My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 366 Differences in Civilization

For nomadic people like the Yiqu people, there are three main surprises they discovered after throwing themselves into the embrace of Chinese civilization.

One of them is: farming.

The high and low limits that agricultural civilization naturally possesses can often eliminate nomadic civilization, whose lower limit is infinitely close to zero, with just one encounter.

The second is: court.

The central court, which is unique to agricultural civilization and not present in nomadic civilization, or "not completely present", and the local county governments under the court, which are used to handle the affairs under their jurisdiction and to "provide support" for emergencies, are all things that do not exist on the grassland.

The third is military merit.

——On the grassland, military merit can’t buy anything.

Let me give you a more specific example.

As the only two big guys in the entire known world, both the Han and the Huns regarded each other as the only opponents in the world who were qualified to be compared with themselves and to compete with them in almost every aspect.

Both sides attach roughly the same importance to the military merit of taking the heads of enemy soldiers on the battlefield.

——According to the military law of the Han Dynasty, if a Xiongnu regular soldier was beheaded, he could be promoted one level directly, and a Quchang (a soldier below the rank of captain of a hundred men) could be promoted one level directly, and a noble rank below the rank of Gongcheng could be promoted one level directly.

At the same time, both officials and civilians, both the underworld and the white world, all respected these warriors who had captured the heads of the Huns.

The system is rewarding, the social atmosphere is recognizing, and the socially accepted values ​​are promoting;
Almost the entire Han Dynasty treated such a "meritorious person" well.

On the grassland, the situation is a little more complicated.

——Whether it is the highest ruling class on the grassland, such as the Chanyu Court, or the eight pillars of the double-headed eagle, or even the tribal leaders below, they all encourage and respect the warriors who can kill Han soldiers on the battlefield.

But the respect and promotion here only remain at the spiritual level and the pseudo-reality level.

What is the 'pseudo-reality' level?
It is like you, as a Hun warrior, luckily killed a Han soldier on the battlefield, and fought bravely until the end of the war, and walked away from the battlefield alive.

Then, next, the elders of your tribe will give you a thumbs up without hesitation, and praise you: You are worthy of being a warrior of my xx tribe!

When you return to the tribe, and the tribal leader is in a good mood and summons all the "meritorious people" including you, you may have the chance to hear the leader say: Good, you are a brave young man, and the future of the tribe is promising.

Or: We are old~
The future of the tribe depends on you young warriors~
And so on.

At best, you are extremely lucky and were noticed by the Chanyu during a certain meeting in the forest!
By chance, the Chanyu hears about your heroic deeds on the battlefield, and you may be extremely lucky enough to receive his praise.

Similar to a sentence: Young people are good, I am optimistic about you.

Then~
Gone.

Apart from verbal praise and spiritual worship, you will not be able to gain any other substantial benefits.

He was a pawn before, and he is still a pawn now;
He was a herdsman originally, and he is still a herdsman now.

Even if you kill one enemy or behead one level of enemy, your military merit cannot be exchanged for even a lamb, whether it is from the tribal leader or the Chanyu court.

Because according to the inherent understanding of the nomadic people on the grassland, killing enemies on the battlefield is not something that needs to be rewarded at all.

——As a soldier on the battlefield, you should kill the enemy!
It's not for the Huns, nor for victory in the war, but simply for your own survival and to be able to leave the battlefield alive.

Just like you, as a herdsman, are born to raise livestock and pay tribute to the headman and the Chanyu's court on time.

Almost everything on the grassland operates according to this model.

As a slave, he was born to work for his master, to lick his master's toes, to be grateful for every bit of food and even every good look from his master, and to contribute everything in return;
As a herdsman, he was born to own a herd of livestock, to be the leader of a family, that is, a "felt tent", to hone his fighting skills, to protect the family from outsiders, and to accept the rule of the tribe and the supreme ruler: Shan Yu Ting;

As a noble, one should be born with powerful military force that matches his identity and status, and should be born with wisdom to lead his people in the right direction.

Etc., etc.

everything;
Everything on the grassland operates according to the perception that "as xx, you are born to be this or that."

Compared with such backward civilizations, the advanced aspect of agricultural civilization lies in its incentive system.

Different from the lame system of nomadic civilization of "no reward for merit and severe punishment for fault", the foundation of agricultural civilization in the feudal stage was almost entirely built around the four words "clear distinction between rewards and punishments".

If slaves performed meritorious services, they would have the opportunity to regain their civilian status;
If farmers perform well in farming, they can also be rewarded with money and an official position: Litian.

If a craftsman completes his work beyond expectations, he can be rewarded with money, assets, and even the highest title that non-royal family members can have: the title of Chehou! (Yang Chengyan, the first Shaofu Wuhou of the Western Han Dynasty, was awarded the title of marquis for his contribution to the construction of Chang'an City)

As for the military, it is the hardest hit area where those who have made contributions will be rewarded.

——In the past, a reward was given for beheading someone;
Nowadays, with Liu Rong’s new rules for calculating military merits, the rewards for military merits have become even more detailed to an outrageous degree.

During the war, as a laborer, you deliver a cart of food to the front line, and after the war you will have the opportunity to be rewarded with several carts of food.
Before the war breaks out, if you, as a scout, find out the enemy's movements, you will be promoted and rewarded with money and goods after the war.

All military achievements, from expanding territory to transporting military rations, can be rewarded in all aspects, including identity, status, power, and wealth.

It is true that your superiors will also praise you, but not just empty words. Instead, they will give you the promotion and say to you: Good boy, that’s great!

The local officials in your hometown will probably praise you, but they will not just spit at you. Instead, they will allocate a portion of the local finances as a reward for your heroic fighting and bringing glory to your hometown.

At the same time, the officials will take you and announce in front of the people under their rule: A great hero and a great man has emerged in our place!

Men will respect you, women will admire you, and even children will regard you as their lifelong role model.

When parents educate their children, they will not tell them: You have to be a great hero like XXX - similar empty words;
Instead, they would say: Look at that so-and-so, he became a hero after making great contributions on the battlefield, and he now has a house, a car, money, and a girl, he has everything!

If you can become a hero like that, own a car, a house, money, and a girl, and be loved and praised by people all over the place, then we will be relieved...

In summary, agricultural civilization will use rewards for any positive matter - rewards that are visible and tangible and can actually change your life, as the most humane and natural way of promoting it.

According to legend, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius, a Confucian sage, was furious with one of his outstanding disciples because of a similar incident. Thousands of years later, this story has become a solid theoretical basis for the Chinese civilization that "if you have made contributions, you should be rewarded, and you must be rewarded, and if someone rewards you, you must take it."

The story goes something like this: At that time, the State of Lu was weak, and many of its people went out to explore the world.

Among these people, some who failed to make a name for themselves in their own country were forced to sell themselves into slavery in a foreign country and became slaves.

In order to take care of these people who were stranded and hopeless, the State of Lu specially formulated a law;
The law stipulates that if you find a Lu citizen enslaved in another country, you can get a reward from Lu as long as you pay money to redeem the slave, free him and return him to Lu.

To put it bluntly, as long as you redeem the people of Lu who have been stranded in other countries and become slaves, the Lu government will reimburse you the cost of redemption and give you an additional labor reward.

It was in this context that Zigong, one of the seventy-two most outstanding sages among Confucius' three thousand disciples, did something that made Confucius furious.

——The kind-hearted Zi Gong went to the neighboring country and did his best to redeem many people from Lu who had been enslaved in the neighboring country.

Bring these redeemed people from Lu back to their country and present them to the government for reporting;
When the government said that it would reward Zigong according to the law, Zigong said righteously: I do these things not for the reward, but because I feel I should do so;
I cannot accept your reward;
Otherwise, I would be a hypocrite who does a good deed for the reward rather than for the sake of right or wrong.

Since Zigong was so wise, the government was naturally happy to save some money.

But out of the desire to compensate Zigong, the Lu government made a key decision.

Zi Gong, you don't want my reward, isn't it because you are afraid of damaging your reputation?

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That's simple.

——If you don’t want the money I give you, I will just build you up a reputation!
As a result, throughout the State of Lu, people began to vigorously spread and praise Zigong's selfless dedication and his noble character of doing good deeds without expecting anything in return.

But in Confucius' view, what Zigong did in this matter was totally wrong.

Confucius said to Zigong: You are a gentleman. You are willing to redeem the people of Lu from another country simply for your ideals and your own beliefs in right and wrong, without asking for anything in return.

But not all other people are gentlemen like you, Zigong, right?

Most people do not have such a high level of awareness as you, Zigong, nor do they have such a spirit of selfless dedication, nor do they have the financial conditions to pay out of their own pockets without asking for anything in return.

If it weren't for your incident, they might have redeemed the people of Lu from other countries in order to get rewards or even to make money.

But after you do this, they will think: If you redeem the person and accept the reward from the government, you will be considered as "less virtuous than Zigong" and no longer a gentleman in the eyes of others.

If you don't accept...

Why not accept it?
You redeemed the person with real money and brought him back after traveling a long way, why shouldn’t you let me accept him?
If I don't take this money, what will I eat and drink?
If I encounter people from Lu enslaved in another country in the future, where will I get the money to redeem them?
Do you really think I have infinite wealth?

what?
If you accept it, you are no longer a gentleman?

Oh;
good very good.

I won't do this gentleman anymore, whoever wants to do it can do it!

I won’t redeem anyone, whoever wants to redeem them can do so!

Confucius believed that redeeming the people of Lu from another country was a good thing that could gain both praise and rewards from the government, and it would bring both fame and fortune.

But after Zigong caused such a scene, gaining both fame and fortune became a choice between which one could only be chosen.

- Either you accept the reward money in disgrace while being cursed as a "selfish villain" by everyone;

Either you pretend to be rich, lose yourself in everyone's praise, and lose a lot of money.

Everything that happened later was exactly as Confucius had expected.

After that, no one was willing to redeem the people of Lu from other countries and go to the government to receive rewards, or refuse to accept rewards.

This is the first story in the history of Chinese civilization that has a clear record and implies that "merits must be rewarded."

Over the past few hundred years, China's rulers have always been implementing this advanced logic, and even on this basis, they have derived the idea that "his achievements are greater than his master's, and he has no more titles to offer", which is completely incomprehensible to the nomadic people on the grasslands.

——His achievements surpass those of his master?
What? Is he the God of the Plow?
Otherwise, how could the Son of the Plow be 'covered'?

——Can it be sealed?
No, why should it be closed?

His surname is not Luandi!

To seal is a favor, not to seal is the duty!
But in the Central Plains, the rulers thought: such a great achievement must not be rewarded, otherwise the people below will lose their enthusiasm;
But this is too great a reward, even if I pay for it, I can't afford it...

As a result, his achievements surpassed his master's, and he could not be given any more titles. When the birds were all gone, the bows were put away, and when the rabbits were dead, the dogs were cooked.

From this perspective, both seem to have their own advantages and disadvantages.

——Nomadic peoples do not have to worry about "being more powerful than their master", and agricultural civilizations do not have to worry about "not being rewarded for their merits", which would lead to a decline in enthusiasm or even a direct loss of motivation.

But in fact, it is obvious which one is better.

Throughout the five thousand years of Chinese history, those who have been able to leave their names in the history books because of their "merits surpassing their masters" are all rare figures that only appear once in hundreds of years!

On the other hand, those who have lost their ideals and beliefs and their enthusiasm because they have not received proper rewards are rarely described in history books as quantifiers such as "someone";
Instead, it would use a time range such as 'during the reign of a certain emperor' to cover the vast majority of people of the entire era.

In other words: not being rewarded for one's merits is a problem at the national level, and the impact it causes will affect the vast majority of people throughout an entire era.

Even if only a small number, or even a very small number of people, do not receive the rewards they deserve, it will still make the majority of people lose motivation.

On the other hand, what is the so-called "merits surpassing those of the master"?
Just like it is rare to find a great general in a century: the number of people who are qualified to "surpass their master" can be counted on the fingers of one hand throughout history.

For feudal emperors, there were only a dozen or twenty troublemakers in the past five thousand years, which means only one every few hundred years on average?
Tsk tsk;

This really puts me in a difficult position...

(End of this chapter)