Chapter 742: The Manifest Destiny of the Ming Empire (Second update, please subscribe)

It is indeed true that you are obsessed with appearances!

Although many years ago, Emperor Zhu had discussed the Ming Dynasty's national policy with Zuo Zongtang and others.

However, Zuo Zongtang and his men were obsessed with the Central Plains and their homeland.

To put it nicely, they are the old people from the Central Plains, but their ancestral temple is still in the hands of foreign races. How can the Ming Dynasty stay out of it?

To put it bluntly, who doesn’t want to return home in glory?

The traitor of the past is now the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty. He is second only to the emperor and above millions of people. What a glorious position!

Therefore, they hoped to promote change through Guo Songtao, whether by creating civil strife or competition. As long as the situation in the Central Plains became chaotic, they would be able to persuade the emperor to intervene in the future.

With the powerful military force of the Ming Dynasty, sweeping across the Central Plains would only take a few minutes.

But now, if we take a closer look at the mentality of those international students, they seem to understand your Majesty's thoughts.

"Your Majesty's deep intention is to use overseas students as a driving force to promote great changes in China..."

Wang Youling was surprised for a while before he said,

"Your Majesty's foresight is beyond our reach! The reason why Your Majesty is personally conquering Japan at this time is probably to use Japan as a springboard to establish schools in Japan and attract overseas students with the advantage of proximity. If all the soldiers and scholars in the Central Plains come from the Ming Dynasty, then within ten years, even if Li Zeng and others do not rebel, the young officers in the army will also rebel. By then, the world..."

Is the world changing, or...

Wang Youling's analysis made Zuo Zongtang nod in agreement, and then he said.

"In this way, with only a few million yuan in tuition fees each year, we can not only train tens of thousands of Chinese talents, but also give China a new look. At this time when the Anglo-Saxons are rampant in the world, only when China is united internally and externally can we turn the Anglo-Saxon world into our Chinese world. If our Great Ming is strong, then China will be strong, and if China is strong, then our Great Ming will be strong..."

After a long sigh, Zuo Zongtang's eyes became a little fanatical. His fanaticism was not because of anything else, but because of an unprecedented mission.

In the past, he was just the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, and all he thought about was governing the Ming Dynasty. But now? He is the prime minister of the empire, and his vision is no longer just the Ming Dynasty, but the whole of China and the whole world.

It is a competition between Eastern civilization and Western civilization.

"Your Majesty...you are truly a holy monarch!"

Once again, Zuo Zongtang was completely impressed by the foresight of the great emperor Zhu, and Wang Youling also agreed. "We are so lucky to be born under your majesty, and to personally create the Chinese world and the world of great harmony. If we can live to see such a world of great harmony, we will be willing to die!"

"The world of great harmony in China!"

Zuo Zongtang was drunk.

Although the tea in the cup was green tea from Wuding in the Central Valley, the pleasant aroma of the tea made him intoxicated.

As he drank the tea in the cup, his mind seemed a little dazed, as if he was in a dream. "This tea originated in China, but now it is cultivated in South America. When the Chinese world is united, the whole world will surely be Chinese..."

When these words were spoken, Zuo Zongtang, Wang Youling and others seemed to understand His Majesty's thoughts, and of course they also found their mission.

It was also on this day, just before the Lantern Festival in 1875, that the Ming Dynasty truly transformed into a world empire.

What is a world empire? It is an empire with a mission.

What is a real empire?

An empire that is not just in name only, but a true empire, must first give itself a universal mission. By assigning this mission to itself, the empire will make its people willingly promote the empire's cause. At the same time, this mission will also make the empire's existence sacred.

There are too many empires that can serve as examples of this, such as Tsarist Russia, whose mission was to transform itself into the "Third Rome". It had the mission of conquering the barbarians, civilizing the barbarians, and restoring the Roman Empire.

The Spanish Empire believed that its imperial mission was to resist the Reformation and maintain Catholicism. On the one hand, this idea allowed it to expand its territory in the New World, but on the other hand, it turned this mission into a burden that the empire could not get rid of. During the decline of the Spanish Empire, it still tried to restore Catholic influence in Europe.

What is the mission of the British Empire?

It is to exploit the world through trade and colonization, and to exchange poverty outside the empire for the happy life of the people in the empire. In short, "within the empire, there is plenty of food and clothing; outside the empire, there is poverty."

And what is the mission of the Ming Empire?

It was not simply a promise of prosperity for the people of the empire: "Within the empire, there is plenty of food and clothing; outside the empire, there is poverty."

Perhaps this was the most powerful source of the empire's legitimacy.

But the Ming Empire was different, because the Ming Empire was different from Britain. Britain had no mission of civilization, and the British Empire itself was a traitor in the Christian world - the first to betray Catholicism, establish a Protestant country, and spread Christian civilization?

Isn't this bullshit?

What the hell is the British Empire for the glory of Christ?

The mission of the British Empire is simple: business, trade, and making money. It is to prove everything with the prosperity of the empire. It is to use the poverty outside the empire to achieve a happy life for the people of the empire!

But the Ming Dynasty was different from Britain.

Because the Ming Dynasty is the inheritor of Chinese civilization, this means that the mission that the Ming Dynasty has to shoulder is not just the prosperity of the empire, but the continuation and development of civilization.

In the process of continuation and development of this civilization, the most important thing is of course expansion. What is the purpose of the expansion of the empire?

Since it is for the purpose of gaining wealth, it is also for the spread of civilization.

While acquiring wealth, Chinese civilization spread throughout the world.

For the revival of Chinese civilization - this is the mission of the Ming Empire!

This mission was bound to conflict with Britain, because Britain's world empire had seriously affected the Ming Dynasty. Similarly, the Ming Dynasty's expansion around the world also threatened Britain's interests.

On the surface, it seems to be a conflict of interests between two countries, but in fact it is a conflict of civilizations.

In this world, there is only one king, either the world of European civilization represented by the Anglo-Saxons, or the world of Chinese civilization.

On this day, Zuo Zongtang and Wang Youling talked a lot. They kept chatting and discussing in the office. What was the core of their discussion?

It was a clash of civilizations, a competition of civilizations, and of course, more of an imperial mission. On this day, the lights in the Imperial Council were on all night, and the two of them drank tea, chatted, discussed, and explored. The topics they discussed ranged from the distant Assyrian Empire to the Roman Empire, from the Roman Empire to the Qin Empire, from Spain to England, and finally back to the Ming Dynasty.

In the early morning of the next day, when it was almost dawn, Zuo Zongtang, after drinking a cup of strong tea, drew open the curtains, then looked at the rising sun and said with emotion.

"This is the manifest destiny of the Ming Dynasty!"

What is the Ming Dynasty’s Manifest Destiny?

We should definitely not limit our focus to the ancient land of China, but look at the whole world and implement the comprehensive expansion of Chinese civilization on a global scale!

Destiny is clear, destiny is clear!

It’s nothing more than China’s world of great harmony!

Wang Youling agreed deeply.

"This is the era of great harmony!"

(End of this chapter)