurious lifestyle in front of you. Faced with such a huge gap, people will feel unbalanced, which is instinctive."

Zhao Shuyao looked straight at him and steered the conversation to a deeper level.

"Although the times have changed, the essence of being a person and navigating the world has never changed." Zhao Shuyao leaned forward slightly, his gaze fixed on Lin Jing. "Reporter Lin, do you know what my father's last words to me were when I left my hometown in northern Jiangsu to study at Nanjing University?"

Lin Jing's professional radar instantly activated; she knew the real content of today's interview was about to begin. She quickly sat up straight and gripped her pen again: "What is it? I'm very eager to know."

A vivid look of nostalgia appeared in Zhao Shuyao's eyes.

"That morning, he saw me off at the bus stop at the village entrance," Zhao Shuyao said slowly, repeating each word carefully. "Actually, it was just a few words. He said, 'The most valuable thing about a person is to have self-awareness.'"

He looked at me and earnestly instructed me: "Shuyao, you must remember this, your life is different from mine. You are someone who has read so many books and is going to go to the big city, but you must remember that when we farmers cultivate the land, we must guard the soil moisture; when you go out into the world, you must guard your heart."

Only Zhao Shuyao's steady voice remained in the suite.

"No matter where you go in the future, never lose sight of your original aspirations. Stay true to your principles, walk the right path, and live an upright life."

Lin Jing's fingers tightened suddenly as she held the pen. "To cultivate the land, one must guard the soil moisture; to be a person, one must guard one's heart." These ten words, without any fancy words, forcefully demonstrated a powerful vitality that remained steadfast despite the storms of the outside world.

"That's why." Zhao Shuyao's tone suddenly changed at this moment, and his expression became sharp. "The reason why I would give a lecture at Dongda University, in front of so many people, to absolutely oppose Professor Yan Chongnian's absurd views, and finally, without any mercy, expose those pseudo-historical facts in public."

Lin Jing was slightly taken aback, her thoughts quickly shifting from rural philosophy back to the historical turmoil before her. She looked at Zhao Shuyao, a young man who had perfectly combined grassroots morality with academic integrity.

"Now that I've heard what you said and seen your current state, I think everyone watching on TV can understand your actions back then." Lin Jing nodded, then posed a very practical question.

"But Zhao," Lin Jing's gaze sharpened, pointing directly to the heart of the storm, "you publicly angered a leading figure in academia until he fainted. Weren't you afraid of retaliation from that circle? After all, you're just a student who hasn't even received your diploma yet."

Upon hearing this question, Zhao Shuyao suddenly laughed. It wasn't a forced smile, but a hearty laugh that was a mix of three parts teasing and seven parts certainty.

"I'm not afraid, Reporter Lin, I'm not afraid at all." Zhao Shuyao interlaced his fingers and placed them on his knees. "Since I chose to stand up and slam that table, I must have already considered the worst possible outcome and been prepared to bear it all."

Zhao Shuyao spread his hands, his tone becoming relaxed and even slightly humorous.

"I'm an adult. The most basic common sense for adults in society is to be responsible for their words and actions, right?" Zhao Shuyao raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't even anticipate the inevitable backlash from being unfairly treated or having my graduation certificate blocked, and then I just got hot-blooded and went to argue with people, then I would be a fool."

Zhao Shuyao paused, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

"That's called incomplete brain development; they just went in headfirst with a burst of enthusiasm and got themselves killed."

The cameraman couldn't help but grin wildly behind the viewfinder, and Lin Jing was also amused by this down-to-earth description.

"In life and in business, one must always think things through carefully." Zhao Shuyao put away his smile and showed an extremely tough rationality. "The art of war says that one should consider defeat before the battle. I am not being reckless. I am precisely striking at those historical nihilists within a reasonable framework of rules."

Lin Jing drew a heavy circle on the outline. This was what made this young man so terrifying: he possessed extremely high moral standards, yet also incredibly shrewd and experienced in his methods.

Once such a person gains control of the discourse, those academic cliques who rose to power by whitewashing reality will have no chance of survival.

"That's true, plan before you act." Lin Jing nodded in agreement, then smoothly steered the conversation toward the future, "You're about to graduate, and although you turned down the offer to stay at the university, have you thought about what kind of job you want to do after that? After all, once you leave the ivory tower, survival comes first."

Zhao Shuyao leaned back, making a thinking gesture. He had already reached a conclusion on this issue, but he needed to give an answer that was appropriate for a young person.

"I haven't decided on a specific job yet," Zhao Shuyao answered frankly without any pretense. "Maybe I'll take the civil service exam, maybe I'll find a job in a company, or maybe I'll just become a full-time self-media person online."

He paused for a moment, then sat up straight again, his eyes revealing absolute determination.

"But," Zhao Shuyao's tone suddenly became more serious, "no matter what I do in the future, even if I work on a construction site with my dad tying steel bars, my commitment to popularizing the true history of the Ming and Qing dynasties will never change. Even if I end up carrying bricks, I will still expose those hidden historical facts."

Lin Jing was taken aback by this backbone. She looked at the young man in front of her with clear and firm eyes and nodded.

"It's clear that you have a great passion for history." Lin Jing turned to the last page of the interview outline, and hesitated for about a second.

As a television reporter, she was well aware of the sensitivity of the question she was about to ask. In the current academic climate, directly comparing two feudal dynasties could easily trigger a huge public opinion storm.

But that is precisely where the value of news lies.

"Zhao, may I ask a more direct question?" Lin Jing stared intently into Zhao Shuyao's eyes, posing her final probing question, "Since you've been explaining things all this time, why do you like the Ming Dynasty so much, or rather... why do you dislike the Qing Dynasty so much?"

Lin Jing quickly added a precondition to ensure the neutrality of the issue: "After all, both are part of our Chinese history and culture, and each has its own historical limitations."

The moment the question was posed, the air in the suite seemed to freeze.

Zhao Shuyao's pupils contracted slightly.

He was well aware of the weight of this question; if his answer was even slightly off, he would be accused of "undermining unity" by the group of Manchu remnant trolls and cultural compradors who had been lurking on the internet.

This is not just CCTV's camera lens; it's the judgment seat watched by countless eyes across the internet.

But he did not choose to avoid it, nor did he choose to compromise.

Zhao Shuyao's lips slowly curled up, revealing a magnanimous acceptance that saw through all hypocrisy.

"Reporter Lin, actually, your question is slightly off-target." Zhao Shuyao's tone was calm, his voice not loud, but extremely penetrating. "I have clearly expressed my attitude in my online articles. I dislike any feudal dynasty, whether it was surnamed Zhu or Aisin Gioro, and I absolutely do not miss it."

Lin Jing nodded slightly; this starting stance was absolutely flawless.

"Because in that era of absolute imperial power, the lives of ordinary people were miserable; this was determined by their class affiliation," Zhao Shuyao continued, pushing the logic forward. "However..."

He emphasized his words, leaning forward to project an intense sense of pressure.

"When we study history, we are always drawn to specific events and their contributions to this land, and we make comparisons. That's only natural, isn't it?"

Zhao Shuyao's gaze was sharp as a knife.

"My main research focus is the Ming and Qing dynasties. Reporter Lin, when you see the archives and flip through those millions of words of original county gazetteers, you will understand my feelings."

"What I saw in these two dynasties was completely different."

Zhao Shuyao stretched out his left hand and stopped in mid-air.

"In the historical records of the Ming Dynasty, I see no marriage alliances, no indemnities, no ceding of territory, and no tribute. I see the emperor guarding the country's gates and the monarch dying for the state! Even though it was corrupt and decadent in its later years, its backbone remained straight. This makes me sincerely admire their strength and integrity as a dynasty."

Then, Zhao Shuyao stretched out his right hand and pressed it down hard in the air, his eyes revealing undisguised coldness and disgust.

"And what do I see in the historical records of the Qing Dynasty?"

Zhao Shuyao spoke slowly and deliberately, each word like a heavy cannonball striking the carpet in the room.

"What I saw was the 'keep your hair or lose your head' policy, the extreme cruelty of the Jiading Massacre and the Yangzhou Massacre, the burning of over three thousand ancient books during the compilation of the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Treasuries), and the literary inquisition that made scholars afraid to even write a single poem!"

Zhao Shuyao stared directly into the main camera lens, setting the tone for this interview and all his future battles.

"The Ming Dynasty made me marvel at their power, but the Manchus..." Zhao Shuyao sneered, uttering the last few words.

"The Manchu Qing dynasty only reminds me of their utterly thorough and vicious castration and destruction of our thousands of years of Chinese civilization!"

These chapters might seem to have strayed from the main theme of the book, but they were actually written to make the male protagonist's actions more three-dimensional and to explain his personality and behavior on many occasions. If you don't like them, I can write less of these later chapters.