owlsbooks Chapter 2017 Pantheon Donglin Party (asking for double baodi)
Chapter 2017 Pantheon Donglin Party (asking for double baodi)
Chapter 2017 Pantheon = Donglin Party (asking for double baodi)
Different from ordinary people.
The closer ordinary people are to death, the more open-minded they become, because they have to be open-minded, because everyone knows that death is bound to come. Without expectations, there will be no disappointment, and everyone knows that humans can only live for a hundred years at most, and as they get older, their quality of life will deteriorate.
There is no way to stop this either. No matter how rich you are, the longer you live, the worse your quality of life will inevitably be. Just like people in their thirties are bound to not be as carefree and comfortable as those in their teens.
Apart from anything else, the digestive ability alone is different.
When you were a teenager, you could stay up all night and still be energetic. You could go to bed right after eating, and when you woke up, you would have a bowel movement and feel comfortable. But when you are in your thirties, things are completely different. If you eat a midnight snack and go to bed, you will find that your digestive system will feel a little uncomfortable the next morning. If you go for an X-ray, you will find that the midnight snack you had last night has not been completely digested!
The same goes for sleeping.
When I was 17 or 18, I could fall asleep almost immediately after I lay down. After my 30s, my sleep quality dropped drastically. I either couldn’t sleep or I couldn’t sleep well. (This is the author. After I turned 32, I felt that my health was not as good as before. I used to update at 3 or 4 in the morning, and I would wake up the next day without any problems. Now it’s no longer possible. I go to bed at 3 or 4 in the morning, and I feel uncomfortable the next day.)
Apart from sleeping, everything else is changing as well.
When you are in your sixties or seventies, no matter how healthy you are, you will have some problems to some extent, and your quality of life will inevitably decline.
This is useless even if you have a lot of money.
Many rich people, in order to live longer, spend money on all kinds of medicines, some even on some mysterious drugs, but the question is, is their quality of life really high?
When they reach their point, perhaps they just want to simply live.
Of course, this is out of reach for ordinary people like us. But how does the quality of life of those rich people compare to when they were young?
It is even more painful at the end of life.
Once you close your eyes, you lose consciousness. That is called a happy funeral.
This way, not only will you not suffer, but your family and friends will also suffer less. (The author has personal experience. All of his elders have been bedridden for a long time, and he personally took care of his grandfather. It was extremely tiring.)
The key is that kind of torture will make the person feel that life is worse than death!
Many elderly people are in a state of distress when they reach old age. There is a saying that goes, a good death is worse than a miserable life, but in fact, when you really reach that point, you will find that a miserable life is actually worse than a good death!
So the closer ordinary people are to death, the more open-minded they are. At least that's what the author has seen. After all, when you die, there's no pain... This is the truth. I've seen it more than once!
But it’s different for gods, especially those in the Pantheon, because they can’t see their own death!
They can live for a very long time, and even they themselves don't know how long they can live!
So they have no expectation of death at all!
What they expect is to live forever, and the concept of "eternity" has even begun to spread among gods. They believe that they can live forever like those demons... Yes, demons can live forever... provided they have enough souls.
This is also the reason why the gods and demons made deals back then.
Why do gods control so many worlds but still cause a shortage of the power of faith?
Instead of being able to splurge?
The answer is that they must abide by the terms of the deal with the devil, and they must pay tribute to the devil! A large part of those dead souls will flow to the devil dimension! In order to ensure the number, the gods need to constantly provoke wars so that the world they rule will never have peace!
I don’t know which demon lord is so genius that he actually reached an agreement with the Pantheon, allowing the gods to have the ability to rely on the power of faith. At the same time, the demon lord does not have to do anything and can obtain souls endlessly.
Demons do like to destroy and ruin, but that is just a hobby; their main goal is the soul of the material universe.
If a soul could be obtained without doing anything, no demon would refuse such a deal.
The key is that such transactions can continue forever!
And the gods also got what they wanted. As long as faith exists, they can live forever!
This makes them completely unprepared for death, which is impossible on Earth. When they were on Earth, they also had a lifespan.
The most typical example is the Egyptian gods. Ra wanted to retire and let his son Set take over. Osiris was old and wanted his son Horus to take over.
If the gods were immortal, none of this would happen.
Even the succession of power among the ancient Greek gods was related to lifespan. If the fathers were not old, the next generation would really be unable to defeat them!
But now all of this is gone.
Because they can never die, the gods began to feel that they are eternal!
Since they will never die and even their quality of life will never decrease, why should they be open-minded about death?
does not exist at all!
According to his age, Zeus should have died long ago. But what about now? He can still have sex with beautiful women or boys every day. If he died, these things would no longer exist!
How could he not be afraid of death?
There's no shame in that.
At least that's what Zeus thought.
"Who isn't afraid of death? Even the gods of death, whose namesake is death, are afraid of death! Yes, I am afraid, Kai. There is no shame in that."
Zeus did not show too much anger in response to Kai's questioning.
In fact, the moment he admitted that he was timid, he not only did not feel ashamed, but instead felt a sense of relief.
It’s like...if you have no shame, you are invincible!
Once people let go of their sense of shame, there is really nothing to be afraid of.
Of course, Zeus won't do this alone.
He turned his head and looked at the others: "Aren't you afraid of death? Are you willing to face Ger?!"
The gods were silent.
In fact, during the previous meeting, many people proposed to send troops to attack Geer, but each time it ended in failure.
Do you think there are still brave people out there?
If you really think so, you are wrong!
Do you know the Donglin Party?
There are many different opinions on the reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Some people blame the emperors, saying that Emperor Wanli was lazy and negligent in government, Emperor Tianqi was absurd and excessive, and Emperor Chongzhen was suspicious and indecisive. Some people blame the eunuch party, saying that Wei Zhongxian and his gang harmed the country and the people and killed loyal officials. Others believe that it was the rebellion of bandits, such as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, who burned, killed and looted everywhere, shaking the rule of the Ming Dynasty. However, a careful study of the history of the Ming Dynasty will reveal that the culprit that led to the fall of the Ming Dynasty was actually the Donglin Party.
When talking about the Donglin Party, many people's first impression may be the fearless Zhou Shunchang in "The Five Tombstones", or the iron-willed Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou. However, if you have a deeper understanding of the history of the late Ming Dynasty, you will find that the Donglin Party members are not all positive images. In particular, there are many "angry young people" in the later Donglin Party who claim to be noble and unrealistic. It is these people who pushed the Ming Dynasty into the abyss of destruction. A notable feature of the Donglin Party members is that they like to talk big and say "the rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of every man", but when the country is in danger, they often stand by and watch, or even add fuel to the fire.
A notable characteristic of the Donglin Party is that they like to talk big and say "Every man has his share of responsibility for the fate of his country", but when the country is in danger, they often stand aside and watch, or even add fuel to the flames. In 1642, the Ming Dynasty had a rare opportunity. At that time, the Battle of Songjin had just ended between the Ming and Qing dynasties. Although the Ming army was defeated, the Qing army was also seriously injured. Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Taiji, realized that it was not easy to completely defeat the huge Ming Dynasty, so he took the initiative to propose peace talks with the Ming Dynasty. Huang Taiji was very sincere. He personally led the civil and military officials out of the city for miles to welcome the Ming Dynasty envoys. His attitude was sincere and the conditions he offered were quite friendly: the Ningyuan and Tashan lines were the boundaries, and no aggression was allowed; the Ming Dynasty refugees were repatriated; the Ming Dynasty provided silver and gold to the Qing Dynasty every year in exchange for ginseng and sable fur; the two countries became brotherly states. For the Ming Dynasty, which was plagued by internal and external troubles, this was undoubtedly a good opportunity to catch its breath. If it could negotiate peace with the Qing Dynasty in the north and concentrate its efforts on quelling the internal strife and reforming bad policies, it would be entirely possible for the Ming Dynasty to continue its reign.
The Donglin Party members, however, scoffed at this. They shouted "no marriage, no compensation, no cession of territory, no tribute" and clamored "the emperor guards the national gates and the king dies for the country". In their view, how could the great Celestial Empire negotiate peace with barbarians? Anyone who made such a suggestion was simply a sinner of the Ming Dynasty! Under such pressure of public opinion, in order to clarify his position, Emperor Chongzhen pushed all the responsibility for peace talks to Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War. He executed Chen Xinjia on the charge of "collaborating with the enemy country" and flatly rejected the Qing Dynasty's peace proposal.
The Ming Dynasty missed an opportunity that could have changed the course of history, and this was only the beginning of the Donglin Party's misfortune for the country...
The Donglin Party not only misled the country in foreign policy, but also had many problems in domestic affairs. Their struggle with the eunuch group headed by Wei Zhongxian almost ran through the entire Tianqi Dynasty. On the surface, the Donglin Party seemed to occupy the moral high ground, shouting to reform the current malpractices and create a clean and honest administration, while the eunuch group was their opposite, monopolizing power, harming loyal and good people, and being corrupt. The power of the eunuchs comes from the emperor. Without the support of the emperor, the eunuchs have no right to speak. Wei Zhongxian is an old servant who grew up watching Tianqi, and he is loyal and respectful to the emperor. To put it bluntly, the evil deeds of the eunuch party are the result of the emperor's acquiescence. The Donglin Party fought against the eunuchs, and in the final analysis, they were challenging the imperial power. This group of Donglin Party members talked about "loyalty to the emperor and patriotism" every day. They knew that the eunuch party was the emperor's minions and was a force deliberately supported by the emperor to check and balance them, but they still had to fight to the end. The eunuch party was corrupt and there were also many greedy people in the Donglin Party.
When Li Zicheng entered Beijing, only a few eunuchs stayed by Chongzhen's side. What about the Donglin Party members who usually shouted "Emperor and Father"? They either knelt down to surrender to Li Zicheng or turned around to lick the heels of the Qing Dynasty. The Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party were fighting with each other all day long, causing chaos in the court. How could they have the energy to govern the country? How could the Ming Dynasty, which was plagued by internal and external troubles, withstand such turmoil?
After Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill, Prince of Fu Zhu Yousong established the Southern Ming regime in Nanjing. The Donglin Party immediately began to display their "art of struggle" again. This group of people either secretly manipulated or blatantly used the Southern Ming court. They intrigued and fought for power all day long. They were still scheming even when the country was about to perish.
Another "unique skill" of the Donglin Party is Qingyi. What this group of people like to do most is to interfere in the government affairs and criticize this and attack that at every turn. On the surface, they are upholding justice and maintaining morality, but in fact they are just seeking fame and satisfying their vanity.
Qian Qianyi was a famous man in the Ming Dynasty and was known for his integrity. However, when the Qing army entered the pass, he immediately changed his face and ran to work as an official for the Qing Dynasty. Later, he wrote a book called "Tou Kuang Ji" to record his "glorious" journey of surrender.
The Donglin Party also liked to engage in "united factions to attack dissidents". Anyone who disagreed with them would be immediately labeled a "traitor" or a "villain". In the long run, everyone in the court was in danger and no one dared to tell the truth. During the Chongzhen period, there was a minister named Huang Daozhou who was originally an upright person. However, because he opposed some of the Donglin Party's practices, he was labeled as a "remnant of the eunuch party". As a result, this loyal minister was forced to leave the court and died in depression. These people keep complaining all the time, but when it comes to their turn to contribute, they shrink back faster than anyone else. In the 17th year of Chongzhen, when Li Zicheng was at the gates of the city, where were the bigwigs of the Donglin Party? They either fled or surrendered to the enemy. Why did those Donglin Party members who usually shouted "king and father" disappear at this time? The Donglin Party members are just a bunch of "keyboard warriors" who can only talk. They boast about how noble and patriotic they are all day long, but when the country is in danger, they either flee or surrender. What qualifications do such people have to call themselves loyal ministers and generals? Another fatal weakness of the Donglin Party is that they are seriously out of touch with the actual national conditions. These people read books of sages and talk big in their study all day long, but they know nothing about the real difficulties facing the country.
During the peasant uprisings, the Donglin Party always simply attributed the peasant uprisings to "bandits making trouble", believing that they could be quelled as long as they were severely punished. They did not think about why so many peasants rose up. In fact, this reflected deep-seated social contradictions and economic problems, but the Donglin Party turned a blind eye to it and only shouted for war and killing. During the Chongzhen period, peasant uprisings occurred one after another. The Donglin Party's countermeasures were to send more troops and increase taxes, but the result was counterproductive. The increase in taxes made the peasants even more overwhelmed; the increase in troops but no money and food to issue, wasn't this just adding fuel to the fire? The Donglin Party always advocated "pacifying the country before resisting foreign aggression" and believed that as long as the internal situation was stable, the external threat would naturally be eliminated. This idea was simply naive and ridiculous! In the late Ming Dynasty, the Manchus had grown into a powerful military force. If we did not actively prepare for war, could we solve the problem by "pacifying the country" alone?
As a result, under the influence of the Donglin Party, the court invested less and less in border defense. During the Chongzhen period, it could not even pay the military salaries. How could the war be fought? The result of this practice was that everyone in the court was in danger and no one dared to take responsibility. Capable people did not dare to act for fear of being labeled as "traitors", while incompetent people were popular because they were good at flattering and catering to the tastes of the Donglin Party. During the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, nearly 50 cabinet ministers were replaced. Many times, a minister was sued by the Donglin Party just when he was familiar with the business and had no time to do anything. Isn't this delaying national affairs?