How could the general who rolled out of Hunchun's dead body be afraid of such a small scene? Even with the knife on his neck, he was not afraid. Instead, he smiled sadly.
"What the prince said makes sense and is so good... But I don't understand. Who are we that the prince just said? Who are you?"
"In the future, the prince will no longer be able to guard the beautiful scenery within the pass. If he has to retreat to the white mountains and black waters outside the pass, who will be the one to protect him in the end?"
"Hahaha... Your Majesty's calculation is really good! Now that His Majesty is still in the pass, we naturally don't have a share in this life of fine clothing and fine food, but we have to struggle to survive in the bitter cold land, relying on the sword of frost and snow to survive. Strengthen our body and bones, and temper our courage to fight!"
"Using suffering to preserve the martial spirit of my Jurchens? Is this your plan, my lord? When the country cannot be defended in the future, you will return to the white mountains and black waters. We savages will still be your swords and shields, and we can still continue to fight with the Han people. Fight, and finally protect your glory and wealth?"
"Is this your great plan? Is this the source of all your anger? Hahaha... Do you think we are the last retreat of the Manchus? Or the last essence?"
"Population? Fucking population? In the eyes of the prince, we are just a bunch of numbers? Are we the population that can protect you and serve you?"
"Minions! The remaining 1.8 million people in the White Mountains and Black Waters are all your minions! No matter whether they advance or retreat, they will protect you, right?"
"Haha..." Hunchun laughed like a ghost crying, "My lord! Your abacus has hit the head of every barbarian outside the pass! But why didn't you settle our accounts? What do we want? ?”
"Could it be that...we don't deserve the warm breeze and picturesque scenery in this pass?"
"Your Majesty! These savages also want to live and live a better life... They hope to have an iron pot at home, salt to eat every day, food to eat, and tea bricks to drink..."
"If thick and warm adobe houses can be built in the midst of white mountains and black waters, whoever still says he likes to spend the winter in a cellar is just a stupid roe deer!"
"Haha... Your Majesty! Have you ever thought about this? Have you really thought about standing on the side of these savages outside the pass?"
"You have given me a lot of rewards, but have you given any rewards to the ordinary people who are struggling in the snowy plains and seas of forests?"
"Even if there are no rewards, have you ever thought about what their lives are like? Those hunters, ginseng and gold diggers in the old forest... How do they live in such a humble way? What natural and man-made disasters do they encounter every day? "
Hunchun stretched out his right hand and held the edge of the dagger between his fingers, and slowly pushed it away, but his eyes were fixed on Guiziliu!
Prince Gong Yixin was dumbfounded. This was the first time in his life that he heard someone from outside the country say such words to him, and he was speechless for a moment!
Of course, Guiziliu has been to Guanwai. The royal family of the Qing Dynasty regularly went to Shengjing to worship their ancestors. Yi Xin also went there several times, but the farthest he traveled was Shengjing!
He has never been to the farther north of Shengjing. He has no idea how people live there. Everything is just word of mouth in books and people!
Shengjing is already a bitter and cold place for him, but in the eyes of outsiders, the Liaohe Plain is already a wealthy place that is almost the same as the Central Plains!
There are places further north that are 10,000 times more miserable than they are, and there are some distant relatives in the extreme east who are struggling to survive!
These words were like opening a window for the two princes. What came out of the window was the knife-like wind and snow, and the cruel living conditions in the cold zone were unfolding before their eyes like hell!
The Qing Dynasty has been established for more than 200 years, but these wild Jurchens still follow the life of the fishing and hunting tribes in the past. The Eight Banners' pay has nothing to do with them, and the policy of closing the customs to outsiders prevents them from getting investment in infrastructure!
In the two hundred years of the Qing Dynasty, apart from military investment, only the Liaohe River area could get some funding for water control. The rest of the wider world was completely in a state of chaos!
Only these people know whether their lives are hard or not, and today Hunchun just made it clear!
"My lord... you want to live a good life. Those savages also want to live a good life. Poor relatives like Baishan and Heishui want to live a good life even more!"
"I know what you want to say, that the imperial court has been very kind to those outside the Pass for two hundred years! I know that the imperial court has been very kind to those of us outside the Pass who are eating food and serving as soldiers, especially to a general like me who has a heavy army..."
"But there are not only soldiers outside the pass! There are also people...don't they just want to live a good life?"
The Fifth Master really couldn't stand Hunchun's aggressiveness and said sternly, "The imperial court is very benevolent and righteous. In the past two hundred years, the imperial court outside the customs has not collected any tax revenue or collected any corvee! Isn't this benevolent, righteous and good governance?"
"Haha... The prince is really telling lies with his eyes wide open! Yes, taxes and corvees are indeed not collected. The Han court collected a lot!"
"But how much money does the imperial court give to the Han people every year to control floods, and how much investment does it make in infrastructure such as roads, mines, docks, etc.?"
"What's it like outside the customs? There's not even a decent road. Once the Nen River, Songhua River, and Heilongjiang flood, the people can only move around and wait for the land to turn into a lake and continue..."
"That's all, that's all... It's useless for me to say this. Go and ask these kidnapper soldiers how many of their homes have two iron pots?"
"Do you know how many people still use cowhide bags to hold water and use them as pots to cook meat? Have you seen them these days?"
Hunchun took the dagger and stuffed it back into his waist. "You two princes, these words are superfluous... after all, you two have never seen the bitter cold outside the customs!"
"And your Majesty... He actually fought with real swords and guns against Rakshasa ghosts back then! Even if Your Majesty did not stand on the front line and charged into battle, when Your Majesty stood on that land, we men outside the customs were convinced!"
"Prince Gong...the money you gave me as a slave, I will send it to your house later! You have no idea what we want!"
Guiziliu was half drunk by these words, "What on earth... do you want?"
Hunchun sighed, "My lord... do you know the biggest difference between you and Lord Long Live? That is Lord Long Live, many times, he is willing to treat our subordinates as... human beings!"
"And what about you? You will always treat us as slaves..."
Hunchun said with a bleak expression, "Your Majesty... Many people once asked me in surprise why I was called this name? But as my official position gets higher and higher, not many people ask now..."
"But not asking doesn't mean they don't have doubts in their hearts. Of course, there are many people who know the origin of my name, so they don't want to tell me in front of me!"
"Why do I use a place name as my name? Solitary, why is this?"
