roccoschili Chapter 5408 The Art of Domination
Chapter 5408 The Art of Domination
Chapter 5408 The Art of Domination
Doulu Qinwang and the others were startled and quickly pulled Li Jinxing back, turning to Li Zhi to offer their advice.
"Your Highness, please calm down! We are newcomers after all. It is understandable that the local natives mistook us for someone who was hostile to them and acted somewhat violently. How can we kill them indiscriminately without distinguishing right from wrong?"
Li Zhiqi asked, “Then how do we deal with this? We don’t even have two thousand craftsmen in total. We have to continue cutting down trees to build camps, houses, and palaces, and we also have to cultivate land to grow food and vegetables. We also have to go out hunting to get meat to replenish our strength… Even if we are elite, we will get separated from the group. What if we are targeted by the natives? Wouldn’t that be dangerous? Every one of us is extremely precious!”
Some craftsmen and soldiers nearby were warmed by these words and became even more supportive of Li Zhi.
Wang Benli said, “We can’t use violence to suppress violence! These natives are ignorant and stupid, and do not know loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness. We should educate them with the principles of forgiveness and leniency so that they will be grateful for the emperor’s kindness, turn hostility into friendship, and help each other and be friendly neighbors.”
Li Jinxing and his soldiers, who were already brimming with murderous intent, had no choice but to stop upon hearing these words...
Li Zhi was so angry he almost twisted his nose. Had these scholars wasted their education?
He waved his hand and said, "I have made a mistake!"
He pointed to the natives still spying with weapons in the dense forest outside the camp: "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness are for people. Do you think those natives outside are human?"
Wang Benli said, "They are all living people, just of different races."
Li Zhi shook his head: "What is a human being? One who knows how to forgive and forgive, practices filial piety and brotherly love, and adheres to loyalty and righteousness! But those natives have no moral concepts, and all their thoughts and actions are based on the word 'survival.' How can such people be called human beings, no different from wild beasts? Your set of Confucianism and Taoism can still be promoted in Chang'an, but it simply won't work in this 'new Jin Kingdom.'"
Liu Yizhi nodded in agreement: "When the navy first entered Luzon Island, it brought silk, glass and porcelain to the local natives, making them rich overnight. However, for the sake of a little profit, they massacred Tang officials. It wasn't until the navy used thunderous means to suppress them and built a mound of heads, that the rest of the natives were terrified and finally submitted."
Xing Wenwei also said, "Talking about benevolence and forgiveness or the land of propriety with savages is just like casting pearls before swine. Only by killing them severely will they become obedient and submissive... Besides, there's no need to kill them all. We're new here and need to start all sorts of projects: building cities, reclaiming wasteland, mining, smelting iron... We need manpower! We can't just transport everything from the Tang Dynasty, can we? Even if we did, they would still be subjects of the Tang Dynasty. They can just farm the land; why would they be willing to mine and smelt iron?"
Li Zhi was immediately impressed. The two looked young and inexperienced. Although they came from the academy, they had never received his attention. He was thinking of nurturing them properly so that they could be entrusted with important responsibilities.
Who would have thought he would be so ruthless and decisive!
very good!
"what?!"
Doulu Qinwang was greatly shocked: "How could the Great Tang Dynasty, a superior nation and a land of propriety, commit such a tyrannical act?"
Li Jinxing scoffed: "Let's talk about the Celestial Empire and the Land of Etiquette when the Chief Secretary is captured and boiled by those natives!"
Although he had only recently joined the navy, he learned a great deal about overseas affairs from the naval officers around him. Those seemingly docile natives were actually more ferocious than wild beasts. Wild beasts only eat people when they are hungry, but natives would eat people whenever they felt like it.
Over the years, countless naval soldiers have been killed by natives due to negligence in vigilance...
Wang Benli's face turned pale: "This goes against the way of the sages!"
Li Zhi snorted coldly: "A sage? I am the sage who has conquered the south and embraced both kingship and hegemony!"
Who is the saint?
In this remote and wild island, whose knife is sharpest, whose fist is hardest, and whose words are law!
The victor is saint!
Doulu Qinwang and Wang Benli exchanged a helpless glance, both feeling a pang of regret. If they had known that Li Zhi would act so domineeringly and cruelly, they certainly would not have followed him across the ocean and left their homeland to assist him.
Seeing that no one was willing to advise him, Li Zhi ordered, "There is no need to kill these people; send troops to drive them away."
Doulu Qinwang and Wang Benli were overjoyed, thinking that Li Zhi had changed his mind. However, they were surprised to hear Li Zhi continue, "Follow them from a distance without letting them discover us. We must chase them to their tribe's location, ascertain the terrain, number of people, and fighting strength, and then ambush and kill them. Leave no one old or weak alive, and capture the young and strong as slaves."
"Here!"
Li Jinxing accepted the order and led his soldiers away at full speed.
……
Back at the camp, Li Zhi saw that Doulu Qinwang and Wang Benli still looked unhappy and resentful. After thinking for a moment, he decided to comfort them.
After all, he didn't have a single advisor when he set off from Chang'an. These people were able to follow him to this "newly established state" at Fang Jun's call, and their friendship cannot be taken lightly.
In a room that served as a study, Li Zhi and four advisors sat on the floor, boiled a pot of spring water and brewed a pot of tea, their expressions gentle.
He personally poured tea for the four of them and said to Doulu Qinwang and Wang Benli, "I know that what I have done is contrary to what you two have learned in your lives, but please believe that I am not a tyrannical person."
Doulu Qinwang held his teacup. Seeing that Li Zhi was willing to explain, his anger subsided somewhat: "But isn't this kind of cruelty in killing the old and young and abducting the young and strong enough to be considered tyrannical?"
Li Zhi did not answer directly, but instead asked Liu Yizhi and Xing Wenwei: "Both of you are graduates of Zhenguan Academy, so you must have received instruction from the Grand Commandant?"
Liu Yizhi humbly replied, "I dare not. The Grand Commandant is a man of profound learning, and few in history can rival him. In his presence, we are but fireflies, insignificant as we are."
Xing Wenwei also said, "I have listened to the Grand Commandant's lectures, but I dare not claim that he taught me by example."
His words revealed his deep admiration.
Li Zhi nodded: "In that case, I presume you two have heard the Grand Commandant say that 'there is no perfect system in the world'?"
Liu Yizhi nodded: "The Grand Commandant did indeed say that."
Li Zhi then asked, "What does this mean?"
Xing Wenwei said, "The Grand Commandant means that there are no fixed rules in the world. As the environment changes, the system must be adjusted accordingly to better suit the present. If one clings to a system and follows the old ways without knowing how to adapt, the result will only be being abandoned by the times. Changes in the heavens are not to be feared, ancestral laws are not to be followed blindly, and public opinion is not to be heeded!"
These last three sentences have become the guiding principles in the hearts of the students of the academy.
"Changes in the heavens are nothing to fear, ancestral laws are nothing to follow blindly, and public opinion is nothing to heed!"
Doulu Qinwang and Wang Benli had never heard this before, and were shocked when they heard it.
Li Zhi then said to the two men, “In the Tang Dynasty, it is natural to advocate benevolence and forgiveness, pursue morality and law, and follow filial piety and brotherly love. But let me ask you two, if we were to use this approach to influence and assimilate those natives, let’s not even discuss whether we could succeed, but how long would it take?”
Neither of them could answer.
They were naturally aware of the empire's "cultural export" strategy. Japan, which had already been "elected" to join the Tang Dynasty, was the first to be affected. Now known as "Fusang," Japan was implementing a policy of Sinicization throughout the country, with countless scholars traveling across the ocean to teach Confucianism, hoping to completely assimilate the people of the Japanese islands.
However, this process is fraught with difficulties and takes a long time.
If Japan, which shares a close geographical and ancestral connection with China, is like this, how much more so the primitive, ignorant, and barbaric natives on the land of the "newly established country"?
Li Zhi said gently, “I naturally know that the way of the king is the best policy for governing a country, but on the land of the ‘newly established state,’ such a gentle and lenient policy can only proceed step by step. When will it be possible to complete the establishment of a state? You don’t think that building a few thatched huts and hanging a dragon flag here makes it a vassal state of the Tang Dynasty, do you?”
"wrong!"
"In the eyes of those natives, we are robbers who have invaded their homes, we are enemies!"
"The blood of beasts flows in their veins; they will fight to the death against any enemy who threatens their survival!"
"If we cannot break and tame this wildness, we can never call ourselves the masters of this place!"
Li Zhi's voice grew increasingly stern: "Here, gentle methods will not work. We must concentrate our forces and unify our power, using ruthless methods and domineering tactics to rule this land in the shortest possible time and establish a kingdom that belongs to us, the Tang people!"
Those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts. Why should he use gentle strategies to gradually influence those barbaric and ignorant natives?
All we need to do is relentlessly slaughter with swords and bows, and sweep across this land!
They either die under the sword and bow, their race wiped out, or they are obediently tamed into slaves, their flesh and blood used to build this newborn nation!
He had no interest in engaging in empty pleasantries with those natives.
ten thousand years is too long, fight for now!
Suddenly, he realized that the things he had previously dismissed about Fang Jun were all true...
Doulu Qinwang and Wang Benli remained silent for a long time, having been persuaded by Li Zhi.
In any case, Li Zhi would never be satisfied with just a dock or a camp. How could the son of the Crown Prince be the kind of person who was content with the status quo and lacked ambition? As long as Li Zhi continued to expand his territory, he would inevitably cross the line with the natives, and battle would be unavoidable.
Since war is inevitable sooner or later, it's understandable to launch an attack on the natives early on...
Doulu Qinwang was a typical Confucian scholar, with a somewhat rigid mindset, but he was quick to admit his mistakes and correct them: "It was my ignorance and shallowness that almost ruined Your Highness's important affairs."
Wang Benli also admitted his mistake: "Your Highness is wise and mighty, with the style of Emperor Taizong. We are willing to follow in your footsteps and serve you."
Li Zhi was overjoyed: "What right or wrong is there? It's just a difference in political views. There are very few people in this 'newly established kingdom,' so we have to start all over again. As long as we join hands and work together with one heart, we will surely be able to rebuild China overseas! At that time, I and you will surely be remembered in history and be famous for all time!"
These words ignited the passion of Doulu Qinwang and Wang Benli.
Ultimately, the reason why people leave their homes and travel overseas is to make achievements and establish careers.
As long as they can build up the "new Jin state" and dominate the south and become famous throughout the world, who would care what methods they use or whether they conform to Confucian morality?
Just do it!
(End of this chapter)